GRIFFIS, WILLIAM ELLIOT

(1843), Congregational minister and Oriental authority; ob. Philadelphia, Pa, He saw service in the Civil War, after which he studied at Rutgers College and in 1870 went to Japan to apply American methods to schools there. From 1872 to 1874 he was profe or of physical sciences at the Imperial University, and introduced technical education into Japan. Returning to the United States, he studfed for the ministry, graduating from the Union Theological Seminary in 1877, and filled pastorates until 1903, when he turned to literature to promote a better understanding of Oriental civilization. His publications chiefly embrace works on Japan, China and Corea,