religious observance on the part of the foreigners, who do not care to be identified with men of that stamp.

Thus Christianity, in the true sense of the word, as far as the Japanese are concerned, is in as bad a state as it possibly could be, without being absolutely extinct; and the most painful part of it all is, that this has been mainly brought about by a large section of the men whose care it should have been to look after it.

And yet, and this is the irony of fate, there is a distinct possibility that Japan may, within a few years, suddenly become a "Christian" country. Such an eventuality would not, however, be the result of conviction, nor of sympathy with Christianity, nor would it be due to the preachings of the present-day missionary, but in spite of them. Should it take place, it would mean that a law had been passed establishing Christianity as the national religion, and the Japanese people would accept the change without troubling themselves. This would have been enacted from a similar motive to that which has prompted Japan to purchase ironclads, to adopt a gold currency, and to educate her people on modern lines. It would be merely the logical following out of her policy of putting herself on a level footing in all respects with the rest of the civilized world.

Business men all over the world are now leaving no stone unturned to see that their interests are properly served in Japan; and it is high time, if we wish to Christianize the country, that the responsible

ecclesiastical authorities in England and America should make a strong effort to see how the interests of Christianity are being served here.

Throughout this chapter I have taken it for granted that it is a desirable thing to endeavor to force Christianity on the Japanese. But any one who knows the Far East cannot gainsay the fact that in those parts of Asia where missionaries have apparently succeeded in making "converts" the practical result has usually been that, in renouncing their own faith, these so-called Christians have merely been reduced to having no bona fide faith at all, and have become debased and degraded in the process of conversion to a "Christianity" which is only Christian in name.

CHAPTER VII

THE MORAL STANDARD

THERE is a treaty-port proverb to the effect that Japan is a country where the flowers are without perfume, the birds without song, the men without honor, and the women without virtue. I do not know who originated the saying, but of all the sweeping and unjust statements that have been made of Japan and the Japanese I think that this is the worst. The unfortunate part of it all is that the superficial visitor as a rule accepts it as being true without question; and he does this the more easily as the first portion of the proverb contains a certain amount of obvious truth. As a matter of fact, the above saying begins with the weakest of platitudes and ends with the lowest of libels.

The many writers who have set themselves the task of blackening the moral character of the Japanese may have been acting conscientiously; but I have often wondered which of the ostensibly civilized and Christian nations of the world they have had in their mind's eye as a contrast when they were drawing their conclusions as to the low standard of Japanese morals.

Many of the writers in question have maintained

that this alleged immorality is innate and vicious; while others, who have seemed to wish to palliate or excuse a deplorable state of affairs which, in reality, does not exist more in Japan than elsewhere, have urged as an extenuating circumstance that such want of morals is merely due to that lack of the power of discrimination between right and wrong which those same writers have laid down as being one of the most prominent traits in the Japanese character.

The subject of the morality of any country is a delicate and difficult one to handle, and it is to be regretted that so many foreign writers have dealt both recklessly and roughly with the question of Japanese morals.

In endeavoring to probe most Japanese questions the European must begin by making his mind a blank-that is to say, he should eliminate everything in the shape of prejudice. In studying the language, for instance, his own classics will not help him, either in the construction of phrases or in the meaning of words. In making up his mind to live in Japanese houses he must put away from him all his convictions as to what constitutes comfort, and begin afresh. Then, again, in learning to relish Japanese food, the only thing for him to do is to forget what he has been in the habit of eating elsewhere. So it is with the morality of the country; for if we start from the stand-point that, because such and such a thing is not countenanced in certain other countries it must of necessity be