‘
}

i
au
tt

ese aeate 2
Sacer
ITO

eee
eran ee

pares : = tai a
Sass ines Gee eer = :
= Sree = on > :
ee ee e erro a= 5
= oo : aoa = : 2 ; =
SSS Soe : = = = < ee
: ae a . ‘ ; = =e
Se ree : = a fs
= 2 os - ne =
aes eed So eae % eres . Snr
= =e are ; =
ao 2 ee
= noe SE oro < =
ater, — ie wise oof aon iu
Pea fae He : :
raaeereere Sere Axe Ss ee “ s a
rarer = Secor ms oa =
ee ee Se oar or ees
sane Ne < as Se pee ee
: Sree
eres
_ i
irene? re
Ee Eee

ee ee LE
SIN I

eeeGRINNALDS—TWYFORD
COLLECTION PRESENTED TO THE
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
BY
MR. AND MRS. JEFFERSON C. GRINNALDS
AS A MEMORIAL TO HIS MOTHER

ROBERTA SARAH TWYFORDTHE SECRET OF THE BastOTHER BOOKS BY DR. OLIVER HUCKEL

 

 

FOUR EPOCHS OF WORLD CONQUEST—Dramatic Epi-
sodes in the Coming of Christianit to Hawau, India,
Africa, and among the North American Indians

THROUGH ENGLAND WITH TENNYSON—A Pilgrimage
to the Laureate’s Homes and the Places of his Great Poems

THE HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE COMMON PEO-
PLE—A Study of the Heroic Epochs of Amherst and Mount
Holyoke Colleges

A MODERN STUDY OF CONSCIENCE—Being the George
Dana Boardman Lecture at the University of Pennsylvania.

MENTAL MEDICINE—Conferenres with students at Johns
Hopkins Medical School: introduction by Dr. L. F. Barker.

PIRITUAL SURGERY—Addresses to medical students at the
University of Pennsylvania.

THE HABIT OF HEALTH—How to Gain and Keep It.

A DREAMER OF DREAMS—A New Telling of the Heroic
Story of William Penn, the Quaker

[THE LARGER LIFE—A Book of the Heart

THE MELODY OF GOD’S LOVE—A New Unfolding of the
Shepherd Psalm.

A POET AND HIS SONGS—Memoir and Poems of R. P
Jacoby.

[HE LOOM OF LIFE—A Study of Fate and God.

THE THORN TREE THAT BLOOMED AT CHRISTMAS—
A Legend of Glastonbury Abbey.

FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE—A Handbook of Christian Truth
for Children
WAGNER’S MUSIC DRAMAS—Twelve volumes of new

translation and interpretation—Wagner complete—with a
new life.THE GREAT BUDDHA AT KAMAKURA

(See Page 76)THE

SECRET OF THE EAST

Observations and Interpretations

BY
OLIVER HUCKEE, S:i:D:

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
GRADUATE STUDENT OF OXFORD AND BERLIN

And lo, in the East! Will the East unveil?
The East is unveiled, the East hath confessed
A flush; ’tis dead; ’tis alive; ’tis dead, ere the West
Was aware of it; nay, ’tis abiding, ’tis unwithdrawn:
Have a care, sweet Heaven! ’T1s Dawn!
—SIDNEY LANIER.

NEW YORK

THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY
PUBLISHERS

ROBERTA SARAH TWYFO RD
MEMORIAL PUBLIC LIBRARY
PARKSLEY, V/COPYRIGHT, 1924

By OLIVER HUCKEL

Printed in the United States of AmericaFOREWORD

HIS volume is dedicated to the goodly company

of circumnavigators—teachers, preachers, lawyers,

doctors, merchants and other observers who
were so interested with me in our journey in the Far East
in trying to penetrate its mystery and discover its secret,—
and to all others who in the future may take similar jour-
neys, sailing East or West, to these fascinating lands of
the Sunrise, to far Cathay, and to the golden Indies.

I am writing this prefatory note on Morningside
Heights in New York City near the Cathedral of St. John
the Divine. Here for several years my studies in compara-
tive history of religions have been pursued in the libraries of
Columbia University and Union Seminary. It is a won-
derful outlook. A world-city lies stretching at one’s feet,
and the prospect to east and west seems unbroken and
unending. I remember also the noble days at old Oxford
in England with earlier studies which set my feet on these
Oriental pathways, —the fellowship of Professor Max
Miiller, interpreter of India, Professor James Legge, in-
terpreter of China, and Principal Fairbairn of Mansfield,
who gave me his broad vision of the philosophy of relig-
‘on. The outlook and studies of those years have perhaps
borne some fruit in the lectures and sketches in this vol-
ume, which were given to large groups on a recent won-
derful journey in the Far East.

I feel that we Americans would do well to study the
East and try to understand it. We are not altogether
favorites in the East. hey see our faults as glaringly as
we see their failings. They acknowledge us perhaps as
commercial superiors or as military rivals, but not yet do

vV1 FOREWORD

they admit that we are intellectually or spiritually their
superiors, or even their equals. Many of them are at
times suspicious of us, in spite of our protestations of im-
memorial friendship. We send missionaries. They are
not always gratefully received. We send relief in famine
or earthquake. It is gratefully appreciated. But, at the
same time, what they want most is fair play, and their
own chance for development. They want their indepen-
dence and the respect of other nations—an honest recog-
nition of them among the brotherhood of nations in the
world.

America has a chance to show a magnanimous spirit and
to cultivate helpful friendship with peoples who need our
friendship, as we need theirs. The Pacific is the future
centre of the world. America and the Far East must work
together. The policy of bluster and brag will not do. Un-
just discrimination will not do. Jingoism and fomenting of
war spirit will not do. We must learn to appreciate and
respect, and to cooperate with the Far East to the utmost.
Only thus is the way of progress and the path of peace.

The purpose that I have in mind in these lectures is
only partly information. That can more fully be had from
guide-books. My chief aim is largely that of interpreta-
tion. Even that is not easy. How can one of another
nation enter fully into the spirit of an alien people? Be-
sides, mine is the record of a brief journey, although in
thought it represents a lifetime of interest. Some however,
who have been in foreign lands for thirty years say that
their first impressions were truest, clearest and most
graphic.

Many go to the East full of criticisms or prejudices.
May I confess that I went in a different spirit, for I greatly
admire these lands and people of the Far East. I have been
keenly interested in them for thirty years, and have read
,and studied constantly of them. I have for years sought out
their representatives as they have come to America and have
listened to them eagerly. My recent journey among them
has only intensified my deep affection for them. ThereforeFOREWORD vil

if I criticize them in any way in this volume, it is the criti-
cism of kindly feeling, sincere interest and deep apprecia-
tion. I am earnestly desirous of the best things for them.
I see, not only their wonderful gifts and graces to-day, but
also their splendid potentialities when they shall learn the
full meaning of their life in the world’s progress and wel-
fare. I feel that these people of the East, as well as those
of the West, are my people by rights of love and apprecia-
tion. We all belong together in the great world family,—
children of the one loving Father.

It may seem audacious to call this volume by the title
“The Secret of the East.” That is a large term and means
all the strange fascination and unfathomed mystery of
these lands of the Orient. No one can reveal it entirely.
But I believe that we may get a glimpse of this secret,—
something that we may discern in the atmosphere, the
spirit, the soul of the East,—something that 1s revealed in
the immemorial customs of the people, in their literature
and art, in their temples and daily devotions.

Politics is not the chief concern in the Far East, nor
business. The daily concern is not even their own comfort,
prosperity or progress. The East has been deeply inter-
ested from the dawn of history only in one thing, and that
has been religion. The East is the mother of religions.
Even our Christian gospel is from Asia. The supreme
passion of the East has been its search after God. This
is the clue of the maze. This is the key that can unlock
much of the mystery of the East.

For this search has been rewarded in some strange and
unique ways. The secret of the East is its rich and opulent
sense of God,—of God pervading all life, creating all life,
inspiring all life and revealing Himself in many manifesta-
tions. Sometimes we Western people designate this by a
philosophical term,—the immanence of God. What the
East has always had,—this immediate and all-embracing
consciousness of God,—is just at its dawn among Western
nations. Dr. Edward Everett Hale has said that the doc-
trine of the divine immanence is the new and distinctiveViil FOREWORD

emphasis of Christianity in the twentieth century. It has
taken us full twenty centuries to come to it.

But to the East, this consciousness is native. The
people are pervaded by it, enthralled by it, encompassed
and enfolded by their sense of God. Sometimes they are
overwhelmed by it, as is seen in the excesses of devotion
which seem to us idolatry and in other strange practices
which we saw in India and elsewhere.

The secret of the East is only part of the secret of God
that is being whispered to the world. What the East has
learned will not be complete until the West has confessed
to the East what has been revealed to it. East and West
need each other. The East has become God-intoxicated
until it has sometimes lost its way in excess of light, dazzled
if not blinded by its rapturous revelation. It has some-
times gone too far in its philosophic zeal and called all
things God. It has thought of the world in terms of a
universal and undiscriminating pantheism. ‘This has often
led to confusion. The people have forgotten the fact, the
hard, inevitable fact of personality, individuality, and its
stern duties and demands. ‘They have often lost initia-
tive and ambition, and a sense of personal responsibility
through the vagueness and inertia of a boundless fatalism,
or by the expectation of absorption in a universal and im-
personal essence of God. Such pantheism needs clarifica-
tion and limitation. It needs the vision and strength which
come from clearer conceptions of personality in God and
man.

So after two visits to India, four years apart, President
Charles Cuthbert Hall of Union Seminary, New York,
writes in his volume on Christ and the Eastern Soul: ‘The
witness of its soul to God is the very diadem of the spirit
set upon the calm, contemplative brow of the East. It is
the most regal claim to a divine birthright ever made by
humanity. . . . It is not an attribute of the East: it is the
East itself—its very spiritual substance! . . . . The wit-
ness of the Eastern soul to God is so profound, organic,
involuntary, that it appears, like a commandment writtenFOREWORD ix

upon the heart, to designate the East and set it apart for
a service of the world commensurate in value and depth.”’

Of President Charles Cuthbert Hall, Bishop Brent

said:

Dr. Hall was no stranger to the sacred lore of the East. Without
duly accentuating its merits or detracting from its glories, he aimed
to put this sacred lore of the East into normal relation to the larger
truth as revealed in the Gospel. He knew, and his poetic soul valued,
the magnificent Vedic hymns; he was conversant with the profound
philosophy of the Upanishads ; he was quick to discover Logos teaching
‘n the Mahabharata. Christianity, the fulfilling religion, was the
burden of his song. He said: “The truth that is in your several faiths
cannot be shaken by your assimilation of the faith of Christ. Truth
never casts out truth, it casts out only error, and whatsoever else has
served its purpose fully and is ready to depart.”

Bishop Brent then adds for himself—‘‘Every lesser
truth which the Gospel touches is thereby not destroyed
but transfigured and given new life and power—a fact to
which the modern missionary must respond by studying the
religions which surround him, until his consciousness 1s as
fully saturated by their merits as the consciousness of the
early Christians was saturated by the truths of the Old
Testament. If we find in Oriental Scriptures much that
is repellant and ethically incomplete it is no more than we
find in the polygamies, the deceits, the cruelties of our own
Old Testament. The Old Testament without the interpre-
tative and refining influence of the New, would be a poor
guide to life. The relation which the New Testament
bears to the Old is representative of what it is capable of
being to the scriptures of the Orient. The road to Chris-
tianity for the adherents of great pro-Christian religions
is not through the laborious route of Old Testament
thought, but through their own beliefs straight into the
gospel.”

The religion and philosophy of the West have something
to give the East before the full truth is possessed by the
world. There is a higher pantheism growing in the con-
sciousness of the West which will belong to the heritagex FOREWORD

of the whole world. It is expressed by the poet-prophet
Tennyson in such lines as these from his poem “The
Higher Pantheism’”—

The sun, the moon, the stars, the seas, the hills and the plains—
Art not these, O soul, the Vision of Him who reigns ?

Dark is the world to thee: thyself art the reason why;

For is He not all but that which has power to feel “I am [’’?
Speak to Him then for He hears, and spirit with Spirit can meet—
Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.

I remember hearing Phillips Brooks say in my student
days in Boston that the East had much to give us. So far,
he said, the gospel of Christ has been interpreted to us
by Jewish customs, by Greek intellect, by Roman law and
by Anglo-Saxon reason. What may it not become to us
when interpreted again by the devotional natures of some
of the saints and sages of the East? May it not become a
richer and finer product, seen through their eyes? May it
not come nearer to the fullness of the truth?

We may yet realize that Gandhi and Tagore,—to
speak only of two among the many,—are God’s modern
prophets of the supremacy of the Spirit, and the value of
spiritual character above all material successes. It is in-
teresting to recall that in the Atlantic Monthly for May,
1924, an American writer in reviewing Romain Rolland’s
new biographical sketch and estimate of Mahatma Gandhi,
speaks thus:

Rising above our Western ruin, the immemorial East confronts us
to-day with an authority long unknown. Statesman or saint, brown
ascetic or busy electioneer, the fullness of life or the madness of speed
and steel—the future lies in the choice we shall make.

The Mahatma’s gospel has many sides, but its essence is a reaffir-
mation of the power of religion to remould the world. In the West
we continue to build new states with new governments, new laws,
and new decrees, whilst only from new souls, cleansed by religious
flame, can a new civilization be born. The genius of the Mahatma
lies not in his gospel, which is as ancient as the earth, but in his appli-
cation of it to the confusion and despair of these unhappy times. A
saint with a university degree—perhaps only such a person can lead
this generation to the sun.FOREWORD xl

This book is frankly Christian, and yet we hope in the
broadest and most vital way. It believes in Christian unity
and sees all Christian communions as the one church of
Christ and advocates their fullest fellowship and largest
service together. It deprecates all disputes on theology or
polity. It emphasizes the spiritual fundamentals of faith
and life. It also believes in the coming unity of the great
living religions of the world,—not by compromise but by
comprehension. It goes further than toleration of other
religions. It enters into sympathy and appreciation. It
believes it is absolutely loyal to Christ and His Gospel, and
at the same time it sees good in the other religious leaders
of the world and prophesies a unity of faith in God.

Observations in foreign lands have also enlarged our
appreciation of the work of all true missionaries. Their
tasks are colossal. They are meeting them with heroic and
most self-sacrificing spirit. We saw them on the field,
talked with friends and foes, and we know the facts. We
want to help their great work in every possible way.

We are happy to be in full sympathy with the outlook
and work of the wisest missionary statesman of to-day.
They point out that the former position, a hundred years
ago, for all missionary work, was replacement,—the
heathen religions must be absolutely eradicated, torn up
by the roots, every vestige of former beliefs and practices
must be removed, and the Christian creeds and methods
must replace them. But the present position in missionary
work is fulfillment,—the Christian religion comes to en-
large and fulfill whatever of truth the other religions have,
to eradicate all error and harmful practices, and to inculcate
the fullest truth. The emphasis to-day, therefore, is not
on eradication so much as on fulfillment. It seeks, in Bible
way, to overcome evil with good.

As Principal Garvie of New College, London, says:
“There has been a welcome change in the attitude of Chris-
tian thinkers and scholars, and no less of Christian mis-
sionaries, in recent years. What is being constantly insisted
on is sympathy and appreciation. Hence agreements be-Xl FOREWORD

tween Christianity and other religions are being expected,
and not differences alone. The missionary is discovering
points of contact for his message, the lines of least resis-
tance for his influence, as well as antagonisms to be over-
come. Needs unmet and aspirations unfulfilled in any re-
ligion are being welcomed as offering an opportunity to
show the sufficiency of Christ.”

This book is also frankly for world-order, international
cooperation and permanent peace. It believes that these
must inevitably come through the growing spirit of justice
and brotherhood, if the leading nations are faithful to the
leadings of the Supreme Spirit.

Bishop Charles H. Brent of Western New York, while
Bishop of the Philippines, uttered some significant words
which sum up the situation most forcibly :

The hour is come in which the ends of the earth are rapidly being
drawn together. Races and nations are overflowing their bounds.
Exclusion acts, which by the right of might we of the West erect
against the Orient, are effective only for a moment and will go down
as the corn under the sickle before the world is much older. The
West has laid ruthless hands upon the man of the East, and upon
his tradition; has discounted his religion, has dictated to him the
course he must pursue, has compelled him to accept our mode of edu-
cation. If we now complain that he is aspiring to democracy, that
he expects treatment according to the Golden Rule, that he demands
place among the nations of the world, it is we who have implanted
in his heart aspiration for a national life, equal treatment and inde-
pendent status. Unless the best moral and spiritual ideals of the
West renew and fulfill the ideals of the East, the decadent ideas of
the East are going to sweep through the West with devastating might.
Unless Christianity rises from its lethargic, self-satisfied dreams, and
fulfills its common duty of going with force and a united front to
its world-wide task, it is going to become more effete. But if Chris-
tians reinforce the groups of workers in far-off fields with the flower
of their manhood and womanhood, we can look forward with eager-
ness to the day when the life of East and West will blend in dis-
ciplined and understanding fellowship under the leadership of One
who alone can unify and harmonize our Strangely diversified and
richly endowed humanity. Touched by Christianity, the ideals and
religions of the Orient will be a real contribution to the Kingdom

of God.FOREWORD Xiil

Recent journeys give the facts for this book. But it is
not primarily a book of travels. It is rather, as we said at
the beginning, a book of interpretation. It is written for
any who desire help in understanding the East. I hope that
many Christian ministers and laymen, especially Sunday-
school workers and young people in our churches, schools
and colleges may find here the point of view that may
interest them and the confirmation by facts. I also hope
that this volume may find its way to many missionaries in
foreign fields and encourage them in their work. Above
all, it would be a great pleasure to me if it might find its
way to thoughtful members of other religions,—Confucian,
Buddhist, Hindu or other, and show them what I am sure
are the appreciation, sympathy, and hopes of many earnest
Christian believers.

Many of the positions taken in this book are only
tentative. They are sincere and honest, but no statement
is claimed as infallible. Some of the facts cited may be
fragmentary or have other explanations. We are always
ready for fuller light and revision. All that is claimed is
that none of the observations have been consciously made
to serve theories, but only the truth.

There are included in this volume two lectures, The
Lure of the Sea, given on the mid-Pacific, and The Glory
That Was Greece, given on the Mediterranean, that do
not strictly belong to the main subject of the volume—The
Secret of the East—although they have reference to it.
They were a preparation for the other lectures, and are
included because they were given in the course of the
world-journey, and also at the special request of the large
group to whom they were first given. I have also added
three lectures that were thought out and talked over on
this journey but not fully given,—the lectures on Hawaii
and its Problem of the East, Japan of To-day and To-
morrow, and Mohammed as a Prophet of the East. The
lectures on How Buddha Lost India, and The Higher
Buddhism of China and Japan have been somewhat
amplified.XIV FOREWORD

Many places in these lectures retain the direct spoken
form of address. Now and then, it may add directness and
variety to the subject.

Grateful acknowledgments are made by the author to
his wife, who shared all these experiences in the Far East
and has been most valuable in the preparation of the manu-
script for publication, and to his son, O. Wentworth
Huckel, of Williams College, and also to Miss Ambia H.
Harris, of Smith College and Columbia University, for
clerical assistance that was much appreciated.

May I say that I come back from the Far East after
this journey of observation and interpretation with a great
hopefulness in my heart. I am sure that a new and won-
derful day is dawning. None of us are presumptuous
enough to believe that we have actually discovered the full
secret of the East, but we do begin to understand the deep
significance of many things in the East that were long re-
garded as mysterious and unfathomable.

I hope that these addresses, so cordially received when
given in the Far East, where impressions were fresh and
the environment so stimulating, will be equally serviceable
to others who, in their travels or at their fireside, may
desire to enter appreciatively into the,mystery and mean-
ing of the Other Side of the World.

OLIVER HUCKEL.
Address :
Care of Thomas Y. Crowell Co.,
New York City.CONTENTS

ForEworp: A HINT OF THE SECRET. . - + = >

tre IURE OF THE OPEN SEA =) 2 q-) <=) =) =
SomME ROMANCES OF THE ISLAND WORLD . - - «= >
HAWAIL AND ITs ORIENTAL PROBLEM . - - - = >
Einst GLIMPSE OF FUJI: ASKETCH . - + += = = »
JAPAN OF TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW. - - + + = *
MooNLIGHT AT KAMAKURA: A SKETCH . - «+ « >
ConFucius: THE Man AND His MEssAGE . . - -
GHINACAND THE CHANGING CHINESE 9) gs) eh =
MopERN MovEMENTS IN CHINA . - - + = «= =

SoME CONVERSATIONS IN CHINA ef AEs eee ieee
Wirn GENERAL LEONARD Woop IN THE PHILIPPINES.
SUNSETS IN JAVA: A SKETCH

THE GLory OF THE GOLDEN PAGODA OF BURMA. .« .

ve HARTY RELIGION-OR UNDIAG... 5) 4) ye. tne meee
AEE SECRET OF BUDDHANA) 2) 00 eae ee
Across INDIA WITH Kim: A SKETCH eae ne eee

How BuppHa Lost INDIA AND GAINED OTHER LANDS

THR WAST: fic Ser eS OS Pe ee ee
Tue HicHER BUDDHISM OF CHINA AND JAPAN. .-

Tue Tay MAHAL: A TRIBUTE TO A WoMAN. .
XV

OF

PAGBH

198
207
225XVI CONTENTS

PAGE
He Drur Asour Mopvern, HINDUISM. © . .. qeeeeZo
(MHEGRARSEES|/OF, BOMBAY i° .  . .° «. 4 a)
AN Hour witH MaHatmMa GANDHI 276
MoHAMMED AS A PROPHET OF THE East .. . . .. .. 295
Moprern ATHENS AND THE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE... 315
WHIINESSESIOR THE NEW, DAY . . °« .- .) 2) [Re
GLIMPSES OF THE Hoty Lanp: ASkeTcH. . . . .. . 339
FELLOWSHIP OF THE SUNRISE : : 361
A SUNRISE ON THE Himatayas: A SKETCH : 366

ILLUSTRATIONS

THE GREAT BUDDHA AT KAMAKURA
Photo at Kamakura

«1 6) te, eee oneisprece

FACING
PAGE
AN OBSERVER IN THE Far East . ee eh ee eS 6
Photo by Colonial Studios
WIEOERVVAIREL OF LIFE... i ie a 196
Photo by J. Burlington Smith, Darjeeling
THE Tay Manat at AcrRA <.. bet eee 226

Photo at Agra

Dr. RABINDRANATH TAGORE
Photo by Underwood and Underwood

ManHatMa GAnpHI ee et ay 16
Photo by Wide World Photos

SUNRISE ON THE HIMALAYAS

ee a SLO
Photo by J. Burlington Smith, DarjeelingTHE SECRET OF THE EAST

THE LURE OF THE OPEN SEA
. STONISHING, when we consider it,—three-quarters

of the world is given over to salt water, and equally
astonishing that one single ocean—the Pacific—takes
up more than a third of the surface of the globe.

As I write, I have been just ten days out on a new
voyage. So far on this cruise we have sailed for a few days
on the Atlantic, just skirted the Gulf of Mexico, skimmed
the blue surface of the Caribbean Sea and have begun a
voyage on the boundless Pacific. The voyage will traverse
all of Kipling’s Seven Seas. We are to sail on Japan's
Inland Sea, the China Sea, the Gulf of Bengal, the Arabian
Gulf, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean itself. More
than half our days on this great voyage of the world must
be on the sea. It is worthwhile getting acquainted with
the lore and romance of the sea.

One of the most fascinating of seas is that one which
is largely unknown—a sea of mystery. The Sargasso Sea,
as it is called, is a region in the Atlantic about which many
legends are told. It is often called ‘the graveyard of the
Atlantic’ because many wrecks and driftage finally find
their way to it. It is 25° north and 30° west and was first
discovered by Columbus in his initial voyage in 1492. It is
a huge plantation of floating gulf-seaweed whose filaments
extending far downward to the bottom of the sea, anchor
it to a general fixed position. It has been partly explored
in 1910 and in 1920, and found to have patches of free
surface, as well as a jungle of weeds. The many legends
about it—such as its subtle power of drawing into its

12 DHE SECRET OF THE BRASH

clutches vessels that came too near—its concentric circles
ending at last in an engulfing maelstrom—its wide influence
extending as by a hypnotic charm over the whole Atlantic
and drawing wrecks to itself by mystic currents—are not
believed as devoutly as they formerly were. Careful scien-
tific exploration dispels so many of our long-cherished illu-
sions. Yet I have read magazine articles within two or
three years past, that relate all these tales and legends as
if they were perfectly authentic. We love to believe the
miraculous and the gruesome.

Sometimes I love to think of the lure of the sea on the
side of its subtle appeal—the call of the sea—the tang in
the blood. Or, as if the sea were a siren of the deep, whose
voice could not be resisted. I think of the lure of the
beauty of the sea—the magic beauty, of the moonlight
nights on the water, the shimmering mornings, the sun-
rises and the sunsets,—the lure of health, the fresh free
air of the sea, the tang of the salt, the thrill of the gale, the
exultation of the storm,—the lure of the life of the depths,
the fauna and flora of the hidden leagues far below, the
brightness and beauty of the forms of life that swim and
glide and float in the depths, the forests and mountains,—
the lure of mystery, of the wrecks of Spanish galleons full
of treasure, of pirates and adventurers and explorers,—the
lure of myth and romance—of memories of the sea, of
nereids, Neptune and his hosts and all the rich mythology
of the past. All these are fascinating and inspiring, full of
fancy and poetry. But I have chosen to write more fully
of another form of the lure of the sea—the fascination of
the sea as seen in great sea-novels and sea-poems. They
reveal the spell of the sea, as it touches lives of genius.

As I was contemplating this new voyage by which I
should “circumnavigate the globe,” as the phrase is, sud-
denly there came upon me as a flash the thought of the
splendid poems and novels that had been written about the
sea. I had read them one by one at intervals of the year,
but never before had I thought of them all together. Now
I saw them as a great string of sea-pearls.THE LURE, OF THE OREN SsEhA 3

As I mention a few of these—the classics of the sea,
and a few of them less well-known but equally wonderful
—I think that you may agree with me that the genius of
the world has felt the spell of the sea and has given the
world an immortal heritage in poems and novels of the
great deep.

I need not go back to The Odyssey of Homer, although
that is one of the greatest sea-tales of history. Nor to
those strange and picturesque Voyages of Marco Polo, one
of the earliest travelers to far Cathay. Marco Polo saw
the Pacific Ocean two hundred years before Balboa saw it
at Panama. Marco Polo saw it from China, Balboa was
the first European to see it from America.

But we will begin with Columbus and his adventure
across the unknown deep in order to find a quicker passage
to the Golden Indies. He did not find the way to India,
but he found America, although he never knew it even to
the day of his death. The new islands that first rewarded
his search have been called the West Indies, but he never
reached East India, as he thought he did—never dream-
ing of the Pacific.

What an adventure was that first voyage of Columbus!
There have been many books on Columbus and his sea-
epic, and some fine poems. The best poem that I know is
that by Joaquin Miller, the poet of the Sierras. He has
finely entered into the spirit of Columbus.

Behind him lay the gray Azores
Behind, the Gates of Hercules;

Before him not the ghost of shores,
Before him only shoreless seas.

The good mate said, “Now must we pray,
For lo, the very stars are gone.

Brave Admiral, speak, what shall I say?”
“Why, say, ‘Sail on! sail on! and on!’ é

“My men grow mutinous day by day;
My men grow ghastly wan and weak.”

The stout mate thought of home; a spray
Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek.4. hk SECRET OF THE WASH
“What shall I say, brave Admiral, say,

If we sight naught but sea at dawn 2”
“Why, you shall say at break of day,
4 e . >’ 99
‘Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!

They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow,
Until at last the blanched mate said.
“Why, now not even God would know
Should I and all my men fall dead.
These very winds forget their way,
For God from these dread seas is gone.
Now speak, brave Admiral, speak and say—”
He said, “Sail on! sail on! and on!”

They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate:
“This mad sea shows his teeth tonight.
He curls his lip, he lies in wait,
With lifted teeth, as if to bite!
Brave Admiral, say but one good word:
What shall we do when hope is gone?”
The words leapt like a leaping sword:
“Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!”

Then pale and worn, he kept his deck,
And peered through darkness. Ah, that night
Of all dark nights! And then a speck
A light! A light! A light! A light!
It grew. A starlit flag unfurled!
It grew to be Time’s burst of dawn.
e gained a world; he gave that world
Its grandest lesson: “On! sail on YY

 

The sea book that is most widely known—that is al-
most as familiar as the Bible and Pilgrim’s Progress—is
Robinson Crusoe. Scarcely a boy or a girl in America or
England for two hundred years but has read it. It tells,
you will remember, of the period after Columbus’s discoy-
eries. The origin of it, as most of you know, was the real
adventure of Alexander Selkirk, on the island of Juan
Fernandez in 1704 to 1709, when he lived there alone for
four years and four months. But Daniel Defoe, an English
writer, took that story of Alexander Selkirk and retold it
with so much of detail and such seeming facts that it readsTHE CURE, OF THEVOREN SEA 5

as if it all actually happened. And Robinson Crusoe is as
much alive to-day as any historical personage. He is the
embodiment of the sailors and adventurers of that period
—their shrewdness, their resourcefulness and their splen-
did worth. It was to record Alexander Selkirk’s feelings
that the poet Cowper wrote the famous poem beginning,

I am monarch of all I survey,
My right there is none to dispute;
From the centre all round to the sea
I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
O Solitude, where are the charms
That sages have seen in thy face?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms
Than reign in this horrible place.

The story of Robinson Crusoe was published in 1719
under the quaint title, “The Life and Strange Surprising
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner; who
lived eight and twenty years all alone a an uninhabited
island on the coast of America near the mouth of the great
River Oroonoque; having been cast on shore by shipwreck,
wherein all the men perished but himself. With an ac-
count of how he was at last delivered by pirates. Written
by himself.”

The success of the story was instantaneous. Four edi-
tions were published in four months. It was the best seller
of its day. It is a book that gives pleasure, information
and instruction. Rousseau held that it is a book that every
boy should read first, and read longest. Dr. Johnson, who
wrote the first great dictionary of the English language,
comments on Robinson Crusoe by saying, ‘“‘Was there any-
thing written by mere man that was wished longer by its
readers, except Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe and The
Pilgrim’s Progress?”

Another wonderful novel of the sea is Charles Kings-
ley’s great sea-story called Westward Ho! It is the story
of a later period, but equally full of picturesqueness and
adventure. It is a story of Charles Kingsley’s own region
—Clovelly and Devon, and especially of old Plymouth and6 THE SECRED OF THE BASE

old Biddeford. Sir Richard Grenville and Sir Francis
Drake come into the story, but the hero is a gallant youth
of North Devon, named Amyas Leigh. And scarcely less
a hero is his friend Salvation Yeo of Devon, gallant sailor
and soldier. It is the time of the Spanish Armada and the
story is full of life and adventure—tales of the West Indies,
the Barbadoes and Virginia.

Robert Louis Stevenson has put the whole world in
his debt—and especially the world of boys—by his story
of Treasure Island. It does not need retelling. We all
know it. Suffice it to say that it is one of the best stories
in the world, full of spicy adventure, redolent of real
pirates, heroic in its deeds, and true to the finest traditions
of honor. It is clean, wholesome, inspiriting, a real trea-
sure of the sea itself. Jim Hawkins is the boy hero. He
had sailed with a party of adventurers—gentlemen—to
find the treasure buried on an island which they knew of.
But the crew were mostly pirates and they also knew of
the treasure. And various adventures befell. It is a story
that can be read again and again. Stevenson, I am sure,
hugely enjoyed writing it.

I remember the time when Howard Pyle’s Marooners
and Marauders of the Spanish Main exercised a weird
fascination over me, as it does over succeeding generations
of boys. There is something thrilling about such a book.
Pirates are not really lovable, but they are such picturesque
scoundrels, and sometimes they even have a touch of gal-
lantry about them. One of my fellow-townsmen in Green-
wich, Connecticut, Mr. Don Seitz, managing editor of the
New York Evening World, has the finest and largest col-
lection of pirate literature in this country. He has made
a hobby of it for years. And another of my fellow-towns-
men is one of the gifted and most eminent painters of ships
and sea-views embodying the poetry and reality of the sea
that America has yet produced—Mr. James G. Tyler,
whose fine work is acknowledged and admired everywhere.

I wonder if there are any who have never read the
poem of The Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coler-THE LURE OF THE OPEN SEA 7

idge? My father knew it by heart and portions of it I
have heard him recite over and over again in my boyhood
days. The poem is one of the classics of the English lan-
guage. No one could use our tongue with more music and
melody than Coleridge, unless it be Edgar Alan Poe. The
sailors are full of signs, symbols and superstitions, and
Coleridge takes an old sea yarn about the slaying of an
albatross and shows its train of evil consequences. It is the
same subtle superstition that we find in Wagner’s Parsifal
—in the shooting of the white swan and the woes that
followed. The story begins:

It is an ancient Mariner

And he stoppeth one of three—

“By my long grey beard and glittering eye
Now wherefore stopp’st thou me?”

The Wedding Guest is late—he hears the loud bassoons
of the music,—but

He holds him with his skinny hand;
‘There was a ship,’ quoth he.

“Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!’
Eftsoons his hand dropt he.

He holds him with his glittering eye—
The Wedding Guest stood still,

And listens like a three-years’ child—
The Mariner hath his will

The Wedding Guest sat on a stone
He cannot choose but hear

And thus spake on that ancient man

The bright-eyed Mariner.

He tells a strange, weird story. We have not time to
retell it in full, but in brief it is this: Our ship sailed from
England for the South Seas, and down toward the Antarctic.

One day an albatross came through the fog and landed
on the ship and ate the food the sailors gave it. It was a
good omen. A good south wind sprang up. All was going
well, when one day, just for sport, says the Mariner, I shot
the albatross with my cross-bow. Oh, it was a hellish
thing to do. Then all our luck changed.8 PAE SECRED OF THE BASE

I wonder how many today have read that old sea-novel
called Mr. Midshipman Easy, by Captain Marryat. It is
one of the old-fashioned sailor yarns. I remember my father
talking to me about it when I was a boy. He had read
it when he was a boy. And I think of other of Captain
.Marryat’s stories, especially Japhet in Search, of a Father
and Peter Simple. Peter Simple is considered Marryat’s
best, but Mr. Midshipman Easy is probably his most popu-
lar, as it is the gayest and most humorous of his works.
It is full of adventure and romance, sea-battles and hair-
breadth escapes. It has a love-story running through it
and coming out happily. It has some purpose. It aims to
correct abuses in the British navy and to inculcate practical
social principles, instead of the fancies of human rights and
social equality. It is very severe on these. It is thus a
satire on the democratic tendencies of the French revolu-
tion. It was written in the epoch that followed this politi-
cal upheaval. But the chief characteristic of the book is
its overflowing fun. It is the most humorous sea story that
I have ever read. It is almost a naval counterpart of the
humorous episodes of Don Quixote.

It might be hard for many to decide which is the great-
est novel of Victor Hugo. Many would vote for Les
Miserables, some for The Hunchback of Notre Dame,
but for pure artistry and sublimity I think that not a few
would give the palm to The Toilers of the Sea. Les Miser-
ables exposed the tyranny of human law, but The Toilers of
the Sea shows the conflict of man with nature. Do you
remember that famous combat with a tempest in the novel,
The Toilers of the Sea, in which the elemental powers seem
personified into giants struggling with man? And there is
another combat with a huge cuttle-fish or devil-fish with
eight giant arms. But the most famous sea-combat that
Victor Hugo has ever described is in his novel called Ninety
Three. It is the duel between a man and a cannon. Some-
how the cannon had wrenched itself loose in the storm. It
rushed across the deck from one side to the other. It shat-
tered four other cannon: it crushed five of the crew toTHE LURE OF THE OPEN SEA 9

death; it made two huge gaps in the side of the ship above
the water line. It was a great destroying monster, wild
with sardonic rage. But at last one man who knew how,
tackled it and stopped it with a marling-spike in the right
place, and a man’s brain and courage had conquered in the
awful combat.

Another Frenchman besides Victor Hugo has written
of the sea. As clear and exquisite as a cameo and yet with
flashings of diamond and of opal light is Pierre Loti’s
charming classic of the sea entitled Pecheur d’Islande,—
The Iceland Fisherman. The story is of simple folk, but
the word painting is superb.

I remember still another Frenchman who delighted in
the sea. As a boy, with what eagerness I devoured Jules
Verne’s great sea yarns, especially Round the World in
Eighty Days. A Floating City, published in 1871, gives
his account of a voyage on the Great Eastern, an imaginary
boat which in these days has been vastly surpassed. ‘Those
other books, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
and The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne, were flights of
a fascinating imagination for that day, but these also have
come true in the marvellous advance of modern science.
The submarine that he imagined is an actuality, and a fight-
ing actuality. And the next great war, if there should ever
be such (God forbid!) will be almost entirely fought under
the water and high up in the air. So military experts tell us.

Another sea story, called Two Years Before the Mast,
‘s such a classic in its way, and has been through so many
editions since it was first published, about 1841, that it
seems as if everyone must have read it. And yet some have
not, so that a few words about it may be fitting.

It is the story of a young Harvard undergraduate of
1834 who “determined to cure if possible (as he himself
tells us), by an entire change of life and by a long absence
from books, with plenty of hard work, plain food and open
air, a weakness of the eyes which had obliged him to give
up his studies and which no medical aid seemed likely to
remedy.” So he became a sailor on the brig Pilgrim, sail-IO DHE VSECRED OF THE RAS

ing from Boston around Cape Horn to the western coast
of North America. Dana tells this story well and it is full
of most picturesque and exciting incidents. It is a veritable
history of the voyage, jotted down from day to day ina
pocket notebook and then written out more fully at his
leisure. It is not a work of imagination, but of insight and
appreciation. He had eyes to see and a heart to understand.
And his plain story has all the interest and romance of a
novel. In a certain sense the book was written with a pur-
pose, for by it he wanted to awaken the conscience of the
nation and do something to redress the grievances and re-
lieve the sufferings that came to the lot of most common
sailors of his day as he had known them on board ship.
The book is beautiful and accurate, but more than that, the
pleasant and at times piquant style gives it attractiveness.
It is picturesque, it is vivid in its description, it is full of
human sympathy, and its prose style also has in it much of
poetry in phrase and feeling.

The story is told that a famous English poet once
quoted from it a page concerning the falling overboard of
one of the crew and made the comment—That is a bit of
American prose that has in it more poetry than in much
modern verse.”

John Masefield is a passionate lover of the sea. His
marvellous poem called Dauber is an epic of the sea.
Masefield wrote many salt water ballads. Do you remem-
ber the one called Sea Fever? or his Cargoes?

Or you may remember Allan Cunningham, and his fa-
mous ballad, beginning:

A wet sheet and a flowing sea,
A wind that follows fast,

And fills the white and rustling sail,
And bends the gallant mast.

Probably nothing finer or more majestic has ever been

written on the ocean than Lord Byron’s stanzas in Childe
Flarold’s Pilgrimage:

Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean,—roll!
Ten thousand fleets Sweep over thee in vain. . .THE LURE, OF THE OPEN SEA il

The oak leviathans, whose huge ribs make

Their clay creator the vain title take

Of lord of thee and arbiter of war:

These are thy toys.

Thy shores are empires, changed in all save thee—
Assyria, Greece, Rome, Carthage, where are theyit) < ae
Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow—

Such as creation’s dawn beheld, thou rollest now.

Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty’s form
Glasses itself in tempests; in all time,

Calm or convulsed,—in breeze, or gale, or storm,
Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime
Dark-heaving, boundless, endless, and sublime,
The image of Eternity, the throne

Of the Invisible.

A score of the great poets and myriads of minor poets
are rich in their response to the mystery and majesty of
the sea.

But have you read Java Head by Joseph Hergesheimer ?
This novel comes into the sea in literature because it is a
story of old Salem and skippers who sailed the China seas.
Salem was a wonderful shipping port in the old days. It
was thought, at one time, that it would outdistance Boston.
The famous Essex Museum there is the finest nautical
museum of this continent, with its models of ships and all
things of the sea.

One of the most picturesque of Richard Wagner's great
music-dramas, called The Flying Dutchman, embodies in
melodious verse and in fascinating music the medieval story
of the phantom ship, doomed to wander forever on the sea
because her captain had sworn to round that cape “in spite
of the devil.” Wagner puts the atmosphere of the North
Sea into his story and shows his genius in such gems as
“The Sailor’s Chorus” and ‘‘The Spinning Song.”

Another of Wagner’s great music-dramas, Tristan and
Isolda, has its first act at sea, as Tristan on behalf of King
Mark is bringing home the royal bride. This drama is the
high-water mark of Wagner’s genius and its music is as
weird and dream-like as the witchery of night, and as soft
and wave-like as the restless sea.12 THE SECRETE OF THE EAST

Many famous sea books I can but name, such as The
Pilot by Fenimore Cooper, the various wonderful sea stories
told by the American, W. Clark Russell, such as The Wreck
of the Grosvenor and a dozen other sea yarns, the splendid
stories of the English writer, W. H. G. Kingston, such as
The Three Midshipmen, The Three Admirals, and many
others, the daring yarns of Jack London, such as The Sea
Wolf. The Narrative of the Mutineers of The Bounty
was one of the thrilling tales of my boyhood days, along
with Captain Cook’s Voyages, and that modern yarn, The
Cruise of the Cachalot by Frank T. Bullen. Mare Nostrum
is a great epic of the Mediterranean by the Spanish writer
Ibanez. These are all full of the romance and heroism of
the sea. They make good yarns of the forecastle.

But I must devote a little more time than mere men-
tion to a few books of the modern day which have linked
the sea with the subtlest psychology of human nature, and
even by that instinctive portrayal of inner life have made
the sea more fascinating than ever. I mean such remark-
able sea stories as those of Joseph Conrad. Conrad’s great-
est sea novel, to my mind, is Lord Jim, which I hope you
have read. Conrad had a most romantic history himself.
He was born in Poland. When he came to England, at the
age of twenty or thereabouts, he did not know English.
But he learned it so well that he is acknowledged to be
one of the greatest writers of English. He gets his knowl-
edge of the sea at first-hand, for he went to sea when he
was merely a boy and he was in the English service for
some years. Conrad’s stories are good, as stories, and
they hold the interest to the end. They are mystery stories,
but emphatically they are sea stories, with wonderful de-
scriptions of the sea—the calm, the storms, the foreign
ports and all a sailor’s life.

Probably of all Conrad’s sea stories Typhoon is the
most haunting. It comes back to the remembrance often
as a terrible nightmare after one has read it. And yet it
is a wonderful piece of writing—a description of a wind
torm on the China seas. The ship “plunged, ended in a
shock, as if she had her forefoot on something solid.THE LURE OF THE OPEN SEA 13

Then, formidable and swift, like the sudden smashing of
a Vial of Wrath, something seemed to explode all around
the ship, as if an immense dam had been blown up. It was
as if the whole China Sea had climbed over the ship, toss-
ing, flinging and rolling great masses of water over every-
thing. The ship seethed in a boiling caldron. She was
looted by a senseless, destructive fury. It was a mysterious
madness, impenetrable obscurity, rush, deluge and uproar.
It was like the wildest of dreams. . . . And yet the awful
gale was weathered.” The Chinese coolies, fighting each
other when battened down in the hull, were all saved. The
ship lived. And Captain MacWhirr brought everything
out all right. Few of us have seen a typhoon. Only one
ship in a thousand ever meets one. A small steamer like
the Nan-Shan would be tossed heavily and almost over-
whelmed; a great steamer like the Laconia would be shaken
but would push on bravely, master of the fiercest gales.

Speaking of typhoons, did you ever think how many
and various are the winds of the ocean? ‘The ancients
named many of them—Eolus, Boreas, Euroclydon. The
mariner’s compass provides for thirty-two different winds
from thirty-two directions. Some have names—the trade-
winds and the winds of the equator; the winds of the Gulf
Stream, which disgorges the great fogs of Newfoundland,
the iron whirlwinds of the Chinese seas; the electric winds
of Japan; the Java monsoons, the sirocco, the mistral which
sweep over land and sea; the winds that assailed Columbus
and that defeated the Great Armada. The winds are legion,
but a modern ocean-steamer defies them all.

I wonder if you know an old English song of the sea
that gives the sailor’s point of view most quaintly :

One night came on a hurricane,
The sea was mountains rollin’,
When Barney Buntline turned his quid,
And said to Billy Bowline:
“A strong nor’wester’s blowin’,” Bill!
Hark, don’t you hear it roar now?
Lord help ’em, how I pities all
Unhappy folks on shore now!14 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

“Foolhardy chaps who live in town,
What danger they are all in,

And now are quaking in their beds
For fear the roof should fall in.

Poor creatures! how they envy us,
And wish, as I’ve a notion,

For our good-luck—in such a storm
To be upon the ocean!

“But as for them, they’re out all day
On business from their houses,

And late at night are coming home
To cheer their babes and spouses,

When you and I, Bill, on the deck
Are comfortably lying,

My eyes! what tiles and chimney pots
About their heads are flying!

“And very often have we heard
How men are killed and undone,

By overturn of carriages,
By thieves and fires in London.

We know what risks all landsmen run,
From noblemen to tailors;

Then, Bill, let us thank Providence
That you and I are sailors.”

And now I come to an entirely different kind of story.
Moby Dick is one of the greatest, if not the greatest sea
yarn, ever spun. It is published as a classic of the sea by
the Oxford University Press in England. It was first pub-
lished in New York in 1851. Its author, Herman Melville,
wrote it when he was thirty-two years old, and he never
did a greater piece of work. It was his masterpiece.

Melville was born in New York in 1819, and died there
in 1891, at the age of seventy-two, after a life of adventure.
He was eighteen when he went to sea as a cabin-boy on a
vessel sailing to Liverpool. That was his first taste of salt-
water life. Herman Melville is acknowledged to be master
of all who have written of the sea. John Masefield, the
poet, who loves the sea, says that Moby Dick speaks theTHE LURE OF THE OPEN SEA 15

whole secret of the sea. Stevenson was a great admirer,
and his Treasure Island owes much of its inspiration to
Melville and his genius. Barrie confesses that he owes his
creation, Captain Hook, to Melville.

Melville wrote some other books which were popular
and have had a wide reading. His earlier books, like the
romances of the South Seas, books called Typee and Omoo,
have had a revival in recent years when Frederick O'Brien's
White Shadows in the South Seas and other similar volumes
have whetted the imagination of the public. But Moby
Dick, while rich and opulent in its learning, 1s still so full
of humor and real human interest. It is a marvellous piece
of work. Such fancy, such imagination, such astonishing
bursts of thought. It flashes with genius. Some have called
‘t the utmost limits of human imagination—absolutely un-
surpassed and unsurpassable. “To read it is the crown of
one’s reading in this life,” says Viola Meynell in the preface
to the Oxford edition. It is Miltonic or Shakespearean in
its opulence of reference and imagination.

Allow me, also, to recall the splendid lines of Walt
Whitman, called Passage to India. You remember that we
began by reference to the voyage of Columbus in his seek-
ing of a northwest passage to India. Some of us are now
doing what Columbus longed to do and died without accom-
plishing. Walt Whitman in these lines carries us further
in our thought—to him Passage to India means the voyage,
the discovery, the adventure of the soul in all new enter-
prise of faith and daring in the world.

Passage, O soul, to India! ....

Not you alone, proud truths of the world!

Nor ye alone, ye facts of modern science... -

Lo, soul! seest thou not God’s purpose from the first?
The earth to be spanned, connected by net-work,
The people to become brothers and SISTELS) -tas dens
The oceans to be crossed, the distant brought near,
The lands to be welded together... -

You captains, voyagers, explorers, yours!

You engineers, you architects, machinists, yours!
You, not for trade or transportation only,

But in God’s name, and for thy sake, O soul.....16 DHE SECRET OF THE EAST

Passage, indeed, O soul, to primal thought!

Not lands and seas alone—thy own clear freshness,
The young maturity of brood and bloom;

To realms of budding bibles

O soul, repressless, I with thee and thou with me,
The circumnavigation of the world begin;

Of man, the voyage of his mind’s return,

To reason’s early paradise,

Back, back, to wisdom’s birth, to innocent intuitions,
Again with fair Creation.

O we can wait no longer!

We too take ship, O soul!

Joyous we too launch out in trackless seas! . . « «
Caroling free—singing our song of God,

Chanting our chant of pleasant exploration. . .. «

What aspirations, wishes—

What dreams of the ideal? what plans of purity, perfection?
What cheerful willingness for other’s sake to give up all?
For other’s sake to suffer all?

Reckoning ahead, O soul, when thou, the time achieved,

(The seas all cross’d, weather’d the capes, the voyage done)
Surrounded, copest, frontest God, yieldest, the aim attain’d,

As, fill’d with friendship, love complete, the Elder Brother found,
The Younger melts in fondness in his arms... . .

Passage to more than India!

O secret of the earth and sky!

Passage—the blood burns in my veins!

Away O soul! hoist instantly the anchor!

Cut the hawsers—haul out—shake out every sailil ; .< 3

Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only! ... .

For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go.
And we risk the ship, ourselves and all.

O my brave soul!

Are they not all the seas of God?
O farther, farther, farther sail !SOME ROMANCES OF THE ISLAND WORLD

HAT an immense body of water is the Pacific.

W We get a new conception of its size when we drive

across its waters seven days from Los Angeles

to Hawaii, and another twelve days from Honolulu to

Japan. It is colossal, seemingly boundless, but not empty.

It has some of the most interesting and fascinating islands

in the world. There are at least twenty-five hundred good-

sized islands, and as many as ten thousand if we include

diminutive ones. This is the island world that now claims
our attention.

May I recall a few of the great romances of this island
world and try to show some of the real human interests
of this international ocean? I will need to remind you of
the heroic days of the past, and to pay tribute to the daunt-
less navigators and courageous missionaries who dared all
things in helping to bring this island world to conditions
of better living and wider knowledge—in a word, to Chris-
tian civilization.

Let me relate a legend. Once on a time the Great
Spirit, Manitou the Mighty, thought that he would create
men to live on the earth, for at that time this world was
lonely and without people to prove its words or build its
cities. So he took of the mud of the earth,—a whitish
clay,—and he moulded up the figure of a man and put
him in the oven to bake. Somehow other things were also
to be attended to, and the clay man was left in the oven
too long, and when he was taken out he was all burnt and
black, and the Great Spirit Manitou said “Ugh!” and threw
him over into darkest Africa and he became the father of
the black race.

He determined to make something better. He moulded
his whitish clay again and put the figure of a man in the
oven to bake. He would not make the mistake again of

1718 THE SECRET OF THE EAS?

allowing him to burn and blacken, so he had not been in
long before he took him out. Alas, he was hard, but he
was underdone and white. It was again a poor work and
he threw him over into that mixed-up region of Europe
and Asia. He was the father of the pale-faces.

He resolved to try once more. The third time would
settle it. So he mixed his whitish clay again and made a
noble figure of a man and put it in the oven to bake and
stayed and watched it carefully. He allowed it to bake
until it was just right, just to his perfect liking. Then he
took it out, and it was a rich bronze, a red brown, the per-
fect thought of the Great Spirit. He was father of the
red people of the world, and Manitou placed him in the
choicest part of the world,—this region of North Amer-
ica,—for his hunting ground and his home.

Why have I told this legend? Merely to suggest that
there are more ways than one’ of looking at things, and to
remind us that the white race is not the only race on earth.
Perhaps God is just as much pleased with his red and his
brown children as He is with us. Perhaps they are just
as close to His heart.

The islands of the Pacific, as many think, are the most
beautiful regions in the world,—and the most romantic.
Its clustering islands are glimpses of Paradise in the beauty
of their scenery and in the luxury of their fruits and flowers.
Prof. Charles W. Stoddard in his charming volume of
South Sea Idyls thus in a few words paints the picture:

Islands of tranquil delights rose out of the sea; pyramids of
flowers girdled with a silver zone; reefs that flashed and opened to
admit us and then seemed to close again, and shut us in a little
world of unutterable beauty. Gardens in perfect bloom; the air
all spring; the palm trees waving their melodious branches above
the sea; glorious green peaks—in an eternal crown of beauty.

Do you realize what is included in this island world of
the South Pacific? It covers an area as large as all Asia
and all Europe. There are, as we said, nearly ten thousand
islands of all sizes in this world, called Oceania. Yet so
wide the sea and so small many of the islands that SpanishROMANCES OF THE ISLAND WORLD 1g

navigators in the 16th century cruised among them for fifty
years without ever sighting any save a very few. We
classify them usually into four great groups of islands,—
Malaysia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia,—but they
are one great world,—an oceanic Venice of primitive peo-
ples all closely related. They are mostly volcanic or coral
islands in their origin. They have risen ages ago from the
bottom of the sea, like Venus from the sea-foam. Now
and for centuries they have been paradises of beauty and
fertility.

Many of the groups of these islands have queer names.
For instance, The Friendly Islands, Navigators’ Islands,
The Society Islands, Disappointment Island, Loyalty Is-
land. These names were given by Captain Cook. Others
have the native names,—Fiji, Tonga, Tahiti, Papua. And
some of them have in recent years been much in the public
eye, such as the little island of Guam, the Samoan Islands,
the Hawaiian Islands, and perhaps most interesting and
important of any at present, the Philippines.

When I was a boy the works that I devoured most
eagerly were Captain Cook’s Voyages. They were the
accounts of his many explorations and discoveries in this
island world. They were most fascinating stories,—seem-
ing to me like great romances,—but, as I have since learned,
they are a vivid but fairly true account of the wonders of
that marvellous region. These voyages took a boy’s imag-
ination in thrall; Captain Cook was the hero of my fondest
dreams: this island world became a wondrous region of
adventure and romance.

Another book that I read as a boy,—my father gave
it to me,—was The Mutineers of the Bounty. That is one
of the most fascinating and wonderful books ever written.
It is full of the most blood-curdling adventure and yet every
word true. It tells one of the greatest stories in this world.
It opens up a thrilling vision of this island world. I can
never forget the impression and the fascination of that
book. ;

When I grew older, I began to love Robert Louis20 THE SECRET (OF THE EASE

Stevenson and was charmed by his personality and writings.
He loved this.island world. He chartered a steam-yacht
from San Francisco and went cruising for a time in this
southern paradise, and at last settled down in the island
of Samoa, where he lived like a lord of the isle and a
prophet of God. There he died and was buried on its
highest peak, and the native chiefs built a road up to his
grave on the mountain summit of the island, and they called
the way—‘The Road of the Loving Heart.”

Who has not been fascinated by the many adventures
of “Sinbad the Sailor’’ in the stories of the Arabian Nights
Entertainments. And yet what we have to relate now are
some things more wonderful than his voyages and the work-
ing of greater miracles than ever happened to that wonder-
ful man.

If your geography is at all rusty or dusty, you ought
to brush it up by obtaining some fine map where all these
islLands,—and many more,—are clearly shown, a fascinat-
ing constellation of the stars of the sea. A new interest
has gathered in late years round these islands of the
Pacific. O’Brien’s White Shadows of the South Seas and
a dozen similar volumes are indicative of this interest.
But to my mind nothing is better than Herman Melville’s
romantic volume T'ypee, written seventy or more years ago.

But the romances of white shadows and quiet lagoons,
of pirates and buccaneers, of adventures of love and tragedy
constitute a fascinating chapter that we shall barely touch
upon at this time. The romances of transformation are
what I want to relate.—a few new chapters in the modern
acts of the Apostles. May I remind you of some of these
unique romances of the Pacific? For example, Tahiti of
the Society Islands is the original ‘“‘Paradise of the Pacific,”
although other islands now claim the title, even Hawaii,
which also seems to deserve it, along with a thousand
others—“Islands of the Blest.’”” The natives of Tahiti are
handsome. They are gay and festive, great dancers and
makers of music. They delight in festivals. They have
many traditional dances and songs. They are always readyROMANCES OF THE ISLAND WORLD 21

to entertain. They are as much at home in the water as
on the land. ‘Their fish-chases are exciting sport. There
are groves of flamboyant trees, ablaze with red flowers.
The scenery is most impressive. Summer seas and tropical
lowlands, great purple mountains—once volcanoes—and
the brightest of blue skies.

Surely this is a land of romance and beauty. It was in
the old days,—it is to-day. Once they were fighters and
pagans. They made fierce and bitter wars upon all their
enemies. To these islands called The Society Islands—of
which Tahiti is one—went the first Christian missionaries,
sailing from London, August 10, 1796. Amid farewells
and tears, the good ship Duff sailed with thirty men, with
Christ in their souls. They were four ministers, six car-
penters, two tailors, two smiths, two weavers, a surgeon,
a harness maker, and others. The ensign of the ship was a
purple flag, with three doves on it with a white branch of
peace in their beaks. The heroic band sang “Jesus, at Thy
command we launch into the deep,” and they set forth.
After seven long months—more than two hundred days—
they reached their destination. There were thirteen islands
in this group,—no lovelier islands in the world. The natives
received them kindly. ‘They explained through an inter-
preter the peaceful purpose of their coming. And they
lived there for sixteen years with various adventures. Then
came success. The King, Pomare, was converted and bap-
tized. A church was built. Christian law was made the
law of the islands. The rejected idols were sent by ship
to England for a missionary museum. The whole thirteen
islands became Christian. Tahiti, the chief island, became
the seed plot from which the other islands were to be
evangelized. For a hundred years and more this Tahitan
church has been a source of light to all the other islands.

This is the way Captain Hervey, in command of a
whale ship, wrote of the matter forty years later, as early
as 1839:

Tahiti is now the most Christian civilized place I have visited
in the South Seas. They have a good code of laws and no liquors22 ie, SECRET (OF THE EASE

are allowed to be landed in the island. It is one of the most gratify-
ing sights the eye can witness to see, on Sunday, in their church
which holds about four thousand, the Queen near the pulpit with
all her subjects about her, decently apparelled and seemingly in pure
devotion.

Take the case of Fiji. These are eighty large islands
and a whole school of little ones. They are exquisitely
beautiful. The scenery in Fiji is surprisingly grand, with
lowlands of deep tropical exuberance, dominated by jagged
purple peaks. The princes and chiefs of this people are in-
telligent and efficient, but in the old days they were most
degraded. Yet once it was the ‘‘Cannibal isle,’ and the
favorite food of the people was euphoniously or euphemis-
tically called “long pig.” Cannibalism was their national
cult and custom. The man who had eaten the greatest
number of human beings was highest in social order. They
kept a proud record. Their great chief, Ra Undreundre,
had a unique record of eight hundred and seventy-two peo-
ple whom he had eaten. But bravely, the missionaries from
Tahiti went there, and, after most romantic and dramatic
adventures, these bloodthirsty islands were won over for
the gospel after ten years and the services of many valiant
workers, with a success beyond the fondest dreams. ‘The
whole population became practically Christian.

Some time after, there was a man who went to the Fiji
Islands. He was an infidel. He smiled in a superior way
when he met the natives. ‘You are a great chief,” he said
to one of the leaders. “It is a pity that you have listened
to this stuff that the missionaries have told you.” The
chief’s eyes flashed as he spoke: ‘Do you see that stone
yonder? On that stone in the old days we smashed the
heads of our victims to death. Do you see that native oven
yonder? In that oven we roasted the human bodies for our
feasts. Now, if it had not been for the missionaries and
the Gospel of Jesus that they taught us, you would never
leave this spot. You have to thank God for the Gospel,
for without it here we should have killed you and roasted
you in yonder oven and feasted upon your body in no time.”ROMANCES OF THE ISLAND WORLD 23

Take the New Hebrides. It is a wonderful group of
islands. The climate is like June all the year around. [here
are plenty of cocoanuts, bananas, yams, breadfruits, sugar-
cane, sandalwood, arrowroot. One of these islands, Tanna,
is called the great lighthouse of the Southern Isles. It has
in it a large active volcano bursting forth with clear bril-
liancy every three or four minutes like a revolving light.
It is one of the finest sights in the Pacific.

About the middle of the last century a Nova Scotia lad,
John Geddie, read of the missionary adventures in the
South Seas and he longed to go. He was an earnest Chris-
tian and he went in 1848, with a wife and another mission-
ary. He built a house and set out to learn the language.
For three years he was alone with his wife and three chil-
dren among these natives. Little by little, by his earnest-
ness, kindness and goodness, he won over the people. Prom-
inent chiefs gave up idols and flocked to the little church
that he had built, and they became Christian. He lived
and worked here for fifteen years and died. The inscription
on his grave in the island reads:

When he landed in 1849 there were no Christians here;
When he died in 1872, there were no heathen.

Here is the true story of a royal princess that strikingly
illustrates the romance of this island world. She was named
Opatinia, and was daughter of the King of Ponape, one
of the Caroline Islands. She was converted to Christ and
immediately renounced her right to the throne, which was
soon to come to her, and instead offered herself as a mis-
sionary to go to the other islands. She was accepted by
the missionaries and was sent with several others to the
Mortlock Islands by the missionary steamer The Morning
Star, which Congregational Sunday-school children sent out
and which has done such service for American missions in
Micronesia. Two years later when The Morning Star
touched there again, the ship was met by the princess and
a whole company of natives singing Christian hymns. The
brown princess had converted the whole island, and they24. THE SECRET OF THE EAST

had burnt their idols and built a fine house of worship
dedicated to the true God.

The work of John G. Paton in the island of Tanna,
one of the New Hebrides group, is equally romantic and
marvellous. ‘his apostolic man with long white beard and
saintly spirit was known to me personally, and has spoken
in my church in Baltimore. He was a Scotch lad from the
highlands of Scotland. He went out in 1858. The Sunday-
school children of Australia and Scotland raised money
and gave him a boat called The Dayspring to cruise among
the islands, carrying the Gospel. He had wonderful adven-
tures and many escapes from death. He did a marvellous
work. [| heard him say that these islands have become more
openly and reverently Christian than almost any community
in our home land.

That story of The Mutineers of the Bounty to which I
referred a little while ago is as interesting as Robinson
Crusoe. We cannot go into details, but in brief it was this:
There was a mutiny on a British war-sloop in the South
Seas called the Bounty. The mutineers set the officers and
those of the crew who were loyal adrift in an open boat.
The mutineers then stopped at Pitcairn Island, where they
took native women and began to live as they pleased. After
ten years of wild life with carousal and quarreling only
one white man was left, John Adams by name, with ten
women and twenty-three children. Then remorse came to
him. He remembered old prayers and teachings. He began
to pray. The divine miracle was wrought. God gave
him a new heart. He began to teach these women and
children. Twenty years after this mutiny of the Bounty, a
ship came in sight, the first one in all those years. It was
an American sealer from Nantucket, Captain Folger. And
here he discovered the one white man and a patriarchal
community of Christian people in a beautiful village with
a Christian church, with education and all the refinements
of civilization.

Or, for another romance, take the Samoan Islands,
which Robert Louis Stevenson loved so much. It was inROMANCES OF THE ISLAND WORLD 25

1830 that the missionaries went there in a little boat called
The Messenger of Peace. They were kindly received. The
good work went steadily forward with little opposition.
By teaching and preaching the islands were converted,
chieftains and people. The whole population of the Samo-
an Islands is to-day Christian. There is probably no com-
munity in America where family prayers are as generally
observed as in Samoa. The people are eager for the edu-
cation of their children, give liberally to the support of
their churches, and send out foreign missionaries to New
Guinea and Micronesia. The attractive aspect of their
simple patriarchal mode of life is charmingly set forth by
Stevenson, who writes of them: “They are Christians,
church-goers, singers of hymns at family worship, hardy
cricketers. Their books are printed in London. They are
easy, merry and pleasure-loving. Song is almost ceaseless.
The boatman sings at the oar, the family at evening wor-
ship, the girls at night in the guest-house, and the workman
at his toil. No occasion is too small for the poets and
musicians,—a visit, the day’s news, the day’s pleasantry
will be set to rhyme and harmony.”

Part of Samoa, you remember, is American. The chief
city is Pago Pago, pronounced Pango Pango. We have
possessed this colony for nearly fifty years and it is among
the most prosperous places in the South Seas. It is a good
example of how successful Uncle Sam can sometimes be as
a colonial administrator.

Samoa means much more to us to-day on account of
“Tusitala,” the teller of tales, as the natives called Robert
Louis Stevenson. His beautiful home was at Vailima on
Apia, where he wrote his stories and composed those unique
prayers which he used in the daily services in his house-
hold,—those prayers which have become cherished posses-
sions among the precious heritages of the English race.

This is what Robert Louis Stevenson says of these
missionary romances, writing of these matters in his book
on The South Seas: ‘‘Those who have a taste for hearing
missions decried must seek their pleasures elsewhere than26 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

in my pages. With all their blots and deficiencies, the mis-
sionaries are the best and most useful whites in the Pacific.”

I cannot tell you all the romances and triumphs of
Christian churches in this island world. It is, as we said,
like new chapters of the Acts of the Apostles.

Nor shall I stop to relate the sadder pages nor name
the martyrs, for there were many such in the early days
in this work, like the heroic Bishop Pattison. Neither do
I need to rehearse the horrors of intemperance and disease
that have visited some of the islands since selfish and un-
scrupulous sailors, adventurers and commercial exploiters
have found out these islands. Or of the cruelties of slave-
hunting by white captains and pirates in the early part of
this century among more of these islands. It is the dark
record of commerce and greed. In this island world, the
missionaries there have been the only bulwarks against these
flagrant outrages and the only healers of these ravages
of unscrupulous and iniquitous commerce.

What shall we say of the Philippines and their romance?
These islands are now our own possessions and our own
responsibility for educating and Christianizing. There is
great opportunity for American and Christian work in the
Philippines. They are now our neediest point in the island
world. Spain in three hundred years of domination has
given something of a Christian outlook to these islands,
but a very meagre one. We must do better and are doing
better. Here are millions of people, eager for education,
eager for truth and knowledge, eager for the highest civili-
zation. We are educating them to be a great people.

The greatest romance of the Pacific, in my judgment,
is Hawaii, which represents one of the most thrilling mis-
sionary adventures in the history of the last hundred years,
and is to-day one of the most strategic opportunities in the
United States,—an inter-racial experiment station, as Dr.
Albert W. Palmer of Honolulu calls it.

The most romantic and heroic episode in Hawaiian
history is the exploit of Queen Kapiolani. I have already
told this story at some length in my volume Four EpochsROMANCES OF THE ISLAND WORLD 27

of World Conquest. Kapiolani was a descendant of a long
line of kings and was ruler in her own right of a large
district in southern Hawaii. Notwithstanding her royal
lineage and exalted rank, she was an ignorant, supersti-
tious savage until she came under the influence of the mis-
sionaries and was taught the great truths of the Bible.
The gospel message touched her heart, and she set about
reforming her life. According to Hawaiian custom, she had
several husbands, and was intemperately addicted to the
use of native liquors. But on becoming a Christian, she
dismissed all her husbands except one; she gave up her
intemperate habits and became so noble in deportment and
lovable in disposition that she won the respect and admira-
tion of natives and foreigners alike. So fine and courageous
was the deed which places her name forever in the list of
the world’s greatest heroines that it won for her a glowing
tribute from Thomas Carlyle, who tells her story in his
Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, and her noble
deed also inspired a poem, Kapiolani, from the great Eng-
lish laureate, Alfred Tennyson.

The scene of her heroic exploit was Kilauea, the most
famous volcano of Hawaii. The crater of this volcano is
a vast pit, a thousand feet deep and nearly three miles
across. Within this pit is a great lake of molten lava, a
seething caldron, in which the fires never die out, and there-
fore it is most appropriately called the House of Everlast-
ing Burning. It is possible to descend to the crater by
means of rocky, zigzag steps and watch the play of its
eternal fire. Miss Gordon-Cumming says that “this is per-
haps the only spot on earth where Dame Nature admits
mortals to be eye-witnesses of her labors in her vast foun-
dries and smelting works.” Something of the awful gran-
deur of the sight is described in the words of Mrs. Isabella
Bird Bishop when she stood on the brink of the burning
lake itself: “I think we all screamed, I know we all wept,
but we were all speechless, for a new glory and terror had
been added to the earth. It is the most unutterable of won-
derful things. Here is the fire which is not quenched, the28 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, the everlasting
burning, the fiery sea whose waves are never weary. I felt
as if its terrors would haunt me all my life.”’

The Hawaiians stood in the greatest awe of the cruel
goddess Pele, who they believed inhabited this crater, and
much of their worship was directed to propitiate her. On
a high rock near the crater wall was erected a sacred tem-
ple for her priests and priestesses, and votive offerings
were constantly presented to her. These consisted chiefly
of hogs, white chickens, fish, fruit, and dogs. Human vic-
tims were also sacrificed at times, in the hope of appeasing
Pele’s wrath.

The idols of Hawaii had begun to be overthrown even
before Queen Kapiolani’s day. The idols had been faith-
fully worshiped, and taboo was strictly kept during the
reign of King Kamehameha, who was called the Napoleon
of the Pacific, but after his death the system of taboo was
gradually abolished and finally King Liholiho issued a proc-
lamation forbidding idolatry. A civil war followed, but
idolatry was really at an end, although it was many years
before the superstitions of the people were eradicated and
reverence for the native deities was abandoned. The god-
dess who kept her hold upon the natives the longest was
the goddess Pele, and this was especially true in the district
over which Kapiolani ruled. Her subjects living in close
proximity to the volcano were continually under the spell
of its awful fires. In December, 1824, Kapiolani resolved
to free her people from the thraldom of this superstition
and to break the power of the fire-goddess by defying her
in her own domains.

The story of the great deed is thus told by Miss
Gordon-Cumming: When she announced her intention to
her followers, they did everything they could to discourage
such a project. Even her husband, though himself a Chris-
tian convert, begged her to abstain from a deed so rash
and dangerous. But to all expostulation she had one reply:
“All taboo is done away. We are safe in the keeping of
the Almighty God, and no power of earth can harm HisROMANCES OF THE ISLAND WORLD 29

servants.” When her people saw how determined she was
they gave up trying to dissuade her, and about eighty of
them were so bold as to volunteer to accompany her to
the summit of the fiery mountain. From Kapiolani’s palace
Kilauea was distant about one hundred miles in a straight
line. To reach it was a toilsome journey, which took her
and her companions over jagged mountain peaks and rough
lava beds. But no détour would she make. She pressed
straight on toward the volcano, over which there ever hung
a dark pall of smoke by day, a lurid cloud of fire by night.
As she advanced, the people came in crowds out of the
valleys to watch the progress of this strange pilgrimage.
Many of them implored her to turn back, ere it was too
late, and not to draw down upon herself and others the
vengeance of the fire-gods. But this was her invariable
reply: “If I am destroyed, you may all believe in Pele,
but if I am not destroyed, you must all turn to the only
true God.”

At length after a most fatiguing march this bold cham-
pion of the new faith reached the base of Kilauea and began
the upward ascent. As she approached the cone, one of
Pele’s weird prophetesses appeared and warned her back
in the name of the goddess. In her hand this Hawaiian
pythoness held a piece of white bark cloth, and as she
waved it above her head she declared it to be a message
from Pele herself, threatening death if she persisted in
her purpose. ‘Read the message!”’ exclaimed Kapiolani.
Upon which the woman held the oracle before her and
poured out a flood of speech which she declared to be an
ancient sacred dialect. Kapiolani smiled. ‘You have de-
livered a message from your god,” she said, “which none
of us can understand. I, too, have a pala pala, and I will
read you a message from my God which everyone will un-
derstand.” Whereupon she opened her Hawaiian Bible
and read several passages that told of Jehovah’s almighty
power and of the heavenly Father's saving love in Jesus
Christ.

Still pressing on, Kapiolani came at length to the very30 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

edge of the vast crater, which lies one thousand feet below
the summits of the enclosing cones, and led the way down
the precipitous descent toward the black lava bed. On the
crater’s brink there grew, like the grapes on Vesuvius, clus-
ters of the refreshing ohelo berries, sacred to Pele herself,
which no Hawaiian of those days would taste till he had
first cast a laden branch down the precipice toward the
fiery lake, saying, as he did so, “Pele, here are your ohelos.
I offer some to you, some I also eat,” a formula which was
supposed to render the eating safe, but without which the
awful taboo would be broken. Seeing the berries hanging
all around her, Kapiolani stopped and ate of them freely
without making any acknowledgment to Pele. But her fol-
lowers dared not do so. She then made her way slowly
down into the bowl of the crater, and when she reached
the bottom, walked across the hot lava beds, the undulat-
ing crusts trembling under her feet and steam issuing from
every crevice. She came to the edge of the fiery lake, the
House of Everlasting Burning, and, standing there, picked
up broken fragments of lava and flung stone after stone
defiantly into the seething caldron, which writhed and
moaned and flung out long, hissing tongues of red and
purple flame.

Having thus desecrated Pele’s holy of holies in the
most dreadful manner which the imagination of a Hawaiian
could conceive, she now turned to her trembling followers,
who stood at some distance behind, and in a loud, clear
voice distinctly heard above all the deep mutterings of the
volcano, spoke those words which were engraved forever
afterward on the memories of all who heard them: ‘My
God is Jehovah. He it was who kindled these fires. I do
not fear Pele. Should I perish by her wrath, then you may
fear her power. But if Jehovah saves me while I am break-
ing her taboos, then you must fear and love Him. The
gods of Hawaii are dead!” After these words Queen
Kapiolani called upon her people to kneel down on that
heaving floor and offer a solemn act of adoration to the
one Almighty God, and to join their voices with hers in aROMANCES OF THE ISLAND WORLD 31

Christian hymn of joyful praise. The whole company knelt.
Prayer was offered and the crater reverberated with the
song of faith. Above the roaring and crackling of the
flames could it be heard, echoing and re-echoing to the
praise of Jehovah. Thus were the fire palaces of Pele
consecrated as a temple of the living God.

This story has considerable of the Old Testament
imagery in it. Mauna Loa was a mountain “touched with
fire,’ as the old Scripture says. It reminds us of Mt. Sinai
on the day of the giving of the law. Queen Kapiolani’s
defiance of Pele is not merely a modern parallel to the story
of Elijah on Mt. Carmel, but it was inspired by that story.
The Queen knew from the missionaries the story of Elijah’s
defiance of the priests of Baal, and in her heroic act she
used something of the very words of Elijah and was in-
spired by something of his spirit. This brave and heroic
deed has not only been likened to that of the Prophet Elijah
on Mt. Carmel, challenging the priests of Baal, but also to
the splendid deed of the early missionary Boniface in Ger-
many when he cut down the sacred oak of Thor the Thun-
derer. But Elijah stood on the peaceful slopes of Mt.
Carmel and Boniface stood on the quiet plains of Germany.
This deed of Kapiolani displayed a faith more heroic and
a courage more indomitable, for she stood in the presence
of these awful fires that strike terror to the stoutest heart.
There was a lofty faith and a sublime courage in this Ha-
waiian heroine. The news of Queen Kapiolani’s brave deed
soon rang from end to end of Hawaii and allegiance to the
fire-goddess was everywhere renounced.

Queen Kapiolani had a most helpful and benign influ-
ence throughout the islands. She was of great assistance
to the missionaries, for she went among the people with
words of Christian counsel and deeds of Christian help.
She lived until May s, 1841, when her beautiful and fruit-
ful life ended. She was deeply mourned not only by her
own people, but by the whole world. At the funeral service
this testimony was given: ‘This nation has lost one of its
brightest ornaments. She was the most decided Christian,32 THE, SECRET “OF THE “EASE

the most civilized in her manners, and the most thoroughly
read in the Bible, of all the chiefs this nation ever had; and
it is saying no more than truth to assert that her equal in
these respects is not left in the Hawaiian nation.”

Here is the story in its noblest poetic telling:

KAPIOLANI
By Atrrep, Lorp TENNYSON

When from the terrors of Nature a people have fashioned and wor-
ship a Spirit of Evil,
Blest be the voice of the Teacher who calls to them,
“Set yourselves free!”

Noble the Saxon who hurled at his idol a valorous weapon in olden
England!
Great and greater, and greatest of women, island heroine, Kapiolani
Clomb the mountain, and flung the berries, and dared the goddess,
and freed the people
Of Hawa-i-ee!

A people believing that Pelé the goddess would wallow in fiery riot
and revel
On Kilauea,
Dance in a fountain of flame with her devils, or shake with her
thunders and shatter her island,
Rolling her anger

Through blasted valley and flaring forest in blood-red cataracts down
to the sea!

Long as the lava light

Glares from the lava lake

Dazing the starlight,

Long as the silvery vapor in daylight
Over her mountain

Floats, will the glory of Kapiolani be mingled with either on
Hawa-i-ee.

What said her priesthood ?
“Wo to this island if ever a woman should handle or gather the
berries of Pelé
Accurséd were she!

And wo to this island if ever a woman should climb to the dwelling
of Pelé, the goddess!

Accurséd were she!”ROMANCES OF THE ISLAND WORLD 33

One from the Sunrise

Dawned on His people, and slowly before Him

Vanished shadowlike

Gods and goddesses,

None but the terrible Pelé remaining as Kapiolani ascended the
mountain,

Baffled the priesthood,

Broke the taboo,

Dipt to the crater,

Called on the Power adored by the Christian, and crying, “I dare
her, let Pelé avenge herself!’

Into the flame billow dashed the berries, and drove the demon from
Hawa-i-ee.HAWAII AND ITS ORIENTAL PROBLEM

AWAII is a Paradise. We fell in love with it at
H first sight. Climate and scenery are all that heart

could wish. Its history is most romantic; its
people delightful. But Hawaii is not all American, although
the American flag flies on it. One feels the spell of the
East there. The street signs are often in Chinese. The
beautiful faces are not always, nor even predominately,
American, and not often Hawaiian. The vast majority of
them are Japanese or Chinese. You discover a Buddhist
temple in Honolulu. You see a magnificent Mormon tem-
ple in the hills facing the sea, just outside the city. You
realize that there are things beneath the surface that indi-
cate unusual conditions. You begin to understand that
there are great problems here. It is a mid-Pacific experi-
ment station for America. It is a strategic situation.
Can the East and the West mingle, and become one people
with happy results and practical efficiency? That is the
problem of Hawaii.

We may glance, first of all, at some of the charming
features of life in the island before coming to a consider-
ation of the problem itself. The homes of Honolulu are
delightful. Much of the city is suburban and the homes
are villas and bungalows of most pleasing architecture.
But more wonderful than the achievements of architects
are the triumphs of the gardeners. The gardens are works
of art. Nature cooperates so wonderfully that a marvel-
lous magic is wrought everywhere. Florida and California
are surpassed and far outdistanced by this tropical luxuri-
ance and glory. These homes, in the outskirts of Hawaii,
are set in the most charming scenery—mountains and ocean
are in full view from their porches and gardens. It is
entrancing.

It has been my privilege to meet many native Hawaiians,

34HAWAIL AND ITS ORIENTAL PROBLEM 35

some on this visit and some at other times and places. I
have always been impressed by their excellent qualities.
They are a very handsome race—beautiful eyes, perfect
teeth, clear brown complexions and a most kindly and
cheerful nature. The present pastor of the chief Hawaiian
church in Honolulu is a noble specimen of the race. I asked
particularly in Honolulu about the present social status of
the Hawaiians, in reference to the white people—are the
native Hawaiians received in the best society? Is it an
honor or a stigma to-day to have Hawaiian blood? Do the
races intermarry? I was told by the best authorities that
there is no distinction whatever. A well-educated Hawaiian
is considered the social equal of a well-educated American.
There is absolutely no caste or prejudice. Americans and
Hawaiians have intermarried at times and without objec-
tion on either side. A striking instance was the case of
Charles R. Bishop of New York who married the Princess
Berenice of the royal house, who gave up her right to the
throne for him. Their wealth founded the Bishop Museum
in her memory.

