P^M. T~>. 
 ' jftPAH ^ 
 
 De F^.Ye^T 
 
 Americ an Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 
 
 A CHAPTER 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 
 
 IN JAPAN. 
 
 A FAMILIAR EPISTLE. 
 
 [printed, not published.] 
 
.^iciiptute neabing. 
 
 Acts XIX: 21-41. 
 
 
A WIDE-AWAKE LETTER FROM JAPAN. 
 
 Okayama, Nov. 17, 1880. 
 
 Dear Dr. Clark : 
 
 It gives me pleasure to send you an account of 
 the acts of some of the minor apostles. 
 
 About two or three years ago, as Mr. Curtis 
 and myself were walking through the great ex- 
 hibition at Osaka, a young man spoke to us in 
 broken English. “ What you do call dis ? ” he 
 said, pointing to some article on exhibition. We 
 entered into conversation with him, found him to 
 be a medical student from the large castle town, 
 Tottori, some one hundred and twenty-five miles 
 northwest from Osaka. A few months later, he 
 was a candidate for baptism. Shortly after that, 
 he entered the training-school at Kioto, and last 
 summer, during vacation, gladly undertook mis- 
 sionary work in his native town. A dozen hearers 
 being soon gathered, he wrote for help, and one 
 of the teachers from the girls’ school at Kioto 
 was sent to his aid. But vacation is a thing that 
 don’t last forever, and these young men were 
 compelled. to leave a promising work, the one to 
 go back to his duties as a teacher, the other to 
 return as 'a scholar. I was earnestly requested, 
 both by letter and by this young man in person, 
 to go to his native town, and take up the work 
 so well begun. Leaving a dozen important things 
 
4 
 
 in Osaka undone, and taking the acting (but 
 active) pastor of the First Church with me, we 
 crossed in three days the back of Japan, and 
 stood on the shore of the North Sea. We were 
 not prepared for the cool reception we met. A 
 foreigner had been seen there once, three years 
 ago, but the sight of one is so rare over there 
 that it sets the whole town in commotion. 
 But when it was known that the foreigner was 
 going to preach the Yesu religion, the old 
 dread of that forbidden way fell upon the hotel- 
 keepers, and with one accord they declined to re- 
 ceive me. A Christian, however, succeeded in 
 securing me lodgings at a private house, and the 
 police were instructed to be careful not to inter- 
 fere with the new-comer, as the treaties were un- 
 der revision, and it would not do to have any 
 disturbance of any kind. The outlook was dis- 
 couraging. No arrangements had been made for 
 preaching, and only six or eight persons cared to 
 hear the Way. I told Mr. Kajiro that I felt like 
 Jonah, and wanted to run away. He, laughing, 
 pulled out a letter that he had just written to 
 his wife, and showed me that he had written the 
 same idea. But on reflecting that Jonah didn’t 
 better himself very much by his flight, we de- 
 termined to see what could be done. With no 
 idea of what the morrow would bring forth, we 
 slept that Saturday night, and waked up to spend 
 one of the strangest Sundays I ever saw. 
 
 Before I was up, an officer, who is an earnest 
 
5 
 
 student of the Bible, sent up his card. Then 
 soon Mr. Kajiro found an old friend who had 
 been to America, studied three years in New York, 
 and was head teacher of the Normal School. He 
 brought him to see me, and we spent a delightful 
 morning together. Of course he knew Chris- 
 tianity, had Bible and commentaries, spoke Eng- 
 lish well, but had never given himself to a hearty 
 belief in Christ. He was drifting. Then five or 
 six others gathered to welcome us and to plan 
 for work. In all the city there was no fit place 
 for preaching ; but, as is the case with all the 
 castle towns of Japan, so far as, I’ve seen, there 
 are vast harlot-quarters, and large theaters on one 
 side of the city. “ Shall we go to the theaters ? ” 
 was the only question left us to consider. The 
 young men who went there to preach in the sum- 
 mer would not go to .such a place, and perhaps 
 they were wise in their action. But I felt that 
 some of the places where Jesus and Paul preached 
 were not one whit better than the theaters of 
 Tottori. My only inquiry was, “If we hire a 
 theater, will the better class of people go to 
 hear ? ” They assured me that there was no 
 doubt about it ; there would be a good audience 
 of as good people as the city held. So it was 
 determined to hire the theater that day, and to 
 advertise three days’ preaching by an American. 
 Some went to prepare the theater, some wrote 
 and caused to be put up about forty placards 
 through the city, and the necessary notice was 
 
