LIFE AND LETTERS OF JOSEPH HARDY NEESIMA

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LETTER TO PRUDENTIAL COi\-fMITTEE. 275 ourselves known much. But somehow we are known among the leading men of Japan. They begin to speak well of our school. Some of them have already sent their sons and friends to be educated under Chris­tian influences, and they would the more gladly do so if we could raise higher the standard of our school. They urge us very strongly to found chairs for differ­ent professional studies on their account. They fur­ther tell us that if we will do so, we can save many, many youth from falling into bad company, youthful vices, and, finally, utmost ruin. It is a great disap­pointment to them to have to send their sons away to other schools to be further educated after finishing the five years' course with us. In Japan schools are gen­erally most dangerous places for young men if there be no teaching of Christianity. Materialistic influ­ence is inseparably combined with licentious practice. A rich merchant, who lives some way from us and who is quite unknown to us, visited Kyoto some years ago, and at the very first interview with a trustee of our school promised to furnish us at least 5, 000 yen, if we would found a law school in connection with the Doshisha. He has been friendly to us ever since, and his two daughters are now being educated at the Kyoto Home sustained by your Mission. The cry for professional studies comes to us not only from outsid­ers, but also from our churches. They wish us to start a medical school in Kyoto. It was about three years ago, when Christian workers sent three delegates to Dr. J. C. Berry at Arima, his summer retreat, to request him to ask the American Board to found a medical school in connection with the training-school in Kyoto. They had found out that Christian physi­cians would be a great help to the cause. When we

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