I love the Hawaiian music—so cadenced and melo-
dious, so pathetic and appealing. I heard it many times in
the islands. This was one of the things that I had par-
ticularly wanted to hear. I was not disappointed. ‘The
voices of the singers have such natural music in them and
they blend so pleasantly.

The ukelele, which is a part of the beauty and pathos
of their music, is not an ancient Hawaiian instrument. It
was a product of the island, brought about in this way, so
a Hawaiian told me: The Portuguese were brought out
under contract to work the plantations. After their con-
tract expired, they liked the island so well that they re-
mained. Some were guitar makers. The real guitar was
too expensive for the Hawaiians, costing fifty dollars, so
they made an adaptation for eight or ten dollars, which
was called the ukelele from the wood used. This is now
the characteristic Hawaiian instrument of music.

The musical welcome and farewell to visiting friends36 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

in Hawaii are characteristic of the friendliness and warm-
heartedness of the people. When an important vessel or
personage arrives, hundreds, even thousands, come down
to the wharf to give greeting. Airplanes hover in the skies
dropping newspapers or flowers. The visitors are met by
small launches with music, bands or singing and troops of
brown swimmers gather around the boat in the water,
diving for coins and shouting. Around the neck of the
visitors are placed floral garlands, leis, as they are called
in Hawaiian.

The farewell is touching. Flowers and music again,
our great ship being an event. My friends and I were
entertained for an hour before departing by the Royal
Hawaiian Band of thirty pieces and we were decorated
with armfuls of the floral garlands. Some wore as many
as a dozen around their neck. So beautiful it all was, and
so unusual and touching, that as “Aloha” was played at
the last and the ship pushed off, many of our party had
tears in their eyes and on their faces. The fountain of
emotions was somehow deeply stirred.

Some of the old traditions in music, dancing and cos-
tumes have survived in Hawaii, besides the characteristic
sports such as surf-riding. Special Hawaiian dishes are
still made, especially poi, and pigs and chickens are roasted
by hot stones placed inside them. The garlands of flowers,
the leis, are survivals as well as the great feather torches,
used in royal processions.

But perhaps the strangest survival is the hula-hula dance
and its special costume. This dance, as we saw it given by
native Hawaiians in Honolulu, has many graceful and
rhythmic movements, and in a certain way is beautiful when
danced by beautiful girls as we saw it done. But it is dis-
figured to the modern taste by the excess of stomach and
hip movements. It is sometimes given for tourists with such
extravagance that it becomes disgusting and repulsive. It
is especially interesting, however, as a survival of primitive
dancing, which often had religious significance to the natives.

Hawaii has the most active volcano in the world, theHAWAII AND ITS ORIENTAL PROBLEM 37

famous Kilauea, 4,000 feet high. We saw only the light
of its flame from a distance at night. Conditions were not
right for us to do more. But one evening in Honolulu a
gentleman who had visited the volcano many times during
the last eight years and had taken many photos and moving
pictures of it showed us these for an hour, and they were
so realistic and so wonderful that we felt that we had
actually seen it and had gone through all the experiences,—
the lava seething and sputtering, and then spouting up in
great fountains and cascades, with fiery chasms and lakes
that make up “the House of the Everlasting Burnings.”
We saw it before us—‘‘the fire red, blue, green; purple
waves of flame toss up and battle with each other and dash
up in clouds of red spray against the black sides of the pit.
Mighty rocks are swallowed up in the raging whirlpool
with roars that echo back and forth.’ Such is the lake of
fire that we saw pictured for us.

One evening toward sunset we were passing a great
island with mountain summit. “It is Molokai!” came the
word. “The leper settlement! Father Damien’s Island!”
And so it was. It was an experience to see the island that
had become so famous from Father Damien’s heroic work.
We remembered Stevenson’s splendid defence of the man
when he was unjustly attacked. It thrilled us to remember
one who so freely gave his life for others. There are about
eight hundred lepers on the island to-day, and it was good
to learn that in these days leprosy can be cured, and in
ten years probably this leper settlement will be only a
memory. The cure is an oil from the nut of a very scarce
tree which grows in Indo-China and Burma, called the
chaul-moogra tree, but which is now being cultivated also
in Hawaii. It has brought new hope and cheer to Molokai
and to the world.

Waikiki Beach! What a delightful spot. Balmy air,
a fine surf, gentle and pleasant, wonderful trees, banyan,
hau, and others, flowers and foliage in tropical profusion,
scenery of mountains and ocean unsurpassed. It was the
first time that I had seen the surf-riders in Hawaii. How38 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

skillfully and gracefully they glide upon the waters on
their surf-boards. It is a very ancient sport among them,
and is especially characteristic of this people. And what
specimens of young physical manhood. Brown figures of
perfection! Form and limbs like young Greek gods! Full
of poise, grace, tingling vitality! The riders’ mastery on
the crest of the rolling surf—dashing in as if on the white
manes of galloping sea horses—this is the supreme joyous-
ness of Waikiki Beach. At sunset, or under the moonlight,
Waikiki is witchery itself.

How can we describe the Aquarium at Honolulu—with
the fishes of the rainbow. They do seem to be painted
with the most brilliant hues. No combinations of colors
are too daring, and yet they are harmonious. The forms
of the fish are often unbelievable. Whoever could have
dreamed them? Did the Supreme Creator design them, or
some apprentice hand? I asked myself. Some forms are so
grotesque and incredible. The most unique flowers of the
land are rivalled in color and form. The sea here riots in
color and in strange invention. The weirdness of it all chal-
lenges the sense of order. From the flying fish to the devil
fish with its long tentacles—all is fascinating and marvel-
lous. It is surely as wonderful as the Aquariums at Naples,
Manila and Madras.

We were amazed at the magnificent outlook we had
from the Pali or cliff. It is a defile in the mountains. On
each side rises great jagged, pointed peaks—one more than
3,000 feet high—covered with green verdure and foliage.
Through the defile sweep the force and fierceness of the
trade winds. “Hold on to your hat!’ is the caution the
driver of our auto gives us. Below us is the sheer preci-
pice for nearly a thousand feet. Beyond is the valley to
Diamond Head and the opalescent sea—a valley checker-
boarded with pineapple groves and sugarcane—a wonder-
ful stretch of fertile and sheltered land—a garden for all
tropical fruits.

Here at the Pali occurred one of the strange historic
scenes of the island. It was in 1795, when the great KingHAWAII AND ITS ORIENTAL PROBLEM 39

Kamehameha, the first of that name, was conquering and
consolidating his kingdom. He drove the King of Oahu
and thousands of his warriors up to the mountain defile
and here they withstood him, until at length he drove them
over the cliff to their death. It was a tragic fate, but it
ended the feuds and warring of the tribes and made for
the progress and welfare of Hawaii.

We cannot stop to tell all the wonders of the islands—
the great pineapple and sugar plantations, the submarine
gardens, the beauty of Pearl Harbor, Haleiwa and Wa-
hiawa, the Punch Bowl and Diamond Head. The scenery
is so beautiful and in parts so surpassingly magnificent; the
people are so pleasant—intelligent and friendly; the climate
is so delightful, warm and balmy, sunny and clear, cool at
night—that it makes a wonderful combination. We were
all disposed to feel that Mark Twain’s words were true:
“No other land could so longingly and beseechingly haunt
me sleeping and waking through half a lifetime as this
one has done.”

But in the midst of all this charm and beauty we heard
at times the undertone of two great problems in Hawati—
the problem of the vanishing Hawaiian and the problem
of the rising tide of color, the growing dominance of Far
Eastern peoples in the islands.

As to the native Hawaiians, that is a pathetic note. I
wished often that the ancient royalty of the islands might
have been maintained in noble way and that this most
beautiful land could have been preserved for the fine Ha-
waiian people. The Americans have done their best for
them. They were received as friends and they have done
much good to the island. They brought civilization and
Christianity. But the Hawaiians were a happy and indolent
people. They had no initiative and no power of resistance
to physical disease. Civilization has proved too much for
them. Their numbers have steadily decreased. Ihe white
man’s vices and diseases have undoubtedly been a heavy
drain upon them. But greater than that has been their
physical lack of response in the new environment. They40 THE SECRET OF THE EASE

have had small families—their vitality as a people has de-
creased—they could not stand the refinements and demands
of modern civilization. They have become a vanishing
race. Once there were 400,000 of them, if Captain Cook’s
estimate was anywhere near the truth in 1778. In sixty
years they had dwindled to 130,000. From that time on
we are sure of the figures. In eighty years there was a
shrinkage of eighty per cent. In 1920 there were only
23,723, and the decline has gone on at the rate of one per
cent a year.

Now comes the problem of the Eastern peoples in Ha-
wall. For while the decline of the Hawaiians has been
going on, there has been a vast increase of other races in
the islands. They have been brought in for cheap labor
and have increased and multiplied and stayed. The popula-
tion now numbers 117,000 Japanese, or forty-two per cent
of the whole; 32,000 Americans and British, 26,000 Portu-
guese, 22,700 Chinese, and less than 22,000 native Ha-
walians. At the present increase, the Japanese would be
in absolute control of the electorate by 1940, if that should
be an ordinary popular electorate.

We were greatly surprised at the presence of the Jap-
anese and Chinese everywhere. They were such a conspic-
uous element of the population in Honolulu. I expected
that they would be far off on sugar or rice plantations.
But they are everywhere. They are the shopkeepers; they
are the barbers and cobblers; they are the traffic officers
and auto drivers. They are the waiters at the hotels and
the maids and cooks in the homes. The shopkeepers’ signs
are in English, Chinese and Japanese on all sides. It gives
such a foreign look to things. So many Chinese and Jap-
anese women in pretty kimonos in the streets—some with
new babies in their arms or strapped to their backs. It is
a first glimpse of the Orient. I talked with many of these—
especially the Chinese in the stores. They talked perfect
English and were so pleasant and accommodating and in-
telligent. It was a distinct pleasure to deal with them.
They are ideal shopkeepers.HAWAII AND ITS ORIENTAL PROBLEM 41

The Eastern problem of Hawaii cannot be easily solved.
It is complicated. Probably no one way, and especially no
mechanical way of legislation or political adjustment will
be found adequate. But a combination of methods may be
helpful.

First of all, some of the best statesmanship of America
ought to be given to this critical problem. For it involves
so much, and its solution will help in the solution of other
similar problems in our American political life. The Amer-
ican Government, while Hawaii remains a territory, must
show its most cordial and liberal interest. It ought to co-
operate in the finest way to show the people of the island
its good-will, its business fellowship, and its splendid Amer-
ican ideals. It ought to remove all causes of criticism, due
to the unusual military and naval uses of the island. It
may be necessary to keep large numbers of troops there
for mid-Pacific exigencies, but these should not be in any
way a burden or annoyance to the people of the islands.

The political factor in the solution of the problem of
Hawaii may probably be found, first, in some plan of equali-
zation for the electorate where such diverse races in such
distinct groupings are found, and then secondly, in the
speedy adoption by the world of some adequate form of
the World Court and the League of Nations. These will
bring reason to rule instead of war, and cooperation instead
of competition and real brotherhood among all nations.
This will relieve us of the Japanese menace and the yellow
peril, and will bring the better day when the problems of
national selfishness and ambition, of control and monopoly,
and domination by one nation or group of nations shall
yield to a generous cooperation and a covenanted peace
among the nations.

But another factor in the solution of their great prob-
lem must be the schools of Hawaii. They are among the
best in the world. Education has been stressed and em-
phasized for one hundred years. The result is that every-
body can read and write. There is no illiteracy. Fine
schools are provided for everybody—kindergartens, grade42 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

and high schools. College preparatory schools have the
standards of Andover and St. Paul’s. There are colleges
and the University of Hawaii with its technical schools. I
have never seen in America such bright, clean, happy and
well-dressed children as the school children of Hawai. I
watched them with delight. “They were of all nationalities
—one could see race characteristics, but they were all be-
coming fine young Americans. I visited the college pre-
paratory and the Kamehameha schools and the University.
I never saw in American schools and universities any hand-
somer or more intelligent groups of young men and women.
I was proud of them. They seemed so alert, so clean-cut,
so appreciative of their privileges. It was as if they were
conscious that they were a part of a great international
experiment in American education and had resolved to do
their best. Besides the public schools with white, yellow
and brown teachers and pupils, there is a normal training
school; the Kamehameha schools founded by Mrs. Bishop,
the last real Hawaiian princess; Ponahoe School—a sort
of Exeter or Andover, fitting for college; and the great
University. The United States Bureau of Education de-
clared that the opportunities and work of the Hawaiian
schools and colleges were as good as any in the world.
Surely this educational program ought to count much for
the future.

But a third, and very important factor in the solution
of this big problem is surely the churches. They must help
make the brotherly spirit that is needed for these critical
days.

We must remember the former religions in Hawaii and
what the churches are trying to do to-day. I saw in the
Bishop Museum the ancient stone and wood idols of the
Hawaiians before the coming of the missionaries. They
were great rude carvings—uncouth monsters and weird
creatures—gods of storm, of fire, of harvests. I brought
away with me photographs of these. They were similar
to what is found in other parts of the Pacific. Many of
these wood and stone idols we were told had formerly beenHAWAII AND ITS ORIENTAL PROBLEM 43

sent to Boston to the museum, as soon as the Hawaiians
were converted to Christianity. They were there for fifty
years, until the Bishop Museum was established by the
bounty of the royal Hawaiian princess, then they were
brought back to their native haunts, and I was told that
many of the Hawaiians, when they went to the museum and
saw them again involuntarily bowed to them. Their primi-
tive instincts were still strong, or was it that they were
playing safe? ‘These ancient idols represented the super-
stitions and the cruelties in religion from which the Hawai-
ians were delivered.

There were forty-four gods in Hawaii, gods of the
winds, of precipices, of mountains, of volcanoes, of woods
and of the sea. Whenever an idol was made of wood,
many prayers and incantations were made to induce the
god to occupy the log, and a human being and a hog were
sacrificed. [he human being was buried near the stump
that had furnished the log, and the hog was eaten with
ceremony. Much of the ancient religion of Hawaii was
cruel and tyranical. The images and idols were usually
frightful in face and form, and sometimes obscene. Great
pits have been found full of the bones of human victims.
It was the psychological moment when the Christian mis-
sionaries arrived at Hawaii in 1820. The people had re-
belled against the priesthood and their idols and the mobs
were destroying the idols. But the faithful hid them in
caves or remote places, so that some were preserved for
museums.

The way in which Hawaii had been prepared for the
first missionary work has always interested me greatly. The
hour for the coming of a new religion for the islands had
fully arrived. Just before the missionaries sailed for
Hawaii in 1819, a Connecticut pastor remarked, “Probably
none of you will live to witness the downfall of idolatry.”’
But they did. God had prepared their way. Just at the
crucial time, the missionaries arrived with the new gospel.
The King and the people received them kindly. They had
arrived at Hawaii after those one hundred and fifty-seven44 WEE SECRET OF “THE GEAsE

days on the ocean, and they found to their astonishment
that the idols had fallen. The King had thrown off the
intolerable burdens of the old superstitions and the cruel
system of labors and human sacrifices. The people under
him had arisen in their might and had burned their idols
or thrown them into the sea. Only a few remained hidden
in caves, or in remote temples.

Sometimes it is lamented that the white men ever came
to Hawaii. But who could keep them out? After Cap-
tain Cook’s voyages ships of various nations called there
and always to exploit the islands and always for de-
bauches and wickedness. Sometimes it is said that if
the white man had only left them to their primitive re-
ligion, they would have been happy. Would they? Their
primitive religion was hideous and cruel, as their idols
were. It was a religion of fear and torment, and as we
have noted, they had begun to cast it off just as the mis-
sionaries came to give them something better.

The missionaries saved the islands for civilization.
The missionaries fought the dissolute sailors of many na-
tions. British sailors were the worst. They threatened
the lives of the missionaries because they forbade their
drunken and brutal debaucheries in the islands. But Amer-
ican sailors also made much trouble. In 1826, they tried
to kill Mr. Bingham and demolished the missionary house
because the missionaries had enacted laws against immor-
ality. From Captain Cook on, the sailors seemed to con-
sider that in these islands there were no laws of God and
man, and that they could do as they pleased with the na-
tives, and especially with the women. The missionaries
fought the battles for the natives against brutal white men.

The carnival of vice that went on in 1826 under Amer-
ican sailors inveigling the chiefs and natives, lasting for
months, left a permanent injury to the morals and physical
life of the Hawaiian people and hindered greatly the
Christian work. But that brutal orgy stopped at last and
has never been repeated on such a scale. It only illus-
trates that, if left to themselves and thus a prey for de-HAWAII AND ITS ORIENTAL PROBLEM 45

signing and unscrupulous adventurers and robbers, the
Hawaiians would have been utterly ruined and extermin-
ated long ago. That any of them are alive to-day is due to
the efforts of the Christian missionaries.

For the islanders listened to the gospel story, and the
earnest appeals that the missionaries made that they
should receive the religion of the one and only living God.
The King and his councillors discussed the matter. After
two weeks’ deliberatiofi, they decided to admit the mis-
sionaries for one year’s work, and at the end of that time
to consider the question again. So the missionaries went
to work. At the end of the year they were invited to stay.
At the end of eight years, they had trained four hundred
native teachers and had 25,000 in their schools,—the
Hawaiian language had been reduced to writing, gram-
mer, and dictionaries made, the Gospels and other parts
of the Scriptures translated and printed and in general use;
and the Sabbath carefully observed. In twenty years’ time,
the whole Bible had been translated and a mighty religious
revival was stirring the islands. Rev. Titus Coan at Hilo
was baptizing as many as 1,700 on one Sunday and 22,000
converts were added to the churches in three years and
practically the whole islands became Christian. Such is
the striking religious history of Hawaii.

I was very much impressed by the old Royal Church,
the Hawaiian Cathedral, called the Kawaiahao Church.
It was erected in 1836 under a Christian Hawaiian King,
Kamehameha III. It is a noble structure, seating about
1,000. The membership to-day is 700, mostly Hawaiians,
although all others are welcome. I had a chat with the
present pastor, Rev. Akaiko Akana, a native Hawaiian, a
handsome and most intelligent man, a graduate of Hart-
ford Seminary. This is the Westminster Abbey of Hawai,
with the royal pews and royal insignia in the rear of the
church, so that the King could keep tab on his subjects at
church (the pastor laughingly said) but more likely so that
royalty could come in and go out quietly without osten-
tation or formalities.46 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

Tablets commemorating the great early missionaries are
numerous on the walls—I noted the names of Hiram Bing-
ham, Parker, Smith and others. Their names were spelled
phonetically in Hawaiian. This church was the church of
Hawaiian royalty as long as it lasted, and is dear to the
hearts of all Hawaiian people. It will be carefully pre-
served and cherished for all time. It is a monument of
a great epoch and of the miraculous transformation of a
great people.

The structure is built of blocks of coral, brought from
coral reefs just off the shore, and the tradition is that
these blocks were passed from hand to hand along the line
of a thousand men from the coral reef directly to the
church where they were immediately built in by other
workmen. It was a matter of sentiment with them, as if
the great church rose up directly from the sea.

The services are in English, but often Hawaiian hymns
are used, with their plaintive melodies. There is a large
choir with rich musical voices. The church is Congrega-
tional in tradition and custom and in connection, but de-
nominations are never mentioned. It is a union church,
a community church to all intents and purposes, and in-
cludes people of many denominations in its membership.

An interesting historic fact is that this church is built
on the very spot where the earliest missionary, Rev. Hiram
Bingham, preached his first sermon. It is a further inter-
esting historic fact that an American missionary, himself
a son of one of the earliest missionaries, recently com-
pleted there a pastorate of fifty years of consecutive
service.

I have always esteemed it a great privilege to have
known the second Hiram Bingham, glorious old man,
apostle to Micronesia. His eloquent messages were thrill-
ing. He died in Baltimore, and it was my part to pro-
nounce the eulogy at his obsequies, which were held in my
church, before the frail body was sent back to Hawaii to
rest among the missionary heroes.

The church has a dignified exterior—great white col-HAWAIT AND ITS ORIENTAL PROBLEM 47

umns in front and the native coral is now coated with
cement, painted to represent blocks of stone and to pre-
serve it from the weather. The architecture is simple and
stately. The famous architect, Cram of Boston, when he
saw it said: “We may say it is not correct as architecture,
yet for the time and place it could hardly be better. Those
early missionaries did not know much about architecture,
but they had the right feeling and made a great structure.”
It is truly a noble building, full of great memories, full of
romance and tragedy, full of the witnesses of heroic labor.
No one who knows its history and meaning can visit it
without a thrill and the deepest reverence. ‘The ground
thou treadest on is holy ground.”

I think the most impressive tablet in the Hawaiian
Cathedral was the one to young Obookiah. Do you re-
member his story? It is as important for Hawaii as that
of Neesima for Japan. Obookiah was a Hawaiian boy
who was found crying on the steps of a college building
at Yale. This was before Hawaii was generally known
and before missionaries had visited its shores. The boy
had been brought to America by a kind-hearted sea-captain
who had touched at Hawaii and found this lad whose
parents and little brother had been killed in tribal war-
fare. He brought the boy away on his ship, educated him,
and at Yale a young Williams College man, Samuel J.
Mills, there for graduate studies, found the boy in tears,
longing to have the Christian religion for his benighted
people in the islands. This happened before the American
Board for Foreign Missions—the oldest missionary so-
ciety in America—was in existence. The tears and the
words of young Obookiah stirred the heart of this young
college man—one of the famous haystack band at Wil-
liams, and probably hastened the formation of the Amer-
ican Board. Others were touched by the same appeal.
But it was almost ten years until this appeal brought a
real response and the first missionaries, seventeen young
people, started on their long one hundred and fifty-seven
days’ voyage in 1819 to almost unknown Hawaii.

ROBERTA SARAH T\

MEMORIAL PUBLIC |
PARKSLEY, VA.48 HE, SHCRET OF “LHE GEASS

Obookiah died young. He never completed his own
education, he was never permitted to see his islands again
or to carry to them the gospel that he had found. But his
death only intensified the appeal that he had made with
prayer and tears. His life was the seed that died, but
brought forth much fruit. He was the flame that kindled
many hearts. To-day I could not stand before his tablet
without a thrill, remembering all that God had wrought
in answer to his prayer. Was his coming to America an
accident or a providence? Surely it was fraught with
momentous consequence for Hawaii. It made a young and
ardent lad the father of Hawaiian civilization.

The ‘First Mission Building’ in Hawaii was an in-
tensely interesting building to me. It was the first New
England structure erected in Hawaii. It was brought out
by ship from Boston in parts and re-erected here. It
housed the whole group of seventeen missionaries, the
planning for all their mission work was done here, the
making of the written language, grammar, and dictionary,
the translating of the Bible into this new written tongue.
They ate together in a large room in the basement. Their
office and printing press was in the first floor. The Cousins
Society, composed of all the descendents of the mission-
aries in the islands, preserve here the relics of their an-
cestors. I saw the portraits of these old missionaries,—
they were not venerable, but young people between twenty-
five and thirty, all of them. I saw the case of medicines
and surgical instruments used by Dr. Judd. They were
very primitive, and—no anesthetics. I saw the rocking
chair of Lucy Thurston, famous first missionary, that she
had used on shipboard. It had gone with her three times
round Cape Horn. She must have been fond of rocking,
to use this chair constantly on shipboard, besides being
‘rocked in the cradle of the deep.”’

As we contemplate this ancient Hawaiian cathedral we
may note that other and alien missionaries have come to
Hawaii.

The Japanese have erected a Buddhist Temple inHAWAII AND ITS ORIENTAL PROBLEM 49

Honolulu. ‘What does it mean? It is a Japanese institu-
tion where it offers not merely the opportunities of Bud-
dhist worship but also is a center for education in the Japa-
nese language and loyalty to all things Japanese. It is to
maintain Japanese ideals and to offset something of the
American ideals and education that all Japanese in Hawaii
receive in the public schools.

And what of the great Mormon Temple? What is
the purpose and meaning of that? Perhaps it is merely
for the large number of Mormons engaged in the sugar-
planting. Or can it be that it is a new centre of propa-
ganda for the mid-Pacific islands and the Orient? It is a
magnificent building,—the largest and most splendid Mor-
mon Temple in the world, excepting only the Temple in
Salt Lake City. It is near the picturesque little village of
Laie, not far from Honolulu. It is somewhat similar to
the Lincoln monument in Washington. It is wonderfully
situated, with a lofty mountain background and a broad
view of the Pacific in front. It is cream white—with colon-
nade and many sculptures and paintings, with lakes and
lagoons like the Taj Mahal at Agra. It is just the size of
Solomon’s Temple at Jerusalem, and cost about a quarter
of a million dollars. The Mormons claim ten thousand
members in Hawaii, and they also claim that the Hawaiian
and all the Pacific islanders belong by right to them, for
their earliest history they say is recorded in the Book of
Mormon and they are descended from the Lost Tribes of
Israel.

But while there are other Catholic and Protestant
churches in the islands doing fine work, which is greatly
appreciated, yet the most influential factor in the solution
of Hawaii’s Eastern problem is probably wrapped up in
the lives and hearts of the people who are the descendants
of the first American missionaries, the intelligent and
wealthy and patriotic American citizens who are the lead-
ers in the island, in business, in finance, in politics, in re-
ligion and who have constituted for a hundred years and
do to-day the congregation of the historic Central Union50 THE SECRET OF THE EASE

Church of Hawaii. Let me tell you about their new church
and what it symbolizes.

We were tremendously impressed by this new Central
Union Church, called ‘‘the Church in the Garden.” It
Is a great vision come true. I do not know of a more
beautiful or a more impressive Congregational Church in
America. It occupies a charming garden plot of over eight
acres, which was bought from the Dillinghams for $100,-
000. In the centre of this is the church structure and
grouped around it are the parsonage, the community house,
and the three or four Sunday-school bungalows. The
whole plant will cost $550,000.

The church structure represents New England of the
colonial period and yet it is Hawaiian in the color and
materials used. It is Georgian in architecture designed
by Cram of Boston, and is similar to the Christopher
Wren churches of London or Boston. But the material
is a slate-colored stone, all quarried about a mile from the
church and harder than granite. It is dressed and pointed,
so that in a sense, it represents a glorified form of the old
cathedral church of Hawaii. This is a new cathedral com-
mensurate with the power and wealth of the best people
of Hawaii, and probably two-thirds of the membership are
children of the early missionaries.

A feature of “the Church in the Garden’’ is its sense
of out-of-doors worship. This is made by its great win-
dows, all being French windows to the floor and opening
out into the beautiful gardens all around the church. In
fact, as Dr. Palmer smilingly said, no matter how dull the
sermon, there’s something worth while for the worshipper.
Besides this, if the weather grows warm and they wish to
hold a twilight service outside, it is arranged by open win-
dows at the organ to hear it as well outside as inside, and
the lawn on the shady side is arranged for chairs for a
congregation, with a winding stone pulpit for the minister.

Dr. Palmer, the leader of this church, looks hopefully
into the future. “Remember” he said recently, “all these
races which we haye here in such numbers were broughtHAWAII AND ITS ORIENTAL PROBLEM 51

here after the reciprocity treaty of 1875 with the United
States. They did not invade the islands; they were
brought here to raise sugar. The rising generation of
Japanese in Hawaii seem to be almost as completely Amer-
icanized and just as eager for education as the Chinese.”
It is interesting and illuminating that it was a Japanese
school boy who won the public speaking contest at the Mc-
Kinley High School in Honolulu last year with an essay
on “My Ideal of Character,” and that ideal was Jesus
Christ. When the American Legion recently offered a
prize of $250 for the best essay on “How Best to Serve
America,” the first prize was won by a Japanese boy of
thirteen from one of the schools on a sugar plantation near
Honolulu. Said Dr. Palmer, ‘Alleged Oriental inscru-
tability disappears completely in these eager, responsive
young people trained in American schools and thinking
American thoughts.”

This is the fine progressive spirit that will solve the
problem of Hawaii.FIRST GLIMPSE OF FUJI

A SKETCH

HIS was our first glimpse of Fuji-yama, or as the

Japanese sometimes say, “Lord Fuji.” We saw

the sacred mountain high enthroned above the sea
as if a king, a god,—seated upon the clouds, clad all in
ermine—snow white in majesty eternal. Lo! there he sat
upon his lustrous throne, crowned with the glory of per-
petual snow; his robes the trailing clouds and fleecy mists;
his throne of majesty built of the snowy heights, superb
beside the sunlit sea, sovereign supreme of all the sunrise
empire of Nippon.

No land was yet visible, only the sunlit sea. There in
the sky Lord Fuji sat enthroned upon the empyrean heights
where dwell the gods alone. Crowned with effulgent light,
he shone sublime—the ghostly phantom of a radiant
dream.

Again we saw the glorious mountain at the sunset hour,
pearl pink against the glory of pure gold, a cloud-land
pinnacle of fair Japan, a sunset god, dwelling in gorgeous
palaces beyond the vision of the eyes of men. But this
first vision from the sea still enthralled our soul.

Before this revelation of beauty, so radiant, so lofty,
so spiritual, we bowed our heads, our spirits made obeis-
ance before the overwhelming sense of the Most High.

Here was an apocalypse of divinest beauty—light in
the skies before it touched the earth. We felt like praying
in devoutest mood with those old white-clad Japanese pil-
grims who in the ancient days were wont to climb the sacred
mountain singing,—these are their very words,—‘‘May all
our soul be undefiled, may all our senses be forever clean,

52FIRST GLIMPSE OF FUJI 53

may eye, ear, nose, yea, body, tongue and heart be worthy
of the vision and the dream.” So sang our spirit also
when we saw that first wonderful vision of Fuji, high in

the sky above the sea, the day we drew near the coast of
Nippon.JAPAN OF TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW

HE first impression of Japan is this: The whole
of Japan, from the earliest glimpses of Fuji in the
clouds to the last glimpse of the mountains at the
western sea-edge at Shimonesiki is to me intensely pictur-
esque and beautiful; and the people cheerful, happy, smil-
ing and most kindly and courteous,—a wonderful people.

We went to Japan only a few months after the great
earthquake that destroyed so much of Yokohama and
Tokio. Yokohama was almost entirely a ruin, Tokio was
partly in ruins, and yet the people were brave and valiant,
cheerful and undismayed. Already the ruined districts
were largely cleared for rebuilding, and light temporary
shacks were everywhere. Business was going on as usual,
even among the ruins.

The real Japan, the old Japan, the most beautiful
Japan,—such as Nikko, Kyoto, and Nara, were absolutely
untouched,—and as exquisite and delightful as ever.

We saw Fuji before we saw Japan. One morning
while we were still far out at sea, we saw it hanging in the
sky, although no land was yet visible. It was a dream, a
vision. Fuji-yama is wonderful. It is the sacred mountain
of Japan. It symbolizes Japan. It is beautiful but illu-
sive,—seen one moment and lost the next. It is three
times higher than Mount Vesuvius, which is four thousand
feet above the bay of Naples. Fuji is twelve thousand,
and you see it from sea-level, all its lofty height in the air.
Its lines are symmetric, its summit is always snowy, and
there is forever around it a colorful atmosphere. Often
the great mountain peak—a volcanic cone—seems to hang
in mid-air—as we saw it—a radiant blue mid-air, separated
from the earth by mists and clouds. It suggests something
heavenly, something pure, spiritual, ethereal.

To an American, the most interesting date in Japanese

54JAPAN OF TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 55

history is the year 1853, when our American, Commodore
Perry, appeared in the harbor of Yeddo—now Tokio—
with an American fleet, and demanded an open door in
Japan. It was a big demand. Up to that time Japan had
successfully remained closed to foreign nations. But now,
Japan realized that her hour had come. She must open
her gates. Without the American ships firing a gun, their
demands were yielded to, and Japan opened her ports.
The era of her modern life began.

But the next most interesting date is 1907, when the
Japanese signed the Russo-Japanese treaty in America at
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, at the Hotel Wentworth.
That was an epoch in their history. Japan by that victory
was accepted into the family of the great powers of the
world. It was my privilege to be present at this famous
event in Portsmouth, and to see the famous men of the
nations in attendance.

How far back does veritable Japanese history extend?
The Japanese, like many other nations, love to believe in
the extreme antiquity of their history. Rome loves to
think that the imperial city was founded by Romulus and
Remus, suckled by a wolf. Oxford University loves to
ascribe its origin to King Alfred. So the Japanese believe
that the ancestry of their Mikado reaches back for thou-
sands of years, and its national history into the far distant
past. The first authenticated historic date, however, 1s
461 A.D., say careful historians. From that date until
1853, Japan had been a closed nation, isolated by the de-
liberate policy of its rulers. One great reason for the iso-
lation of Japan for so many generations was the fear of
foreigners. The doors had been partly open to the Jesuits
‘n the sixteenth century, who had come to convert them,
and ended by trying to get political power. So they were
massacred or expelled, and the policy of stricter isolation
maintained. The later policy of the English with India
and China, especially in the opium war, confirmed them in
the belief that the foreign powers were utterly unscrupu-
lous and merely seeking territory.56 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

We must recall that the feudal era of Japan, the most
interesting in her history, lasted from the twelfth to the
middle of the nineteenth century. It was the rule of the
shoguns, the imperial family being in the background. Un-
der the shoguns were the daimyos, powerful feudal lords,
and under them the groups of samurai, or fighting men.
Some samurai were known as ronins. These were inde-
pendent fighters, like the feudal knights of Europe. Such
were the rulers of Japan when Commodore Perry knocked
at the door in 1853. And about these rulers much history
is told and many legends, and much of the literature and
art of Japan is concerned with them.

We should remember that the progress of Japan in the
last fifty years has been marvellous. No other nation has
ever made such an astounding record. It was a sudden
change from medieval feudalism to a modern world power,
with a new constitution, a new army and navy, a new com-
plete school system with modern universities, new indus-
trial and commercial systems, the defeat of Russia, an
alliance with England, the victory over the Chinese. These
are startling changes. It is wonderful that Japan has suc-
cessfully travelled this strenuous road and fairly well kept
her head. Japan has developed military genius. Heer sol-
diers are noted for their obedience, discipline and courage,
and she has developed great industrial and commercial
efiiciency.

And yet what different views of Japan are possible.
Two travellers visit Japan. One, such as Price Collier,
comes away after a visit thoroughly disgruntled and very
severe in his criticism. Another, such as Julian Street,
came away liking them and respecting them as a people.
Fle found things good and bad, but more good than bad.
They were, as he says, “very human beings, like the rest
of us, having their virtues and their defects.”

For ourselves, we can say that we enjoyed Japan great-
ly,—we loved its beauty and we admired its people. We
found them a wonderful little people,—-so alert, intelligent,
industrious, ambitious. All seem to be working,—not an

[

}JAPAN OF TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 57

idler or loafer. The children seem well-nourished, fat,
rosy and happy. They waved to us constantly and laughed
and cheered us with “Banzail’’ and flags. Perhaps the
children of the poorer classes would be improved by a few
carloads of handkerchiefs. I think that might be excellent
missionary work. Many children have sores or skin dis-
eases. In several cities we saw many men and women
wearing mouth-masks against germs of influenza or small-
pox.

The men and women are very responsive to a smile, a
wave of the hand or the greeting of “good morning,’
which sounds like O-hi-o; or ‘‘goodbye,”’ which sounds like
Say-o-nara; or “please,” Do-zo; or “stop,” To-ma-ti. They
laugh and smile easily. We saw not the least indication of
any hard feeling towards Americans. They were always
most cordial and pleasant.

I was amazed to see how perfectly Japan had taken
all the latest inventions, American and otherwise, and had
adapted them to daily use so fully,—especially railroads,
photography, telegraph, telephone, machinery, printing,
trolleys, hotel equipments, and steamships. They imitate
and often improve. They have wonderful mechanical
ability.

They are artistic to their finger tips, even in their lamp
posts, their business signs, the management of their homes,
their landscape gardening, and all metal and woodwork.

We learned that earthquakes are not recent arrivals in
Japan. They have been shaking Japan from time imme-
morial. The seismograph records show about four earth-
quakes a day. But so slight are most of these that the
people pay little attention to them. Tokio, however, is con-
scious of about fifty shocks a year. These slight tremors
are considered normal, to relieve internal pressure in the
earth. If they cease, the people become apprehensive. The
last destructive earthquake was in 1855, when most of
Tokio was shaken down and 100,000 perished. This pres-
ent calamity, destroying Yokohama, a third of Tokio, and
probably a quarter million people, is the greatest earth-58 THE SECRET OF THE ash

quake disaster that ever visited Japan,—possibly the great-
est in the world.

Yokohama is building up rapidly,—mostly with smaller
buildings. But it will be many years before it is fully
restored. It is five months since the earthquake. But the
docks where we were moored were still twisted, broken
and desolate.

In Tokio many of the structures built in American con-
crete, such as the magnificent Imperial Hotel, stood the test.
These new rebuildings in Yokohama and Tokio remind one
of the frame buildings at the World’s Fair,—booths and
small shops entirely temporary.

Possibly the earthquake may be a blessing to Japan.
For example, while we were there the Premier Kijoura
called a conference of Shinto and Buddhist priests and
Christian leaders to his home. He said that he wanted to
have their help in guiding the ideas and ideals of the
nation toward better things through religion. He spoke
of the earthquake and its results. It wakened the people
to the more serious things of life. Patriotism, legislation
and education were not enough. The nation needed more
and deeper religious ideals,—justice, brotherhood and the
spirit of self-sacrifice for others. Fullest religious toler-
ance must be assured. The minister of home affairs and
education and other officials were also present. This was
February 21, 1924. The earthquake may thus have some
good results to its credit. Perhaps also in other ways.

Many parts of Japan,—the beautiful old cities and
regions untouched by the earthquake,—seemed to me like
suburbs of Paradise. The scenery is so beautiful, the gar-
dens everywhere so dainty and finished, the houses so
picturesque and fairylike, the people so polite and smiling,
the women and children so flower-like in their pretty
clothes of brilliant colors. It is all almost too beautiful
to be true. Of course there is another side, and some
limitations, but this is the general impression.

And the children! Japan is a land of children,—as
Kipling truly called it. The littlest children ride on thePhoto by Colonial Studio

AN OBSERVER IN THE FAR EAST, DR. OLIVER HUCKELJAPAN OF TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW so

backs of their sisters or mothers, ine as oe along

                                                 

chubby and merry. ‘Tt is a paradise of idee

We delighted in the costumes of the people. They are
so picturesque, even those of the workingmen. The styles
do not change. The women wear the native dress, adapt-
ing it to the season, the age of the wearer and the occasion.
The children wear kimonos of the brightest colors; young
unmarried women wear gay colors and long sleeves; the
young wife uses color more sparingly; the older women
wear more subdued tones. The men of business and off-
cials usually wear European dress, but the workmen gener-
ally the native garb. !

We found, as we expected, the Japanese shopkeepers |
most polite. ‘lies bow and invite you to enter. They bow,
and say “Thank you”’ when you depart, whether you have.
bought anything or not. They are very patient and most |
courteous, painstaking and obliging. Nothing seems too
much trouble. They are good salesmen.

The waitresses at the hotels are pretty and pleasant.
They dress so daintily that they seem like gay butterflies
flitting about. Their voices are soft and low, their smile
bewitching. They enter into their tasks as if playing a
happy game.

We saw, as every traveller in Japan sees, the many
curious ways in which Japanese do things,—exactly oppo-
site to our way. But who shall decide which is best? For
instance, their books commence at the back, instead of
front; the lines of type run down the page instead of
across; sawing and planing are done by pulling, instead of
pushing; at a theater or restaurant they check their shoes
instead of their hats; a child is reckoned one year old at
birth; like the English, they drive to the left of the road.
But these are only ripples on the surface of life. We found
in general they are much like us in heart and spirit—human
nature’s akin—and most things are now being done in

Japan in European style. sie
We must remember, to understand conditions, that the60 THE SECRET OF “THE (EAS?

government of Japan is a constitutional monarchy. The
Emperor is a real power, and with him is the Imperial
Diet, comprising the House of Peers, some hereditary,
some nominated and appointed and some elected, about
280 members; and the House of Representatives, number-
ing 379 members. Each member of the Diet receives
$1,000 a year and travelling expenses. It meets annually
for three months. The government is modelled on German
methods rather more than English, for the Emperor is
always a dominating factor.

The Crown Prince is now acting Emperor, or Regent.
He is a young man, recently married. He is very popular
and so is his young wife, a princess of the blood royal. His
father, who until recently was Emperor, is still living, but
is a nervous invalid, now in retirement. His father, grand-
father of the Crown Prince, was the great Meiji, Emperor
of the Meiji or Enlightenment period. Some of our party
saw the Prince Regent in the park at Tokio one day when
we were visiting there. And just before the close of our
visit the Prince Regent and his bride went on a tour of
pilgrimage and worship to Ise, as well as to some other
of the great shrines and temples of his ancestors.

It was explained to us that the classes or ranks of
society in Japan are something like this: It is a great
pyramid. First the Emperor—the head of all heads of
families; then the imperial family, a large group; then the
genro, or elder statesmen; then the army and naval fam-
ilies; then government officials, with decorations; then the
groups of higher officials, ex-officials, lower officials; then
the aristocracy—a million descendants of the samurai, or
knights of old; then the other taxpayers; then the mer-
chants; and finally the lowest class, the pariahs. The last
two classes have no vote. The Emperor is considered the
father of his people, and dislikes to appear in military uni-
form, which seems to make him a part of the army and
navy.

The orders of nobility were created to match those
of Europe. There are princes, marquises, counts, viscountsJAPAN OF TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 61

and barons, field-marshals and admirals. These all wear
uniforms and decorations as beautiful and brilliant as any
European styles.

We recalled that among the recent samurai heroes was
General Count Nogi, the hero of Port Arthur. We saw
a shrine of memorial dedicated for him in Tokio. You
will remember that he and his wife at last died by their
own hands after the death of their Emperor. This repre-
sented their idea of chivalry and of loyalty to the Em-
peror. He who had been servant and trusted adviser to
the Emperor would not survive his death. He desired to
follow him into the beyond. He died for the Emperor and
in memory of the 30,000 soldiers who had sacrificed their
lives. It reminded us that death is not regarded in Japan
with horror, as it often is in the West. A strain of stoicism,
if not fatalism, leads them to take death calmly. They
feel that such taking of life is heroic.

We heard much in Japan of Bushido, the doctrine of
chivalry, of the military knightly ways of old Japan. Pro-
fessor Nitobe considers it the key to Japan, and it is essen-
tially its system of practical ethics and patriotism. It was
my privilege some years ago to hear Professor Nitobe ex-
pound “Bushido” in a series of lectures in Baltimore, at
Johns Hopkins University, delivered in faultless English.
They made a great impression.

We were interested to learn more carefully the re-
sources of Japan. These are some of the plain facts that
we discovered: Japan now has a population estimated at
fifty-six millions. It has compulsory education. It has
nearly 8,700 miles of railways. It has 18,000 miles of
telegraph and telephone. It has compulsory military ser-
vice, with an army of peace strength of 250,000 and able
to put 800,000 in the field. It has 191 war vessels, aggre-
gating 493,371 tons. It has 56,000 vessels in the mer-
chant marine.

We found Tokio a great city, in spite of the ravages
of the earthquake. It has some large buildings left, many
of them; railroad stations, department stores, office build-62 THESSECRET, OF THE EAST

ings and municipal and royal structures. Some of them
are impressive, many of them ugly. But it has no sky-
scrapers on account of,earthquakes. Most of the houses in
Tokio are of the quaint native architecture, simple and
picturesque. ‘The streets are narrow, the shops have open
fronts, with awnings of blue and white,—great collections
of bazaars with hanging banners. One can wander through
these old streets with continual discovery of things of
beauty, interest and delight. The people themselves are
a panorama of varied color, quaintness and charm.

At Kyoto we saw the college buildings of the Doshisha,
and the girls’ dormitories, and the kindergarten, with a
special exhibit and festival. At the theological school Pres-
ident Ebina was away in America, but I met Professor
Learned and Professor Cobb. We saw the library and
other buildings of the great institution. The buildings are
mostly of brick, but they represent a monument to Joseph
Hardy Neesima, the Apostle of Japan, and an outcome of
American Christianity, with a story which reads like a
romance. Let us recall that story in brief:

Neesima was a descendant of the samurai. He was
born in Tokio in 1843. He was ten years old when Com-
modore Perry came to Japan and opened its gates. Nee-
sima studied a small atlas about the United States and his
imagination was kindled. In 1864 he stole away from
Japan and shipped to America. At Hong Kong he sold
his sword and bought a New Testament. He found the
light and became a Christian. At Boston he met the ship’s
owner, Mr. Alpheus Hardy, a sturdy Christian merchant,
who saw the possibilities in the young man and educated
him and gave him the name Joseph Hardy. He graduated
from Amherst. He became interpreter for the Japanese
Embassy visiting America in 1871. He returned to Japan
and immediately set to work to reproduce a Christian col-
lege in Japan like Amherst. He founded the Doshisha,—
the “One Purpose’ college,—in the heart of the sacred
city of Kyoto. It was Japan’s first Christian institution
of learning. It met with much opposition, but NeesimaJAPAN OF TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 63

fought for it valiantly and at length succeeded in making
it a great Christian college, and finally a great university.
He died in 1890 at the early age of forty-seven, worn out
with his incessant labors. Neesima is the Christian pioneer,
full of faith and vision. He is accounted the greatest of
the Japanese Christians,—a real apostle of Japan.

Kamakura, as we found, had once been a populous
and important royal city,—a capital of the feudal era.
Then it fell into decay and for two hundred years it has
been a deserted city. The only great monument left there
is the famous colossal statue of the Buddha,—the Dai
Butsu, as it is called. We visited this place in the moon-
light, and saw the great bronze god, mystic and beautiful,
in the moonlight. The great statue is still absolutely intact,
although the base was somewhat damaged and twisted by
the earthquake.

Kyoto is the Boston of Japan, a city of fine culture.
It was practically untouched by the earthquake, and is, to
my mind, the finest and most interesting city in Japan.

Nara, as everyone says, is ‘‘a place of supreme loveli-
ness,—rich in the aroma of antiquity.” It was one of the
ancient capitals. It has beautiful avenues, gardens sacred
to the deer, and many temples.

Nikko is one of the most charming spots. I think that
the most impressive temples I saw in Japan were those
at Nikko, wonderful monumental structures, impressive in
architecture and superb in their setting among the snow-
clad mountains and backgrounds of lofty groves of cryp-
tomeria.

Another temple very impressive to me was the temple
of Kwannon, in Shiba Park, Tokio. It was such a popular
shrine, such a gay and homely crowd always thronging it.
Booths, fortune telling, worship, gayety,—all together.
All so human, as if they enjoyed this temple—as if religion
were a delight.

The Temple of the 33,333 Buddhas in Kyoto was some-
thing so unique in that multitude of gods, each with many
hands of help. The boundless repetition is impressive. All64. THE SECRET OF THE EAST

these images were gifts of the Emperor to cure him of eye-
troubles.

The Meiji Temple in Tokio seemed to me very refined
and beautiful,—a memorial to the Emperor of the Meiji
or Enlightenment era. The colossal Buddha at Nara, in
his ancient temple, is wonderful, and most impressive of all
the great Buddha of Kamakura, with only the background
of great trees and above him the open skies. His temple
was demolished centuries ago by a tidal wave. The face of
the statue is not as beautiful as I expected,—not so refined
as the smaller replicas of it. It is an East Indian face. The
face of Buddha at Nara is Mongolian.

We found great contrasts in the temples of a single
city. I saw, for instance, at Tokio the great Hongwanji
Temple. It is massive, magnificent and modern, completed
in 1895, the grandest example of Buddhist architecture.
There is apparently no superstition or fetichism about its
appointments or worship. It is a masterpiece in architec-
ture, splendid and majestic, as impressive as the Parthenon
at Athens. It is so restrained and refined. It shows only
one simple image on its altar,—that of Amida Buddha.
This temple is representative of the Shin sect, a later de-
velopment of Buddhism. It is an exponent of the culture,
art and intelligence of Japan. This sect numbers thirteen
millions of the most intelligent Japanese,—about one-
fourth of the nation.

In the same city I visited the Temple of Kwannon, of
the Tendai sect of Buddhists. This branch seems primitive
and superstitious, but popular. The masses throng there.
The chief deity is Kwannon, goddess of mercy, and Jizo,
protector of mothers and little children. The Temple of
Ise is the most important Shinto shrine in Japan. It is re-
built every twenty years, and the priests plant timber every
twenty years so that there may be no lack. I saw in some
temples the priests sitting at a great brass brazier, burn-
ing joss sticks offered as incense. In some temples answers
to prayers were bought, allotted by casting dice. It looked
very much like fortune-telling.JAPAN OF TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 65

"What are some of the characteristics of the people, as
we found them? ‘The Japanese seemed a bright, cheery
and happy people, and my impression was confirmed by
the testimony of all who lived among them with whom I
talked. And this—in spite of the fact that they live in con-
stant fear of earthquakes, with five hundred tremors a
year, and in spite of heavy taxation that would seem to us
highway robbery; in spite of the unfortunate conditions
for the women; of an industrial system which grinds down
wages to the very lowest; and of such a congested popula-
tion that they do not know how to place them or feed
them; and especially of a religion which to us seems very
inadequate.

We were impressed, as I suppose every visitor is, by
the neatness of Japan. It is marvellous. There seems to
be no rubbish anywhere. Everything is cleaned up. Every-
thing is in order. Even the great mill centres are neat and
tidy,—which with us in America often have large refuse
heaps. There seems to be no waste. Everything is used.
From the car windows the fields as we passed them look
like the patterns of a carpet, and the whole country 1s
tasty and fastidiously finished. It is a great garden—all
Japan—and in perfect order. Neatness and economy are
national traits.

We found the Japanese a reading people,—and they
are reading solid books, books worth while. Here is a
recent list of the best sellers in Japanese bookshops: Evo-
lution and Adaptation, Morgan; Electricity and Magnet-
ism, Webster; Theory of Heat, Cotter; Darwinism, Wal-
lace; Pioneers of Science, Lodge; Fruit-Growing, Bailey;
Fairy Land of Science, Lodge; Representative Govern-
ment, Mills. This last book of five hundred pages has
reached its fourth edition in Japanese. The popular courses
in the University of Tokio, with five thousand students, were
engineering, medicine, physical sciences, law. They are
constant and voracious readers. A full mile of bookshops
in Tokio—destroyed by the earthquake—were built up
immediately. The latest books in literature and science66 THE SECRET OF THE BASE

are translated and devoured eagerly. Science especially
appeals to them, I was told. It means undoubtedly that
the Japanese are thoroughly awake, in earnest, eager, and
that they are taking our Western science with enthusiasm.

The Japanese, I feel, are a people to be reckoned with.
They have energy, vigor, courage, ambition. They are
boundless in numbers. They are busy all the time. It is
honorable to work in Japan. Our American youth often
think the highest attainment is to loaf, but there is no loaf-
ing in Japan. They are all at work. Yet they play at times
and enjoy life.

The Japanese, as we discovered, are wonderful imi-
tators. Ihey have taken much of their religion, ethics, and
art from China, Korea and India. Their alphabet and
much literature they have taken from China. They are
admirable as copyists, They have originated practically
nothing in art or religion, but they have taken and devel-
oped quite wonderfully. They have imitated our mills,
machinery and industrial methods very marvellously.
Printing-presses, telephones, photography, railroads, all
kinds of machinery and battleships are now made in Japan
as deftly as in the West.

Their school system and colleges, modelled on Euro-
pean and American models, are worked to perfection. The
whole nation can read and write, except the old people
who were not in this present system.

We found the railroads in Japan fairly well run. The
trains are almost invariably on time. They have good
sleeping cars and good dining cars. There are three classes
of day coaches, as in England and Europe generally. Ordi-
narily second class is good enough. Every car carries Eng-
lish as well as Japanese signs, stating the destination. Time
tables are printed in both languages. There are plenty of
railroad porters, with red caps. The railway lunches—
roast chicken, ham, salad and hard boiled eggs—are always
excellent.

We found that the Japanese have a considerable gift
of humor. They are great punsters, loving to play onJAPAN OF TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 67

words. They have many whimsical and grotesque things
in their art, such as queer cats, jolly or comical monkeys,
odd pot-bellied gods of good cheer and luck, like Hotei, or
Daruma the egg-shaped comedian, who refuses to stay
down when you roll him over; and in the fantastic conceits
of their carvings and prints they show humor.

Everywhere in Japan we saw people on pilgrimages,—
very happy picnic-pilgrimages,—not solemn or dreary.
Japan has the pilgrimage habit and has had it for genera-
tions. Some pilgrimages are religious to sacred spots, such
as Fuji-yama or Nikko, but many more are pilgrimages
for beauty or Nature. They have a remarkable delight in
natural scenery and outdoor beauty. They delight in the
seasons of cherry-blossom, the wisteria and the chrysan-
themum. They love flower gardens. They have a mystical
and poetic strain. Their poetry, and nearly everybody
writes poetry in Japan, is full of appreciation and praise
of Nature in her beautiful forms. We were told that the
fire-fly féte in June is wonderful.

We saw something in Japan of their charming “flower
arrangement.” It is taught as a part of the curriculum of
girls’ schools and is the accomplishment of every lady.
This has been a feature of Japanese life for five centuries.
It is a fine art and philosophy and many books have been
written on it. As a consequence, flowers have a part in
every household and are artistically and charmingly ar-
ranged.

Everywhere in Japan we cultivated the tea-habit, en-
joying its more exquisite phases. Tea is the universal fine
art. It is not a mere adjunct of a meal, as with us, but
social life centers around it and it is often a ceremony,
almost a sacred ritual. Business and social calls are invari-
ably punctuated by tea. The tea used in Japan is generally
green tea, taken without cream or sugar, from cups with-
out handles. It is made with hot, but not boiling water.
Lafcadio Hearn says that the training in the formal tea
ceremony of Japan is a training in politeness, in delicacy,—
in discipline of deportment. You see, therefore, it 1s
important.68 THE SECRET OF THE BASE

We sampled some of the weather in Japan. It was
quite like our own. Winter is December 1 to March 313
spring from April 1 to May 31; summer from June 1 to
September 30, and autumn from October 1 to November
30. Policemen in Tokio blossom out in white trousers and
a white cap on June first to tell that summer has come.
And women change their garb with the seasons,—the gay-
est colors being worn in the springtime. The weather was
beautiful, clear and sunshiny, for our whole stay,—except
one day when it rained gently. Then it was most amusing
to see the variety of Japanese umbrellas,—all colors, but
mostly yellow or brown. One day coming from Nara it
snowed. But it was a gentle snow. And there were few
evidences of it left even after a half hour’s snowing. Japan
is a gentle land—except the earthquakes.

We found good drinking water in Japan. We drank
the usual drinking water in all the large cities, such as
Tokio, Kyoto and Nikko. It was mountain spring water,
clear and cold at Nikko. On railroad trains or small trains
we drank Tan San, a Japanese table water, pure and good.
It costs about fifteen cents a bottle and can be had every-
where.

We had no difficulty about the money in Japan. It is a
small item, but interesting to know about. The standard
coin is the yen, worth fifty cents in our money. It is worth
one hundred sen in Japanese. A smaller coin is fifty sen,
worth twenty-five cents in our money. The ten sen, a nickel
with a hole in it. And five sen, a smaller coin with a hole
in it. American one-dollar bills were accepted in all cities
and large towns; American express checks at all hotels and
large shops.

We found excellent hotels in Japan. As samples we
may mention a few. The Kanaya at Nikko is delightful.
‘The outlook from our rooms was so beautiful it almost
took our breath away,—snow-clad mountains, sacred red
bridge, temples on the hills, mountain river rushing at our
feet. It seemed like Switzerland or Yosemite. The Impe-
rial Hotel at Tokio is magnificent,—as fine as New YorkJAPAN OF TQ-DAY AND TO-MORROW 69

or Chicago could offer. It is built in Aztec style, by an
American architect. Every room has a private bath. There
are banquet hall and theatre, very large and gorgeous. The
earthquake did not affect it. Its construction in concrete
foundations saved it. The Miyako Hotel at Kyoto is an-
other delightful hostelry, charmingly situated on the
heights on the edge of the city. These are all provided
with electric elevators, electric lights and telephones, mail
chutes, and the most modern kitchens. Native hotels are
often good, if you know them.

We had some glimpses of theatres in Japan. The
streets called Theatre Streets in Tokio and Kyoto are
wonderfully gay and picturesque in lights and lanterns and
banners. We stopped at many shops where books, shoes,
jewelry, novelties were for sale, and found some bargains.

The Marionette Theatre was crowded. People are
accustomed to come and eat their supper there,—sitting
on the floor, in little squares or boxes. The plays are often
lengthy. The marionettes are quite gorgeously arrayed
and are worked by a visible actor and two invisibles, that
is, men with heads covered with dark hoods. The plays
are usually old legends of Japan. What we saw was a story
of love, chivalry and awful tragedy. The musicians and
singers sit near the stage. This kind of theatre is very
popular. The largest theatre which we saw has a revolving
stage for its scenery,—so as to save time in change of
scenery. This seems surely very modern. Movies are
numerous, with the latest American films picturing cow-
boys. The Japanese are pleasure-loving. Their theatres
and theatre streets, with gay shops and restaurants, are
crowded every afternoon and evening till midnight.

We found the great national sport to be wrestling
matches. It is as popular as baseball in America, or a
boxing match. Fifteen thousand people attend one of the
great wrestling matches in Tokio. Jiu-jutsu 1s a method
of defeating the adversary, not by putting force against
force, but by yielding in such a way as to turn the enemy’s
strength against himself. It is a fine art.70 RHE SECRED OF THE EASH

We found Sunday the official holiday in Japan. On
that day the offices of American and European residents
are closed, as well as banks and schools. To the Japanese
it has no religious significance,—except to the Christians
among them. With the people it is just a holiday. Work-
ers in industries get only two holidays a month. At the
temples no one day of the week is observed. But most
temples have certain sacred days at intervals or annually.
Otherwise worshippers are under no obligations.

The Japanese women whom we saw and met were
interesting, and in many cases most delightful. Women in
Japan have received much praise. One writer, I remember
—Julian Street—calls them ‘‘an incomparably lovely spirit,
the flower of generations of a disciplined civilization.”
Lafcadio Hearn says: ‘Perhaps no such type of woman
will appear again in this world for a hundred thousand
years.” He had married one and ought to know. It seems
like extravagant praise. We found that the women of
Japan live under many disadvantages. There is no woman
suffrage. Her education is very limited. Marriage is usu-
ally arranged by parents. Divorce is easy. But a new
era is rapidly coming for woman in Japan. More women
are being educated, more are going into business, nursing
and teaching.

American ideals are taking root in Japan. The Amer-
ican churches have their influences, American schools and
colleges for girls, the Y. M. and Y. W. C. A. and other
agencies. The peasant women work in the fields or push
a cart or navigate a boat on the canal—the girls work in
the factories and even assist in coaling steamships. But
such things are not unknown in some European lands.
Nevertheless conditions are changing and improving rap-
idly in Japan.

We learned that the social evil in Japan is regulated
and controlled, much as in France. It is a blot on the
country, as it is in France, England and America. Authori-
ties differ as to the best method of dealing with this prob-
lem. Japan so controls it that the streets of the great cities
are free from this evil.JAPAN OF TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 71

We saw something of Japanese dancing. It is done
entirely by the women. It is a sort of animated tableau,
a poetry of motion. The dancing girls look sweet and
childish, and are attired in silken robes that make them
seem like butterflies. But it is full of color and beauty, as
all things in Japan. Several times we saw the geisha-girls
in dances and entertainments. ‘These girls are the public
entertainers of Japan,—trained to look pretty, to talk well,
to dance well and to sing and play on instruments of music.
They are hired to be present as entertainers and dancers
at all large dinners or receptions. hey are present at all
the large tea-houses and restaurants, to help make it pleas-
ant for the guests. The geisha are usually charming, soft-
eyed girls of modest bearing and beautiful manners. They
are merely public entertainers. It is a mistake to think
of them in other ways. They are, however, rather looked
down on as a class, as often the chorus girls are in America.
But most of them are honest, self-respecting girls. And
some of them marry well. The dances by the geisha-girls
seemed to us very picturesque and modest. The music does
not seem very melodious, rather incoherent at times. The
dancing is rhythmic and novel. The voices are rather
thin and high. The musical instruments are strange. We
saw the dances in the most pleasant way at a tea-house in
Nikko. We were welcomed with tea and cake. We sat
on cushions or low stools. The dancing lasted about an
hour. Some of it was given with actors’ masks—very com-
ical. The geisha girls talked a little English; were very
polite; seemed like exquisite dolls; some were beautiful.
They shook hands in bidding us good night. I have seen
the hula-hula dance of Hawaii and the Korean dances. I
think the geisha dance the best of the three.

We were greatly interested in the temples and religion
in Japan. There is no state or official religion there. The
nearest approach is Shintoism, which is a national patriot-
ism. But a modern form of Buddhism is the prevailing
devotion. Among the more intelligent, this is not devotion
to Gautama Buddha of India, but to a new manifestation72 (EERIE “SECRET OF THE EASH

of divinity named Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Bound-
less Light. ‘The lower classes, however, are ‘‘devoted to
their old shrines, their old idols and their Buddhist and
Shinto priests.’”’ ‘hey give enormous sums for poor peo-
ple, besides maintaining and building shrines and temples.
Some of the upper and educated classes are skeptical or
frankly agnostic. There are 195,000 Shinto shrines,
many of them dedicated to the memory of their great
men,—shrines of patriotism. But as I saw the beautiful
Buddhist temples of Nikko, Kyoto, Nara, and other cities,
and the images of Buddha everywhere, hundreds, thou-
sands of them, I began to realize what an influence his
religion had been for fourteen hundred years in Japan.
Buddhism was introduced from India by way of China
and Korea in the sixth century. It brought new religion,
civilization and art. It supplemented Shintoism admirably
by providing the mystical element to its ancestor worship
and patriotic cult. And what a tender, gentle, humanizing
influence Buddha has been,—in spite of incongruities, super-
stitions and corruptions forced upon it by the priesthood
of the centuries. Fundamentally, it teaches some fine
things.

I talked one day with a prominent Y. W. C. A. leader in
Kyoto about Amida. She is an intelligent Japanese, college
graduate, descendant of seventeen generations of Shinto
priests. She said that Amida meant God, the Abstract,
the Absolute, the Infinite, to modern intelligent Japanese,
and that Gautama Buddha was his chief incarnation for
Asia—just as Jesus Christ was an incarnation of God.
There were other lesser incarnations of the divine spirit,
such as Kwannon, goddess of mercy, and Jizo, protector of
little children. But so far as she knew there was never any
historical character—Amida Buddha—as there was a his-
torical Gautama Buddha or Jesus Christ. ‘This view was
also confirmed in a conversation I had with a gentleman of
Osaka, a well-read Japanese, a graduate of the Doshisha.

We were greatly interested by what we saw of the art
and architecture of Japan. The domestic architecture isJAPAN OF TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 73

interesting. The tile roofs in graceful curves give a charm
even to small houses. There are pleasant gardens and
trees everywhere. The castle architecture of moats, walls
and gateways is impressive. The palaces are grand. But
the temple architecture is sublime. The finest art was
lavished on them and most exquisite carvings. The great-
est statues are in bronze, such as the colossal Buddhas.
The most exquisite carvings are in ivory and wood. Egyp-
tian and Greek temples are grand, but Japanese temples
have grace, delicacy and an airiness not possessed by Karnak
or the Parthenon.

Japanese art allows ‘“‘a large place to the odd, the weird
and the grotesque, and a comparatively small place to the
simple, the grand and the sublime.’ So writes Professor
Powers. “Their art is full of exquisite snatches, but lacks
broad generalizations. They love to paint a bird sitting
on a branch, a clump of waving bamboos, a rock and a
scraggly pine—all these in perfection. But they rarely
paint the broad expanse of mountains, or plain, or a wide
sweep of forest or sea.” The Japanese artist understands
perfectly the witchery of atmosphere. Yet he loves the
fantastic, the unusual, even the capricious in Nature. ‘“Jap-
anese art is more graceful than grand. Japan is the most
picturesque country in the world, but only Fuji-yama is
sublime.”’

Such subjects as these are popular in Japan: The eight
beauties of Omi or Lake Biwa, and these are the autumn
moon, the evening snow, the sunset glow, the evening bell,
the boats sailing back, a bright sky with a breeze, rain by
night, and wild geese alighting. All these are artistic sub-
jects, but none of them grand. They are fugitive touches
of beauty.

We saw many Japanese paintings, kakemonos, scrolls
to be hung perpendicularly, or makemonos, scrolls to be
viewed sidewise. The kakemono is usually the more seri-
ous, formal and dignified. So these often contain the repre-
sentations of Buddha. The makemonos are often whimsi-
cal, humorous and grotesque. The kakemonos are often74. THE SECRET OF THE EAST

on the walls. The makemonos are usually in museum cases,
to be unrolled when needed.

We saw so much of the work of Unkei, the prince
of Japanese sculptors. He carved the colossal statue of
Emma-O, god of the underworld. Repellant, grotesque it
is, but nevertheless great art because it expresses a great
thought. He also made so many of the Nio figures guard-
ing the entrance to Japanese temples. They are terrifying
in aspect, to frighten away demons.

We found that the glory of Japanese art at Nikko is
the wood-carving. “It is everywhere. Rafter ends are
carried into dragon heads. The eagle, files of Chinese
worthies, fruits and flowers, waterfowl, cats sleeping peace-
fully.” Most of these are carved by the famous Hidari
Jingoro.

We learned this good discrimination by study in Japan:
“Japanese design is usually simple; Chinese extremely com-
plex. The Japanese knows the value of plain surfaces; the
Chinese aim to cover every portion with intricate pattern.
The Chinese artist is fond of borders, designs adapted to
space, and symmetry. All of these the Japanese avoids.
The avoidance of set pattern is a notable characteristic of
Japanese art.”

We talked with all the Japanese we could meet,—
statesman, college professors, social workers, business men
—about present conditions and present problems in Japan.
We learned that the greatest problem before Japan to-day
is its population, — the largeness of its population, the
smallness of the country and the scarcity of the food sup-
ply and raw material for manufacture. Fifty years ago the
population was thirty-three millions; to-day it is fully fifty-
seven millions. The increase is about half a million a year.

Two ways of meeting the problem have been favored.
First, the Prussian, Russian and English grabbing system
for more land in other parts of the world. The militaristic
party favored this. Hence the seizure of Korea, Shantung
and Siberia. But this policy of more land has been modi-
fied. There is a new tendency of the people against theJAPAN OF TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 75

military party and aggression. The liberal element in
Japan is becoming very powerful and is led by the sanest
and ablest of the statesmen.

The new policy is to turn Japan into an industrial coun-
try, like England. ‘‘She has abundant cheap labor and a
short haul to the great markets of Asia,” one asserted. So
she can manufacture cheaply, export, and with the proceeds
buy raw material and food. Japan is therefore attempting
a great industrial program. In many things she is very
efficient.

Japan is a land to be reckoned with. What she wants,
so far as I learned in Japan, was simply to lead and to
dominate Asia; to have oversea dominions; to get and use
the best in Western civilization, and to be treated as an
equal by Western powers.

Japan has demonstrated ability, efficiency, man-power
and intellectual power. She conquered Russia; she has
taken and rules Korea. She humiliated China—in Shan-
tung and the twenty-one demands. She is tremendously
ambitious, but probably the world is not ready to allow
her to dominate Asia.

Yet this much, we Americans must acknowledge. Japan
has already beaten us in the carrying trade on the Pacific.
She is conscious of her place and power. She is working
night and day on machinery for China that she may achieve
supremacy there. She is better schooled than any other
Eastern nation. She has an efficient army and naval force,
even such as to defeat Russia. She has a constantly increas-
ing population, not from immigration as in America, but by
a big birth rate. While native stock in America is decreas-
ing, Japan is growing by leaps and bounds. The sword of
Japan has put a new heart into the Far East. It showed
what the West respected. Japan is bound to be a big factor
in the future of the Far East.MOONLIGHT AT KAMAKURA

A SKETCH

FE had our first glimpse of the great bronze

Buddha at Kamakura in the silver moonlight

through a grove of lace-like trees. The statue
stands in a sacred park once a temple enclosure and all
around through the grove is the mystery of shadows with
lesser shrines and dimly seen stone statues.

We looked up into that benign face that for long cen-
turies, at least five hundred years, has gazed so kindly,
seemingly with tender compassion upon the throng of wor-
shipers that haunt the grove. His face is so calm, so im-
perturbable.

Above his head the stars of heaven were shining with
intense brightness, and the full moon encircled his head
like a halo. We walked around the statue, looking up at it
from all sides and especially at the strong profile silhouetted
against the moonlit sky. We could see the radiant jewel
in the center of his forehead,—said to be the quintessence
of the wisdom of the ages sending forth its light on all the
world. The noble head seems to be bent in deep thought,
as if weighted with the lore and learning of all times. The
head was covered with short curls of hair. The early
legends say that these were not hair but snails which, in
their compassion for his fatigue, crawled up and gathered
upon his bare head to shield it from the intense rays of
the tropical sun as he meditated in the open. His eyes
seem partly closed in mystic meditation and yet seeing all
things. His mouth was closed as if no words were
needed,—his soul was speaking in a silent eloquence.

76MOONLIGHT AT KAMAKURA 77

We saw that look of blessed and eternal peace upon his
face. It was a face of perpetual purity and of perpetual
conquest, smiling and silent, tender and appealing, as if
speaking a message of divinest love.

His hands were resting in his lap, thumb touching
thumb, and seeming thus to give a fullest acquiescence to
the Law which he was teaching to humanity. He seemed
to have reached the end of all the toils of life, of all its
strifes, and to have attained at last the eternal Peace.

We saw that he was seated on a cushion of the lotus
flowers, and we did not wonder that the East regards him
as Lord Buddha, symbol of the mighty past. He seemed
to represent nobility and restfulness of soul, the calmness
of one who knows, sitting here at the gateway of eternity.
The East regards him as the symbol of light eternal, uni-
versal,—the light of the spirit of humanity. For them he
sits upon his lotus Throne above the tides of Jime, and
fills all life with subtle mystic glory.

Millions of worshipers in the flowery East look up to
him and seem to see his face illumined with infinite com-
passion and tenderness,—with the timelessness of God.
They seem to see in him the finite with a glow of the in-
finite. His lotus Throne seems to them a boundless Uni-
verse, blooming in endless light and perfect beauty.

And as we stood there looking up into this colossal
and majestic face, crowned with moonlight, we could under-
stand something of the reverence and devotion of the East.
We recalled some lines of Kipling’s poem:

BUDDHA AT KAMAKURA

O ye who tread the Narrow Way

By Tophet-flare to Judgment Day,

Be gentle when the heathen pray
To Buddha at Kamakura.

To him the Way, the Law, apart,
Whom Maya held beneath her heart,
‘Ananda’s Lord, the Bodhisat,

The Buddha of Kamakura.THE SECRET OF THE EAST

The grey-robed, gay-sashed butterflies
That flit beneath the Master’s eyes;
He is beyond the Mysteries,

But loves them at Kamakura.

And whoso will, from Pride released,

Contemning neither creed nor priest,

May feel the soul of all the East
About him at Kamakura.

Yea, every tale Ananda heard,

Of birth as fish or beast or bird,

While yet in lives the Master stirred,
The warm wind brings Kamakura.

And down the loaded air there comes

The thunder of Thibetan drums,

And droned “Om mane padme hums”
A world’s width from Kamakura.

A tourist show, a legend told,

A rusting bulk of bronze and gold,

So much, and scarce so much, ye hold
The meaning of Kamakura.

But when the morning prayer is prayed,
Think, ere ye pass to strife and trade,
Is God in human image made

No nearer than Kamakura?CONFUCIUS—THE MAN AND HIS MESSAGE

HERE are perhaps a few Americans left who have

not come to the realization that China is a most

wonderful land and has had a most remarkable
civilization. Some still imagine that the Chinese are bar-
barians or semi-civilized. But we must remember that
when our ancestors in Britain, France or Germany were
barbarians, clothed rudely in skins of beasts, the Chinese
were dressing in silk, and had an austere religion and a
classic literature.

China is not made up of coolies or laundry-men. It is
a nation in which there is an unusually large number of
scholars, statesmen, artists and skilled artisans. It has
merchant princes and learned philosophers. Its passion for
two thousand years and more has been education—it has
had its centers of culture and refinement for generations—
it is full of poetry and the fine arts. Among its philoso-
phers, Confucius the sage, is representative.

The Temple of Confucius in Peking seemed to me,
when I visited it, one of the noblest buildings in the capital.
It is a sanctuary of reason, a monument of light and lead-
ing, which China should preserve at all costs. Its great
roof of amber-colored tiles rests on eaves painted charm-
ingly in the blues and greens of the peacock’s wings. ‘The
courtyard has many white memorial tablets, finely carved,
among the green cypresses planted there a thousand years
ago. The so-called “‘spirit”’ stairway that leads up to the
temple is an enormous slab of marble deeply carved with
five interlacing dragons. As one says—The sinewy sup-
pleness of their coils, the grip of their claws, the live vigor
of their mouths,” are admirably rendered.

Within the temple, there is a great hall, but it contains
no statues or images, not even an image of Confucius. Only

7980 THE SECRET OF THE EASE

a vermilion lacquer tablet and on it in Chinese characters
the words—‘‘Dedicated to the Master and Model of Ten
Thousand Generations.” Before this is a great incense
burner, and enormous candle-sticks. This is a shrine of
holy memory, of everlasting gratitude, of devout worship.

Around this simple tablet, and at the side, are four long
and stately rows of bright vermilion shafts inscribed to the
most famous of his disciples. The only colors in this
temple are vermilion and gold. Does not the vermilion
mean the warmth and joyousness of life, and the gold—the
triumph of the glorious sun?

Here as I waited and meditated in the stillness and the
shadow of this Temple of Confucius at Peking, I seemed
to see the gathering of the sages of old, Mencius and Lao-
Tze and a thousand other philosophers, seers and teachers
—kindly, learned, and serious-minded men, and among
them walked Confucius, the noblest of all, the Master and
Model of Ten Thousand Generations.

Confucius was surely a great man,—a monumental
man. He has probably had more influence over a larger
number of human beings for more centuries of time than
any other one man who ever lived. I think this statement
is strictly accurate and that historical scholars would verify
it. For see what Confucius has done. We revere our
Washington and our Lincoln, but even these have not given
us a philosophy, a body of laws, and a literature that has
become the national classics. This Confucius did. We
follow the laws of Moses,—the Ten Commandments and
his teachings about God and human relations. Moses was
an Oriental,—a foreigner to us,—a Semitic, of another
race. But what if he had been one of ourselves? The
Chinese sage Confucius was one of themselves. We build
a Washington Memorial and a Lincoln Memorial. In the
same way, they build shrines for Confucius in every city
and town of China. Their reverence approaches worship.
It is a devout reverence that we may perhaps call worship,
but never is Confucius thought of as the supreme God, but
only as a revered teacher and inspired sage.CONFUCIUS AND HIS MESSAGE 81

The era of about five hundred years before Christ was
one of the most remarkable in the world’s history. In that
special period, a great wave of religious impulse, of spiritual
illumination seemed to sweep over the world. In different
places, totally unknown to each other, arose some of the
greatest religious teachers of the race—Confucius and
Lao-Tze in China; Buddha in India; Zoroaster in Persia;
Socrates and Plato in Greece. Their dates are near enough
together to make them contemporaries and the work that
they did is phenomenal. Why they appeared at this par-
ticular time in their several countries is still a subject of
much study by scholars. But the great facts are clear.

The Chinese from whose ranks Confucius arose are
surely a wonderful people. Their authentic history dates
from two thousand years before Christ. Many of the
world’s greatest inventions originated in China; such as
the mariner’s compass, gunpowder, and the art of printing
five hundred years before Gutenberg. Silk, porcelain, play-
ing cards, kites, spectacles, umbrellas and fans came from
them. They love their history, they reverence antiqiuty,
they believe in old custom and habits. They dislike change
and they discourage innovations. They want to be let
alone. Is it any wonder that the Western intruders, the
foreigners, should have incurred their dislike? Is it any
wonder that many years ago when they saw the European
powers stealing their territory and planning their parti-
tion, they should be aroused to rebellion. We may well
have a great deal of sympathy with the Chinese. They are
a peaceful and long-suffering people. It was selfish aggres-
sions by foreigners and real oppressions, such as the opium
curse, that stirred the patriotic Chinese from time to time
into rebellion against foreigners.

Some years ago I had the opportunity of studying Con-
fucianism very carefully with those who knew it well. At
old Oxford in England, I had as a friend and teacher, Pro-
fessor James Legge, the translator of the Chinese classics
and considered the best Chinese scholar in England. It
was through conversations in his home that Confucius82 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

seemed to become to me a real character and an old friend,
and through him the Chinese, although a peculiar people,
can be best understood. He is their wisest man, and their
perfect type.

This important fact I would emphasize. Confucius is
one of the world’s great teachers. His precepts have
largely governed the social customs and religious thinking
and habits of the millions of China for two thousand five
hundred years. His books have been the national Bible
of China ever since they were written. They have been
the chief books studied, the standards, in all the schools
and universities of China. Temples, erected to his mem-
ory and reverence, are in every Chinese city and town.
They number some sixteen huadred. His followers at the
present day are as numerous if not more than the followers
of Christ. These are things that deserve our attention.

We may remember that there are three great phases
of religion in China—Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.
According to many recent testimonies, Taoism and Bud-
dhism are dying out, and the religion of Confucius is left,
as it always has been, the chief religion, the national re-
ligion, for at least two thousand four hundred years. And
yet it is not a religion, but rather a system of ethics.

Confucius was born in the year 551 B.C., and lived
to be seventy-three years old. His Chinese name is Kung-
fu-tze, which is Latinized into Confucius. He married,
but did not have a happy domestic life. He left one. son.
His descendants to-day in China number over 40,000 and
are given special privileges and honor, and are the only
hereditary aristocracy in China.

All the details regarding the life of Confucius are as
well known as the life of Shakespeare. They were fully
recorded by his disciples in his own day. We know just
how he looked, how he spoke, how he ate his rice, what
work he did, what visits he paid from day to day, where
he travelled, how he was received by other philosophers
and princes, what he thought of himself and of others.

He was a large fine-looking man, impressive by his veryCONFUCIUS AND HIS MESSAGE 83

personality, and always the soul of neatness and polite-
ness. He made friends by the simplicity and the sincerity
of his life. He was as plain as a Quaker among the
Chinese.

I like to remember his love for his mother. She was
only nineteen years old at the time of his birth. His father
was an old but robust officer of the Chinese army, a sep-
tuagenarian. Confucius always had a most tender aftec-
tion for his young mother ‘“‘for whom he seems to have
had,” as one biographer writes, ‘‘a greater affection than
for any other person, even his own wife and children.”

I like to recall also that contemporary picture of him
as given in the tenth book of the Lun Yu written by those
who knew him personally. It reads: “He was very par-
ticular in his diet, liking to have his rice nicely dressed and
seasoned; and to have his meat cut into small portions, and
with its proper sauce. He was not a great eater, but very
deliberate. At the sight of a person in mourning, he would
bend forward with a respectful salutation. It was his
habit not to turn his head around, never to talk hastily
and never to point with the finger. He was exceedingly
charitable. If any friend died, without relations to help
in the necessary offices, he would say, ‘I will bury him.’”’

Now this picture, even in its sketchiness, gives us a
kindly feeling toward him. He was a gentleman—with a
heart.

Confucius as a young man studied archery and took
lessons in music from the celebrated master Se-ang. But
from his youth up he had been an earnest student of litera-
ture and history, and had loved the ancient ceremonies and
customs. So he became a teacher of these things and at
thirty years of age, his fame as a teacher had gone abroad
and students from all over the country were flocking to
him; so that soon he was surrounded by an admiring com-
pany of three thousand disciples.

