Bible Trajislation and Circulation, iSi 
It would seem, from all this, that God has opened a wide 
and effectual door for His Word, in the Empire of the 
*' Rising Sun/' 
The first entry of the Americans was made into Japan, in 
faith. When Commodore Perry, of the American Navy, 
sailed into the Bay of Yeddo, it was the Sabbath-day. He 
spread the American flag over the capstan of his vessel, and 
laying an open Bible upon it, requested his men to sing 
with him the noble psalm, commencing : — 
Before Jehovah's awful throne, 
Ye nations bow with sacred joy, 
Know that the Lord is God alone, 
He can create and He destroy." 
This was in all probability the first Christian psalm sung 
within hearing of the Japanese of that generation. It 
seemed that God honoured Commodore Perry's faith, for, 
without firing a gun, he obtained a peaceful treaty of com- 
merce, trade, and national intercourse, between Japan and 
the United States of America. As the direct consequence 
of that treaty, missionaries obtained toleration, and protec 
tion, for the dissemination of the Christian religion. In 
1865, the first Japanese convert confessed his faith in Christ, 
and was baptized as he lay upon a dying bed ; to-day, over 
4,000 Christian converts can be counted in the land. In 
1872, the first Christian congregation was formed in Yoko- 
hama, of eleven persons ; to-day, that congregation consists 
of eleven hundred. The Word of God has grown mightily, 
and prevailed, and meets with encouragement from the 
highest officials. Even mercenary Japanese recognise the 
fact that they cannot obtain the blessings of the Gospel as 
exhibited in the attainments of civilization, without having 
the Gospel itself.. 