6 
 
 sent to the police-station. The head school- 
 teacher cheerfully promised to make the opening 
 speech, introducing K. and myself, and to tell 
 something of what he had seen of Christianity in 
 the United States. Shortly after that, what was my - 
 surprise to hear wooden clappers rattling away in 
 front of my house, and to see a clownishly dressed 
 fellow, shouting at the top of his voice, “ Preach- 
 ing to-night! Religion of Jesns! By an Amer- 
 ican ! Seats free at the theater ! ” I was told that 
 the owner of the theater always sent out such a 
 notice. So that, with the forty placards and the 
 exertions of this clapper-clown, the twenty thou- 
 sand people of Tottori became pretty well aware 
 of the new movement in a very short space of 
 time. Evening came, and the head-teacher called 
 for us with his wife and two little ones — just 
 such a lady as could do a glorious work were she 
 a Christian. On entering the theater we found 
 about one hundred gathered, but as soon as it be- 
 came known that the American was really behind 
 the scenes, the house filled rapidly, until there 
 was not a foot of standing-room left. Six hun- 
 dred is the ordinary capacity of this theater, but 
 pressure steadily applied swelled that number by 
 one hundred or two hundred more. Our intro- 
 duction was fair, the speaker saying that Chris- 
 tianity is divided into three great branches : Ro- 
 man Catholic, Greek, and Protestant; that K. 
 and myself are Protestants, and that where the 
 Protestant custom prevails, there the greatest 
 
prosperity is found. While he loved the Chris- 
 tian civilization, he personally was not a Chris- 
 tian, was not advocating it, but only introducing 
 the advocates of it. With this, K. went forward 
 and told how Japan was awakening under the 
 quickening influences of this new way ; that it was 
 nothing to fear ; rather, through this religion Japan 
 would gain the greatest possible prosperity and 
 blessing. Then I spoke nearly an hour. The 
 Japanese believe in protracted meetings. One 
 speaker in an evening is not half enough, and the 
 last speaker’s position is the place of honor. How 
 such an audience feels when a foreigner comes 
 before it, I do not know. Evidently they had no 
 idea the speaker could make himself understood. 
 But when one and another began to say, in a sup- 
 pressed voice, “ Really, we can understand,” the 
 desire to hear increased, and the crowd that could 
 not get in increased, until the outsiders burst 
 through one or two weak places in the sides of 
 the poorly built theater. But, as in natural philos- 
 ophy, the pressure from within outwards being 
 equal to the pressure from without inwards, noth- 
 of benefit resulted to those without. One thing 
 was clearly seen by the little band of Christians 
 who had the matter in charge : that that theater 
 was too small. So they gave that up, and rented 
 for the next night the largest theater in all that 
 region ; one that would hold, under pressure, 
 twelve hundred. 
 
 The next day, K. and I were busy without 
 
cessation with those who came to congratulate 
 us, and to inquire more about the Way, and to 
 invite us to a feast. Among our callers were the 
 preacher of the Greek religion, who is trying to 
 gather a church there, and several of his fol- 
 lowers not yet baptized. As their respectful man- 
 ner and kindness brought us into close relations 
 with them, we discussed in the most friendly way 
 the differences in our beliefs, and I urged that 
 since we both felt called to work in Tottori, 
 there should be no unpleasant feelings ; and since 
 several were in doubt as to which to join, we 
 should unite our efforts in public, to convince 
 everybody that we cared more for Christian love 
 than we did for any church creed. In short, I 
 urged the Greek preacher to speak at the theater 
 with K. and myself. He readily accepted, and 
 that night we three attempted to teach the largest 
 and most uncontrollable crowd I have yet seen in 
 Japan. The theater filled up to its edges, over- 
 flowed on to the speaker’s platform, crowded into 
 the actors’ rooms where we were waiting, and, 
 before we could commence, the place bid fair to 
 be the scene of an uproar for which the new 
 religion was likely to be called into question. 
 Hoping to quiet the audience, K. stepped for- 
 ward and beckoned with his hand, and began the 
 first speech. But not only was the press too 
 great, but several fellows of the baser sort were 
 evidently aching to cause an outbreak. K. made 
 a brave and prolonged stand, but was repeatedly 
 
