LIFE AND LETTERS OF JOSEPH HARDY NEESIMA

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STATEI'viENT TO THE JAPANESE PUBLIC. 315 themselves and follow the right way with self-deter­mining conviction. We would hold our peace were it not that these thoughts make us anxious for our coun­try and people. "We think that western civilization, though many and various in its phenomena, is in general Christian civilization. The spirit of Christianity penetrates all things even to the bottom, so that, i£ we adopt only the material elements of civilization and leave out religion, it is like building up a human body of flesh only without blood. "Our young men who are studying the literature and science of the west are not becoming fitted to be the men of New Japan, but are, we regret to say, wandering out of the true way in consequence of their mistaken principles of education. Alas ! what a sad prospect this offers for the future of our country. " We sincerely confess that we are of ourselves un­worthy to undertake so great a work, but, with God's blessing and the help of our patriotic fellow-citizens, we will forget our own weakness and even venture upon this great task. "To express our hopes in brief, we seek to send out into the world not only men versed in literature and science, but young men of strong and noble character, by which they can use their learning for the good o£ their fellow-men. This, we are convinced, can never be accomplished by abstract, speculative teaching, nor by strict and complicated rules, but only by Christian principles -the living and powerful principles of Christianity -and therefore we adopt these princi­ples as the unchangeable foundation of our educa­tional work, and devote our energies to their realiza­tion.

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