The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-06-09
4 VOICE FROM JAPAN
Missionary Scudder's Ser
--Children's Day
Exercises.

DR.. Doremus Scudder, brother of Pas
tor Scudder who has for some years been
preaching in Japan under the American
Board of Foreign Missions, delivered an
interesting lecture to crowded audience
at the Tabernacle last evening DR..
Scudder is a bright talker and held the
attention of the audience throughout.
He began his discourse by describing
some of the characteristics of the Japan
ese. Said he:-s'In Japan native al
ways refers to himself as Rising Sun
Man. and he shows his right to be SO
called by being of very sunny disposi-
tion, always cheerful and jovial, and a
great love Of song and harmony. At their
work the Japanese are always singing,
and the harmony in their nature can
scarcely be proven better than by
watching a Japanese workman drive
a nail. Each tap or tiie hammer
is made to correspond with the beat OF
some catch air. The Japanese are very
gentle and extremely polite. Their ex-
treme politeness would seem ridiculous
In this country. They possess politeness
by the ton. Nearly every one is addressed
as honorable and other high-sounding
terms, and polite phrases abound i'll their
conversation. This pohteness makes
who never saw one another before should
meet in steam car they would soon be
conversing as if they knew one another
for years.
Then they are very practical and are
really the Yankees of the Old World.
They adopt any good custom which they
see abroad and are always looking for
something improved. The workingmen
have discarded the long flowing robes
and are now attired in sack coats and
breeches The women's dress, however,
remains the same.
Another peculiar characteristic of the
Japanese is that they have not the slight
est conception of time, or, in plain En-
glish, they are very long winded. One
Japanese will call upon another for the
purpose Of talking in reference to some
particular subject, yet he will spend
three hours talking about everything but
the real object of his visit.
ULTRA MATERIALIsTs.
1.-THE Japs are very material and have no
conception of SOUL They have never
been taught that such a thing as soul
ever existed, and they have grown up in
that belief, and it is almost impossible to
shake 1t off. With the children it is easy
enough, but the older people are well
nigh incorrigihle. This materialism has
led to O woeful state of vice, and one
prominent man in the country said that
every young man who had attained the
age OIL eighteen years WAS llupuIt.
1.-THE Japanese are lovers of three great
things. In the first place they idolize
nature. In Japan a boy will lie on his
back for hours at a time beneath the
branches of a cherry tree and seem trans
fixed with the beauty Of the scene. They
cultivate fruit, not for the fruit, but to
satisfy their love of nature. They are
very patriotic, and in fact be-
their patriotism. They highly ap-
preciate their right to vote. They have
had the right to vote on municipal mat
ters for some time, but it is only lately
that the beloved Emperor allowed them
to vote on national affairs. They have
keen sense of education and imagine that
the thoroughly educated man is the only
decent man in the land. The educated
Jap is very conceited and lmagineS him
self away above the ordinary inortals.
They prize education SO highly that they
will come to this country and would be
willing to black boots If by SO doing they
would earn enough to give them a good
education, and then go back and swell
around as educated men.
'.The Japs have three principal forms of
worship. The first is Buddhism. which
teaches the love of nature; Shintoism,
which inculcates patriotism, and Confu-
cianism, which is not q religion but
moral system, and which inculcates
especially obedience to parents. AS
consequence, the natives fairly idolize
the Emperor and children love and re-
spect their parents while alive, and wor-
ship them when dead. There is very
little crime in Japan and very few pris-
ons. The social evil, however, is very
pronounced, and nowhere more pro
nounced than in the public schools before
Christianity came In.
CHRIsTIANITY's WORK.
The speaker then dwelt at length on
what Christianity had accomplished.
"The Japanese" said he, "begin to
realize that Christianity is the basis OF
true politeness. 1t teaches them to love
their fellow man, and they realize that
the foundation of our civilization is
Christianity. It opens new realm to
them. There are now $4,000 Protestants
and 100 900 of all classes of Christians in
the country. Identified with these are
the leading men in the nation, mobiles,
merchants and Others Of high rank.
Christianity breaks down all official
caste and in the past twenty years it has
revolutionized public opinion in refer
ence to itself Twenty years ago Chris
tianity was ridiculed and laughed at and
declared to be a fraud Now it is prac-
tically accepted. 1t has modified the
intemperance which prevailed at one time.
Nowt the Japanese when they come
into church are compelled to leave their
bottle at home. 1t has modified opinions
of social life. In Toxic, the New York of
Japan, it is expected that in few years
licensing intemperancewill be done away
with altogether. The morals have
been so low In the public schools that
they want a different style where the
Christian element shall predominant.
One prominent statesman said that no
political party could hope to succeed un-
less it had the Christion people on its
side.
In conclusion the speaker said that all
that was now necessary to nuke Japan d
Christian nation Was Japanese Moody,
who would go about ana set fire to the
slnmbering tinder which now exists in
the nation.
FOUR LITTLE THINGS.
Tho Rev. David Mitchell's Pretty Ser
mon to the Children.
At the morning services in the Scotch
Presbyterian Church yesterday every
thing seemed suggestive OF Children's
Day. The pulpit was beautifully deco
rated with garden flowers and wild flow
ers The children occupied pews directly
in front Of the pulpit The pastor, the
Rev. David Mitchell. followed the regular
programme prepared expressly for Chill
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