9 
 
 interrupted by fellows within, and by the hun- 
 dreds without who couldn’t get in. When he 
 came back into the actors’ rooms it was plain 
 that he was seriously anxious. We sent for po- 
 lice, but several said there were not police enough 
 in Tottori to control that crowd. Meanwhile, the 
 Greek stepped forward, and being of command- 
 ing appearance, and a new face to them, they 
 quieted down for a few moments, but when he 
 tried to explain the “ narrow gate,” they refused 
 to listen ; the interruptions grew more decided, 
 local disturbances took place, and at last, in- 
 sulted, he was forced to retire. It was now my 
 turn. Some of my friends thought I ought not 
 to adventure myself into the theater before them ; 
 others, that I should step forward and dismiss 
 them with a brief remark or two. A large part 
 of the audience was yet in good order, and I felt 
 sure no insult was intended towards me. There 
 was not the slightest fear of personal harm — only 
 that the evil-minded fellows would force a free 
 fight there and then, for which the preaching of 
 the Yesu religion would be naturally held re- 
 sponsible. So I stepped out before them. The 
 better portion, perhaps over half the people, im- 
 mediately became quiet, but there were no signs 
 of yielding in other parts of the house. At last 
 I shouted out that in America the Japanese had 
 the reputation of being the politest people on the 
 face of the earth ; but if they didn’t stop this up- 
 roar and be quiet, there was one American who 
 
10 
 
 never would say that the Tottori-ites were polite. 
 This being applauded by the few hundreds who 
 could hear, the rest suddenly wanted to hear too. 
 One or two hundred who couldn’t see me still kept 
 up a disturbance, whereupon I shouted to them 
 that if their desire was to see the foreigner, pro- 
 vided they would only content themselves for a 
 few moments with hearing me. I’d wait till mid- 
 night to show them my face. This provoked 
 general applause ; and after that, though some 
 made slight interruptions, there was excellent at- 
 tention given by over a thousand of them for 
 nearly an hour, while I opened up the folly of 
 worshiping dried wood, and ridiculed the absurd 
 customs that inevitably arise from idolatry. I 
 "was compelled to keep a-going, as any pause 
 would have been only an opportunity for an out- 
 break. They met my statements of what I had 
 seen in Japan with surprise that I had found out 
 so much, and with repeated applause, until I 
 turned to the inevitable injury that idolaters 
 ^everywhere and universally must receive, intel- 
 -lectually and socially. At last, upon my appeal- 
 5hg to the ambition all true Japanese have to take 
 -their place among the foremost nations of the 
 sewth, and assuring them that such stultification 
 laiid licentiousness as came from idolatry would 
 (prevent their sure advance into true civilization, 
 stheir applause gave way to a serious thoughtful- 
 -riess, and the boisterous audience became like a 
 rgood old-fashioned church in America on Sun- 
 
day. It was no little relief by this time to see a 
 policeman here and there in the audience, and, 
 on dismissing the people, they for the most part 
 quietly withdrew. But, fearing the crowd would 
 become even worse on the next night, we called, 
 on our way home, at the central office, thanked 
 them for their assistance, and asked for police in 
 abundance for the next night. Then we prayed 
 for rain, or any obstacle that would prevent such 
 a gathering again. 
 
