LIFE AND LETTERS OF JOSEPH HARDY NEESIMA

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338 LAST YEARS AND DEATH. preachers, make your church a sel£~supporting one. You, teachers, make your schools training places of character. You, students, seek for the spirit and energy of those who, loving liberty, can contribute to their country's welfare. You, editors, proclaim the truth fearlessly, to your enemies as to your friends. And you, all men, with all your soul and strength love God, truth, each other." On February 21, 1890, a large audience gathered at Koseikan, where the great public meetings of To~ kyo are held, in commemoration of Mr. Neesima. The following is an extract from the address delivered by Mr. Hiroyuki Kato, President of the Tokyo Uni­versity:-" You have assembled to-day to pay a tribute to the memory of Mr. Neesima. I have been requested to be present and to say something. I declined at first, for I never even met Mr. Neesima and have had no relations whatever with him. I am not a believer in Jesus. Those who have already addressed you are all, I believe, his followers. I alone am not a Chris~ tian. Neither am I a Buddhist. I am a man of no religion. . . . Yet, being urged to speak, I would like to make a simple statement. From what I have heard of Mr. Neesima I know very well what kind of a man he was, -one greatly to be honored and re­spected. All who have spoken unite in ascribing to him an invincible purpose. It is this unconquerable spirit of his which I honor. I do not praise him because he was a Christian. I care not whether he believed in Jesus or not. I praise him for that stead­fast spirit, so essential in every sphere, of religion, learning, politics, or trade. I believe this spirit a great necessity in this country, although it is of course

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