Confucius was a shrewd talker, loving to give opinions
and to ask questions, but never was he known to dispute
with anyone, for that would be undignified. From a mere84. THE SECRET OF THE EAST

teacher, he became a statesman, and sought employment
at the courts of princes, but failed at one court after an-
other in the twenty principalities of China, except one for
a short time. He was sure of his principles, but the princes
would not accept him. His life seemed a failure. But
posterity has given a different verdict. Wisdom is justified
of her children.

He was one who had great confidence in himself and
his mission. He felt that he was ordained of Heaven to
the work of teaching government and morals to mankind.
He would not abate his rules and principles. ‘‘No,” he
would say, ‘‘a good husbandman can sow, but he cannot
surely secure a harvest. An artisan may excel in handi-
craft, but he cannot always provide a market for his goods.
And in the same way a true teacher may cultivate his prin-
ciples, but he cannot always make them acceptable to the
people.”” And yet withal he had a certain humility. He
said: “I am a transmitter and not a maker, believing in
and loving the ancients.” Again he said: “I am not vir-
tuous enough to be free from anxieties; not wise enough
to be free from perplexities; and not bold enough to be
free from fears.”

He had a sense of humor and an unusual love of music.
Many instances are recorded of his happy witticisms. And
as to music, he loved it devotedly. He composed poetry
and played on the lute. He travelled far to hear good
music, and of that at the court of the emperor Shun, he
said: “I did not think that music could reach such a pitch
of excellence.” Once he said: “It is by poetry that the
mind is amused. It is by the rules of propriety that the
character is established. And it is music which completes
the edifice of life.”

He never wrought any miracles and his followers relate
no miracles about him, except that there are legends of
some strange portents at his birth and death. He was an
enthusiast, an idealist, believing tremendously in the good-
ness of human nature and its power to be guided and re-
formed by wisdom. He was one enamoured of wisdom.CONFUCIUS AND HIS MESSAGE 85

At sixty he wrote of himself—“I am a man who in his
eager pursuit of wisdom, forgets his food; who in the joy
of its attainment, forgets his sorrows; and who does not
perceive that old age is coming on.”

He had served in his young manhood as a teacher of
youth. Later he had served as a teacher of princes. In
only one principality, and only for a short time, can it be
said that he succeeded in carrying out his principles. This
was in the province of Loo, where he was born and whither
he returned after all his wanderings. So he gave up his
active work at the age of sixty, and retired to edit the
sacred books and to write out his philosophy of life. At
this work he continued until his death at seventy-three, but
he finished his work, and, on its completion, he gathered
his friends around him and solemnly thanked Heaven for
all that he had been permitted to do.

This was his literary work.

He had carefully arranged five books, somewhat similar
in a way to the five books of Moses. They are named
the Book of Changes, somewhat like our book of Genesis,
a book of beginnings and of ethics; The Book of History,
especially the actions and sayings of the ancient kings; The
Book of Odes, with three hundred and thirty-one sacred
songs like our Psalms; The Book of Rites, a volume on
usages and ceremonies like Leviticus; The Annals of Spring
and Autumn, a history of his own time and the century
just preceding. The first four were books which Confucius
merely edited and arranged from earlier documents, and
they included the whole of the ancient historic and religious
literature which had come down to his day. The fifth book,
the Annals, he wrote himself. Then there are four other
books about Confucius written by his disciples ——the Ana-
lects or Table-talk of Confucius, The Great Learning, The
Doctrine of the Golden Mean, and The Commentaries of
Mencius. These correspond in a sense to our four Gospels.
So that the Chinese classics are these nine books—the five
books of Confucius and the four of his disciples.

These nine books have been the standards for the86 ED OE CRET OF THE wast

scholars of China for twenty-four centuries. They are
taught in all the sehools, read in all the temples, carved
on many monuments. They are learned by heart by all
those who have learning, and are the standards for all
examinations in the schools and universities. “They have
entered into the whole life of the nation, and much that is
pleasant, peaceful, honorable and noble in the Chinese char-
acter is due to them.

The maxims of Confucius which are on everybody’s
lips in China are innumerable. They are mostly like the
worldly wisdom of our book of Proverbs, and like the ad-
vice regarding thrift and industry that was the feature of
Poor Richard’s Almanacs. Here are a few of the best of
these maxims of Confucius:

Learn the past and you will know the future.

Faithfulness and sincerity are the highest things.

The good man is serene; the bad is always in fear.

A good man regards the root. He fixes the root and all else flows
out of it. The root is filial piety; the fruit brotherly love.

The essence of knowledge is, having it, to apply it; not having it,
to confess your ignorance.

To rule with equity is like the North Star, which is fixed, and all
the rest go round it.

Coarse rice for food, water to drink, the bended arm for a pillow—
happiness may be enjoyed even with these; but without virtue, both
riches and honor seem to me like the passing cloud.

I daily examine myself in a threefold manner: in my transactions
with men, if I am upright; in my intercourse with friends, if I am
Eee and whether I illustrate the teachings of my master in my
conduct.

These are certainly most admirable, and worthy of any
sage or philosopher.

Some excellent things Confucius emphasized. He
taught, for instance, the goodness of human nature, and
that it can be developed to perfection. He has much to say
about the superior man. The superior man, in his thought,
is one who has so conquered and cultivated life, as to rise
above all its littlenesses and has become master of himself.
What we would call a saint, a holy man, Confucius meansCONFUCIUS AND HIS MESSAGE 87

by superior man. Yet he never would say that he had
reached that point. He had humility while at the same
time great confidence in himself.

Confucius also laid great stress on the importance of
friendship. “Friendship,” he said, ‘“‘is the heaven-ordained
relationship on which depends the correction of one’s char-
acter. Ihere are three advantageous kinds of friendship,”
says Confucius, “with the upright, with the sincere and
with the experienced.”

But the two chief tenets of the teachings of Confucius
are devotion to parents while they are alive, and reverence
for them when they have gone,—that is, filial piety, and,
akin to this, reverence for the past and for all one’s an-
cestors, often called ancestor-worship. These are both
excellent doctrines in their way. We Westerners need to
take a few lessons in these. There are some things that
we can learn from the Chinese. There are no people in
the world that have such respect and devotion to parents
as the followers of Confucius.

Confucius was shrewd in his manner of teaching this
doctrine. One day a father brought an accusation against
his son for the judgment of Confucius in the expectation
of gaining his suit before one who so insisted on filial piety.
But to the surprise of all, Confucius had both father and
son cast into prison and to all remonstrances he said: ‘““Am
I to punish, for a breach of filial piety, one who has never
been rightly taught to be filially minded? Is not he who
neglects to teach his son his duties, equally guilty with the
son who fails in them?” He insisted on teaching and
training in all the great relations of life.

The chief emphasis, however, of all his teaching was on
reverence. Confucius was pre-eminently a teacher of rev-
erence—reverence for Heaven, respect for parents, devo-
tion to the past and its legacies,—a sort of worship for the
great men and great ideas of former times. Yet, while full
of veneration, he seems at times to have been sadly defi-
cient in the sense of spiritual things. A personal God was
unknown to him; so that his worship was directed not to88 THE SECRET OF THE BASH

God, but to an impersonal Heaven, to antiquity, to an-
cestors, to propriety and usage, to the state as father and
mother of its subjects, to the ruler as, for the time, the
father of his people. Yet sometimes he spoke of Heaven,
as if it had personality. Rarely did he speak of God at all
—often he spoke of Heaven, in a way in which we should
say God. For example, once when he was put into prison
with some of his disciples, he said—‘‘Heaven will protect
us.’ On still another occasion, he said, “Alas! there is
no one who knows me.” One of his followers said—‘‘What
do you mean by thus saying no one knows you, illustrous
sire?” And he answered—“I ‘do not murmur against
Heaven. Heaven knows me.”

These thoughts came to me in China. Looking deeply
one may find more than ethics in the wisdom of Confucius.
There is at times a beautiful spirituality there, for this is
not necessarily ecstasy, emotion, passion; spirituality is the
culture of the spirit, the living in high ideals, the expression
of the noblest and best. That is the very heart of the
teachings of Confucius.

Government even to his mind was a form of filial piety.
Family life was reverence for ancestors and kindness to
one another. The noblest life was living with honesty, so-
briety, diligence and peace. And all because such was the
will of Heaven and the true way of life.

The ancient Jews cherished their history, their litera-
ture and their heroes, prophets and leaders of old. These
were their comfort and strength in the days of their exile
and captivity. So has it been with the Chinese. Under
bondage to Mongol, Tartar and Manchu, they have burnt
incense in reverence to their sages and emperors, they have
studied their classics and they have gloried in the splendor
of Chinese art. It has been their comfort and strength.

The ideal man, according to Confucius, was not the
saint, absorbed in divine things, mystic and exceptional in
experience,—not the saint, God-intoxicated, ecstatic and
seeking the highest life in temples or monasteries, in strange
penances or pilgrimages,—but the ideal man in his teach-CONFUCIUS AND HIS MESSAGE 89

ing was the free and noble citizen, taking good care of his
family, mindful of his civic duties, and tolerant of all re-
ligions. His ideal man was not withdrawn in meditation
from ordinary life,—not one who sought some mystic Nir-
vana,—but a man of simple honesty, charity and self-con-
trol,—a man who was gentle to all, kind with neighbors,—
a man who reverenced the old and cherished the young,—
who kept guard on his heart and lips,—an upright and
generous man who loved nobility of character and sim-
plicity of life. The ideal man was one who did all this
and lived his life,—not for hope of reward or fear of
punishment, but because he believed that this was the true
and harmonious life, ordained of Heaven and therefore
best for all, and his duty.

And is not this truth that Confucius taught really very
close to the great truth of God. Is not this the only thing
that really matters—the great call, as the voice of a great
Heavenly Bell,—sounding forth the words: ‘“TLoving-kind-
ness, loving-kindness! . . . Man’s most precious birth-
right is not to possess but to beautify this earth; not to
hate and detroy, but to benefit and build.”

Confucius is sometimes represented as a mere dreary
formalist and peasant,—a type of the official bureaucracy
of China, ossified, dried and shrivelled like the ancient
books. But he was far from mere peasantry. Such a man
would never have captured the Chinese imagination and
swayed it for two thousand five hundred years as no other
man onearth. No, he had vigor, vitality, courage, audacity,
independence. Recollect he was largely scorned and re-
jected by his own generation, he was continually ejected
from office, and could only find a prince here and there
who would listen to him, and he gathered only a small band
of devoted followers in his own generation. He was a
real reformer, he was in advance of his time, and while
he gathered and transmitted the wisdom of the ancients,
the times were not yet ripe for it. He had his share of
scorn, derision and rejection. But he persevered in teach-
ing the truth.gO RHE SECRET OF THE BASE

Many things show him to have been a man of warm
sympathies and affection. We have the story of his ten-
derly directing the steps of a blind musician —a man of no
ancestry, wealth or position. Confucius showed in this
incident that he was full of compassion and he did his best
to bring happiness to that afflicted life—and to kindle a
smile on that sightless face.

It is recorded of him that when his disciple Po Niu
lay dying of leprosy, the ghastly spots all over his body
and the inevitable decay at hand, Canfucius stretched his
kind warm hand through the lattice and comforted him.
We read also that when his favorite disciple, Yen Yuan,
who loved him above all and understood him best of all,
was taken by death, Confucius in utter loneliness cried—
“Heaven has forsaken me! MHeaven has forsaken me!”
Yes; Confucius had tenderness of heart and knew sorrow
of soul. He suffered poverty and exile, he was met often
with envy and malignancy, but he persevered in what he
believed was the right. He taught simple, honest, sincere
life, —benevolence and righteousness.

A most noteworthy thing about Confucius is that he
never claimed to be a special messenger of Heaven. He
was only a teacher, a transmitter, a translator of wisdom.
Fle never portrayed any angry deity, nor one who would
be angry if his message was rejected. He appealed only
to reason. He never offered Heaven as a reward for good
conduct, nor any hell for their punishment. He took only
what he found best in the ancient wisdom and what he
found best in man’s normal life, and showed the harmony.
This was true life.

He emphasized man’s tendency to kindliness, his happi-
ness in doing good, his desire for justice and fair play, his
incessant hopes and the beckonings of higher ideals,—and
held these up as the normal, and true ideals of life. He
taught that these things would rid the world of greed,
tyranny, hatred, fear and cruelty. He taught reverence,
sympathy and respect for others. He taught conquest of
all meanness, violence and injustice. Such a world, he con-CONFUCIUS AND HIS MESSAGE gl

tended, would be a right world, full of sweet and noble
human life.

Just before his end came, he was much troubled by his
sense of failure. The world would not believe, or was too
stupid to receive the wisdom of the ancients which he
brought and taught. One night he dreamed that he was
sitting between the pillars of his house, and he saw in front
of him the offerings of the dead. He knew what it meant—
that it was his hour to depart. When he awoke, he rose
up, but he seemed feeble and his staff almost slipped from
his hands. He went out and looked at the dawn, and he
sang as was his wont:

The great mountain must crumble,
The strong beam must break.
The wise man must wither away like a plant.

Then, a grayness, so it is said, came into his face and a
sadness into his heart, and he crept back into his house.
A disciple, Ts’ze-Kung, came hastening to him and Con-
fucius said to him—‘‘Ts’ze, what made you so late? .. .
But what does it matter. There is no capable ruler arising
to rule wisely; there is no prince under heaven who will
take me as his guide. My time has come.” And he lay
down upon his bed, and in a few days his mighty spirit
passed away.

So died Confucius. But his life and work did not perish.
He built far beyond his own age. He is a living teacher
to-day.

Confucius in his teachings especially appealed to the
practical and prosaic Chinese mind. He lauds the present
world. He calls upon all to cultivate such virtues as are
seemly in citizens—industry, modesty, sobriety, gravity,
decorum and thoughtfulness. He also counseled men to
take part in whatever religious ceremonies had been es-
tablished from of old. ‘There may be some real good in
these ceremonies,” he said, ‘‘and they may affect your wel-
fare in a way you do not know of. As for the genii and
spirits, sacrifice to them. I have nothing to tell regarding92 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

them, whether they exist or not; but their worship is part
of an august and awful ceremonial which a wise man will
not neglect, nor despise.” Again he says: “I teach you
nothing but what you could learn yourselves, namely, the
observance of the five fundamental laws of relation be-
tween sovereign and subject, between parent and child,
between older and younger, between husband and wife, and
between friend and friend; and the five cardinal virtues—
universal charity, impartial justice, conformities to cus-
toms, rectitude of heart and pure sincerity.” This sentence
in fact contains, as in a nutshell, the whole teaching of
Confucius.

Confucius was much like Socrates, both in appearance
and in wisdom. And they lived within fifty years of each
other. Confucius also much resembled our own Benjamin
Franklin in spirit, manners, wisdom and even appearance,—
if we may trust the Chinese traditions.

There is, however, little concerning the supernatural
in the teachings of Confucius. He rather avoided all ref-
erence to the supernatural. In answer to a question about
death, he answered, “While you do not know life, how do
you know about death?” Life was his study, and life as
represented by man as he exists. ‘The question whence
man came and whither he was going never troubled him;
he simply looked on man as a member of society and strove
to work out for himself by the light of ancient wisdom
how he might best contribute to his own happiness and to
that of the world in general.”

There are evidences nevertheless that there was some-
thing of spiritual worship in China two thousand years be-
fore Confucius, for we are told that the emperor Shun
at that date sacrificed to Shang-ti, the supreme deity; there
were also some other spiritual teachers in Confucius’ own
day, like Lao-tsze, an old philosopher whom Confucius
visited and reverenced. This old philosopher preached
stillness and self-emptiness as the highest attainable ob-
jects, and scorned the teachings of Confucius as to cere-
monial observances and conscious well-doing. The accountCONFUCIUS AND HIS MESSAGE 93

of the meeting between these two teachers is most interest-
ing and dramatic. Lao-tsze was spiritual and visionary;
Confucius practical and worldly-wise. The Chinese mind
was not yet ready for Lao-tsze, but Confucius suited it
exactly and his influence became paramount.

There are some very evident reasons for the success
of Confucius in China. For one thing his teachings, as we
said, are exactly suited to the Chinese mind, which is calm,
conservative, placid, practical, and prosaic, and, since it is
phlegmatic and unspeculative, does not care to investigate
into things beyond its everyday experience. The plain mat-
ter-of-fact morals seemed sufficient for their quiet and
prosaic life. There is also another reason. The rulers
and the people saw that the teachings of Confucius honored
them and were for their benefit. These teachings com-
manded loyalty to rulers, taught that rulers were ordained
of heaven, but they also at the same time made the people
supreme in that the chief aim of the rulers was to be the
welfare of the people.

Remember also that it was not until five hundred years
after his death, that is, just before the coming of Christ,
that Confucius was recognized as the great leader of China
and the first temple was erected to his memory. You may
see many of these temples to Confucius in China—plain
structures, containing some ancestral tablets of Confucius
and sometimes statues of Confucius and his disciples. We
also saw many statues of the ancient sage, and paintings
and drawings of him. Some of them may be authentic
likenesses. Many of them are idealizations of a sage,—a
scholar ot mature years, of benign countenance, of placid
mien,—a figure representing great antiquity and divine
wisdom.

It is interesting to hear the names and titles which are
given to Confucius in China. In the year one of our era
he was called ‘“‘The Complete and Illustrous Duke Ne’;
in the year 89 he was designated “The Illustrious and
Honorable Earl.’ Four hundred years later he was canon-
ized as “The Accomplished Sage.’ In 730 he was dignified94. THE SECRET OF THE EAST

as “The Accomplished and Perspicuous King.” Still later
he was called “Emperor.” The title that he now bears was
designed by the Emperor She-tsung of the Ming dynasty in
1520, and reads “The Perfect Sage, the Ancient Teacher,
Confucius.”

We have thus emphasized the first fact,—that Con-
fucius is one of the world’s great teachers. We now come to
the second fact which interests us, in any modern study of
comparative religions, and it is this—Confucius may well
be compared to Moses in the system of laws and religious
ceremonies which he gave to his people. We must recall
that Confucius acknowledged one supreme God although
he said little about him. This was Shang-ti, who ruled
heaven and earth, who was sovereign over all kings and
rulers, who helped the people in their difficulties and chas-
tised them for iniquities. This was very nearly the idea
of the Hebrew Jehovah that Moses put before the people.
But Confucius used often the impersonal word ‘‘Heaven”’
instead of God. And we may remember that Confucius
believed also in a spiritual world, although he was reticent
concerning spiritual beings, but always asserted that they
were worthy of reverence and that they were always near
us. Moses believed in angels and evil spirits. And both
were mighty law-givers, legislators and leaders.

The annual worship in the Confucian system was at the
Altar of Heaven in Peking, on December 22. It was made
by the Emperor in the old days—for many centuries. This
annual rite at the Altar of Heaven by the Emperor long
ante-dated Confucius, but he approves of it, as a rightful
and august ceremony.

It was somewhat like the holiest worship among the
ancient Hlebrews, where once a year on the day of atone-
ment the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies alone to
plead with God. So the Chinese people said: ‘“The God
of Heaven is too great for us to worship. None but the
Son of Heaven—our Ruler—is worthy to lay an offering
on the Altar of Heaven.” I have read carefully the full
records of the prayers that were offered here. They areCONFUCIUS AND HIS MESSAGE 95

very remarkable. Besides this annual worship of Heaven,
there was a spring and autumn festival conducted in the
old days by the Emperor in honor of Confucius. It was
held in the temple of Confucius in Peking. The Emperor
bowed before the tablet of Confucius and in all reverence
gave this salutation: ‘Great art thou, O perfect sage. Thy
virtue is full, thy doctrine complete. Among mortal men,
there has not been thy equal. All kings honor thee. Thou
art our pattern. Reverently have the sacrificial vessels been
set out. Full of awe we sound our drums and bells.” Note
in all this,—it is not actual prayer, nor worship. It is
rather reverence and commemoration, springing from
grateful and admiring hearts.

Confucius, as we have mentioned, said very little of
the doctrine of the supernatural, or of immortality, but
many of his sayings and teachings imply immortality. He
asserts that Heaven directs him and that Heaven has a
providential care and guidance of human affairs. He
teaches that the spirits of ancestors still live, and have their
effect on our lives. Much the same is it in the Old Testa-
ment, the doctrine of immortality is taught there by impli-
cation rather than direct statement. We have to wait until
the New Testament to find life and immortality brought
to light, through the gospel.

We must confess, however, that the emphasis, of Con-
fucius’ teachings is laid on this present life. It is so in
the teachings of Moses. Earthly blessings are promised.
Most of the Old Testament precepts are teachings for the
increase of material well-being. The teachings of Con-
fucius cover nearly everything in the Ten Commandments.
He commands worship, clean speech, reverence for holy
things, honor of parents. He forbids stealing, murder,
false-witness and covetousness. But the command that he
most continually inculcates is “Honor thy father and thy
mother that thy days may be long upon the land, which the
Lord thy God giveth thee.”” This is the command that he
iterates and re-iterates in a hundred ways. Yet Confucius
allowed slavery and polygamy, as did Moses. But we must96 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

remember that the Chinese people, like the Hebrew people,
were in that early state of civilization where these things
were considered as a part of the necessary system, as it was
also among the Greeks and Romans. Later many of the
abuses, at least in part, were remedied.

This then we might say. The teachings of Confucius
may be best compared with the teachings of Moses and show
many points of similarity. In their moral teachings in cer-
tain respects they come very close to them. They have
influenced the Chinese people much as the Hebrew people
were influenced. ‘They are the one thing that is ingrained
in the national life of China. But there was this difference.
The Chinese conception of the one God was never so clear,
strong and emphatic as that of the Hebrews. The Chinese
conception of holiness as a life lived in communion with
God was never so definite, nor have they any conception
of sin-consciousness and forgiveness. And above all, they
have no hope or promise as have the Hebrew Scriptures
through them of the coming of a Messiah, a Deliverer, a
Saviour.

Confucius and Christ cannot be rightly compared in their
teachings. Confucius taught only an ethical and political
code, while Jesus taught a spiritual religion. Confucius can
only be rightly compared to other law-givers. There have
been legal codes in history—some ante-dating the Mosaic
code. I refer to the Code of Manu and the Code of Ham-
murabi in Babylonia. There were the laws of Lycurgus
in early Greece. There were the ancient laws of the Vedas
in India, and the codes of the Egyptians concerning which
we learn much in the Egyptian “Book of the Dead.” But
the laws of Moses, the laws of Buddha, and the laws of
Confucius—have been the three codes that have influenced
and dominated the largest number of mankind.

One of the most interesting things about Confucius is that
he taught one form of the Golden Rule nearly five hundred
years before Christ taught it. Confucius said ““What you
do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.’ This
is merely a negative form of what Christ taught: ‘“‘All thingsCONFUCIUS AND HIS MESSAGE 97

whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you do ye even
so to them.’’ But the negative form of the rule, as given
by Confucius, is symbolic of his whole system. It is a nega-
tive system, a passive system, a repressive system; whereas
the ethics of Christianity when rightly understood are posi-
tive, active and developing. Christianity is a positive reli-
gion,—it has a definite programme and a distinct purpose,
and seeks with all the strength of man’s nature and the love
of his heart to carry it out. Christianity, as we see it, is
more than a system of morals. Confucius was merely a
teacher, an editor, a philosopher. But Christ was infinitely
more.

We may note that Confucianism, even for China, proved
inadequate as a religion, and when the religion of Buddha
was introduced in the year 67 A.D.—a religion with
warmth, beauty, color and culture, it spread like wild-fire.
It was taken up enthusiastically and, blended with the ethics
of Confucius, it made a faith which has dominated China
ever since. When we come to consider Buddha and his teach-
ings, we shall see what it was that appealed to the Chinese
mind in his religion and to the Japanese mind as well. For
Buddhism is as prevalent and dominating in Japan, as it is
in China, and also in Tibet, Siam and Burma.

But this we must recognize,—yjust as the law of Moses
was a schoolmaster to lead men to Christ, and just as the
fathers used to love to assert that Greek philosophy was
another schoolmaster to lead men to Christ, so also I
think we may surely consider Confucius another school-
master to lead men to Christ, and the fulness of God’s
truth. What Confucius has taught the Chinese is really a
thoroughly good groundwork of morals on which to build
the greater and more spiritual structure of Christianity.
It used to be that missionaries would go to China saying—
“Your religion is all wrong.” They have learned better.
Now they can say of the Chinese religion—‘Much of it
is excellent as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough.
What we bring you is to fulfill, enlarge, complete and per-
fect your religious lives.’98 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

Christ came not to destroy but to fulfill_—and not only
for Judaism but for all religions. He can fulfil the Con-
fucian “reverence for the past by adding hope for the
future; its stability by progress; its faith in man by faith in
God; its interest in this world by the expectation of an-
other; its sense of time by that of eternity.’ The Chinese
morals inculcate the virtues of peace, order, politeness,
reverence, honesty and brotherly love. These things are
also in Judaism and in Christianity. But Christianity adds
to these a splendid moral enthusiasm, an inspiring faith in
spiritual purposes, an ideal glory of self-sacrificing love, an
Inspiring consciousness of the divine presence, and a clear
vision of immortality.

The genius of Christianity is its inclusiveness. It does
not exclude but comprehends all, spiritualizes all, sanctifies
all. Ihe mission of Christianity is to impart and complete
this larger religion for China and the world. The welcome
that the Chinese gave for a time to Taoism and later Budd-
hism,—two more mystical and spiritual religions,—shows
that Confucianism did not fully satisfy their hearts. But
neither did Taoism nor Buddhism. They had hoped much
from these, but they could not and did not satisfy, and are
now dying out. And the Chinese heart still needs and still
longs for something higher and better.

Confucius, we repeat, was a great man and one of the
greatest teachers of the world, but his teachings did not go
far enough. He could not give what he had not. He was
the giver of a law; not the giver of a gospel. He could
give rules, but he could not give life. The fullest awaken-
ing of China will come when the real religion of the gospel
of God shall pour its life-giving floods into that nation.

Recently I read a book by a Chinese statesman, the
great Viceroy Chang Chih Tung. It is called ‘‘China’s Only
Hope”’ and was the book endorsed by the late Emperor, and
sent out as a present to his forty viceroys. The book is
addressed to his Chinese countrymen and is on two themes
—First, China is almost perishing—why ? and second, ChinaCONFUCIUS AND HIS MESSAGE 99

has only one hope, what? He shows in clear, strong
language the lamentable situation in China and how she is
laying herself open to the intrigues of the foreign Powers.
Then he gives what he believes is the remedy—a strong
revival or renaissance of the Confucian religion, and the
introduction everywhere of modern schools and science.
It is a reform programme, but based on the ancient religion.
Taoism and Buddhism are dying out in China, he confesses,
but Confucianism has everything that we need for practical
morality. Be tolerant of foreign religion, he says, but have
none of them. Your own is sufficient. But fight the opium-
habit, brought in by foreigners, which is now the great
curse of China, and stir up a great enthusiasm and loyalty
for China among our people. China is the most ancient and
ought to be the most happy and the greatest nation in the
world, he contends, and all that it needs is reformation in
education and government to keep it foremost.

But in the judgment of the wisest thinkers and workers
in China, as we learned, Chang Chih Tung has not yet
fully seen the only hope for China. The only real hope is
not a revival of the morals of Confucius and the introduc-
tion of Western schools and science. It will need more
than that. The only hope is the introduction of a religion
that shall be more than morals, that shall be the regenera-
tion of the life of the nation.

It is a most remarkable fact that Confucius once said:
“Tn the West, the true Saint must be looked for and found.”
Had he not an intuition, a premonition such as many seers
and philosophers have had, as the Roman sibyls of the
golden days seemed to have had, that there was someone
greater and diviner yet to come? Some think this was a
prophecy of Buddha. So the Buddhists interpret it. But
may we not rather believe it to be an unconscious prophecy
of the coming of the Master and Saviour of us all? And
are we not justified in thinking that the loving Father who
remembers all his children in love, ordained this Oriental
law-giver, Confucius, for the swarming millions of China100 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

“to lead them on until they were ready for the higher
light ?”

May we not call Confucius another ‘Star in the East”
to lead his people of the Flowery Kingdom, of the cycle of
Cathay, to Christ and the Kingdom of God?CHINA AND THE CHANGING CHINESE

UR journey to Peking was a long one from Japan
through Korea, Mongolia and Manchuria. Being

in mid-winter, it was in some respects a hard one.
And yet I would not have missed it for the world. It gave
me the background of the real China that I could not have
found at Canton, Shanghai or Hongkong, for Shanghai
and Hongkong seemed to me more English than Chinese,—
and Canton is so different. Peking represents the strength
and culture of China, whereas Canton is congested, impetu-
ous and ill-balanced; what I say about China therefore will
have Peking as its key and interpreter, rather than Canton.
The great cities of China remind me of these in the
United States. Peking is their New York and Washington,
—a majestic and wonderful city, the seat of government.
Tientsin, near by, is a thriving manufacturing city, like
Philadelphia. Nanking, the ancient capital, is a cultured
city,—their Boston. Shanghai is the Chicago of China.
Hongkong is their New Orleans, and Canton is their dirty
manufacturing city of Pittsburg.

China is in a strange situation, for in any political
consideration of China, you must leave out Shanghai and
Hongkong. They are British crown colonies, free cities
and have no effect on Chinese politics directly. They are
the most prosperous and beautiful cities in China and yet
are not China. The Chinese cities are Peking, Tientsin,
Nanking, Hankow, Mukden and Harbin,—great cities of
the North—very important—while Canton, Foo-chow and
Amoy are the chief Chinese cities of the South.

We found the country through Manchuria and Northern
China a strange region. It is dry and desolate in winter,
101102 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

but we could see that it was normally under cultivation. It
was brown and bare, as we saw it. Trees were very few.
It was flat as a prairie,—but no grass, only brown fields of
earth. The chief characteristic of the landscape were the
thousands of graves along the railroad lines and extending
out as far as the eye could see,—thousands and tens of
thousands,—conical mounds of earth, mostly small ones but
now and then a large one with a monument. As we looked
at them, we often said, two-thirds of China must be under-
ground,—and yet China is very much alive.

“China bulks large. She has a vast population of 400,-
000,000 of people,—three-fourths the people of the Pacific
basin,—one-third the people of the whole world. She has
industry, energy, economy, perseverance and fruitfulness.
She has coal in fifteen out of her eighteen provinces and coal
and iron,—and in one province, Shan-si, enough coal to sup-
ply the human race for a thousand years. These people
are the Anglo-Saxons of the Orient. China is great,—great
in her past, and her future will be tremendously great.”

So said Bishop Bashford, an American who lived in
China many years and knew the people and the land thor-
oughly,—and seeing China as we have, we believe he is
right.

What are some of the big facts about this big China,
for us to keep in mind as we look into China,—its big facts
of history, art, literature or religion? What are our impres-
sions from actual observations? For there is an abysmal
ignorance of the real China, even among many fairly well
educated Americans. The Chinese are not barbarians or
inferiors. Because-things are different, does not argue that
they are less civilized.

China was called Tartary in the ancient days, sometimes
Cathay, or the court of Kublai Khan, or in still earlier days
the Hills of T’Ang. It is a most populous kingdom, as we
said,—the people swarm there as numerous as ants in an
anthill, or like bees in a hive. It is the most populous nation
in the world.

Do we really appreciate the Chinese? We often askedCHINA AND THE CHANGING CHINESE 103

ourselves that question as we came face to face with China
in its cities. ““When Moses led the Israelities through the
wilderness about 1500 years before Christ, Chinese laws,
literature and religious knowledge excelled that of Egypt”’
says one enthusiastic interpreter of China. “A hundred
years before the Psalms of David, an emperor of China
composed classic odes that are committed to memory at
this day by every scholar of China. While Homer was
composing and singing the Iliad, China’s bards were cele-
brating their ancient heroes whose tombs had been with
them for thirteen centuries. Her literature was fully devel-
oped before England was invaded by its Norman con-
querors. The Chinese invented the art of printing five hun-
dred years before Caxton was born. They made paper a
hundred and fifty years before Christ was born, and gun-
powder about the commencement of the Christian era. The
Chinese dressed in silk and sold silk to the Romans a thou-
sand years ago, when the Britons were painted savages,
fishing in willow canoes. The great wall of China was built
two hundred and twenty years before Christ was born at
Bethlehem.’ Do not such achievements, when we really
appreciate them, make us Americans feel rather young and
recent ?

How can we visualize the extent of China’s territory?
We may get some idea of the size of China by remembering
that China Proper, consisting of its eighteen provinces, is
the size of the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains.
It is twice the size of Europe, seven times the size of France,
fifteen times the size of Great Britain and Ireland. That
is, it comprises 1,532,000 square miles. It is 3,000 miles
broad from east to west; and it is 2,400 miles from north
to south.

But we must remember that China Proper is included
in a larger Chinese Empire which also comprises the de-
pendencies Mongolia, Manchuria, Tibet, and East Iurke-
stan. This vast Chinese Empire is three times the size of
China Proper, or 4,277,000 square miles. The Chinese
Empire is greater in size than the whole United. States104. THE SECRET OF THE EAST

together with Alaska and the Hawaii Islands, with Great
Britain and Ireland thrown in.

What are some of its physical features? Do you realize
that China has vast mountain ranges on its south and west?
But the largest stretch of its country is the great central
plain from Peking, west to the Hoang-Ho river, and south
to the Yang-tse-Kiang. Then west of these are the western
highlands. In the south-east are lowlands and hills. This
last region is the most fertile and sustains the greatest
population of China.

Recall that the greatest rivers are the Hoang-Ho or
Yellow River in the north-east, the Yang-tse-Kiang in the
southern part of the country and the Pi-Ho which drains
the region around Peking. The Yang-tse is like our Mis-
sissippi or Amazon. It is navigable by large steamers for
600 miles inland, and at its mouth is 60 miles wide. This
gives some idea of the largeness of things in China. The
western regions near the head waters of the Yang-tse show
some sublime gorges and scenery like the fiords of Norway,
or along the Saguenay in Canada.

We must remember that the climate of China belongs
to the temperate zone. In Peking the summer temperature
ranges from 90 to 100 degrees. But in the south it reaches
120 degrees at times. Northern China is cold in winter,
as we found. The rivers are frozen usually from Decem-
ber to March.

You will be astonished at the physical resources of
China. China, we learned, is well supplied with mineral
resources. In fact, it is tremendously rich in these things.
So far they have merely been touched, scratched on the
surface. The largest coal fields in the world exist, many
investigators contend, in the province of Shan-si, with
great beds of anthracite. West of this province and in six
or more other localities are extensive bituminous coal fields.
Iron ore is also found in rich veins near the coal fields. Lime-
stone and potters’ clay are extensive. In the province of
Yun-nan are copper, silver, lead and gold. Salt beds are
found in the valley of the Hoang-Ho and other places. SoCHINA AND THE CHANGING CHINESE 105

that China is well supplied for its future industrial develop-
ment. At present, lack of machinery and transportation
are the only things that prevent these vast mineral resources
adding to China’s industrial life and wealth. Western
enterprise can remedy this.

It is obviously concluded that the Chinese belong to the
Mongolian race, but they are an improvement on the genu-
ine Tartars. The Chinese are of small stature, with
small hands and feet, straight black hair, and almond eyes.
On the average, they are physically stronger in endurance
than any other Asiatics, but not so strong as Europeans or
Americans.

The food on which this population feeds is largely rice,
fresh pork, fish, fowls and vegetables. Beef and mutton
are seldom used. In the Chinese markets are also a few
things new to us Americans. One may find dogs trussed
up and ready to sell, cat meat, rat meat, hawks and other
unpalatable birds, reptiles and animals and cakes of fried
grasshoppers. Birds nests are also an article of diet, but it
is a gelatinous variety of nest. We did not experiment with
many of these unusual varieties of delicacies. We found
excellent food everywhere, well-cooked and wholesome.

You must understand something of the government of
China in order to appreciate this people.

For centuries, the government of China was an abso-
lute monarchy with the emperor at its head. The emperor
was considered the Son of Heaven, and ruled by divine
right. He must forever conform to principles laid down in
the sacred books; in legislation and administration his au-
thority was supreme. He was assisted by a council of six
members. From time to time new lines of emperors and
among them Mongols and Manchus, seized the throne and
established new successions. So it continued for thousands
of years through many dynasties. But in 1912, the empire
ended, the emperor was forced to abdicate, and a republic
with a constitution was proclaimed. The president and
vice-president are elected by the National Assembly for
terms of six years. The president is not eligible for re-106 THE SECRET OF: THE EAs

election. The Assembly is composed of two houses—The
Council of the Provinces—the upper house—chosen by the
provincial assemblies; and the Council of the People,—the
lower house—elected by the people for four years. A new
constitution was adopted in 1914, giving fuller powers to
the president.

China is noted for its great and populous cities. There
are cities of China of which we never hear, some up the
Yang-tse with populations of over half a million. Thirteen
large cities have from a half to two million population.
The cities which are best known are Peking, the capital,
Shanghai, Hongkong and Canton and besides these are,
Hankow, Tientsin, Nanking and Foo-Chow, which are very
important.

Let me tell some interesting things that we saw in some
of these cities. Peking was to us the most impressive place
of all. We may say that Napoleon was a mighty conqueror
but was conquered. Such also was the career of Alexander.
Rome triumphed and decayed. Athens had a brief period
of beauty. Babylon was magnificent for an age. [The granite
majesty of Egypt is but a monument. While Peking, marvel-
lous Peking, has endured during all these great periods
of history,—the living center of the oldest existing state on
earth,—the growing capital of a great nation with an un-
broken history for at least five thousand years. It ought,
therefore, to be an interesting city—and it is. Of all the
cities of China, its splendor and romance represent to
us the real China. It has been the center of wars, sieges,
victories and tragedies. The encircling walls of Peking are
thirty miles long guarded with watch-towers. Within this
wall is the southern section, the so-called Chinese City, and
the northern section the Tartar City, and within the heart
of this Tartar City is still another wall enclosing the old
Imperial City, and within that another wall enclosing the
Forbidden City with exquisite palaces, gardens and marble
terraces.

We were impressed with the princely residences, stately
temples, ancient statues and towering pagodas of Peking.CHINA AND THE CHANGING CHINESE 107

It is a veritable world city, with all trades and crafts, all
philosophies and beliefs, and peoples of all races and na-
tions. Its streets are noisy with coolies and chair-boys. Its
shops and markets are rich with treasures and merchandise
from every corner of Asia.

Those who visit Peking must be sure to see the Impe-
rial Palace, the Temple of Heaven, the Examination Halls,
the ancient Observatory and some of the marvellous tem-
ples of the different religions, especially the Lama temple—
for a strangely picturesque vesper service. Nor must one
neglect the new Peking Union Medical College, built by
American wealth,—largely of the Rockefeller Foundation,
that already has given millions to establish or enlarge
medical schools of China at Peking, Nanking and other
centers.

We found Peking majestic in its architecture,—its tem-
ples and great walls, splendid in its hotels, comparable to
New York’s best. It has a great National university with
4,000 students, and a great Christian University with many
Christian colleges. It has the wonderful Altar and Temple
of Heaven—an incomparable monument. It has the great
Parliament of China. It has legation quarters for all the
great governments. It has the splendid traditions of
scholarship, pomp and imperial greatness. It has a people
who are educated, alert and cheerful, with finer, bigger
physical frames than are found in the southern provinces.
Peking is the natural and inevitable capital of the country.

Another city we passed through twice was Tientsin. It
looks like a very flourishing, modern, commercial city, a
Chinese Philadelphia.

We had some distant glimpses of Nanking. It has a
wonderful embattled wall about it with towers. It is a city
of culture and refinement, the ancient capital of China, and
is still called the Boston of China.

On the journey from Peking to Shanghai, we rode into
the bandit region of Shantung. Here was the very place and
the very same train where last year at this time the bandits
captured a group of American passengers and pillaged them,108 THE SECRET OF THE EASE

carrying them off to the mountains to hold for ransom.
But the railway had now taken strong precautions against
another surprise. Our train was carefully guarded by six-
teen or eighteen soldiers with an armored car, and so we
went throught this fateful night without alarm or mishap.
Some of our fellow-passengers, I venture to say, were thank-
ful, however, when the morning dawned and the danger
point was passed, and we were well on our way to Shanghai.

We found that Shanghai is rapidly becoming the great-
est commercial city of the Chinese Empire. The greatest
manufacturing city in China is Hankow on the Yang-tse,
and on account of its situation it is destined to become one
of the chief manufacturing centers in the world. Shanghai
is an internationalized port where the East and West for-
ever meet and mingle. It is a very modern city in many
respects. Banks, motor cars, theatres, restaurants—all as
modern and fine as any European or American city. Yet
surrounding all is the glamor of the Orient. Mandarins
and coolies walk the streets, jinrickshaws are everywhere.
The older section of Shanghai has many overhanging
houses, dim passages and an atmosphere of mystery. Here
at Shanghai can be bought curious gods carved in ivory,
and rare jewelry. Fine silks and mandarin coats may be
had on the Nanking road. We were delighted with the
old Chinese section of Shanghai with its quaint shops and
markets. We were attracted by the bird market, with the
music of hundreds of birds in cages. We saw the famous
Willow Pattern Tea House which figures in so many old
pieces of chinaware. We saw many boys of twelve or
fourteen years of age carving Mah Jong sets in the open
street shops. The open air eating places interested us, with
the food cooked before our eyes—especially all kinds of fish.

At one point, Chinese acrobats were performing and
giving a sword dance. They were naked except loin-cloths.
The brass stores were very attractive, the curio shops were
full of gods in brass, bronze, ivory and wood. The pottery
shops and wicker shops were interesting. All kinds of work
was going on in the open. All the people seemed diligent
and contented.CHINA AND THE CHANGING CHINESE _ 109

We saw much in motor drives through the city and out
into the suburbs—out to Bubbling Well, the fine residential
section of the English,—homes just like old England, ex-
cept more open and more trees. We went out the Rubicund
Road along the river, full of boats, and boat-building,—
and out through many villages and fields to Long Wah,
where there is an old temple and pagoda. The temple is
rather an ill-kept and dilapidated group of structures, but
full of gilded images of Buddha and other divinities, and of
many disciples in gilded statues, some with five eyes, others
with three heads combined, others with many arms. There
were all sorts of oddities, and altogether it was the strang-
est collection of gods and disciples that we had yet seen.

We liked the fine shops on the Nanking Road. The
traffic oficers were East Indian Sikhs. There were tram-
cars, autos and jinrickshaws on the crowded streets, but
everything was well-regulated. Altogether we found Shan-
ghai a most comfortable and livable English-Chinese city,
with very picturesque Chinese features.

You will like Hongkong, as we did. You may remem-
ber that Hongkong was acquired, or more plainly, taken by
the English in 1842. It was a small port then and often a
nest of pirates. Now it is a great city with a population
of half a million. The harbor is comparable to that won-
derful harbor of Naples, or Rio de Janeiro, or the harbor
at San Francisco, or the superb harbor of New York. A
treasure of Hongkong is Sir Paul Chater’s unrivalled col-
lection of Chinese porcelains, the greatest collection in all
the world.

We liked the architecture at Hongkong. It is unique,
with clerestories and loggias, so as to get as much air and
shade as possible. The government buildings, the bank
buildings and the post office are stately structures. Hong-
kong is a modern up-to-date British city,—a crown colony
with an English governor. But its population is mostly
Chinese—s500,000 Chinese to 58,000 English and Amer-
‘cans and French. Its streets are picturesque with crowds
in all costumes of the East. Its police and traffic officersIIO THE SECRET (OF THE BASE

are handsome, East Indian soldiers with fine faces and tur-
bans of gay colors. Here at Hongkong we had our first
experience in riding in a sedan-chair. Here we bought our
pith-helmets. Here ladies can have a new dress made in
eighteen hours.

The harbor of Hongkong, as we said, is beautiful but
the Peak is especially picturesque. This is a great mountain
just behind the city and it is sprinkled with beautiful villas,
almost to the top where stands the Peak Hotel. This is
reached, while affording wonderful vistas of scenery, either
by the funicular railway or by motors. The view from the
the summit is superb,—on one side the city and harbor full
of shipping and the islands and sea,—and on the other the
beautiful Repulse Bay, with its surrounding mountains. It
rivals Hawaii at the Pali. We saw the view from the
Peak at night. So numerous were the electric lights that
it seemed like a fairyland around us and below us,—an-
other sky full of sparkling stars and fireflies.

The auto drive of twenty-seven miles,—all around the
island, stopping at Repulse Bay Hotel for afternoon tea,—
was magnificent. The roads were perfect and the scenery
superb. It surely rivals the famous drives in Italy, to Sor-
rento and Amalfi, or the Corniche drive along the Riviera.
The Repulse Bay Hotel is a perfect gem set in a beauty
spot. We liked the English Church in Hongkong, a cathe-
dral—St. John’s—admirably situated in a park of old and
beautiful trees. The whole city of Hongkong is pictur-
esque and as pleasing as anything we have seen in the Far
Fast. If I had the choice of the cities of the East for resi-
dence, I think I would choose Hongkong.

A strange thing,—more than anywhere else in China, the
Chinese. women of Hongkong are used for the menial work,
as beasts of burden. They carry almost everything in their
baskets on the ends of the bamboo pole over their shoulders.
We saw them thus carrying sand, dirt, stones and bundles of
all sorts. We saw them drawing heavy carts. We saw
them breaking stones for road-building and working in the
fields. They do the coaling of the coal-burning steamers.CHINA AND THE CHANGING CHINESE 11

These are coolie women. They do not complain; they do
not look sad. They take it as their lot, and as a matter
of course. We saw women doing similar work in Japan and
in India, but here at Hongkong, it is more prominent a
feature of the life than anywhere else.

As we sailed away from Hongkong at eight o’clock one
morning, the band on a Hongkong launch played in fare-
well a medley of American airs—‘‘Yankee Doodle,” ‘Old
Folks at Home,” “Dixie,” and ending up with the plaintive
“Aloha” of Hawaii. It was a pleasant ending of a most
enjoyable visit. And a United States government launch.
flying the Stars and Stripes, followed us out of the harbor
as a last farewell.

Canton gave us another diverse and decided impres-
sion. Canton is the sort of China that we have always
pictured. It is a walled city, with three or four million peo-
ple inside the wall. The streets are narrow,—often not
more than seven feet in the old quarter—and there are
noises and smells—O the smells! pungent and ubiquitous—
and sights and swarms of people everywhere.

The river at Canton is thronged with boats—sampans
and other craft—upon which thousands of people live from
one year’s end to another. Sometimes on the boat you will
see a little garden and always chickens, dogs and babies. It
is said 400,000 people live thus on the river,—most of
them being born, living all their lives, and dying on the
boats. Remember that Canton was founded nineteen hun-
dred years before Christ. It looks surely that old and
older. The whole city seems a huge, sweltering, wonderful
bazaar.

At the time of our visit the revolutionists under Dr.
Sun Yat Sen were in charge. The only way to reach Canton
from Hongkong was by British river steamer. The rail-
road in the Canton section had been torn up, and the cars
chopped up by the fighting rebels. The telegraph lines
were cut, so that for a long time no telegrams could reach
Canton. As we went by boat, the scenery up the bay, where
Dewey kept his fleet before the Manila victory, was fine,—112 THES SECRET OF THE BAS?

islands and mountains and now and then a Chinese junk
with colored sails. Up the Pearl River was equally inter-
esting, with various kinds of junks on the water and an
occasional pagoda along the shores. We saw at times some
stern-wheel craft propelled by human treadmills, a dozen
naked men treading the wheel, reminding us of the ancient
Roman triremes.

It used to be, we were told, that before the days of the
Republic, these sampan people of the Pearl River were
regarded as a race by themselves, descendants of pirates
and outlaws. They had no vote and were not allowed to
marry with any but their own people. But now this law is
rescinded, and they are free to do as they please, and they
also have a vote. On one of these small boats I saw
as many as six or eight people living—grandparents and
children included. Some were eating their meals and some
babies were crying. The whole domestic life, combing hair
and washing faces could be plainly seen. No one cared.

Our carriers at Canton took us through the streets
at a great pace and with great noises, grunts and cries
that sounded as if our last days had come. We were in
sedan-chairs. It took four husky fellows to carry me. Their
bronze bodies were bare except for loin cloths; their
heads bare and close clipped; their feet bare. The sweat
poured down them as they walked. They had a rhythmic
motion. Their song was weird and untranslatable. Some
said it was profane and impudent—such as

Here come some foreign devils, get out of the way!

One is fat and old! See his queer clothes!

Get out of the way, you damn rascals, or they'll kill you!
Heave ho! hay-ho! Make way for us there!

But I am not sure whether or not this was the queer un-
canny song the coolies sang.

The streets are very narrow, sometimes only four or
five feet wide and are paved with flagstones. ‘The shops
of all kinds open on each side. ‘They are very interest-
ing. Often we had nods and smiles from the workmen.CHINA AND THE CHANGING CHINESE 113

The restaurants were cooking in the open and people were
eating on the street. Somehow the smells were not nearly
so bad as I had expected. Various dried fish smells were
most in evidence, but not worse than Gloucester wharves
when they are drying codfish.

We stopped at some of the shops to see silks and em-
broideries, and especially the work of feather jewelry and
ivory carving. From one narrow street to another we went,
a group of eight keeping close together, with a guide. We
ended our sedan-chair journey at the Flowery Pagoda, a
very ancient structure, where we dismissed our coolies with
good tips, never big enough for them. We motored through
the new city, and saw the Parliament buildings, the Treas-
ury, the University, the new City Hospital and a great
many ugly new buildings, stores, hotels and restaurants.
Canton is not building up very beautifully.

They told us everywhere that the soldiers are the men-
ace of Canton and of China. They appear suddenly at
Canton from somewhere in the province and demand to be
clothed, housed and fed. When no provision has been
made for them, they rob and loot, wherever they can.
The pirates and bandits are mostly ex-soldiers. These
Pearl River steamers have been pirated two three times
within the past year. The line on which we travelled is
British and well armed with British Sikh soldiers, but
Chinese steamers are constantly being robbed. The bandits
come on the steamer as common passengers. Suddenly
at a given point they produce weapons, shoot or imprison
the ship’s officers, loot the passengers, and escape in a
junk concealed near by at the point of attack. We saw one
steamer, thus robbed and looted two days before, lying,
stranded on the river bank.

This past week, they told us, a ferry-boat with forty-two
passengers disappeared one night—a ferry on the bay be-
tween Hongkong and Kowloon, and no word of it has yet
been had and now it is a week. Pirates have stolen it and
spirited it away somewhere into some hidden bay.

Not long ago, seven boys were stolen by the bandits114 THE SECRET OF THE EASE

from the Presbyterian School near Canton,—stolen for
ransom. The bandits asked a big ransom and said the boys
would be killed if the ransom was not paid. The authori-
ties do not think it good policy to accede always to the
demands of the bandits, for it encourages them to do more.
But they did redeem three boys and told them to wait for
the other four. Soon one of the four was found on the
campus shot through and through, and with a note attached
— "So will we do with the others, unless you pay up.” Many
horrible things like this have happened in the last few
years.

But let us turn to pleasanter matters.

You doubtless know something about the industries and
commerce of China. Of course, agriculture is the most
important, the most ancient and the most venerated indus-
try of China. All of China is fertile and some parts
exceedingly fertile. The land is in small holdings, the larg-
est farm rarely exceeding a few acres. It is intensive farm-
ing, with much irrigation. The methods and implements
are primitive, but two crops a year are common and some-
times a third is harvested. Rice is the chief crop, as it is
the principal food of the people, but wheat, corn and other
cereals are abundant. The raising of vegetables is carried
on everywhere. Next to rice, we found that the most im-
portant crops are tea and the mulberry for silk culture.
Ginseng, tobacco, sugar-cane and indigo are also raised.
Some poppy is grown for opium, and some cotton, in the
southern part of China.

The manufactures of China include the silk-making as
the most important. China produces the finest grades of
silk in the world. Read that recent novel called Silk for
the astonishing romance of this industry in old China.
The making of chinaware is still an important industry.
Formerly China excelled all countries in this ware and
gave its own name to it, but now, imitating the Chinese
work, some of the finest is made in Europe. The Chinese
also make grass-cloth that resembles linen. Lacquer-
ware is also produced in large quantities. Metal work,CHINA AND THE CHANGING CHINESE 115

such as gongs, mirrors and statuettes, are manufactured in
quantity, and small articles from ivory, wood, shell and
mother-of-pearl.

We were interested to learn that the foreign commerce
of China amounts to $550,000,000 a year. Of this, about
$300,000,000 is in imports. The chief import is cotton;
the chief export is silk. This commerce is carried on
through forty-two treaty ports, some of them being inland
on the great rivers. We also found that the leading
nations in foreign trade are India, Great Britain, the
United States, Germany and France. Some of these have
special spheres of influence, with special concessions from
the government.

After all this discovery of facts, we ought to recall
some of the high-lights of China’s history, in order to
understand this great people. The Chinese historians claim
a history of hundreds of thousands of years. But Con-
fucius begins his recorded history with 2356 B.C., with
the reign of Yao. A new dynasty, the Shang dynasty,
began 1766 B.C. Better times came with the Chow
dynasty in 1122 B.C. Confucius was born in 551 B.C. in
this dynasty. In 255 B.C. this dynasty was overthrown by
the Tin or Chin dynasty, from which China takes its name.
During this dynasty the Great Wall of China was built to
keep out the Tartars. Under the Tang rulers learning
was greatly cultivated. In 924 A.D. printing was invented
in China, and not until 1450 in Europe. Then, in the thir-
teenth century the Mongols overran China and established
the Mongol dynasty. Kublai Khan was the most famous
of these Mongol rulers, and China attained great splendor.
The Ming dynasty conquered the Mongols and reigned
from 1368 to 1644. Then the Manchus came and founded
the last royal dynasty of China, which lasted until the
Republic of 1912.

The Great Wall of China, which we saw, is typical of
their ancient desire for isolation and conservatism. It
surrounded their empire in ancient days,—a great wall
twenty-five feet thick and fifty feet high and seventeen116 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

hundred miles long,—running down along valleys and up
mountains, and keeping out all foreign nations. But be-
sides the great wall around the whole empire, one striking
thing that the traveller in China sees is that so many cities
are walled. There are 1,700 walled cities in China, and
these great walls are often overgrown with roses and
honeysuckle, reminding one in their picturesqueness of the
medieval period of European history. Outside of these
cities are everywhere little villages of adobe huts embowed
in elms, willows and date-trees. The whole country seems
to be everywhere overburdened and overpopulated. ‘The
fields are full of laborers; the hills and mountains are ter-
raced with gardens; the rivers and canals are full of boats;
the village and city streets are noisy with artisans and
traders.

We ought to note several outstanding points in China’s
later history. Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller, visited
China (1275 A.D.) during the reign of Kublai Khan and
wrote most interesting accounts of it. The Portuguese
visited China and settled at Macao in the 16th century,
about 1516. The East India Company began trading in
China in 1670. The Opium War broke out in 1840 and
was disastrous for China. The English had begun it and
finished it to their advantage, taking Hongkong and a
huge indemnity, with concessions at Shanghai, Canton and
other cities.

The Tai-Ping Rebellion was 1856-60, and in this war
General Chinese Gordon came to fame. The China-
Japanese war occurred in 1894. China was completely
defeated by Japan. The Boxer uprising took place in
1900, instigated by the Empress Dowager, and many for-
eigners and missionaries were slain and much foreign prop-
erty destroyed. It ended in 1901, and it led in ten years’
time to the abdication of the Emperor and the end of the
Manchu dynasty. The empire became a republic.

It is a matter of congratulation to us that some years
ago, after China’s defeat by Japan, when the great Euro-
pean powers were planning the partition of China intoCHINA AND THE CHANGING CHINESE 117

various spheres of influence, which really meant their
grabbing great portions of the helpless empire, America
under the able statesmanship of Hon. John Hay stood out
for the integrity of China and was successful in preserving
the great empire.

The story of the Republic is the latest history. Dr.
Sun Yat Sen was elected provisional president. The first
regular president was Yuan Shi Kai, inaugurated March
10, 1912; the republic was recognized by the United
States on May 2, 1913. Since then it has had a checkered
career. For in 1915 Yuan Shi Kai attempted to make
himself Emperor. He died the next year; Li Yuan-Hung,
vice-president, assumed the presidency in June, 1916; in
1917 General Chang Hsun attempted to put the Manchu
boy-emperor on the throne. But the attempt failed and
Feng Kou-Chang became president on August I, 1917;
war was declared on Germany and Austria on August 14,
1917; Hsu Shih-Chang was elected president September 4,
1918. Disputes between North and South have been
long continued, with Dr. Sun Yat Sen as military dictator
‘1 the South. Peace was concluded in 1919 with a confer-
ence at Shanghai. This same year, January, 1919, the
Government publicly burned twelve million dollars’ worth
of opium in its determined war against this evil. So the
present Government has some force and determination
after all.

It may help us to understand China better if I explain
a few facts concerning language and literature. The liter-
ature of China is probably the oldest in the world. They
claim that it dates to twenty centuries before Christ, but
the first important volume of which we have knowledge
was written in the 12th century before Christ. This was
one of the Five Classics, the earliest preserved literature.
The Four Books of Confucius and his disciples date about
five.centuries before Christ. The Chinese writings include
history, geography, on science and philosophy. They have
also extensive native collections of poetry, the drama and
novels. Many of these are now being translated into
English for the first time.118 THE “SECRET OF THE ‘RASE

The written language of the Chinese was originally
hieroglyphs or ideographs, picture words. There is no
alphabet, but about four thousand of these picture words.
To express different ideas, a system of eight different tones
are used, making it a very difficult language for a for-
eigner. But a new simplified language has been recently
arranged, which, if it comes into general use, will help
greatly. The languages in the different parts of the em-
pire, while akin, yet show widely different dialects, hard to
be understood. The written language is the Mandarin
tongue.

The Chinese have always believed in education and
they have a great respect for literature. But the educa-
tion they get is limited. Primary schools are provided, and
have been for centuries, throughout the empire and are
open to all classes. There are also higher institutions,
culminating in the university. Competitive examinations
are held at stated intervals for all government positions.
Heretofore the examinations have been upon literature,
Chinese philosophy and religion,—not subjects that alto-
gether fit one for public office. But a revised list of sub-
jects are coming into use. In general, the men of China
can read and write, but most of the older generation of
women have no book learning.

Recollect, there is no caste-system in China. Any man,
if he studies and works hard, can reach the top. Scholar-
ship is the only requirement for official position. The only
aristocracy is that of the scholars. And yet only one
scholar in fifty gets into official position. The others, how-
ever, help to make the culture and public opinion, and have
maintained—and is not this a great record?—a stable,
united and peaceful China for more than two thousand
years.

I ought to say a few words about Chinese art, for we
saw much of it in China. Chinese art has a long history.
Some of its work dates back to three thousand years before
the time of Christ. It did some noble work in the Shang
dynasty, 1800 B.C., and in the Chow and Han periods.CHINA AND THE CHANGING CHINESE 119

But its finest flower was reached in the 8th century after
Christ. It consists of drawing, painting, sculpture, and
carving,—the latter in jade, ivory and crystal. Ihe sculp-
tures are mostly religious subjects, statues of the gods,
saints and seers. There are also a few heroic groups.
There is also considerable art in the architecture of the
temples, castles and gateways and in the ornamentation
of these. Panels, screens and fans are often exquisitely
decorated.

Some of the great Chinese artists are Godoshi, the
Michaelangelo of China in the Tang dynasty, 8th to rith
century A.D. Ririomin is the Leonardo da Vinci of China,
1000 A.D., and other famous names are Kakki, Bayen
and Mokki. Godoshi—his name in Chinese is Wa Tao
Tzu—was a wonderful painter of landscapes, an unrivalled
genius in painting mountains, gorges and mists. He also
made splendid drawings. Kakki wrote a famous essay on
painting about 1060 A.D. In the year 1000 appeared the
scholar whom many call the greatest Chinese intellect—
Wang An Shih by name. He was the Roger Bacon of his
day,—a rationalist, a universal soul, a scientific man. He
encouraged the artists and poets. He threw overboard the
Confucian classics and wrote new text-books for the schools.
He was a great state minister and reformer, introducing
practical learning,—such as bookkeeping, law and taxation.
In this era Ririomin—Li Lung-mien in Chinese—arose, one
of the greatest artistic geniuses of China. He was an artist
of progress. He believed in the free spirit and his work is
remarkable. He was a poet and collector. He is, as Pro-
fessor Fenollosa thinks, the most all-round man in Chinese
history. He painted horses well, and altar pieces and land-
scapes, and he had a rare sense of humor, as many of his
pictures show. He retired from public life in the year
1100 A.D.

We may remember that the late Empress Dowager of
China was an artist of no mean ability—one of my friends
has two paintings done by her own hand—and she patron-
ized art by keeping eighteen court painters, selected from120 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

among the best artists of the country, to paint for her con-
tinually. Their work was given by her as presents on
festal occasions.

The pictures of rivers, oceans and mountains in Chi-
nese art are strangely beautiful, for the Chinese almost
worship their rivers, oceans and mountains. Sometimes
these are conventionalized and yet full of inspiration.
Greek sculptors have been unexcelled in depicting the
human body. European artists have done wonders with
the snowy Alps or heather-clad highlands or cliffs. But
Chinese artists have portrayed mountains with a very subtle
understanding. Often they are outlines, mere etchings,
but they have character, even majesty and grandeur. They
show gigantic ranges, rush of cataracts, avalanches and
precipices, and ancient pines with roots clawing the rocks;
stupendous peaks stretching up to the edge of the moon,—
they are all wonderful works of imagination and yet with
a clear basis of reality.

The Chinese not only loved the mountains and wor-
shiped them, but they gave them beautiful names—“The
Mountains of the Spring of Jade,” “The Mountain of a
Flundred Flowers,” “The Mountain of the Longevity of
the Thousand Years.” One says: ‘They made pilgrimages
to them, crowned them with temples, buried emperors in
the blue depths of their shadows. They loved the eagles
of the mountains and the picturing clouds. They wove
around them myths, legends, dreams.”’ So in their love for
them they could portray them with inspiration and genius.
For they had caught the inner spirit.

The religions of China we shall discuss in a later chap-
ter on “The Modern Movements in China,” so that we
need not touch upon religion at this time. But I think
we were most deeply interested of all in observing the
characteristics of the people. We found the Chinese, as a
people, peaceful, home-loving, industrious, with great sim-
plicity and politeness of manners.

Among the virtues of the Chinese we found many
evidences of filial piety. From early childhood they areCHINA AND THE CHANGING CHINESE ar

taught to obey their parents. Disobedience is one of the
greatest crimes. They also have a talent for work. They
rise early and retire late; they toil incessantly. They seem
to enjoy work. It is their life and being. Holidays are in-
frequent. They all love work. They are not lazy. They
are also contented,—and cheerful at their work. Under all
conditions they are cheerful and industrious. They make
great workers in the tropics. Besides these things, they
seem to have no nerves. The West is proverbial for its
nerves,—twitching, aching, hysterical nerves. The Chinese
are composed and quiet. They can sit still in one position
all day if required; or they can work steadily at one
monotonous job from morning to night. Nothing seems to
affect the tireless and phlegmatic Chinese.

They are in general a moral people. They have prac-
tically surmounted the peril of strong drink,—although a
little of it is still known. Their universal drink is tea.
They have fought and conquered opium, in large measure,
although the English for a long time forced it on them.
They are in general an honest people,—the most honest in
business matters of any in the Orient. And yet, strangely
enough, there is much graft among officials. No people
believe more in social and moral order, in government, law
and reason. This has been the true bulwark of their state
for more than two thousand years.

You may ask, What is the real Chinaman? Do we see
him in our laundries? Well, that is one variety of him,
but not the best educated or most prominent. The laundry-
men come mostly from the South, from Canton, and are
of the coolie class. The majority of Chinamen are of a
better type physically and intellectually. Ah Sin, the
‘“Tfeathen Chinee,” is a caricature of the true article. The
better class is represented by such gentlemen as Li Hung
Chang, who visited this country a few years ago, or by
the Hon. Wu Ting Fang, the Ambassador of China to the
United States, who during his residence in Washington
charmed all who met him by his courtesy, his culture, his
wit, and his ability as a statesman; or Mr. Wellington
Woo, recently of Washington.122 DHE SECRED OF THE EAST

We found the children in China are much like the chil-
dren in America and the world over. They love to play.
You have doubtless seen some of their picture books. One
called the Chinese Mother Goose is as interesting and
amusing in its way as our own book of the nursery. The
children play many games. Hop-scotch, marbles, spinning
tops, humming spools, battle-dore and shuttlecock. ‘The
women play cards and dominoes. Playing-cards came orig-
inally from China, centuries ago. The men amuse them-
selves with chess, juggling, acrobatic feats, and especially
kite-flying. The latter is an amusement for all ages, from
childhood to old age,—all sizes and shapes of kites,—and
so it has been through all the centuries.

Price Collier, after extensive travels in the Far East
for two years, gives this judgment: “To me the Chinese
are by far the most agreeable people in the East... .
In spite of what I know bad about them, I seem to detect
something virile and independent about them; some quality
of playing the game the way we play it, that I do not find
in other Orientals. Besides this, the Chinese have a charac-
teristic of cheerfulness, a tolerance of disagreeable things,
an invincible contentment, a good humor under every form
of discomfort and under the severest bodily toil.’ One
writer puts it: ‘They seem to have acquired a national
habit of looking on the bright side.”

“Here then,’ as Dr. Arthur H. Smith says, who lived
in China for twenty-five years and knows them well—
‘“‘we have the most numerous, most homogeneous, most
peaceful and most enduring race of all human history. Its
records antedate the Pyramids. Confucius preceded Christ
by five hundred years. They have been conquered by other
peoples, the Mongols and the Manchus, but they have
absorbed their conquerors and maintained their own lan-
guage, literature, customs and religion. They invented
paper, printing, the mariner’s compass, gunpowder, porce-
lain and silk manufacture. The Great Wall and the Grand
Canal are striking evidences of their engineering skill.
To-day they are taking up Western science, learning andCHINA AND THE CHANGING CHINESE 123

machinery; they have made the most ancient empire of
the world into a progressive republic, and they have pro-
claimed absolute religious tolerance and freedom.”’ Surely
we must look upon China as one of the most gifted and
remarkable nations of the world.

There is a present-day China, of which also we saw
many evidences. It was a symbol of the new era, when
the Temple of Heaven, in Peking, formerly closed to all
except the Emperor and his suite once a year, was thrown
open to the public. It meant that the people began a new
life politically and religiously. Another sign of the new
times,—the people began to cut off their queues, which
were the Manchu badge of a conquered people. It would be
dificult to-day to find a queue in some parts of China,—
not one, for instance, in the city of Canton.

All, however, has not been plain sailing since the Re-
public began. Many feel that Japan has not been alto-
gether a good neighbor, but has sought to use and exploit
China. The north and the south provinces in China have
had some dissensions. Some provinces have been over-
run with bandits, mostly ex-soldiers, and often have been
encouraged to make disorder—-so it is alleged in China—
by the Japanese to embarrass the Government. But the
Chinese are a democratic people,—they have always had a
large measure of local self-government,—and it is likely
that the Republic is here to stay and will soon find its
stable equilibrium.

To-day electricity is lighting up China in many of its
great cities. The agents of the Standard Oil Company
have penetrated every section of China. The whiz of the
American sewing machine is heard in many out-of-the-way
places. American machinery is filling her silk and cotton
mills. American railways are pushing across the country,
and besides these, other new forces are at work which we
discovered and shall describe in the next chapter.

What does it all mean? Surely it means that the great
giant nation of four hundred millions of souls is awaken-
ing. ‘The new industrial China, with its millions of splen-124 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

did, tireless workers, its unlimited raw material and its
physical endurance without nerves,—with its new political
freedom,—with its new education and science, and with its
coming new religion, which we confidently believe will be
a broad and vital Christianity,—will be one of the might-
lest powers on earth. Who can prophesy its greatness?
“The exciting part of the transformation of China,”
as Professor Ross says, “‘is that it is taking place in our
time and before our very eyes. In a short time there will
be telephones and moving-picture shows and appendicitis
and sanitation and baseball nines and bachelor maids in
every one of the thirteen hundred districts of the Empire.
The renaissance of a quarter or more of the whole human
family of the world is occurring before our very eyes, and
we have only to sit in the parquet and watch the stage!”SOME MODERN MOVEMENTS IN CHINA

HERE are 20,000 Boy Scouts in China, and they

do as fine work as our splendid Scouts in America.

Formerly Chinese boys played quiet games—kite-
flying and shuttlecock, and let their finger-nails grow very
long to show they were scholars. But now they cut their
finger-nails, have given up the quiet games, put on Boy
Scout uniforms, with shorts, and are doing all the rough,
hardy games that the Scouts do, and going on long hikes
and having Scout camps in the mountains. It means even
by this that China is awakening. The new democracy and
vigor and modern spirit of the West is coming in.

To us the most significant sign of the new day in China
is the Rockefeller Institute and Hospital, which we vis-
ited, in Peking. It is a wonderful place, as beautiful in
its group of buildings as any great temple or palace in
China. The Chinese style is used. The hospital is as up-
to-date in every particular as the finest hospital in America.
So far probably six or eight million dollars have been spent
on this wonderful institution and its collateral Medical
Board work, which is a model for all China.

We called on Dr. Houghton, the Director, to whom
we had a letter from Dr. George E. Vincent, president of
the Rockefeller Foundation. I found Dr. Houghton had
been one of my student-listeners in Baltimore while he was
a medical student at Johns Hopkins. He explained in full
the workings of the institution and took us through the
wards. Everything was wonderfully fine. He told us of
the social welfare and Christian work. We went to the
social hall last, where various activities are carried on and
religious services were held every Sunday morning. The
organist was practicing on the church organ as we passed
through. It gave us a home feeling. Dr. Houghton im-

125126 PAE SECRET OF THE, BASE

pressed us as an unusually fine and well-balanced man,—a
scholar, a gentleman, and with an unusual sense of humor.
He has been in China nineteen years and knows the
people and language. He began at Hankow, then later
joined the Harvard unit, and has now been with the Rocke-
feller Institute six years. He told us that the instruction
is all given in English; that their students come from all
sections of China, some from the middle and south China.
They are trained here not merely to be doctors and nurses,
but to be teaching-doctors and teaching-nurses. Great em-
phasis is placed on teaching. They are training leaders for
all the medical schools and hospitals of China.

Dr. Houghton likes China, is fond of Peking,—except
the dust,—and thinks Peking in general as comfortable a
city as New York. He lives near the institute in an old
mansion, once the home of a mandarin.

As an illustration of what is happening in these days
in China may I also mention what occurred not long ago in
Peking? It was a great audience of Chinese ladies in
brilliant garments. A lecture was to be given,—and by
the lady editor of the Peking Woman’s Paper,—the only
woman’s daily paper in the world. She lectured to them
on woman’s education. A clever little sketch was given
describing a conversation between two old heathen deities
who felt a bit worried over woman’s progress in China.
Nods and smiles showed the pleasure of the audience. The
meeting closed with a musical recital on the Angelus piano.
Now, this is the spirit of the new China! Did you realize
that it was getting as modern as this?

Here is another sign! The anti-foot binding crusade is
spreading rapidly among the girls and women in all parts
of China. Girls with unbound feet are now playing games
with the boys. Large numbers of married women now have
unbound feet. Young women are now going to the high
schools and colleges, just as the young men, especially girls
of high families.

The crusade against opium is also now in full blast,
and has been for some time. This opium-smoking, whichMODERN MOVEMENTS IN CHINA 127

has been a great curse to China, dates from about seventy
years ago. Opium was brought from India. It is often
called the Indian weed. Its trade was fostered by the
English. Yet it caused the death of almost a million vic-
tims a year in China. Now the whole nation is up in arms
against it. The school boys are taught its evils. Stringent
laws are made against it. So that in a few years more it
is hoped to get rid of this devastating curse. And yet cer-
tain provinces are still planting it for gain.

Sometimes we imagine from what we know of Chinese
men that China must be full of laundries from one end to
another. As a matter of fact, we found there are few
public laundries in China. Wealthy people have their
servants do their laundry work in their homes. The poor
people do their own.

And most startling fact of all—there is no chop-suey in
China. You will be sadly disappointed. That is a dish
made up and named especially for Americans. The chop-
suey restaurants originated in California and not in China.
We Americans are full of strange notions about China
that need to be revised.

Let me tell you a few of the wonderful things that are
actually happening at this very moment. Do you know
that there is going on in China to-day the startling move-
ment called The Renaissance or New Thought Movement,
that is one of the most momentous signs of the times? It
only began in 1919, and is sweeping over the whole coun-
try and enlisting all the students and all the thinking and
educated people of China. It means the application of the
scientific method to all thinking, even to religious think-
ing. It is China at last coming out of the dark ages—
the medieval times.

It is startling to find the leaders of Chinese thought,
including the most learned men, the finest brains, educated
in England and America, sharing in this new movement.
It is a movement that is questioning Christianity and all
religion in China. Part of it is openly antagonistic to
Christianity. Many Christian leaders are excited about it.128 THE SECRET OF THE EASE

One of the great men of China, Dr. C. Y. Cheng, one of
the brainiest and finest of the intellectual and Christian
leaders of China, said a few months ago: ‘Without any
room for argument, the most influential movement to-day
in China is that intellectual one called “The Tide of New
Thought.’”’ This stirring up of the new thought-life of
the nation is great with possibilities for the nation and
the Christian church in China—and possibly for the whole
world. It means, he said, that every man questions every
fact laid before him, that he should think for himself and
not accept theories as true, even in religion, until he has
considered them in the light of the fullest possible data.
This is good—it will not hurt the real truth. I feel, he
concluded, no worry about the ultimate effects.

It is a national movement originating under the leader-
ship of the celebrated Chancellor Tsaip—Tsai Yuan Pei,
to give his name in full. He is a learned Chinese scholar,
head of the National University at Peking, a man of in-
tegrity and devotion, a patriot, and full of the fine spirit
of sacrifice for a great cause. This National University
has three thousand students, of these only twenty are pro-
fessing Christians; all the others are Confucianists, Bud-
dhists or agnostics. And active in this new movement for
scientific and critical thought are many of the foremost
professors of philosophy, literature and law, editors and
leading writers and experts in education. The movement
is much stronger in the north of China than in the south-
ern provinces, for the North is more inclined to things
intellectual and philosophic, while the South is more polit-
ical and utilitarian.

It is frankly admitted that this new movement is dan-
gerous to Christianity in China if it is not directed rightly
and if it is not met adequately. Some of the leaders in it
are openly anti-religious. For instance, in March, 1922,
when a big student Christian Conference was going on
in Peking, a declaration against Christianity was issued
signed by seventy-nine leaders in the New Thought Move-
ment. Their criticism of Christianity was that it was theMODERN MOVEMENTS IN CHINA 129

tool of capitalism and vested interests, and that it was in
favor of war and militarism, and that it supported an un-
just and selfish social order. Surely there was some ground
for these criticisms, but they did not see the whole truth
nor discover the better side and greater spirit of genuine
Christianity.

The chief danger in this movement is that it may leave
China without any religion. Confucianism and Buddhism,
the ancient prevailing religions, are rapidly losing ground.
Here is the way some of the leaders look at this problem:
Dr. Chang Tung-sen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper The
China Times, which strongly advocates the Renaissance,
recently wrote:

“TI feel that for China, Christianity appears to be the
most suitable of the three religions, Confucianism, Bud-
dhism and Christianity. For Buddhism is backward-looking
and Confucianism lacks the fighting spirit, while Chris-
tianity contains certain elements which will tend to correct
the shortcomings of China to-day . . . Of course, this
is on the assumption that we must have a religion. My
personal position is that no religion is necessary.’’ And that
view is to-day being held by many intellectual leaders in
China.

Dr. Suh Hu, professor of philosophy in the National
University, speaks fearlessly for the new Chinese intellec-
tuals when he says: “I believe we should maintain two
attitudes,—first, toleration; and second, understanding.
Toleration is recognizing the right of religious freedom;
and understanding is studying the Scriptures and books of
Christianity, seeing the blessings and the mischief of Chris-
tianity and what part is the true essence and what the
worthless dregs.” Now, is not this what we Americans
are trying to do ourselves? We recognize that there has
been both good and evil in past Church history, and even
to-day much in so-called Christianity that is worthless and
unessential and much that is infinitely precious. We Amer-
ican Christians are just learning to discriminate. So also

the Chinese.130 the SeCRET OF THE EAsi

Another scholar, Dr. Kao I-hau, professor in the col-
lege of law and political science at Peking, writes: ‘‘As an
individual I never believed in any religion. I think that as
science progresses there will come a day when science will
prove to be a satisfactory substitute for all religion.
Therefore the Chinese ought to exert themselves to the
utmost to study the European sciences.”

Still another leading thinker, Dr. Tso-Jiu Chau, pro-
fessor of literature in the National University and a nov-
elist of note, gives a somewhat different angle. He says
(I quote from a recent article): ‘I believe, if we want to
renew the heart of the Chinese people, Christianity is very
suitable. A small number of people can use science, art or
social service to take the place of the religious need, but a
majority of the people are not able to do this. Therefore
I believe that the best thing is to take the monotheistic
religion, which tolerates science, instead of holding to the
old polytheistic and barbarous religions of old China.”

But here is the way it is coming to some minds: Dr.
Chen Tu Hsiu, a professor in Peking University, is one
of the keenest minds in China, highly trained in Chinese
learning, and has studied abroad. He is not a Christian
and recently wrote an article on Christianity. He shows
the weak points in traditional theories and in old interpre-
tations of the Bible; he sharply criticized some methods
of Christian work and its results, but at the last he said in
this article: “Nevertheless the spirit of Jesus must get
into the blood of every one of the four hundred million
people of China before we can hope to come out of dark-
ness into light, out of death into life.”

If the keen mind of this leader sees this truth and pro-
claims it, it will not be long before all China will see it,
if we cooperate in the work. What ringing words—‘‘The
spirit of Jesus must get into the blood of every one of the
four hundred million people of China before we can hope
to come out of darkness into light, out of death into life.”’

This movement has already called to its aid such men
as Professor John Dewey of Columbia, who went overMODERN MOVEMENTS IN CHINA 131

and lectured for a year, and also Professor Bertrand Rus-
sell of Cambridge, England. ‘They are both of them dis-
tinguished scholars, but radical in thought and religion,—
teachers of the philosophy of doubt and the radical ex-
periment of socialism. China is full of the writings of
these men, and of the writings of Karl Marx, socialist;
of Lenine and Trotsky, the Soviet Communists, and of
Tolstoi, H. G. Wells and G. Bernard Shaw. America
must soon send out to China some equally brilliant men,
leading thinkers, who will give to this growing movement
a less radical socialism and a more constructive and inspir-
ing philosophy. We must do this to represent the best
inspirations and results of Christianity.

Let me tell you, the Christian forces of China are al-
ready at work to do what they can to present the truth of
Christianity. There is a newly formed “Chinese Christian
Council” which is full of promise; the Christian churches
of China and their leaders are behind it. The spirit of
Christian cooperation is growing among the Christian
churches of all communions in China and emphasis is being
put on the soundest educational principles. We must give
largely and support loyally by money and men, the finest
students, teachers and leaders that we have for this great
work in a time of stupendous opportunity and crisis.

I was interested recently to read a letter from Dr.
William Hiram Foulkes, secretary of the New Era Move-
ment in the Presbyterian Church of the United States, who
has recently been in China, interviewing many of the lead-
ers in the intellectual Renaissance, and he wrote (under
date of April 28, 1923): “It is a movement to liberate
China from old bondage. It grew out of the great up-
heaval. It is a marvellous intellectual revolution. It is
the biggest thing in China to-day. It is a sign of the new
vigor and life in China. The leaders in it are sincere and
honest,—even those who are anti-religious and anti-Chris-
tian. It must be met by intellectual honesty and sympa-
thy, and by Christian loyalty to the truth. We must help
China to-day by a broad sympathy and by sending to her132 THE SECRET OF THE EAsT

our finest students and thinkers and by living our Chris-
tianity more simply and more earnestly.”