 There is no time to write the interesting atten- 
 tions received on the following day. Again and 
 again we congratulated ourselves, on the snow, 
 and hail, and rain, that came fitfully all day, and 
 just about the time for gathering, it was all we 
 could desire. We felt sure that nothing but a 
 true interest would bring out hearers. But the 
 whole city was agitated, and the theater quickly 
 filled. The head-teacher, who now was very 
 much interested, made the first address, telling 
 how deeply he felt over last night’s speeches ; he 
 was glad indeed to have a foreigner here, but he 
 was filled with sorrow at hearing his country 
 described as so degraded in morals, while he 
 could not deny it. Some doubtless felt very 
 grateful to hear the foreigner say that Americans 
 regarded the Japanese as the most polite people 
 on the earth ; but he felt far more like crying at 
 hearing such a remark. “For Japanese polite- 
 ness — what is it? It is all beautiful formality, 
 without one particle of kindness and love in it'; 
 
12 
 
 and since I’ve been to America, I’ve had nothing 
 more to do with it. Let us give up our empty 
 greetings, and become kind and loving.” With 
 such an earnest opening, my confidence was en- 
 tirely restored. But some in the audience grew 
 restless, began interruptions, grew worse and 
 more insulting than last night, and actually broke 
 the speaker down, forcing him to retire in anger 
 and disgust. The police had no authority, or 
 else would not show it. There was little hope 
 left for any successful talking. But K. went for- 
 ward, and, after repeatedly trying to catch atten- 
 tion, he quieted the larger portion ; and then he 
 made one of the most taking addresses I have 
 yet listened to in Japanese. He fairly poured out 
 an unbroken stream of wit and truth, until he 
 had his audience at will ; then, bearing more di- 
 rectly on the great aim of our work, he had the 
 closest attention for an hour, the people forget- 
 ting that there was a foreigner behind the cur- 
 tains, and the foreigner, listening with delight, 
 forgot that his turn was next. I felt that K. had 
 made a deep impression in favor of Christianity, 
 and I offered him ten yen to write that address 
 out for a tract for general distribution. My ser- 
 mon was well received, as I urged them to com- 
 pare the commands of Christianity with those of 
 Buddhism; but it was very evident that K. had 
 done more than the rest of us put together. 
 
 Well, what did it amount to? For one 
 thing, it is evident that this nation is ripe for 
 
13 
 
 throwing away idolatry. The people, in many 
 cases, feel that the priests are simply squeezing 
 all the money they can, without giving any ade- 
 quate return ; and the delight with which they 
 hear their nonsensical idolatrous customs spoken 
 lightly of, shows that the day of deep love for 
 such things is passing away. More than that, I 
 have heard of repeated cases of those who have 
 said, “ Well, the foreigner is right; no more idols 
 for me.” So wide-spread is the feeling that there 
 must be a reform, that the most powerful sect of 
 the Buddhist religion has become an open advo- 
 cate of no more idols, except Amida, the lord of 
 all, and his idol is to be used only as a finger 
 pointing to the invisible Creator and Ruler of the 
 universe. Another thing is that public opinion 
 is being shaped rapidly in favor of Christianity. 
 There is still a lingering fear in many minds as 
 they recall the terrible punishments inflicted upon 
 the early Roman Catholic Christians. But I 
 called on the Governor, was very pleasantly re- 
 ceived, and he expressed himself disappointed 
 that he personally had not been able to attend 
 the lectures. He recognized the fact with a quiet 
 smile, that, while the Yesu religion is forbidden, 
 yet there is no desire to prevent its spread ; and 
 “ even if there were, we couldn’t help it,” he 
 added. Others remarked, “We know ;/<9Z£/ that 
 there is nothing bad about Christianity.” And 
 on the steamboat, as we were just falling asleep, 
 we heard some passengers talking of the new 
 
14 
 
 Way. “ Christianity is not bad, you know ; there 
 is no use in anybody’s contending any longer for 
 the existence of more than one God.” 
 
