RED CROSS HOSPITAL BUILDINGS.

To return to distinctively religious work, the time that I could myself give to the observation of missions was limited, but I saw something of the Episcopal work in Tokyo. Bishop McKim was absent most of the winter in the Philippines, but the Rev. Dr. Wallace, whom we had known in Honolulu years before, conducted the services. Japanese services were also held at the cathedral, and a school for native children was carried on by the mission. The bishop's house and that of Dr. Wallace, which were in the cathedral compound, were of brick and looked fairly comfortable.

As the lower classes are decidedly emotional and are easily influenced by revival meetings, while the better class naturally tend toward philosophy and other intellectual studies, there is room for Christian workers of different denominations. In actual numbers there are more of the Episcopalians than of any other Protestant denomination, as they include the English, Canadians, Australians and Americans. Next to these in number are the Presbyterians. There is a Unitarian mission conducted by the Rev. Dr. MacCauley, who has been there many years and whom we knew well. The Baptists are prominent in Yokohama. The American Board missionaries—the Congregationalists—I have been told, do the best work.

A very kindly spirit exists among them all, but they could economize greatly if they worked even more in union. Each mission, for instance, has its Japanese secretary, because of the difficulty of the language, but if they combined, they could do with fewer secretaries, and could also have Japanese teachers for Japanese subjects. A few big, broad-minded men—like Dr. Greene, who was looked up to by every one—who were men of affairs as well as clergymen, could do much good by acting as the heads of the missions and directing the Japanese Christians, somewhat as is done in the stations of the American Board.

Right here I wish to pay my tribute to the beautiful life and the great work of the Rev. Dr. Greene, whose death last September left the American Board mission poorer for his loss. Dr. Greene and his wife went to Japan in 1869, when the government edict banning Christianity was still in force. They lived to see the country under a constitutional government, with a modern system of education and full religious liberty. Dr. Greene was a missionary statesman; he was the intimate friend of Count Okuma and other Japanese leaders. As teacher, author, translator of the New Testament, and president of the Asiatic Society, he did a varied work. A few months before his death the Emperor conferred upon Dr. Greene the Third Class of the Order of the Rising Sun, the highest decoration awarded to civilians residing in Japan.

A work frequently overlooked is the service rendered in translation and the compilation of dictionaries. When Dr. Hepburn, to whom I have already referred, reached Japan in 1859, immediately after establishing his dispensary, he began the preparation of a Japanese-English dictionary, and as he had previously lived for several years in China, he was able to make rapid progress. In 1867 he brought out his great lexicon, which was published in Shanghai, because printing from metal type was not then done in Japan. When an invoice of it arrived in Yokohama, "Two worlds, as by an isthmus, seemed to have been united.... As a rapid feat of intellect and industry, it seemed a tour de force, a Marathon run." Later, Dr. Hepburn assisted in translating the Bible into Japanese. For all his work—as physician, lexicographer, translator of the Bible—and especially for his noble character, he was known in Japan as "Kunshi," the superior man. Engraved on his tombstone are the words, "God bless the Japanese."

The following statistics, given out recently by the Japanese Bureau of Religion, are interesting as showing the number of adherents to each of the great faiths:

Christians,140,000
Buddhists,29,420,000
Believing Buddhists,18,910,000
Shintoists,19,390,000
Believing Shintoists,710,000
Temples with priests,72,128
Temples without priests,37,417