Dr. Foulkes says further and most significantly: ‘The
Renaissance in China is trembling on the verge of dawn.
The darkened sky of the night of four thousand years is
showing the promise of a new day. Shall it be the day of
the Soviet, whose influence is very far-reaching upon the
present leaders of the Renaissance, or the day of the Lord,
when patriots’ dreams come true and when a new China
shall appear among the nations calling upon His name and
acknowledging His Kingdom of righteousness and peace ?”’

This New Thought Movement is really a marvellous
thing. For these students and intellectuals in it,—tens of
thousands already,—are the vanguard of the new China,
of the real democracy, and, as we believe, the real religion
of China for the future.

Another new thing and most striking evidence of the
new day is General Feng. How much do you know of
this most interesting character, General Feng, the out-
standing Christian Chinese general of China, with his
Christian army? He is the ‘Chinese Gordon” of these
days, or we might call him the Stonewall Jackson,—a
fighting man full of the spirit of Christ. It was only
twenty-two years ago when he watched the martyrdom of
our American missionaries, Horace Pitkin of Oberlin, Miss
Mary Morrell and the others at Paoting-fu. His heart
was touched and he became a Christian.

To-day he is general of the most Christian army in the
world. His twenty thousand men will neither drink,
smoke, gamble nor loot. Nine thousand of them,—offcers
and men,—are professing Christians, It is the nearest
approach to a Christian army since Oliver Cromwell's
army called the “Ironsides.’”? I learned much about Gen-
eral Feng in China. He requires that every soldier in his
army shall learn to read. He requires them to read and
study the Bible. He chooses his officers from among the
most efficient Chinese Christians. He loves his men and
they love him.MODERN MOVEMENTS IN CHINA 133

His soldiers are better in habits and morals than most
of the European armies in the late war. They allow no
bad houses and no gambling dens. One who visited for a
week in these army camps reported that he never smelt
liquor or tobacco nor heard one profane word. Their
spare time is spent in learning new trades in camp schools
so that they will be self-supporting when the army work is
done. General Feng looks eagerly ahead to that day. He
believes in economy and the simple life, but all his men
are well uniformed and well cared for. It is the best
disciplined army in China.

The other troops in China fear and respect this army
of General Feng. Another general against whom General
Feng had to move reported: ‘These Christian fellows
have come and they have never lost a battle.” General
Feng deals with rebels and bandits, not by shooting them,
but by capturing them, putting them into camps and teach-
ing them the Bible by Christian evangelists. He has re-
deemed thousands of outlaws and robbers by this policy
of Christian love.

Altogether, he is a wonderful and unique character.
It shows what Christianity can do in China. We shall
probably hear much of General Feng in the coming days.
He is now considered by many a bigger power in China
than the president of the Chinese Republic. That world-
traveller and Christian statesman, Sherwood Eddy, thinks
that General Feng may yet prove the man to save China.
He may yet become China’s first Christian president. It
is interesting to know that at a recent voting contest in
China conducted by one of the Chinese newspapers on the
question: ‘Who are the twelve greatest living Chinese ?”’
—how modern and American all this sounds !—General
Feng stood fifth on the list. Among the four ahead of
him, it may be noted that two others were Christian Chi-
nese, and of the whole twelve, seven were Christians.

To-day there are 375,000 communicant members of
the Protestant churches in China. The present prime
minister is a Christian. The former prime minister was134 THE SECRET OF THE EASE

also a Christian. So Christianity is already showing some
real results in China.

The following item also shows the modern trend. In
one province modern ideas have so taken possession that
five thousand public schools have been opened, and in many
cases the school houses used are old idol-temples, out of
which the idols were taken and burned, and the school-
master and his pupils installed. This is done under Goy-
ernment auspices. But most startling of all, it is decreed
that the New Testament be studied in the schools along
with the Books of Confucius. This in China! And only a
little more than twenty years after the Boxer uprising!

A primer of Christianity has been issued under author-
ity of the viceroy of Chihli, the imperial province, which
gives an account of the origin, history and doctrines of
Christianity. Every scholar in the primary and advanced
schools is furnished with a copy to study. Its spirit is
kindly and pacific. It gives in full the Sermon on the
Mount.

Another modern indication, the great publishing houses
of Shanghai are taxed to their utmost to keep up with
their business. Books on history, law, science, geography
and religion are being printed as fast as presses can run.
As an instance, one English book in Chinese translation,
Mackenzie, The Nineteenth Century and Its Achieve-
ments, has had a.sale in China of more than a million
copies !

This also is a significant fact. There were, a few years
ago, aS many as seventeen thousand Chinese students who
had gone over to Japan to get an up-to-date education.
The Chinese ministers of education reported ten thousand
of them in Tokio alone. Such a thing was unheard of a
century or even fifty years ago. But China is getting
awake. ‘These young men want to see how their rival,
Japan, “does it.” They realize that Japan has learned a
few things. They are resolved to do likewise. These stu-
dents have cut off their queues and look much like Jap-
anese in dress. In similar ways, the Chinese GovernmentMODERN MOVEMENTS IN CHINA § 135

has sent five thousand students to England and America to
be educated, to get modern ideas, so as to come back and
introduce them into China.

There are more than five million students at higher
schools, colleges and universities in China at this very time.
The numbers are increasing by leaps and bounds. I was
looking at some of the statistics recently. I noted that in
1912 there were 1,500,000; in 1919, only seven years
later, 4,500,000,—a growth of three million in the student
body in seven years.

There are schools and colleges now in all the great
cities of China. St. John’s at Shanghai is now a great uni-
versity, a real force in the life of China. The Canton Chris-
tian College is a noble institution. ‘Yale in China’ and
“Princeton in Peking” are remarkable enterprises. Other
colleges are represented by excellent work in China.

There is a National or Imperial University at Peking
with a student body of three thousand or more, but only
a few of these are Christian. The education here is en-
tirely secular. But we may remember that there is another
university in Peking, named the Peking University, whose
students are nearly all Christian, and its education is along
American and Christian lines. It is also a striking sign of
the new day. Methodist, Congregational and Presby-
terian schools and forces, English and American, are here
cooperating, and this year the University enrolls four hun-
dred and twenty-five students, among the finest young men
and women of China. It has a wonderful faculty of able
teachers holding degrees from the leading English and
American institutions. Its president is an American, Dr.
J. Leighton Stuart, a member of the Southern Presby-
terian Church in the United States, and he is considered
one of the foremost educators in China. The woman’s
college in the University, Yen-Ching College, is the first
institution to grant a diploma to a woman in China.

The new buildings are on the road to the Summer
Palace and have ample grounds on a very eligible site.
They are being built in good style for all the years to136 THE SECRET OF THE EASE

come. The new grounds were formerly the estate of a
Manchu prince and are regarded as one of the most mag-
nificent sites for a university in all the world.

The China Medical Board of the Rockefeller Founda-
tion is already building on the site a great science hall.
Dr. George E. Vincent, head of the Foundation, is greatly
interested in this and has already made a visit to Peking
to arrange matters. The Congregationalists of Cleve-
land, Ohio, are planning to give a residence here. Colum-
bus, Ohio, will give a ‘“‘Washington Gladden” residence.
Other gifts are coming from other religious bodies. This
University is a great factor in Chinese education and a
great opportunity for splendid Christian leadership in
China.

Of course, matters are not all going one way in China.
There are two great parties, the conservative and the
reform parties. Among the conservatives, Confucius is
idealized, his ethics are vigorously inculcated, Chinese learn-
ing is reafirmed as the only necessary thing, and all re-
forms are tabooed. But the reform party is young and
vigorous. Young China is awake and determined. There
may be reactions from time to time. Reforms may be de-
layed, but the new way cannot be permanently stopped.

Not long ago Sherwood Eddy, American Christian
leader in student and Y. M. C. A. work, spent three months
in China and he said on coming home, March 17, 1923:
“In spite of the banditry, lawlessness and disorder in some
parts of China, in spite of political inefficiency at present,
and in spite of some anti-religious signs—I have great
hopes for China. I do not for a moment waver in my
faith in her great future. The government may at times
falter, but the people are stolid, solid and stable. There
is moral depth in the students and the people.”

I have ventured to call your attention in this way to
several new and remarkable encouragements,—the new
medical work, the New Thought movement, the Christian
General Feng, the Boy Scouts in China, the great Peking
Christian University; and there is one more thing that IMODERN MOVEMENTS IN CHINA § 137

want to speak about now, and that is the new Christian
vision in China. This seems to me most remarkable of all.
Let me describe what I mean. As you know, the soil of
China is enriched by martyrs’ blood. Hundreds of heroic
Christians have given their lives for the cause of Christ
in China. Their blood is not in vain. Not long ago I
passed under the Martyrs’ Memorial at Oberlin College,
Ohio, erected in memory of its many students who had
given their lives to Christ during the Boxer Uprising in
China. On it are such words as ‘““The blood of the martyrs
is the seed of the church’—‘God buries his workmen but
the work goes on.” —‘Neither counted I my life dear unto
myself.” —‘‘He that believeth in me shall never die.” This
martyrs’ arch is a great inspiration for the thousands of
students who daily pass and repass it on the college campus.
It is a great prophecy of confidence in the worth and the
permanence and the triumph of the work in China.

Now in order to see the remarkable progress of Chris-
tianity in China, we must recall the religious situation in
a few words. The three principal religions of China are
Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Confucianism and
Taoism are native religions developed within the country
about five hundred years before Christ. Buddhism was
‘ntroduced from India in the first century of our era.
Many Chinese are adherents of all three religions at once.
Indeed, some temples have combined the three religions in
their ritual and ceremonies.

Confucianism is mainly a system of ethics rather than
a religion, and yet in China it is called a religion, the state
religion, and every city and town is required to have a
Confucian temple. The essence of Confucianism 1s wor-
ship of the sages, worship of ancestors, devotion to the
royal family, devotion to parents, and right social con-
duct. Some nature worship has survived in it,—reverence
for the deities of the hills and fountains is included. The
Emperor is the Son of Heaven, and he alone worships
Heaven at the temple called the Altar of Heaven in Peking
once a year. The custom was discontinued only last year.138 THE VSECREDT OF THE EASE

Confucius did not pretend to originate all this religion,
but he compiled the ancient classics and transmitted the
ancient wisdom. He has given law and order to China
and may be rightly considered one of the greatest law-
givers and teachers of the world.

Taoism is the second great religion of China. While
Confucianism is ethics, Taoism is philosophy and mys-
ticism. Taoism is supposed to be the most ancient religion
of China. It was expounded by Lao-tze, born in 604 B.C.,
about a half century before Confucius. Lao-tze means
The Old Philosopher, or The Ancient Child. It is said
that he looked old and his hair was white at his birth.
The religion that he taught is the religion of Tao, the
Way, or the Eternal Reason—the Eternal Word. It is a
religion that is a philosophy. It is spiritual and mystic.
Often it seems quite Christian in its thought and senti-
ments. For instance, he teaches to requite hatred with
goodness, the necessity of becoming like little children, of
returning to primitive simplicity and purity, the duty of
non-resistance. He seems to refer to a Unity and a
Trinity, as begetting all things. He preaches silence, rest
and peace, humility, tenderness, thrift, compassion. He
refers to God as the Eternal Reason, as the ancestor of
words and the master of deeds, and as the world’s mother,
as the great Carpenter who hews the universe. These are
only figures of speech, rather vague, but his system is
pervaded by great reverence and humility.

His best sayings are: ‘“‘Requite hatred with goodness.”
“The good I meet with goodness, the bad I also meet
with goodness.”” ‘The faithful I meet with faith, the faith-
less I also meet with faith.” But from these high ideals,
there has been a descent in China. The present religion
of Taoism is a system of superstitious and strange prac-
tices, not at all in accord with the old philosopher’s teach-
ings. The Taoist church is governed by a pope and its
priests are ignorant and mercenary.

Buddhism in China worships Buddha under an incarna-
tion called Omito Fo; as in Japan, Buddha has become aMODERN MOVEMENTS IN CHINA § 139

new avatar, Amida; and it teaches nothing of Nirvana, and
much of a happy hereafter and an expected Paradise.

Devout Chinese Buddhists in worship repeat his name
over and over for merit, as they do in Japan. The formula
is the Sanskrit “Om mani padme hum,” or its equivalent.

Christianity first came to China in the early centuries
by the Nestorian Christians. Did you know that a monu-
ment of the seventh century to these Nestorian Christians
is still standing in China? They made thousands of con-
verts but were officially repressed. ‘Their influence how-
ever in China was never wholly lost. Later Christianity
came by the Jesuit missionaries in the sixteenth century
and their churches have remained in great part.

It is most interesting to recall that the Jesuits almost
conquered China in the sixteenth century. The Manchus
were at that time a fresh strong race just come to power.
The Jesuits came with the Portuguese leaders to the
Chinese port of Macao, near Canton. The Emperor was
friendly to the Jesuits and allowed them to build a cathe-
dral in Peking near the palace. He adopted them as
tutors for his children. It looked as if Christianity had
come to China to stay. The Jesuits were broadminded
and tolerant and were making splendid progress. Many
Chinese court nobles and their families became Christian.
The Emperor was on the point of becoming a Christian.
European paintings and literature were being introduced.
In this year 1700, China almost became Christian. Then
the Pope, led on by Franciscans and Dominicans, rivals
of the astute Jesuits, made a decree that all Chinese
traditions must be abandoned by Christians, all reverence
for ancestors and Confucius must be disavowed, and the
Chinese became alarmed and thought al] Chinese institu-
tions were to be subverted. So the conservative party, the
Confucians, resisted and the Christians were expelled, and
by 1720, China had returned to its earlier religion, and the
great opportunity to make China Christian was lost.

But Protestant missions came in 1807 and progress
since then has been steady and sure. The total Protestant140 PHE SECRET OF THE EASE

Christian constituency in China to-day is 654,658 as the
China Year Book (1918) tells us. Of these 312,970 are
the actual communicants; the others are attendant and
pupils. There are now 1400 Roman Catholic missionaries
in China and about 3,000 Protestant missionaries—a mil-
lion and a half of Christians out of four hundred millions,
after one hundred years.

But remember how hard the work has been, with a
foreign and difficult language, foreign traditions and for-
eign antagonism. Recollect also that the Christian work
has been much more than adding names and numbers to
the churches. It has been an educational work with schools
and colleges, a literary work with dictionaries, grammars
and translations of the Bible and Christian literature. It
has been a medical work, with the establishment of hospi-
tals and great medical schools. It has been a social wel-
fare work with Y. M. C. A., Boy Scouts, work among
women and all reform movements. It is the work of help-
ing to make a new China.

We are not expecting that China will be converted to
Christianity by the Christian missionaries who are sent
over from America and England. That is too big a task
for them. But it is expected that these make the beginning
of the work, these are the leaders and directors. The
Chinese must really be evangelized by Chinese Christians.
These million and a half of Chinese Christians are the
leaven that must do the actual work.

We may however confidently expect, that if we furnish
leaders and directors, the work of Christianity in China will
go On increasing in extent and power until the whole nation
shall be transformed. Whatever is good in Confucianism,
Taoism and Buddhism, will be taken up and absorbed into
the larger Christianity of China.

Look finally at these contrasts to see the modern con-
ditions. We went to the old Lama Temple in Peking, as
representing one phase of ancient religion in China. It
was dirty, dilapidated and swarming with beggars. The
priests were many, but looked common and ignorant.MODERN MOVEMENTS IN CHINA 141

They were rehearsing, when we were there, for the annual
devil-dances. We went to the famous Altar of Heaven
at Peking. It was impressive but deserted. Formerly it
was used once a year; now not at all. We visited the
great Temple of Confucius. It has a service only once
a year which is a commemoration of the great sage and
philosopher. We saw the temples of Canton confiscated
by the state, and most of them being torn down or used
for other purposes. There are so many indications that
the old religions of China are passing.

Now in contrast to these evidences of dust, decay and
neglect, listen to the voice of the new China, the voice of
the coming religion of China from the lips of one of the
most gifted of the younger generation of China. Let me
give you in a few sentences the spirit of the finest Christian
spirit in China. I want you to see how up-to-date it 1s,—
how broad, vital and deeply spiritual. It sent a thrill
through me when I first read it. It was the address of
Rev. T. T. Lew, the Chinese dean of the School of The-
ology of Peking Christian University. Dr. Lew (Timothy
T. is his full name) is a leader and scholar of great vision.
He is recognized both in America and in China as one of
the greatest leaders of religious thought. I wish you might
hear this whole address from far-away China, broadcasted
from the tower of Peking University. But I can only give
you a few sentences. He says: “If our School of Theology
here at Peking can in any way serve the Christian Church
of China and the Christian Church of all the world, it
must make itself the rallying point for the prophets from
all the corners of the earth. . . . It must become an efh-
cient laboratory for the investigaters and experimenters of
Truth. Investigation carried on prayerfully, reverently
and fearlessly, unmolested by any considerations of selfish
interests, be it that of individuals or parties, untrammeled
by prescriptions of well-meant intentions but hurtful re-
sults. Investigators shall live under no shadow of worry
and anxiety. Their only fear should be their failure to
follow the light of God to Calvary.”142 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

Isn’t that a great pronouncement? Think of it as com-
ing from the heart of China!

Now listen again—‘“‘This school shall strive, first and
last, to be a strong force for genuine Christian char-
acter. . . . It shall mould its men and women to be the
true children of a loving Father, and shall teach the
Church to live in peace and harmony, to love to agree to
differ at the same time.’

What a fine thought—‘‘to love to agree to differ’”—
that provides for independence of thought and progress
in Christian experience.

And listen to this final word—‘‘This school must make
faithful experiment for the application of every truth
which is worth investigation—experiment to the point
where it can be made a part of the life of the Church, and
through the Church a part of the life of the people. The
lovers of Truth shall yet point to Peking as a place where
the cruel sceptre of conventionalities does not and cannot
hold sway. Its revelations are not merely the stories of
by-gone days, but spiritual messages of Christianity, always
enjoying perpetual youth and inexhaustible vigor.’

Did you ever hear anything more wisely or more nobly
put? I thrilled as I read these words. I almost shouted.
They are so fully what I believe, what I have been con-
tending for through many years. And here they come
from China—from a Chinaman—from the heart of China
at Peking.

On these utterances—Christian to the core, splendidly
prophetic in their divine prophecy, I rest my case for
China. The leaven of the gospel of Christ is working—
the whole nation is being transformed.

Surely you see and feel that a new China is arising,
that a new day is dawning! May we each one have some
share in the coming triumph of the Kingdom of God in
China, and in the whole world!SOME CONVERSATIONS IN CHINA

steamer, plying between Canton and MHongkong,

where the river bandits had done so much damage.
He was Dr. Sun Yat Sen’s treasurer, called officially the
finance commissioner of the city of Canton, and responsible
directly and only to Sun Yat Sen’s son, who is mayor of
the city of which Dr. Sun is the dictator. I talked with
him for a couple of hours. The spirit of youth is in China
as well as the wisdom of antiquity, and this conversation
and the two or three others that I shall relate will help
to sum up the situation in China and also represent the
modern spirit in the new republic. These were all men of
affairs with whom I talked, from different nationalities
and points of view.

Dr. Sun Yat Sen’s treasurer, for instance, was Mr.
Chan Fei Woon, the finance commissioner or city treasurer
of Canton. He is an educated Chinaman of pleasant per-
sonality and good English speech. He told me such items
as these: “What the young generation is reading is not
much fiction but solid books. And yet they amuse them-
selves at the movies; I think that the very latest sug-
gestions for banditry are found there in American films.
I have difficulty in finding honest helpers in my financial
work. The practice of squeeze, which you call graft, is so
prevalent. It used to be that Chinese were honest, for
all the family watched the individual. Honesty was the
honor of the family. Now western ideals have come in
and been accepted,—individual responsibility. The family
is no more concerned and therefore there is less honesty.
Temptations to graft come to me every day. Offers of a
house or automobile if I will do thus and so. Most of
the city taxes are paid through my office and some direct

143

iE was at night that I met him on a Pearl River144 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

through the police. I am trying to make a clean, honest
record. I am a Christian, and a director of the Y. M.C. A.
[ was educated in Peking and was formerly teacher in
mission schools at Amoy and elsewhere There is no de-
partment of finance and economy in any Chinese college
that I know of. One has to go to America or England to
study these, yet China needs them badly. What America
can do for China is to pray for the Christian workers here.
It is a big task and often discouraging. Things look very
dark just now. Sustain the Christian workers by your
sympathy and substantial support. They are doing a great
work. It is the needed hour here, and will tell for the
future. China will work out her problems, but it will need
the fullest help from all Christian forces.”’

This morning I had a long talk with a prominent
Christian worker at Hongkong. He told me that he
thought the idolatry of China was decreasing, but there
was much superstition. Ancestor-worship was the great
thing with all Chinese,—and not so much because they
reverenced their ancestors, but because they were afraid
of what the spirits of their ancestors would do to them,
if they refused to follow custom. They all lived in con-
stant fear of spirits. He told me that the new method of
reading—teaching a thousand chief characters in three
months to those who had not learned to read—was being
enthusiastically followed in many sections and was produc-
ing an army of readers. This was not phonetic reading
but a thousand chief characters of the Mandarin. His
judgment was that Dr. Sun Yat Sen was not sincere, but
a self-seeker. He was not working for the people, so much
as for himself. Dr. Sun was one who thought his way was
the only way to save China. This gentleman was a great
admirer of General Feng. He believed that he was a true
Christian and had a real Christian army and was doing
much for China. Conditions were bad in China, he said,
but there is no reason for discouragement. The Chinese
are a great people and will work out their problems slowly.

At Peking, we met some American friends, connectedSOME CONVERSATIONS IN CHINA § 145

with the North China Language School which teaches
Chinese language to foreigners, especially to missionaries
and medical people, and also gives them the Chinese back-
ground of history and customs. It is a very flourishing
institution. They said that they felt the Republic had
come to stay, with no possibility of monarchy returning,
but in religion, the Chinese were still groping, feeling after
a religion that might satisfy them. The Chinese, they
said, were not strong on the old religions and they were
still looking at Christianity, but not yet convinced.

Another day I talked for a long time with a Y. M.C. A.
Secretary in Canton. He had been in China thirteen years.
Such things as these were very interesting to me, as he
told me: “There are 10,000 Christian Chinese in Canton,
in perhaps twenty churches. Nearly all the heathen
temples of Canton, Confucian and Buddhist, at least about
thirty or forty of them were sold as national property,—
‘not doing any particular good,’ the officials said,—and the
buildings were torn down after the Republic came. This
was done for government revenue,—especially to pay sol-
diers. The Chinese of Canton, he said, are practically with-
out Chinese religion at present. Outside of the ten per cent
Christian, the ninety per cent are nothing. There is no pub-
lic heathen worship and little interest in religion, except for
weddings, funerals and the annual celebration day for Con-
fucius. The young people, he said, are not reading the
ancient Confucian classics, except as they have selections
in the schools. They read Carl Marx, the socialist, Wil-
liam James, the psychologist, Bertrand Russell and Prof.
Dewey, Dickens and R. L. Stevenson, and Ibsen’s plays.”’
“Dr. Sun Yat Sen is a very brave man,” he said. ‘I know
him well. But many think he is a bit visionary and im-
practical. He wants the United States to withdraw recog-
nition from Peking and let China settle its own problems.
He alone has the solution, so he thinks. Dr. Sun’s son is
now mayor of Canton. He was educated at Berkeley,
California. Dr. Sun’s position—what he says he is fight-
ing for—is a real representative government for China146 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

which he contends they are not giving at Peking. Our
American Ambassador, Dr. Jacob G. Shurman, former
president of Cornell, has been down to Canton recently to
talk matters over with Dr. Sun, but they do not seem to
agree. Dr. Sun thinks that we have no definite and help-
ful American policy in China. “Dr. Sun is no doubt a
patriot and a bright man,” he continued. “He makes an
eloquent speech in either Chinese or English. But his
views are not yet entirely acceptable either to China at
Peking, or to America at Washington.”

The relations between the Chinese and Japanese, this
gentleman told me, are now better. The Chinese are
proud. ‘They hate to be patronized. Japan tried to
patronize, and they resented it. A new feeling has de-
veloped since the earthquake. Japan is more conciliatory
and the Chinese are disposed to meet them half-way.

General Feng, he said, is a fine character. “I know him
well. I have spent some time with his army. He 1s a
rough and ready. When I first met him in his tent, he
had a paper basket of pears in his hand. ‘Have a pear?’
he said to me. No ceremony, just free and easy.. After
one of my addresses, he led in prayer. It was a simple
and most earnest prayer, asking for strength and courage
to meet the big problems. Somehow unwise friends of
Dr. Sun keep him away from General Feng. Yet they
ought to cooperate.”

One college professor with whom I spent a day told
me much of the work of the Canton Christian College and
this was also confirmed and enlarged by visits of many of
our party to the college. This wonderful college is a splen-
did institution doing fine work. These Cantonese are
bright and efficient and make fine students. They will be
among the future leaders in China. This college is the
united work of several missions. Its special departments
are recognized by the government which contributes $185-
000 a year to it. It conducts most successful experiments
in silk-culture and in agriculture. Its graduates take high
places of influence in many lines of public service.SOME CONVERSATIONS IN CHINA 147

This scholar believes the Republic is here to stay,—
and that there is no further chance for monarchy. He
believes that heathen religions are dying all over China
and that Christianity ought to be brought to the people
more fully than ever. They are ripe for it. He knows Dr.
Sun Yat Sen well. He is a friend of his, but he feels he
is often misguided and used by his friends.

We learned that the Canton Christian churches are
self-supporting. The Y. M. C. A. work is self-supporting.
‘““‘We are teaching them to give. Our Y. M. C. A. budget
is $66,000 a year in Canton and we raise it among the
Chinese. The various Christian denominational churches
are now making little of demoninations. Individually they
still owe allegiance to their own denomination and the par-
ticular churches at home, but in China they are united.
This is a hint to the home churches.”’

An American business man who had been there seven
years told me that he knew Dr. Sun Yat Sen, believed him
sincere, but misguided; believed that he did not personally
profit by his intrigues and was still comparatively a poor
man. He said however, that the followers of Dr. Sun were
unscrupulous and rapacious and used him as a tool. “Dr.
Sun is the best-advertised Chinaman in the world to-day
and he has a great hold on the foreign Chinese in America
and elsewhere. He is largely supported by the laundries
of America. They all contribute to support Dr. Sun and
his revolution. Otherwise his cause would quickly fail.
It is like the Irish Revolution, kept up by gifts from the
Irish in America. Dr. Sun is not the president or ruler of
South China. He has influence only in Canton and two
provinces. That is waning, and no influence in the other
provinces. The military governors are the real power.
Only troops count here. This revolutionary disorder will
soon wear itself out. China can stand much of this and
still live.”

There is no possibility of monarchy returning,—so all
agree with whom I talked. Idolatry is on the decline. It
is absolutely dead in Canton,—but revived in some sec-148 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

tions of China through propaganda. ‘China’s problems
are constantly complicated by the intrigue of Russia, Great
Britain, Japan and the United States. The Soviet is in
great favor in Canton. The labor unions almost control
the situation in Canton. ‘There are fifty-two unions of all
branches and these are federated. They are not merely
industrial but political.’”’ So one in China told me.

“Once all were behind Dr. Sun, but he has lost his in-
fluence. Dr. Sun does not control the situation in Canton,
but the military governor is in charge of affairs and the
labor unions are dominant.”WITH GENERAL LEONARD WOOD IN THE
PHILIPPINES

A SKETCH

O-DAY I presented a special letter of introduc-
tion to General Leonard Wood, Governor of the
Philippines, and had a very interesting interview
with him at the Governor’s residence. We were received
by a Filipino secretary, and then passed on to the Goy-
ernor’s private secretary, a very courteous American. The
reception rooms were beautiful and in fine taste,—high
panelling in dark oak,—the whole setting worthy of an
American Governor. The views from the windows looked
out upon beautiful gardens. It was a smaller White
House, and yet very different. The Governor’s mansion
was apparently an old Spanish residence, but these recep-
tion rooms and offices were new and very elegant.

We waited only a few minutes when the private secre-
tary, after presenting my letter, returned and said the
Governor would receive us. He was very cordial and
affable. I introduced my friends. I mentioned also my
connections with the University of Pennsylvania, to whose
presidency he had been called, and recalled some special
friends whom we had in common. He responded most
happily. iad

Among other things he said: “I believe the Filipinos
are appreciating what we have done for them. And in
spite of recent conditions and criticisms, it is remarkable
that 1 have not received one anonymous letter. That
speaks well for them. I have a difficult job here. ‘It
would be much more to my liking to be at the University
of Pennsylvania among scholars and congenial friends, but
I feel that this work is absolutely necessary and I am try-

ing to do my best. ‘i150 THE SECRET OF THE EAS.

“Just how soon the independence of the Philippines
may come, none of us in the administration can say def-
initely. It depends on conditions. The Filipinos have
many admirable traits, but in a few things they have much
to learn, before we can set them adrift. The job must be
done now. We cannot leave it and return in twenty or
thirty years to take it up again. It must be done now.
When we leave the Philippines, we leave them for good.

“Possibly it may come earlier, but most of us think,—
and President Coolidge in his last message agrees,—that
it may need another generation, when both parents and
children can talk English, and are thoroughly imbued with
American ideals;—before our special work is accom-
plished.”

I asked whether he had time to think of China these
days. He said, ‘“‘Yes, I keep my eye on China and have
been there in recent days. They are in a bad way in
China. It will possibly take many years before they solve
their problems. As it is now, it is an exhibition of a great
people going along, attending to business but with scarcely
any government at all. China needs a strong statesman
to solve their problems—some unique personality—to
unite them and stir their imagination. Dr. Sun can never
help them anymore. He is merely an enthusiastic dreamer,
—not a practical politician or statesman.”

He reverted again to the Philippine question. “I hope
that you will tell your American friends that I feel that
things are going all right here. But we must stick stead-
fastly to the job and do our level best. It is well worth
doing. We are here purely for the benefit of the Filipinos.
The islands are of no advantage to us, in peace or in war.
They are difficult to defend, being so far from America.
But we have undertaken the job and we cannot back down,
or out, until it is honorably and efficiently finished.”

General Wood has a fine, strong face. He speaks in
a way that immediately gives the impression of sincerity
and thorough common-sense. He is a scholar and a gentle-
man, as well as a soldier and statesman. He has been hereGENERAL WOOD IN THE PHILIPPINES 151

before, for five or six years in a previous administration.
He has been here two years or more in this present term.

We mentioned that we had followed his work for
years with great interest; we had favored him for the
presidential nomination, and we would like to do so again.
He smiled pleasantly and thanked us, but said—‘‘My job
is just here!”

General Leonard Wood is a great American, and tie
Filipinos, even those now contending against him in his
administration, will live to thank him for his splendid ser-
vices for them. He is surely the cleanest, the most efh-
cient, the wisest Governor they have ever had in the Island.

Another interview the same day took place in a beauti-
ful Filipino home,—that of an eminent Filipino lawyer
and statesman. His wife is a most charming Filipino lady,
the president of the federation of women’s clubs, an elo-
quent talker with a perfect command of English. She
lived in Washington for several years. She said: “I think
the administration is making a mistake in not telling us
definitely when independence will come. Ten or fifteen
years would be a reasonable period. We would have some-
thing definite to work for and towards. We do not like
the indefiniteness of ‘a generation or two.’ We have
enough capable and educated leaders to run the govern-
ment. America has showed us how. We might make a
few mistakes. But we would have our liberty which we
love. We do not fear Japan. The Spaniards never really
conquered us,—nor could Japan. Our islands are not de-
fended now in any really efficient way. They are too far
away from America for that,—a month or even twenty
days,—and see how much could happen in that time. We
appreciate all that America has done. We will never
rebel, no matter how long our tutelage may endure. But
we do think that we are ready for our liberty and are en-
titled to it.”

This Filipino lady presented her views clearly and
cogently. She is a gifted woman with a fine brain, a warm
heart and an eloquent tongue. I doubt if any man could152 tHE SECRET OP THE, BASE

have done the task better. But nevertheless, we felt that
she had not fully learned the lessons of history. These
islands have been and are a longed-for prize for Japan,
as they had been for Spain and others. Japan would not
perhaps risk a war with the United States by seizing them,
yet she would find some excuse, if they were left to them-
selves.

We felt that General Wood had the wiser position.
The United States must stay until the task is done hon-
orably and efficiently. The Philippines do not exist for
themselves, but will be, if we do our duty, an object lesson
in American liberty and American methods in the Far
East. It is a strategic experiment we are conducting there,
for the benefit of the Philippines and the benefit of the
whole East. Even when we withdraw, we cannot do it
without the announcement to the world of our paramount
interest in the Philippines, and that any other nation who
shall molest or attack them, or seek to appropriate or ex-
ploit them, shall also be held answerable to the United
States.SUNSETS IN JAVA

A SKETCH

HAT wonderful sunsets we saw on our long

journey! I remember a gorgeous sunset as we

came out of Havana harbor, steaming past
Morro Castle; another at Hawaii that was wonderful;
still another,—many others—on the mid-Pacific; one in
Japan with Fuji-yama in the sunset glow; some far up in
China; one in Manilla; some near the Equator; one in
India with the Taj Mahal as a background; some on the
Red Sea, and some along the Nile in Egypt with camels
silhouetted against the sun. But one in Java struck me
as so remarkable that I jotted down a description of it
within an hour after we saw it.

The evening that we left Java, we had a most gorgeous
and glorious sunset. The Divine Artist was in most bril-
liant mood, and his brush flowed with reds and golds, on
backgrounds of dull and translucent blues. The design
was a marvellous array of cloudland palaces and temples
__all the radiant glories that legend ascribes to the palaces
of Kublai Khan. Flowing banners streamed from the tur-
rets, the casements were full of light, golden stairways
and balconies were in the lower stories, and great portals
opened upon interiors richly lighted up with ruddy light.
Behind all these gorgeous structures,—a new Valhalla of
the skies,;—the sun was setting.

The structures seemed to stretch out along the whole
wide horizon on the west and far to the south and the
north. They seemed to be built tier on tier. At times
they resembled the mighty temple roofs of Peking,—broad,
curved, and colossal. At times great domes and mystic
pagodas would arise. For the sky was constantly chang-
ing. Far above these flamed a cloud like a comet across

153154 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

the sky. And far off east, sea-clouds of soft magenta
floated in the heavens. It was a real tropical sunset,—
such as can be seen nowhere else in such weird riot of forms
and color. It was a sunset to stir the imagination, to en-
thrall the fancy, to inspire the spirit. It was such a sun-
set as made me whisper—‘‘Would that all the world might
behold such glory!”

Sometimes it seemed to me the blazing colorings and
the gigantic structures of the Grand Canyon of the Ari-
zona were done into sky forms. At times one might imag-
ine he saw the massive forms of the Pyramids and the
Sphinx of old Egypt.

If such a tropical sunset as this which we saw at Java
could be painted in its glory by any human artist, it would
make his immortal fame. Such a sunset, caught upon can-
vas, would make glory enough for any of the world’s great
galleries. It would be more mystical and poetical than any
painting in which the famous Turner has ever portrayed
Venice, or the fighting Temeraire as it is led out to its
grave. But would anyone believe it, if it were painted?
Would people not say: “Exaggeration! That is too bril-
liant and gorgeous. That is imagination. Nature never did
anything so wonderful as that!”

The sun went down in a blaze of glory. It was an
equatorial sunset—such as gives a feeling of solemnity and
awe to the most unpoetical soul. And after the sunset
came the wonderful stillness of twilight, the silvery moon
in the heavens, and the Southern Cross. And on the water
the flashes of phosphorescence, and as a grand finale, vivid
flashes of lightning in the great dark clouds that arose
across our wake. Nothing in Java is so glorious as her
sunsets.

How swiftly and silently the miraculous artistry is
wrought! If you were invited to see the great Raphael
at work in his studio, or Rubens, or Rembrandt, or any
other master artist, would you not go? Would you not
consider it a great and priceless privilege? And yet here
is the Divine Artist at work on the great canvas of theSUNSETS IN JAVA 155

sunset sky with colors beyond human dreams—purples,
golds, reds, flowing, streaming in marvellous profusions—
and there are some who will not look, who cannot take
their eyes off their latest novel or their game of cards, to
see the miracle of the painting of a sunset by the Divine

Hand of the Supreme Artist of the World.THE GLORY OF THE GOLDEN PAGODA

A SKETCH

V{ xe have the first glimpse of it from far down the

river,—a slim golden cone tapering into a thin

spire. It is on a hill towering above the trees and
far above Rangoon. You have other glimpses of it as you
ride through the city. The finest view perhaps is from
the Royal Lakes, looking across the water. This is espe-
cially beautiful just at twilight when the golden outlines
can be clearly seen, illuminated by the thousands of elec-
tric lights on the Pagoda,—tiers upon tiers of lights.
Later in the evening darkness, the cone itself is lost in the
night and all that is left are the circles of light, growing
smaller and smaller as they go upward.

But your most wonderful glimpses will be, if they are
like ours, on a moonlight night. We took off our shoes
and stockings at the south entrance,—there are four en-
trances, north, south, east and west,—and we began to
climb as real pilgrims.

You walk up first into a gallery of booths or shops,
where they are selling candles, flowers, rice and cakes for
offerings, gongs and bells, gold-leaf, sweetmeats for the
children, playthings, images of Buddha, strings of sandal-
wood beads and other articles. These booths are on the
upward stairway, lighted by candles and by electric light.
Men, women and children attend them. Often the whole
family lives there, day and night. The brown babies are
usually naked, with a string of beads around the neck.
They are pretty children.

For ten minutes or more you walk upward through the
booths, as through the stalls of a market. Many framed
pictures of Buddha are hanging in the stalls,—some for
devotion, some for sale. Now and then you see a woman

156THE GLORY OF THE, GOLDEN PAGODAG  r57,

kneeling, saying her prayers, and holding up a vase of
flowers before an image in devotion. Here and there sits
a beggar or holy man, solemn, emaciated, vacant-looking,
clean-shaven, both of hair and beard.

Then, still flanked by the booths, you begin the further
ascent to the Pagoda by great ancient stone steps. There
must be several hundred of them, broken by a platform
here and there for resting, and I remember passing a great
moat near the beginning that seemd to encircle the Pagoda.
All this gallery of booths is covered by a teak-wood roof,
and the sides are open now and then, so that you see the
full moon through the openings as you go up and come
down that night.

It takes you perhaps ten minutes more of strenuous
climbing,—almost like going up the steps of the Pyra-
mids,—although these steps were not quite so large,—be-
fore you reach the Pagoda. Then from the semi-darkness
of this gallery, you come suddenly out into the glory of the
blazing spire, towering high above you. Around are thou-
sands of lesser pagodas and shrines, many of them lighted.
You hear the sounds of the chanting of prayers and above
all, as you stand there, you hear the soft tinkling of in-
numerable wind-bells that are hung high upon the great
Pagoda everywhere, and on all the lesser pagodas and high
roofs of the spires. As the wind blows, a most beautiful
soft music drops from these invisible bells, as if from the
far-off skies.

The main Pagoda is very ancient in its foundations,
dating from prehistoric times but has been rebuilt and
improved from century to century. Around this main
Pagoda, you will see a perfect forest of smaller pagodas,
temples and shrines. What would you say to four thou-
sand of these, built through the ages by noble and wealthy
families as gifts to Buddha,—as thanks-offerings, as propi-
tiation for sins, or to memorialize the family and to bear
witness to their devotion to Buddha?

The images of Buddha are innumerable, probably num-
bering ten thousand. You will notice that they are all158 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

images of Buddha himself. You will not see images of his
disciples, or the boddhisattvas or Kwannon, or other
strange forms. But everywhere just Buddha,—in gold, in
alabaster, in brass, in marble, in wood, in plaster. Some of
them are much more pleasing in countenance than others.

Our guide was careful to tell us—‘‘These are not real
Buddhas, — only make-believe Buddhas,—only images.
The real Buddha is not here,—he is in Nirvana, Heaven.”
Once he showed us in a certain shrine a colossal footprint
of Buddha in marble, brought from Ceylon. The foot-
print was about three feet long. ‘The real Buddha,” he
said, “was a big man, bigger than any living: man. He was
an immense giant in Colombo in Ceylon.” This is the
common idea. He must be great in stature, because he
was great in spirit. So his tooth in Ceylon, preserved at
Kandy, is an enormous tooth.

‘Where did you learn your English?’ we asked our
guide. “At St. John’s College,—English college.” But
he is now earning his livelihood as a guide at the great
Buddha temple. Whether he is Christian or Buddhist, he
does not say.

You may wander around in the moonlight, starlight
and electric light, as we did, and it all seems very pictur-
esque and mysterious. sista is the best time for viewing
the Golden Pagoda. The views are softened. The garish-
ness of daylight is gone. Everything is under a strange
witchery in the moonlight.

As you go into one shrine to see the reclining Buddha,
you have to step—at least we did—between the reclining
forms of two or three children and their parents sleeping
on the steps. They may rest here all night if they care
to. The Pagoda is open day and night for all. It never
closes. Its hospitality and its four gates are always open
in welcome.

A great wishing-bell hangs in one of the shrines. It
weighs forty tons. You may make your wish, strike the
bell three times with a great horn of an elk and your wish
is supposed to come true. Now and then two or threeTHE GLORY OF THE GOLDEN PAGODA 159

Buddhist monks with shaven heads and saffron robes will
pass you. You may listen as this pilgrim kneels and says
his prayers in a loud sing-song voice, folding his hands
and bowing often. You may watch a family of six kneel-
ing together before a shrine in the moonlight, the smallest
bowing and praying as the others.

You may walk through a shrine even though a dozen
people are at their devotions in it. They continue right
on, looking at you, but droning away, the priest striking
his triangular hanging gong from time to time to call the
attention of the deity to the worshippers.

Some of the old saints that we saw were so thin that
another breadth of wind might blow them entirely away.

You may see, as you go down by the booths again, that
some of the families are eating an evening meal, a stew in
a bowl, of which they all partake. You may see a group
of two or three Chinese girls come along and go to the
Chinese shrine of Buddha. It is a beautiful temple with
all the finest marks of Chinese workmanship and carvings.

You will notice that Buddhism in Rangoon is still much
alive. Old shrines are being repaired; new and very costly
ones are being constantly built, as we saw. The marble
pavements around the Pagoda are fairly clean, although
once we nearly stepped on a green lizard that quickly
glided away. There are many styles of roofs and carvings
to these’ smaller pagodas,—India, China, Japan, Burma,
each is characteristic in its architecture. But the main
Pagoda is like nothing else on earth,—a massive and lofty
monument, standing above sea level, almost as high as the
shaft of the Washington Monument—absolutely simple
in its lines, sublime in its simplicity and surmounted at the
peak by a diamond almost as big as the Kohinoor. This
Golden Pagoda is well called “the colossal gilded and
jewelled monument of the gorgeous East” and it is the
most famous and most splendid place of Buddhist worship
in Burma, if not in the world. Many of us would compare
it with the temples at Nikko, but for artistic beauty and
dignity, we might prefer Nikko.160 THE SECRET OF THE Bast

The Shwe Dagon Pagoda, as this is called, represents
however, better than Nikko, the golden atmosphere of this
southern land, the overflowing abundance of Nature here,
the varied phases of belief in Burma. It represents the
splendor, the opulence, the optimism of the Buddhist faith
among this people.

Think what countless footsteps have plodded up these
steps for all the centuries of its existence. Think what
earnest prayers have been offered at these shrines. Some
one has said that the Burmese have taken Buddha and his
worship as their chief pleasure and pastime. It is true
that they are a light-hearted, cheerful people. Thus it
may be in festival time when the throngs of joyous wor-
shipers swarm up the stairways and kneel at every shrine.
But what I have seen both at night and in daytime has
convinced me that not merely festival seasons, but the daily
worship is as fervent, as serious, as intensely earnest as
any that I have ever seen in Christian churches. I saw
men and women kneel and pray whom I could believe had
real devotion and were carrying spiritual burdens on their
souls. I could feel it in the tones of their voices. The
very stones are worn smooth by the multitude of devout
pilgrims through the ages from every quarter of Asia.
One suggests that on high days the gaily-clad natives, as-
cending and descending on this stairway up to the Pagoda,
remind one of the radiant company that the Old Testa-
ment seer beheld, ascending and descending the ladder of
his dreams.

Whether the shrines are temples or pagodas, they all
seem to be aspiring, mounting toward Heaven. The roofs
of these temples are tall structures, intricate and delicate
as lace, almost fairy-like in their exquisite carvings. They
are mostly brown carved teak-wood, or are gilded with
bright gold. Are the temples unduly crowded together in
this sacred space? It does seem like a tropical garden,
luxuriant in its abundance. It is a riot of devotion, an ex-
uberance of faith.

And you may remember, as you loiter here among theseTHE GEORY OF THE GOLDEN PAGODA: 161

shrines that the religion which this Pagoda symbolizes,
to-day numbers more adherents than any other religion on
earth. Is it not remarkable? Buddha was a mere man,—he
made no other claims for himself,—his religion was one of
renunciation and severe discipline. But he had a heart—
a heart of wonderful tenderness and compassion. His
spirit of brotherhood and kindness, more than his meta-
physical teachings or his obtruse philosophy,—in fact, in
spite of them,—has touched the peoples of the East. And
the gentle and kindly-hearted Buddha is to them the symbol
and witness of a great love.

The throngs of worshippers do not realize for a
moment that they are not following the explicit teachings
of Buddha. Buddha protested against idolatry. If they
truly followed him, there would be no images to be wor-
shipped at Rangoon. This whole array of shrines and shin-
ing idols, as Sir Frederick Treves has suggested, would be
swept away. Buddha never taught prayer in his religion.
Yet here the place is full of earnest prayer. Buddha never
spoke of God. Yet, here, contrary to his wishes, they
have deified Buddha himself. Buddha never portrayed the
future. To him, the future Nirvana was a vague and
dreamless sleep, absorption in the universal essence. But
these worshippers of to-day dream of a Buddist Heaven
to enjoy.

What can it mean? Only this—Buddha was the inspi-
ration of a loving spirit,—they followed him so far—but
after that, they followed the instincts of their hearts, which
needed a God, which needed prayer, which needed Heaven.
This Pagoda is a striking witness to the cravings and
demands of the human heart.

Some have called this Golden Pagoda the most magnih-
cent temple structure in all Asia, for it is a quarter of a mile
in circumference and it is higher than St. Paul’s in London.
In the central part is a great Bo-tree, growing up with a
temple shrine around it. It is said to be a slip from the
original Bo-tree of Buddha. And all around the temple
inclosure of shrines are great towering trees, some of them162 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

a hundred feet high, and many of them palm trees or
cypresses. The full moon seen through the stately palm
trees makes an unforgetable picture. Everything is en-
riched and mellowed by the moonlight. Perhaps you will
wonder as you loiter here if Buddhism is not a moonlight
religion,—fascinating and mysterious, a religion of pathos
and beauty. But not to be compared with the religion of
power and service, the religion of daylight sunshine,—the
religion of Him who is the true Light of the World.THE EARLY RELIGION OF INDIA

the religious history of India. It begins in the dawn

of history, as the religion of the Vedas, and presents
a noble picture of patriarchal simplicity. This is the
background. It has a remarkable moral code, which grew
up later—the code of Manu—which is the background of
morality in India. Then came a long period of the growth
of priestcraft, and the rise of Brahmanism and its priestly
assumptions. Into this Brahmanism came the rude inter-
ruptions of Buddha, a spiritual reformer. His religious em-
phasis and interpretations for a thousand years became the
dominant religion. Finally this Buddhism was smothered
in compromise with ancient heresies and practices, and
there arose modern Hinduism which has been the religion
of India for the last fifteen hundred years.

Do we find to-day in India any evidences of the early
religion of the Vedas? The evidences are still preserved
in the early religious literature. The books of the Vedas
are still existent. The code of Manu is also extant, as
well as the philosophy of the Upanishads. These are writ-
ten in the ancient Sanskrit, but excellent translations are
now available in the Sacred Books of the East, translated
by Max Miiller and others. We find some fragments of
the ancient ritual and teachings incorporated in modern
Hinduism, although largely smothered in later and lower
teachings. We find however groups in India who revert
to the Vedas and the Vedanta philosophy as the primitive
source of all religion, and proclaim that here they have
found a world-philosophy and religion. If we would under-
stand India, therefore, and the beginnings of religion there,
we must resurrect this history of early religion in India.
It is an ideal picture—a golden age,—so beautiful that
some critics wonder whether we have the full facts.

163

I T is a fascinating and yet a tragic story,—the story of164. THE SECRET OF THE EASE

It is now generally accepted by scholars that the origi-
nal Aryan race from which the present people of India
have descended, originated not in the high tableland of
Asia, but rather in the great plains north of the Black Sea,
the Caspian, and not far from the traditional site of Mount
Ararat. Long before the dawn of history, this Aryan
people began to wander, taking with them their primitive
rudimentary religion and customs. Some went southward
to India and Persia, and here we get the religious revela-
tion of the Vedas and of the Zend Avesta; while others
went westward and from them we have the religions of
the Slav, the Celt and the Norseman and also the religions
of Greece and Rome. All these are essentially Aryan, not
only in the kinship of language roots and forms, but also
in religious roots and forms, although the different devel-
opments show marked changes.

We may bear in mind that this Aryan group of reli-
gions,—the religions of India, Persia, Greek, Roman, and
the northern races of Europe—is quite different from the
Semitic group which originated in Arabia, and which later
by dispersion and development brought forth the religions
of the Arabs, the Hebrews, the Canaanites and Phenicians,
the Syrians, the Babylonians and the Assyrians, and in a
remote way, the Egyptians. And besides these two great
groups, there is the still different third group, seemingly
independent, possibly more ancient, that includes the early
religion of China, and the religions of the Aztecs and the
Incas.

It is not our purpose at present to study the lines of
cleavage in these great religious groups. We may merely
say that in their primitive types the Aryan religions from
which came the religion of India present more of nature-
worship, personification of the great elements, whereas
the Semitic gods from which came the Jewish and Christian
religions are rather personifications of human relations,
as of a lord or king. The Aryan religions are more poetic
and philosophic; the Semitic religions are more ethical and
practical. The Semitic religions are usually local, tribal,THE EARLY RELIGION OF INDIA 165

and national; the Aryan religions are more fluid, idealistic,
and universal. But in their developments these differences
are often lost.

Scholars consider it settled that whenever and however
the hymns of the Vedas were originally composed,—some
put the earliest at 2000 B.C. and the latest 700 B.C.,— they
were not written down, compiled and edited until a later
day. For many generations they were transmitted orally
from lip to lip and from heart to heart. The education of
the priests and the few cultured was devoted for their first
twelve years to memorizing these hymns.

Veda means simply “knowledge.” Prof. G. F. Moore
and other scholars hold that the same root appears in the
Greek oida, to know, and in our English, wit, to know.
Some have also seen kinship of the Sanskrit Veda with the
Norse Edda. Max Miler divides the literature of the
Vedas into four periods. The first is the Chandas period
containing the oldest hymns, the Rig-Veda. The second
is the Mantras, to which belongs the later hymns. The
third, the Brahmanas, are largely theology. The fourth
period, the Sutras, are the distilled essence of doctrines in
sentences. The Upanishads are older than the Sutras, and
are expositions of Vedic philosophy. We may say, in brief,
that the Rig-Vedas comprises hymns of worship; the Upani-
shads, philosophic poems.

Of all these, we shall quote mostly from the oldest
and most important, the Rig-Veda. ‘This collection con-
sists of the books comprising a thousand and twenty-eight
hymns. Our Hebrew psalter contains one hundred and fifty
psalms. Some of these hymns of the Rig-Veda are primi-
tive poetry, others later and more artificial. Some are
labored and dull. Many of them seem to be composed
“by priestly poets for princely patrons.” Some are cryptic
and enigmatic. But there are among them noble hymns
which are real psalms of devotion,—full of genuine poetry,
deep feeling, and lofty religious thought and aspirations.

Were these people worshiping God? I think we must
say that they worshiped the only God they knew. We must166 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

remember, as far as possible, in these hymns and prayers
with foreign names for God, that whatever names they
used,—be it Indra, Agni, Soma, Varuna, Brahma,—what-
ever they meant was God,—their best thought and con-
ception of God. So accommodated and domesticated to our
thought, many of these great devotional hymns and prayers
will then be felt to belong to us all, just as truly as the
prophecies of Isaiah or the psalms of David.

What was this earliest worship of India,—this religion
of the Vedas? The picture of religious rites and ritual
that these early hymns of the Vedas give is very patri-
archal and simple. A favorable spot was chosen—not a
holy place necessarily—the fire was lighted at sunrise, newly
cut grass was arranged in a circle for the place of the gods.
There was no priest but the father of the household; his
sons were his assistants; the family and household were
the congregation.

As the fire was lighted, a hymn was chanted by the father
and his sons. And a simple meal,—cakes, rice, butter and
milk—was partaken of by all, in which the gods were asked
to share, and for them there was a pouring out of a dish of
clarified butter and a sprinkling of Soma juice.

This was all,—ordinarily no altar, no other ritual or
sacrifices. Later there was animal sacrifice, but it was ex-
ceptional. The simplicity of the prayer and hymn were
sublime in the yearning of the people’s hearts and the
expression of their deepest needs.

The Rig-Veda portrays a world in which the great
forces and phenomena of nature are personified. It tells
how Ushas, the Dawn “approaches in her splendor, driving
all evil darkness far away;’ Surya, the Sun, “uprises on
the slope of heaven;” Agni, the Fire, is “bright of tooth
and golden of beard.” Vata is the wind-god; Varuna, the
sky-god; Indra, the storm-god; Soma, the god of fertility
and life.

The first prayers of this people—mostly a herdsman
people—seem to have been for their immediate human
wants, and especially for rain, which meant so much to themTHE EARLY RELIGION OF INDIA 167

in the times of long drought in India. They had bya happy
naturalness come to the intuition that the heaven above
them was a friendly power, or that there was a friendly
being who had power over the sun and the river. They
knew that unless the clouds, ‘“‘the heavenly kine,” as they
called them, for they personified everything,—would let
down their udders, the cattle on the fields below would
perish. So the prayer most frequent on their lips was
addressed to the god of the firmament for rain.

Indra was the national god, like the Jehovah of hosts
of Israel. He was the chieftain in a chariot, fighting the
people’s constant battle against heat and drought. He
is the author and preserver of life, the giver of all good
things. Fully a fourth of all the hymns in the Rig-Veda
are dedicated to him. Here is one prayer addressed to
Indra, as chief god—

The chanters extol Indra with songs.

Indra, the blender of all things, comes verily with his steeds that
are harnessed at his word; Indra, the richly decorated, the wielder of
the thunderbolt.

Indra, to render all things visible, elevated the sun in the sky, and
charged the cloud with abundant waters.

Shedder of rain, granter of all desires, set open this cloud. Thou
art never uncompliant with our requests.

The shedder of rain, the mighty lord, the always compliant, in-
vests men with his strength, as a bull defends a herd of kine.

(Rig-V eda Sanhita, Wilson, vol. i, p. 18.)

But another gift of Nature was much in their imagina-
tion,—the gift of fire represented by Agni, messenger of
the gods. Later the Romans used this same word Ignis,
fire. Fire to these Vedic people seemed to come out from
the heart of mystery. It also ascended by the path of
smoke into the mystery of the heavens, and entered the
heavenly tents. It therefore must be a messenger, a medi-
ator, between earth and heaven. So they prayed and sung:

We select Agni, the messenger, the invoker of all gods, the possessor
of riches, the perfecter of this rite.

Agni, generated by attrition, bring hither the gods to the clipt
grass; thou art invoker for us, and art to be adored.168 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

As thou dischargest the duty of messenger, arouse them desirous
of the oblation; sit down with them on the sacred grass.
Agni, the bright, the purifier! bring hither the gods to our sacri-
fice, to our oblations.
Agni, shining with pure radiance, and charged with all the invo-
cations of the other gods, be pleased with this our praise.
(Rig-V eda Sanhita, vol. i, p. 29.)

This god Agni was to them a beautiful symbol. Fire
manifested itself in so many ways. It had lain hid in the
“womb of the wood” before it came forth into the flames
of the hearth-fire. It burst forth in the flashing fire of the
lightning; it flooded the cloudless sky with light. Agni the
god of fire was without beginning and ending. It was fire
as the cosmic principle that was worshipped. Agni the god
of fire seemed a priest to consume the sacrifice and carry
it up to heaven, a welcome guest at the hearth, and a
gracious benefactor pervading all Nature with his warmth
and light.

But there was also another nature-god that originated
in a perfectly natural way. It was a transition from the
regenerating juices of Nature to a deeper spirit and life.
It came through their love for Soma, the wine or mead of
the Vedic days.

What could men offer that might be pleasing to the
gods in return for blessings? What better than that which
was so pleasing to men themselves and which seems to exalt
them, the inspiring Soma juice, the drink which is to India
as the finest wine of life.

So they sang:

Indra, let thy heavenly steeds hither bring thee, bestower of de-
sires, to drink Soma juice with us; may the priests, radiant as the
sun, make thee manifest.

We invoke Indra at the morning rite, we invoke him at the suc-
ceeding sacrifice, we invoke Indra to drink the Soma juice.

The dripping Soma juices are poured out as an oblation upon the
sacred grass; drink them, Indra, to recruit thy vigor.

May this our devout hymn touch thy heart and be grateful to thee,

and then do thou partake of our poured-out libation.
(Rig-Veda, vol. i, p. 39.)THE EARLY RELIGION OF INDIA 169

Here the idea comes out in the words—“‘to recruit thy
vigor’’—so prevalent in primitive religions—that the gods
needed the gifts of their worshippers to renew their
strength,—that men and their offerings were not mere
libations nor formal offerings, but necessities to the life
and strength of the gods. This also we find in the great
sacrifices of human life in the rites of the Aztecs of Mexico.
What to us seems cruel carnage on the altar was to their
thought the needed sacrifice for the life of the gods.

In both their sacred meals and in their sacrifice, there
was a mutual gift and reciprocation. ‘The deities were
first praised, then asked to partake with them, then pro-
pitiated and finally invoked for protection and help.

The earliest gods of the Vedas seemingly were thus
Indra, the chief god,—lord of hosts; Agni, the god of fire,
and Soma, the god of the wine; but there were also others
who shared the worship of this primitive people in their
personification of the great phenomena of Nature,—varied
manifestations of the supreme power of the Universe.

There was for instance, Rudra, the god of the storm,
who sent forth the thunders and the lightnings; Mitra, the
god of light; Dyaus, the god of the bright sky; Ushas,
the rosy dawn; Savitar, the vivifier; the Maruts, also storm
gods; Parjanya, the rain god; and Brahaman-aspati, the
lord of prayer, a personification of the art and spirit of
devotion,—a unique deity not found in any other religion.

It all seems most natural,—this seeking after a supreme
power or being, and trying to name him in his various
aspects. He was the fructifying god who sent the blessed
rains to hot and parched India; he was the beauteous god
who sent the light of the morning and the light upon their
hearths; he was the inspiring god whose spirit they knew
in the juices of the plant-life of the world. This naming
and worshipping was the elemental, instinctive expression
of their human hearts. Their daily life and needs found
these manifestations. The names and attributes of the gods
were given according to their temperaments and feelings.

They were feeling out after the heavenly, the divine170 THE SECRET: OF “THE EAST

Power above them,—veering from one attribute to an-
other. For no one function or element seemed to compass
him,—neither rain, nor fire, nor the spirit of the juices of
Nature. Sometimes their thought went out to the all-en-
compassing heavens, the great compass of the sky.

So another chief god who is devoutly invoked in the
Vedas is Varuna, whose name is akin to Ouranos, the
Greek for the still and serene heaven. These people
seemed to find their divinest symbol, not in the far-off sub-
limity, nor in the might of the storm, but in the still and
cloudless blue of the sky full of peaceful goodness and
unseen power.

Sometimes Varuna is described as the all-seeing god,
the omniscient one. He counts “‘the very winkings of the
eyelashes of men.” He hears two that whisper together,
he cares for the bird in the nest, he knows the path of
the wind, he knows the living thing inthe womb. It reminds
us of the intimate knowledge of Jehovah in the Psalm XI
which says—‘‘Before I was born, he knew me.”’ Or the
words of Job—‘‘He knew the hidden path.” Or the words
of Jesus—“The hairs of your head are all numbered.”

This great god called Varuna whose brightness and
whose warm breath drew forth all life,—‘‘who quickened
the limbs of the old, who called forth the reptile and the
beast to bask in his glory, who made delicate the humble
fern, who lifted the forest tree to its lofty height,—surely
he meant well to all life, he could not be deceived. He
knew all things, he would help the needy and all troubled
souls.”

In general, I think we may say that the Vedic hymns
give us copious illustrations of “real prayer,’ and occasion-
ally of a “very exalted tone.” It is true, “that material
and temporal advantages are by far the predominant ob-
jects of the petition: the head of the house prays for
wealth, offspring, victory in battle.’ But we also find many

instances of prayer for the community and for individuals,
especially for valiant men.

There are several things very characteristic of these
early hymns of the Vedas that are noteworthy.THE EARLY RELIGION OF INDIA = 171

The tone of childlike confidence in the higher power
or powers is very striking. There is a reverent familiarity
with the gods. To them, the gods seem friendly and kindly
—a part of their family, sharers in their life and their
daily meal. It is a beautiful simplicity and an entire absence
of fear in their thought of the gods, such fear as appears
in some debased forms of religion and which has sometimes
been conceived, even by modern philosophers, to be the
beginning of religion. Here in the childhood of the race,
there is a joyous faith in the goodness of the unseen
powers.

Here is a hymn which Max Miller entitles To the
Unknown God:

Giver of vital breath, of power and vigor, He whose commandments
all the gods acknowledge;

The Lord of death whose shade is life immortal. What God shall
we adore with our oblation?

His, through His might, are these snow-covered mountains, and
men call sea and rivers His possessions;

His arms are these, His are these heavenly regions. What God
shall we adore with our oblation?

By Him the heaven is strong, the earth is steadfast, by Him light’s
realm and sky vault are supported:

By Him the regions in mid-air were measured. What God shall
we adore with our oblation?

He is the God of Gods, and none beside Him. What God shall
we adore with our oblation?

Lord of Life! Thou only comprehendest all these created things,
and none beside ‘Thee.

(Re Ve XX 121224 oe 83 108)

What shall we say concerning such a noble hymn? Did
it spring from an untutored heart, from an uninspired soul,
or had it not also some breath of the Almighty which is
the source of all things true and excellent?

The search after God went on in India through many
centuries, through the later hymns of the Vedas and the
earlier Brahmanas. It was not until the Upanishads were
reached that rest of soul is found in Brahma, the Absolute
God, in whom are merged all gods and men and all things.172 THE SECRET OF THE EASE

Here the point of view is absolute idealism—Brahma alone
is real, all that exists is identified with him or he with all.

It must be confessed that all is not simple and naive
in the Vedas. We have chosen the clearest revelation that
is there, and some of the most beautiful prayers. There are
many more deities mentioned, besides Brahma, so many that
the list becomes confusing, for they are personifications of
all the various phases of Nature. There are portrayed
in the Vedas many goddesses, superhuman beings, heroes,
priests and seers. And while it is true that the greater
gods of the Vedas are friendly powers in which man rejoices
and confides, yet there are some exceptions, such as Rudra,
god of storms, a terrible deity, full of deadly wrath. There
are also multitudes of demons and evil spirits, which are
personifications of all the ills and diseases that flesh is heir
to. These evil powers represented in sickness and troubles
must be conquered, and in order to do it, the help of
the friendly powers must be invoked. Hence arose offer-
ings and sacrifice, and later rites of expiation and purifica-
tion—all most naturally.

Was there behind all these hymns and prayers any code
of laws or commandments to give ethical standards to life,
—such as the code of Hammurabi in Babylon and the Ten
Commandments of the Hebrews? Yes, a very wonderful
code of the ancient sages, translated by Max Miller in the
Sacred Books of the East, called the code of Manu. Much
of this was codified later, but the primitive parts of it go
back to prehistoric times. So scholars agree. Every part
of it begins with the words—‘‘Let us meditate on that
excellent glory of the divine god the vivifier. May he en-
lighten our understandings.” This prayer with the mystic
syllable, Om, originally meaning an everlasting, all-embrac-
ing Yea, as a symbol of pure being, is often repeated.

The code of Manu is very long and elaborate, cover-
ing every phase of life. It gives counsel to be sedulously
careful not to injure any living creature; it teaches the
value of meditating on the supreme soul which it contends
is present in all organisms, both the highest and lowest.THE EARLY RELIGION OF INDIA 173

It shows how one can enter even here into a state of per-
fect freedom and repose and union with the great spirit.
One of the most remarkable precepts in the code of Manu
is this:

Let him patiently bear hard words, let him not insult any one, nor
become any one’s enemy for the sake of this perishable body. Against

an angry man, let him not in return show anger; let him bless when
he is cursed.

We may also note in passing that, in the Vedas, there
are hints of a paradise where the gods are enjoying their
felicity and in which good men will share. There are trees,
beautiful foliage, eternal waters flowing, rich meadows,
all imperfections left behind, no longer any “lame of foot
or crooked of limb.’’ But besides these blessings for the
good, there are retributions for the wicked.

I think that we are justified in saying that these intuitive
revelations or discoveries of the heavenly powers of the
universe, the seekings after the Supreme Being or Power,
doubtless came only to the more thoughtful of the people
of the Vedic age. We may call them natural intuitions,
poetic personification of Nature, but were they not also a
sensing of the pervading Spirit of this universe who is not
far from any of us. But it seems clear that the lofty con-
ceptions of the Vedic age probably were the possession of
the gifted few. They scarcely reached or compassed the
lives of all the people who were ignorant and superstitious.
After this period of the Vedic hymns, the later history of
the religious life of India becomes very complex and check-
ered. We are disappointed and perplexed by it. The
primitive faith of the Vedas was later overwhelmed and
obscured by the elaborate ritual of Brahmanism and the
still later cults of Hinduism. But so far as we can see, this
noble and primitive religion of Nature in the Vedas—this
ideal Nature worship—came very near to the great truth
of God. It was the outskirtings of revelation! Indeed, it
was revelation in a partial way. It found the divine es-
sence in Nature most wonderfully, although it did not seem
to be able to rise to the greater truth of the divine in human174 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

nature. It saw the divine everywhere, but could not grasp
the fuller thought of the essential unity of the Supreme
Power. It was a sunrise faith, but it did not come to the
glory of its full noon.

The next religious development of India’s religious life
was known as Brahmanism,—the priestly ritual and the
caste system, the orders of sacrifice, the emphasis on the
mystic and mysterious,—on such teachings as maya, and
transmigration of souls—and the supremacy of the divine
power in the one great name of Brahma. Then later there
arose out of Brahmanism and as a protest against it the
new gospel of Buddha, which became the most wonderful
revelation of the religious life of India. Buddha’s doctrine
and life is full of nobility; his followers found in it a re-
markable revelation of the way of peace. But Buddhism
after 700 A.D. was exiled from India and found new life in
Ceylon, Burma, Tibet, China and Japan, until now it rules
half of Asia. Then in India arose modern Hinduism which
is a vast system, claiming to preserve the best of the ancient
days, the heir of the Vedas, but being actually a strange
mingling of idolatry and pantheism. This Hinduism is the
chief religion of India to-day.

Do we not see that in a certain way, these strange reli-
gious movements of India have their parallels in Christian-
ity. There is first the large spacious days of the law-
givers, prophets and psalmists of Israel. Then came the
priestly days of ritual and endless observance of the
Scribes and Pharisees. Finally out of it but a protest
against it, the matchless gospel of Jesus the Christ. Then
the rejection by Israel of this fuller gospel of God and
the dispersion of Israel. Other nations accepted the gos-
pel until it became the great religion of the West. At
last even that Christian religion was debased by pagan
and medieval practices, and the corruptions and supersti-
tions of the medieval church, until another great Reforma-
tion was necessary. Does not India still await its great
Reformation?THE, SECRET OF BUDDHA

tribute, was not a Mongolian of the race of China

and Japan; nor a Semite of the race of Babylonia
and Egypt and of the Jews from whom came Jesus; but
Buddha was a Caucasian, of that race which came from
the great plateau of the Caucasus. Our ancestors of that
stock—the Indo-European stock—went west into Europe;
his ancestors went east and south into India. We are
kinsmen of his,—so ethnology assures us, by the evidences
of identity in primitive language and traditions.

This is the startling fact to which the famous Professor
Rhys Davids calls our attention, “It is at least interesting
to remember,” he says, “that Gautama, the Buddha, was
the only man of our own race, the Aryan race, who can
rank as the founder of a great religion.”’ So that his reli-
gion ought to be of real interest to us. He is of closer
blood to us than Confucius or Jesus.

I was interested to find this year at Calcutta some most
remarkable relics of Buddha. They were in the Wonder-
House, or museum of the native antiquities. I had never
before heard that they were existent, never read about
them, and had never known anyone who had seen them.
They thrilled me when I discovered them. I saw there,
as you may see, the stone coffin of Buddha. It is a very
old and massive coffin which contained the ashes of Buddha.
An ancient inscription by King Asoka confirms the authen-
ticity of this coffin, and the act of burial after his crema-
tion. And I saw, as you may see, the whole story of the
life of Buddha from his birth to his death,—all the chief
scenes and epochs of his life—depicted in elaborate carv-
ings, brought together in this museum from temples and

175

B ee: to whom the Far East pays such devout176 THE SECRET OF THE sas?

tombs in various parts of India and the East. These carv-
ings, quaintly but beautifully wrought, visualize the whole
life of this Eastern seer and saint, and give a new reality
to it.

Some years ago there appeared a beautiful epic poem
by Sir Edwin Arnold called The Light of Asia which gave
a somewhat idealized picture of Buddha. Much fault was
found with it at the time by critics, because it portrayed
such an exquisite and charming character for the great
teacher of India. It was said that Sir Edwin had read
into the story much that was not actually there. Yet the
researches of the latest Oriental scholars have confirmed
in the main this beautiful picture, although Sir Edwin has
used legendary as well as authentic material. Whatever
Buddhism has become, whatever extravagances and degra-
dations have come to the religious system, whatever degen-
eration it may have undergone, the fact of the sweetness
and beauty of the life of Buddha himself has been brought
out into greater clearness by historic research.

It has been my privilege to visit many temples of
Buddha in Burma, China, and Japan. But in India, the
land of his birth, the land of his teaching, there are no
longer any temples to Buddha. His religion has been
forgotten and exiled. We find it in Ceylon, in Burma, in
Siam, in Tibet, in China and Japan, but not in India.
It is the same pathos as in the Holy Land. Buddha 1s
exiled from the land of his birth, but his name and fame
have gone into many other lands.

The story of Buddha’s life divested of extravagant
legends is as noble and beautiful a life as any outside of
the life of Christ. I love to read it as given, for in-
stance, in Oldenburg’s standard biography. It is a life
full of noble teachings and lofty inspiration. It reminds
me of the wonderful life of St. Francis of Assisi, who
was certainly one of the most Christlike of all the disci-
ples of Jesus. ;

It may help to put matters in the right relations to
think of Buddha as the Luther of his day. Buddhism 1sTHE SECRET OF BUDDHA 177

the Protestantism of the ancient Hindu religion. Before
Buddha’s time all India was steeped in Brahmanism.
Buddha was brought up in this faith. He became the great
reformer and spiritualizer of this Hindu faith. He was
the first great protestor against Brahminism; he was the first
great Protestant of India. Remember, also, that he lived
550 years before Christ, and that the canon of the sacred
books which tell the story of his life and teachings was
closed 250 years before Christ by religious councils assem-
bled by famous emperors in India. Some of these books
are in Sanskrit and Pali, and the earlier ones are practically
unchanged since that date,—250 years before Christ.

Bearing these things in mind, you will see how remark-
able his life and teachings are as I recall to you some of
the chief facts of Buddha’s life, divested as far as possible
of the many myths and legends that grew up around it.
The facts you will find in greater detail in Professor
Oldenburg’s life of Buddha, in Buddhism in Translation,
by Professor Warren of Harvard, and other authorities,
although I have much simplified and clarified the narrative
for brevity’s sake.

He was the son of a rajah, that is, a petty prince or
hereditary duke. His family name was Gautama, but
his individual name was Siddhartha,—Prince Siddhartha.
The name Buddha, by which he is now generally known,
is not a name but a title, and was given to him later by his
followers when he became a spiritual leader. Buddha means
“the Enlightened,” just as Christ means “the Annointed.”
He is often called Gautama the Buddha, as our Saviour 1s
called Jesus the Christ. The Hindu religion believed in
many Buddhas, great prophets of religion. It was not
until a certain time in his life, as he sat under the Tree, that
Gautama attained Buddhahood. But he became the great-
est of all and absorbed the name. He became of them all—
the Buddha. Buddha is also called in the sacred literature
of his followers ‘‘Bhagavat,” the fortunate or blessed One
or Lord; “Tathagata” or teacher, or one who has arrived;
“Sakya-muni” or the monk of the Sakya tribe.078 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

He was born in Kapila-vastu, a small town eighty miles
north of Benares, in the valley of the Ganges. He was
brought up in the Hindu religion and was educated as a
prince should be in all the accomplishments of his day. But
he was carefully shielded from the sight of all misery, pain
and death.

At nineteen he married and gave himself up to a life
of Oriental pleasure and luxury. Only once for ten years
now do we get a glimpse of his life, and that when a test
of prowess in manly exercises showed that Gautama was
a leader and a real chieftain.

In his twenty-ninth year he was suddenly awakened to
the fact of the awful misery of the world and his heart was
touched with new pity. He had seen a broken down old
man, and a sufferer with a loathsome disease, and a hor-
rible dead body, and he began to reflect as never before
on the meaning of life and the cause of evil and pain and
death. His days of mere ease and selfish pleasure were
gone and he had begun to be awakened in sympathy for
others and to see the stern realities of life.

His training in the Hindu religion did not help him to
solve these serious problems,—they left him as much in
the dark as ever,—and the more he meditated upon these
things the more necessary it seemed to him that he should
leave all, go into solitude, think these problems out and
gain knowledge to help all men. It is interesting to notice
that in all ages the religious teachers have seemed to feel
the need to go into the wilderness alone to meditate and
pray as a preparation for their work. So he went out, not
knowing whither he went. He went as a beggar, with a
bowl to beg his food. He went seeking for the light to be
a blessing to others.

It was a great renunciation. He left his princely rank
and wealth, he left his beautiful wife and the little son who
had just been born to him. It is a pathetic story, as the
books tell it. ‘At midnight he awoke with a mind fully
made up,”’ says the chronicle. ‘He gently opened the door
of the room where his young wife was sleeping, surroundedTHE SECRET OF BUDDHA 179

by flowers, with a loving hand on the head of their child.
He had hoped to take the babe in his arms for the last
time before he went, but now he stood for a few moments
irresolute on the threshold, looking at them. At last the
fear of awakening them prevailed and he tore himself
away and went out into the night to wander many years
as a beggar and a seeker after the truth.”

It is related how he passed through a great temptation
in the wilderness, and conquered. Nevertheless, adds the
chronicle, ‘“‘as a shadow always follows the body, so the
tempter from that day always followed Gautama, striving
to throw every obstacle in his way towards the Buddha-
hood.”

But the lot is cast, the decision is made, and now
Gautama with his sword cuts off his long, flowing locks
and sends back his ornaments and his horse to his home
to tell them that he has gone to become enlightened, or as
we would say in the language of medieval legend, to seek
the Holy Grail.

For six or seven years he gave himself up to the sever-
est penance and self-torture in the mountains. For he
thought that by conquering the body his soul would become
refined and masterful.

His fame as a holy man went abroad, says the chron-
icle, ‘like the sound of a great bell that is hung and swung
in the canopy of the skies.” But he almost starved himself
in the process of his austerities,—one day he fell to the
ground and was picked up for dead, yet his soul was un-
satisfied. He felt at last that this was not the way, so he
gave up his penance and took his regular food again. —

And now came a second great struggle. He had given
up all things for the truth, he had used all vigils and pen-
ance and yet he had not come to the truth. His old tempta-
tions came back again with new force. He began to feel
again the sweet delights of home and love, the charms of
wealth and power, and he doubted, and agonized in his
doubt. Had he given up all for nothing?

Now the place where he sat and doubted and agonized180 THE SECRET OF DHE: BASE

was under a great Bo-tree. All day he sat and meditated
and fought out his temptation, and at sunset time the re-
ligious side of his nature had won the victory, and at last
also the truth had come to him and he had become enlight-
ened, a Buddha. For seven days and seven nights he sat
and fasted and meditated under the Bo-tree, ever after-
wards called the sacred Bo-tree, or tree of Bodhi, meaning
enlightenment, and there all the great truth came out into
clearness in his soul and he learned what he called ‘“‘the
only path of peace.”

And now he went back toward Benares to proclaim
his new truth. And one who met him asked what it was
that made him so glad and yet so calm. And Gautama
answered: “I am going to the city of Benares to establish
the kingdom of righteousness, to give light to those en-
shrouded in darkness and open the gate of immortality to
men.’ His acquaintance smiled at this seeming high-flown
pretension and asked what it all meant. ‘I have conquered
all evil passions,” answered Gautama, “‘and am no longer
tied down to material existence, and I now live to be the
prophet of perfect truth.”

So in the cool of the evening he walked on to Benares
and found old friends and made disciples.

And this is the truth that he teaches them,—it is in
that first sermon at Benares, the first turning of the wheel
of the law. ‘“‘As long as unholy desires reign within a man,
he will be unsatisfied, full of longings, weariness and cares.
Mortifying the body will not purify the heart. Doing good
deeds will not avail, for the evil will still be in the heart.
The only cure is the complete eradication of all desire from
the heart. How can this be accomplished? By the four-
fold way to Nirvana. Of these four stages, called ‘the
Paths,’ the first is the awakening, through penitence and
prayer; the second, the purifying, from sensuality anid
selfishness; the third is the enlightening, the dissipating of
doubt and ignorance; and the fourth is universal charity
and perfect peace. This last is ‘Nirvana.’ Until he has
gained this last path the believer is still bound; he is notTHE SECRET OF BUDDHA 181

free; his mind is still dark; true enlightenment, true free-
dom, are complete only in Love.”

Now, this is all beautiful and excellent. It is not so
very different from the Christian processes of repentance,
regeneration, growth in grace and sanctification.

There have been great controversies over the meaning
of Nirvana, some holding that it means absorption, others
annihilation. But the best scholars now seem agreed that
it means peace of soul, a foretaste of which can be enjoyed
in this life, but its fullness only in the life to come, when
the soul is finally absorbed in the infinite Soul of the Uni-
verse. Yet there are many variations on this view.

But to go on with the story of Buddha. He remained
at the Deer-forest near Benares during the rainy season
and his followers increased to six-score. Then he called
them together and said: ‘Beloved ones, there is now laid
on us a great duty, that of working effectually for men and
angels, and gaining for them also the priceless blessing of
salvation. Let us, therefore, separate, so that no two of
us shall go the same way. Go ye now and preach the most
excellent law, explaining every point thereof, unfolding it
with diligence and care.’ So they all went forth as itinerant
preachers through the land, returning to him at the begin-
ning of the rainy season. And this became the practice for
many years. During the rainy season he would gather his
disciples around him at the Deer Park and instruct them,
and during the dry season they would all go throughout the
land preaching.

