LIFE AND LETTERS OF JOSEPH HARDY NEESIMA

184/372

168 FIRST VISIT TO EUROPE. the graduating exercises. The subject of his address, delivered in Japanese, was "The Preaching of Christ in Japan." The summer of 1874 was devoted to preparations for his homeward journey and to farewell visits to his many friends. The latter part of August he passed with Mr. and Mrs. Hardy at their summer home in Bar Harbor, Maine, returning to Boston for his ordination, which took place on Thw·sday, Septem­ber 24th, at the Mount Vernon Church in that city. Delegates were invited from twenty leading churches in the vicinity, and there were also present as dele~ gates at large, Prof. J. H. Seelye of Amherst, Drs. Anderson, Treat, and Clark, of the American Board, Dr. J. L. Taylor of Andover, and Dr. G. Vf. Blag­den of Boston. The ordination sermon was preached. by Dr. Seelye from the text: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." The right hand of fellowship was extended by Rev. Eph­raim Flint oi Hinsdale, and the charge was delivered by Rev. A. C. Thompson of the Prudential Commit­tee of the Board. On Friday, October 9th, the sixty-fifth annual meeting of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was held at Rutland, Vermont. At this meeting Mr. N eesima was present, and was asked, with others who, like himself, were about to leave for foreign stations, to make some remarks at the farewell session in the evening. The subject o£ his brief ad­dress, which was an earnest appeal for the establish­ment of a Christian college in .T apan, had long been in his thought. He had had some conversation with Secretary Clark and Mr. Hardy upon this plan of his, but received little encouragement. Just before his death, when this long-cherished scheme had become a

※このページを正しく表示するにはFlashPlayer10.2以上が必要です