And this suggests the secret of genuine acquaintance.  Men become profoundly acquainted in proportion as they hold in common serious views of life, and labor together for the achievement of great moral ends.  Now a gulf separates the ordinary Japanese, even though educated, from the serious-minded Occidental.  Their views of life are well-nigh antipodal.  If their social intercourse is due only to the accident of business or of social functions, what true intimacy can possibly arise?  The acquaintance can only be superficial.  Nothing binds the two together beyond the temporary and accidental.  Let them, however, become possessed of a common and a serious view of life; let them strive for the attainment of some great moral reform, which they feel of vital importance to the welfare of the nation and the age, and immediately a bond of connection and intercourse will be established which will ripen into real intimacy.

I dispute the correctness of the generalization above quoted, however, not only on theoretical considerations, but also as a matter of experience.  Among Christians, the conditions are fulfilled for intimate relations between Occidentals and Orientals which result, as a matter of fact, in genuine and intimate friendship.  The relations existing between many missionaries and the native Christians and pastors refute the assertion of the editor of the Japan Mail that, “no foreigner has ever yet succeeded in being admitted into the inner circle of Japanese intercourse.”  This assertion is doubtless true in regard to the relation of foreigners to non-Christian society.  The reason, for the fact, however, is not because one is Occidental and the other Oriental in psychic nature, but solely because of diverse moral views, aims, and conduct.

It is not the contention of these pages, however, that intimate friendships between Occidental and Oriental Christians are as easily formed as between members of two Occidental nations.  Although common views of life, and common moral aims and conduct may provide the requisite foundations for such intimate friendships, the diverse methods of thought and of social intercourse may still serve to hinder their formation.  It is probably a fact that missionaries experience greater difficulty in making genuine intimate friendships with Japanese Christians than with any other race on the face of the globe.  The reasons for this fact are manifold.  The Japanese racial ambition manifests itself not only in the sphere of political life; it does not take kindly to foreign control in any line.  The churches manifest this characteristic.  It is a cause of suspicion of the foreign missionary and separation from him; it has broken up many a friendship.  Intimacy between missionaries and leading native pastors and evangelists was more common in the earlier days of Christian work than more recently, because the Japanese church organization has recently developed a self-consciousness and an ambition for organic independence which have led to mutual criticisms.