Meanwhile the old rajah, his father, learned that his
son had come again to the vicinity of his early home as an
itinerant preacher and teacher and he wanted to see him.
So he sought him out, but when he saw his son begging for
his food he was startled and said, “Why do you shame us
all? Is it necessary to go from door to door begging
food? Am I not rich?’ But Gautama answered, ie lvly
noble father, you and your family may claim the privileges
of royal descent, but my descent is from the prophets of
old. As they have done, so will I. But, my father, when182 THEMSECRET OF THE EAT

a man has found a treasure, it is his duty to offer the most
precious of the jewels to his father first. Let me share with
you the treasures that I have found.” And explaining all
to him, his father became a disciple.

Then Gautama went with his father to the palace,
where his young wife and child still lived, whom he had
not seen for seven years. There is beautiful pathos in the
story of his meeting with his wife. She heard that he was
coming but went not out to meet him. “I will wait and
see,” she said; “perhaps I am still of some value in his
eyes. He may ask for me, or come to me. I will welcome
him here in my own apartments.’ He noticed her absence
and asked for her and came to her. When she saw him
coming to her,—not the husband she had mourned so long,
but a recluse in mendicant robes with shaven head and
shaven face,—though she knew it would be so, she could
not restrain herself, but fell on the ground and kissed his
feet and wept. Then remembering the impassible gulf be-
tween them, she rose and stood on one side. But the
chronicles relate how she became his disciple and how their
little boy also entered the ranks and received a great spir-
itual inheritance.

For forty-five years Gautama lived and taught his fol-
lowers in the valley of the Ganges near Benares. He was
nearly eighty years old when he died in the midst of his
disciples.

Among his last words were: “My friend,” as he spoke
to one of his disciples, ‘“do not weep; do not let yourself
be troubled. You know what I have said,—sooner or later
we must part from all we hold most dear.. This body of
ours contains within itself the power which renews its
strength for a time, but also the causes which lead to its
destruction. Is there anything put together which shall
not dissolve? But you shall be free from this delusion, this
world of sense, this law of change.”

Again to another he said: ‘There is only one way of
true wisdom. Many have already followed it, and con-
quering the lust, the pride and anger of their own hearts,THE SECRET OF BUDDHA 183

have become free from ignorance and doubt and wrong
belief, have entered the calm state of universal kindliness,
and reached Nirvana even in this life... . O friend, I
do not speak to you of things I have not experienced.
Since I was twenty-nine years old till now I have striven
after pure and perfect wisdom, and following the good
path, I have found Nirvana.”

Buddha always tried to teach the plain truth as he
saw it. Just before he died he called his disciples to him
and said—and these words are recorded in that part of
the Pitakas, called ‘““The Book of the Great Decease”: “I
have preached the truth without making any distinction
between exoteric and esoteric doctrine—(that is, between
public and secret doctrine). For, in respect to truth,
Ananda, I, your teacher, the Tathagata, have no such thing
as the closed fist to keep some things back. It may be,
brethren, that there may be doubt or misgiving in the mind
of some brother as to the Buddha, or the truth, or the path.
Enquire freely of me, brethren. Do not have to reproach
yourselves afterwards with the thought,—our teacher was
face to face with us and we failed to enquire of him when
we were thus face to face with him.”

There are a hundred and eighty-six dialogues with his
disciples and men that have come down to us which record
his full teachings.

Nearly his very last words were, as he turned and
spoke to all the disciples gathered around him: ‘When I
have passed away and am no longer with you, do not think
that the Buddha has left you and is not still in your midst.
You have my words, my explanations of the deep things
of the truth . . . let them be your guide; the Buddha has
not left you. . . . Beloved ones, if you revere my mem-
ory, love all the disciples as you love me and my doc-
trines. . . . Go and wander, O brethren, and preach my
doctrine, for the sake of the many, for the good, for the
gain, for the welfare of gods and men. . . . Let not two
of you go the same way. . . - Preach the doctrine which
is lovely and glorious in the beginning, lovely and glorious184 THE SECRET OF THE EASE

in the middle, lovely and glorious in the end, in the spirit
and in the letter. Proclaim a consummate, perfect and
pure life of holiness.”’

And at the very last the Buddha said: “Be ye lamps
unto yourselves. Betake yourselves to no eternal refuge.
Hold fast to the truth as to a lamp. ... Behold now,
brethren, I exhort you. ... Work out your salvation
with diligence!’ These were the last words the Buddha
spoke.

Shortly afterwards he became unconscious and in that
state passed away. This, as we said, was at the age of
eighty years. His body was burnt with great reverence.
Some of his ashes and relics were distributed to several
parts of India, where temples were speedily erected as
memorials of him.

Many stories are told in these ancient sacred books of
India of his wisdom in dealing with men. For instance, a
certain merchant who had become his disciple was desirous
to preach in a village where many of his relatives lived,
and asked Gautama’s permission. Gautama knew the vil-
lage and said: “The people there are very violent; what
if they revile you?” “I will make no reply.” “What if
they strike you?” “I will not strike in return.” “But if
they try to kill you?” “TI will take no steps either to hasten
or delay.” ‘These answers satisfied Gautama and he sent
his disciple forth to preach.

Ananda is mentioned in all these sacred writings as the
best-loved disciple of the Buddha, very much as St. John
is the favorite disciple of Jesus. This incident from the
Pitakas is interesting: ‘The disciple Ananda coming to a
well, asked a girl of the despised caste of the Tschandalas
for a drink of water. But she, knowing that if she served
him a gift from her hands, it would make him unclean, de-
clined. Whereupon Ananda said: ‘My sister, I did not
ask concerning thy caste or thy family. I merely beg water
of thee, if thou couldst give it to me. To him in whom
love dwells the whole world is but one family.’ ”THE SECRET OF BUDDHA 185

One day as Gautama begged his food with his begging
bowl, a rich farmer said to him scornfully: ‘Why do you
come and beg? I plow and sow and earn my food. You
should do the same.”” And Gautama answered: “I also
plow and sow. For my fields, faith is the seed; self-
comfort is the fertilizing rain; wisdom is my plow; per-
severance draws my plow; the field I work is the law of
truth, and the harvest that I reap is the never-dying nectar
of Nirvana. Those who reap this harvest destroy all the
weeds of sorrow.”’

At another time a disciple sent to Gautama a young girl
who carried her dead child at her bosom and would not be
comforted. And Gautama said, “Go and get me some
mustard-seed from some house where no son, or husband,
or parent or slave has died.’ So the young girl went beg-
ging from house to house, but never could she find a house
where no one had died. And at last she came back, saying,
“The living are few, but the dead are many. Every house
has lost a son or a husband or a parent or a slave.” And
as Gautama talked to her she was comforted and became
his disciple.

The fountain-source of our information concerning the
authentic teachings of the Buddha are The Pitakas, which
means “The Baskets,’ such as the workmen use in un-
covering archeological excavations or other work. These
we have in the Pali tongue. They were recited orally from
memory, like our gospels, for a long time, but were com-
mitted to writing by order of King Asoka in the year 250
before Christ.

Of these many books of the discourses and parables
of Buddha we have translations from the Sanskrit and
the Pali in Professor Max Miller’s Sacred Books of the
East. And there is a great deal of wisdom and sound
sense in them.

This one paragraph, I think, is as good as anything in
them. It is to the Buddhist religion what the beatitudes
of Christ are to us. It was in answer to the question what186 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

was the chief good, the summum bonum, that Gautama
said:

To serve wise men and not fools—this is the greatest blessing.
To have right desires for one’s self—this is the greatest blessing.
Good understanding and good education—this is the greatest bless-
ing. To succor father and mother, to cherish wife and child, to
follow a peaceful calling—this is the greatest blessing. “To give
alms, to live righteously and do blameless deeds—this is the greatest
blessing. To abstain and cease from sin, to eschew strong drink, not
to be weary in well-doing—this is the greatest blessing. Reverence
and holiness, contentment and gratitude, the regular hearing of the
law—this is the greatest blessing. A mind unshaken by the things
of the world, without anger or passion—this is the greatest blessing.
They that do these things are invincible on every side, they walk in
safety, and theirs is the greatest blessing.

Remember that Gautama had been reared in the an-
cient Brahmanism of India,—the religion that grew up
out of the Vedas and from its primitive simplicities became
a religion of much external ceremonies, intricate theologies
and pliilosophies, and very severe rules and laws and a
rigid caste system. He revolted from this formal religion
and attempted to simplify and spiritualize it. Just as Jesus
brought up in the ancient Jewish ceremonialism and elab-
orate Mosaic laws sought to spiritualize and reform them.
And Gautama also protested against all caste; he pro-
tested against all idolatry; he protested against all formal
ceremonies.

But Buddha did more than make a negative protest
against the current practices and beliefs of his day. He
offered an affirmative gospel, excellent as far as it went.
It was a fervent and inspiring morality, wrought out by
severe discipline and sacrifice. He taught temperance and
purity in personal life; brotherhood instead of the caste-
system; practical morality instead of the speculative the-
ology; law and reason and the self-determination of our
own fate by the inevitable law of Karma. He taught that
salvation was the conquest of all desires of all kinds, and
a perfect acquiescence in what happens. He taught that
the end of existence was escape from the evil of life. AllTHE SECRET OF BUDDHA 187

life, in his thought, is evil, delusion and illusion. His final
consummation was the learning how to enter into the peace
of Nirvana.

The background of the teaching of Karma and Nir-
vana is Reincarnation. Reincarnation means that there
is an endless series of deaths and re-births in every indi-
vidual’s life until all the sins of a man’s life have received
their deserts. Karma is the law of compensations,—deeds
and the effects of deeds on character and future life through
thousands of reincarnations. Nirvana is the cessation from
this endless rebirth into an evil, sorrowing and suffering
world,—the release from the endless wheel of life,—and
the final death which means endless life.

This is the sum of his teaching: There are four noble
truths: First, the fact of suffering. All life, from birth to
death, is painful and something that we should seek to
escape; second, the cause of suffering, which is our desire
to live, or be, or have,—here or hereafter; third, the cure
for suffering, which is the quenching of all desire in the
soul; and fourth, the path of cure of desire and therefore
of suffering. This last is a noble eight-fold path. It means
to cultivate right views,—free from superstitions or delu-
sions; right aims—high, worthy, earnest; right speech—
kindly, open, truthful; right conduct — peaceful, honest,
pure; right livelihood—without hurt or harm to any living
thing; right effort—in self-training and control; right mind-
fulness—the active, watchful mind; and right contempla-
tion—earnest, reverent thought on life and its mysteries.
This is the essence of his gospel. How simple and yet
how hard! It has something of the simplicity and yet the
infinite sublimity of the beatitudes of Jesus.

One of the most interesting sentences from “The Bas-
kets” of Buddhism seems to me to be this—a saying of the
Buddha, “My doctrine makes no distinction between high
and low, rich or poor. It is like the sky,—it has room for
all. It is like water,—it washes all men alike.” Is not that
a fine and broad setting forth of.a tolerant and universal
spirit of truth?|
7

 

188 DHE SECRET OF THE EAST

There are four holy spots in India that are especially
sacred to Buddha and thousands of devout pilgrims from
other lands come to visit them. One is the place of his
birth, at Kapila-vastu, about eighty miles north of Benares,
in the valley of the Ganges; the next is the place of his
illumination under the Bo-tree at Budh-gaya; the third is
the place of his first preaching, his first turning of the
wheel of the law, at Sarnath near Benares, often called
“The Deer Park,” and the fourth, the place of his death,
at Kusinara. We were especially interested in the place of
his first sermon at Sarnath. There we saw the great stupa
built in his honor as a memorial and the ruins of the great
temple where for forty years he lived and taught his dis-
ciples. ‘This seemed to me the most impressive place con-
nected with Buddha’s life.

Now this is a glimpse into the life and teachings of
Buddha. What I have given is based upon the most au-
thentic sources, and checked up and verified by the works
on the religion of India by authorities on the subject whose
volumes are now text books for this study in the colleges.
In all quotations I have given the exact words.

What shall we say? Is not Buddha a wonderful and
most lovable character? And are not his teachings high
and inspiring, sometimes seeming to be in the very spirit
of the teachings of Jesus? And remember, all this was five
hundred years before Christ in far-off India. Surely God
has not left Himself without a witness in any nation.

Many books have already been written on the striking
similarities between the life of the Buddha and the life of
the Christ, and the points in common in their teachings.
The legendary history of both have many points of re-
semblance if not coincidence, such as the miracles of the
birth, the temptation in the wilderness, the sending out of
disciples to preach. Some have ventured to assert that the
oral traditions or even the written accounts were borrowed
from each other. It may be possible. But there are other
more reasonable explanations. For one thing, they are both
Oriental, both Asiatic religions, and have much experienceTHE SECRET OF BUDDHA 189

in common, but still further, the so-called resemblances are
often only superficial. Looked at closely, they are different
essentially.

And while there are thus many similarities, the differ-
ences are even more striking. These are some of the
deep, vital and radical differences between the religion of
Buddha and the religion of Christ. I will point out only
three. One difference is that Buddha taught a religion of
works, that a man must save himself, that he must attain
by his own unaided efforts the path of peace and the per-
fect character. This was fine theory, but most difficult
practice. A few seem to attain, but the many failed.

On the other hand, Christ taught a religion of faith
first and works afterward. He taught men to believe in
God and accept His grace and power. Christ took the
weakness of man and brought it into touch with the om-
nipotence of God. Christ reinforces man with God. Here
is one infinite superiority of the gospel of Christ.

A second difference, Buddha taught a pantheistic, im-
personal religion. His thought of the soul is indefinite, his
thought of the future is an immortality of impersonal ex-
istence. The supreme thought is not conscious personal
existence, but to be absorbed into the Infinite Soul of the
universe. He never speaks of God as Father. In fact,
scarcely does he speak of God at all. But Christ taught a
personal God, a personal salvation and a personal immor-
tality. To most of us there is no attraction in the thought
of losing ourselves in the universal essence. We feel that
personality is a distinct gain and power. The gospel of
Christ is full of God as a living and loving Father and
ourselves as made in God’s image and destined for per-
sonal immortality as children of God. Here is another
infinite superiority of the gospel of Christ.

And a third difference we see clearly—Buddha taught
a negative rather than a positive message of life. Buddha
taught that life was evil. Christ taught that life was evil
or good according to your spirit and way of using it.
Buddha taught that it was the chief purpose of life to.

190 THR SECRET OF THE EAST

escape the evils, pains and sickness. Christ taught us to con-
quer them. Christ taught that if you had the right spirit
in your heart you could get good even out of pain and
sorrow. Christ taught that the sufferings of life are not
punishments but disciplines; that life is education, the de-
velopment of manhood and strength of character. Buddha
taught men to retire from life. Christ taught men to enter
more fully into life. Buddha taught that we were to be
absorbed into the divine spirit. Christ taught us to absorb
as much as possible of the divine spirit and become divine
ourselves.

This, however, is a remarkable thing. Buddha taught
nothing that needs to be controverted. So far as he went
his teachings were absolutely clean, pure, wholesome, en-
nobling. Much was negative, but nothing wrong. While
it is a fact that Buddhism as taught by the priests degen-
erated into idolatry and superstition, yet the original teach-
ings of Buddha are all noble and worthy and they are far
in advance of his day. If India should return to Buddha
her people would be happier and freer than she is now
under Hinduism. All that is needed is that the negative
teachings of Buddha should be supplemented by the posi-
tive teachings and life of Christ to make an adequate and
inspiring religion for the East.

Can we say that God revealed Himself through Buddha
in the Far East and through Christ for the Western na-
tions? I think it would be nearer the mark to say that
something of God’s truth came to the East through
Buddha, but that the full truth came through Christ.

Buddha is a beautiful figure in the world’s history, but
pale and negative besides the clear and positive figure of
the Master of all men. Buddha and Christ were brothers
in spiritual aspiration, in sacrificial renunciation, and in
leadership of multitudes of men—but Christ is the later
leader and the supreme genius in piercing to the heart of
God’s revelation and in bringing it home to the hearts of
men. Somehow I do not feel that Buddha will ever be
entirely forgotten or lost to the East, nor be absolutelyTHE SECRET OF BUDDHA IgI

replaced by Christ. Buddha has been an integral part of
the life of the East for 2,500 years. He is fully domes-
ticated at its hearth and in its heart. But he will be kept
and loved as a forerunner of Christ, as a witness, a be-
loved witness, of the greater Light of Christ,—as John
the Baptist was of Jesus,—as Moses was of Christ. We
love St. Francis of Assisi, but we love Christ as the Su-
preme Revelation. Buddha never claimed to be a god,—
he merely claimed to have attained the perfect peace of
Nirvana and to show them the same way to salvation.

I do feel confidently that Christ will eventually become
the supreme Light of Asia, as He is the Light of the
World. The East cannot do without His light. It is in-
sensibly drawing nearer to that light. It may seem a slow
process on the surface, but the work beneath is going on
steadily and rapidly. There are many signs that indicate
it. Some day the great awakening will come and it will be
like the crystallization of a supersaturated liquid. The
East will not merely see the dawn as it does now, but it
will roll forward into the fulness of day, into the full-
orbed and saving light of God.ACROSS INDIA WITH KIM

A SKETCH

OST of you have read Kipling’s Kim,—prob-
M ably more than once. I had read it several

times before coming to India, but I bought an-
other copy at Rangoon,—a little pocket edition, illustrated,
so that it might be a pleasant companion all through India.
There is no better possible guide-book than Kim to the
inner heart and ancient mystery of India.

Then I secured the cooperation of a friend, and we
made an exact itinerary of all of Kim’s wanderings through
India with the old lama from Tibet. We were ready to
go across India with Kim. I began again to read the book
on the tender up the Hoogley to Calcutta, and read at
intervals all through India, and finished again just before
we got to Bombay. There were a dozen or more cities
and towns that he touched,—we would surely cross some
of them in our journey. We made an outline map of India
and put on it the exact route of Kim’s journey, beginning
from the Wonder-House at Lahore to the last point,—
where at the end was found the River of the Arrow.

Kim, to my mind, is Kipling’s masterpiece, and cer-
tainly the most vivid picture of India ever painted. It has
all the glamor and mystery of India, all of its charm and
vagueness, all of its religious fervor and irresponsibility.

The chief characters, you will remember, are these:
First of all, Kim—‘‘a poor white of the very poorest—
English, although burned black as any native,—who spoke
the vernacular by preference, his mother tongue, English,
in a clipped, uncertain sing song.”’ His full name, Kimball
O'Hara, son of a color-sergeant of an Irish regiment, the
Mavericks, who had married a nursemaid in a colonel’s

192ACROSS INDIA WITH KIM 193

family. Kim is a.most clever and sprightly boy,—the
hero of the book.

And then the old Lama—a holy man from Tibet, nearly
six feet high, dressed in a folded blanket, with an iron pen-
case and a wooden rosary from his belt and wearing a
gigantic tam o’ shanter. His face was yellow and wrinkled;
his eyes like slits of onyx. His name is Teshoo Lama and
he had formerly been abbot of a Buddhist monastery in
the hills of Tibet. Now he was seeking the River of Heal-
ing, that arose when Buddha shot a golden arrow. Kim
became the chela or disciple of this wandering lama.

Then there was the Ressaldar—‘‘who sat long-legged
on a little beast of a horse,—with a big sword by his side,”’
a turban on his head. Two women characters are interest-
ing,—the Queen of Delhi, so-called—a strong willed old
lady—a woman of Kulu—very wealthy and with a fine
retinue—who was kind to Kim and the lama. The Woman
of Shamlegh—another strong and elemental woman who
befriended Kim.

Besides these, there were minor characters such as:
Mahbub Ali, the horse-dealer, an early friend of Kim and
in the secret intelligence service of the British government
in India; and Hurry Chunder Mookerjee, a native of
India, with an English education,—a graduate of the Uni-
versity of Calcutta, who is also in the English secret ser-
vice in India.

Allow me to recall the story of Kim in brief: One day
Kim, sitting astride the big gun Zam-Zammeh at Lahore,
in front of the Museum, and scuffing with the native boys,
sees an old man, a holy lama from Tibet, and becomes in-
terested in him, shows him into the museum and does other
kindnesses. The old man takes to him and Kim becomes
his chela or disciple, and with him wanders all over India,
begging for him and taking good care of him. This old
lama has come down from his monastery in Tibet to see
the Four Holy Places of Buddha, and especially to find
the River of Healing, which sprang forth where Buddha
shot a golden arrow.194 THE SECRET OF THE BASE

The whole book is taken up with this search for the
River of Healing that shall cleanse from all sin and bring
peace. But many interesting incidents occur during this
long search. For instance, Kim one day discovers his
pedigree by the fulfillment of a prophecy—a ‘‘red bull on
a green field,” and is thenceforth adopted by the regiment
of the Mavericks and sent to St. Xavier’s School at Luck-
now, his education being paid for by the lama, three hun-
dred rupees a year. Also Kim begins his work in the secret
service. He is tried out by being sent with a message
about ‘‘the white stallion,’—-which is a secret code mes-
sage. He delivers it well, like him who took the message
to Garcia.

It happens also that Kim goes with the lama to the
hill country. The lama being hill-born and hill-bred is
greatly refreshed and strengthened as they reach the hills.
It is the breath of new life to him. Kim does finely at
school, but for his vacations he must run wild and travel
with the lama.

Other sprightly incidents occur. The story of how
Hurry Mookerjee, the Babu, outwitted the Russians and
the Frenchman, with Kim’s help, is one of the great epics
of the book. It is inimitable, and as humorous as anything
in Dickens. The way Kim cured the child—the small son
of the Punjabi farmer, is a most interesting piece of au-
dacity,—and of results. The pious and worldly old lady
from Kulu is a humorous and very attractive picture; also
the Woman of Shamlegh, and the account of the Wheel
of Life,—wonderfully pictured—is a choice Oriental bit.
It is said that Buddha himself first drew the Wheel of
Life with grains of rice upon the dust, to teach his disciples
the causes of things. Ages have unfolded and enriched the
picture,—have crystallized it into drawings with infinite
meanings. Only a few know its secret significance.

You will recall that Kim is given by his friends the
nickname ‘Friend of the Stars,’’ and also ‘‘Friend of all
the World.” The name fits him, for he is a friendly little
fellow. But he is as shrewd and far-sighted as he is friend-ACROSS INDIA WITH KIM 195

ly. He is taught various disguises by one who is an adept
and expert. In the book Benares is called “the oldest of
all earth’s cities” and a “peculiarly filthy city.’’ Buddha is
called ‘‘Sakya-muni the Physician’? and “Our Lord the
icaler,”” ,

The story ends tenderly and pathetically, for the search
was finished, the lama discovered the River of the Arrow,
the River of Healing; for the wise soul loosed itself from
the body and went free. It went to the Great Soul. It
passed beyond the illusion of Time and Space and Things.
It was free from sin. He had won Salvation.

In this journey across India with Kim I found the char-
acters of the book meeting me at so many places. For in-
stance, at Calcutta on the second day I found the grand
old lama and his chela down at the bathing ghats, and at
my wish he sat down and we took his picture. He was a
noble looking old man. I also found a Wonder-House at
Calcutta, actually called so in its catalogue, and so it proved
to me,—more wonderful probably than that at Lahore.
At Darjeeling I found the Woman of Shamlegh,—yes, a
dozen of them, exactly as Kipling describes. At Lucknow
I found the old school,—now a college,—where Kim was
sent by Father Victor, and paid for by the old lama. I
found both Mahbub Ali and the Ressalder at Delhi in
many a picturesque Mohammedan,—fitting the picture “to
the life.’ At Calcutta, Delhi and Bombay I saw more than
one clever Hindu who exactly filled the bill of Hurry
Chunder Mookerjee. It surely means that Kipling was
writing the truth,—he was portraying real types of the
people. The book seemed a hundredfold more vivid, read
in India, with the actual scenes and people all around us.

And do you remember that the old lama of Kim carried
an iron pen-case with inkwell attached to his girdle. i
found that pen-case in India and bought it—an old Tibetan
iron pen-case. The old lama had a begging bowl which
often his chela, Kim, succeeded in getting well filled with
food. I found just such a begging bowl from Tibet, made
from a human skull, for these are still used to-day by196 THE SECRET OF * THE EASE

lamas on the streets of Darjeeling. It is ornate,—the bone
carved with rude hieroglyphics and adorned with turquoise.
The old lama carried a prayer wheel at times. All Tibetan
priests do, all lamas do. I found such a prayer-wheel filled
with written prayers. The old lama had a rosary. I also
secured a wonderful Tibetan rosary from the priest of a
lama temple. And finally the old lama of Kim was con-
stantly working on a mysterious sacred painting called
“The Wheel of Life’ that was an epitome of his Buddhist
religion. By diligent search, through many places, I also
found that,—a ‘“‘Wheel of Life,”—-painted by hand, done
by an old lama in a far-off monastery of Tibet, and I
brought this painting with me to America. So, you see,
Kim is true to life and tells of ‘“‘real things” discoverable
to-day.

This Wheel of Life is described in Kim thus, in chap-
ter XII: ‘‘When the shadows shortened and the lama
leaned more heavily on Kim, there was always the Wheel
of Life to draw forth, to hold flat under wiped stones, and
with a long straw to expound cycle by cycle.’’ The teach-
ing, in brief, is that the great circle—on it are pictures of
the twelve epochs of life from birth to death—is the round
of existence of every one’s life, which is held in the clutch
of the demon of self, or selfishness, from which we must
escape at last. The small inner circle is the human heart,
with its animal desires, represented by the snake of treach-
ery, the eagle of lust and the hog of greed. ‘These must
be cast out before blessedness can begin. Between the two
circles are the six worlds through which every life must
pass—the world of animals, the world of men, the world
of giants or demigods, the world of disembodied spirits,
the world of punishments, and finally the world of reward.
Buddha is shown in each, so every soul must also pass
through. Nirvana is gained when all the worlds are tra-
versed, when all evil is cast out from the heart, and when
the demon of selfishness is thoroughly conquered. Such is
the summary of Buddhist religion in the Wheel of Life.
“Surely,” said the lama, ‘‘we be all souls seeking escape.2

-hoto by J.

 

  

Burlington

\N WAY ct

4%

  

Smith, Darjeeling

THE WHEEL

NN)

OF

LIFE

A ay

 

——

Fl balan fest er

i

i
le

if

: I

penn
po
i}

si aUE

9

=,
ceil

}
r

| FilACROSS INDIA WITH KIM 197

=. . Just is the Wheel, swerving not a hair. . 2 . Wear
the lesson well, my chela.”

Certainly the book, Kim, has the flavor of India, but
I sometimes wonder whether it does not also do an uncon-
scious injustice to India. The only two attractive charac-
ters in it are the old lama and Kim,—neither of them real
natives of India. The lama is from Tibet and Kim 1s a
white boy born in India. All the characters that are native
Indians in the book are very shady in spots and not exactly
admirable in tone or morals. The old lady of Kulu and
the Woman of Shamlegh are both queer specimens of
women, while Mahbub Ali, the horse dealer, and Hurry
Chunder Mookerjee are neither of them characters to
evoke our admiration. Yet there are many noble native
characters in India. The only unexceptional things in the
book are the kindly old lama,—sweet-spirited, cheery, in-
curably optimistic.—and the shrewd, happy rascal, Kim.
The devotion between this saint and this sinner is delight-
ful and redeems the book.

Some may think Kim a rather discursive story,—dif-
fuse and wandering,—but why should not a book of pil-
grimage be such? It is a religious and philosophical story.
And yet it is a very tender and human story. The charac-
ters, in spite of faults,—perhaps because of these faults,—
are lovable. They have such valiant hearts,—and the
reader feels more kindly toward India for reading the
story and getting acquainted with the lama and Kim.

Somehow Kipling has caught the very spirit of India
and enmeshed it in this book. We feel the actual atmos-
phere of India. No one, except he knew India _ thor-
oughly, could write such a book. And no one except a
genius could write such a book even if he knew his India.HOW BUDDHA LOST INDIA AND GAINED
OTHER LANDS OF THE EAS?

gained all the East, and how the East made a new

and higher Buddhism,—a Buddhism which the orig-
inal Gautama Buddha would not be able to recognize,—
the higher Buddhism of China and Japan with its supreme
god Amida Buddha whom all other Buddhas worship.

It came as a surprise to us to find that there were no
Buddhists in India,—in India the land of Buddha’s birth
and the scene of his labors. The people of India are
devotees of Hinduism,—an elaborate system of strange
mythologies, rigid castes, and of elaborate and often un-
worthy religious practices. They do not follow Buddha.
He was as fully rejected by India as Jesus was by his own
nation. I have heard Dr. Robert Hume of Ahmednagar
in India say—‘I have lived in India for forty years, I
have travelled in all parts of India, and I have yet to find
a native Buddhist in India.”

We have not realized how completely Buddha lost
India, because so often in the census reports of population,
there have been mentioned so many million Buddhists in
India. ‘These are the Buddhists of Burma and Ceylon,
but not in India proper. ‘There are practically no Bud-
dhists left in India. I think that the confusion arises from
the practice in the census of classing Burma and Ceylon
with India as ““The British Possessions of India’’ or some-
times as ‘““The Empire of India.”

How did Buddha lose India? or rather how did India
lose Buddha? We never fully realized how this came
about, until we found the facts in India. This is the story
and its consequences. ‘The religion of all India before

198

| T is a fascinating story,—how Buddha lost India andHOW BUDDHA LOST INDIA 199

Buddha was born was Brahmanism, a strange develop-
ment from the more ancient religion of the Vedas. It
was the pure religion of the Vedas, mingled with the
native nature religions of polytheism and pantheism,—
a strange mixture of crude philosophies and crude cere-
monies. Buddha was brought up in this, but rebelled and
revolted. His new exposition of true religion grew up in-
side of Brahmanism, and for a time so vigorous it was
that it threatened to conquer and succeed it. But after
Buddha’s death, the priests and monks of Buddhism in-
stead of holding fast to their original truth, began to com-
promise and commerce with Brahmanism in order to make
quicker progress.

The first great compromise was with the state. From
being a spiritual religion, it became an ecclesiastical organi-
zation. We may bear in mind two great names in Bud-
dhism of those who are as important to the extension of
that religion as St. Paul and the Roman Emperor Con-
stantine were to the exposition and establishment of Chris-
tianity. Buddhism had its Constantine in the great man
King Asoka, and it had its great scholar,—shall we call
him the St. Paul or the St. Augustine ?—in the great Bud-
dhist scholar Asvaghosa in the first century of the Chris-
tian era, probably about the year 100 A.D.

But King Asoka lived earlier. His date is from 273
to 232 B.C. He was an important ruler in India. He
has been called the Alexander, the Charlemagne, the
Napoleon of India. He was more than that,—he was the
chief apostle of Buddha. He was converted about 259
B.C. and immediately began his religious reforms. He
began in the palace. He became a vegetarian, as a true
Buddhist should. He gave up the royal hunts, and began
the practice of religious pilgrimages. He made Buddhism
the imperial religion. He set up monuments in the Lum-
bini grove in Nepal where Buddha was born, at Budh-
Gaya where he received enlightenment under the Bo-tree,
at the Deer Park at Benares, where he began his preaching,
“turning the wheel of the law,” and at Kusinagara where200 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

at last he died. These became the four great sacred places.
King Asoka issued many edicts still extant, full of insight,
character and wisdom. Most important of all, he called
a Council of leading Buddhists about 240 B.C. and estab-
lished the canon of the sacred books of the Buddhist Scrip-
tures. These were called The Tripitaka or Three Baskets,
which may be said to correspond in a way to our three
gospels. ‘This fixing of the canon of scripture, while it
helped its establishment, now began to give it a rigidity
whereas before it had been plastic and fluid. King Asoka
not only gave himself whole-heartedly to Buddhism, but
he also sent his son, the saintly Prince Mahinda, as the
first missionary to Ceylon in 256 B.C. and his daughter
Sanghamitta became the first Buddhist nun in that country.
King Asoka was an enthusiastic missionary king and his
missionaries were also sent to Africa and even to Europe.
But one of the strange things that helped the downfall
of Buddhism in India was the growing division among its
followers. At that early period the fundamentalists, and
the modernists began their dissensions, and spent so much
time on the doctrines that they lost the spirit. They
divided into two great camps,—the conservatives who held
to literal, strict and rigid interpretations of all the law and
gospel of Buddhism, and on the other hand, the progres-
sives who kept the spirit of Buddha, but interpreted in a
broad way and adapted the teachings to the needs of the
day. The second great Buddhist council was the scene of
this disruption about roo A.D. under the Indo-Sycthian
emperor Kanisha. ‘The dissension reached its final climax
about 400 A.D. ‘The conservatives remained largely in
the South, especially in Ceylon and Burma, with the lesser
vehicle of Pali scriptures, while the progressives gradually
claimed the North, especially Tibet, Korea, China and
Japan, with the greater vehicle, or fuller scriptures in
Sanskrit. Between the two, India lost out completely.
But there were also other causes that helped the down-
fall of Buddhism in India. One was its compromise with
idolatry. No images of Buddha had appeared until aboutHOW BUDDHA LOST INDIA 201

100 A.D., more than 500 years after his death. Until
that time his symbols had been the footprint, the wheel,
the Bo-tree, or the elephant. Now Buddha’s image to be
worshipped began to be made for sacred shrines and
temples. This was contrary to his express command.
Buddhism thus accepted idolatry and lost its identity as a
religion of protest. Another thing, while it had grown in
power, Buddhism had lost purity. It had added a number
of bodhi-sattvas or saints; it had become burdened with
legends and miracles; and had given up the vigor of its
primitive simplicity. So reports a Chinese pilgrim, Fa
Hsian, who journeyed through India about 400 A.D. and
wrote a full account of his observations which we still
have. Besides all this, the priests of Buddhism in order
to gain adherence began to compromise with the Tantric
rites of earlier nature worship of which the people seemed
to be fond. Female Buddhas now began to appear and
strange practices were allowed. It was the beginning of
the end. Buddhism had sold itself to the weakness of hu-
man nature. It was now scarcely better than Brahmanism.
In fact, Brahmanism now took Buddhism as its ally and
soon absorbed it and smothered it. It made Buddha the
ninth incarnation of Brahma and quickly lost him in the
multitude of more popular gods who required less disci-
pline and self-control. So that in the course of a few hun-
dred years more, surely before the 7th century, ASIDE
Brahmanism was in full sway again in India, and Bud-
dhism was only a memory and a name in India, and had
sought out new fields in other lands.

What do we see of Buddha in India to-day? We see
the sacred city of Benares, but to the multitude, not sacred
on account of Buddha, but on account of the sacred Ganges
and because it is the metropolis of Hinduism. Yet those
who are interested in Buddha may see near by at Sarnath,
the famous Deer Park, where he taught, and the very
spot where he first turned “the wheel of the lawieeasiene
called his truth. He was born in India and lived there
all his life and died in India. But the great temples and:
'

 

202 THE SECRET OF HE EASE

the great tombs and the great carvings of India—alas !—
have little to do with Buddha.

Although Buddhism has ceased to exist in India, it has
left outward evidences on some of its great monuments
and splendid buildings, and its inward mark on its religious
consciousness. India does not follow Buddha, and yet it
cannot forget him. Hinduism absorbed him and over-
whelmed him, and yet something of his spirit must uncon-
sciously be in her ideals and aspirations.

Before Buddhism had ceased to exist in India, it had
begun to take root in other lands, and it has gradually
conquered nearly all the Far East. How it did this, in the
different countries, makes an interesting story. It can be
illustrated by some of the strange changes in Christianity.
A friend of the East comes to me and says—‘‘What is
Christianity? Where can I see it best?” Well, 7 Lomay;
answer, “historically, Christianity is of many forms. It
began in a very simple way. In the fourth century it be-
came a stately Roman church. For a thousand or more
years that was predominant. Then came a great Reforma-
tion. The Roman church continued, but the Reformed
church became the Anglican, the Lutheran, and the various
branches called the Congregational, Presbyterian, Baptist,
Methodist, and other churches,—about 140 different kinds
of Christians. To-day you may see Christianity in Spain
and Mexico in a degraded form, with image-worship and
many superstitions. You may see it in Russia and Greece
with Eastern ceremonies. You may see it in England
with archbishops appointed by the King as head of the
church. You may see it in America in the various denom-
inations, each with its differences. Yet they all call them-
selves Christian,—usually they each think their branch is
the nearest form to the true church.”

So is it with Buddhism. Buddhism began in India
with the life of Buddha fully 500 years before Christ. It
died out in India, being absorbed by Hinduism. It went
South to Ceylon, where it flourished. Thence to Burma,
Siam, Tibet, China, and finally to Japan. The happiestHOW BUDDHA LOST INDIA 203

Buddhists are in Burma; the most intellectual are in Japan.

In Japan, Buddhism has gone through all the evolu-
tion that Christianity has in Europe and America. It has
become a very elaborate system and ceremony. It has had
many divisions and sects. It has had great reformations.
It has become a very different religion from what it was
in India and Ceylon—so different that Buddha himself
would not recognize it. But still it is Buddhism—for it
claims Buddha as its inspiration and in all its various
forms, it models its life and devotions on his life.

The old school is the primitive Buddhism, often called
the smaller vehicle, the Hinayana. This flourished for five
hundred years, that is, from Buddha’s death in 543 B.C.
until the time of Christ, or thereabout, and still flourishes
in Ceylon and Burma.

The new school is the advanced or modern Buddhism
of China and Japan, which is called the greater vehicle,
or Mahayana. Some in China make still fuller subdivi-
sions—primitive Buddhism, Buddhism in a transition state,
the beginning of true religion, the final development, the
school meditation and the so-called complete religion of
all schools. In Japan, there is the so-called True School
and the Pure Land School, that is, conservatives and mod-
ernists. There are twelve distinct sects or denominations
of Buddhists in Japan.

This is the special thing to remember—In Japan, in the
most numerous sect, the chief figure in the Buddhist re-
ligion is not Gautama Buddha of India, the Buddha whom
we usually think of,—but another and greater Buddha has
taken his place—Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Boundless
Light, the Supreme God and Saviour. Gautama of India
is but one of his interpreters, one of his manifestations.

This is the difference between the old school Buddhism
in Ceylon and the new school of Japan and to some ex-
tent China. The old school was impersonal, agnostic and
pantheistic about God; the new school asserts him posi-
tively and supremely. The old school trusted for salva-
tion by its own efforts, through the doctrine of Karma,204 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

sin and punishment being overcome by obedience and
righteousness; the new school believes in salvation by faith
and the help of God. The old school believed in asce-
ticism and retirement from the evil world; the new school
believes in living in the world and in saving others. The
old school believed in countless transmigrations before the
many could be delivered; the new school believes in present
peace and joy, and passing into Paradise at once without
any round of transmigrations. These differences make a
whole world between the old school and the new school.

Let us look briefly at the fascinating story of how
Buddha gained great influence in other lands.

Buddhism in Ceylon. The oldest and most conserva-
tive form of Buddhism still flourishes in Ceylon. Those
of you who visit Ceylon will find there at Anura-dhapura
one of the most interesting and venerable trees in the
world,—a branch of the famous Bo-tree under which
Buddha received his enlightenment. At the city of Kandy
you will see the Temple of the Tooth, where a supposed
tooth of Buddha is venerated.

It was the great missionary King Asoka who intro-
duced the religion of Buddha into Ceylon in the year
251 B.C. He sent his son to preach it and the King’s
daughter was one of the first to become a nun. Ceylon has
raised many Buddhist scholars. Buddha-gosha in the sth
century A.D. wrote a wonderful devotional book called
“The Path to Purity.” The Buddhists of Ceylon have pre-
served by their care and devotion the earliest Pali scrip-
tures and the original traditions. But even with them, it
has somewhat compromised with the native devil-worship,
so that it observes devil-dances, and uses charms, incanta-
tions and exorcisms.

Buddhism in Burma, What you see at Rangoon is a
form of Buddhism, which in many respects is very attrac-
tive. It is somewhat flamboyant in its architectural forms,
and the popular practices are much intertwined with the
primitive worship of nats, or evil spirits. Every house
has its own nat or every village its village nat. They areHOW BUDDHA LOST INDIA 205

held responsible for much evil and epidemics, and are pro-
pitiated by offerings and devil dances. This is the fly in the
ointment of Buddhism in Burma. Otherwise it is a cheer-
ful, kindly religion, and its devotees are among the most
cheerful and optimistic of people. :

Burma is the land of Buddhist pagodas. In the ancient
named capital, called Pagan, there were 9,999 pagodas.
To-day the most famous pagoda in Rangoon and in the
world is the Shwe-dagon Pagoda. It is said to enshrine
some hairs of Gautama Buddha. It is a wonderful struc-
ture,—a most impressive shrine of worship.

Burma took its Buddhism from Ceylon through the
zeal of the apostle Buddha-gosha in the 5th century A.D.
It is a great order. Its monasteries are numerous. Its
monks are educated, respected and generously supported.
The head of the order is a Grand Superior, nominated by
the abbots of the monasteries.

There are also some modern movements in Burmese
Buddhism, which seeks a purified Buddhism, with elements
of Christian teachings and Western culture. For instance,
one of the most modern and beautiful interpretations of
Buddhism that I know is a book by H. Fielding Hall, called
The Inward Light. He calls it an interpretation, not
of the original Buddhism of India and Ceylon, nor of the
modernized, much modified Buddhism of Japan, but the
Buddhism of Burma which he feels is very nearly the best
Buddhism of all.

The interpretation is poetic in language. It is ex
quisitely written, a delight to read,—whether we accept
it or not. To some it will seem a very plausible interpre-
tation of the great truths that have come to the East. To
others, it will seem only a slight tincture of Buddhism and
mostly the idealistic modern thought of the West read into
Buddhism. I inquired in Burma of several scholars whom
I met whether any native Burmese Buddhists ever thought
these thoughts, or such as these, or ever had expressed
them. I was told that very few know anything of his finer
interpretations.| t

206 THE SECRET (OF “LHE BASE

Buddhism in Tibet. This is a strange development.
After Ceylon and Burma, Buddhism came to Tibet in
the seventh century A.D. It made little progress until
a Buddhist leader from India allied it with the native
devil-worship of the people. The new amalgam was called
Lamaism. This religion greatly extended its power in the
thirteenth century under the influence of the famous
Kublai Khan, the great Mongol emperor of China to
which Tibet was subject.

The higher monks of this form of Buddhism are called
lamas and it claims that its Grand Lama is a divine in-
carnation of the living Buddha. From 1650 on, this living
Buddha has been the Dalai Lama. On his death, a suc-
cessor is chosen from a child born near the time of his
death. The infant then chosen is taken to Lhasa. At the
age of four, he is tonsured, given a monk’s garb and is
enthroned in state. Four years later he becomes a monk
and at the age of eighteen assumes temporal power.

Lamaism has an abundance of gods and demons to
worship. ‘There are many Buddhas, some celestial, some
human. There are Bodhi-sattvas most numerous, male and
female. There are many demons and local gods. Charms
and incantations are used. Devil-worship and devil-danc-
ing form a part of the regular course of worship. Alto-
gether it is the most degraded form of Buddhism.

For some of us, however, the Buddhism of Tibet has
an interest because of Kipling’s Kim and his dear old Bud-
dhist holy man, the lama of that story. Some of us go
across India with Kim—we see the lad himself in many a
lad there,—we identify many of the characters in that
story, for they are real types—and above all we see the
old lama with the simple mind and the generous heart.
For even the Buddhism of Tibet has its saints and holy
men—some of whom are thoroughly genuine.THE HIGHER BUDDHISM OF CHINA
AND JAPAN

a HE story of Buddhism in India ends with a tragic
note,—Buddha is absorbed and lost in the ancient
Hinduism. But there is a triumphant note as
Buddhism goes out to other lands. It is a fascinating
story of change and development as Buddhism strives to
meet the needs of China and Japan. It rises into a higher
Buddhism, just as later in India there gradually emerges
a higher Hinduism, represented by the Maratha saints
and by the Brahmo Samaj and other advance movements.
Recollect that Buddhism started from an_ insignificant
corner of Northern India,—just as Christianity in an in-
significant corner of Palestine. It spread to Southern
India, to Ceylon and the islands, to Turkestan, Tibet,
Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan. It was as if a great
flood of mystic religion had flowed over Asia from land to
land; as if the Ganges had overflowed its banks and inun-
dated a continent. It all happened in the course of about
a thousand years, from 500 B.C. to 500 A.D. It took
hold of all classes of society—kings, warriors, scholars,
artists and the common people. And everywhere went the
gigantic image of the great new golden god Buddha of
India. And everywhere temples and monasteries rose up
to his devotion. It was an overmastering obsession, an
irresistible impulse, a great wave of religious emotion, a
mystical passion for one who promised to solve the mystery
of life and to grant eternal peace.

Recollect also that this Buddha never claimed worship
and would have rejected it with scorn. He was contend-
ing against all idols and idolatry and yet they made him
into a god. Recollect that he never taught prayer and yet

207208 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

they became incessant in prayer to him. Recollect that
India itself, the place of his birth and teaching, rejected
him and yet the rest of this Far East accepted him.
Strange contradictions!

When Buddhism came to China, it was in a time of
political confusion and distress. The people were ready
for something that promised so much. Buddhism was
greatly inferior to the honest wisdom and the lofty ethics
of Confucius. But it had in it a mystical element, a color,
an emotion, a passion, a dramatic mystery that somehow
appealed. It had a dreamy beauty that fascinated. It
attracted by endless litanies, millions of lamps, processions,
flowers, monks and miracles; by devas and demons, heav-
ens and hells, and all the thrilling revelations of the unseen
life. It filled the imagination with its glamour.

Buddhism through its priests made great promises.
And human psychology is such that promises mean more
to them than fulfillments. Buddha himself made no such
promises. He demanded austere discipline and sacrifices.
He taught the law of self-control and self-denial. But
the priests and monks of Buddhism must live. They com-
mercialized his religion. They accommodated it to hu-
man nature and made it a marketable article. Buddha’s
pessimism became a beautiful optimism. Buddha’s de-
mand for strenuous individual exertion and unremitting
vigilance was transformed into an exercise of worship,
prayer and sacrifice before his statue,—ten times uttering
his name, or “Om mani padme hum,” or “Adoration
to Buddha!” Buddha himself being too remote on the
luminous heights of beatific meditation, the priests added
many lesser devotees and saints,—Bodhi-sattvas and Lo-
hans, in order to come close to humanity and help them
in their needs. Thus arose Kwannon and Jizo. And the
etherealized Nirvana, which few could understand or at-
tain, became an easy Heaven, a Paradise of exquisite
beauty and delights. The old austere road of the Buddha,
so hard to walk, had now become easy and was brightened
with flowers, splendors, processions, laughing gods ofBUDDHISM OF CHINA AND JAPAN 209

plenty and goddesses of mercy, listening to prayers and
stretching out a thousand arms of love and help.

In something of this way, by accommodation, by adapt-
ing it to the natives among whom it went,—by easing it
to the weaknesses and prejudices of men, the divine way
of the Buddha and all his noble truth was changed into
something entirely different from what he taught. And
it won its way into China and Japan thus by continued
modification and accommodation, just as Christianity won
its way into pagan Rome by accommodating itself to the
ancient rites, becoming itself paganized for many genera-
tions. The Christianity of Christ is as different from the
florid and debased Christianity of Spain and Mexico, as
the Buddhism of Buddha is from the Buddhism of Tibet
or China or Japan.

But it left its monumental impress. The graceful
pagoda of China is due to Buddhism, and the dagoba, or
memorial for the dead. The Buddhist temples are numer-
ous in China. Many of the finest are on mountains, or
in valleys far off from the cities. The most popular divin-
ity in Chinese Buddhism is Kuan Yin—also spelled
Kwanyin or Kwannon—the goddess of mercy, who is said
to hear all prayers, to save from sin and to bestow ulti-
mate happiness. She is an inferior avatar of Buddha.

Listen to a remarkable tribute to Kwanyin, the god-
dess of mercy, as found in the Lotus Scripture, chapter 25.
This was written about the year 250 A.D. I quote only
a few sentences from it:

“Why is Kwanyin called the Hearer of the world’s prayers?”

If men are suffering all kinds of trouble and they with all their
hearts call on Kwanyin, Kwanyin immediately listens and delivers
them.

When sailing on the ocean, if their ship meets a typhoon, call on
Kwanyin.

If robbers or demons attack you, call on Kwanyin.

If men are too much led by their passions, by constant thought and
worship of Kwanyin, these lusts can be suppressed. ;

If men are foolish and stupid, by constant thought and worship
of Kwanyin, they will get rid of their foolishness.210 THE SECRET VOF THE BAST

If parents desire good children, call on Kwanyin.
If all men respect and worship Kwanyin, happiness will not fail
them.

‘Therefore, all men should hallow the Name.

Buddhism, however, is to-day dying or dead in China.
The Lama Temple which we saw in Peking is one illus-
tration of the decay. It is a mass of superstition and dirt.
Services still go on, but some of them are devil-dances.
The other Buddha temples in Peking are disused and go-
ing to decay. Fairs are held there, but no priests or wor-
shippers. So it is all over China, as reliable reports tell.

The Pagoda Temple at Long Wah near Shanghai,
which we visited is a striking example of neglect, poverty
and rejection. It is picturesque, but ill-kept, dusty and
dirty, a shrine of cobwebs and silence. And the great
Buddha is forgotten by the people.

The Buddhist temples of Canton are nearly all con-
fiscated and sold to the highest bidder by the new Republic
at the order of Dr. Sun Yat Sen. Buddha has ceased to
hold the mind and heart of China.

Professor Ross of the Univeristy of Wisconsin, who
has studied the Chinese people thoroughly, gives the re-
sult of his observations on the religions of China in
this way:

‘The religious plane of the Chinese will hardly com-
mand the admiration of any occidental, however broad his
sympathy. Confucianism, although it is a pure and lofty
morality, has little authority outside the learned clan.
Present-day Taoism is a hotch-potch of the crudest and
tawdriest superstitions. As for the Buddhism of China,
let no one look to find in it the golden thoughts of the
Great Teacher. Not one priest in a hundred has any
glimmering of Buddha’s way.”

These are the fruits of the religions in China, as we
may see them to-day,—numberless temples, dingy and neg-
lected; countless dusty idols, portraying hideous deities in
violent attitudes expressive of the worst passions; an army
of ignorant priests, engaged in religion largely for gain:BUDDHISM OF CHINA AND JAPAN 211

and a laity superstitious and irreverent, using religion for
personal advantage. Such are the facts about native re-
ligions in China.’’ So concludes this eminent scholar.

Buddhism in Japan. In some respects, the most inter-
esting Buddhism of all is the modern Buddhism of Japan,
where it has reached its fullest and freest development.
It certainly seemed to us, as we travelled in Japan, that it
was an intensely religious country—if outward evidences
count anything. Its religion is seen everywhere. It is
closely related to its history, its customs, its art and its
literature. You will understand Japan so much better if
you understand its religion. Its art and its architecture
have been largely influenced by its religion.

For instance, everywhere in Japan, you will see beauti-
ful arches, called Torii, made of wood, or bronze, or
granite. The name originally meant “‘bird-perch,’”’ where
the birds perch to announce the sunrise. These torii are
the entrances to Shinto shrines, and there are fifty-eight
thousand Shinto shrines in Japan, with no idols. Only a
mirror, a sword and a crystal,—the mirror to reflect deity,
the sword to defend the nation, the crystal to symbolize
the pure heart and soul. There are thirteen thousand
Shinto priests in charge. Remember these are shrines—
not temples. They are shrines of reverence for the Em-
peror, for ancestors and for heroes. This patriotic rever-
ence has sometimes, it is said, degenerated into super-
stition and worship, and often it is regarded as a religion
rather than a cult of patriotism.

The religion of modern Japan is in fact a combination
—almost an amalgamation—of what are sometimes called
the three ancient religions in Japan,—Shintoism, Confu-
cianism and Buddhism. ‘These three make “the faith of
Japan,” as President Harada of the Doshisha, once put
it. But they are not really three religions, only one is a
real religion. Shintoism is a code of patriotism and loy-
alty, a culture of the spirit of nationality and of devotion
to the royal family and the heroes of the race. It culti-
vates shrines of patriotism. Confucianism 1s a school of212 THE -SkCRET ‘OF THE BAS®

learning, a code of ethics, and it furnishes the backbone
of the morals of the country. The one real religion of
Japan is Buddhism—a very modern Buddhism of its own,
—on the background of Shintoism and Confucianism.

We found Buddhism so modified in Japan that we are
sure Buddha would never know it. The Japanese are won-
derful borrowers and imitators, and modern Buddhism in
Japan is largely borrowed from other religions. Its su-
preme divinity, Amida Buddha of Boundless Light, is de-
rived, as many scholars contend, from the Persian supreme
divinity, the Ahura-Mazda, the god of boundless light who
shall conquer darkness and all things. Its plan of salvation
by faith in the evangelical sense, by faith in Amida, by
trust in the name of Amida, was probably derived from
Christianity.

It is an eclectic religion, indebted to many sources, but
based on the popular legends of Buddha. It has many
forms,—some orthodox, medieval and horrible, with its
hells and demons. Other forms, very modern and intellec-
tual, eliminate the crudities and superstitions of the earlier
days. One such form, now numbering a fourth of the popu-
lation, bids fair to become the prevailing form of Buddhism
in Japan. This is the Shin-shu sect.

But besides these numerous Shinto shrines, we found
Buddhist temples everywhere in Japan. ‘They are temples,
not shrines. There are 108,000 temples and 54,000
priests. Some of these temples are stately and magnificent,
with deep-toned bells and gorgeous rituals. Buddhism has
been twelve hundred years in Japan.

The organization of Buddhism in Japan is much like
the church of Rome. It has a high priest with powers
like the Pope. It has saints canonized. It has bishops
and abbots, monasteries and monks. Church and state
are kept distinct. All weddings are celebrated by Shinto
rites. All funerals by Buddhist priests. There are twelve
principal sects or denominations of Buddhists in Japan to-
day, differing from each other as much as Roman Catholics
differ from Quakers in Christianity; and there are fifty-sixBUDDHISM OF CHINA AND JAPAN 213

smaller divisions. So that it is as much divided and sub-
divided as Christianity.

The great Shinto shrine of Japan is the Ise Shrine.
Here is the most sacred fountain head of their national
life. It is to them what Jerusalem is to the Jew. The
schools of Japan teach that one of the great duties of life
is to make a pilgrimage to the Ise Shrine, as a Moham-
medan’s ambition is to go to Mecca.

The Buddhist temples have such outstanding monu-
ments as the splendid bronze Daibutsu at Kamakura, the
great Nara Diabutsu; the images of Amida Buddha of
Boundless Light, in Kyoto; and of Kwannon at Kyoto,
one temple with 1,000 great images of this goddess of
Mercy and numerous smaller images making 33,333 images
in this one temple!

We found Japanese Buddhism, as we said, an entirely
different religion from what Gautama Buddha taught. He
preached a religion of self-culture and law. He never
spoke of a personal God. He never spoke of prayer. To
him, the highest happiness was Nirvana or extinction of
desire. All these original teachings have been replaced in
the new Buddhism of Japan by their exact opposites. Now,
Amida Buddha is the supreme God and personal Saviour.
Salvation is by faith in his name. Prayer and worship
are constant and necessary. The highest happiness is not
Nirvana, but a land of bliss—immortality—a Heaven of
conscious happiness. This is the creed of the advanced and
most numerous sect of modern Buddhists in Japan.

The Japanese are a cheery, happy, optimistic people.
By nature they are buoyant and hopeful, like the Burmese.
Some say “Japan optimized Buddhism,’—it certainly hu-
manized it. The Japanese love nature, flowers, beauty,
scenery. They think their islands the most beautiful in
the world. One popular Shinto leader put his optimistic
creed thus:

“Our lives are happy and peaceful. There is neither
anxiety nor pain. Mankind lives in a beautiful world. Be
in touch with life. Be cheerful. Come out of self. Trust214 THE TSECRED. OF THE BAS?

in Heaven. Be of calm mind, like a great immovable
rock. Make your spirit courageous, like the morning sun.”

Yet while they love life and enjoy it so much, the code
of Shinto teaches them that the greatest thing in life is
to die for their emperor, to die for their country, to die
for justice or truth. So they learn and live the spirit of a
noble sacrifice. With this preparation they ought to be
able to understand the divine sacrifice of the Cross.

Where the supreme god Amida of Japanese devotion
comes from, nobody seems to know. I mentioned that
some scholars think it is derived from the Persian deity
Ahura-Mazda. President Harada, a Japanese, confesses
that it is a singular and remarkable fact that nowhere is
there any history of his person or life. He just dawns on
the world about five hundred years after Buddha, that is,
about the time of Christ, and he is idealized and deified
as Amida the greatest of all Buddhas, the supreme Being
in the universe, the Buddha of Boundless Light. He is
both the Father and the Saviour in one. He is a personal
Saviour. ‘The first mention that we have of Amida is in
the famous book, Awakening of Faith, by Asvagosha, in
the first century of the Christian era, But this early men-
tion is wonderfully developed five hundred years later, and
is amplified a thousand years later in Japan.

This then is the greatest feature of the new Buddhism
of Japan. It has “The Great Mighty One,’ Amida
Buddha, who breaks for them the chain of Transmigra- ©
tion and Karma, chief doctrines of the old Buddhism, and
promises them forgiveness of sins, in spite of Karma, and
final entrance into Paradise, without transmigration.
Listen to the words from the Lotus Scriptures which
indicates this tremendous change in Buddhist religion:

‘‘The Great Mighty One is able to save those who be-
ing still in the evil path of transmigration could not cross
over nor break away from the ocean of ever-recurring
rebirths. Those who see Him can have all their sins re-
moved. They will never be reborn after this. They will
go to the Buddha lands, the mansions of Heaven.”BUDDHISM OR CHINA, AND JAPAN 2215

Another great thing to remember. Besides a supreme
Buddha, Amida Buddha, in place of Gautama, there also
grew up a triad of gods, or a trinity of divinities, some-
what similar to the Christian Trinity. This was seemingly
an attempt to humanize God, to bring him nearer to the
heart and needs of humanity, to give religion a more ten-
der and compassionate touch. Strangely enough the Chi-
nese and Japanese put into their trinity a figure now called
Kwannon, very similar to the Virgin Mary of the Roman
Catholic Church. And also a popular divinity known as
Jizo—how similar in sound to Jesus!—who has become
the guardian of mothers and little children.

How did these features similar to Christianity thus
become incorporated with Chinese and Japanese Buddhism,
not having been in the original Buddhism? There are
two possible explanations. One is that it was a natural
and independent growth to humanize the cold, austere and
philosophic tenets of original Buddhism. This view has
some advocates. The other view is that early Christianity
found its way into China in the early Christian centuries
and some of its features were absorbed and reproduced
in the current Buddhism of China and thence to Japan.

Prof. Arthur Lloyd, a missionary in Japan for many
years, considers that the doctrine of Amida Buddha, the
supreme God and personal Saviour, was developed through
Christian contacts and influences. He states that the
Amida sects, as distinct bodies, did not make their appear-
ance until after Nestorian Christians had been teaching
and preaching in China for several centuries.

Here is one historical fact to consider. The Nestorian
schism which divided the Nestorians from the Church of
Rome and sent all their missionary activities eastward, oc-
curred in 431 A.D. at Ephesus, in Asia Minor. Nestorius
was banished to Petra in Arabia. The school at Edessa
was closed in 489. But the followers of Nestorius found
toleration under the rulers of Persia, from which land they
gradually spread into India and even into China. These
Nestorians left a monument in the seventh century to their216 THE SECRET OP LHEVTEAST

work. This moument is still to be seen in China. They
may have given modification to Buddhism in China and |
this in turn to Buddhism in Japan which came from China
by way of Korea.

Another historical matter to ponder is the following.
Malabar is a district of the Madras presidency in India.
It has a population of 2,261,000,—1,600,000 Hindus,
580,000 Mohammedans, and 32,000 native Christians—
who are the so-called Malabar ‘“‘Christians of St. Thomas.”
They still count St. Thomas, one of the apostles, as the
first martyr and evangelist of their country, coming to
India in the first century. According to the Roman
martyrology which is fairly authentic, his remains were
brought from India to Edessa and thence to Ortona in
Italy during the Crusades. Chrysostom in the fourth cen-
tury mentions that his grave at Edessa is one of the four
known tombs of the apostles. There is another variation
of the early Christian tradition which says that St. Thomas
preached the gospel to the Parthians, the Medes and the
Persians; he baptized the three kings, the wise men from
the East; and then went to India where he carried on mis-
sionary labors and died a martyr’s death.

These ancient Christians of India call themselves the
Syrian Church of Malabar. We cannot of course be sure
that they originated from the preaching of St. Thomas.
The Christian church and college at Alexandria cherishes
the fact that Christians at Malabar in the second century
used the Hebrew gospel of St. Matthew. They were
there in the fourth century. A bishop of India was present
at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. Marco Polo re-
ports in the thirteenth century that he found Christians
in India at several points. When the Portuguese reached
India in the sixteenth century, they found these ancient
Christians of India there, numbering about 16,000 families.
In 1599, the archbishop of Goa brought them under the
jurisdiction of Rome, but in 1653, most of them threw oft
allegiance to Rome and at present ninety-seven of their
churches follow their old Syrian rites and liturgy.BUDDHISM OF CHINA AND JAPAN 217

We have dwelt on these historical data as suggestive,
rather than entirely authentic. They at least suggest the
possibility of the way in which Buddhism was modifed in
India, China and Japan in the early centuries.

Prof. Fenolossa asserts that there was intercommuni-
cation between the East and West as early as the second
century before Christ, when the famous Chinese, Chang
Kien, travelled to the West. There were overland and
sea routes to China even before this.

Dr. Timothy Richards says that in the first century
after Christ, in the year 61 A.D., the Chinese emperor
Ming Ti, sent commissioners to India to study politics and
religion, and they brought back eminent teachers to China
from India.

But besides the reputed labors of St. Thomas in
India, tradition asserts that in the second century after
Christ, Christian missionaries went from Parthia to carry
the gospel of Christ to China, and that Anshikao, a Par-
thian prince, gave up his kingdom in order to become a
Christian missionary in China in 148 A.D. This prince's
aunt was in Rome, living as a hostage, at the time of the
Christian Pope Callistus, and the Pope, so it was reported,
was familiar with the Buddhist writings of that day, as
Anshikao translated them, and was inclined to believe that
they had much similarity to Christianity.

Tradition also says that previous to this, that is, about
the year 100 A.D., a famous Brahmin of India, by name
Ashvagosha, had been converted to Buddhism, and had
become the St. Paul of Buddhism. It is said that he took
the early Buddhism of the first five hundred years, and
transformed it into a new Buddhism, with many of the fea-
tures of Christianity.

Buddhism and Art. These seem to go together. China
was two thousand years ahead of Japan in its civilization
and its art. The great Confucius and other Chinese sages
greatly influenced Japan. But the epoch-making event for
Japan was the introduction of Buddhism in the sixth cen-
tury of our era. This meant not only Buddhism, but civilt-218 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

zation for Japan—architecture, ritual, art, the Indian
philosophy and the whole of Chinese civilization.

Prof. Fenollosa in his great volumes on ‘‘Epochs of
Chinese and Japanese Art” has traced with patient and
adequate scholarship and after long residence in Japan as
professor in the University of Tokio, the early contact of
China with Greece and Rome. In the second century be-
fore Christ, silks from China came to Rome by overland
routes to Arabia on the backs of camels, and some inter-
change of commerce and thought by sea through the In-
dian Ocean. In 140 B.C., the emperor, Wu Ti, sent en-
voys by the western line of migration and they came in
contact with Persians and Greeks, and brought back much
to China. A permanent caravan route was thus estab-
lished from China to the Persian Gulf, and thus practically
with Alexandria, Palestine and Rome a hundred years be-
fore the Christian era. Prof. Fenollosa sees evident in-
fluences of Persia and Greek art on Chinese art at this
period. He establishes the fact of the touch and contact
of the West on China one hundred years before Christ.

To review for a moment, Buddhism was introduced
into China from India about the year 61 after the birth
of Christ and later into Japan. In that year a little gilt
image of Buddha was presented to the Chinese emperor
Ming Ti. This was the beginning. Then Buddhism began
to spread in China, just as Christianity began to spread
among the Gentiles of the Roman empire, and about at
the same time. It made a stupendous revolution in China
and Japan. It took nearly four centuries to conquer China
and Japan, just as Christianity took four centuries to con-
quer the Roman empire.

For a thousand years Buddhism was a great, stately,
formal system, like the Roman Catholic Church in Europe
for a thousand years. Then just like the Protestant
reformation in Europe, the Protestant and reforming
movement took place in Buddhism in Japan. Religious
leaders arose in Japan at the very time that St. Francis
was preaching a simple faith in Italy. These JapaneseBUDDHISM OF CHINA AND JAPAN 219

evangelists also preached a simple faith to simple folk.
They taught that all one has to do to be saved is to be-
lieve in the supreme God, Amida Buddha. Personal belief
and personal surrender is the primary thing. Creeds,
philosophies, ceremonies are not essential. This was from
the year 1000 to 1300 A.D.

Prof. Fenollosa traces the effect of all this new re-
ligious simplicity and democracy in the art work of China
and Japan, but the effect is quite as apparent in the life
of the people. Literature no longer consisted of fairy
tales and romances. Farmers, workmen coolies, began to
come into literature and art, as interesting subjects. The
individual was exalted. Citizens of all classes were recog-
nized. Essential democracy took its place in life and a new
demand for a simple faith and religion. It was the be-
ginning of the new Japan.

This reform movement sought to make the worship of
Amida Buddha dominant. This became the free land or
pure land movement, a purification and exaltation of re-
ligion on a background of Buddhism, but we must remem-
ber, very different from original Buddhism. Now they
discarded all elaborate ritual and concentrated everything
into an adoration and invocation of Amida, the supreme
God, the Buddha of Boundless Light. He is seen in re-
ligious ecstasy as a form of dazzling light, surrounded by
a company of saints, all equally luminous. This was the
vision, the mystic vision of the reformers.

Such a god is portrayed in the Japanese art of that
day (about 1000 to 1300 A.D.) a mystic figure, painted
in clouds and much gold, as Fra Angelico might have
painted had he been an Oriental. But it was a sincere
attempt to simplify religion and bring it home to the hearts
of men. Thus from an intellectual philosophical system—
such as our medieval scholasticism of Christianity was—
Buddhism in Japan has become among the most advanced
devotees a simple religion of faith and devotion, as simple
almost as the simplest form of Christianity.

The Japanese form of the Buddhist Trinity is usuallyee

 

220 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

to be seen portrayed in paintings and sculptures by the
central figure of the Eternal, Ancient of Days, called Ami-
tabha (or Japanese Amida). On the right always is the
Great Mighty One, who has broken the power of sin and
death,—called in Chinese, Ta shih chih, or in Japanese,
Dai sei shi,—called also the Physician of the Soul, the
Right Model made Incarnate. On the left hand always is
the Goddess of Mercy, the Holy One who hears the prayer
of the world, called Kwanyin or Kwannon.

The wonderful thing about all this is the unique possi-
bilities to the people of Japan, China and India when they
come to realize that the essential truth of their religion is
so closely akin to the central truth of the Christian nations
of the world.

The discovery of this essential likeness has not yet
dawned on the multitudes of Christians nor of Buddhists.
So far they are profoundly ignorant of the points of con-
tact. They imagine that they are worlds apart. Some day
they will wake up and see eye to eye. A few scholars
have begun to discern the facts. One of the leaders in
this work of reconciliation is Dr. Timothy Richard, for
more than forty years an English Baptist missionary in
China. His book on the subject, called The New Testa-
ment of Higher Buddhism, was published in I910. But
so far it has made little stir. It has been interesting to
scholars, but the bulk of the people have not even heard
of it. It gives new translations of two of the most popu-
lar Buddhist writings—The Awakening of Faith—com-
posed in 100 A.D. by Ashvagosha, the St. Paul of Bud-
dhism, who really created the new school Buddhism at the
beginning of the second century after Christ. It also gives
a new translation of the Lotus Gospel—not the whole
of it—but the Prologue, and the wonderful chapters which
give what is called The Essence of the Gospel. The book
is published in Edinburgh by T. & T. Clark, 38 George
St., 1910, and seems to me one of the most remarkable
books that I know. This Lotus Scripture, sometimes called
“The Beautiful Gospel of the White Lotus,” is the most

|BUDDHISM OF CHINA AND: JAPAN 221

popular of all the Buddhist writings in China and Japan.
It is found on the lecterns of every Buddhist temple, as
Dr. Richards testifies. It is the equivalent in China and
Japan for our gospels, and is about the same length as the
four Gospels and the Acts together. It is the chief source
of consolation and devotion to the many millions of Bud-
dhists in the Far East. It existed in Sanskrit before the
year 250 A.D., according to the authority of The Sacred
Books of the East, edited by Prof. Max Miller. It was
first translated into Chinese in the year 265 A.D. and later
into Japanese.

We found, however, two outstanding facts, militating
against the permanence of Buddhism. ‘The first was this:
The doctrine of merit in Buddhism is one of the most
subtle forces of its destruction. This doctrine is constantly
growing—the conception that salvation can be bought by
gifts to Buddha or to his order or temples. The import-
ance of such gifts are increasingly emphasized, to enlarge
the revenues of Buddhism, just as indulgences were sold
for revenue in Luther’s day. This doctrine which Chris-
tianity is steadily opposing and discarding in its own life,
Buddhism is emphasizing to its deep spiritual hurt.

We found another prevailing phase of Buddhism that
is rapidly disintegrating it. Transmigration of souls is a
doctrine underlying Buddhism and Hinduism, perhaps
older than both. Buddha accepted it, and sought to
modify and escape from it. But his refinement of it has
not been accepted. His followers still revert to the old
crude doctrine. It stands out foremost in Hinduism. It
is a curse to religion in the East. It takes away personal
responsibility and ascribes one’s condition entirely to pre-
vious existence. Its believers live in constant fear of being
born in lower forms,—ants, monkeys or cows. Modern
Buddhists do not trouble themselves about Nirvana either
in defining it, accepting or rejecting. They just neglect it.

We found it difficult to ascertain just how many Bud-
dhists there are in Japan and China. On one hand we have
the statement that there are 400 millions of Buddhists in222 DHE SECRET OF DHE, BAST

China alone. Yet Prof. Fenollosa, while acknowledging the
past influence of Buddhism on China, for instance, states
that to-day “Buddhism is a decayed and despised cult there,
having almost no hold on the educated classes and it is
quite a negligible factor in analyzing the present spirit of
China. The standard works on Chinese life and culture
almost ignore it.”’

The mass of the Chinese people to-day are not Bud-
dhists, as the people of Ceylon are. The Chinese are
Confucianists, tinged with Buddhism. Confucianism is the
official religion. In Japan, most people combine the three
religions in one,—Shintoism as national patriotism, Con-
fucianism for ethics and the new Buddhism for devotion.

What Is the Present Outlook for Buddhism? There
are several reasons, as an educated native Christian, Dr.
Harada, presents them, why Japan has not as yet accepted
the larger truth of Christianity. For one thing, he says
that Japan already has its own religion,—its national re-
ligion. It looks on Christianity as an alien religion. The
national spirit is tremendously strong in Japan. It thinks
that its faith is at least as good as Christianity. Again
modern Japan is strongly scientific. It has little use for
miracles or the supernatural, which seem to abound in
Christianity. Further, Japanese assert that Christianity
is lacking in its emphasis on loyalty and filial piety which
are the two great pillars of their nation. ‘They find these
in their code of Shinto which stands for patriotism and
loyalty, and in ancestor-worship which preserves the spirit
of reverence and the social order. But finally the greatest
barrier to an acceptance of Christianity by Japan, he finds,
is the exacting standard of morals in Christianity. The
Japanese religion and custom are much more lenient. The
Japanese admire the lofty teachings of Christianity, but
call them impracticable for the modern world.

Nevertheless we may conclude that Japan is marvel-
lously prepared for the larger faith. However it came
about, the modern Buddhism of Japan is the nearest ap-

,BUDDHISM OF CHINA AND JAPAN 223

proach of any religion to the faith and the fundamental
spirit of the gospel of Christ.

Shall not the followers of Buddha in future years, not
discarding Buddha and some things that he taught, also ac-
cept Christ as the fuller revelation, just as we accept Moses
the Jewish law-giver and also Christ the final law-giver and
life-giver? Buddha was a law-giver and prophet of God
for the Orient, just as Moses was for Israel, and Confu-
cius for China. Christ spiritualizes their teaching, deepens
and enlarges it.

Will the image of Christ ever replace that of Buddha
in the old temples? Possibly, but the world will never
forget Moses or Buddha. But why not colossal statues
of Christ for loving remembrance in all the temples of the
world? Shall it be Christ the Crucified, or Christ the
Consoler, or Christ among the Little Children, or Christ
the Healer, or Christ the Teacher? Thorwaldson’s Christ
may be the best statue of all—‘‘Come unto me, all ye that
labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

What Japan needs, and some foremost Japanese freely
confess it, is the consciousness of a Supreme God the
Father, such as Jesus revealed, the living God, the suffer-
ing and sacrificing God. Japan needs the leadership of
Jesus in His intense positiveness and His heroic saving
love. Nothing that Japan has can compare with him.
Japan needs the strong ethics and the progressive spirit
of the gospel. Absolute loyalty and filial reverence are
strongly in its spirit. Japan needs the broad and noble
view of immortality that modern Christianity teaches.
This avoids all extinction of life, all sensual delights and
yet satisfies the heart and life completely. Yes, and Japan
needs the transforming power of the grace of God in the
heart,—to make new men, new social righteousness and a
new nation filled with the spirit of liberty, justice and
brotherhood. This is the full fruit of the gospel of Christ.

Japan is fond of using that early description for itself
—‘the Sunrise Kingdom.” It is a beautiful designation.
But remember a sunrise is only a prophecy of greater
things,—of the fullness and beauty of the day that is to224 THE SECRET OF THE EAT

come. Let Japan stop not at the sunrise, but go on to the
richness and wondrousness of the full-orbed Day, of the
perfect revelation and infinite love of God.

In the Nikko temples in Japan I dreamed a dream.
I saw a hundred years hence, and there were held in those
magnificent temples, services of worship for the one true
God. There were services of grateful remembrance for
Confucius and Buddha. There was teaching in honor of
God’s revelation of tenderness, in the symbol of Kwannon,
goddess of mercy, and in Jizo, protector of little children.
There were times and seasons of national honor to the
great emperors, heroes, seers and holy men of the nation.
There was especial honor to the Christ, as the Supreme
Revealer and Light of the world. There were feasts of
lanterns, at Christmas and Easter and other holy days;
there were great festivals of song; there were the best
works of artists in painting and sculpture; there were con-
stant pilgrimages of all the people to these shrines and
temples; and there were beauty, peace and brotherhood
everywhere.

There is a remarkable prophecy attributed to Buddha
which is found in the Diamond Sutra, the Kin Kang King,
the most popular religious book in China.

It runs as follows: “Five hundred years after my death,
there will arise a religious prophet who will lay the founda-
tion of his teaching, not on one, two, three, four or five
Buddhas, but on the Fountain of all the Buddhas. When
that one comes, have faith in Him, and you will receive
incalculable blessings.’ The Buddhists interpret this as
relating to the great prophet and interpreter Ashvagosha
who, as a St. Paul, really made new-school modern Bud-
dhism. But the prophecy may equally well and even better
refer to Christ who brought for both Jews and Buddhists
and all other earnest souls the fullest revelation of God.THE TAJ MAHAL—A TRIBUTE TO A
WOMAN

A SKETCH

looked upon the Taj. It seemed a mystical white rose,
blooming with the whole radiant soul of India. I
knew it was Mohammedan, but it was also Indian. No-
where but in India, among this people of feryent mysticism
and exultant beauty, could it have flowered forth. I saw
it first in the early flush of dawn, and then again in the
golden glory of the sunset hour. Sometimes it seemed all
snow-white, as in the exquisite morning light; then pink-
white in the translucent sunset glow; then under the blue
turquoise sky of high noon, it seemed blue-white, and as
airy as the fairy clouds. It changed as if with the magic
of a subtle spiritual chameleon, yet always was it as beauti-
ful as a remembered dream of music by the waters. No
one could behold it without feeling a new joy in his heart
and without finding all life somehow fairer and sweeter.
We have heard much of the degraded position of
woman in the Orient. Much of it is true. Many pitiable
things may be truly said of the child-widows, and the other
sad-faced women of India. And yet we must remember
that here in India, at Agra, stands this most beautiful build-
ing in the world, dedicated to a woman, built out of love
to her, designed to represent her delicacy, her loveliness,
her undying perfection. Words cannot describe the Taj
Mahal, and no pictures have ever done it justice.
It is a white vision of loveliness, a radiant dream,—in
a setting of green gardens, against a sapphire sky. So
beautiful is it that it almost takes one’s breath away. Its
pure translucence in that lustrous atmosphere of India over-
225

|: was a memorable day for me when my eyes first226 THE SECRET OF DHE Ast

whelms the spirit. It seems too wonderful to be true.
Its white dome lifts like dainty gossamer. Around it are
the idyllic gardens. Before it, reflecting its beauty, are
the placid waters of a noble water-way of marble.

It is easy to give the facts and figures about the Taj
Mahal. It was completed in 1647,—just twenty-seven
years after the Pilgrims had landed at Plymouth Rock.
While the pilgrims were building log-huts and meeting-
houses in New England, the marvellous beauty of the Taj
Mahal was being created in India. At this time the Mogul
emperors of IndiamMohammedans—held sway in North-
ern India. They were noted for their love of art and
architecture and the splendor of their courts.

It is said that the Emperor, Shah Jehan, who created it,
needed seventeen years of work, and 20,000 workmen to
build this marvellous mausoleum. The building is an octa-
gon with Saracen arch doors and niches. Its domes rise
270 feet above the level of the river Jumna, lifting into
the cloudless sky. The four marble minarets at the cor-
ners are 150 feet high. The marble dais on which the
palace-tomb is built is 285 feet square. The windows are
open-work marble screens, finely wrought. There are in-
numerable inscriptions from the Koran, exquisitely inlaid,
mosaics and arabesques.

Not only is the building perfect in architecture, as we
found—a perfect gem of design and craftsmanship, the
embodiment of a dream, wrought out most marvellously,—
but the whole setting is worthy. We approach through a
beautiful avenue of heavy cypresses, symbolic of grief and
beauty. The way is lined with jetting fountains, with their
faint music and gentle coolness. All around are the pro-
fusion and luxuriance of lovely gardens, symbols of life
and of deathless immortality.

Many have called it, as we did,—‘‘a poem in stone.”
It is surely the “‘most lovable monument that has ever
been erected over the dead.”’ None of us were disap-
pointed in its beauty,—none ever are. The universal ver-
dict is—‘‘the half has never been told.”’ All the details

,TAJ MAHAL AT AGRA

THEGHEY VAy MAHAL 227

are so astonishing. The exquisite carvings, sculptured in
low relief, are inlaid with precious stones, mostly green and
red. All is the very perfection of beauty.

Perhaps the most beautiful account ever written of
the building of the Taj Mahal is the exquisite description
by L. Adams Beck, a Canadian writer. It appeared first
in the Atlantic Monthly and is now printed in a volume
called The Ninth Vibration—a collection of East Indian
and other Oriental stories. I quote only a part:

‘The wondrous lady, the wife of the Mogul emperor,
Shah Jehan, was most worthy of love. She was all beauty
and she was all goodness. She had the soul of a child,
unconscious of her power, and walking ever, crowned and
clothed with humility.

“It was the dawn of a sorrowful day when the lovely
lady was laid low in pain,—the day when at the time of
the evening prayer, her first child was born. And then,
having done with pain, she began to sink slowly into a pro-
found sleep and the women in waiting whispered—'It is
the end!’

“The emperor Shah Jehan had been waiting in the
palace nearby in anguish of spirit, and all day the people
came and went about him in silence.