 Yet, best of all, the day after our three nights’ 
 course, we intended to return ; but so urgent were 
 the requests for us to stop one more day, that we 
 remained over, and met nine men who, with their 
 families and friends, wished to form a company 
 to study the Bible every Sunday evening. K., 
 with great tact, made a little Book of Life, in 
 which their names were written, and in which 
 they pledged themselves to begin immediately the 
 searching of the Scriptures. They drew lots to 
 determine at whose house the first meeting should 
 be held. Then K., calling on them to thank God 
 for his great love in leading them to the light of 
 His gospel, prayed from his full heart before 
 those first-fruits. The head-teacher was there, 
 promising to work with and for this little band. 
 His wife is full of joy, and is one of the “ honor- 
 able women ” who see the w'orth and need of 
 Christianity from its first presentation. She be- 
 came a Christian on the spot. I spent an hour 
 with him on the reasonableness and need of daily 
 prayer. In the evening K. slipped out, leaving 
 me to talk to the endless string of visitors. When 
 he came back, I was alone, and the look of pleas- 
 ure on K.’s face was too apparent. “ We’ve just 
 had the first family prayers in this city ; father, 
 wife, mother, and two sons uniting in it, and 
 thanking me for teaching them how to pray.” 
 
With that, our cup was full. Weary with the ex- 
 citing and ceaseless work, we kneeled for our last 
 evening prayer, thanking God for all his loving 
 leading. We intended to take a quiet departure 
 on the following morning, but our new brothers 
 all came in, with their politeness undiminished, 
 but with their love undoubtedly quickened, and, 
 giving K. and myself their various parting pres- 
 ents of fruit, paper, cake, and money, we felt one 
 common impulse to pray once more together. 
 Then, insisting upon it that nobody should escort 
 me out of the city, I undertook to shake hands 
 with the brothers. But, alas 1 they didn’t know 
 how. “ Let me shake hands as we do in Amer- 
 ica,” I said. They all began to look doubtful, 
 but I persevered until I had shaken anything 
 they would offer — shut hands, limp, left hands, 
 stiff arms, or the five fingers bunched together. 
 It was an entirely one-sided affair. Some say 
 that the touch of a hand often affects the heart of 
 the receiver. Whether this final wiggle reached 
 so far as to the hearts of those wiggled, remains 
 for the future to disclose. 
 
 It took three days to cross, by another road, 
 the mountains to Okayama, where the warm wel- 
 come of brothers and sisters awaited me. Four 
 nights of preaching to a crowded house, before 
 the newly formed church, gave me deep pleasure. 
 Then, together with brother Curtis, I returned 
 home. But to tell you fully what had happened 
 during those fifteen days would fill pages. Mr. 
 
i6 
 
 Savvayama had resigned his connection with the 
 Missionary Society on account of declining 
 strength. The new church-movement I men- 
 tioned in my last has come to a head, and Mr. 
 Leavitt is drawing the plan for the new building. 
 In one of the out-stations worked from Osaka, a 
 church is to be built immediately, and we are 
 earnestly requested to send a foreigner over there 
 to give the new movement a start ; and as this is 
 the celebrated Ise, the center of Shintoism, we 
 shall not neglect it. The girls’ school has had 
 several additions. One physician, whose obstacle 
 to the Christian life had been for three years his 
 concubine, had given her up, and is an applicant 
 for baptism. An old woman, who had run away 
 from her friends in Kobe because she couldn’t 
 stand it to live any longer with Christians, and 
 had come to live in Osaka, found her Osaka 
 friends infected with the hated religion, and is 
 now herself an humble hearer of the W ord. Ap- 
 plicants for baptism have increased ; and this 
 week another united missionary meeting is to be 
 held to see if it be possible to send a man from 
 our over-worked forces to Tottori, to hear re- 
 ports from our four fields, to elect a man in place 
 of Mr. Sawayama, and to plan for large, pro- 
 tracted meetings within this city. It bids fair to 
 be a true Thanksgiving day, or rather week, for 
 Osaka. Truly yours, J. H. De Forest. 
 
 Sent from Rooms of A, B, C. F. J/., 
 
 BostoHy January 3^ iBBi. e. k. a.