the special
characteristics of the land and people that you would have desired?
Perhaps, first, as Englishmen or Irishmen, you would have said,
'Give us islands, inseparably and for ever united, give us islands
which can hold their sea-girt independence, and yet near enough to
the mainland to exert influence there.' Such is Japan--the Land of
the Rising Sun. 'Give us a hardy race, not untrained in war by land
and sea; for a nation of soldiers, when won for Christ, fights best
under the banner of the Cross--for we are of the Church militant here
on earth: give us brave men;' and such are the descendants of the
old Daimios and two-sworded Samurai of Japan. 'Give us an industrial
race, not idlers nor loungers, enervated by a luxurious climate, but
men who delight in toil, laborious husbandmen, persevering
craftsmen, shrewd men of business;' and such are the Japanese
agriculturists, who win two harvests a year from their grateful
soil--such are the handicraftsmen there, whose work is the envy of
Western lands; such are the merchants, who hold their own with us in
commerce. 'Give us men of culture, with noble traditions, but not so
wedded to the past that they will not grasp the present and salute
the future;' and such are the quick-witted, myriad-minded Japanese,
who, with a marvellous power of imitation, ever somehow contrive to
engraft their own specialities upon those of Western lands. Witness
their Constitution, their Parliament, their 30,000 schools in active
operation; witness their museums and hospitals; witness their
colleges and universities. 'But,' you would also have said, 'give us
a race whose women are homespun and refined, courteous and winsome,
not tottering on tortured feet, nor immured in zenanas and harems,
but who freely mingle in social life, and adorn all they touch;' and
such, without controversy, are the women of Japan. Above all, 'give
us a reverent and a religious people, who yet are conscious that the
religion of their fathers is unsatisfying and unreal, and who are
therefore ready to welcome the Christ of God;' and such are the
thoughtful races of Japan."

26 See on this subject Study VI in the late Dean Plumptre's _The
Spirits in Prison_. The Christian can scarcely doubt that Gautama
has, long