‘Now they called him, and in pitiful sorrow he came
to the marble chamber where she lay. It was dusk there,
and a slender fountain cooled the hot air, and a very faint
light fell upon her fair face. He knelt to her, and his
head fell forward upon her breast, and she slowly opened
her eyes, as from the depths of a dream, and in a voice
faint as the fall of a roseleaf, she said the one word,
‘Beloved!’

“Her beauty seemed of Paradise. She put her hand
upon his, and so it remained. After a time she said: ‘I go,
but in your heart I abide, and nothing can sever us. Re-
member me, and I shall live.’

“And he answered from the darkness of her bosom—
‘Beloved, the whole world shall remember thee. But when
shall I be united to thee?’228 THE SECRET: OF THE, EAST

‘‘And she said: ‘Beloved, we sleep and the night is gone.
Now put your arms around me, for I sink into rest.’ And
the lovely lady slept, and in the chamber of marble there
came a white silence.

“Thereafter for weeks the Emperor himself lay before
the door of death. But slowly his strength returned, and
he declared his will. Thus did he speak: ‘For this blessed
Lady (upon whom be peace), shall a tomb-palace be made,
the like of which is not found in all the world.’

“So he sent for the noblest architects and craftsmen,
and he said: ‘[ will that all the world shall remember my
Lady, the Flower of the World, and that all hearts shall
give thanks for her beauty. Make for her a palace-tomb,
gracious as she was gracious, lovely as she was lovely. Not
such as the tombs of the Kings and Conquerors, but of a
divine sweetness. Make me a garden on the banks of
Jumna, and build it there.’

‘‘And the chief of the architects, Ustad Isa, dreamed a
dream one night when the light was upon the Jumna and
the low moon slept in silver. He dreamed a palace of
whiteness, warm as ivory, cold as chastity, domes and cupo-
las, slender minarets, arches of marble fretted into sea-
foam, screen within screen of purest marble, to hide the
sleeping beauty of a great Queen,—silence in the heart of
it, and in every line a harmony beyond all music.

‘‘And he awoke, and fell on his face, and worshipped
Allah, the Master-Builder of the Universe, saying ‘Surely
I am but the tool in the hand of the Builder.’ |

‘So he assembled the master-craftsmen of India and
the outer world. So grew the palace that should murmur,
like a sea-shell, in the ear of the world the secret of love.

‘Now it is told that sometimes, of a summer night, one
may see a marvel—the palace of the Taj dissolve like a
pearl, and then rise like a mist into the moonlight; and
then he may see dimly the great Queen standing there in
the white perfection of beauty, smiling as one that hath
attained unto peace. For she is its soul.”

.THE TRUTH ABOUT MODERN HINDUISM

HE modern religion of India is not Buddhism.

There are no Buddhists left in India. Buddha is

as fully rejected by India as Jesus was by the
Jews. The modern and prevailing religion of India 1s
Hinduism, professed in its various forms, by 240 millions,
out of the 300 millions of India. The remaining 60 mil-
Hons are Moslems.

India presents great contrasts and so does Hinduism.
On the one hand, Hinduism has evolved the loftiest philos-
ophies of religion, in the Upanishads and similar writings,
and on the other hand, it has followed the most degraded
religious practices, and has therefore resulted in a pitiable
and wretched multitude of people. Her religious philos-
ophy and her practical life are strangely divorced,—her
devotion does not touch the people for their good. The
dead hand of tradition, and sad and unworthy religious
practices are still her stumbling block.

India is a wonderful land. It has beauty of natural
scenery,—the magnificent Himalayas, crowned with per-
petual snows, the charm of the Vale of Kashmire, the for-
est roads near Simla with their mountain ferns and rush-
ing torrents, the coast of Malabar with its palms and sound-
ing surf, the green felds of North India, the brilliantly
flowering trees of South India, the wonderfully clear skies
and marvellous radiance of sunshine. It has great beauty
of architecture, from the great Mohammedan structures
of the North, such as the Taj Mahal to the Dravidian
temples of Madura in the South. Its art is wonderful,—
chiselled ivory, wood carvings, brass work, shawls and rugs,
it has made a real contribution to the beauty of the
world. Its people are numerous and varied, of many tribes
and races, of many languages and dialects and of many
religions. It is a land of variety and a land of contrasts.

229:

230° "1 DHE SECRET OF DHE BASH

You will find these East Indians,—these swarming
masses of Hindus—surely among the handsomest people in
the Orient. They have wonderful eyes. They have fine
faces, intellectual, spiritual, They are not sensual and ~
passionate. They are devout and thoughtful. They repre-
sent the finest stock in the world, bronzed by centuries of
exposure to the tropical sun. We could not help admiring
them. Many of the finest faces are seen among the com-
mon people.

Here also are some of the fine things in the spirit and
life of India. For one thing, the people love music. Music
is a part of life all over India. From dark to dawn they
will listen to music. The songs of the Gita Govinda are
sung all over Bengal. Music is a part of their religious
devotion. It is a music different from Western music—it
excludes harmony and develops melody in intricate and
elaborate time measures. It uses cymbals, drums and
stringed instruments. But it has a witchery of its own.

The people of India also love poetry. They learn by
heart large portions of the devotional poems and patriotic
classics of the nation. They love the stories of their great
heroes and heroines, and the professional story-teller is still
eagerly listened to, as he recites dramatically the tales from
their two national epics—the Maha-bharata and Rama-
yana. Their memories are remarkable and often an illiter-
ate man or woman will know innumerable stories of the
ancient folk-lore.

The people of India are proud of their sacred books.
Much of these are as ancient as our Bible, and some even
older, dating to 1,500 B.C. Some parts are even earlier,
about 2,000 B.C. The four Vedas, the Sutras, the Upani-
shads, and the two great epics already mentioned, are full
of moral instructions. Some of these writings are ques-
tionable and doubtful. But most of them are wonderfully
noble, and the popular heart of India loves them.

The people of India have the gift of meditation. They
can sit still and think hour after hour. They have learnedTRUTH ABOUT MODERN HINDUISM 231

to concentrate their thought and take time to think on
great things. It has something to teach the West in this
great art. We in America are so active, so vigorous that
religious quiet with us has become a lost art. ‘The true
life combines activity and meditation.

The people of India are naturally and instinctively phil-
osophic. They love to meditate on the mysteries of life
and to ask the questions whence, where, and why. They
have intellectual power, intellectual activity, intellectual
subtlety.

They also have great capacity for renunciation. India
admires those who place the things of the spirit above those
of the flesh. That is why she loves stories of sacrifice and
renunciation. That is why her holy men are honored, who
give up all for their quest of truth. That is why she ad-
mires and follows Mahatma Ghandi, because as they think,
he represents unselfish sacrifices, caring nothing for wealth,
position, pleasure, only for truth and right.

The people of India have great religious consciousness.
They love religion. They love spiritual things. Their
whole life is full of sacramental observances. [hey are
a serious and devout people,—an honest and a sincere peo-
ple. From all that I know and can learn they are the most
intensely religious people on the face of the earth. India
has maintained for centuries a passionate quest for the
Divine. Her devotion has never diminished.

The people of India have a great love for India. They
are not envious of other nations. They believe that India
is really and essentially as great as any nation in its history
and literature. They cherish thirty centuries of unbroken
history, traditions, great personalities, and great ideals.
They do not want to be like Western nations, full of busi-
ness, activity, progress, wealth, power. They are not daz-
zled by these things. They do not want them. They
believe that their civilization is more worthy,—the civiliza-
tion of faith, religion, philosophy, poetry, beauty. They
feel that India has a meaning and a message for mankind.
They are proud of India.232 DRE SEGRE (OF THE VAST

Now all these things are in their favor. We ought to
respect them for such things. And yet I have seen sights
in India with my own eyes,—things carried on in the name
of religion—that were indescribable and almost unbe-
lievable. I do not mean merely the Kali worship, where
we saw the bloody sacrifice of goats daily, with the blood
sprinkled on the idol and the devotees, where we saw the
throngs of innocent little temple girls brought up to a life
of shame. But we saw all through India the public symbols
of phallic worship in the service of Siva or Shiva. We
saw these altars and shrines along the sacred Ganges. This
is one of the saddening phases of Hinduism in India. How
does it happen, for much is high and lofty in this religion?

I believe that it exists because it is a vestige of a very
primitive nature worship, and has not yet been refined or
abolished. Such practices prevailed in the religious prac-
tices of many primitive peoples, even in classic Greece and
Rome. They existed in Japan as late as a hundred years
ago, but have now been thoroughly eradicated there. The
devil-dances of Tibet are also a remaining relic of a primi-
tive nature worship.

Let us see what sort of religion it is that allows within
itself such heights and such depths. Modern Hinduism
is a religion of contrasts. It is a very intricate and com-
plex religion,—for it is a conglomerate, and its various
constituents have never thoroughly fused or harmonized.
Hinduism has, as we said, some features which are ignoble
and unworthy, some that ought not to be tolerated for an |
instant by pure religion. But let us be fair and unpreju-
diced. It is not all ignoble and unworthy. It is not all
superstition and idolatry. It has some features that are
noble and altogether admirable.

We may go to India, see a few things superficially and
come away disheartened and disgusted. Or we may go to
India with some understanding of the meaning of things
religious, and some true sense of proportion, and we can
come away hopeful and optimistic even if there is still a
long way to go. It is all the point of view, even while look-TRUTH ABOUT MODERN HINDUISM 233

ing at the same facts. For we must remember that in spite
of these saddening features of Hinduism, Gandhi is still a
Hindu of the Jain sect. He condemns and yet tolerates these
practices. He does not, so far as I know, make any open
fight against them. Tagore is also a Hindu, although he is
a reformed Hindu of the Brahmo Samaj which does not
countenance these things. Other leading Hindus lament
them, or apologize for them, but the practices go on, to
the misfortune of India.

It is somewhat the same with us Christians. We see
superstition and idolatry in certain medieval forms of Chris-
tianity. We are sorry for them, but we cannot uproot
them even in those branches of the church where they exist
under the fair name of Christianity. We can only hope
and pray that people may grow wiser. We see practices
in Mormonism and in some modern healing fads that we
consider perversions of Christianity. But while we con-
demn them we cannot fully.eradicate them. We hope that
time will do it. So it is with the bad spots in Hinduism.

As we said, Hinduism is the most complicated, intri-
cate, and confused of the religious systems of the world.
Its deities make a formidable list of strange names, and
stranger attributes. Its idolatrous images vary from the
horrible to the grotesque, but scarcely any of them have
much of beauty or sublimity, except in the case of
Krishna. It is largely a religion of fear, and yet its philos-
ophies, while often fantastic, sometimes reach to nobility
and a passionate search for truth. All that we can do in
this brief sketch is to take a few of its features, and deter-
mine briefly the main outline and trend. In Hinduism, we
find a triad of gods, somewhat similar to a trinity,—
Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Siva the
destroyer and reproducer. But besides these there are nu-
merous minor gods, avatars and saints, as numerous as the
saints in the most superstitious country in Christendom.
We must understand that Brahma, the Supreme God, the
creator and sustainer of the world, is not personal in the
Christian sense, and yet not altogether impersonal. He 1s234 THE SECRET OR, THE, EAST

vague and distant, and yet at times identified with all and
akin to the human self. Greatest of all the gods is Brahma.
Only gradually did he become to many a supreme god of
grace. One of his devotees, Ramanuja, wrote in 1137
A.D. and it seems like an honest attempt at theism, with
polytheism in the background: ‘“‘We know from our Scrip-
tures that there is a Supreme Person, whose nature is abso-
lute bliss and goodness, who is fundamentally antagonistic
to all evil, who is the cause of the origination, sustenta-
tion, and dissolution of the world, who differs in nature
from all other beings, who is all-knowing, who by his mere
thought and will accomplishes all his purposes, who is an
ocean of kindness, as it were, for all who depend on Hin,
whose name is the highest Brahma.” This is certainly
very clear and noble teaching, but it is written as late as
1137 A.D. He also goes on to say that souls are freed
from the cycle of re-birth by their devotion to the Lord,
and being redeemed, are not merged into God, but enjoy
intercourse with Him. This is all fine, this doctrine of the
12th century, but we wonder whether it is Hinduism modi-
fied by the Christianity already touching India for a thou-
sand years. Brahma, although supreme, has never become
a popular God. He is too far off, too transcendental. He
is a god of philosophy, not of the people.

The second person of the Hindu triad is Vishnu, the
Sustainer. Vishnu is a god of the bright heaven in the
Vedas, like Apollo among the Greeks. In the Rig-Vedas,
there are hymns to him as the solar god, as each day he
strides through the world by three great steps. It means
the course of the sun. Later, Vishnu is represented as rid-
ing on the sacred bird through the skies. Still later Vishnu
is born as a man and descends to earth under the name of
Rama or Ram, and has many earthly adventures as a human
hero and also as an incarnation of Vishnu. But the most
popular incarnation of Vishnu is Krishna. He is, first of
all, the Krishna of the Puranas. Strange stories are told
of his boyhood as a cowherd, and of mischief and pranks
of his dalliance with the shepherd girls and later with a

-}
Foo mpeagasiee seer Sopot
4TRUTH ABOUT MODERN HINDUISM 235

mistress Radha. But gradually his escapades are forgot-
ten, and he becomes the Krishna of the Bhagavad-gita, the
devoted and spiritual hero of the love and the mercy of
God. It is an ascent from Solomon’s Song of Songs to the
passionate purity of St. John’s gospel.

The third person of the great Hindu triad is Siva,
or as it is written sometimes Shiva. He is the destroyer
and the reproducer. He is the punisher for the gods and
the avenger of sin. Usually he is worshipped not in his
own person, but in that of his wife Kali or Durga, who
strangely enough has become one of the most popular
deities in India. She is represented with her tongue hang-
ing out and down to her waist, and her head covered with
writhing serpents, and she wears a necklace of human
skulls. Her image is kept dripping with the blood of
goats offered to her. In Bengal the majority of Hindus are
especially devoted to Kali. These sacrifices of goats are
sometimes made as a propitiation for sin, for wrong-doing,
but often as an offering to cure the disease of a loved one
or friend. The worshippers of Kali still believe that dis-
ease and trouble are punishments from God, and can be
cured only by sacrifice and penitence before God. Kali’s
frightfulness represents to them the frightfulness and hor-
ror of sin and punishment. ‘

We were interested to find in India that Siva himself
is largely worshipped not as the destroyer, but as the repro-
ducer. He is the god connected with the sacred mysteries
of procreation and of death. He is especially honored
to-day at Benares, the metropolis of Hindu orthodoxy, but
his phallic emblem roughly hewn in stone is found every-
where in India, even in the smallest village. Professor Cave
of England bears full testimony in confirmation. In South
India his worship is prevalent. To him are dedicated the
most famous temples of Tanjore, and Madura. The
Tamil hymns of the saints praise Siva as the compassion-
ate God. Those pray to him who desire children. nie
receives a genuine and often intense devotion from
learned and intelligent men. They think his grace gives——————

236 EHE SECRET: OF FHE EAS®

release from the bondage of sin and weakness, and they
ascribe to him power and mercy. I saw at least twenty
of these shrines of Siva in various parts of India,—in Cal-
cutta, in Benares, at Lucknow and other places. Some-
times they were in temples, sometimes under sacred trees
by the river. These symbols were usually made of stone.
They were worshipped by pouring libations of water over
them, and placing upon them white flowers. Men and
women alike seemed to be zealous in such worship. They
hoped for either virility or for children.

We visited the marvellous Caves of Elephanta near
Bombay. ‘They are temples to Siva. The colossal carv-
ings of those temples are real works of art, some of them
superbly done. ‘They are the ancient mythologies done in
stone. But what few realize who visit there is that these
cave temples are the greatest shrines of Siva worship that
have been constructed. The stone symbols of Siva in their
central altars are the largest in all India. Even in Benares,
the most sacred city of the Hindus, we saw things that
made us sad. In the Nepalese Temple, for instance, there
on the banks of the sacred Ganges, are sacred sculptures
which in any other land, would be indicted as an offence
against modesty and morals.

We may be thankful that the Bible morality which we
try to follow reveals a God who cries out against the sen-
suality and idolatry of heathen worship; and that we have
a divine Master, not like the Hindu god Krishna, guilty of
lies and adultery, but a divine Master without fault or
blemish,—pure as crystal. The Hindu books which tell
these unsavory stories and the Hindu art that so unblush-
ingly pictures them in carvings surely must lower the moral
tone of the people.

What a superstition it is to have such a place as the
Monkey Temple in Benares which we visited. Around the
parapet and all through the temple we saw monkeys old
and young, gray and brown. We bought the nuts at the
door to feed the monkeys. They are considered sacred.
We could see the shrine, the symbol of Siva.

a eeTRUTH ABOUT MODERN HINDUISM 237

So much was told me in India about Hindu practices
that I could not believe. I know there are other ways of
interpreting some of the these things. What I have learned
about Hinduism from Hindus in India helps me a little to
get their point of view. At the bathing ghats of Calcutta,
I saw multitudes at dawn bathing in the sacred water of
the Ganges. So it goes on for two or three hours every
morning. I talked with several Hindus there who spoke
English. I learned many things. ‘There is one religion,”
one Hindu said to me. ‘‘We bathe every morning and say
our prayers, and look to our God with devout thoughts.
We worship the same God as you, one God, although we
call him by many names. These are his manifestations to
us, just as Jesus was God revealed to you. I think,’ he
continued, “this bathing with prayer is a good thing to get
good health for this hot climate, and spiritually as well
to begin the day with thoughts of God. It does good, just
as early communion does a Christian good. It strengthens
the spirit, if the heart is sincere. The river Ganges will not
cleanse from sin,” he said, ‘‘that is only outward and phys-
ical. It does no good unless the heart be penitent. Hindus
who are intelligent do not worship images. We reverence
them, for they are symbols of God.” Here in Calcutta,
others told me, the favorite deity is Kali. “She represents
the destroying God, the avenging God,” they explained.
‘When an avalanche comes on the mountain, or a flood or
famine many people die; when calamity comes it is be-
cause of sin, and Kali must be propitiated, so we sacrifice
goats. It is the old blood sacrifice for sin. Your Jesus
was a blood sacrifice. Kali is represented so horribly to
portray the horror of sin and the awfulness of punishment,
but she is really most kind.” “Siva is another favorite
god here,” one explained further. “He is the life giver,
fructifying principle, the reproducer; he is represented by
the lingam; the creative principle is divinest of all. Chil-
dren mean much to us, we want children, so we make our
devotions to Siva. True it is,’ he admitted, “that the rites
of our religion are sometimes debased by ignorance and.

238 THE SECRED OF THE EASE

superstition. So it is with every religion, but these are
only occasional. Most of it is noble and pure. We believe
in brotherhood, in loving-kindness and service, in re-
ligious tolerance for all religions, and in justice and peace
for all men. We are seeking exactly what you seek al-
though our names and ceremonies are different,—peace of
soul and heaven at last.” ‘‘We think our religion is reason-
able,” said another Hindu devotee to me. “Karma explains
to us why people come into this life so unequal and handi-
capped. Does your religion explain? ‘Transmigration ex-
plains to us how sin has consequences forever, and works
itself out until the final Nirvana.”

These are some of the things that my Hindu friends
told me.

But it is well to keep in mind both sides of Hinduism.
When some Swami from India comes to America saying,
“T come as an apostle of peace and righteousness from the
spiritual East to the material West,’—you must remember
that he may be idealizing the East. He is painting only
the bright side of the picture. There is another side.
There is little peace there,—only a vast unrest and discon-
tent in the souls of the people of India, and the mass of
the people know nothing of his sublimated philosophy of
Hinduism, which he has modified by Christianity. The
masses of India are still steeped in ignorance, superstition
and idolatry. We are far in advance of India not only in
material things but in spiritual things. More than ever
after visiting India do I feel that a deep and broad Chris-
tianity is its only hope. We do want to be fair and unprej-
udiced. We must not take the worst features of any reli-
gion and judge the whole religion by these. If we did
this we could make a terrific picture of Christianity,—if we
told only of its early heresies and bigotries, its superstition
and blasphemies, its Spanish Inquisition and, massacre of St.
Bartholomew’s Eve. But that would be a one-sided pic-
ture. So with Hinduism. We must not put too much
emphasis on the unfortunate features. We must give theTRUTH ABOUT MODERN HINDUISM 239

facts. But we must also give the good features which help
to balance the picture.

Let us look at some good things about Hinduism. The
Hindu Scriptures contain much that is praiseworthy. The
Upanishads are the finest philosophy of Hinduism. Some
of the earliest of the Upanishads were surely written be-
fore the time of Buddha; some came later. Some are
stupid and unmeaning; some are fresh and living truths.
They contain the doctrines of Transmigration and Karma
as the fundamental axioms of thought and religion. They
teach that the world and all life are unreal. They teach
that God and one’s self are alike unknowable. The way of
redemption is the way of knowledge and a deep and dream-
less sleep. This is a vague teaching, not satisfactory, not
bringing peace. But many moral. precepts and good counsel
are given in the course of the philosophical exposition.

Besides the Vedas and the Upanishads, the Hindu
Scriptures include the two great epics of India,—the Maha-
bharata and the Rama-yana. These are the classics of the
popular religion—what we may call the Old Testament;
while the Bhagavad-gita is the New Testament of Hin-
duism.

The story of the Rama-yana is like one of the great
Wagener legends of Siegfried or the Valkyrie. It was writ-
ten possibly six centuries before Christ. It tells of a fa-
mous king, Dasaratha, and three sons, Rama, Bharata, and
Laksh-mana. By deceit and intrigue, Rama is banished for
fourteen years so that if the old king dies, the succession
may come to the second son, Bharata. When Rama goes
into exile, his faithful wife Sita, of her own free will, ac-
companies him. Many beautiful pictures are given of her
faithfulness and sacrifices, and all Hindu womanhood
knows this story and loves it. Finally the king dies, and
Bharata is called to the throne, but refuses and seeks to
bring back Rama. However, Rama likes it in the forest
and resolves to stay there. Here later he fights the demons,
and their leader, Ravana, in anger, carries off the faithful
Sita. But the monkey god, Hanuman, discovers where she240 THE SEGREF OF THE EAST

is, and Rama leads his forces to rescue her. By a miracu-
lously constructed bridge, which the monkeys make, he
reaches the island-fortress, Lanka, where the demon has
concealed her, rescues her, and slays the demon chief. At
her return, by the ordeal of fire, Sita then vindicates the
preservation of her chastity. Rama returns home with her
and going back to his kingdom, reigns in happy unison with
his brother, and all is well. This is the story in bare out-
line, but I am told it is one of the best known and best loved
of all Indian tales. The hero, Rama, is an earthly hero,
not a god or religious leader. The Vedic gods, Brahma,
Vishnu, and Siva are in the background of the story. But
it is this same Rama who later becomes the incarnation of
Vishnu.

The other great religious epic of India—the Maha-
bharata—in another famous story of adventure. These
two epics are to India what our Old Testament stories
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; of Joseph and his breth-
ren; of Samson; of Saul and David, the shepherd-king,
are to the Hebrew nation. [he Maha-bharata tells the
story of the struggles of the ancient Indian princes with
the treacherous sons of Pandu. It is a story like the Iliad
or Odyssey. The victory comes by the aid of a clever and
unscrupulous chief of the Yadava clan, named Krishna.
It is a story of human struggle and human victory. The
supreme god in the story is Brahma and next to him Vishnu
and Siva. The religious interest of the story is that be-
fore the epic is finished, the victorious Krishna has now
become the partial incarnation of Vishnu and is singu-
larly honored. Still later, he becomes the full incarnation
of Vishnu, and is the spiritual hero of a wonderful inter-
lude in the epic, called ‘““The Song of the Lord,” which
has become the gospel of Hinduism.

For the book that the people of India know best and
love most is this interlude of the Bhagavad-gita, ordi-
narily called ‘the Gita,” or The Lord’s Song. This book
is about the length of St. John’s Gospel. It is similar to
it in much of its mystic and beautiful philosophy, and it 1sTRUTH ABOUT MODERN HINDUISM 241

known and loved all over India. The Krishna of this book,
as Prof. Sydney Cave and others assert, seems a worthy
rival of the Christ of the Gospels. It portrays a living
God of love. From him the All proceeds. He conserves
the world, and he is born on earth when need arises. “To
guard the righteous, to destroy evildoers, to establish law,
I come to birth, age after age.’’ He loves men and re-
ceives men’s love. He bids men work, yet without hope of
reward. ‘‘He who does my work, who is given over to
me, void of ‘attachment, without hatred to any born being,
comes to me.” It proclaims a new way of redemption—
the way of devotion, called ‘Bhakti.’ This devotion
Krishna accepts, even though it be offered to other gods.
“Tf any worshiper whatsoever seeks with faith to rever-
ence any body whatsoever, that same faith in him, I make
steadfast. . . . They also, who worship other gods and
make offering to them in faith, do verily make offering to
me, though not according to ordinance.” That is a broad
conception. Krishna further will accept “even a leaf, a
flower, fruit, or water, if offered with devotion.” To all
men and women of the four castes the invitation is given;
“Have thy mind on me, thy devotion to me, thy sacrifice
to me, do homage to me,—so to me thou shalt come.” It
is a beautiful and pure Krishna here portrayed, quite dif-
ferent from the Krishna of the Puranas who often is fool-
ish or foul. Such is the little volume of the Gita, beloved
of India. It has much inconsistency in it, but it does por-
tray a gracious, loving God, and it demands obedience to
self-less duty. It is a great and noble book with a mes-
sage not for scholars alone, but for men and women in or-
dinary life, and it has won a real place in the affections of
modern India. This Song of the Lord is to-day the most
influential of all Hindu books. We found many editions
of it in India.

There has developed in Hinduism—this we must note
_a devotional strain which in some of its saints and seers
has found very wonderful expression. For instance, in the
Psalms of the Marathi Saints, translations by Dr. Mac-242 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

Nicol,—is one by Nikaram who lived 1608-1649,—the era
of the Pilgrim Fathers of America. He writes of his
trust in God:

Holding my hand thou leadest me,
My comrade everywhere.

As I go on and lean on thee
My burden thou dost bear.

If as I go, in my distress
Some frantic words I say,
Thou settest right my foolishness,
And takest my shame away.

‘Thus to me new hope thou dost send
A new world bringest in;

Until I know each man a friend
And all I meet my kin.

While much of this in Hinduism is good and worthy,
we must revert to the fact again that there is much also in
Hinduism that is most unfortunate for the people of India.
First of all we may mention the Caste System. There are
four chief castes—the priests, the soldiers, the traders
and the servants, and these are subdivided into 1,886 other
castes forbidding association, eating together or marriage.
This affects a population of 240 million Hindus, including
a population of 50 million untouchables, so low in the
social rank, as to be outcasts or pariahs. No Hindu can
ever rise above his caste, nor can any of his descendants to
the latest generation. True it is that we have classes so-
called in America,—the money class, the scholar class, the
middle class, the working class, the servant class, but no
real caste, since these can transfer by circumstances or
education from one class to another. But in India, the
caste system is rigid and unchangeable. It is a barrier
to all progress; it quenches ambition; it is an unreasonable
and unrighteous system, giving such handicap from the ac-
cident of birth.

Another most unfortunate and despicable thing is the
custom of using young girls in the temple services. ‘This isTRUTH ABOUT MODERN HINDUISM 243

one of the greatest blots on modern Hinduism. These
Nautch or dancing girls, as young as five or six years of
age, are bought by the temple and trained for these temple
services which are of a nature that no religion should for
a moment tolerate. And yet this form of Hinduism—
Shavism, it is called—is still tolerated and practiced in
India in the sacred name of religion. I wonder that the
whole womanhood of India does not rise up in protest
against it, and wipe out this blot upon the fair name of
India.

The so-called holy men of India, and there are said
to be four thousand of them, are another very strange and
doubtful institution. You see them everywhere,—ragged,
dirty, peculiar in thought and habits. They are concrete
illustrations of the difference between Hinduism and Chris-
tianity. In Christianity a holy man is one who most faith-
fully and nobly gives his life in serving and helping others.
In India, 2 holy man is one who does nothing but seek the
truth and his own salvation. He is a hermit or beggar.
India’s point of view is that these men are holy because
they are placing spirit above flesh and are giving up all
things for the truth. India honors them because she sees
in them examples of sacrifice, pain and self-torture, on a
bed of spikes or holding up an arm until it shrivels. The
religious teacher or guide, called gurus, no matter how
ignorant or dirty he is, is supposed to have some inkling
of the divine, some inspiration of the Almighty.

We saw the sacred cow everywhere in India as a part
of their religious custom. It wanders along the principal
streets of their cities; it crops what it wants from the stalls
in the market; it lays down and sleeps where it pleases on
the pavement. Sometimes you see four or five sacred cows
together in the street. Everybody takes them as a matter
of course. Devotion to the sacred cow, while an ancient
practice, represents to-day to Gandhi and other Hindu re-
formers a symbol of sacred kindness to cattle and other
animals, and better care of them.

Of several minor points in Hinduism, we may say a244 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

word or two. For instance the practice of throwing girl-
babies into the Ganges—which we have always heard of
with horror—is absolutely denied by the Hindus themselves.
The practice of suttee which did persist in occasional in-
stances down to this last century was a social custom—
highly honorable in a devoted wife—but not an injunction
of the Hindu religion. It was a purely voluntary act. We
may remember it was often practiced in other religions,—
our own ancestors, the Druids and the races of Northern
Europe practiced it. Wagner portrayed it as Brunnhilda
rides into the burning funeral pyre of her lover-husband
and thus immolates herself. The Samurai of Japan had a
similar sacrifice.

The practice of cremation by the burning-ghats is also
a general practice among many early peoples. The Greeks
and the Romans burned their dead. Our practice of bury-
ing the dead in the earth, or in the catacombs, merely fol-
lows the Hebrew custom of earth burial.

The practice of bathing in the Ganges is an ancient
custom, probably older than either Brahmanism or Hin-
duism. Bathing has always happily been a part of religious
ritual in all hot countries, and in India the Ganges early
became a sacred river in the general personification of
rivers, fountains and streams. So much was given by the
Ganges in the way of fertility and refreshment, that it
became naturally a symbol of the bounty of God. The
conception of its sanctity increased with the centuries. It
comes from the heights of the Himalayas which also in
the ancient days were considered sacred as the abode of
the gods. The Nile and the Ganges are the two most
sacred rivers in the world.

One of the worst practices of Hinduism is the continu-
ing custom of child-marriage and child-widows. There are
tens of thousands of child-widows in India to-day,—pa-
thetic helpless little girls, doomed to a future of isolation
and drudgery, or of a shameful life,—all on account of
foolish and pernicious custom. It has been so for centuries.
A new law legalizing the remarriage of widows was passedTRUTH ABOUT MODERN HINDUISM 245

in 1856, but religious and social customs are too strong and
few have taken advantage of the law. Something, how-
ever, is being done. Under the inspiration of Pundita
Ramabai, women’s associations in Calcutta, Madras, Poona
and Bombay are doing fine things to help in these matters,
both for child-widows and for the larger life of all other
women in India. But in spite of some improvement in
conditions in India, much is yet to be accomplished.

India has lost much by modern Hinduism which has
existed for at least five thousand years, counting its earlier
form of Brahmanism and its dominance for a time by
Buddhism. After all this time, these are the actual re-
sults,—ninety-four per cent of the people are so ignorant
that they cannot read or write, and are very superstitious ;
idolatry is still the general practice of the people, and
often in crude and obnoxious forms; the social condition of
woman is still debased and unworthy of a great people;
child-marriage and child-widowhood still being prevalent;
the caste-system is still the curse of India and the greatest
barrier to social progress,—it still makes outcasts of fifty
millions of its people, calling them untouchables, with
scarcely any human rights; and religion is still largely a
religion of fear, and does not satisfy the heart, for the
people of India are a sad and pathetic people with hungry
hearts and longing souls.

These facts and personal observations made me feel
most emphatically after this visit to India that Christianity
is urgently needed to purify Hinduism and reform it, and
to supplement it with the larger truth, and bring the twi-
light truth out into the full light.

Let me remind you what wonderful Christians these
Hindus make when the gospel of Christ has made them
into towers of strength. Recall the name of Pundita
Ramabai. She is probably the most distinguished woman
that India has given to the world. She was born in 1858
of Brahmin parentage and was carefully educated by her
father in Sanskrit and other learning. She was called by
the pundits at Calcutta “The Goddess of Wisdom.” She246 THE SECRET OF THE BASH

met Keshub Chunder Sen, the Hindu reformer, and became
an advanced Hindu opposed to idolatry, and devoted her-
self to the cause of emancipating the child-wives and child-
widows of India, from their awful bondage to cruel cus-
toms. She went to England in 1883, and came into the
clear light of the Christian faith. She visited America,
and found many friends to help her in her work. There
are 27,000,000 widows in India, and large numbers of
these are mere children. Pundita Ramabai opened three
schools or homes in which these children might find refuge,
education, and full emancipation. Her work met with a
marvellous success. It illustrates what can be done when
the love of Christ takes hold of a Hindu heart. Great
work yet remains to be done, but a fine beginning has been
made. ‘These women, Pundita Ramabai says, when edu-
cated and enlightened, shall by God’s grace help to redeem
India.

Such a one as Narayan Tilak, who died in 1919, is a
striking illustration. He was born and bred a strict Hindu,
but he saw a greater light. To him, Christ was ‘fan Orien-
tal who came to fulfil the highest longings of Hinduism.”
Tilak was proud of all that was best in India’s history
and traditions. He was a child of her immemorial culture.
It was patriotism that helped to make him a Christian. He
felt that Jesus Christ was needed to save his country to
its best. Tilak had remarkable poetic gifts. He trans-
lated the Sermon on the Mount and the Life of Christ
into verse, and the people of India listened. He became
a real Christian leader in India.

Another illustration of what the combination of Hin-
du preparation and Christian completion can do is another
living Christian leader in India, Sadhu Sunder Singh. He
travels all over India and everywhere gets a ready hear-
ing. As I first saw him, in his saffron robe as a beggar,
bare-footed and sweet-faced, he seemed to me like a vis-
ion of the Christ. The narrative of his life reads like a
page of the Bible. He is a true Christian of the St. Fran-
cis of Assisi type. He has gone up and down throughTRUTH ABOUT MODERN HINDUISM 247

India for seventeen years, and probably no teacher of his
day has made such a profound impression. He was
brought up a Hindu; he learned the Bhagavad-gita by
heart; he went to a mission school and when he was given
a Bible, he tore it up and burned it. But at sixteen, he
saw the truth and became a Christian. And then in the
Hindu way, he went out to wander and preach, with only
his saffron robe and his New [estament. He hopes that
the Christian Church in India will be Indian,—that it will
use Indian music and follow Indian customs, instead of
Western.

And we may also note, as further signs of promise,
that there are some modern movements in India that indi-
cate the fact that Hinduism is feeling the contact of Chris-
tianity, and is attempting to get rid of Hindu crudities and
cruelties, and to attain a more reasonable and spiritual
outlook. The work is still going on, the transformation is
in process, only a part of the result as yet appears on the
surface.

The movement, for instance, called the Brahmo-Samaj,
was founded in Hinduism in 1828 by Rammohan Rai, born
of a Brahmin family of Bengal. He denounced idolatry
and immoral superstitions, and advocated a pure theism,
such as he seemed to find in the Upanishads. He also
studied the Bible, and published in Bengali and English a
book entitled The Precepts of Jesus the Guide to Peace and
Happiness. He opened a Hindu Theistic Church in Cal-
cutta, where no image, carving or painting was allowed.
After his death, Debendranath Tagore, orandfather of the
poet Tagore, became the leader, and told in the story of
his religious experiences how he awoke to a vivid sense
of God and “‘after a long struggle the world lost its attrac-
tion and God became my only comfort and delight in this
world of sorrow and sin.” Another member, Keshub
Chunder Sen became the gifted missionary of the reformed
Hinduism and travelled all through India preaching it. He
vigorously denounced idolatry everywhere, and bade men
kill the monster of caste and reform the marriage cus-248 THE SECRET. OF THE EAST

toms of India, “evils of great magnitude.’ Keshub studied
Christian literature, and in 1866 delivered in Calcutta a
lecture on ‘“‘Jesus Christ, Europe and Asia’ which made a
great sensation. He spoke thus of Jesus—“Blessed Jesus,
immortal child of God. Was he not an Asiatic? When I
reflect on this, my love for Jesus becomes a hundred-fold
intensified. I feel him nearer my heart and deeper in my
national sympathies.’ Keshub appealed to his country-
men to “find in Christ’s love the inspiration for lives of
self-denial that they might dedicate themselves to God’s
service and their country’s welfare.” Surely this sounds
with genuine ring. Later he founded a ‘Church of the
New Dispensation” in which he used both Christian and
Hindu ceremonies. He declared—‘Christ is my food and
drink, and Christ is the water that cleanses me.’ Yet al-
though he derived so many of his ideals from Christ, he
never became fully Christian, but remained a reformed
Hindu. P. Z. Mozoomdar, whose book, The Oriental
Christ, is a product of the same forces, of Hinduism and
Christianity, is more avowedly Christian than Hindu, al-
though living and preaching the best of both.

Another movement was the Prayer Society founded in
1867 in Western India for theistic worship and social re-
form. Many of its members are Marathis and it uses the
beautiful hymns of the old Maratha poet-saints. It num-
bers some of the most influential scholars and leaders of
India. It is this Hindu society that works for the outcasts
of India, just as the Christians do.

Still another movement of reformed and purified Hin-
duism is the Arya-Samaj, founded by the well-known Saras-
vati of a wealthy Brahmin family. He found his new
Hinduism in a better interpretation of the old Vedic hymns.
They meant to him pure monotheism and a noble worship.
His movement is influential in the Punjab and the United
Provinces. Besides these, Gadadhar Chatterji, better
known as Rama-Krishna, the teacher of Vivikananda, be-
came a mystic defender of spiritual Hinduism. He was a
real saint, a passionate devotee of Kali and was one ofTRUTH ABOUT MODERN HINDUISM 249

her priests for years. He tried Mohammedanism and later
saw Jesus in a vision (as he tells), and for three days
was unconscious of all else,—absorbed in Him. At the
World’s Parliament in 1893 I heard his disciple, Vivi-
kananda, pronounce Hinduism as the most philosophic
and spiritual of all religions.

Theosophy, with Annie Besant in India as high priest-
ess, is a development of Hinduism, mixed with Christianity;
and the Vedanta Philosophy is another phase, based on the
teachings of the Vedas, interpreted with much of Christian
teachings in the foreground.

Mahatma Gandhi—Mahatma means “great-souled’’—
is a most interesting exponent of modern Hinduism.
Gandhi is the modern religious leader of India. We may
not approve of his political method of non-cooperation, of
passive resistance, of class-arousement against British rule,
but we cannot help feeling the religious power of the man.
His life has been a continual renunciation and sacrifice.
He cares nothing for ordinary pleasures, nothing for riches,
nothing for comfort, praise, or position. He is an edu-
cated man, a fine lawyer and a brilliant orator—a real
leader of men. He might have had high position and
reward under the British Government, but he chose to give
his life to what he believed was the cause of the people.
He has been greatly influenced by Christianity. He is an
earnest student of the Bible. At one time he contemplated
becoming a Christian. He took up Tolstoi’s teachings on
non-resistance as the essence of the Gospel and has sought
to apply it to India. He did not become a Christian, al-
though he is a Christian at heart. He remained a Hindu
in religion to keep greater influence among Hindus and
because he loved India. Gandhi, with his gaunt, wan fig-
ure, is a saint to the multitude of India. He told the peo-
ple of India that unless they feared God more than guns,
conventional religion, and government officials, they were
not fit for self-government.

But perhaps the noblest expression of modern Hindu-
ism is to-day found in Dr. Rabindranath Tagore. I saw250 THRE SECRET OF THE EAST

him recently in Rangoon on a visit,—the guest of honor
in a gorgeous street procession; it had been my privilege
to meet him several times in America, when he had deliv-
ered lectures and read his poems. He knows both Hindu-
ism and Christianity, and his outlook on life is a combina-
tion of both. ‘‘He combines the ‘bhakti,’ the devotion of
the Hindu saint, with the philosophic speculations of the
Hindu seer,” and he transfuses and transfigures all with the
essence of Christianity. He is an inspired poet, but also a
moral teacher. His Hinduism is very different from a re-
ligion of contemplation. It embraces sacrifice and work.
‘Not religious ecstasy alone, but strength to make love
fruitful in service.’”’ He expects to find God not merely in
the darkened temple but in labor with Him in the world.

The poet Tagore shows the genius of a literary artist.
Those of you who have read his poems in the song-offering
called Gitanjali or the earlier poems in the collection called
The Gardener will have received the very fragrance and
flower of the East. They are full of fresh fancy, delicate
imagination and the mystical adventures of the spiritual
life. Those who know his book of child poems called The
Crescent Moon will have been initiated into the universal
heart of childhood the world over. They contain truth and
beauty in magical vision. Those who have read his plays,
such as Chitra, The Post Office and The King of the Dark
Chamber will have realized that they have touched some-
thing profound and beautiful. They will find within and
beyond these parables the presence of holy things and the
impact upon the invisible world, mystic but real. It is a
consummate artist who has given us these things.

His prose work is equally notable, and such a book as
his Sadhana, a series of addresses on the realization of
life, addresses given at Harvard and at Oxford, is full of
literary charm as well as philosophic tonic. It is a rare
combination of profundity and simplicity and fascinates the
reader by its frankness and its vision. We do not wonder
that the poet-philosopher was the winner of the Nobel
Prize of 1913 for outstanding literary work in the world.2 Be

©) ( ndere ood and Undern Cod

DR. RABINDRANATH TAGORETRUTH ABOUT MODERN HINDUISM 251

But Tagore is more than a literary artist, poet or philoso-
pher. He is an educator and a prophet of the newer days
of human brotherhood. His forest school for boys at
Bolpur is not only a unique educational experiment but also
bids fair to become an international center for both East
and West. So much of modern life is restless, strenuous,
materialistic. Tagore puts his strongest emphasis on the
spiritual values of life and sets forth with wonderful charm
the serenity, the dignity and the spirituality of the East.

Allow me to quote a few words from his Gitanjali,—
they are a fine note in modern Hinduism in its purified
form: “God is there where the tiller is tilling the hard
ground and where the path-maker is breaking stones. He
is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is cov-
ered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle, and even like
Him, come down on the dusty soil! Deliverance? Where
is this deliverance to be found? Our Master Himself has
joyfully taken upon Him the bonds of creation. He is
bound with us all forever more. Come out of thy medita-
tions and leave aside thy flowers and incense. What harm
is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained? Meet
Him and stand by Him in toil and in the sweat of thy
brow.”

Such, in its various features, some good and some bad,
is the spirit of the prevailing religion of India. Are there
not a few signs of promise of a better day?THE PARSEES OF BOMBAY

OWHERE else but in Bombay do we see the
IN Pes in large community life. They are the

wealthiest people in India, the best educated, the
most philanthropic. ‘They practically own Bombay,” said
a British official to me in Bombay. ‘Nothing big can be
done without them. They have been very loyal to the
British government, and Britain has given them much rec-
ognition in titles, houses, and official position. They have
presented to Bombay some of its handsomest buildings
and monuments.”’

The Parsees have been in India for a thousand years,
coming there from Persia, from which they were driven
by the Mohammedans. ‘They number only a hundred
thousand. Of these, sixty thousand are in Bombay, the rest
in other parts of India. ‘They do not seek to make any
converts, membership comes only by birth, not conversion.
They are a very wonderful people.

We recognized them at once on the streets of Bombay.
They wear long, black coats, white trousers and very pe-
culiar hats, either a gable-crown polished hat or a light or
dark grey cloth hat. Their women are often beautiful and
take a prominent part in public affairs. They are social
equals with their husbands, and Parsees are the only na-
tives of India who are considered practically on an equality
socially with the white population. They are persona grata
everywhere.

While we were at Bombay a group of American
Masons paid a visit to the Masonic lodge in Bombay one
Saturday evening and found the lodge composed entirely
of Parsees. It was in the Freemason Hall of the Es-
planade. The American brothers were handsomely enter-
tained. It was not merely the usual fraternal hospitality,

252THE PARSEES OF BOMBAY 25

but these Parsees outdid themselves in cordiality and
brotherly good cheer. They were a most intelligent group,
and astonished our Americans by their thorough familiar-
ity with all the details and usages of the ancient and honor-
able craft of Free and Accepted Masonry.

We discovered several interesting facts about the Parsee
religion. For instance, the great Persians, Cyrus, Darius,
Xerxes, and Artaxerxes, were followers of Zoroaster. An
ancient inscription reads: ‘“‘Ahura-Mazda is the mighty
God, who has created the earth, the heaven and men; who
has given glory to men; who has made Xerxes king. I,
Xerxes, king of kings, king of the earth near and far, son
of Darius. . . . What I have done here and what I have
done elsewhere I have done by the grace of Ahura-
Mazda.” And yet the Bible says that when the Lord com-
missioned Cyrus a follower of Zoroaster He called him
“His Annointed.” The word came by the Prophet Isaiah
to King Cyrus. ‘Thus saith the Lord concerning Cyrus,—
He is my shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure;
and again thus saith the Lord to Cyrus, His annointed.
.. . L have called thee by thy name. . . . I have girded
thee though thou hast not known me.” ie

The chief prophet or interpreter of this religion was
Zoroaster, born in Persia about 660 B.C. He lived to be
seventy-seven years old. He died 583 B.C., murdered, as
some traditions say, while ministering at the altar. The
old Iranians wrote his name Zarathustra. He was a re-
former of the ancient religion and the prophet of a new
epoch of spirituality and power. Before his day the Per-
sian religion had been a composite worship adapted from
other conquered people. He made it into a new eclectic
religion, taking the best from the past and developing a
loftier theology and stronger ethics than the Persian world
had ever before known and infusing his faith with a world-
wide vision. Zoroaster was a contemporary of the Prophet
Jeremiah, and preceded Buddha, Confucius and Socrates

by a century or more. 3
The Scriptures of this religion are called by the general5

254. PRES SECRET OF HE HAST

 

name of the Zend-Avesta,—Avesta being the text and
Zend the commentary. It is a collection of books like our
Bible, written in different ages, and contains history,
legends, liturgy and hymns. Excellent translations of these
are available in about eight volumes of the Sacred Books
of the East.

Of all the religions of the nations around Israel none
are mentioned in the Old Testament without condemna-
tion, except Zoroastrianism, the religion of the Parsees,
who were at that time in ancient Iran, or Persia. To that
religion it seemed favorable. Of its devotees, such as
Cyrus and Darius, as we just noted, it speaks in the highest
terms.

Another fact: After Ezra and the scribes came into
contact with Zoroastrianism, and after the days of the
captivity in Babylon, a new emphasis was given in the
Jewish Scriptures to Satan, demons and angels. The later
documents of the Old Testament are fuller of these than
the earlier. Biblical scholars are agreed that much of the
demonology and angelology of the later Old Testament,
and consequently of our Christian Scriptures, was due to
contact with the more detailed explanation of the contests
and struggles of good and evil as given in the Zoroastrian
Scriptures.

Still another interesting point we learned. The three
wise men from the East who are mentioned in Gospel story
as coming to the cradle of the infant Christ, having seen
his Star in the East, were probably Zoroastrians, Parsees.
They were students of the stars. They were those who
followed the light,—they were those who were looking
for new prophets and interpreters of the light. What more
natural than that they should seek Him who should be the
Light of the World.

I have always been deeply interested in the Parsees,
as a remarkable group of people, but I happened to dis-
cover much new information about them on a recent visit
to Bombay. It is the fairest way, I think, to get the inter-
pretation of a religion,—not from the outside, not evenTHE PARSEES OF BOMBAY ALT

from scholars of another nation, however learned they
may be, however unprejudiced they endeavor to be, but
the fairest way is to get an educated interpreter from the
midst of the religious devotees of that religion. I think I
was fortunate in finding such an interpreter for the religion
of the Parsees in the person of Mr. Jivanji Jamshedji
Modi, an eminent Parsee and a cultured gentleman. He
tells us from the inside just what the Parsees believe and
what rites they practice.

It was my privilege to be present as a delegate from
Massachusetts at the World’s Congress of Religions in
Chicago where his interpretation of the Parsee faith was
first presented. I have a copy of his address at home, but
I was very happy in having placed at my disposal another
and later copy secured at Bombay. Allow me to give from
that address an outline of the Parsee history and faith.

The Parsees are equal in lineage, wealth and culture
to the followers of Moses,—some call them the Jews of
India,—but they are quite different from the Israelites in
origin and in religion. They are unique as a survival of
an ancient people and religion.

The Parsees of India are the followers of Zoroaster,
the founder of a religion which was for centuries both the
state religion and the national religion of ancient Persia.
As Professor Max Miiler says, “There were periods in
the history of the world when the worship of Ormuzd
threatened to rise triumphant on the ruins of the temples
of all other gods. If the battles of Marathon and Salamis
had been lost and Greece had succumbed to Persia, the
state religion of the empire of Cyrus, which was the wor-
ship of Ormuzd, might have become the religion of the
whole civilized world. Persia had absorbed the Assyrian
and Babylonian empires; the Jews were either in Persian
captivity or under Persian sway at home; the sacred monu-
ments of Egypt had been mutilated by the hands of the
Persian soldiers. Lhe edicts of King Darius of Persia
were sent to India, to Greece, to Scythia, and to Egypt,
and if ‘by the grace of Ahura-Mazda’ Darius had crushed256 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

the liberty of Greece, the purer faith of Zoroaster might
easily have superseded the Olympian fables.” In 642 A.D.
the growing religion received a check at the hands of
the Arabs, who, with sword in one hand and Koran in the
other, made the religion of Islam both the state religion
and the national religion of Persia. But many of those
who adhered to the faith of their fathers quitted their
ancient fatherland for the hospitable shores of India.

The modern Parsees of India are the descendants of
those early settlers. As a former Governor of Bombay
said, “Their position is unique—a handful of persons
among the teeming millions of India, and yet who not only
have preserved their ancient race with the utmost purity,
but also their religion absolutely unimpaired by contact
with others.” In the words of the Right Reverend Dr.
Meurin, the learned Bishop, Vicar Apostolic of Bombay
in 1885, the Parsees are ‘ta people who have chosen to
relinquish their venerable ancestors’ homesteads rather
than abandon their ancient religion, the founder of which
has lived no less than three thousand years ago—a people
who for a thousand years have formed in the midst of the
great Hindu people, not unlike an island in the sea, a quite
separate and distinct nation, peculiar and remarkable as
for its race, so for its religious and social life and customs.”

Prof. Max Miller says of the religion of the Parsees:
‘Though every religion is of real and vital interest in its
earliest state only, yet its later development, too, with all
its misunderstandings, faults, and corruptions, offers many
an instructive lesson to the thoughtful student of history.
Here is a religion, one of the most ancient of the world,
once the state religion of the most powerful empire, driven
away from its native soil and deprived of political influ-
ence, without even the prestige of a powerful or enlight-
ened priesthood, and yet professed by a handful of exiles—
men of wealth, intelligence and moral worth in Western
India, with an unhesitating fervor such as is seldom to be
found in larger religious communities. It is well worth
the earnest endeavor of the philosopher and the divine toTHE PARSEES OF BOMBAY Dine

discover, if possible, the spell by which this apparently
effete religion continues to command the attachment of the
enlightened Parsees of India and makes them turn a deaf
ear to the allurements of the Brahmanic worship and the
earnest appeals of the Christian missionaries.”’

Zoroastrianism or Parseeism—by whatever name the
system may be called—is a monotheistic form of religion.
It believes in the existence of one God, whom it knows
under the names of Mazda, Ahura and Ahura-Mazda,
the last form being one that is commonly met with in the
later writings of the Avesta. . . . The first and greatest
truth that dawns upon the mind of a Zoroastrian is that
the great and infinite universe, of which he is an infinite-
simally small part, is the work of a powerful hand—the
result of a Master Mind. The first and the greatest con-
ception of that master mind, Ahura-Mazda, is that, as
the name implies, He is the Omniscient Lord, and as such
He is the ruler of both the material and the immaterial
world, the corporeal and the incorporeal world, the visible
and the invisible world.

The philosophy of the Zoroastrian religion holds that
Ahura-Mazda or God is the Causer of all causes. He is
the Creator as well as the Destroyer, the Increaser as well
as the Decreaser. He gives birth to different creatures,
and it is He who brings about their end. How is it, then,
that He brings about these two contrary results? In the
words of Dr. Haug, ‘“‘Having arrived at the grand idea of
the unity and the indivisibility of the Supreme Being, Zo-
roaster undertook to solve the great problem which had
engaged the attention of so many wise men of antiquity,
and even of modern times, namely, how are the imperfec-
tions discoverable in the world, the various kinds of evils,
wickedness, and baseness, compatible with the goodness,
holiness and justice of God? This great thinker of remote
antiquity solved this difficult question philosophically by
the supposition of two primeval causes, which, though dif-
ferent, were united, and produced the world of material
things, as well as that of the spirit.”258 THE SECRET, OF DHE BASE

According to Zoroaster’s philosophy, our world is the
work of these two hostile principles, Spenta-mainyush, the
good principle, and Angro-mainyush, the evil principle,
both serving under one God. In the words of the learned
Orientalist, Professor Darmestetter, ‘‘All that is good in
the world comes from the former; all that is bad in it
comes from the latter. The history of the world is the
history of their conflict; how Angro-mainyush invaded the
world of Ahura-Mazda and marred it and how he shall
be expelled from it at last. Man is active in the conflict,
his duty in it being laid before him in the law revealed by
Ahura-Mazda to Zarathustra. When the appointed time
is come Angro-mainyush and Hell will be destroyed, man
will rise from the dead, and everlasting happiness will reign
over the world.”

We may note, in passing, that Professor Moore of Har-
vard uses the spellings Vohu Mano and Angra Mainyu
for these opposing principles or spirits.

The functions of the two spirits are these, in the words
of Dr. Haug: “Both are as inseparable as day and night,
and though opposed to each other, are indispensable for
the preservation of creation. The beneficent spirit appears
in the blazing flame; the presence of the hurtful one is
marked by the wood converted into charcoal. One has
created the light of day, and the other the darkness of
night; the former awakens men to their duties, the latter
lulls them to sleep. Life is produced by one, but extin-
guished by the other, whose hands, by releasing the soul
from fetters of the body, enables her to rise into immor-
tality and everlasting life.”

According to Professor Darmestetter, one ‘‘is all light,
truth, goodness, and knowledge; the other is all darkness,
falsehood, wickedness, and ignorance. One dwells in the
infinite light; the other dwells in the infinite night. What-
ever the good spirit makes, the evil spirit mars.”’ Accord-
ing to the well-known Pahlavi book Bundehesh, this con-
flict between the good spirit and the evil spirit will at the
last end in favor of the good.THE PARSEES OF BOMBAY 259

Thus we see that, according to Zoroaster’s philoso-
phy, there are two primeval principles that produce our
material world. Consequently, though the Almighty is the
creator of all, a part of the creation is said to be created
by the good principle, and a part by the evil principle.
The heavenly bodies, the earth, water, fire, horses, dogs,
and other objects are the creation of the Good Principle,
and serpents, ants, locusts, and other noxious things are
the creation of the Evil Principle. In short, those things
that conduce to the greatest good of the greatest number
of mankind fall under the category of the creations of the
Good Principle, and those that lead to the contrary result
under that of the creations of the Evil Principle.

It is therefore incumbent upon men to do actions that
would support the cause of the Good Principle and destroy
that of the Evil One. Therefore the cultivation of the
soil and the rearing of domestic animals, on the one hand,
and the destruction of wild animals and other hostile crea-
tures, on the other hand, are considered equally meritorious
action by the Parsee.

As there are two primeval principles under Ahura-
Mazda that produce our material world, so there are two
principles inherent in the nature of man which encourage
him to do good or tempt him to do evil. One asks him
to support the cause of the Good Principle, the other, that
of the Evil Principle.

Real religion is “The preservation of good thoughts,
good words, and good deeds.” In these three pithy words
is summed up the whole moral philosophy of Zoroastrian
scriptures. It says that, if you want to lead a pious and
moral life and thus show a clean bill of spiritual health
to the angel who watches the gate of heaven at the Chivat
Bridge, practice these three: ‘Think of nothing but the
truth, speak nothing but the truth, do nothing but what is
proper. In short, what Zoroastrian moral philosophy
teaches us is this, that your good thoughts, good words
and good deeds alone will be your intercessors. Nothing
more will be wanted. They alone will serve to guide you260 ERE SECRET OF SHE BAST

as a safe pilot to the harbor of Heaven, as a safe guide
to the gates of paradise.”’

We come now to the question of the destiny of the
soul after death. he followers of Zoroaster believe in
the immortality of the soul. The Avesta writings treat of
the fate of the soul after death. ‘They contain an account
of the journey through the heavenly regions, with the
notions about Heaven and Hell that correspond to some
extent to the Christian notions about them. According to
Dr. Haug, its description of Hell and of some of the
punishments suffered by the wicked there, bears a striking
resemblance to that in the “Inferno” of the Italian poet
Dante.

Nowhere does the belief in the future life after death
stand out more prominently; nowhere are the ideas re-
specting it expressed more decidedly than among the
Avesta people. Here the doctrine of immortality and of
compensating justice in the next world forms a fundamen-
tal dogma of the whole system. Without it the Zoroas-
trian religion is in fact unintelligible.

Again, Zoroastrian books say that the merit of good
deeds and the sin of evil ones, increase with the growth of
time. As capital increases with interest, so good and bad
actions done by a man in his life increase, as it were, with
compound interest in their effects. Also, a virtuous act
performed by a young man is more meritorious than the
same act performed by an old man. A man must there-
fore begin to practice virtue from his very youth.

A few words may be said about the Parsee places of
worship and the Parsee prayers. The Parsee places of
worship are known as Fire-temples. The very name ‘Fire
temple” would strike a non-Zoroastrian as an unusual form
of worship. Suffice it to say that the Parsees do not wor-
ship fire as God. They merely regard fire as an emblem
of refulgence, glory and light, as the most perfect symbol
of God, and as the best and noblest representative of His
divinity. A Parsee looks upon fire as “‘the most perfect
symbol of the Deity on account of its purity, brightness,THE PARSEES OF BOMBAY 261

activity, subtilty, purity, and incorruptibility.” As Rev-
erend Father Meurin says, “Zoroaster restored, not only
the unity of God, but also the most ancient and character-
istic Aryan form of Divine service, the reverence for fire,
as the most suitable representative of God, corresponding
to their high idea of God as Eternal Light. . . . A pure
and undefiled flame is certainly the most sublime natural
representation of Him, who is in Himself, Eternal Light.”

Further, the same learned Bishop says: “It must there-
fore, not surprise us to find a great similarity between
those Aryan ideas and names of God and those which the
Mosaic religion exhibits in its sacred text. . . . The Jew-
ish religion was only a preparation and prefiguration of
the Christian. If, then, we find shining flames and burning
fires as emblems of God’s majesty and presence used in the
most important and essential circumstances of the Jewish
religion, in the vocation of Moses, the deliverance of the
Israelites from the Egyptian bondage, their guidance
through the desert, the proclamation of the Ten Com-
mandments, the Ark of the Covenant, the first sacrifice,
the perpetual occupation of the altar, and the predictions
of the future Messiah and of His Church in tongues of
flame, I believe we have a full right to expect the same
emblems to be used also for the same purpose in the Chris-
tian Church. And so it is in fact. . . . A glance at the
ritual of the Church shows, then, that the very same posi-
tion which our ancient Aryan ancestors, following reason,
assigned to fire and light in their Divine Worship in order
to represent God’s Divine Majesty and His Presence
among His worshippers, is likewise, and largely, given to
the same convenient and delightful creature as a symbol of
God’s sublime splendor and living presence among His
beloved children.” A little further on, writing about the
similarity between the Parsee fire-temple and the Christian
sanctuary, the Bishop says: “On this landing let us rest
for a while. We have before us the sanctuary of the
Parsee fire-temple and the sanctuary of the Christian
Church. In both we see the perpetual flame indicating262 THE SECRET OF SHE AST

the presence of God: there the omnipotence of God the
Creator, here the sacramental presence of God the Re-
deemer. I am unable to express in words the deep and
vehement feelings which move my heart when I kneel in
the sanctuary of my chapel and think of the Parsee fire-
temple a few yards off, in which a fire is ever burning like
the flame in our sanctuary lamp. Here is one of the beauti-
ful similarities existing between the Parsee and Christian
religions.”

Flaving learned something about the place of prayers,
we may say something about the prayers themselves. All

arsee prayers begin with an assurance of the desire to do
acts to please Almighty God. This is followed by an ex-
pression of regret for past evil thoughts, words, or deeds.
A Parsee in the beginning of his prayers says: ‘Omniscient
Lord! I repent of all my sins. I repent of all evil thoughts
that I may have entertained in my mind, of all the evil
words that I may have spoken, of all the evil actions that
I may have committed. Omniscient Lord! I repent of the
faults that may have originated with me whether they ap-
pertain to my body or soul, whether they be in connection
with the material world or spiritual.”

The Parsees are also deeply interested in education.
To educate their children is a spiritual duty of Zoroastrian
parents. [hey teach that education is necessary not only
for the material good of the children and the parents, but
also for their spiritual good.

The proper age recommended by religious Parsee
books for ordinary education is seven. Before that age,
children should have home education with their parents,
especially with the mother. At the age of seven, after a
little religious education, a Parsee child is invested with
Sudreh and Kusti, i.e., the sacred shirt and thread. The
ceremony of investiture corresponds to the confirmation
ceremony of the Christians. A Parsee may put on the
dress of any nationality he likes, but under that dress he
must always wear the sacred thread and shirt. These are
the symbols of his being a Zoroastrian. It is after thisTHE PARSEES OF BOMBAY 263

investiture with the sacred shirt and thread that the gen-
eral education of a child generally begins. The Parsee
books speak of the necessity of educating all children,
whether boys or girls, so that the education of girls claims
as much attention among the Parsees as the education of
boys.

In reference to education, this fact is interesting.
Analyzing the Bombay Census of 1881, Dr. Weir, the
Health Officer, said: ‘Examining education according to
faith or class, we find that education is most extended
amongst the Parsee people; and the education of girls is
more diffused amongst the Parsee population than in any
other class.”’

Physical education is as much spoken of in the Zoro-
astrian books as mental and moral education. The health
of the body is considered as the first requisite for the health
of the soul. The physical education of the ancient Per-
sians, the ancestors of the modern Parsees, was a subject
of admiration among the ancient Greeks and Romans. In
all the blessings invoked in the religious prayers, the
strength of the body occupies the first and the most promi-
nent place.

The religious books of the Parsees say that the educa-
tion of Zoroastrian youths should teach them perfect dis-
cipline. Obedience to their teachers, obedience to their
parents, obedience to their elders in society, and obedience
to the constitutional forms of Government, should be one
of the practical results of their education.

It is one of the most important duties of a good gov-
ernment to look to the sanitation of the country, and in
this particular in India we may see how the Parsee ideas
of sanitation have helped the general cause of sanitation.
Of all the practical questions, the one most affected by the
religious precepts of Zoroastrianism is that of the observa-
tion of sanitary rules and principles. Several chapters of
the “Venidad” are given to the sanitary code of the Par-
sees. Most of the injunctions will stand the test of sanl-
tary science to-day. Of the different Asiatic communities264. THE GoECKET OF THE BAST

inhabiting Bombay, the Parsees have the lowest death-rate.
One can safely say that this is, to a great extent, due to
the Zoroastrian ideas of sanitation, segregation, purifica-
tion, and cleanliness.

This is interesting and important. Zoroastrianism as
a religion asks its disciples to keep the earth pure, to keep
the air pure, and to keep the water pure. It considers the
sun as the greatest purifier. In places where the rays of
the sun do not enter, fire over which fragrant wood is
burnt is the next purifier. It is a great sin, they say, to
pollute the water by decomposing matter. Not only is the
commission of a fault of this kind a sin, but also the omis-
sion, when one sees such a pollution, of taking proper
means to remove it. The homely proverb that “cleanliness
is next to godliness” is nowhere more recommended than
in the Parsee religious books, which teach that the cleanli-
ness of the body will help the cleanliness of the mind. As
Mr. Samuel Lang says, the identification of moral and
physical evil is one of the most essential and peculiar tenets
of the Zoroastrian creed. It is a tenet “which is fast be-
coming a leading idea in modern civilization.”

We may ask what is the Parsee teaching concerning
Wealth, Poverty and Labor. As Herodotus said, a Parsee,
before praying for himself, prays for his sovereign and for
his community, for he is himself included in the community.
His religious precepts teach him to submerge his individ-
uality in the common interests of his community. The
good of the whole will be his endeavor. In the twelfth
chapter of the Yasma, which contains the Zoroastrian arti-
cles of faith, a Zoroastrian promises to preserve a perfect
brotherhood. He promises, even at the risk of his life,
to protect the life and the property of all the members
of his community and to help in the cause that would
bring about their prosperity and welfare. It is with these
good feelings of brotherhood and charity that the Parsee
community has endowed large funds for benevolent and
charitable purposes. If the rich Parsees of the future
generation were to follow in the footsteps of their an-THE PARSEES OF BOMBAY 265

cestors of the past and present generations in the matter
of giving liberal donations for the good of the deserving
poor of their community, one can say that there would be
very little cause for the socialists to complain.

The religious training of a Parsee does not restrict his
ideas of brotherhood and charity to his own community
alone. As Dr. Haug says: “Charity is regarded as the
highest virtue by the Zoroastrians, which circumstance ex-
plains the princely donations made by the Parsees up to
the present day for charitable purposes.”

As to the position of woman, the ordinance of Zoro-
aster secured for Zoroastrian women an equal rank with
men. The progress of the ancient Persians in civilization
was partly due to this cause. “The great respect in which
woman was held, was the principal cause of the progress
they had made in civilization. This was at once the cause
of the generous enterprise and its reward.”

The Parsee religion has made its disciples tolerant
about the faiths and beliefs of others. It has as well
made them sociable with the other sister communities of
the country. They mix freely with members of other faiths
and take part in the rejoicings of their holidays. They are
also sympathetic with them in their griefs and afflictions,
and in case of sudden calamities, such as fire and flood, they
subscribe liberally to alleviate their misery. From a con-
sideration of all kinds of moral and charitable notions
‘nculeated in the Zoroastrian scriptures, Frances Power
Cobbe, in Studies, New and Old, of Ethical and Moral
Subjects, says of the founder of this religion: “Should we
‘n a future world be permitted to hold high converse with
the great departed, it may chance that in Zoroaster, who
lived and taught almost before the dawn of history, we
may find the spiritual patriarch, to whose lessons we have
owed such a portion of our intellectual inheritance that we
might hardly conceive what human belief would be now,
had Zoroaster never existed.”

These views as thus outlined are taken bodily from the
exposition by the learned Parsee, J. J. Modi, of Bombay,266 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

who interprets them to us from his personal knowledge as
a devout follower.

Another very interesting little book, obtained on our
recent visit to Bombay is called Our Parsee Friend. It was
written a year or two ago by a prominent English barrister,
the Honorable Mr. Justice Kincaid, and is a very cordial
appreciation of the life and services of the Parsees of Bom-
bay. From this book I would quote a sentence or two to
call your attention especially to two great epochs of Parsee
life—the Marriage Customs and the Funeral Customs.

Marriage as ordained by Ahura-Mazda, it observes,
ought to be celebrated, in the opinion of the Parsees, as
splendidly as the means of the parties permit. The as-
sembly, summoned to witness the marriage, is called the
Shahjan, or the assembly for the queenly bride. To the
wedding comes the bridegroom dressed in a loose flowing
dress full of folds, known as the Jama Pichori or Sayah.
The bride’s sari is similarly loose and flowing. In his
hand the bridegroom carries a shawl, the emblem of great-
ness. On his forehead he has a mark of red pigment
known as kanku, long and vertical. The mark represents
a ray of the sun. On the bride’s forehead is a round red
mark, a symbol of the moon, the sun’s eternal helpmate.
Both wear garlands of flowers round their necks. The
bridegroom is hailed as the king of the day, the var raja,
the bride as kanya, or the loving one, from the Avesta root
kan, to love. The bridegroom enters the room first that
all may know that it is he who ardently desires the bride.
A little later the bride enters. The bridegroom seats him-
self on the right hand of the bride,—the seat of honor.
On each side of them are placed trays of rice, symbols of
wealth and plenty. Near the bride and bridegroom are
their marriage witnesses, who correspond to the Christian
‘best man” and “bridesmaids,” save that they are all men.
The Zoroastrian bridegroom and bride prefer their mar-
riage witnesses to be married and not single.

The marriage ritual is now about to begin. The bride
and bridegroom take seats opposite to each other, but aTHE PARSEES OF BOMBAY 267

piece of cloth is held between them, so as to hide the one
from the other. In the left hands are put grains of rice.
Underneath the cloth the senior officiating priest—there
are always two—puts the right hand of the one inside the
other’s hand and unites them with the recital of the sacred
Ahunvar formula and seven strands of raw twist. After
fastening their hands the priest passes the raw twist seven
times round the pair. For the raw twist may be easily
broken when single, but can only be broken with difficulty
when sevenfold. The officiating priests pass a piece of
cloth round the chairs so as to enclose them inside. For
the circle stands for unity. The ends of the cloth are also
tied together with the recital of the Ahunvar formula.
The knots in the cloth are the symbol of the marriage knot.
At this point a servant throws frankincense on a fire burn-
ing in a firepot. At once bride and bridegroom throw at
each other the rice in their left hands. Whose rice hits
the other first will be, so it is believed, the more loving.
The parents and relatives of both await eagerly the result
of the contest. The curtain is now dropped and the boy
and girl sit beside each other, instead of opposite; for they
who were formerly separate are now joined together.

The preliminaries are now over and the religious part
of the ceremony begins. The senior priest takes his stand
in front of the bridegroom, the junior before the bride.
The senior priest then recites the following benediction:

“May the Creator, the Omniscient Lord, grant you a
progeny of sons and grandsons, heart-rejoicing friendship,
bodily strength, long life and an existence of many years.”

Then the senior priest asks the bridegroom’s marriage-
witness the following question:

“Tn the presence of this assembly that has met together
thus and so, say whether you have agreed to take this
maiden by name in marriage with this bridegroom in ac-
cordance with our rites, promising to pay her two thousand
dirams of pure white silver and two dirams of real gold
of Nishapore coinage?” The witness answers: ‘1 have
agreed.”268 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

Next the senior priest asks the bride’s marriage wit-
ness: “Have you and your family with righteous mind and
truthful thoughts, words and actions, and for the increase
of righteousness agreed to give for ever the bride in mar-
riage to this man?’ The witness answers: “I have
agreed.”

The senior priest then asks both bride and bridegroom:
“Have you desired to enter into this contract of marriage
to continue to the end of your life with righteous mind?”

Both reply: “I have so desired.”

The priests then address the couple, advising them as
to their conduct, praying to God to confer upon them the
moral and social virtues which belong to the thirty Yazatas
from whom the Parsee days of the month are called and
blessing them, that they may be blessed with the virtues
and nobility of the heroes of ancient Iran.

The ceremony ends with the recital of the tandarusti
prayer—a form of final benediction.

The Funeral Ceremonies are also most interesting.

From the earliest times the Parsee method of dispos-
ing of their dead has excited the interest and curiosity of
their neighbors. The bodies of the early Persian kings
were not exposed, but encased in wax and buried in the
earth. The practice of exposing the dead originated, ac-
cording to Dr. Dhalla, among the Medes. When the
Magi, the Zoroastrian priests of the Medes, became also
after Cyrus’s conquest the priests of the Persians, they in-
troduced the Median funeral practices. The Vendidad
refers to these practices; and whatever their origin, they
are now so firmly rooted among the Parsees, that nothing
would induce that community to abandon them. Indeed
they claim with considerable justice that theirs is the most
hygienic manner of disposing of a human body deserted
by its living spirit.

When a Parsee is on the point of death, two priests
are sent for. They recite, the dying man joining, if he can,
the Patet or prayer of repentance. A short time before
death a few drops of consecrated Haoma water areTHE PARSEES OF BOMBAY 269

dropped by the priests into the dying man’s mouth. After
death the body is washed all-over and clothed in a suit of
white cotton. The kusti or sacred thread is girded round
the body by a relative. The body is placed on a clean
white cotton cloth and the dead man’s relatives come to
say farewell. From that time on, no one but the profes-
sional corpse-disposers are allowed to touch it. They
cover the whole body with cloth, leaving only the face un-
covered, lift it upon stone slabs specially placed in a corner
of the room. The hands are crossed and care is taken
that the head should not point to the north, the quarter of
the heavens most hateful to the Iranians. Round the slabs
the three circles are drawn to mark off the temporary rest-
ing place of the dead. A dog is brought to look at the
body and a firepot full of fragrant wood is kept burning
in the room. Near it, but at least three paces from the
dead body, sits a priest who recites passages from the Zend
Avesta.

If the death has taken place early in the night, the body
is removed next morning. If it has taken place late at
night or early in the morning, it is removed in the evening.
In case of accidental deaths a longer period is allowed. An
hour before the time fixed for the removal of the body to
the Tower of Silence or Dakhma, two corpse-bearers,
clothed in white, enter the house, holding a “paiwand” or
cotton cloth between them and carrying an iron bier called
a “‘sehan’’; for wood, being liable to retain infection, is not
used in Parsee funeral ceremonies. The corpse-bearers put
the bier by the dead body and recite half the prayer known
as the “Sraosh Baj’’ and then say the following words:
“We do this according to the dictates of Ahura-Mazda,
the dictates of the Amesha Spentas, of the holy Sraosh,
of Adarbad Marespand and the dictates of the Dastur of
the age.” Other prayers follow, a dog is again shown the
dead body, and the friends and relatives again bid the body
farewell. They bow to it and its face is covered up. The
body is now fastened to a bier and taken out of the house,
and then another set of corpse-bearers lift it up and set270 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

out, followed by the mourners all clothed in white. They
walk two and two united by a cotton cloth to the Towers
of Silence. When the bier reaches the Tower enclosure,
it is put on the ground, and the corpse-bearers uncover the
dead man’s face. The mourners look on it for the last
time. Once again the body is shown to a dog. It is then
lifted by the corpse-bearers and taken to the Tower of
Silence. The mourners now recite the second half of the
“Sraosh Baj’” and at its close the following short prayer:

“We repent of all our sins. Our respects to you, O
Souls of the Departed. We remember here the souls of
the dead.” The mourners wash their faces and hands and
pray to God to forgive the deceased his sins. Then all
return to their ordinary duties. But their obligations to
the dead have not yet ceased. The deceased’s soul is be-
lieved to linger by its earthly tenement for three days. It
is under the special protection of the angel Sroash and him
the deceased’s relatives implore to help and protect the
dead man’s soul. This is especially so on the dawn of the
third day. Then his soul is being judged by Meher Davar
on the Chinvat bridge. On the result of that judgment
the deceased’s happiness or misery depends. Sums of
money according to the position of the deceased are given
in charity by his relatives and heirs; and this generosity is
often repeated every year upon the anniversary of his
death. Long before this, however, his body has been de-
voured by the birds of the air—the sooner the better, for
thereby a source of infection and pollution is removed.
The bare bones of the skeleton, when dried by the sun, fall
or are removed from the platform of the tower into a
central well. They gradually crumble to dust. The dust is
in turn washed by rain-water into four underground drains
at the base of the tower and disappear. But at the end of
each drain are double sets of filters that purify the rain-
water before it enters the ground. For one of the chief
tenets of the Zoroastrian religion is that ‘‘“Mother Earth
shall not be defiled.”

Some of us visited the “Towers of Silence’ one SundayTHE PARSEES OF BOMBAY 271

afternoon. While we were there two funeral processions
came through the grounds. The bodies were wrapped in
white, and all the carriers were in white. The Parsees be-
lieve that the bodies of their dead should not decay in the
ground or even touch the ground, so for many hundreds of
years in Persia and a thousand in India, they have fol-
lowed this strange custom of the “Tower of Silence.” A
pleasant young man, a Parsee, very intelligent and speak-
ing good English, explained everything to us. He had a
model of a tower to show us the construction and the
process. The tower is built round, with a doorway for the
carriers. The family stand outside. Within are rows of
shallow trenches, like the spokes of a wheel, for the bodies,
—the outer for men, the next for women, the inmost for
children. The vultures which sit constantly on the edge
of the Tower will consume the flesh in a couple of hours
or less, leaving the dry bones. These bleach in the sun
for a few days and are then thrown into a central pit
where the wind and water crumble them. Gradually they
find their way to sluices and are purified by charcoal and
run off into the earth. The whole process may take a
week or two.

As we saw the gardens around these “Towers of
Silence’ they were very beautiful. They form a charming
park. The trees are ancient and noble, and partly hide the
towers. There are three or four of these towers, some small
and some large. There is a Parsee Temple in the gardens
with an ever-burning fire, a house of prayer, and a house
of refreshments. Everything is done to take away the
sadness of death and the final rites,—all that, flowers and
trees and the whiteness of garments can do. The vultures
which we saw as they sat and waited on the towers are not
ordinary scavengers. Ihey never go out of the gardens.
They perch on the towers day and night. They allow no
other birds to come near. They seem to regard themselves
Ne cvcred officials. \lt is a strange process, mulsmoumene
“Towers of Silence,” but perhaps no more strange than cre-
mation, or than earth-burial.. It is all custom.aie THE, SECRET OF THE EAST

Still another pamphlet just obtained at Bombay gives
a little more authentic information. It is a detailed ac-
count of ‘“‘The Funeral Ceremonies,” their origin, and ex-
planation by the distinguished Parsee, Jivanji Modi, B.A.
[t contains a most interesting drawing showing the con-
struction of the ‘“Towers of Silence” in both horizontal and
latitudinal sections. May I quote from this most valuable
book the following few sentences:

‘Their custom of the disposal of the dead, which, how-
ever peculiar it may appear to the followers of other reli-
gions, appears to them to be the most natural and acceptable,
supported as it is even now by the best scientific test of ad-
vanced sanitary science. At the bottom of their custom of
disposing of the dead, and at the bottom of all the strict
religious ceremonies enjoined therewith, lies the one main
principle, namely, that preserving all possible respect for
the dead, the body, after its separation from the immortal
soul, should be disposed of in a way least harmful and
least injurious to the living.”

The ‘“Towers of Silence’ are generally built on tops of
hills or on an elevated ground, according to this sacred
scripture :

“© Holy Creator of the material world! where are we to carry
the bodies of the dead? O Ahura-Mazda! where are we to place
them?” Ahura-Mazda replied, “O Spitama Zarathushtra, on the
most elevated place.” (Vend. VI, 44-45.)

Therefore such an elevated place, a spot apart from
human dwelling, is chosen for the Tower.

The Tower is a round, massive structure built through-
out of solid stone. A few steps from the ground lead to an
iron gate which opens on a circular platform of solid stone
with a circular well in the center. The following is a short
description of the Tower with a plan as given by Mr.
Nusserwanjee Byramjee, the late energetic Secretary of
the public charity funds and properties of the Parsee com-
munity. It is as follows:THE PARSEES OF BOMBAY 273

“The circular platform inside the Tower, about three
hundred feet in circumference, is entirely paved with large
stone slabs well cemented, and divided into three rows of
shallow open receptacles, corresponding with the three
moral precepts of the Zoroastrian Religion—‘good deeds,’
‘good words,’ ‘good thoughts.’

“The vultures are nature’s scavengers, and do their
work more expeditiously than millions of insects would do,
if dead bodies were buried in the ground. By this rapid
process, putrefaction with all its concomitant evils is most
effectually prevented. According to the Zoroastrian re-
ligion, Earth, Fire and Water are sacred and very useful
to mankind, and in order to avoid their pollution by con-
tact with putrefying flesh, the Zoroastrian religion strictly
enjoins that the dead bodies should not be buried in the
eround, or burnt or thrown into seas or rivers.

