LIFE AND LETTERS OF JOSEPH HARDY NEESIMA

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FIRST READING OF BIBLE. 7 ment? Why not let us be freely? Why let us be as a bird in a cage or a rat in a bag? Nay l we must cast away such a savage government, and we must pick out a president as the United States of America. But alas! such things would have been out of my power. " From that time I went to a marine school of gov­ernment to learn navigation a week thrice. After many months I understood little algebra, little geom­etry, to keep log, and to take sun, to find latitude. Ah! the study of night-time caused me weak eyes again, and I could not study at all during the time of one year and a half which would not come again in my life. After my eyes got better I was obliged to go in the prince's office. That time was very hot and sickly season of Y edo. A day the sun shined very hard, and in the evening it had rained very heavy. Then I felt cold and chilled myself. The next morning my head began to ache, and my body was so hot as a fire would burn within me. I could eat nothing, but drank cold water only. After two days measles raised up all over my body. When the measles got better my eyes began to spoil, and I played and speat many times very vainly. A day I visited my friend, and I found out small Holy Bible in his library that was written by some American minister with China lan­guage, and had shown only the most remarkable events of it. I lend it from him and read it at night, because I was afraid the savage country's law, which if I read the Bible, government will cross whole my family. I understood God at first, and he separated the earth from firmament, made light upon the earth, made grass, trees, creatures, fowls, fishes. And he created a man in his own image, and made up a woman, cut-

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