Part 10 (2/2)

The first edition was speedily exhausted, and a second was issued in 1872. The translation of the Holy Scriptures was also begun and gotten well under way in this period. Several separate portions of the Scriptures from time to time appeared. The first was the Gospel of Matthew, translated by the Rev. J. Goble, of the Baptist mission, and published in 1871. Dr. S. R. Brown had previously prepared first drafts of some portions of the New Testament, but unfortunately they were destroyed by fire. Translations of Mark and John, by Drs. Brown and Hepburn, were published in 1872.

This irregular, piecemeal method of translation was not satisfactory; so in order to expedite the work, and to elicit an active interest in it on the part of all the missionaries in the country, a convention on Bible translation was called to meet {175} in Yokohama on September 20, 1872. As a result of this convention the Translation Committee was organized. At first it consisted of Drs. Brown, Hepburn, and Greene.

Other names were afterward added. This committee was ably a.s.sisted in its work by prominent j.a.panese Christian scholars. The great undertaking was brought to a successful conclusion in 1880, when an edition of the whole Bible was published in excellent j.a.panese.

We have antic.i.p.ated matters somewhat. Let us now go back a few years and take up the thread where we left off. The work of the missionaries for a long time was fruitless, but the day of reaping was near. The first Protestant convert of j.a.pan was baptized in Yokohama by the Rev.

Mr. Ballagh, in 1864. Two years later Dr. Verbeck baptized two prominent men in southern j.a.pan. In 1866 Bishop Williams, of the Episcopal Church, baptized one convert. Who can tell the joy of these missionaries when, after so many years of hard work, they were permitted to see these precious fruits? From time to time others were baptized, but for many years accessions were rare. The first church was organized in Yokohama in 1872. It was left to draft its own const.i.tution and church government, and was a very liberal body.

During all this time the prohibitions of {176} Christianity were still posted over all the land, and the government had never officially renounced its policy of persecution. But the infringement of the laws was permitted, and gradually they became a dead letter. Many j.a.panese of influence and of official position traveled abroad, and learning of the status of Christianity in the countries of the West, and particularly of the att.i.tude of the chief nations of the world toward the persecution of Christians, exerted their influence to have these prohibitions rescinded. Especially did the strong stand taken by some Western governments influence j.a.pan in favor of toleration. Our own Secretary of State in Was.h.i.+ngton plainly informed the j.a.panese committee then visiting there that the United States could not regard as a friendly power any nation that persecuted its Christian subjects.

As a result of various influences, the edicts against Christianity were removed from the signboards in 1873. This was an event of the utmost importance to Christian work, for, although the infringement of the edicts had been for some time winked at, their very existence before the eyes of the people had a great deterring effect. The government announced that this action did not signify that the prohibition of Christianity was now abrogated. It declared that the edicts were removed because their subject-matter, {177} having been so long before the eyes of the people, ”was sufficiently imprinted on their minds.”

And yet their removal conveyed the idea to the people at large that liberty of conscience was henceforth to be allowed, and this virtually proved to be so. Persecutions ceased and the work was allowed to go on untrammeled. The object for which the church abroad had waited and prayed, and for which the missionaries on the ground had longed and labored, was at last realized. Joy and hope filled the hearts of the workers. The cause of missions had received a new and powerful impulse, which ere long made itself felt in a wide enlargement of its operations.

The work now went on much more rapidly. Soon a great pro-foreign sentiment sprang up. With the rapid adoption of Western civilization there grew up not only a toleration, but an actual desire for the Western religion. It became rather fas.h.i.+onable to confess Christ.

Some statesmen even went so far as to advocate as a matter of policy the adoption of Christianity as the state religion.

In this happy time Christian schools, which had sprung up like mushrooms over all the land, were filled with eager students; the churches and chapels were crowded with interested listeners; and large numbers were annually added to the church.

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But the pendulum had swung too far. About 1888 a reaction set in, caused largely by the impatience of the j.a.panese at the refusal of Western nations to revise the treaties on a basis of equality. A strong nationalism a.s.serted itself. Everything foreign was brought into disrepute. Christianity was frowned upon as a foreign religion, and the old native religions again came into favor. Attendance at Christian schools fell off almost fifty per cent.; the churches and chapels became empty; and few names were added to the church rolls. A sifting process began which very much reduced the members.h.i.+p. When Christianity was popular many had hastily and as a matter of policy joined the churches, who in this time of disfavor fell away. This reactionary feeling has lasted uninterruptedly down to the present, and in recent years the losses numerically have almost equaled the gains.

This reaction has in some respects worked good to the churches. The former growth was too rapid. Many unconverted men came into the bosom of the church. Such have fallen away; the church has been pruned of her old dead branches, and is now a livelier, healthier body.

In the judgment of some, this reactionary period is now on the decline.

The recent growth and progress of j.a.pan have been recognized by the West; treaty revision on a basis of equality has {179} been granted her, and the cause which brought about the reaction has thus been largely removed. For these reasons we may look for a gradual breaking down of the prejudice and opposition toward foreign inst.i.tutions and religion, though such a pro-foreign wave as swept the country during the eighties will not probably be experienced again.

In order to give a correct idea of the work now being done by the various missions in j.a.pan, It will be well to give a short sketch of each one separately. We will consider them in the order of their size and influence.

_American Board Mission_

This mission is conducted by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (organized on an undenominational basis, but now Congregational), and has met with great success. Begun in 1869, it is younger than either the Episcopalian, Reformed, Presbyterian, or Baptist missions, but has exerted a greater influence than any of them.

It has for years enjoyed the distinction of having more adherents than any other Christian body at work here. But there has been a large falling off in its members.h.i.+p, and during the past year or so very few new names have been added to its rolls. At the {180} close of 1895 the Church of Christ in j.a.pan (Presbyterian) was only about 62 members behind this body, and by the close of 1896 will in all probability be ahead.

This mission was especially fortunate in reaching a wealthy, influential cla.s.s of people, which has given it a position and prestige superior to the other missions. In the number of self-supporting native churches it has led all other denominations.

The first missionaries of the American Board to j.a.pan were Dr. and Mrs.

Greene. They arrived in Yokohama November 30, 1869, and, with the usual intermissions for rest, have labored here continuously since that time. Three years later the Rev. O. H. Gulick and wife, and the Rev.

J. D. Davis and wife, joined the mission. Since that time the number of missionaries has been rapidly increased until now it reaches 74.

The members.h.i.+p of the native church is about 11,162. There are 60 ordained native ministers and 54 unordained. There are four boarding-schools for girls, with 863 students. The most advanced of these is the Girls' School of Kobe, with a curriculum as high as that of most female colleges in America. There is also one school for the training of Bible-women.

The chief educational inst.i.tution of this body is the Dos.h.i.+sha University, in Kyoto. This {181} school is largely the result of the labors of Dr. Neesima, easily the first Christian preacher and teacher j.a.pan has yet produced. It is a large school, beautifully located and well housed. Last year only 320 students were in attendance, a great decline from former years. Unfortunately this inst.i.tution does not now exert the positive influence for Christianity that it formerly did.

Higher criticism and speculative philosophy have largely supplanted Christian teaching. The school is now entirely in the hands of the trustees (all natives), and the mission has no control over it whatever. Recently all of the missionaries of the American Board who were serving as professors in the Dos.h.i.+sha have, because of dissatisfaction with the policy of the school authorities, resigned.

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