‘However distant may be the home of a deceased per-
son, whether rich or poor, high or low in rank, he has
always a walking funeral—his body is carried to the
‘Towers of Silence’ on an iron bier by official bearers, and
is followed in procession by the mourners, relatives and
friends, dressed in white, flowing, full-dress robes, walking
behind in pairs and each couple joined in hand by holding
a white handkerchief between them in token of sympa-
thetic grief.”

Only one more thing needs to be described,—the beauti-
ful sunset worship of the Parsees of Bombay on the sea-
shore. Perhaps some of you have seen it. I was greatly
interested to learn that our eminent fellow citizen, the late
Andrew Carnegie, on a visit to Bombay some years ago
was greatly impressed by it. He describes it in the follow-
ing words: “‘This evening we were surprised to see as we
strolled along the beach, more Parsees than ever before,
and more Parsee ladies richly dressed, all wending their
way towards the sea. It was the first of the new moon, a
period sacred to these worshipers of the elements; and
here on the shore of the ocean as the sun was sinking into
the sea, and the slender silver thread of the crescent moon274. THE SECRET OF TRE EAST

was faintly shining on the horizon, they congregated to
perform their religious rites. Fire was there in its grand-
est form, the setting sun, and water in the vast expanse
of the Indian Ocean outstretched before them. The earth
was under their feet and wafted across the sea, the air
came laden with the perfumes of Araby the blest. Surely
no time or place could be more fitly chosen than this for
lifting up the soul to the realms beyond sense. I could
not but participate’ (continues Mr. Carnegie) “with these
worshipers in what was so grandly beautiful. There was
no music save the solemn moan of the waves as they broke
into foam on the beach. But where shall we find so mighty
an organ, or so grand an anthem. How inexpressibly
impressive the scene appeared to me, and how insignifi-
cant and unworthy seemed even our cathedrals made with
human hands, when compared with this looking up through
Nature unto Nature’s God. I stood and drank in the
serene happiness which seemed to fill the air. I have seen
many modes of worship—some disgusting, others sadden-
ing, a few elevating when the organ pealed forth its tones,
but all poor in comparison with this. Nor do I ever ex-
pect in all my life to witness a religious ceremony which
will so powerfully affect me as that of the Parsees on the
beach of Bombay.”’

We have thus seen something of the Parsees of Bom-
bay,—only sixty thousand they are out of a population
of more than a million of people in Bombay. But they
represent the most important factor in that great city.
They are modern, progressive, educated, intelligent,
wealthy, and religious. They have luxurious homes and
clubs. Many of the hospitals, asylums, schools and col-
leges, parks and statues in Bombay are due to their enter-
prise and benefaction.

What is their full influence in Bombay and in India?
One thing, they are thoroughly loyal to the British Gov-
ernment. They can be absolutely depended upon. They
know what Mohammedan rule means. Another thing:
they set the constant example of an honest, reliable, efh-THE PARSEES OF BOMBAY 276

cient people, home-loving and pure in all the relations of
life. ‘This ought to mean much in India. Still another
thing—their religion of monotheism and a gospel of light
is the nearest to Judaism and Christianity of any that we
know. It was not condemned by the Old Testament. It
seems to have many features harmonious with Christian-
ity. Ihe only defect, so far as I can see, is that the Parsees
are a close corporation. “They do not seek to make any
converts to their faith, nor will they accept any. Their
ranks are maintained only by birth-members. If they had
been more elastic and comprehensive for a thousand years
past, perhaps their inspiring influence in India might have
transformed that land.AN HOUR WITH MAHATMA GANDHI

AM writing this at Bombay after a most illuminating

interview with Gandhi—putting it down within two

hours after it occurred, as nearly verbatim as I can
remember, for it seemed to me such a human document, so
interesting and important.

When we sailed for India, three months ago, Gandhi
was in prison for several years more and absolutely in-
accessible. We had no hopes or expectation of seeing him.
But while we were on the ocean something happened.
Gandhi had an acute attack of appendicitis; he was oper-
ated upon by a British surgeon under tragic conditions.
For just as the operation was to begin, the electric light
went off, and the operation had to be done by an improvised
light. But Captain Maddock, the surgeon, had courage
and skill and went through with the critical ordeal success-
fully. Gandhi's life was saved. The British Government
then shortened his sentence and allowed him to go forth
on parole. So that when we reached India, Gandhi was
free.

I can never forget the story of that scene in the court
when Gandhi was condemned to imprisonment. I cut the
account of it immediately from the newspaper and pre-
served it. It reminded me more than anything I had ever
read of the trial of Socrates or Jesus. You will recall that
Gandhi had been arrested on March I0, 1922, on the
charge that he was responsible for the program of non-
cooperation with the Government, and the boycott of
courts and schools. He had advised non-violence, but the
people seemed to be inflamed against British injustice and
cruelty, and the Government was apprehensive and in order
to kill the movement, Gandhi was arrested. He was
charged with preaching dissatisfaction and sedition, and
of openly instigating others to overthrow the Government.

276© Wide World Photos

MAHATMA GANDHIAN HOUR WITH MAHATMA GANDHI 277

At his trial, he accepted the responsibility. He was against
the Government as it was administered. He considered
it was doing irreparable harm to his country and his peo-
ple. “I am a man of education and responsibility,” he
acknowledged. “I know the consequences of my works and
acts. I have done my duty as I see it. Do you now do
yours. I do not plead for mercy. I am here cheerfully
to submit to the highest penalty, for what you consider a
deliberate crime in the eyes of the law, but what appears
to me the highest duty of a citizen.” The judge then sen-
tenced him to six years in prison with the hope that the
Government might find it possible to reduce the period.
Gandhi’s friends were in tears at the end of the trial, but
Gandhi expressed himself as fully satisfied with the sen-
tence and with the courtesy of the whole proceedings, and
left his followers with a smile on his face, and the door
of the jail was closed behind him. Since then, Gandhi has
been absolutely silent. No one has seen or heard a word
from him, until now, when his illness and parole have at
last brought him unexpectedly to the outside world. As
far as I know, ours was the first interview that he has
granted to any visitors, and it was probably because we
were Americans.

This interview was to me a great privilege. I do not
know of another man in the whole world whom I would
rather see and talk to, and here it was my good luck. It
came about so unexpectedly.

Two friends in Bombay, disciples of Gandhi, opened
the way for us to see him in a private home on the sea-
shore at Juhu, thirteen miles from Bombay, where he was
recuperating. The drive out there on the breezy after-
noon of April 11th will long be remembered. The beauti-
ful villas of the wealthy Parsees, embowered in gardens,
the palace of the Maharajah of Gwalior, the picturesque
country villages with their lofty cocoanut groves and their
thatched cottages, the long drive across the meadows and
then the beautiful home where we found Gandhi, the home
with many cool summer rooms and many wide verandahs278 DHE? SECRET OF THE: BASE

and easy wicker chairs and couches. It was a home put
at his disposal by a wealthy merchant of Bombay.

We were a party of four, Dr. M. D. Kneeland, of
Boston, Dr. D. E. Lorenz, of New York, Mrs. Huckel,
and the writer.

After seeing his secretary and presenting our cards, our
first interview was with Gandhi’s friend and companion,
Mr. C. F. Andrews, a cultured Englishman, who is a
teacher in Tagore’s forest school at Bolpur. We found
him in full sympathy both with Gandhi the statesman and
saint, and with Tagore the poet and novelist. He told us of
their mutual friendship. He loved them both, and in turn
was a friend to both. He looked not unlike Tagore—
perhaps more like Holman Hunt or Frederick Leighton or
one of that group—and was dressed in a simple costume
of native loom cotton.

While Gandhi was finishing his bath—for we had come
unannounced, although with a letter of introduction, Mr.
Andrews talked with us most illuminatingly, and frankly
told us much about “‘Mahatmaji,”—as he familiarly and
lovingly called him.

He told us that Gandhi was gaining strength, but
slowly. He should have been well in ten days. But it
had been two months. Prison had told on him. Then
we plunged directly into politics.

What is your statement of non-cooperation? we asked.
The reason, explained Mr. Andrews, that we advocate
non-cooperation is because we cannot conscientiously en-
dorse evil or have any share in it.

Take the Amritzar affair, where hundreds of innocent
people were shot down by a British order. That is an
illustration of the evils of militarism. The British were
panicky and feared mutiny,—was one explanation given.
But it was a cruel deed. Was anyone punished for that
crime? The general who gave that order, General Dyer,
was not punished, but retired with a pension and a gift of
$25,000—subscribed in commendation. Can we Indians
cooperate in such flagrant crime?AN HOUR WITH MAHATMA GANDHI 279

Gandhi does not approve of English methods and of
the present English government. But he loves English
people. ‘I am sure he loves me,” said Mr. Andrews,—
“and I am an Englishman.”

The four things, continued Mr. Andrews, that Mahat-
ma Gandhi is working for are these:

First—religious unity—Moslem, Hindu and_ other
creeds in brotherly relations.

Second—The redemption of untouchability,—that 1s,
the enfranchisement of the untouchables or outcasts.

Third—Absolute abstinence from all strong drink and
drugs. ‘This is practical prohibition and will make a new
day for India.

Fourth—the industrial reconstruction of India—all
the natives to make their own cotton cloth, Khadder, on their
own home looms and to wear no other,—no imported
goods. Remember six months in India are useless for it is
the rainy season—unless the people can work indoors.
Why not use looms and make clothes?

Now in all this, you will notice, said Mr. Andrews,
non-cooperation, or passive resistance, is not mentioned as
a principle and yet it is the background of our cause, until
the government is such that we can cordially cooperate
with it. I want to tell you that Gandhi, and he alone, pre-
vented a Moslem mutiny in India in 1920. He always
advocates patience and peace. And when a mob got be-
yond control as at Chauri Chaura, Gandhi protested and
himself paid the penance by a five days’ fast.

The two words that are continually*used in the Gandhi
movement, continued Mr. Andrews, are, first,

Swaraj, or home-rule in the political government of
affairs in India, the home rule party being the Swarajisti.

And second, the word Swadeshi, or home-spun clothing,
the word, however, having taken on the larger meaning of
non-cooperation with British factory products and an abso-
lute boycott of them. Gandhi knows that he is playing
with fire in arraying the natives thus against the British
rule—he acknowledges it,—but he believes that the great280 HE SheRE TOR THESE AST

work can be accomplished by organized non-cooperation and
by soul-force, so that he is willing to risk it. He has abso-
lute confidence in the people of India to effect a revolution
by spiritual ideals.

After a little while, we were called in to see Mr.
Gandhi himself. He sat on the floor and salaamed to us
with both hands. His appearance was striking. He wore
nothing but a loin-cloth. This is his usual costume. His
brown body was naked. His head was shaven, leaving
only a small scalp-lock from his crown, hanging down to
his neck, like a tiny pig-tail. His feet were bare. His is
a slim, homely figure. His face is very plain, his front
teeth lack two or three on the lower jaw. And yet he is
singularly attractive, especially when he talks. For he has
beautiful dark eyes. He uses excellent English, well chosen
and literary, clear and crisp. He is a fascinating talker,
subtle in his distinctions and discriminations. He is a well
educated and well informed man. What impresses one
most, however, is not his alert and well-balanced mind, but
his sincerity and his spirituality.

What a strange man he is,—so different from Euro-
pean statesmen or diplomats. No concessions to visitors,
even ladies. No change of garments, no European dress,
only the native garments, and those of the very lowest class.
Would he appear so in Parliament, I asked myself, or if
presented at Court? It seemed impossible. He seemed
more a medieval saint, more of a holy man from a remote
country district of India, rather than a polished leader and
statesman of a great Empire. But when he began to talk,
we forgot all that; then shone out the personality of the
man. You felt his soul, which was all important. You
fee] that he is no charlatan, no mere visionary and fanatic;
he is a broad-minded and a spiritually-minded man. All
his thoughts and interests are spiritual. The material
things of life have little interest for him. He is “of spirit
all compact.’ He also has a delightful sense of humor.
He smiles often and one feels in that smile his human
quality. We congratulated him on his gift of humor. “IfAN HOUR WITH MAHATMA GANDHI 281

I did not have it,’ he answered, “‘my heart would have
broken long ago.” And remembering all that had hap-
pened to him, we agreed.

Gandhi has sacrificed everything for what he believes
is truth and justice. He has given up wealth, position, pro-
fession. He might have had any gift in India that the
British Government could give, had he only cooperated
and been willing to advance reforms along the usual lines
of education and the ballot. Instead of personal profit he
has willingly endured poverty, persecution, and prison for
what he believes is the cause of the people. He is surely
of the stuff of which martyrs are made.

Among other things we asked him was this—'Do you
expect your ideals will come to pass soon?”

“Not soon,” he answered. ‘We must have patience.
Ideas move slowly. Even those who think they follow
what I teach sometimes lack this gift of patience. It may
take a generation or two. I see things that discourage.
But I also see much that is very hopeful. I was reading
again the other day the volume by Sir Alfred Wallace, the
contemporary of Darwin in the study of the process of
evolution. Wallace’s book is a very remarkable study of
the forward and backward steps in evolution and yet the
inevitable move forward in the long run. So, if our ideals
are true, they are bound to go forward. Only we must
have infinite patience.”

“Did you ever know Tolstoi? We hear you often
called the Indian Tolstoi.”

“Not personally, but I corresponded with him. After
his Address to a Hindu, I wrote to him, asking for his per-
mission to republish it, which he granted. | think much
along his lines.” .

“You received part of your education in England, did
you not, and were admitted to the bar there?”

“Yes, you are correct. And I am very grateful to my
English friends and instructors. I read pretty thoroughly
in history, literature and philosophy in those days.”

“How large a following have you at present we282 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

“Oh, I do not know. Many names, we have the lists,
but just how much they mean I cannot tell. Real follow-
ing means understanding and sacrifice. I am only sure of
myself, but even here (with a smile) I am not always my
best disciple.”

“What sort of a world would your ideals bring about ?”

“Not the sort that Edward Bellamy predicts in Look-
ing Backward,” he said. “I have read that, of course. My
world would not be his complex and artificial world. I
seek a world of happy labor and of brotherhood and of
the love of beauty. We could have it in India. Perhaps
not in commercialized England or America. But in India,
yes. We could be as the Bible says—thaving food and
raiment, let us be therewith content.’ India will yet be a
great and strong nation—strong in the things of the spirit.

“Would I like to see America? If you mean the sky-
scrapers of New York City, the great railroads, the big
factories,—I do not care to see these evidences of great
material success. But if I came to America, I should want
to see the heart of America. I would go among the peo-
ple, I should go into the slums and see whether the people
were contented and happy. I should try to investigate
Tammany Hall,—you know what I mean. Material suc-
cess and achievement mean nothing to me, unless the people
are cared for rightly and unless the spiritual ideals of the
nation are maintained.”

“The criticism,” we said, “is frankly made of you in
America that you would stop the wheels of progress, that
you would put back civilization a hundred years. What
would you say to that?”

“There is much truth in the criticism,” he frankly
answered. “I would stop the wheels of all material prog-
ress, if [ had my way, if I was an autocrat, unless that
progress made for spiritual ends. I would put back ma-
terial civilization a hundred years or even more, for I feel
that it has outrun itself and our present civilization is en-
trely too commercial and material. Matter has outstripped
the spirit and this should not be. We should developAN HOUR WITH MAHATMA GANDHI 283

symmetrically. Remember I do not lay much value to the
modern gospel of speed. Because we can go sixty miles
an hour on a train and then advance six hundred miles by
airplane, some say that we have advanced civilization ten
times. I cannot see it that way. Speed does not make char-
acter, and character is the greatest thing.”

“Do you hope for a withdrawal of Britain from
India ?”’

“Not at all, but a freer partnership with Britain. A
dominion form of government, such as Canada or Aus-
tralia has, would satisfy us in India. That is not coercion,
but freedom. Canada could withdraw if she would, but
she will not. She sees the advantages of union with the
great empire. So would we. But we do not enjoy our
forcible cooperation at the point of the bayonet. We
want the freedom of Canada.”

“Would you do away with railroads, factories and all
improvements in India?”

“Not at all. But I would not put a fictitious value on
them. They are not success; they are not wealth; they are
not happiness. So many worship material success as a
fetish. I am trying to teach that all these things are worth-
less unless they make us more spiritual, more kindly and
brotherly and more happy. Happiness is something that
depends on the inner conditions and not on outward
things.”

“What part will women have in your plans he

“A very large and important part. The home depends
upon her absolutely; the loom and the spinning wheel are
for her deft fingers. Thousands and thousands all over
India are coming to the use of the home-loom. They grow
their cotton outside their door. Why shouldn’t they make
it into clothing for themselves instead of sending the raw
material to Japan or England to be made up into cloth.”

“You acknowledge the caste system, Mr. Gandhi, do
you not? What is your position?”

“T make nothing of the caste system, except to ac-
knowledge it, as the statement of a scientific fact. It is284. THE SECRET OF THE EAST

to me a definite selective process. It means degrees of
education and breeding,—and also fresh opportunities for
self-control and self-restraint. But I set no store by it.
[ have lost my own caste and that fact is a great con-
venience to me. By reason of this, I can eat with anyone,
whereas strict caste could not. And yet people of my own
caste tolerate me, and even present addresses to me. For
they are kind enough to say, I lost my caste, not through
weakness, not for self-indulgence, but in the way of prin-
ciple. So you see tolerance is coming. Modification of the
caste system is in process every day.”

“Do you think that the various religious systems of
India will ever become one, and the people live in harmony
and brotherhood ?”’

“Most certainly I do. When we go deep enough in
religions, we find an inner substance to them all which is
the truth. I am an earnest student of Christianity. I have
read and studied the Bible very carefully. I am greatly
indebted to it. And yet I am a Hindu, as I was born, and
as all my people are.”

Reference was made by one of us to Islam as a religion
of the sword,—hard, cruel, and superstitious.

“Oh, no,” he exclaimed. “I know it better than that.
It is not hard, or cruel, or superstitious. Islam has the rep-
utation of the open sword. Some religions are a ‘gloved
hist.’ I really think Christianity has as bloody a record
as Islam. I have read again while in prison Motley’s
Rise of the Dutch Republic and the History of the Inquisi-
tion in Spain. I knew the general facts before, but as I
read in detail, I almost doubted human nature. And this
was Christianity. We have an old Hindu proverb ‘A man
cannot see his own back.’ ”’

“But what of the massacre in our own day of the Ar-
menians by the Turks,—does not that prove Islam a cruel
and bloody religion ?”’

“That is sporadic,” he answered. “It does not prove
more than what Britain did in South Africa while I was
there for many years. I served in the British army as anAN HOUR WITH MAHATMA GANDHI 285

ambulance-bearer. I saw the British man-hunts and thou-
sands of South Africans hunted down and slain because
they would not work in the mines. Does this prove Chris-
tianity a hard, cruel and bloody religion? Not at all. It
merely proves that there are those in all religions who do
not live up to its precepts.”’

As I thought of it going back to Bombay, it seemed to
me that his interpretation of caste was the least satisfac-
tory part of the interview. It seemed not logical, or spirit-
ual, but a compromise with custom. He did not discrim-
inate between the hard and rigid caste of India and the
temporary classes of England and America.

And then, also, the way in which he apologized for the
bloody cruelties of Islam seemed to show something of the
easy course of the pure idealist,—the brushing aside of
hard facts.

Some of our party suggested that if Britain withdrew
from India, the general opinion of many we had met in
India was that Mohammedan rule would come in a few
years. He answered—‘I do not think so at all. The
Mohammedans are aggressive, but not warlike. We in
India are all pacifists. No, Islam would not seek to rule.”
But he did not suggest just what might happen.

One thing more that Gandhi contends for is full social
equality of the natives with Englishmen in India,—social
equality as well as political equality. He said to us—“One
thing that must come is the equal footing of natives with
Englishmen in the government and in social life. The
people of India, native and foreign, must be equal, brothers
in all their rights and privileges.”

This reminded me of what Sir Tej Sapru, one of the
Hindu leaders, said in London a few weeks ago, as I read
in the papers. He said: ‘We Indians don’t mean to ac-
cept a lower status of citizenship than the white citizen of
the British empire, and we refuse to be driven out of the
empire.” This distinguished barrister who spoke these
words is a personal friend and confidant of Lord Reading,
the present viceroy of India. So they may be taken as
serious.286 Hn SeCREDT OF THEF EAST

Mr. Andrews told us that Romain Rolland’s book on
Gandhi was, so far, the very best interpretation of his
ideals and purposes.

But above all, he said, we should read Gandhi's articles
written by himself in the paper Young India and repub-
lished under that same title.

It may throw some light on the way Gandhi is regarded
by most of the British in India when I relate that I tried
to get some book about Gandhi in the leading bookshops
of Calcutta and Bombay. All that they had on their
shelves were books against him, such as Gandhi and
Anarchy; Gandhi, the Idiot and Traitor. No _ book-
shop could furnish Romain Rolland’s book on Gandhi.
“They did not handle it,” they said. I was interested to
find, however, that many missionaries, both British and
American, believed in Gandhi and sympathized with his
aspirations.

We had talked with Gandhi for a full hour,—it was a
delightful conversation. He was so animated and cheer-
ful,—so keen, friendly and tolerant.

I am happy to report that Gandhi does not seem like
a sick man,—he seems on the sure way to recovery and to
many years of a useful and influential career. He has a
good color, a clear skin, a vivacious eye and the prophecy
of long life. He is being well taken care of, he eats little
and wholesomely, he is not permitted to overwork,—al-
though his books and papers are always around him. His
wife is with him and good friends and he has every com-
fort that his condition requires. After an hour’s animated
conversation, he seemed just as bright and lively as at the
beginning, and was sure that it refreshed him and did not
tire him at all.

We assured him that America was deeply interested
in him and his work, and would be glad to hear all that
we might report from him.

He laughed when I asked him if he had any special
message to send to America. ‘I have sent so many al-
ready.”’AN. HOUR WITH MAHATMA GANDHI 287

‘Don’t they heed them?” I ventured.

“Oh, I would not say that, but conditions are so dif-
ferent. I have never been to America. My work is with
India.”

J assured him that America would give him a most
cordial welcome and hearing, if he could come at any time.
His friend Tagore, I said, had been there several times
and always was warmly received. But he smiled again and
only said—‘Perhaps sometime.”

It was interesting for me to learn in India that Tagore
and Gandhi do not think quite alike, although they are
very good friends. Nor does his close friend, Mr.
Andrews, fully endorse all his views. For instance, Mr.
Andrews in a public letter condemned Gandhi’s burning of
boycotted British goods at Bombay, and Tagore in a very
severe letter upbraided Gandhi for accepting political
leadership, when he ought, as he thought, to have given
himself absolutely and entirely to preaching spiritual ideals.
Tagore feels that any political propaganda is a colossal
blunder. The world needs spiritual leadership above all
things, says Tagore, and India should have shown it. But
in spite of these differences of view, Gandhi and Andrews
and Tagore keep the best of friends with each other.

It is a tremendous program that Gandhi has laid out
in these four points—Religious unity in India, the redemp-
tion of untouchability, the absolute abolition of strong
drink and drugs and the reconstruction of the industrial
life of India. Any one point is a big program,—any one
is enough to challenge the strongest faith and purpose.
All four together make a vision that to many will seem
absolutely and utterly impossible. But such souls as
Ghandi laugh at impossibilities.

Look at these three things. The unity of Moslems
and Hindus has been considered by diplomats, and it has
been the general understanding, that Great Britain was well
content to have the Moslems, Hindus, and other races and
religions in India at enmity with each other, even at dag:
gers points, so long as Britain could hold the upper hand.288 PHE sECRET OF THE EAST

For it kept these people apart, mutually jealous of each
other, and therefore incapable of any concerted action
against their foreign ruler. Britain rather depended on
this mutual antipathy. It is a new era and a new danger
to Britain, many think, when these age-long rivals and
enemies are reconciled and are working together, as
Gandhi has planned. He has accomplished the impossible
in getting the Moslems and the Hindus to meet together
in an ‘“‘All India Congress” and to cooperate in asking for
a larger share in the government.

The second thing, the untouchables, is a tremendous
problem. These untouchables are those whom the people
of the castes of India cannot touch without being con-
taminated religiously, and needing ceremonial purification
as a consequence. There are fifty million of them. They
are outcasts, pariahs, below all caste, having no rights that
any one is bound to respect. They build the roads, but are
not allowed to walk on them; they dig the village wells, but
are not allowed to drink from them. Some have to go
ten miles, so Gandhi himself told me, to get water for
themselves. They are allowed to do only the most menial
work. ‘They are the scavengers, the garbage collectors,
the sweepers. They, only, handle and remove the dead ani-
mals or humans. They cannot read or write; their chil-
dren have no schools; but grow up as vagrants. All this,
not for any fault of theirs, but because they are born with-
out any caste. They cannot escape their miserable condi-
tion. No religion, no education, no rights, and there are
fifty million of these wretched people! Surely there is
nothing like this in the Christian religion. It is a great blot
on India. Why has their condition been allowed to go
on? Great Britain has been in charge of India for two
hundred years, but its policy has been not to interfere with
customs or religion, so little has been done. Some Christian
missions have tried to help them; some Hindu societies
have recently done a little; but see the greatness of the
task,—fifty millions. Now Gandhi has undertaken toAN HOUR WITH MAHATMA GANDHI 289

awaken them, and has done it. He has organized them,
and inspired them to ask for their human rights.

We had never realized this enormous problem until we
talked with Gandhi,—the monstrous and cruel iniquity of
the conditions and the immense numbers involved. After
leaving Gandhi, I wondered whether [| had heard aright—
fifty millions. So I looked up the figures in three authori-
tative sources, and these astounding figures were confirmed.

Gandhi says emphatically that Hinduism must not
stand for untouchability for a moment. He contends that
it is not a part of the Hindu religion. It is merely a
morbid excrescence, and must be cut out absolutely. Un-
touchability, he says, is an invention of Satan. He puts it
as strongly as this in one of his addresses—‘‘India is guilty.
England has nothing blacker than our own treatment of
our weaker brethren. What we have suffered as a nation
is retributive justice. We must wash our blood-stained
hands. We are not worthy of self-government until we
redeem the untouchables.” And for himself he says—‘l
would rather be torn to pieces than disown my brothers
of the suppressed classes. I do not want to be reborn, but
if I have to be reborn I should wish to be born ‘untouch-
able,’ so that I may share their sorrows, sufferings and
the affronts levelled at them, and that I might endeavor
to free them from their miserable condition.”

And look at this big item in the program,—the prohibi-
tion of drugs and strong drink. It is surprising to find that
this matter of alcoholic, prohibition is already practically
an accomplished fact through Gandhi’s efforts among the
whole native population of India. Intoxicating liquor is
now consumed only by the British and foreign residents, and
the English army. The native population of 300,000,000
people, following Gandhi’s example, is largely vegetarian,
living almost entirely on bread, rice, milk and butter, fruits
and nuts. There are some exceptions, among the Hindus
in special sects, and among the Mohammedans. But as a
rule, the oxen, sheep and cows of India are killed only for
the British army and the foreign residents, and there is con-290 tHE SECRET OF DHEy EASE

stant protest, as the cow is considered a sacred animal. We
heard much protest when we were in India. The British
army, they said, was depleting the farmers and the whole
country of their cows. But Britain goes on blindly and
stubbornly. The British must have beef.

The opium practice in India has been found harder to
eradicate than alcoholics and red meat. For opium has so
long been a custom as a food and tonic among all classes.
It is dificult to make the people understand that it is not
needed as a medicine. Generations have had this drug-
forming habit, and have brought up their children on small
doses from babyhood in order to keep them quiet. But
education is going on along these lines and enlightenment
must come.

As we went through India, all looked quiet and peace-
ful. None would imagine that the whole country was
seething with unrest. But here and there, in Calcutta, in
Burma, in Delhi and in Bombay, English people and
army officers especially, said to me: ‘We are keeping our
eyes open. Trouble may come at any moment. Condi-
tions in India to-day are more critical than at any time
since the Sepoy Mutiny.’’ One said—“India is sitting on
a volcano, that at any time may erupt and overwhelm the
British who are holding it down with bayonets.”

These dire prophecies are hard to believe. Mahomed
Ali is the leader of 60,000,000 Moslems in India. He is
an educated man, a Cambridge graduate. And Gandhi
holds nearly 240,000,000 millions of Hindus in the hollow
of his hand.

If these two leaders of the great population of India
really can see eye to eye and work together they represent
a tremendous force for action.

The hope of the future is Gandhi continuing faithful
to what he calls “‘soul-force.’ Brute force would bring
havoc to India. Soul-force may work wonders.

What were my chief impressions from this visit to
Gandhi—the one single outstanding figure of India to-day ?
He impressed me, for one thing, as an idealist, pure andAN HOUR WITH MAHATMA GANDHI 291

simple. Although he may think otherwise, I would not
call him a practical idealist, who lives with his feet on the
ground, and compromises with conditions and uses the
chances of an opportunist. On the other hand, he lives in
the clouds, he breathes only in the world of the ideal. He
is not a practical statesman, but a philosopher and dreamer.

It is not our part to pronounce whether Gandhi might
not have chosen other methods for his reform work in
India. Some think he might have done so, and that he
would better have accomplished his aims. What interests
me especially are his purposes and aspirations which we
feel are high and noble, and his spirit which we believe is
absolutely fine and sincere.

I wonder if his prison experiences have not been salu-
tary. Perhaps this interview reveals it. He did not once
say any of the harsh things about England, or the govern-
ment that have been attributed to him. He had no traces
of fanaticism. He is doubtless kinder, more tolerant and
more reasonable as he has had time in prison to think
things out quietly.

Gandhi impressed us as a man intensely religious, but
it is a broad and reasonable religion. He says—‘All re-
ligions are like different roads leading to the same goal.
All religions are founded on the same moral laws. My
ethical religion is made up of laws which bind men all over
the world.” He told us that the Bible, especially the New
Testament, had influenced him greatly. He remains a
Hindu in the religion in which he was brought up, yet he
does not consider that the only religion by any means. He
says in one of his papers—‘I do not believe in the exclusive
divinity of the Vedas. I believe the Bible, the Koran and
the Zend-Avesta to be as divinely inspired as the Vedas.
In Hinduism there is room for the worship of all the
prophets of the world. Hinduism tells every one to wor-
ship God according to his own faith, and so it lives at peace
with all religions.” He sees some errors and vices in
Hinduism, but loves it in spite of these. He speaks frankly
in his writings—‘“I can no more describe my feelings for292 THE SECRED OF THE EASY

Hinduism than for my own wife. She moves me as no
other woman in the world does. Not that she has no
faults. But she is mine in indissoluble bonds. Even so I
feel about Hinduism with all its faults and limitations. |
know that vice is going on to-day in all the great Hindu
shrines, but I love them in spite of their failings. My
zeal never takes me to the rejection of any of the essential
things of Hinduism.” That is, he knows the abuses and
degradations of superstition and idolatry, just as we Amer-
icans know what goes on under the name of religion in
Utah, Mexico and Spain. Yet his way, as oftentimes ours,
is not so much to fight the evil directly, as to try to over-
come it by good, by education and enlightenment.

He believes greatly in the influence and power of
woman. This is his word of appreciation in one of his
addresses—‘‘Every inhabitant of India is our brother or
sister. Woman is not the weaker sex, but the better half
of humanity, the nobler of the two; for even to-day she is
the embodiment of sacrifice, silent suffering, humility, faith,
and knowledge. Woman’s intuition has often proved truer
than man’s arrogant assumption of knowledge.” He calls
upon woman in many of his addresses to demand and in-
spire respect by ceasing to think of themselves as the ob-
jects of masculine desire only. “Let them forget their
bodies and enter into public life, assume the risks, and
suffer the consequences of their convictions. Women
should not only renounce luxury and throw away or burn
foreign goods, but they should share men’s problems and
privations.”’

This is his own confession of religious life and pur-
pose—“I pray like every good Hindu. I believe we can
all be messengers of God’s will. I have no exceptional
visions or revelations. My firm belief is that he reveals
himself daily to every human being, but that we shut our
ears to the still small voice. I claim to be nothing but a
humble servant of India and humanity. I have no desire
to found a sect. I am really too ambitious to be satisfied
with a sect for a following, for I represent no new truths.AN HOUR WITH MAHATMA GANDHI 293

I endeaver to follow and represent truth as I know it. |
do claim to throw a new light on many an old truth.” This
confession was not spoken in these words in my interview
with him. They were written in his paper, Young India.

He also impressed me as a mystic. To him, the ex-
ternals of religion count for little, or nothing. He lives
in the spirit which is independent of forms and ceremonies.
He still calls himself a Hindu; he follows the necessary
requirements, for he feels that this holds him to his people,
but really he is beyond religious names,—he is essentially
a mystic, free in all religions, holding personal communion
with the one Lord.

And also, we saw clearly that Gandhi does not disre-
gard all modern improvements. I noticed that he used a
pair of modern silver spectacles and that his secretary used
a modern Oliver visible typewriter from America. And he
is indeed grateful that his life was saved by modern British
surgery in the attack of acute appendicitis.

But he does illustrate—and this is the heart of the
matter—that a man can live in the simplest way for food
and clothing; that he can give up all possessions and live
in prison; and still be sweet-spirited, cheerful and happy.
This means a great triumph of spirit over matter. Gandhi
‘s a saint of the variety of St. Francis of Assisii—a very
noble and beautiful kind of saint!

Since reaching America, I add _ this significant post-
script. In the Atlantic Monthly for May, 1924, an Ameri-
can writer in reviewing Romain Rolland’s new biographical
sketch and estimate of Mahatma Gandhi, speaks thus:
“Rising high above our Western ruin, the immemorial
East confronts us with an authority long unknown. States-
man or saint, brown ascetic or busy electioneer, the fulness
of life or the madness of speed or steel—the future lies in
the choice we shall make. The Mahatma’s gospel has
many sides, but its essence is a reafirmation of the power
of religion to remold the world. In the West we con-
tinue to build new states with new governments, new laws,
and new decrees, whilst only from new souls, cleansed by294 THE SECRET: OF THE EASE

religious flames, can a new civilization be born. The
genius of the Mahatma lies not in his gospel, which is as
ancient as the earth, but in his application of it to the
confusion and despair of these unhappy times. A saint
with a university degree—perhaps only such a person can
lead this generation to the sun.”MOHAMMED AS A PROPHET OF THE
EAST

OES it surprise you to learn that there are be-
1) tween fifteen and twenty millions of Moslems in

the Chinese republic, especially in the west and
north-west provinces? ‘The first mosque was founded in
Canton in 618 A.D., by an uncle of Mohammed. His grave
is still shown there. ‘There are now fifteen mosques in
Peking, and large colonies of Moslems in all the principal
cities, especially in the large central cities. But the largest
number is in Chinese Turkestan.

Of course we all know that there are sixty millions of
Moslems in India, and they are a most influential and
formidable factor in the past history and the future destiny
of India. Mohammed has therefore a considerable part
in shaping the spirit of the East. His religion has been
in close contact with the East for thirteen centuries, and
undoubtedly has had some influence, as Christianity has
also had, in modifying the older forms and beliefs of
China and India.

Among the great Mohammedans in Asia, we may re-
‘call Kublai Khan, the splendid Chinese emperor of 1214-
1294, whose glories were described by Marco Polo; the
famous warrior Tamerlane, who died in 1405; the great-
hearted, broad-minded statesman, Akbar the Great, who
lived 1542-1605; and the wonderful Shah Jehan, who built
the exquisite Taj Mahal about 1629 to 1666. These
helped to make the romance and glory of the East.

We saw much of Mohammedanism in India, in Egypt,
and in Palestine. We saw something of it also in such

295296 THE SECRET OR DHE BAST

places as Java where great pilgrimages were setting out for
Mecca before our eyes. We remembered Conrad’s story
of “Lord Jim” and his pilgrim ship of seven hundred souls.

Mohammedanism in India has some distinct and ad-
mirable features. We felt a new atmosphere, and a re-
freshing one, when our journey at last took us out of
Hindu India with its fantastic and grotesque gods and
monkey temples, into Mohammedan India at Delhi and
Agra, with its worship of the one God, and its beautiful
architecture in temples and palaces. We wondered why
the Moslem civilization had not conquered all India, until
we remembered its serious limitations.

Sailing through the straits of Bab El Mandab and
along the Arabian coast, it was with a certain feeling of
awe that we passed Mecca and Medina, although they
were somewhat inland. We had been brought up on the
Arabian Nights, and here we were close at hand to the most
sacred spots of those sprightly romances. The mountains
of Arabia looked far and forbidding, and we enjoyed no
‘“Sabean odors from the spicy shores of Araby the blest.”
But we had been to Delhi, a typical Moslem city, and we
were going to old Cairo, another marvellous city, redolent
of the charms and mystery of Islam,—so we were content.

In Egypt, we came face to face with Islam everywhere.
Cairo is a city of mosques, and the minarets are as thick
as trees in a forest. Some of the great mosques in Cairo
are very impressive, such as the so-called “‘Superb Mosque”’
of Sultan Hassan, which is one of the most imposing
mosques in the world, and the ‘‘Alabaster Mosque” of
Mohammed Ali, with its ornate interior. Probably the
most interesting place in Cairo is the ancient Moslem
university of El-Azhar, the Splendid, where ten thousand
students study the Koran, mostly out loud. We did not
see what we had hoped, for it was a special sacred season
and strangers were not welcomed, but the fugitive glimpse
into the court and sanctuary were fascinating.

Islam has ninety-nine names for God, being the various
titles ascribed to God in the Koran. We found themMOHAMMED AS PROPHET 297

woven into quaint Arabic in a beautifully colored table-
cloth at Cairo. It now covers a table in our library.

Palestine brought us constant evidences of Islam. The
sacred spots are as much cherished by the Mohammedans
as by Jews or Christians. Islam accepts the Old Testa-
ment, its history and prophets; it accepts Christ as a
prophet of God, and it retells in its own way much of the
Gospels in the Koran. It has protected the Christian
churches of the Holy Land, even the Holy Sepulchre, from
the desolating strifes of Christian sects, especially Greeks
and Latins who have often illustrated how Christians may
hate each other.

Thus in India, China, Java, Egypt and Palestine, be-
sides Persia, Turkestan, Afghanistan and other Oriental
lands, Mohammed has such a large and living share in the
East,—in the present movement for national determina-
tion and development,—that we ought to appreciate the
meaning of his spirit and career.

Mohammedanism is now thirteen centuries old, and num-
bers probably 200,000,000 adherents. The faith of Islam
has large territory in three continents, Europe, Africa and
Asia. In Europe, two and a half million Russian Moslems
are counted: in Asia the converts are found in Arabia,
Persia, India, and China,—in China alone, as we said, 20,-
000,000 are numbered; in Africa, from Morocco into the
Sudan many millions spread their prayer-carpets toward
Mecca.

There are varieties in present-day Islam. It has many
sects and schools of thought. The largest number of
Mohammedans belong to the Sunni sect which is consid-
ered the orthodox branch, and to which we are usually
referring, unless other special designation is made. The
chief schools of this orthodox sect are the Hanyfites in
northern India, central Asia and the Turks everywhere;
the Shafites are in Lower Egypt, southern India, and the
Malay archipelago; the Malikites are in Upper Egypt and
north Africa; while the Hanbalites exist only in central
and eastern Arabia. All these schools of thought agree in298 THESSECRET OF THE LAST

essentials but differ in interpretation of ceremonial law.
The heterodox sect, the Shiah, is grouped chiefly in Persia
and India, and numbers about ten millions.

Islam is still growing and progressing. It has in it
some subtle seeds of life. It is one of the few active mis-
sionary religions of the world. It began to conquer in
Mohammed’s day and is still zealous for conquest.

The period in Arabia before Mohammed is called by
the Arabs “the time of ignorance.’”’ ‘They consider that
before Mohammed, they had no history and no religion.
But historical studies have discovered much of interest in
Arabia in the days before Mohammed. The Arabs were
mostly nomadic tribes, but some had settled in cities.
There was, however, no national feeling, and no central
government. It was largely a tribal life with immemorial
customs. They had annual gatherings, markets and festi-
vals. They had commercial caravans, and religious pil-
grimages, and poetic contests, for poetry was a passion
among them.

Their religion was a primitive form. There were
many nature-gods. Each tribe had its god, represented
perhaps by a tree or stone, and worshipped by prayer and
sacrifices. [he greatest and oldest of their deities was
Allat, or the Lady,—the primitive idea of supreme mother-
hood. There was also a belief in jinns, genii or spirits.
The early worship of Arabia was confused and confusing
to us, but it bore traces of an original primitive Semitic
form.

Somehow at an early day Mecca became an especially
sacred place. It was a gathering place of many tribes,
and each left one of its idols there, so that Mecca had hun-
dreds of idols, and each tribe felt at home there.

There was also at Mecca as it grew into a sort of na-
tional importance, a great temple building, cube-shaped,
called the Kaaba, into the walls of which was fixed a great
black stone of supreme sacredness to be kissed or wor-
shipped, as having fallen direct from Heaven.

Now although every tribal god had his special name,MOHAMMED AS PROPHET 299

yet each one was also called Allah, or Lord, as the head
of every household was called father. Allah was not the
name of any special god, historical with a legend or shrine
of his own, but the general idea which later was used as
the basis of the monotheism which Mohammed proclaimed.

There were also a large number of spiritual seekers in
Arabia just previous to Mohammed’s day. Some were at
Mecca and Medina. They were dissatisfied with the re-
ligion of their fathers and were seeking some better way.
‘They called themselves Hanyfs or puritans, and were be-
lievers in one God, and regarded Abraham as the founder
of their religion.’ Mohammed publicly acknowledged
himself a Hanyf. He mentions their books, and uses their
legends. But after a time the name Hanyf was dropped,
for that which had become the great symbol of Moham-
med’s religion—Islam, resignation, and a Moslem or
Muslim was one who surrenders or resigns himself to God.

Mohammed is one of the most important religious
leaders of the world. Let us recall a few of the dis-
tinctive and formative influences of his life.

He was born in the year 571 A.D., into a religious
tribe, the Koreish, who were the guardians of the sanc-
tuary, the Kaaba, at Mecca. He was thus from his birth
in the midst of religious influences.

He became a shepherd-boy, and began to love nature
on the hills, and in the silent watches under the sky to
commune with the unseen. Afterward he said that God
never took a prophet except from the sheep-folds.

His temperament was serious, meditative, even melan-
choly. He was nervous and subject at times to epilepsy
which in the East is often associated with visions and
divine possession. His association with the Henfys, the
spiritual seekers of his day, undoubtedly awakened within
him a dissatisfaction with the old religion, and a desire
for a better way. ie

He had married a rich wife, his cousin Khadija, and
he made commercial journeys in her business to Syria and
Palestine. His eyes began to be opened, for he had many300 DHE SHCRET OF DBE BAST

opportunities thus to come into contact with further Jewish
and Christian influences, of which he knew something
through Jews and Christians in Mecca and Medina.

Mecca in Mohammed’s day was not only a centre of
religion, but also a centre of trade. And where the multi-
tudes gathered for the markets, there also they practiced
their favorite diversions of poetry and song. The great
festivals of poetry and song were the national assemblies.
Rival clans recited their masterpieces before immense
audiences. Here “golden songs’ were sung and here a
mystical poetic language was developed which Mohammed
learned and afterwards so skilfully used in the Koran.

It was not until Mohammed was forty years of age
that his long-slumbering thoughts and feelings broke forth
in a religious revelation that deeply moved him. He was
keeping a fast on Mount Hira. He seemed to see a vision
of the angel Gabriel, and in his hands the angel held a
scroll and from it he read—

Preach! in the name of the Lord who created—

Created man from a drop of blood.

Preach! for thy Lord is the Highest and Most Bountiful!
Who taught the pen,

‘Taught man what he did not know.

Nay, man truly walketh in delusion

When he deemeth that he sufficeth for himself ;

To thy Lord must all return. (Sura 96)

This was the beginning. At first he thought himself
possessed and for a long interval,—some say two or three
years,—he was silent and melancholy until at last he broke
out again in new revelations.

It would seem that the great truth of the unity of God
soon took complete possession of him. He longed to bring
it to all his fellow-countrymen. He was anxious to destroy
the idols of Mecca,—the three hundred and sixty-five,—
and later he did so in a single memorable day. Gradually
the vision came to him by meditation that it was the
primitive religion of Abraham that he was preaching, and
that under this standard he could unite not only his ownMOHAMMED AS PROPHET 301

people but also the Jews and the Christians in one universal
religion.

His career undoubtedly reveals that although he was
a sincere religious fanatic in the earlier part of his public
life, yet later by fighting and conquests, he began to taste
the joys of power and dominion, and to dream of universal
conquest. His thought of the state was a theocracy in
which the religious and the civil interests should be one.
All his wars and conquests therefore became battles of the
Lord, and the supreme religious duty was to propagate
the true faith by the sword.

One great date must be recorded, that of the Hegira,
or the year of Mohammed’s flight from Mecca to Medina
in 622 A.D. ‘This marks the point when Islam entered
upon its political victories, and all Mohammedan chronol-
ogy is dated from this era.

Mohammed’s revelations and preachings are recorded
in short poems or sermons which have been gathered to-
gether in a volume called The Koran. A singular fact
about the Koran is the almost entire absence of historical]
record concerning Mohammed’s daily life. There are now
and then reference to public events after Mohammed was
forty years old, but nothing earlier. The ancient histories
of Israel are told again and again, all the stories and
legends of the patriarchs. But so little can be gleaned
concerning Mohammed himself. Only his mind and heart
are here. In the whole of the Koran, Mohammed’s name
is given only five times, yet he is constantly addressed
throughout the book.

We must remember that Mohammed began to preach
or give revelations at the age of forty. He continued to
give his successive revelations at intervals and on occasions
for twenty-three years, that is, until his death at the age
of sixty-three. The record of these twenty-three years
constitute The Koran, and the book of The Traditions.

Careful study of the authentic traditions of Moham-
med’s life and also of the internal evidence of the deliv-
erances themselves have made it plain that there were302 THES SsECRED OF “THE bast

several distinct periods in these successive revelations that
now constitute the Koran.

There was the period of the revelations of Mecca.
These comprise ninety out of the one hundred and four-
teen suras of the Koran, or practically two-thirds of the
whole book. Their general characteristic is poetic and
prophetic. Mohammed is not yet law-giver or statesman,
but only a messenger of Allah, to call the people from
their idols to the worship of the One God. This unity of
purpose runs throughout in eloquent insistance. It is in
strong contrast with the complicated tissue of later suras,
especially those issued from Medina.

And then came the period of the revelations at Medina.
It was at Medina that the law-giver, statesman and war-
rior appeared in Mohammed. It was the last period of
his life,—full of activities, responsibilities and strife. Mo-
hammed has reached the plenitude of his outward power,
but the inner inspiration has faded or been twisted. His
style is monotonous; the poetic fire is gone, or only bursts
up at rare intervals. These final suras,—there are only
twenty-four of them,—are full of regulations and rulings
on conduct,—legal decisions, and dogmatic and controver-
sial assertions. ‘The spirit is rigid and intolerant. And
all through them comes the command to propagate the faith
by the sword. This is the climax of his mission,—making
Islam a religion of the sword.

How shall we estimate the sacred book of Moham.
med? The Koran is the latest of the epoch-making books
of the great ethnic religions. Its date is from A.D. 609
to 632, so that all its features and history are well-known
and authenticated. Since its day the only distinctive and
authoritative Scriptures of religious faith that have been
written, for which divine inspiration have been claimed by
their followers, have been the Book of Mormon by the
Apostle of the so-called Latter-Day Saints, Joseph Smith,
and the volume entitled Science and Health, by Mary
Baker G. Eddy, which is given equal place and authority
with the Bible by the followers of so-called Christian
Science.MOHAMMED AS PROPHET 303

The influence of the Koran has been remarkable.
There was evidently something in it that was needed by
the people to whom it came. It transformed thought,
habits and character. It made the differing tribes of
Arabia at last into a nation of warrior-saints (as far as
their light went), who went forth as missionaries of their
faith to conquer the world. The vast political empire that
they created and the large part they have played in the
art, science, literature and religious activity of the world,
are phenomena that are well worth our study. The
literary and philosophical movements in Europe, preced-
ing the Renaissance, owed much to Arabic genius, and the
finest civilization of Europe owed something to its contact
with this Oriental life and learning.

The world has so far differed widely in its estimate
of the Koran. The devout Moslem regards it as the most
wonderful book in existence, both in exquisite literary
style and in the marvel of its spiritual revelation. It is to
him the infallible utterance of a divine prophet,—more
than that, it is the absolute word of the eternal God
Himself infallibly inspired.

But the outside world, and many critical scholars, hold
a very different opinion. Some regard it as the rhapsodies,
incoherent and tiresome, of an ignorant religious fanatic.
Others see in it the clever work of an arch imposter. The
true view may be a combination of these elements. The
Koran may be the work of a religious fanatic, some parts
of it may show signs of deliberate imposture, and yet for
the Arabs it may be good literature and contain some ele-
mental truths that come to them as a revelation of God.
It has its good and its bad features. It is perfectly possi-
ble to discriminate.

The style in which the Koran is written is another
problem for the Western reader. It is so utterly different
from our Bible and from our standards of good literature.
To many of us it may seem wild, exaggerated, repetitious,
tiresome, fantastic; but these very things appeal to the
wild Arab nature and the Semitic mind, which loves repe-304 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

tition and fantastic exaggerations. It is a difference of
temperament and environment that has wrought the psy-
chological change. It is difficult for us to put ourself into
the mood of the Arabian desert.

The phrasing is often poetic, rhythmic prose, some-
what in the manner of the old Hebrew prophets. Often it
has a half-verse form, with cadences and jingling rhymes
that are very pleasant to the Eastern ear. Indeed, so
much of charm and grace has it for them that they regard
its literary style, as well as its revelation, as a divine
miracle.

The book has one secret of its power in the fact
that it is saturated with one vigorous and commanding per-
sonality. Whereas other sacred scriptures are often the
work of many authors in many centuries, divergent mes-
sages from differing epochs, this Koran is from beginning
to end the message of one man, the concentrated spiritual
experience and revelation of the twenty-three most stirring
years of his life. It seems like a living voice; it is more
than a book, it is Mohammed himself. It is his spiritual
biography, the literary record of a poetic child of the
desert, the keen counsel and practical judgments of a
strong and masterful man.

We must remember also that the Koran is not so much
a book for the study, as for outdoors. It was not given so
much for readers, as for hearers. It was to be not quietly
read, but recited. And something was undoubtedly left to
the spirit and emphasis and gesture of the reciter. Ihe
often imperfect sentences indicate this. So that often what
seems uncouth to us may have appeared quite differently
with the living voice of an enthusiastic reciter of these
revelations in the name of Allah.

I think that we may justly say that Mohammed was an
opportunist par excellence. He accommodated his think-
ing, his revelations, his actions always to the needs of the
hour. He played a role. His moral sense adapted itself
automatically to the feelings and ambitions of his own
life and the life of his people. There are evidences ofMOHAMMED AS PROPHET 305

this all through the Koran. Some of the most striking
instances are the pat revelations to fit the exigencies of his
personal domestic affairs. When, for instance, he wants
to divorce his son’s wife and marry her, a special sura
comes to fit this case. When he desires to increase the
number of his wives above the alloted number, another sura
to allow this arrives. It is most remarkable, if these suras
are copied from the heavenly tablets as it is claimed, that
exactly the right sura should be revealed at exactly the
right moment to cover the inconsistencies of his personal
life.

There are undoubtedly some excellent things in the
message of the Koran, else it would not have lived so long
and become so influential in the world. The material of
the Koran is all derived from various sources, and these
can be readily traced. Yet there is a certain originality in
the manner in which this material is worked over and
stamped with the poetic imagination and the fervid enthu-
siasm of the prophet. Many of the borrowed legends come
forth strangely changed, and nearly all of them are made
into fresh vehicles for the application of the urgent views
of life and duty which seem to be constantly uppermost in
his mind. It is only a very few ideas which he emphasizes
from beginning to end, but on these he rings the changes
most persistently.

The substance of the Koran is derived mainly from
three sources. The first was the Arabian legends of his
own time and country, long current in the heathen religion
in which he had been brought up. Some of them were in-
spired by a primitive nature worship, or by an early Semitic
religion which was probably at one time dominant in the
Arabian peninsula, or even throughout the whole Meso-
potamian region. He used these freely, changing as he
pleased.

A second source was the Jewish haggadah, stories and
traditions, based largely upon the Talmud. These he took
and retold in various ways and with many imaginary de-
tails to suit his own purposes.306 THE SHCRET (OF “THE Ash

The third source was the floating Christian tradi-
tions in Arabia and southern Syria, most of them probably
derived from the apocryphal gospels as so many apocry-
phal details are interwoven. ‘These traditions came to
him possibly through the Christian monk Sergius, and from
other Christian slaves at Mecca. His wife’s cousin,
Waraka, an intimate friend, was also reputed to be a con-
vert to Christianity. He had also travelled to the Chris-
tian city of Bostra with his uncle, and had probably wit-
nessed the ceremonials of Christian worship.

It is not probable that Mohammed had access to the
Christian Scriptures. For he gives no direct quotations,
except possibly one; his phrases are very different,—he
does not use New Testament language; and most striking
evidence of all, his gospel accounts and stories are strangely
different. It would seem therefore that he used traditions
and hear-say accounts rather than any gospel text. Nor do
we know of any Arabic text in existence at that time.

There seem evidences however that he mixed up and
used various notions of the Essenes, the Ebionites, the
Hanyfs and the Gnostics with his ideas of Christianity.

A minor source of materials for the Koran was the
Persian religion and the Zend-Avesta of Zoroaster. Tradi-
tion has it that he derived his descriptions of Heaven and
Hell from the Persian Scriptures of Zoroaster.

We may see the real elements of the strength of the
Koran in such truths, or part truths, as these—first, the
unity of God. This was a great conception for Arabia. It
was well worth emphasizing. But the monotheism of Islam
never reached the larger conception of Judaism or Chris-
tianity. The god of Islam is absolute sovereignty and
ruthless omnipotence. It is more a deity of will and force
than the God of love whom we know. Nevertheless the
brief creed ‘There is no God but God” has been and is an
element of power.

Another strong point is this,—Islam inculcates rever-
ence for the sacred book. It holds that God sent down
one hundred and four sacred books,—ten to Adam, fiftyMOHAMMED AS PROPHET 307

to Seth, thirty to Enoch, and ten to Abraham. All are lost
but four,—the Law of Moses, the Psalms of David, the
Gospel of Jesus, and the Koran of Mohammed.

It also accepts the prophets of God. There have
been many prophets, according to Mohammed. Many
major and minor ones included Adam, Noah, Abraham,
Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed.

It also emphasizes the day of judgment. This occu-
pies a large place in the messages and warnings of the
Koran. It is called again and again simply the Day, the
Hour, or the Reckoning. Hundreds of times is it men-
tioned, in most graphic and terrible description. And then
come rewards and punishments.

It makes much of the doctrine of predestination. Some
call this the keystone in the Moslem arch of faith. It is
pure Calvinism, hyper and ultra Calvinism in its philosophy,
and in its effects in daily life it is absolute fatalism. It is
the essence of its religion, Islam, resignation to God's
will. It inspires a reckless bravery in Moslem warriors,
and a quenchless ambition for propaganda and conquest.
On the other hand, it kills liberty, paralyzes progress, and
forever consecrates injustice and bondage.

These are the five chief articles of faith, as set forth
in the Koran. The three chief practices are first, prayer.
It is not Christian prayer. It has no liberty or spontane-
ity. It is largely mechanical and superstitious. It is often
a mere repetition in a foreign tongue,—a recitation of a
formula five times a day.

The pilgrimage to Mecca is also incumbent on every
free Moslem who has the means. It is one of the pillars
of religion, bestows great merit and sanctity, and has been
a great means of national unity and of missionary zeal.

Good works are also emphasized. Prayer, pilgrimage
and purification are included in these. The additional ones
are confession of the creed, and the legal alms. These
are the tithes of Islam, and are required from every fol-

lower. oe
Now while it has these things largely in its favor, the308 THE SECRET OF THE, EAST

Koran nas its defects and weaknesses. It is defective in
the Book and defective in practice. Those who have stud-
ied Mohammedanism in actual contact see emphasized the
weaknesses of the Book.

Attention has often been called to the shortcomings
of the moral teachings in the Koran. The charge is just,
when we compare these precepts with the highest ethical
standards that we know. But it is only fair to remember
what had been the low moral conditions among the Arabian
and other heathen people which it came to replace. It was
a decided advance over what preceded it in that region.
But we see that it did not go far enough. It was a step
forward and then an arrested development. Nor is there
in this religion the element of freedom and progress. It
is a fixed and stereotyped theology and form. It lacks
the vision of an ever-expanding future of higher spiritual
development.

For while Islam thus has some admirable features, it
also has its cruel and vindictive side. We find it hard to
reconcile the hard and treacherous religion of the Kurds
who massacre the Armenians, with the religion that loves
beauty in the Taj Mahal of India and that loves learn-
ing in the Alhambra and its memories of Saracenic culture
in Spain, and the glories of the splendid dreams of Akbar
the Great or of Kublai Khan. It merely means that it has
the same double-sidedness as Roman Catholicism which
was capable of inventing the Inquisition, and also of bring-
ing forth such saints as Francis of Assisi and Joan of Arc;
or Protestantism that can bring forth a learned theologian,
such as Calvin, who was cruel unto death with Servetus,
and yet was the father of the religious liberties of man-
kind. Religion can be easily and woefully perverted in any
individual or nation.

Before we tell the closing events of Mohammed’s life
we may ask definitely, what manner of man was this
prophet Mohammed? A very vivid and attractive picture
of him is given by Stanley Lane-Poole, made up largelyMOHAMMED AS PROPHET 309

of quotations from the ancient traditions. It reads as
follows:

Mohammed was of the middle height, rather thin, but broad of
shoulders, wide of chest, strong of bone and muscle. His head was
massive, strongly developed. Dark hair, slightly curled, flowed in a
dense mass almost to his shoulders; even in advanced age it was
sprinkled with only about twenty gray hairs, produced by the agonies
of his “Revelations.” His face was oval-shaped, slightly tawny of
color. Fine, long, arched eye-brows were divided by a vein, which
throbbed visibly in moments of passion. Great, black, restless eyes
shone out from under long, heavy eyelashes. His nose was large,
slightly aquiline. His teeth, upon which he bestowed great care,
were well set, dazzling white. A full beard framed his manly face.
His skin was clear, his complexion “red and white,” his hands were
as “silk and soft,’’ even as those of a woman. His step was quick
and elastic, yet firm as that of one who steps “from a high to a low
place.” In turning his face he would also turn his whole body.
His whole gait and presence were dignified and imposing. His coun-
tenance was mild and pensive. His laugh was rarely more than a
smile.

In his habits he was extremely simple, though he bestowed great
care on his person. His eating and drinking, his dress and his furni-
ture retained, even when he had reached the fulness of power, their
almost primitive nature. “The only luxuries he indulged in were,
besides arms, which he highly prized, a pair of yellow boots, a present
from the Negus of Abyssinia. Perfumes, however, he loved passion-
ately, being most sensitive to smells. Strong drink he abhorred.

His constitution was extremely delicate. He was nervously afraid of
bodily pain; he would sob and roar under it. Eminently unpractical
in all common things of life, he was gifted with mighty powers of
imagination, elevation of mind, delicacy and refinement of feeling.
‘He is more modest than a virgin behind her curtain,” it was said
of him. He was most indulgent to his inferiors, and would never
allow his awkward little page to be scolded whatever he did. “Ten
years,” said Anas, his servant, “was I about the Prophet, and he
never said as much as ‘uff’ to me.”’ He was very affectionate towards
his family. One of his boys died on his breast in the smoky house of
the nurse, a blacksmith’s wife. He was very fond of children; he
would stop them in the streets and pat their little heads. He never
struck anyone in his life. “The worst expression he ever made use
of in conversation was, ‘‘What has come to him? May his forehead
be darkened with mud!’ When asked to curse someone, he replied,
“T have not been sent to curse, but to be a mercy to mankind.”
“He visited the sick, followed any bier he met, accepted the invita-310 THE SECRET OF (Pie BAS

tion of a slave to dinner, mended his own clothes, milked the goats,
and waited upon himself,” relates summarily another tradition. He
never first withdrew his hand out of another man’s palm, and turned
not before the other had turned.

He was the most faithful protector of those he protected, the
sweetest and most agreeable in conversation. “Those who saw him
were suddenly filled with reverence; those who came near him loved
him; they who described him would say, “I have never seen his like
either before or after.’ He was of great taciturnity, but when he
spoke it was with emphasis and deliberation, and no one could forget
what he said. He was, however, very nervous and restless withal ;
often low-spirited, downcast, as to heart and eyes. Yet he would at
times suddenly break through these broodings, become gay, talkative,
jocular, chiefly among his own. He would then delight in telling
little stories, fairy tales, and the like. He would romp with the
children and play with their toys.

He lived with his wives in a row of humble cottages, separated
from one another by palm-branches, cemented together with mud.
He would kindle the fire, sweep the floor, and milk the goats him-
self. The little food he had was always shared with those who
dropped in to partake of it. Indeed, outside the prophet’s house was
a bench or gallery, on which were always to be found a number of
poor, who lived entirely upon his generosity, and were hence called
“the people of the bench.” His ordinary food was dates and water,
or barley bread; milk and honey were luxuries of which he was
fond, but which he rarely allowed himself. The fare of the desert
seemed most congenial to him, even when he was sovereign of Arabia.

A very striking occasion with memorable words closed
the prophet’s career. It reminds one in its quiet dignity
and grandeur of the farewell of Moses to Israel. I quote
the account verbatim from Lane-Poole’s introduction to the

Speeches and Table-talk of Mohammed:

The prophet’s career was near its end. In the tenth year of the
flight, twenty-three years after he had first felt the spirit move him
to preach to his people, he resolved once more to leave his adopted
city and go to Mekka to perform a farewell pilgrimage. And when
the rites were done in the valley of Mina, the prophet spake unto
the multitude—the forty thousand pilgrims—with solemn last words:

“Ye people, hearken to my words: for I know not whether after
this year I shall ever be amongst you here again.

“Your lives and your property are sacred and inviolable amongst
one another until the end of time.MOHAMMED AS PROPHET 311

“The Lord hath ordained to every man the share of his inheritance ;
a testament is not lawful to the prejudice of heirs.

“The child belongeth to the parent, and the violator of wedlock
shall be stoned.

“Ye people, ye have rights demandable of your wives, and they
have rights demandable of you. Treat your women well.

“And your slaves, see that ye feed them with such food as ye eat
yourselves, and clothe them with the stuff ye wear. And if they
commit a fault which ye are not willing to forgive, then sell them,
for they are the servants of the Lord and are not to be tormented.

“Ye people! hearken unto my speech and comprehend it. Know
that every Muslim is the brother of every other Muslim. All of you
are on the same equality: ye are one brotherhood.’

Then looking up to heaven he cried: ““O Lord, I have delivered my
message and fulfilled my mission.” And all the multitude answered,
“Yea, verily hast thou!” ‘“O Lord, I beseech thee, bear Thou wit-
ness to it!” and, like Moses, he lifted up his hands and blessed the
people. Three months more and Mohammed was dead—A.H. 11,
Ae): 632:

And when it was noised abroad that the prophet was dead, Omar,
the fiery-hearted, the Simon Peter of Islam, rushed among the people
and fiercely told them they lied; it could not be true. And Abu-Bekr
came and said, ‘Ye people! he that hath worshipped Mohammed, let
him know that Mohammed is dead; but he that hath worshipped
God, that the Lord liveth and doth not die.”

A striking ending to a striking career. What shall we
say of the man and his book? I think this is true of the
Koran. The religious books of China are more kindly and
tolerant than the Koran. The sacred books of India are
infinitely more spiritual and devout. Babylonia in its writ-
ings shows a deeper sense of sin and a more willing spirit
of sacrifice. Egypt in its Book of the Dead reveals a keener
sense of justice and truth, and more majestic thoughts of
immortality. Zoroaster has loftier visions of the struggles
of righteousness and the final triumph of the good. The
Jewish Old Testament is infinitely superior to the Koran.
‘And the New Testament is as far above the Koran in its
vision of truths and its appeal to moral conduct and spirit-
ual life as the heavens are above the earth.

What shall be our judgment of the man,—of his
strange and astonishing character?312 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

I think this estimate of Mohammed is just: “In all
he did and wrote, Mohammed was actuated by a sincere
desire to deliver his countrymen from the grossness of their
debasing idolatries—that he was urged on by an intense
desire to proclaim that great truth of the Unity of the
Godhead which had taken full possession of his own soul—
that the end to be attained justified to his mind the means
he adopted in the production of his Suras—that he worked
himself up into a belief that he had received a divine call—
and that he was carried on by the force of circumstances,
and by gradually increasing successes, to believe himself
the accredited messenger of Heaven.”

Another estimate from a careful critic comes very
near the truth. “He was a great though imperfect char-
acter, an earnest though mistaken teacher. Many of his
mistakes and imperfections were the result of circumstances,
of temperament, and constitution. We see that there must
be elements both of truth and goodness in the system of
which he was the main author, to account for the world-
wide phenomenon, that whatever may be the intellectual
inferiority (if such is, indeed, the fact) of the Moslem
races, the influence of his teaching, aided, it is true, by the
vast impulse given to it by the victorious arms of his fol-
lowers, has now lasted for nearly thirteen centuries, and
embraces more than two hundred millions of our race—
more than a fifth part of the inhabitants of the globe.”

It is interesting to remember that the relations of Mo-
hammed to the Jews of his day, especially in the earlier
part of his religious career, were intimate and cordial. It
is evident that he had many friends among the rabbis who
communicated their legends to him. The Talmud was
completed fully a century before Mohammed, and the Jews
were numerous in Mecca. Mohammed had a great re-
spect for the Jewish religion; he took his best points boldly
and bodily from it, and for a long time he hoped to con-
vert the Jews to his way of thinking and to assimilate and
dominate Judaism, as he also hoped to absorb and fulfill
Christianity in his new religion.MOHAMMED AS PROPHET 313

What then may we finally say of Mohammedanism—
has it the elements of permanence and universality, will it
endure, or will it be modified in the future? I think that
we are justified in saying that it has been a preparation
only for a larger truth,—it has some substantial elements
of truth,—but it is only a schoolmaster to lead to the
greater revelation. Mohammed did not know, or did not
fully comprehend, the largest revelation of God, such as
we find in essential Christianity. Mohammed was surely
a prophet of God to the people of his day and land, but
his religion, astonishing as it has been in its history and
missionary propaganda, is too provincial in its spirit and
too limited in its theology and philosophy to become the
religion of the East.

Mohammedanism is the most difficult of religions to
bring into the full light, because it has so much of the
truth and is so satisfied with what it has. The better is
sometimes the enemy of the best. Do you remember
Akbar’s dream which Tennyson has written as a noble
poem. Some day, that dream may come true. Akbar was
one of the greatest of the Mohammedan Emperors of
India. He ruled over fifteen large provinces in the north
of India, but never quite subdued the south of India. He
forbade all persecution for religion and took measures for
religious tolerance and liberty. His reign was noted for
vigor, justice and humanity. He forbade child-marriage
in his provinces, and ordained that re-marriage was law-
ful. It was his intimate friend and adviser Abul Fazl who
helped him to larger views in a religious way. Akbar
ruled over mixed races,—Moslems, Jews, Hindus, and
Christians in India, and he had many discussions on their
faiths with the leaders of the different religions. Finally
he determined to bring all these religions together, and to
unite all creeds, castes and peoples in his empire. He drew
up a “Creed of Divine Faith” which he felt embodied the
essential truth of all. It did much good. It drew attention
to the excellencies in all these religions and forbade em-
phasis on their faults or errors. It promoted a wonderful314 THESSECREDT OF THE EAST

peace and tolerance among the particular religions in-
volved, especially the Moslems, Jews, Hindus and Portu-
guese Christians at his Court. During the Emperor
Akbar’s reign, this Creed became standard, but under his
successors, the various religious bodies again returned to
their own ways.

I shall never forget the afternoon that I spent at the
tomb of this catholic-minded emperor. It is at Sikandra,
five miles from Agra. It is a magnificent mausoleum,—
one of the grandest structures in India, second only to
the Taj Mahal,—beautifully situated, richly decorated and
once ornamented with the famous Kohinoor diamond on
the cenotaph. But greater than this wonderful tomb, and
Akbar’s palace and fort which we also visited at Agra, is
the strength and beauty of the aspirations and spiritual am-
bitions of this Mohammedan monarch. He had the vision
even at that time which it has taken us centuries since to
arrive at,—the essential oneness of all true religion.

But evidently the times were not ripe for Akbar'’s
dream. Some day in larger way with the full truth of God,
the dream may be fulfilled. Yet in that day, in the year
1579, the inscription of “The Divine Faith,” written by
Abul Fazl, the minister of Akbar, for a temple in Kash-
mir shows that they were moving in the right direction—

O God, in every temple I see people that see Thee, and in every
language I hear spoken, people praise Thee.

Polytheism and Islam feel after Thee.

Each religion says, ‘““Thou art one, without equal.”

If it be a mosque, people murmur the holy prayer, and if it be a
Christian Church, people ring the bell from love to Thee.

Sometimes I frequent the Christian cloister, and sometimes the
mosque.

But it is Thou whom I seek from temple to temple.

Thine elect have no dealings with either heresy or orthodoxy; for
neither of these stands behind the screen of Thy truth.

Heresy to the heretic, and orthodoxy to the orthodox.

But the dust of the rose-petal belongs to the heart of the perfume-
seller who loves God.MODERN ATHENS AND THE GLORY THAT
WAS GREECE

F, receive largely what we .bring. Those who

love Greek art, Greek literature, Greek history

will find wonderful things on a journey to
Greece. The more they know about these things, the
keener their enjoyment Yet even those who are not famil-
iar with Greek history, art and literature, will yet find
much to admire, much to make them ponder. They cannot
escape some thrills at the magnificent ruins they will see
at Athens and the astounding evidences of the splendor of
human genius. To all who walk the streets of Athens,
there will open some pages of monumental history that
will make them proud that they belong to a humanity capa-
ble of such fine heroism and such splendid achievement.

We may recall a few facts and figures about modern
Greece before we concentrate our attention on modern
Athens, and its soul in ancient Athens. Greece is about
the size of Massachusetts. It contains a little more than
25,000 square miles. It has a population of 3,500,000,
and of these Athens has about 300,000.

When we started on our voyage, there was a king,
George II, on the throne. He is a son of the former King
Constantine, a Dane. His wife is Queen Elizabeth, a
daughter of King Ferdinand of Bulgaria. The King was
elected by the assembly, called the Bule, which consists of
184 representatives. During our voyage Greece had be-
come a republic. We saw the new Republic being for-
mally inaugurated when we landed at Athens.

The field strength of the army is 25,000. The navy
has five ships—of five to ten thousand tons. Education
is compulsory. There are universities, polytechnic and

315316 THE SECRET “OF THE BAst

trade schools and a fine system of primary and secondary
education. Also, several foreign classical and archeolog-
ical schools. There are 1470 miles of railroads; 10,565
miles of telegraph. The state religion is the Greek church,
but there is absolute religious tolerance of all creeds and
religions.

These are the facts and figures. But the spirit and in-
fluence of Greece have been far greater than any facts
or figures give. It.is a little country, but its influence has
been great. Palestine was a little country, but out of it
came the world’s greatest religion. England is a little
country, but it is the centre of a vast world-empire. Greece
is small but it has been the leader and inspiration in philos-
ophy, education and literature for centuries. It has been
the delight and despair of artists and sculptors for twenty-
five centuries. It is a great power in the higher life of the
world to-day.

Greece cannot die. The language is not dead. Classic
Greek is still taught in our colleges as a part of culture.
Modern Greek, very close to the ancient, is still spoken
throughout Greece. In English we are constantly using
hundreds of Greek words every day, such words as alpha-
bet, geography, arithmetic, telegraph, telephone, micro-
scope, telescope, photograph, phonograph, and hundreds
of others taken directly from the Greek. The old Greek
architecture is not dead. It survives as a standard for all
time and is reproduced in thousands of the best buildings
to-day in all lands. Our best Colonial work is Greek. The
philosophy of Greece is not dead. The philosophers of to-
day go back to Aristotle and Plato for many of their ideas.
The patriotism of Greece is not dead. Its heroic stories
are still told to our schoolboys. Plutarch’s Lives—a volume
of Greek heroes—is still one of the best classics. The liter-
ature of Greece is still honored among the most wonderful
productions of the human mind. The great Greek drama-
tists, such as AEschylus, Sophocles and Euripides have
never been surpassed, unless it be by the myriad-minded
Shakespeare. The old Greek drama is still given to-day.THE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE 327
This past year in New York such Greek dramas as Edipus

Rex, Antigone, Iphigenia and The Trojan Women were
given. The art of Greece still lives and is still unrivalled.
The Hermes of Praxiteles is the noblest and most intelli-
gent face of man ever portrayed in sculpture. The Venus
of Melos, often called the Venus de Milo, is the most per-
fect form of woman ever sculptured,—incomparable in its
lines of grace and beauty. It is now in the Louvre at
Paris. The bust of Plato, the full-length statue of Demos-
thenes and the group of the Laocoon are as fine as the
world knows. Without Phidias and Praxiteles, there
would have been no Michael Angelo or Rodin. What a
civilization was this of ancient Greece. Highest in lan-
guage, in art and architecture, in poetry and philosophy,
in dramatic genius!

The centre and heart of it all was Athens. It is to
Athens then that we shall wend our way. We land at
the Piraeus, the port of Athens, five or six miles distant
from the imperial city on the Acropolis. The Piraeus has
always been a busy port from the days of the Argonauts,—
the harbor full of shipping and sails. Many historic scenes
have been enacted here when the fleets of Greece set sail,
or returned victorious in those ancient days. So important
was this sea entrance and exit for Athens that it was made
part of Athens itself and the way to it from Athens was
enclosed and protected by the ‘““Long Walls” so famous in
history.

Before we reach Athens, we see to the east Mount
Hymettus, haunted in ancient days by the sacred bees and
by the Muses. Even to-day we may eat in Athens the honey
of Hymettus, made by the descendents of the same famous
bees, and it is best honey in the world.

Far off to the northeast is Mount Pentelicon, the source
in ancient days and to-day of the purest white marble for
statuary and building. A day’s journey to the northeast
is Marathon, the spot where the Greek heroes won such
undying fame. The Marathon runners do the distance
Athens to Marathon, twenty-five miles, in three hours orat sce eNO

318 THE SECRET JOR” THE EAS?

less. Far off to the southwest, another day’s journey, lies
Salamis, the scene of the most famous seafight in Greek
history, where the Greeks defeated the Persian fleet, and
sent Xerxes home in chagrin and despair. It was one of
the most decisive battles and turning points in the world’s
history.

But we must pass on to Athens itself—Athens “the fair-
est jewel on earth’s zone’? as Emerson called it. “The
brilliant jewel set in the rocky coronet of the Acropolis”
another has described it,—Athens the flower of the most
brilliant intellect, art, literature, philosophy that the world
has ever known blooming forth in that brilliant period of
Pericles and Plato.

I shall never forget the first time I saw Athens. It was
toward sunset time. We were full of excitement in antici-
pation of the great event. School-day memories of Greek
stories, college-day readings of Greek history and liter-
ature begin to come back—the memory of the masterpieces
of Greek sculpture begin to visualize themselves. We shall
see them all at Athens. We are nearing the top of the
mountains that encircle the Attic plains. Oh for the first
glimpse! There it is, there is Athens; there is the Par-
thenon high in the centre on the great hill of the Acropolis.
It is just as we had dreamed. It is in a perfect setting
with the background of a magnificent sunset. It gives us
a real thrill.

Let us look around modern Athens first, saving the
Acropolis and the Parthenon for the last. “—The new Athens
is a very up-to-date city, lying around these matchless me-
morials of the past. There are no ancient buildings in use
in the modern city. The oldest structure is barely one
or two hundred of years old and most of them are scarcely
fifty years old. It is a thriving, hustling, attractive European
city, with all the latest improvements of electric lights,
trolley cars, fine hotels, stately palaces and churches, a
university and museums and fine public squares. The
ancient names are perpetuated. ‘The principal street is
Hermes Street, there is Xenophon Street and there is aTHE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE 4819

modern Byron Street. This last reminds us of the roman-
tic connection of the English poet Lord Byron with Greece.
He came to help in the war of Greek Independence in
1824, and worked hard, rendered some splendid service,
was seized by the fever and died at Missolonghi. His love
and sacrifice for Greece was probably Lord Byron’s noblest
heroism. When we were at sea in the Mediterranean, the
Greeks named a city for him ‘‘Byronia.”’ His statue 1s
there at Missolonghi. Byron wrote wonderfully about
Greece in his poem called ‘‘Childe Harold,” and also in his
lyric—

Maid of Athens, ere we part,

Give, O give me back my heart.

The King’s palace,—probably now the President's
palace—is the most noteworthy modern building. It is
near the Botanical Gardens. The recent King, George II,
succeeded his father, King Constantine, on his second ab-
dication, in September, 1922. Venizelos was for a long
time the dominant factor in Greek politics. An American,
Mrs. Leeds who married Prince Christopher, uncle of the
present King, gave us Americans for a time an intimate in-
terest and share in royal matters at Athens. The earlier
royal palace is now used for state business. The royal
summer palace is nearby, in the country.

The older University is another notable modern build-
ing. It has 3,000 or more students, with a fine library
and art collection. The newer University also has a com-
plete faculty and a large body of students. The Amer-
‘can School at Athens is an art and archeological school
sustained by colleges in America. There is always an
American professor as resident director and always some
American students there on scholarships, studying the
Greek language, literature, art and history. [ remember
many happy days spent in the hospitality of this excellent
school. There is a fine girls’ school in Athens called the
Arsakeion with American ideals and standards, and an
attendance of more than 1,500 girls. here are more320 fae SECRET OF THE EAS

than 6,000 elementary schools in Athens and other parts
of Greece, and nearly everyone now has the opportunity
of a good education.

We saw on this visit, April, 1924, the old palace used in
a unique way. It had become the home and training school
of Greek and Armenian refugee-orphans, under the care
of the Near East Relief, with Red Cross nurses in charge.
We also saw hundreds of poor young girls living in the
palace of the king, and walking its golden corridors, and
dwelling in its gorgeously ornamented rooms. In another
government building—the Sarpeion—we saw hundreds of
orphan boys, brought over from Greek Asia Minor, refu-
gees in the late war, now being fed and schooled and cared
for by the Near East Relief. Some American friends,
Red Cross nurses, were our directors on this visitation,
and we saw what remarkable work was being done for
Greece and all humanity by this service of American sym-
pathy and support. :

The churches in Athens are not numerous. The great
Metropolitan church is one of the sights of the new city.
It was begun in 1840, and incorporated in itself the mate-
rials of many of the smaller churches. But it is not
strikingly artistic. The little Byzantine church is the for-
mer Metropolitan church and is a queer little structure,
but it is a gem. It is as richly adorned as a jewel case.
It is said to date from the year 775 A.D.—the oldest
building now in use in the new city. These churches have
the same rituals as the Greek churches everywhere, and as
the Russian. The liturgy is that of St. Chrysostom and St.
Basil. The music is sung by men alone and without instru-
ments. There are no images in the churches, but many
pictures or ikons. The priests are all married. The bishops
give up their wives. There are archbishops and a patriarch
at Constantinople but no Pope. In Athens, there is a
Metropolitan.

I remember a most unique communion service in the
Metropolitan church of Athens. The thing that impressed
me was that the Metropolitan of Athens, who served theTHE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE = 321

communion, came down into the middle of the church and
the people kneeled around him, as a throng of worshipers,
and he dipped the communion elements out of a golden
chalice with a golden spoon, and put a portion upon the
tongue of each one around him. It was the communion
bread, mingled with the wine. It seemed to me very patri-
archal and beautiful.

