is the dying, and hard as its
death may be, the mind of new Japan has laid away to dust and oblivion
the Tei-shu philosophy. "At present they (the Chinese classics) have
fallen into almost total neglect, though phrases and allusions borrowed
from them still pass current in literature, and even to some extent in
the language of every-day life." Seido, the great temple of Confucius in
Tokyo, is now utilized as an educational Museum.[17]

A study of this subject and of comparative religion, is of immediate
practical benefit to the Christian teacher. The preacher, addressing an
audience made up of educated Japanese, who speaks of God without
describing his personality, character, or attributes as illustrated in
Revelation, will find that his hearers receive his term as the
expression for a bundle of abstract principles, or a system of laws, or
some kind of regulated force. They do, indeed, make some reference to a
"creator" by using a rare word. Occasionally, their language seems to
touch the boundary line on the other side of which is conscious
intelligence, but nothing approaching the clearness and definiteness of
the early Chinese monotheism of the pre-Confucian classics is to be
distinguished.[18] The modern Japanese long ago heard joyfully the
words, "Honor the gods, but keep them far from you," and he has done it.

To love God would no more occur to a Japanese gentleman than to have his
child embrace and kiss him. Whether the source and fountain of life of
which they speak has any Divine Spirit, is very uncertain, but whether
it has, or has not, man need not obey, much less worship him. The
universe is one, the essence is the same. Man must seek to know his
place in the universe; he is but one in an endless chain; let him find
his part and fulfil that part; all else is vanity. One need not inquire
into the origins or the ultimates. Man is moved by a power greater than
himself; he has no real independence of his own; everything has its rank
and place; indeed, its rank and place is its sole title to a separate
existence. If a man mistakes his place he is a fool, he deserves
punishment.

The Ideals of a Samurai.

Out of his place, man is not man. Duty is more important than being.
Nearly everything in our life is fixed by fate; there may seem to be
exceptions, because some wicked men are prosperous and some righteous
men are wretched, but these are not real exceptions to the general rule
that we are made for our