Those who were in Jerusalem on a recent Saturday and
Sunday saw some of the color and ceremony of the Greek
church, for it was the Greek Easter. Some of us were
fortunate enough to see the Patriarch of Jerusalem, the
chief Greek pastor of the Holy Land, and to see the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre lighted with thousands of
lights, with bells jangling, chants sounding and great pro-
cessions and crowds. The Greeks like all this.

There is also a fine Protestant Greek church in Athens.
A Church of England with English service and a Y. M.
C. A., also Y. W. C. A. doing good work.

The old cemetery at Athens is most interesting and
impressive with tombs and monuments, some very ancient
and many in ancient style. They represent beauty and
grief, and often sad despair. The one word Chaire!
Farewell! is often on them, but there is indicated little
hope of the future. The teaching of immortality had not
yet found their way among the people. You may remem-
ber that St. Paul wrote one epistle from Athens, and as if
seeing these tombs, he wrote “‘Brethren, we sorrow not as
those who have no hope.”

One day in Athens I saw a simple scene that I shall
never forget. You may see it again or something like it.
A procession came along the streets,—white-robed figures
carrying a great silver cross and a bride of death—a fair
young woman, with features classic enough for a statue.
She lay on a light couch or litter, a recumbent figure in
lace and flowers, dressed as a bride with orange blossoms
around her, as the custom holds for young women. Her
face was uncovered to the skies. It seemed to me a noble,
dignified and most impressive procession, as they moved322 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

to the ancient cemetery, and there in the open the friends
came up, made the sign of the cross and kissed the pale
white brow. The priest kissed a Bible and laid it on
her breast. And so they buried her. It seemed in its
simplicity and beauty to belong to the early centuries of
the church, even to the ancient Homeric days,—the bride
of death carried thus in quiet procession to her last home,
and the blue skies of Athens looking down upon her smil-
ing face as she slept and dreamed.

The museums of Athens are worth a visit and some
study. The National Archeological Museum has some
unrivalled collections, especially the rare finds discovered
by Dr. Schliemann at Mycenae. You must not miss the
Hermes of Andros, Themis, Demeter, Poseidon and De-
mosthenes.

Dr. Schliemann’s residence is one of the places of in-
terest in Athens. It is a memorial of such a picturesque life.
His story runs thus: He was a poor minister’s son in a
little German village and as a boy he read the ancient
tales of the burning of Troy and that its location was now
lost and forgotten. There came to him even then the
desire of finding those ruins. He entered a business. He
was successful at first and then lost his fortune, but finally
recovered it, retired from business, keeping his dream,
studied Latin and Greek, married a Greek lady to help
him in his work. She had attracted him by her recita-
tions of Homer in a school at Athens. They were very
happy together. She was a great assistance in his plans;
she accomplished all his dreams and more; and his work
has been of great help to all Greek scholars. Dr. Schlie-
mann died in 1890, but his beautiful mansion ornamented
with many statues is still occupied by his widow and family.
It is called ‘““The Palace of Ilion.” His children were
named Agamemnon and Andromeda. Mrs. Schliemann
also has carried on much valuable work that her husband
originated.

Some things that took me far afield in Greece were
Tiryns and Mycenae. There I travelled in the footstepsTHE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE 323

of Dr. Schliemann; and to Eleusis I wandered to find the
Temple of the Mysteries and to old Corinth to stand
where St. Paul stood under columns of the temple of an-
cient love and wrote his marvellous Hymn to Divine Love
as given in the 13th of First Corinthians. But since our
present journey does not go in these directions, we need
not trace these fascinating paths.

We therefore concentrate on Athens. The people of
Athens present a constant panorama of life and interest,
with here and there picturesqueness and beauty. The
Greek soldiers in their national dress somewhat like a High-
lander’s kilt, are very numerous. Priests and monks mingle
with the crowds. ‘Tailors and cobblers ply their trades
in the open shops along the streets. Ihe streets are
thronged with people in the evenings. hey are drinking
coffee and chattering at little tables on the sidewalk. The
air is heavy with rich perfume from sweet blossomed trees.
There is a sprinkling of all nations, French and Danish
uniforms are much in evidence. French is the polite lan-
guage of Athens, the court language and the language of
all social life.

We notice some unique characteristics of the people.
Bread is sold by the ring, and you may carry a dozen
loaves on your arm, as amulets. Figs are sold by the
yard, strung on strong grass. We see chickens and turkeys
driven along the streets in droves, and sold at the doors.
We see goats driven likewise and milked at the doors.

We note that the people of Athens still love the old
historic names. Your barber is Themistocles; your boot-
black Alcibiades. The two chief wine merchants of Athens
are Solon and Lycurgus.

We were present this year, April, 1924, when the latest
Greek Republic was inaugurated. It was a thrilling occa-
sion. We stood on a private balcony overlooking the
great plaza before the cathedral, or Metropolitan Church.
The plaza was crowded with thousands of soldiers, ofh-
cials and employees of the new Republic, waiting to take
the oath of allegiance. It was a well-behaved assembly.324 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

At ten o'clock the heads of the provisional government
began to arrive, pushing through the throngs in their autos.
The formal inauguration began in the cathedral with a ie
Deum and thanksgiving by the great choirs, then the proc-
lamation, followed by the oath of allegiance administered
to the highest officials by the Metropolitan of Athens. We
saw the Metropolitan in his gorgeous robes come forth
from the cathedral, and standing near the portals, he read
the oath aloud, sentence by sentence, to the throngs of sol-
diers and employees of the government, who raising their
hands, repeated the oath, sentence by sentence, after him.
It was a great sight, with the thousands of hands in the
air, and it was a great sound, like the booming of the sea,
when the thousands of voices repeated the oath of allegi-
ance. The instant the oath was taken, and the new Repub-
lic was thus safely inaugurated, the bells in the cathedral
began to ring joyously, the flags were thrown out from the
towers to the breeze, and all the military bands began to
play, and the people shouted a great shout. So was the new
Republic of Greece inaugurated. There were some small
riots by the Soviet students, a few horses lost their riders
in the scuffle, a few shots were exchanged between the revo-
lutionists and the police, a few were killed, so it was
rumored—but the new Republic was proudly born. |
looked up at the Acropolis and the Parthenon as this scene
and epoch were being enacted. What other changes it had
witnessed! What other Greek republics in old classic
days! Twenty centuries had gone, and Greece had come
back again, after many vicissitudes, to its ideals of the times
of Pericles and Plato. Would that Plato’s Republic might
be visualized and forever endure!

Now after this hurried glimpse of modern Athens, let
us saunter back into antiquity and glance at ancient history
—at the glory that was Greece. For that will mean most
to us. The traditions of this wonderful city go back a
thousand years or more before Christ, when Athens was
founded on this high rock-foundation. This rock of the
Acropolis was always a stronghold and a sanctuary. ButTHEAGLORY GTA “WAS GREECE, 732%

the greatest era of its history was the fifth and the fourth
centuries before Christ. In the fifth century occurred the
battles of Marathon and Salamis, when the Persians tried
to overwhelm and capture Greece, and the Greeks defeated
the great King Xerxes. This is the century of A‘schylus,
Sophocles and Euripides, the great dramatic poets; of
Xenophon and Aristophanes, the comic poets; of Socrates
the philosopher; of Phidias the sculptor; of Pericles the
ruler. It was a marvelous epoch in the world’s history,
like the Renaissance of Europe; of the Elizabethan or
Shakespearean age in England.

The fourth century as well as the fifth continued some
of the glory with Plato the philosopher, Aristotle the phi-
losopher, logician and rhetorician, Praxiteles the artist, and
Demosthenes the orator. But Philip of Macedon soon
ended Athenian independence. His son, Alexander the
Great, added it to his vast domains, and its Golden Age
ended.

In the second century after Christ, the Goths overran
Greece, but spared Athens in part. Many of its treasures
were carried away. In the eleventh century, the Norse
vikings sacked Athens. In the thirteenth century, Athens
became a part of the dominion of the Latins and ruled by
a duke. In the fifteenth century, came the Turks and cap-
tured it and held it until the nineteenth century—when in
1834, Athens had a war of independence and for the last
ninety years has been the capital of the free kingdom of
Greece.

Before we go up on the Acropolis, let us look at sev-
eral interesting relics of antiquity. You will see the
Tower of the Winds, a structure that dates from the first
century, with a water clock, sun dial and weather vane;
the Garden of the Academy, once the favorite resort of
Plato and his disciples,—the little stream is the famous
Ilissus: and the Monument of Lysicrates, a small circular
temple of memorial to the victors in the games.

Here is the Hill of the Pnyx, the place of assembly for
the Athenians, and a special rock, the Bema, on which326 RHE SECRET OF THE Ast,

the orators stood. Demosthenes thundered from this
Bema, with orations unsurpassed by the Roman Cicero,
the English Burke or the American Webster. They all
bow to him. This rock also gives a fine view of Athens.

Here also is the reputed Prison of Socrates, a chamber
cut in the solid rock. Here he drank the cup of poison
hemlock and talked on immortality with his disciples.
Opinions differ as to the authenticity of this Prison of So-
crates—just as you have discovered that in the Holy Land
the exact spot of some sacred place is disputed,—but a
very ancient tradition upholds this place as the Prison of
Socrates. I can well believe in this grotto cut in the solid
rock, and that somewhere here the wisest and noblest of
all the Greeks died four hundred years before Christ was
born. Socrates had a homely but interesting visage. We
know his face well by a contemporary bust. He was an
incomparable thinker and teacher. His method was by
searching questions,—questions to make men think for
themselves. Like Jesus and Buddha, Socrates never wrote
a line. But his disciple, Plato, wrote down a wonderful
account of his life and a faithful record of many of his
dialogues. I love to remember that Socrates said—this was
five hundred years before Christ—“I have great hopes for
the dead. They shall hold converse with other pure souls.”
But his faith and hope did not seem to penetrate far among
the people.

Here you will see Mars Hill, called the Areopagus.
It was on this rocky eminence that St. Paul preached his
wonderful sermon referring to the altar to the “Unknown
God” which he had seen that day. Read the account in the
seventeenth of Acts. As he spoke, he looked up and saw
all the glory and splendor of the Acropolis, full of glorious
temples, and dared to say, “God dwelleth not in temples
made with hands.’ He looked around at the superb statues
of the city, so unnumberable that one sarcastic Greek said
it was easier to find a god in Athens than a man. St. Paul
saw all this and dared also to say, ‘‘God is not like silver or
gold, or stone graven by art or men’s device.” He said,THE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE 327

“I saw in your city an altar inscribed To the Unknown God.
Him whom you ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto
you.”

It was a solemn spot near this Areopagus where St.
Paul spoke. Here from time to time was held the Court of
the Areopagus, a solemn supreme court for questions of
life and death sentence, held at night, so that no face or
gesture could give undue influence,—at night so that the
darkness could give it awe and majesty. St. Paul’s address,
however, seemed to have little immediate effect. There
were so many other religions in Athens. So far as we know,
only one, perhaps two, converts. Afterwards in this sacred
spot was built a little church, now gone, to Dionysius the
Areopagite, St. Paul’s first convert,—Dionysius the dweller
near the Areopagus.

Two great temples near by are worth our attention—
look at them carefully. The Temple of Theseus is the most
perfect ancient Greek temple remaining in the world, the
next best being that at Paestum, in Italy. The mellow color
of the marble, the perfect proportion of the building, the
grace of the Doric columns are all most impressive.

The Temple of the Olympian Zeus was the second
largest temple in Greece. It was begun in the sixth century
B.C. and finished and dedicated in the second century A.D.
It was a forest of columns,—a maze of noble statues. It
had originally a hundred and twenty-six great Corinthian
columns. Only fifteen remain and only twelve are standing,
in lonely but magnificent grandeur. They will greatly im-
press you. It was the largest Greek temple in the world,
except the one to Diana at Ephesus.

You will see the Theatre of Dionysius near by. It could
accommodate thirty thousand spectators. It was an open
air theatre. You may sit in the front row in the marble
chairs for old time priests and vestals. Here the finest of
the Greek dramas by A%schylus, Sophocles, Euripides and
Aristophanes were given in the old days. “Its light was
the sunlight; its drop-curtain the sky and sea; the roof the
blue dome of heaven.”328 THEY SHCRET “OF THE EAST

You will see the Stadion of Athens, dating from the
fourth century before Christ, about 330 B.C. It is the
model from which the Roman Stadium, the Colosseum, and
all others since, up to the Harvard Stadium, Yale Bowl
and the Yankee Stadium of New York City, have been
fashioned. It was laid out for the pan-Athenian games for
athletes from every part of the kingdom. This stadium
was restored in 1896 by a wealthy Greek, George Averoff,
at an expense of $500,000. It is done in white marble and
is very beautiful. It has seats for fifty thousand. The Yale
Bowl holds eighty-five thousand spectators. So we Amer-
icans improve on old Greece and Rome.

I remember that our American athletes did finely in the
first revived Olympian games of 1896. One of my friends,
Robert Garrett of Baltimore, a Princeton student, beat the
Greeks even in that national sport of throwing the discus.
America, Denmark, England and other nations competed.
Tom Burke of Boston won several prizes. A Greek asked
him admiringly what food he fed on to make him such an
athlete. True to Boston, he answered, ‘‘Beans!’’ ‘The
Americans gained so many victories that one Greek cried
out, “Oh, why did Columbus ever discover America!”’

On the last day of the games I remember that the real
Marathon race was scheduled as the great event,—from
Marathon itself twenty-five miles away to Athens. There
was great excitement, especially among the Greeks. It did
seem as if one of their members ought to win this historic
run. But the athletes and runners from all nations were
there. The hour arrived to start from Marathon. Two
hours passed and the crowd at Athens began to grow ex-
cited. At last a runner appeared far down the road coming
toward Athens. Then the rumor grew, “It is a Greek, a
Greek!’ The first runner two thousand years ago fell dead
as he cried ‘‘Victory” at Athens. What would happen now?
It was a Greek, and at two hours and forty-five minutes
after the starting time he crossed the line and won the race.
It was a young Greek named Loues. Great was the delight
and enthusiasm of the Greeks and the whole assembly. OneTHE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE 329

café offered him free meals for the rest of his life. A
barber offered him free shaves for life, and a bootblack
free shines as long as he lived. So it went. The King
entertained him at the palace. They offered him gifts of
money. But he said, ‘‘No. All I will take will be the laurel
wreath of the victor, as did my ancestors.” Well said,
Loues!

Now we are ready to ascend the great hill of the
Acropolis, in the center of the city, and to meditate among
the magnificent temples clustered on the hill—a dozen or
more of them—magnificent even in their ruins. We ascend
by a winding way called the Propyle, a monumental marble
stairway seventy feet broad, consisting of a central gate-
way and two wings made up of columns of carved friezes.
It was considered almost equal to the Parthenon in the
beauty and richness of its carvings and statues. Up this
same stairway the ancient processions made their way, with
singing, with flute players and priests with sacred animals
festooned for sacrifice. You may see them portrayed on
the carvings.

When we reach the top of the stairway we see the little
Temple of Victory—Athena Nike—which is an exquisite
creation. You have all seen some of these sculptures—the
so-called “‘Wingless Victory,” always justly admired. It
was built to commemorate the victories of Marathon,
Salamis and Platea. It is represented without wings in
the hope that victory would never fly away from Athens.

Another exquisite creation we see near by is the famous
Porch of the Maidens, part of the Erechtheum, a beautiful
Ionic temple, sacred to Athena as guardian of the city.
Here was once a very ancient statue of her. These figures,
representing captives from Carye, in Arcadia, are thus
often called caryatides, but the earlier Athenian name was
the Porch or Portico of the Maidens. This is justly called
“one of the most charming creations of Attic art,’ and has
often been reproduced in marble in other places. It is in-
teresting to remember, by the whirligig of time, that this
temple with the portico of the maidens was in the early330 THE SECRET, OF THE PAST

Christian centuries made over into a Christian church, but
during the Turkish occupation, in late centuries, it was dese-
crated by being used as the harem of a Turkish pasha.

The chief ornament of the Acropolis, however, and
the chief glory of Greece, is the Parthenon, a most mag-
nificent temple, dedicated to the virgin goddess, Athena.
It was dedicated in the year 438 B.C. Pericles was the
prime mover in the great work and collected the funds.
The statues, the finest of them, were from the hands of
Phidias. There were one hundred Doric columns, fifty life-
size statues, five hundred and twenty-four feet of frieze,
that ran around the temple. ‘These carvings represented
the great religious procession—youths and maidens, flute
players and warriors, horsemen and sheep and oxen for
sacrifice.

Within the temple stood Phidias’ great statue of
Athena Parthenon the Virgin, thirty-nine feet high, made
of ivory with garments of gold. It was one of the wonders
of the ancient world. About $750,000 worth of gold was
used for the draperies.

Twenty-three centuries have gone by, the Parthenon is
still a marvellous and majestic temple, even in its ruins.
The marble is a mellow cream color. The columns taper
slightly toward the top. The carvings of pediments and
frieze are wonderful. The situation is stately and majestic.
It is the most magnificent structure of the ages. If so
superb to-day, what must it have been in its pristine splen-
dor in the days of Pericles and Plato.

In the early Christian centuries this temple was also
made into a Christian church, dedicated to another virgin,
the Virgin Mother, Mary. In the Turkish occupation it
was used as a powder magazine, and in 1687 when the
Venetians were trying to recapture Greece from the Turks
and were besieging Athens, they foolishly bombarded, even
at the risk of this irreplaceable art-treasure. One of their
shells struck the Parthenon, penetrated to the powder mag-
azine and exploded. Instantly, as one described it, “with
a wild roar, as though Nature herself shrieked at theTHE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE 331

sacrifice, the Parthenon was hopelessly ruined.” But even
in its ruins it shows its incomparable glory. This summit
of the Acropolis, with its Parthenon and the other tem-
ples, is so full of history that one can well call it “an illus-
trated volume of Greek history bound in stone.”

The Parthenon sits there still, seated on the throne of
the Acropolis, like an ancient queen. The new city, the
modern Athens, kneels around it as if in worship. It is
worship, for as the devout Jew loves his Jerusalem, so the
ancient and the modern Greeks have loved Athens.

Two great views of the Parthenon I shall never forget.
Perchance you may see similar ones. The first was on a
stormy afternoon. We were standing a quarter of a mile
away at the Prison of Socrates and looking up at the
Parthenon. A heavy storm was rolling its black clouds
down the mountains of the north and banking them up
against the Acropolis on a background of heavy purple
blackness. But still as the clouds came on, the sun was
shining upon the Parthenon from the west, lighting up all
its white marbles with the opalescent glories of a Greek
sunset. The Parthenon stood out like a brilliant jewel in
that dark setting of the storm clouds. It seemed to me like
a vision of Athens in the long ages after the death of
Socrates. For then there came the storm of war, desolation
and destruction upon the Greek people for centuries, but
still the glorious Parthenon stood there on the heights,
noble and radiant, surviving the centuries.

Another view of the Parthenon was entirely different
and suggested different thoughts. It was the perfect sun-
set of a perfect day. It was all so beautiful—the broad
green velvet of the undulating plain, the softness of the
purple mountains, the peacock blue of the 7Egean Sea, and
the sunset over the water—gold, green, red, in exquisite
opalescence. The Parthenon was all aglow with radiance.
This seemed to me a vision of Athens in her palmiest days
—the beauty and glory of the age of Pericles. I seemed to
see the great festive procession winding its way up the
hill to the honor of Athena, in the famous year Ags) Bp Ge.R22 DHE SECRET OF THE EAST

as history relates the story. What a procession it was,
—priests, warriors, old men, youths, maidens, and ten
thousand of the people in holiday attire! They are led
by players upon flutes and lyres, and are singing in tumul-
tuous chorus as they more along and begin to enter the
noble gateway of the Acropolis. Other companies of the
priests from the inner temple are meeting them. Clouds of
incense and smoke of sacrifice are floating in the air. High
over all—so high that the mariners at sea and the shep-
herds on the plain can see it—towers the great colossal
image of Athena, more than sixty-six feet high—the war-
rior goddess in full armor and leaning on her spear. This
is Athens in her golden age! Five hundred years before
our era, but nevertheless an era of unsurpassable genius in
art and intellect.

What thought may come to you among these venerable
ruins I do not know and dare not prophesy, but I do know
that you cannot look upon them unmoved,—something of
their glory and grandeur will sink into your soul. There
came to me, when I first saw them and as I grew more and
more impressed by every visit among them, such thoughts
as these, and they have stayed with me through the years.
The Past of Athens reveals some wonderful pages in the
world’s unfolding life, its finer and fuller life of beauty
and nobility. Ihe Past of Athens is not dead or useless.
It is living in its undying influences and its marvellous in-
spirations in art and education. The Past of Athens is not
to be despised or forgotten, but revered and studied. Here
are some of the masterpieces of the race and some of the
imperishable memories. However worthily we may build
for the future, we owe an immense debt to the valiant
deeds and sublime achievements of the past. If the He-
brew people brought our highest revelation of religion and
the Roman people the revelation of law, surely Greece
brought to the world the highest revelation of beauty.
Greece means beauty, and beauty can never die!

In this chapter on Greece I have said little concerning
the ancient religion, which is a most interesting and fruitfulDHE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE, i350

subject. May I add a few words that will illustrate my
position, first, that the early religion of Greece is closely
akin to the early religion of India, but further that Greece
also, as well as these religions of the East, was a witness
for God and a preparation for the gospel of Christ. This
fact regarding Greece was the plain belief and declaration
of many of the early Church fathers, and even a brief con-
sideration may make that position seem reasonable.

As Greece is one of the most beautiful countries in the
world, so also its early religion was as simple and beautt-
ful as Nature itself. The Greeks were a branch of the
Aryan people, akin to the people of India and Persia and
to the northern races of Europe, and their religion shows
at the beginning of their history the characteristics of the
Aryan faith,—a patriarchal rather than a priestly rell-
gion,—a hearth-cult of pure and simple piety, and a wor-
ship, not of tribal, but of universal gods, like the Vedas.
Their chief god was Zeus,—probably the same as the
Dyaus or god of the sun-bright sky of the Vedas. He was
to them “the lord of heaven, the giver of the rain, the
fertilizer of mother earth, the supreme ruler on earth as
well as in heaven, the father of the gods as well as of men.”
There were, of course, other gods whom they worshipped
—Apollo the sun-god, Poseidon the sea-god, Ares the war-
god, and many others.

These gods were probably in large measure an out-
erowth of the personification of Nature, in its chief and
its minor aspects, but in the poetic and artistic natures of
the Greeks, the gods were soon given all the human at-
tributes in greater and grander way than among humanity.
Zeus and the other great gods are “essentially moral,’ but
others are very human and of questionable morals. The
Olympians became rather a mixed company, and yet while
to them are ascribed human motives and passions, many
of them are also endowed with more than human beauty,
wisdom and power.

The Greeks came to believe that their gods were liv-
ing, reasonable and mostly kindly beings. There were no334 THE SECRET “OF THE EASE

really malevolent gods among them,—all were friendly
and beneficent. [he people worshiped them, not in fear
and terror, but with friendliness and joyousness. The glad
religious faith of the Homeric age in Greece is like the
simple joyousness and faith of the age of the Vedas in
India. It is a beautiful childlikeness of worship.

The Homeric poems show us a very simple religion,
like the Vedas. here are no great national temples, no
codes of rites, no elaborate sacrifices, no sacred books.
There are priests and some sacrifices, but the king, or the
head of the house, may conduct all the rites of religion
that are necessary. While some temples are mentioned,
yet the observances of religion can take place anywhere.

Sacrifice, as revealed in the poems of Homer, is a feast
at which a portion of the viands are first offered to the
gods, and then all the company partake. There is as yet
no thought of propitiation in the sacrifice.—only commu-
nion and fellowship.

Hesiod, another poet of the eighth century B.C., gives
an account of the origin of the world and the birth of the
gods. His poem became a sort of sacred book. In fact,
the stories of Homer and of Hesiod were accepted as the
religious chronicles of the Greek people and of their na-
tional religion.

Religion in Greece became gradually a very stately
growth, and its most striking features were not its empha-
sis on righteousness, piety, and morality, as its continual
stress on beauty and joyousness. ‘There is “no asceticism
in the Greek religion.’’ The gods are beautiful and joyous,
and their worshippers came before them “‘in the fulness of
their youth and beauty,” offering them glad worship and
their best gifts. As Menzies puts it: “The religion which
prevails in early Greece is a bright and happy self-identif-
cation with a being conceived as a type of human beauty
and excellence, by becoming as far as possible beautiful one-
self, creating beautiful objects, composing beautiful verse,
training the body to its highest pitch of strength and agil-
ity, and displaying its powers in manly contests. This con-THE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE 335

ception of religion, for a short time realized in Greece,
still haunts the mind as a vision which once seen can never
be forgotten. No one whose eyes have opened to that
vision can regard any religious acts in which the effect after
harmony and beauty forms no part, as other than degraded
and unworthy.”’

Perhaps the nearest to sacred books among the Greeks,
along with Homer and Hesiod, are the Orphic hymns.
These were written by many devout poets, after the school
of Orpheus, the mythical singer of Thrace. They treated
the deepest problems of life in a fine poetic and religious
spirit. They attempted to explain the origin of the gods
and the destiny of the human soul. In all their lofty teach-
ings they asserted the supremacy of Zeus. The influence
of these Orphic hymns was far-reaching. Their effects can
be traced in the great dramatists and also in the philoso-
phers, especially Plato, and many of these hymns were
used in the sacred rites of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

As one phase of this deeper awakening that gradually
came to Greece, the Eleusinian Mysteries became a part,
symbol, and inspiration. Just what these were is an inter-
esting question, but some light is thrown upon them from
various scattered sources. Socrates bore this testimony to
the Mysteries: ‘‘We may well believe that they who insti-
tuted the Mysteries were not mere triflers. ... There
was in truth a hidden meaning. . . . He who had been
purified by initiation shall dwell with the gods.’ Cicero,
who went to Greece to be initiated, says: “There is noth-
ing better than these Mysteries, by which we are cultivated
and softened . . . and not only receive with joy a mode
of living, but even of living with a better hope.” —

But most of all, the higher faith of Greece is indebted
to her philosophers, especially to Socrates, Plato and Aris-
totle. These were ‘“‘working at the same problems which
occupied the prophets of Israel and were building up the
rule of one God, a Being supremely wise and good, source
of all beauty and the worker of all that is wrought in the
universe.”336 DRE SECRET, OF THE: EASE

At the end of the Phaedrus, Socrates prays: ‘Beloved
Pan, and all ye other gods who haunt this place, give me
beauty of the inward soul, and may the outward and the
inward man be at one.”’ This is one of the noblest of
prayers,—Give me beauty of the inward soul and har-
mony of life,—outer and inner life at one.”

The date of Plato’s Symposium is 417 B.C., and the
other writings, which give the teachings of Socrates, are
of the same period, so that this philosophy, whose heart is
religion, is four hundred years before Christ.

See also Plato’s clear vision of immortality. Remember
this is four hundred years before the birth of Christ: “If
the soul be immortal, then does she stand in need of care,
not only during this period which we call life, but for all
time; and we may well consider that there is terrible dan-
ger in neglecting her. If death indeed were an escape from
all things, then were it a great gain for the wicked, for it
would be a release from the body, and from their own sin,
and from the soul at the same time; but now, as the soul
proves to be immortal, there is no other escape from evils
to come, nor any other safety, but in her attaining to the
highest virtue and wisdom.” ... ‘‘Well, then, the soul
so prepared departs into that invisible region which is of
its Own nature,—the region of the Divine, the Immortal,
the Wise; and then its lot is to be happy in a state in which
it is freed from fears and wild desires, and the other evils
of humanity, and spends the rest of its existence with the
gods, as those are taught to expect who are initiated in the
Mysteries.”

Now what shall we modern Christians say to all these
wonderful thoughts of Plato? We say, and we say truly,
that “life and immortality were brought to light through
the gospel,” for in the teachings of Christ were given the
clearest evidences and proofs of the life immortal. And
yet, what wonderful intimations of immortality are these in
the teaching of Plato! How did it come into his soul,—by
chance, by intuition, or by revelation? Whatever the inner
method, we must acknowledge that somehow it arrived.THE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE Bai7

Now, taking even this brief sketch of the history of
religion in ancient Greece,—all before the days of Christ,—
all its earnestness, beauty and lofty vision, what shall we
conclude? Does it not become evident that the religious
faith of Greece in its long course and development, and
especially in its later unfoldings in the teachings of the
philosophers, has really become a fitting preparation for
the fuller revelations of God’s truth. It was a divine fore-
runner, another school-master, to lead a large section of
the world to the greater truth in Christ. Indeed many
scholars have felt and pointed out that without this prep-
aration of the Greek religion, with its large contribution
to ethical thought and moral life, the remarkable progress
of the Christian religion in the early centuries would not
have been possible. Both its thought and language seem
chosen instruments for the spread of the larger truth. The
gospels of the New Testament was written in Greek for
teaching the world, as were St. Paul’s epistles, many of
them directed to Greek churches. The Greek fathers in
the early church became the chief apostles of Christ. And
all that was best in the religion of Greece,—its joyousness,
its optimism, its love of beauty and truth, its growing faith
in immortality,—was absorbed into the gospel to make its
larger and richer truth. The ancient religions of the East,
culminating in Christianity, found a new and triumphant
champion in the Greece of the early Christian centuries.WITNESSES OF THE NEW DAY

VERY important fact for us to note in all our con-
~~ tact with Oriental religions is the discovery that
nearly all these faiths are foreign to the lands in
which they now exist, and have greatly modified the native
primitive religions or have superseded them. ‘Thus Japan
has adopted a foreign Buddhism, so also has China, Korea,
Tibet, Siam, Burma, while India has domesticated Moham-
medanism for great sections of its people and Parseeism
for other sections. It would be exactly in line with its
spirit and traditions if it should adopt yet another for-
eign and larger faith in Christianity. Another remark-
able fact is clearly discernible. The formation of sects
within these religions, developing and enlarging the orig-
inal conceptions, show that there is a spirit of progress,
dissatisfied with the earlier forms and truths. Brahman-
ism was insufficient, and Buddhism was born; Buddhism
proved inadequate and a higher Buddhism was produced,
the Mahayana form. So in Persia, Islam developed a
Shiite sect with a doctrine of incarnation and atonement.
In China, Taoism furnished a more spiritual form of
religion for the stoical Confucianism. Hinduism itself
was insufficient and developed a personal devotion to
deity, called bhakti, taught in the Bhagavad-Gita, which
took the place of the old asceticism and ritual. These all
show the needs and the inevitable trend of the human
heart, and it is exactly to meet and to fulfil these needs
and aspirations that the larger truth and life of Christian-
ity came into the world.
It is easier to be a good Mohammedan than a good
Christian. Mohammed asks little, Jesus asks much, even
likeness to himself. A Confucian rarely rules his life en-

338WITNESSES OF THE NEW DAY 339

tirely by the precepts of Confucius; a Buddhist is rarely an
exact reincarnation of the spirit of Gautama the Buddha;
and an ordinary Hindu is very different from the ancient
religion of India or the philosophy of the Upanishads.
But a Christian is nothing unless he walks in the footsteps
of Jesus and incarnates his spirit of loving service. Chris-
tianity is the hardest and the profoundest religion of all.
It is the final goal of religious thinking and religious living.
It is the consummation of God’s revelation in the principles
and ideals for spiritual achievement.

There may be traditions here and there that seem to
indicate a pristine purity in the early history of some re-
ligions, and yet in the long run, barring a few compromises
and retrogressions, the religious history of the East has
been one of constant, although often slow, evolution, lead-
ing up to a higher Buddhism and a higher Hinduism, with
a clear prospect of reaching at length the full truth of a
higher Christianity.

The older day used to say, ‘God has His favorites
among the nations of the earth.” So the Hebrew people
believed. They were the chosen people, the elect nation
among all the nations of the earth. They asserted, “God
hath not dealt so with any other nation.” So also many
feel about America to-day. It is a chosen nation. We see
God’s hand in our history and rejoice. We take Israel's
words and apply them to our own nation. But the truth
of the new day is this,—God has no favorites among na-
tions or individuals. Every one of us and all nations are
equally in His care and loving purpose. His hand was
surely in Hebrew history. His hand is also in American
history, but He has not forgotten the other nations—His
hand is also in their history.

This truth came home to me with new force after a
visit to the Holy Land.

GLIMPSES OF THE HOLY LAND

What the Holy Land means to one will depend on the
point of view. It may be the “only” Holy Land,—the one340 THE SECRET OF THE WAST

place where God has revealed Himself. But as I walked
the hills of Galilee and sailed for hours on the sacred lake
around which cluster so many of the events of the life of
Jesus, as I visited the home at Bethany or stood on the
banks of the Jordan where Jesus was baptized, or wan-
dered through the wilderness of Judea where He was
tempted, or stood at last near the gnarled olive trees of
Gethsemane where He agonized in prayer, and at Gol-
gotha where He was crucified outside the city walls,—there
came to me another vision. This country of Palestine was
the culmination, the consummation of a great revelation.
It was the supreme place where the fullest illumination was
given,—the experience under the Bo-tree had risen to its
ereatest heights on the tree of Calvary. This was truly a
Holy Land. But all lands are also holy lands where God
reveals Himself in the hearts of men. We found God in
many places, and heard the command, “Take thy shoes
from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is
holy ground.”

Palestine meant to me a great refreshment of spirit. |
seemed to meet the Divine Master by the roadside, along
the lake, in the mountains, in the country villages, and in
the crowded city street. It was to me a wonderful visuali-
zation of the gospel story. I read all the gospels again in
that sacred atmosphere and the sunshine seemed to fall
afresh upon every page. It was a new quickening of the
mind to the reality of the truth. I was not in the least dis-
‘lusioned. I would not have missed the experience of
Palestine for worlds. It seemed to me as if I stood on
the pinnacle of all history in that little country, and as if
the meaning of life and of all God’s revelations to the
world began to be made clear. Christ represents the truth,
the full truth, and the breadth and hospitality of the ages.

How can I ever forget the hour when I stood at our
Lord’s tomb in the grotto of the Holy Sepulchre. It was
a small chamber, lighted by a hanging lamp. We entered
the shrine holding our lighted candles. It was crowded
with pilgrims. Many were kneeling down, kissing the mar-WITNESSES OF THE NEW DAY 341

ble slab. Suddenly we heard the word, “Come out! The
Bishop is coming in!” We could hear the bells, the chant-
ing, the tramping of feet of the procession drawing near.
I started to move out to give room to the dignitaries. I
had to back out, bowing down low to get through the hum-
ble doorway, holding my candle. Some who refused to
move were dragged out. The procession entered with the
Bishop and two handsome Greek priests, full-bearded, glo-
riously robed, carrying censers full of incense. They saluted
the shrine with much ceremony, with the smoke of incense
and with constant bowing. It was most interesting to be in
this inner circle of pilgrims and devotees at this critical
moment and at this most sacred shrine. All was so pic-
turesque, gorgeous and Oriental.

One Sunday night we rode into Nazareth. RGcisiia
charming and picturesque hill town. How bright the stars
shown that night. It was a benediction to sleep in the little
town where Jesus had lived for thirty years. Nazareth is
one of the sure places of Palestine. Early Monday morn-
ing before breakfast so much of the gospel story unrolled
itself before our eyes. We found a little lad who was
willing to serve as our guide to find a real carpenter shop,
such as Jesus knew. In a little while we had found the
shop—and Joseph, to the life. He was an ancient Jew
about fifty years old, hair and beard grizzled. The shop
was a quaint place, built of stone, with an archway open to
the street and another arched room in the rear where his
little donkey was nibbling a breakfast. Shavings and chips
littered the floor. Tools were scattered here and there, or
hung on the wall. We had a pleasant chat with Joseph
and he gave us one of his old tools as a souvenir to take to
America. It spoke to us of the Divine Carpenter. Before
breakfast that morning we had seen three camels come
through the village, as if with the three wise men; a shep-
herd carrying a wounded lamb in his arms; we had seen
another Joseph walking, leading a donkey on which rode
Mary and the Child; and we had photographed a sweet-
faced young woman of Nazareth with a baby in her arms,342 THE SECRET ‘OF GHEE HAST

and when we asked her name, she had answered, Mary.
How vividly the life of Jesus’ day came back to us.

Jesus seemed very near to us on the Sea of Galilee. So
much of His life is connected with scenes around this beau-
tiful lake. We spent one morning on its waters, and those
hours seemed to us so wonderful. The high hills encircle
the lake, and very green and beautiful they are. We could
see Mount Hermon, covered with snow, far off to the
northeast, and to the northwest the distant mountains of
Lebanon, from which came the famous cedars of Lebanon.
When we first went upon the lake from Tiberias the water
was smooth as a mill-pond. Before we had been out an
hour there was a heavy windstorm and the whitecaps were
everywhere on the water and the waves boisterous. It was
the gospel story again, with Jesus asleep in the hinder part
of the ship. We saw the fishermen at some points mending
their nets. Along the shores were Capernaum, where Jesus
preached in the synagogue, and Magdala, famous as the
home town of Mary Magdalene. Where we saw a boat
drawn out from the shore and many people gathered
around near it, we recalled that scene of old when Jesus
had spoken to the people from just such a little boat drawn
out from the shore. Everything suggested Him. He was
with us every moment.

Again and again we felt, going through Palestine,—
Jesus is no mere product of this soil,—He is far and beyond
it all. Jesus is no mere product of this race that dwelt in
Palestine. He is a universal product and a universal soul.
He was born in Palestine, but He was born of God. He
was one of our humanity, but He was a prophet of the
Highest. He was unique among the sons of men. He out-
classes all, stands alone, rises supreme among men. What
astonishes all men is the absolute wisdom with which He
spoke. What He said was inevitable and incontrovertible.
This is the miracle. Here in this youth of Nazareth ap-
pears the supreme religion of the race—the highest revela-
tion that we know of the life and love of God.WITNESSES OF THE NEW DAY 343

WITNESSES OF THE NEW DAY

And yet here in the Holy Land, the culmination and the
spiritual consummation of my journey in the East, came
to me anew the realization of the concurrent witness of
many chosen leaders and of many nations to the great fact
of the presence of the Divine Spirit in the hearts of men.
The ancient Word is true—‘‘Nevertheless God hath not
left Himself without witness. ... In every nation he
that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted
with Him.”

The era has passed when we can say, All religions are
false but ours. A hundred years ago men so believed. To-
day we find truth, some truth, in all religions, and we are
sure of the fact that God hath not left Himself without
witness in any nation. All religious phenomena, we are
persuaded, so far as they are pure and reverent, are parts
of one great process,—God revealing Himself to man,
and man instinctively seeking after God.

I think we are gradually coming, through the course of
the ages, to this conception,—that the truth of God 1s in-
finite—larger than any one man or nation could compre-
hend. It has many manifestations, adapted to many na-
tions. I venture to believe that something of God’s truth
came in Taoism in China, which was originally a spiritual
way; in Buddhism through its tender human kindness; in
Shintoism, a gospel of heroes and patriotism; in Confucian-
ism, a noble system of reverence and ethics. I seem to see
something of God’s truth in the ancient religions of Baby-
lonia and Assyria, in the religion of Persia and Egypt. I
see something higher and better in the Old Testament re-
ligion of the Jews, and the highest revelation of all in the
gospel of Jesus Christ. In them all, however, may have
mingled some earthly with the heavenly, some passing with
the permanent. We have this treasure in earthen vessels,
as Jesus said. Time only can sift the final and fullest truth.
Now, in all these religions and through them all, there
have been souls here and there who have risen to real fel-344 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

lowship with God. In all these religions there have been
saints, seers, prophets, witnesses of God.

Those of us who find the fullest and richest revelation
of life and truth in the Divine Prophet of Nazareth feel
also that His spirit is the spirit of an infinite hospitality
to all truth. Of all the prophets who went before Him and
of their revelations and laws, He said, ‘‘I am not come to
destroy but to fulfill.” And of all believers in God of all
ages and climes He said, ‘‘They shall come from the East
and the West and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.”
So we interpret, and, as we believe, rightly interpret the
spirit of the Lord Jesus toward these other and earlier
religions of the world,—they are all, in some sense,—prep-
arations for the fulness of God’s truth.

There is really only one religion. But it may be seen
from many sides or angles. An object, as you know, may
be photographed from widely different angles, and each
photo will look different. So the different forms of reli-
gion. They appear very different, and yet down deep and
essentially, they are one religion.

Or to change the figure, the one religion may be seen
in different nations in the different stages of its growth or
development. Some are childhood religions, and some are
a little further along toward maturity. So is the history of
all religions, yet the primitive glimpse of truth may have
been much the same.

God manifests Himself in a thousand ways in Nature,
and surely in human nature He is not restricted to one
revelation. A thousand human lives have revealed Him,—
some only slightly, some with a gentle radiance, and some
with the glory as of the noonday sun. All are His witnesses.

But sometimes it is difficult for us to determine just
how much of witness to the divine truth came into con-
sciousness, for instance, in Confucius or Buddha. The
evidences indicate that there was much in their original
teachings. The tragedy has been that their followers have
corrupted and degraded these original teachings by their
worldliness, ignorance or superstitions. Confucius certainlyWITNESSES OF THE NEW DAY 345

had high ideals, Buddha was a spiritual prophet, but the
priestcraft of the ages compromised these ideals and low-
ered the spiritual aspirations until the results were pa-
thetic and pitiable. Yet the witnesses themselves were
worthy and noble. They surely found something of the
very truth of God.

We have seen so far on this journey in the Far East
something of the temples and religious ceremonies of the
Japanese and the Chinese. We have seen in Burma and
India many more of these strange manifestations of re-
ligion,—much that was both perplexing and depressing,
and much also that was beautiful and inspiring. Can we
understand these religions? Is there a clew to the maze?
I believe that the clew is to be found in the inalienable and
ineradicable religious instinct of the human heart. Man its
an incurably religious animal. Instinctively he gropes after
God, if happy he may find Him. All these strange forms
and ceremonies of religion are the outward manifestations
of endeavors to find God, and to appease Him, and to come
into communion with Him. They are primitive witnesses
for God.

Possibly the most perplexing type of religion among all
the religions of the East are some features of modern
Hinduism in India,—rites of a bloody religion, vestiges of
phallic worship, superstitions and stupidities in the name
of religion. And yet this same modern Hinduism has some
fine teachings,—its spiritual philosophy of the Upanishads
is very noble and its great epics are full of heroism. One
of them, the Gita, contains a mystic wisdom that has been
compared to the logos doctrine of the Gospel of St. John.
So that it is perfectly possible that in time modern Hindu-
ism will rid itself of its crudities and superstitions and will
emphasize its nobler teachings as the Brahmo-Samaj is
trying to do, and thus will gradually come to the larger
revelation.

Let any man, however, study thoroughly and without
prejudice the lives of Lao-I'ze, the leader of Taoism in
China: of Confucius, the wisest sage of China; of Buddha,346 THE SECRET OF THE BASE

the gentle-hearted teacher of the Far East, and he will
find pure-hearted and noble-minded men. They differ in
their emphasis on the truth of God, on their comprehen-
sion of the truth. Lao-I'ze was a mystic, Confucius put
his emphasis on ethics, Buddha was an ascetic. But they
were all witnesses for a higher truth and a noble life.

I think we may venture to say that the marks of the
truest witness of God are these: Purity—‘‘Blessed are the
pure in heart for they shall see God;” sacrifice—renunci-
ation, suffering and self-sacrifice for others; brotherhood—
a great love for all mankind; faith in immortality—living
the divine and immortal life here and now. These are the
marks of the truest and fullest witness, for they are the
inmost life of God Himself, as our highest visions and
dreams reveal Him. And as I see it, something of these
things are in these noble witnesses.

No witness is eager for his own glory, but only for the
glory of God. Think you that Buddha or Jesus is careful
for his own reputation? ‘Think you that either would in-
sist on his own name as a label for the truth? ‘Think you
that either would demand a certain philosophy or theology
that his followers must hold? Would he not seek only
the glory of God? Would he not seek only the heart of
truth? Would he not seek only the soul of purity? Would
he not say “I care not how you reach the truth,—only
come !—enter in and know God ?”’

These witnesses of many nations—even Confucius and
Buddha—are all calling to us with one voice, although in
different accents, when we once discern their message:
“You are a child of God—a son of the Highest—you are
forever immortal. Dare to live up to your noblest. Enter
into your divinest. Every man and woman of you, Jew
or Gentile, Confucian or Buddhist, Hindu or Mohamme-
dan, saint or sinner, can know that you are immortal. Give
up the delusions that you are poor and weak. Have faith
in God. Enter into your divine strength and riches. Be no
more slaves. Be as princes, children of the king!”

Thank God for all the witnesses in the past,—greatWITNESSES OF THE NEW DAY 347

and small—for all those who have given the world its
vast spiritual heritage. They are of many climes and
ages of the world. We hail them all for their teachings
and their lives, for the light they brought and the love
they poured into the heart of humanity.

And thank God for all the present witnesses to the
divine light and truth, for all who to-day in every nation
are living up to their highest, and are thus inspiring all
men in the noblest things—helpers of humanity, working
in all nations for the truth.

And thank God for all the witnesses yet to come,—
for the true souls who shall keep up the godly succession
of heroes, martyrs and apostles of the truth, and at last
by their toils and their sacrifices shall bring the world to
God. Out of every nation shall come these radiant souls,
their lives burning as a pure flame of love to God.

Remember that what has happened in the religions of
India, China and Japan,—the original noble teachings of
true witnesses being degraded by the ignorance and stupid-
ity of priestcraft and politicians of ancient times—is not
unknown in the history of Christianity. The purity of
early Christianity was sadly degraded by the traditions and
superstitions of men,—and when Christianity conquered
pagan Rome and baptized it, it baptized a paganism which
debased and degraded its life. For fourteen centuries the
Christian church revelled in superstition and ignorance
until a period of reformation. Then purification came.
Even to-day, some Christian nations are still living a de-
graded and superstitious Christianity.

So it has been with these other religions that have
fallen into like estate of degeneration and superstition.
There will come reformation and purification. In some
lands the process is already under way. There is an evolu-
tion of religion in the Far East. A better day is coming
for the Far East.

Some say it is so bewildering to find religions in the
Far East, existing for thousands of years in great temples
and impressive ceremonies. Why not leave these religions348 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

alone? Why not leave them the religions that satisfy
them? Here is the point. These religions do not satisfy
them. Buddhism never satisfied China and is dying there.
Confucius is not a religion, only ethics. Buddhism did
not satisfy India. It died out there. Hinduism does not
satisfy India. It is inadequate, confusing, and superstitious,
and there is constant revolt against it. Religion to the
masses is mostly fear. Even ancestor worship is not so much
reverence for ancestors, as fear of what the spirits of their
ancestors may do to them. Have we a better, nobler,
fuller religion? Do we believe so? Then it is selfish and
cruel if we do not share it with them.

But now take another phase of the truth—‘‘God hath
not left Himself without witness.”’ There is much need of
Christians being true witnesses. What witness to God
have the explorers and navigators given as they have
touched foreign nations. Perhaps something that was
good, but so often what was lamentably bad. The drunken
and unscrupulous sailors—British, American, and others
who first came to the Oriental ports taught the natives to
drink, used them cruelly, taught them the vices of the so-
called civilization and inoculated them with the loathsome
diseases of age-worn Europe. That was their witness—
vicious, ungodly, ‘and cruel. What has been the witness of
commerce? Largely to exploit the natives,—to use their
cheap labor unscrupulously, and to traffic with them solely
for gain. Some value the products had, of course. ‘The
Standard Oil, for instance, and American machinery. But
the American and British Tobacco Co., as we were told,
has a slogan to put a package of cigars or cigarettes in the
hands of every man, woman and child in China. Such a
propaganda is not for the best good of China. British
and Scotch whiskies debauch the natives and do much dam-
age. The opium trade, forced on China by Great Britain,
and maintained for many years,—and the illicit trade still
going on—is a dark blot on the escutcheon of Great
Britain, and a curse to China and India.

When representatives of Christian nations bear suchWITNESSES OF THE NEW DAY 349

witness to their own evil and greedy hearts, what can these
foreign people think of the God that we profess to wor-
ship? If these were the only witnesses, they would think
our religion a fraud and a delusion.

But, thank God, there are other and better witnesses
whom Christian America has sent into these Oriental ports
and lands,—real witnesses to the truth of God and the
loving-kindness of the gospel of Jesus. We saw them at
many strategic places in these foreign lands, we looked
into the work that they are doing, and we were profoundly
impressed by the helpfulness and the hopefulness of their
service. These are the honest merchants and _ business
men,—thouands of them in the Orient in every land.
These also were the missionaries, bearing valiant witness
to the truth, and living their gospel among the people with
humility, sincerity and courage; the educators and teachers,
bearing witness in schools and colleges, in the great Chris-
tian university in Peking, St. John’s University at Shanghai,
Canton Christian College, the Doshisha in Japan, and
scores of other splendid institutions that are doing great
things for the Orient; the Y. M. and Y. W. C. A. workers
bearing witness in every great city; and the medical work-
ers in medical schools and hospitals are bearing a wonder-
ful witness. Such a hospital as the Rockefeller Institute
in Peking is a true Temple of Heaven for that city.

But let the truth come closer home. What is our per-
sonal witness, brief and casual as our visits may be to these
Eastern lands? God save any of us Americans on our
journeys from unworthy witness in these lands—from un-
brotherliness, hatefulness, niggardliness,—from hypocrisy:
doing one thing at home and another here—from selfish-
ness, cynicism,—from self-righteousness,—from irrever-
ence among their religious shrines; uncharitable judgments;
hard hearts in our attitude or criticisms. Remember that
although they cannot read our Bible, they read us. What
sort of a gospel are we showing them, even in our casual
intercourse. Are we showing them the true, honest, Chris-
tian American? “Ye are my witnesses,” saith the Lord.350 DHE SEGRE OF THE BASH

Ought we not to say: We are pilgrims around the whole
world—from the New World to the Old World. We are
not mere observers. We are on a pilgrimage of brother-
hood and of peace. We come to visit, to get acquainted,
and to have our hearts feel their kinship with men of all
nations. We are in a sense ambassadors of good will and
understanding between the West and the East. We be-
lieve that we can help each other to higher ideals and
larger service by a deeper appreciation and a fuller under-
standing of each other. So we girdle the globe on our
voyage.

We are witnesses for the truth and light which has
come to us, and which in all brotherly love we would share
with all men. We are learners, for we believe that these
natives of the East have something to teach us from their
traditions and experiences of the centuries. We are all
truth-seekers; we are all brothers: we are all children of
the one Heavenly Father.

My conception and practice of brotherhood, and I be-
lieve I may speak also for many of you, knows no bound-
aries. ‘There are no frontiers in music, in art, in science,
and there should be none in religion. I will on no colors
or creeds. But I claim as my brother everyone who ear-
nestly desires justice and brotherhood and peace in the
world.

I love my own country loyally and well, but I also love
all the countries of the world. I love them so honestly
and genuinely that their interests and welfare are dear to
my heart. And I will seek in every way to have my coun-
try treat all nations as friends, as brothers, as equals, as
partners in the great work and friendship of the world.

There are no foreigners and no heathen in my thought
or in my speech or in my heart,—but only brothers. The
whole world is my country and all men are my brothers.
If that be the international spirit, I believe in it with all
my heart, for I believe it is the spirit of Jesus.

For one, I come to these other lands not merely an
onlooker and visitor, but as an ambassador of religiousWITNESSES OF THE NEW DAY 351

appreciation. For many years I have found pleasure and
profit as a student of comparative religions. I have read
much of the religions of Japan and China and India. Hun-
dreds of volumes have I studied and I have talked with
those who knew these religions intimately by long residence
in the land of their birth. JI have reached conclusions of
appreciation and respect. I have entered into much sympa-
thetic understanding. I rejoice at the religious spirit in
other lands, their faith, their aspirations, their devotion.
I come to compare notes—to share with them what I have
learned of God and his love, and to discover more fully
what they have comprehended of the divine life and love.
So honoring each other, I believe we shall mutually find
the greater truth. I am absolutely loyal to my divine
Lord, Jesus Christ, and I find my greatest revelation and
my greatest inspiration in that matchless Master. I wish
‘ might interpret him to these people more clearly and
help them to get my point of view, because it yields for
me so much peace and joy, and so much of inspiration in
strength and progress. But I realize that many of them
get some help from their age-long traditions and their own
religious leaders and seers, and I want more fully to get
their point of view, as I share my own with them.
Theology is not what I am seeking, nor dogma, nor
speculations, nor theories,—but the great spiritual facts of
life and experience. And these facts I want which bring
forth the practical fruits of kindly and noble living. More
important than philosophies are lives—these I am study-
ing while I am among these people,—not books, but men!
Every one of us represents America, not officially but
as an ambassador of good will. Most of us have lived in
America all our lives, we have been educated there and
done our work there. We know the American people well,
for we have travelled in every section. We understand the
American people pretty thoroughly. And we know that
America wishes these people of the Orient well—we know
that America desires nothing but their friendship, their
goodwill and their welfare—we know that America has352 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

nothing but the kindest feelings toward them and desires
in every way to treat them as brothers. The heart of
America is all right. America is a sincere friend to Japan,
to China, to India.

Nothing but death is accomplished by hate. Someone
said—"Europe was nearly destroyed by hate, and it still
goes on cherishing it. It is stalking forward to absolute
ruin unless it conquers hate.” It is a fact. The darkest
day of all faces Europe unless it can conquer and cast out
hate from its heart,—its hatred of other nations, its
jealousies and fears.

And nevertheless the people of the East, just as the
nations of Europe, are tempted to go on in the same way,
engendering mutual hatreds in Japan against the Koreans
and Koreans against the Japanese; in China great groups
at hatred with each other; in India, a hatred against
Britain and often a British contempt for some Indians. All
this is putting the world back.

The new day will no longer tolerate a double code of
ethics,—one for individuals and another for nations. But
we must hold that what is binding upon individuals is
binding upon nations. If it is wrong for an individual to
commit murder, it is wrong for a nation to destroy and
slay. If it is wrong for an individual to steal, it is wrong
for a nation. If it is wrong for an individual to lie, it is
wrong for a nation to hold its word as a scrap of paper.
If it is wrong for an individual to hate, it is wrong for a
nation. We must come absolutely to the principle of the
single code. ‘There is no escape from it. The decalogue
of God is for men and nations. The beatitudes of Christ
belong to both and are binding upon both.

Many of us are coming to feel that all war in this new
day and generation is absolutely unchristian and inhuman,
because it is so unnecessary and unreasonable. But what
shall we say of a war of defense? Shall we not defend
our own? We agree that aggressive wars are wrong, but
what of wars to defend our honor and our liberty? Be
assured, the military statesmen of all nations always twistWEENESSES! OF THE NEW DAY 353

around the reasons for war to these grounds. They de-
lude the people. They withhold the real truth. Possibly
they may delude themselves. They always think they are
fighting for their honor, their rights and their liberties.

In this new day we have better ways of settling dis-
putes, even international disputes. Let us enter and use
the World Court. Let us establish international law to
keep order and to enforce decrees. Let us cooperate in
every way to inspire good-will. We have reached a bet-
ter era and better ways. This world will not be safe,
even when it is absolutely assured that Britannia rules the
waves, nor when the commercial spirit of America dom-
inates the world, nor even when a League of Nations shall
succeed in making legislation, covenants and organizations
to reconstruct the governmental machinery of the world.

In this new day, it needs more than that, for the mili-
tary and commercial spirit is largely the materialistic spirit.
It needs the peace-loving spirit in the hearts of men. It
needs the foundations of justice ruling among men. It
needs the realization of brotherhood among the nations of
the earth. And I am fully persuaded that the only prog-
ress possible is by increasing brotherhood and increasing
cooperation,—by law and order, by education and justice,
by sympathy, appreciation and friendship. We must en-
courage every movement that leads to these things. We
must foster every means of friendship and understanding
and goodwill. We must increasingly exchange visits and
visitors, international lecturers, preachers and teachers
with these nations of the East. We must educate the ris-
ing generation to believe in these things. We must give
as much money to promote friendship and peace, as we
have ever spent on battleships, armies and all the enginery
of war.

I believe in this new day, that as we are faithful in
these higher things, a new brotherhood is arising in the
world, larger than the bounds of any nation, of any color
or creed. It is composed of all forward-looking men and
women,—all those whose hearts have been touched by love354 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

and faith. Are you in it? I ask you with all earnestness
and eagerness. I care not how you have arrived, by what
process of tradition, of idealism, of religion you have come
to this spirit. I think I have reached it by the way of
Christ. You may have come by other ways.

But the important thing is that we shall have arrived
in this new day, that we have the same spirit, that we are
brothers, that we can look eye to eye—these peoples and
we Americans. It is the Bible test after all. I would say
to any man the world over, “If thy heart be as my heart,
give me thy hand. Thou art my brother!”’

The Bible begins with a garden. It ends with a city.
It begins with the story of God and one man; it ends with
a multitude that no man can number. It begins with a
garden guarded by an angel with a flaming sword from
which man is driven out; it ends with a city with twelve
gates wide open day and night for all men to come in.
This is all a symbol of the spirit of the hospitality of our
God, and of the world-wide gospel of his love. There is
infinite advance, and progression. ‘‘The thoughts of men
are widened with the process of the suns.”’ It is a large
and growing vision of the new day of the redemption of
the world that God puts before us. God hath not left
himself without a witness in any nation. Whoever were
their older and earlier witnesses—Confucius, Buddha—now
into every nation of the world has come the supreme wit-
ness, the Lord Jesus Christ, the fulness of the revelation
of God to men.

It is our part to sustain all those men and women, and
all those agencies that are making clear and strong the
witness of Christ through living men and women, working
and loving and sacrificing in his Spirit. It is our part to
sustain them by our prayers and by our substantial offer-
ings. I realize more than ever by these visits to Oriental
lands the immensity of the problems, the handicaps of the
work and the many discouragements that must come to
those who are giving their lives to this great task, while
so many in the home churches are indifferent. God awakenWITNESSES OF THE NEW DAY _ 355

us to our opportunities. Events are moving swiftly. The
on-coming years will mean much for those nations. The
crises loom large.

Often we ask ourselves, what did God mean by Amer-
ica? Why did He keep it closed and hidden until the last?
Why did He people it with a liberty-loving people? Why
did He later send to America the people of every nation
under the sun, if He did not mean America to be his special
servant, if He did not mean it to proclaim liberty to all
the world, if He did not mean that all nations should send
its sons unto us to learn the great lessons of liberty, and
democracy, and the true religion of justice and brother-
hood, and send them forth again as messengers to all the
world? We are, therefore, witnesses to God’s love in the
name of the Universal Brother, who would teach peace on
earth and good will among all men, the Universal Brother
who took every man, woman, and child into his sympathy,
and kindness, the Universal Brother greater than all castes
and creeds and colors, greater than all philosophies and
theologies, the Universal Brother, greater than any or all
nationalities, the eternal symbol of divine love and the
eternal witness that we are all brothers of one great family
in the house of the Heavenly Father.

I come to this final fact. Jesus is still the supreme
witness for the new day,—witness both for God and man.
This thinking, questioning, critical age in which we live
demands the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the
truth: and therefore what we need above all for religious
teaching is a return to the simplicity of the truth as it is
in Jesus. Better than ever before, we can now understand
how that age in which he lived regarded him, how it was
impressed by him, how it used its current conceptions to
account for him.

But as we well know it was not a scientific age. It was
a legendary age, with knowledge that did not go very far,
and that drew largely on imagination to explain facts. They
were an honest, sincere people, but they were Oriental and
poetic. Plain facts were often presented with imaginative356 PRES SEGRE OF THE HAST

garb, and explanations were given which we would explain
very differently. It is our task therefore to get back of
the Oriental settings and the unscientific explanations, and
to discover the strong and simple story, the heroic figure
of the divine Christ, and the essential and permanent ele-
ments of the gospel truth.

Looking at him only from the human side, we discover
him as a real man of his own day, with all the limitations
of human knowledge of that day, a man of meagre educa-
tion, knowing little of literature, history, science or philoso-
phy, with no knowledge of such unknown subjects as Amer-
ica and former or future movements of history, using only
the current and ordinary religious and theological concep-
tions of his day, although with new insight. And he was
subject to all the human limitations of physical hunger,
weariness, temptation and death.

Looking at his life from the divine side, he was abso-
lutely unique, and all the stories and theories that grew up
to explain him were fully needed to express the marvellous
impression that he made on his day and generation. No
Oriental picturing and no miraculous explanations can
equal the miracle of the facts. For there was in him, and
there was manifested through him something that had
never been seen or known in the world before.

We may ask, What was the supreme revelation of
Jesus? Can we not answer, All that we can humanly know
of God was given in that wondrous life of Jesus. He con-
stitutes the fullest human revelation and interpretation of
the Divine Spirit. He represents the personality of the
divine revelation, and personality is essential. For we
cannot think of God with any satisfaction merely as law,
impersonal law, or as power, impersonal power, nor as in-
fluence impersonal, nor as impersonal spirit. We must
think of God as personality, although without the form
and limitations of human personality. God is greater than
any personality that we can conceive, by his infinity and
eternity, and yet he must have personality, the highest
reach of his human manifestation, the greatest thing weWITNESSES OF THE NEW DAY _ 357

know in humanity. We cannot conceive the infinite per-
sonality of God, but we can know as much of it as we find
manifested in Jesus, one of ourselves. Jesus represents
the heart and spirit of God. That is the essential thing,—
all else is beyond us.

What comprehensiveness of revelation was in Jesus.
He must have had power shining in his face. Pharisees
and soldiers quailed before him. He must have had over-
flowing goodness manifested there. The sick looked at
him and were cured. He must have had authority en-
throned there. Men looked at him, left their tasks, and
followed him. I know that Jesus did not look like some
of the medieval artists portrayed him, an effeminate Christ
with curling locks. His predominating quality was his
manliness, which shone out with overwhelming power. He
had strength, will, energy, dignity, impressiveness. But
he had more, even in the revelation of his face. For the
little children looked up at him and loved him. He must
have shown wonderful sweetness and tenderness. Jesus
was a marvellously inclusive man, so balanced and com-
prehensive, the heir of the ages, the ideal of humanity, Son
of Man as well as revealed Son of God.

Jesus was a universal soul. He was more than a Jew.
Ruth, his ancestress, was not a Jewess, but a woman of
Moab. His immediate ancestors were Palestinians, but as
some scholars aver, not necessarily altogether Hebrew, as
Matthew claims. There was probably admixture of other
nations, even some Greek in his ancestral stock. However
that may be, he was surely more than Jewish in his thought,
spirit and teachings. All through their history, the Jewish
people were narrow, clannish, provincial; he was broad
and universal. The Jews were often a cruel and cowardly
people; he was forgiving, and loving, and brave. The Jews
were worldly and formal even in their religion; he was
spiritual and idealistic. The Jews were unscrupulous and
dishonest in all their national history; Jesus was honest,
truthful and generous-hearted. The Jews were continual
apostates, their whole history a series of apostasies and358 THE SECRET OF THE FAST

of indignant lashings from the prophets; while Jesus was
forever loyal to God, full of faith and integrity. The
Jews were vague and confused on the teaching of immor-
tality, the Sadducees believed in no resurrection; but Jesus
was as clear as sunlight on the future life. The Jews fol-
lowed only the law and the letter: but Jesus was of the
free spirit. His intellectual and_ spiritual ancestry was
surely more than Jewish; it seems akin to larger vision,
to the Greek and the universal. He was as much of Plato
as of Moses, more akin in some ways to Zoroaster than to
Abraham.

So when the Jews discovered that he was not of their
kind, different in outlook and spirit, broad and free, it was
only natural that they should reject him. He was danger-
ous to their kind of religion, so they would have none of
him. And so is it to this day.

In the same way modern Christianity is much more
than a spiritualized Judaism. It is an eclectic, a universal
religion. It is founded on the free spirit of Jesus, but it
takes the best from every religion that it can assimilate,
and continually grows and expands and becomes richer.
Of course we owe much to the Jewish Scriptures and most
of all to the supreme revelation of Jesus, but we are also
debtors to Greece, Rome, Egypt, Babylon and the religions
of India. From our own ancestral religions of northern
Europe, we got most of our fundamentals of character,—
honesty, truth, courage, sacrifice. These were a part of
our blood and character long before we knew anything of
Semitic teachings.

The Egyptians taught immortality a thousand years
before the coming of Christ, and Socrates and Plato told
its truths to their followers at least five hundred years be-
fore Christ. Buddha taught renunciation and sacrifice and
a way into a divine fellowship five hundred years before
Christ.

But it was the supreme glory of Jesus to teach char-
acter and immortality founded on the background of a liy-
ing fellowship with a loving God, the Father of us all.WITNESSES OF THE NEW DAY 359

He gave men the vision of an infinitely tender and loving
Father, our dearest Friend. He taught and lived the
ideals of a strong and beautiful life. All religions and all
the world in a deep sense contributed to the spirit that
brought him forth, and therefore to all the world he be-
longs. He is infinitely more than any Jew could be,—he is
a universal Son of Man and Son of God.

This further truth witnesses to the uniqueness of Jesus.
He has the unique power of binding men to himself and
of transforming the spirit of their lives into his own high-
est spirit of divine living. No other man of history has
been able to do this. Whoever accepts him, believes in
him with all their heart, obeys and loves him, is trans-
formed in spirit and life. He brings men to the power of
God, and puts the power of God into them, and inspires
them to be the men they ought to be. His power has
transformed millions of lives, and the lives of nations. It
is not fancy but fact, capable of the fullest proof. God
has given to him divine powers of spiritual transforma-
tion for all those who by penitence and faith come into
living fellowship with him.

It may not be needful for us to know and to under-
stand the inner relation of Jesus to the Father nor the
metaphysics of their unity,—all these problems of theology
upon which the world has already expended so much time
and thought; nor may it be needful for us to understand
all the boundaries and implications of immortality, but we
must carefully and prayerfully consider the supreme claims
of his divine authority and power as a leader and trans-
former of human lives. The absolute evidences of these
claims are in the world that has been made better and
nobler.

Jesus is still the supreme miracle of history. We can-
not explain him any more than we can explain the begin-
ning of life or the mystery of God. But we can accept
him and his relation,—as we do,—with all our heart. No
one else has given us so much of God. Others have given
a little—some glimpses of wisdom and insight,—but Jesus360 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

gave a whole flood-tide, a whole sun-burst of wisdom and
light. Therefore we follow him. He is still far ahead
of all humanity. He still leads the noblest and the best.
Flis precepts still save from selfishness and sin. His love
is still the inspiration of the greatest love in the world.
Flis power, by faith and fellowship with him, transforms
human lives and the life of the world. Gladly we call
him our Saviour and our Lord, and follow him humbly
as his disciples.FELLOWSHIP OF THE SUNRISE

ELIGION must be increasingly recognized as a

unity in its origin and outlook. We must admit

the universality of the religious spirit. Whatever

the national differences, there is one essential spirit of re-
ligion—a recognition and worship of the All-Father, and
a desire to follow out the divine laws which may give wel-
fare here and happiness hereafter. These, at least, are
the warp and woof of the religions of the world. Some
nations may have found the better way; some are still grop-
ing in primitive paths. But all are seeking the same thing.
The fuller the recognition of this unity of religion, the
greater will be the growth of the international spirit among
the nations. Sometimes we may think that politics and
legislation are sufficient to bring and complete the inter-
national spirit. We seek a World Court and a League of
Nations. But even these can only become fully effective
by an informing spirit and a right atmosphere, breathing
peace and good-will. This is the deepest need—an intel-
ligent universal religious spirit. Professor Hocking of
Harvard fully sustains this view in his volume, The Mean-
ing of God in Human Experience, where he says—'‘Re-
ligion from primitive times the protector of the stranger,
the market-place, the truce, is the forerunner of interna-
tional law; because it alone can create the international
spirit, the international obligation; it alone can perma-
nently sustain and ensure that spirit. It is this function, |
think, which the greater religions have more or less clearly
perceived. They purpose to bring into human affairs that
most general unity, not interfering with nor displacing any
more special undertaking, without which no special under-
taking—whether of art, of science, or of law—is worth

361362 THE SECRET OF THE EAST

while, being without promise of permanence. . . . lt
looks forward to a unified and responsible world, one which
cares for the individual in his concrete character, and will
bear out his rightful will to endure,—a human world
which religion itself has made.’ And this leads up to the
final truth—‘‘Unity with the Absolute becomes significant
in proportion as the worshipper is first one with the spirit
of God as already established in the world.”

I believe Dr. Hocking is right, and I would that we
might have in this world a ‘Fellowship of the Sunrise,”
which should aim to bring into cooperation all who believe
in the universal Fatherhood of God, the absolute Brother-
hood of Man, and the Immortality of the Soul; and who
seek to find the fullest interpretation of these living truths
‘a the teachers of the East and West, and in the sacred
writings of the East and West, and who in this spirit of
the open and hospitable mind—the spirit of Jesus—desire
to give sympathy and cooperation in work for the world’s
spiritual welfare, the bringing in of the Better Day and all
possible measures for a permanent peace.

This might be the basis for such a fellowship:

We hold that, deeper and more important than politics
is religion in the life of the world, and we believe that spir-
‘tual reconstruction and understanding will vastly help in
the work of world reconstruction.

We believe that progress comes first of all by entering
more and more fully into the spirit of goodwill and brother-
liness. Thence comes fuller cooperation in the ways of
liberty, justice and permanent peace. The world needs a
rebirth of goodwill and friendly intercourse.

We hold that God is the universal Father of all men,
that all religions have sought after Him, whose best and
truest name is Love.

We believe that every man is a child of God, and that
mankind is one vast family, of many nations and traditions,
all one great brotherhood in blood, in rights, purpose and
destiny. Therefore nothing human is alien to us.

We believe that religion is not creed nor ceremonies,Photo by J. Burlington Smith, Darjeeling

SUNRISE ON THE HIMALAYASFELLOWSHIP OF THE SUNRISE 363

but a living spirit of fellowship with God and of loving
Kindness to all God’s children and creatures.

We hold that all great religions—as all denominations
—have something to contribute to the growing under-
standing of God’s truth. He has not left Himself without
a witness in any nation. We would study and try to under-
stand other religions beside our own.

We feel that loyalty to one’s country, to one’s family,
to one’s own religion, ought to inspire a larger loyalty to
the larger interests of the world, the full round of truth
and to every human being.

We respect each other’s religion, and we hold that one
Spirit is working through them all, and that one God is
above all and in all. He will overrule all errors and bring
forth all truth.

We would express our faith in terms of universal agree-
ment, in the spirit of our highest hopes, in the life of daily
loving service.

We would forget the things that divide, because they
are superficial and passing, belonging to transition stages;
we would remember the things that unite, because they are
the vital and profound things, the growing religion of the
world.

We emphasize intellectual and spiritual hospitality, and
above all, loving kindness to all men, and we would yield
ourselves to the Divine Spirit, increasingly leading us into
the fulness of the Truth.

We believe that the forward-looking leaders of both
East and West could find fellowship in some such affiirma-
tions and aspirations as the following, which I have
brought together not as a creed but as a vision and inspira-
tion, because it is made up of the universal truth of God.
I have used these paths in the West and I have used them
all through the East. I have found them in perfect har-
mony with both environments because they hold in their
heart both the secret of the East and of the West.364. DHE SECRET OF THE EAST

(MORNING AFFIRMATION AND ASPIRATION)
THE PATH INTO THE ABUNDANT LIFE—THE JOY OF BEING

Divine Father of us all, I know that thou art the divine life, the
divine wisdom, and the divine love of all this world, and that thou
art constantly creating and renewing the best in humanity.

I know this day that in thee I live and move and have my being.

I know this day that I am thy child here and now and forever.

I know this day that nothing can separate me from thee and thy
love.

I know this day that I am a spirit, as thou art, and that I have a
body to be a shrine of thy spirit, and a means and messenger of good.

I know this day that I can do all things that thou askest me
through thy life and love in my heart.

I know this day that all things—absolutely all things—work to-
gether for good to all them who love good and seek to do thy will.

I know this day that thou wilt keep me in perfect peace as I stay
my mind and heart on thee.

I know this day that thou wilt give me joy and strength as I try
to fulfil thy will.

I know this day that thou wilt never leave me nor forsake me.

I know this day that I am one with thee when I manifest loving
kindness, when I forgive others, when I seek in every way to bring
justice, brotherhood and peace into the world.

I know this day that thou art with me—and with every one of thy
children—always, even unto the end.

Spirit of Divine Light, I know that thou wilt help me to realize
these great truths mightily, and to live in them and in thee this day.

 

THE PATH INTO THE ABUNDANT LIFE—THE JOY OF DOING

Divine Father of us all, I would also live this day in conscious
fellowship with thy life, thy wisdom and thy love, in loving service
to others.

I would this day seek out ways and means of being a blessing to
others, comforting, cheering and strengthening them.

I would this day be tender-hearted, forgiving, thoughtful, gentle
in spirit, strong in purpose.

I would this day be cheery, patient, and hopeful, seeking always to
find the good in people and events.

I would this day forget self, and think continually of others, of
my brothers and sisters here and everywhere.

I would this day obey the laws of health, as divine laws.

I would this day live purely, honestly, soberly, nobly.

I would this day remember that all I am and have belongs to thee.FELLOWSHIP OF THE SUNRISE 365

I would this day use my time and strength for things worth while,
putting the emphasis on the vital and eternal things.

I would this day use my money—denying myself as many luxuries
as possible—in order to help others and to c: arry on divine work in
the spirit of true sacrifice.

I would this day find joy, not in unusual, doubtful or costly plea-
sures, but my fullest satisfactions in the simple and wholesome
pleasures of life.

I would this day do my work honestly, thoroughly and joyously as
a consecration and a worship unto thee.

I would this day live calmly and confidently, because I know that
I am thy child and shall live in thy love forever.

Spirit of Divine Life, I know this day that thou art with me,
inspiring me and cooperating in all loving service, and giving me an
uplifting joy in the wonder and the beauty of life. Amen.

Such are the afhrmations and aspirations which, re-
afirmed with the coming of each new day and rested upon
in the quiet of each new evening, will surely lead any life
into the depths and heights of spiritual being and of
abundant service.

This is the diapason of our thought. A fellowship of
the sunrise is already arising,—thousands of souls, un-
known to each other, are believing these things and living
them. What Sidney Lanier said of a physical sunrise is
also true of the spiritual sunrise in the world.

In many lands we have found religion called “The
Way.” So it was called in Japan, in China and in India.
In Christianity Jesus is ‘the way, the truth, the life.” In
many lands we have found religion as ‘““The Light.” In
Japan, for example, Buddha there is called Amida-Buddha
—the Buddha of Boundless Light. Even in places where
we have found degradation and superstition we could see
some light, some sincerity, some religiousness, some sacri-
fice, but above all and everywhere, we could see some crav-
ing for God, and shining clear above all other lights, Jesus
the Light of the World. We are going on to the Perfect
Day; we do not stop at the sunrise. We want the full-
orbed truth,366 Th. SECRET OF HE sail

SUNRISE ON THE HIMALAYAS

Some of us recently had the rare privilege of seeing
the sunrise on the Himalayas, from Tiger Hill, near Dar-
jeeling, in India. The Himalayas, you remember, are the
sacred mountains. [hey mean “the snowy dwellings,” and
in the primitive thought of India they were the abode of
the gods. It was wonderful when we started out at three
o'clock in the morning in sedan chairs, ’rickshaws, or on
ponies for that six-mile ride up the mountains in the dark-
ness, lighted only by the clear light of the quarter moon
and the stars. But more wonderful was it when we arrived
at our destination and the sky was blushing a delicate rose-
pink in the first flush before dawn. The snowy summits,
the glory of the Kirchinjunga range, lifted themselves
majestically before us. We stood there with the great
peaks rising all around us. We were on the roof of the
world.

Presently the sun began to break over the summits to
the East. Then the light widened to gleam on the other
summits, one after another, leaping with feet of glory,
until at last the loftiest peak of all, Mount Everest, was
aflame. It was an overwhelming, an overpowering sight.
To what shall I compare it? It was grander than Jungfrau
or Matterhorn; it was a thousand Fujiyamas piled to-
gether.

We stood in silence for awhile; then some of us began
to repeat softly: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills
from whence cometh my help,” and then “O ye mountain
and hills, O ye frosts and snows, praise ye the Lord, praise
Him, and magnify Him together.” And finally we sang
quietly, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” Heber’s majestic hymn, writ-
ten when he was Bishop of Calcutta in India. It was early
Sunday morning, and we were there in the grandest cathe-
dral on earth, with that pure white altar of immaculate
snowy summits, the highest in the world, lighted by the
very light of God. It seemed a revelation of the opened
heavens.FELLOWSHIP OF THE SUNRISE 367

It was an unforgettable experience, a vision to be cher-
ished in the soul as long as life shall last. We were present,
so it seemed to us, at a superb and magnificent miracle, at
the divine wonder of the first creation, when God spoke,
“Let there be light, and there was light,’ when all the
morning stars sang together and all the sons of God
shouted for joy.”

So also do I feel when we come face to face with the
Bible revelation of the divine sunrise, revealed to us in the
transcendent teachings and in the marvellous living of the
Master of us‘all. The lesser truths, the minor lights of
other religions, take their rightful places, but above us all
and above all other teachers and revealers, is the Supreme
Master, who stands, like glorious Mount Everest, the
loftiest summit of all the world.

We shall never outgrow the mystery and the majesty
of the sunrise revelation of Christ. Twenty centuries ago
He began to be revealed to us, but all these twenty cen-
turies have only made Him more wonderful. Other reli-
gions have come into our ken, those of Confucius, of
Buddha, of Zoroaster, and of Mohammed, but Christ re-
mains the matchless Master of them all. Literature, Music
and Art have found their finest inspiration in Him. Mod-
ern social progress and the higher welfare of humanity find
their light and leading in His teachings of justice and
brotherhood. Philosophy and science have acknowledged
that they cannot explain Him. The only explanation is
faith in Him; an appropriating faith solves the mystery,
for then we realize and know that He is the deathless Son
of God, as He said. The unknown future finds its shining
star only in His proof and promises’ of immortality.

The human heart, weary with sin and suffering, finds its
cure and comfort in Him; the human heart, strong in ambi-
tion for achievement, finds its supreme inspiration and
satisfaction in Him. He is the centre and sum of all human
love and of all divine revelation. Surely we shall never
outgrow the vision of His sacrifice and the glory of His
cross. For time and for eternity, He is the unfolding and368 Ton SECRET OF THE EAST

the supreme miracle. And in joyous faith in Him and the
exultancy of His sunrise revelation of life and immortality
comes the full assurance of the life beyond, the immortal
life that even here begins in the soul. In this vision I have
written the following lines as a confession of present ex-
perience of immortality and a prophecy of the illimitable
future:

I PROPHESY SUNRISE!

I feel it, I know it, I am lit by the sun,

The glow and the glory of life has begun;
Within my soul blazes the enkindling flame
On the altar upraised to the uttermost Name.
I’m alight, I’m afire, with a radiance born

Of the sunrise immortal, the ineffable dawn.

I am one with the light of the stars of the sky,
And one with the splendor that shines from on High;
Time holds me no more, nor space hath dominion
To limit the flight of my loftiest pinion;

I am free as the air, and swift as the light

Of the glimmering flashes that break in the night.

I prophesy sunrise—lo, the time is at hand

When glory shall break on each war weary land,

And dark doubts shall be gone, and clear faith shall renew
The face of the earth with the radiant dew

Of the morning immortal, and the fragrance of Heaven
Breathe forth from a million new hearts vision-given.

 

I prophesy sunrise—for I feel it, I know

By the thrill in my soul, by the quivering glow

Of the light in my life that is bursting anew

With the dreams that are real and the faith that is true.
As sure as I live is the truth, glory-shod—

I am lit with the sun—I am one with my God.