Religion in Japan Part 2

[Ill.u.s.tration.]

PaG.o.da at Nikko.

Leaving the Hondo, we next proceed to explore the grounds and remaining buildings connected with the temple. This lofty _PaG.o.da_, for instance, several stories high, is erected over some holy relic,-perhaps the vitrified remains of the founder, after cremation. A little further on, we come to the _Rinzo_, or Revolving Library, containing an entire set of the Buddhist scriptures. As these consist altogether of some 6,700 or 6,800 large volumes, it is clearly impossible for any one person to read them all. This, however, need not be regretted seeing that whatever merit might be obtained by a complete perusal, is freely extended to all, who will take the trouble to make this huge stand revolve; the structure being so arranged that a single push is sufficient for the purpose! The Rinzo was an invention of a Chinese priest, and is said to date from the sixth century. Owing to their costliness they are rarely met with; and the only two I remember seeing were at Asakusa, Tokio, and at Ikegami, the head-quarters of the Hokkai sect. Elsewhere in the grounds we come upon the _Shoro_, or Great Bell,-used not for summoning the faithful, but for the purpose of invocation and wors.h.i.+p;-the _Koro_, or Drum-tower; the _Emado_, or "Ex-voto" Shed, the walls of which are covered with pictures, charms, and other offerings; cisterns for the purpose of ceremonial purification; a printing and publis.h.i.+ng department; and, perhaps, a grotto with ghastly representations of the sufferings endured in the Buddhist h.e.l.ls. Usually, too, to be found in the sacred precincts, is a specimen of the _Ficus religiosa_, or sacred tree, under which Sakya-muni attained his enlightenment. At the rear of the temple buildings are situated the priests' apartments,-often a quadrangle enclosed by a colonnade,-the reception-rooms of which are beautifully decorated with _kakemonos_. Here the visitor is sometimes invited to a light repast of tea, cake, and fruit; the priests waiting on him the while with the most courteous attention. And here may I be permitted to say a word about the Buddhist priests of j.a.pan as I found them? They are commonly spoken of as lazy and ignorant, mercenary and corrupt; and it is to be feared that with regard to many, especially of the lower orders of the clergy, this witness is true. But speaking of those with whom I came into direct contact-the priests, for the most part, attached to the more important temples-I feel bound to say, that the impression I formed of them was, on the whole, a distinctly favourable one. With countenances often indicating close spiritual application, they appeared to perform their sacred duties with reverence and attention; while of the disinterested kindness and hospitality I received at their hands, as well as of the courtesy and patience with which they replied to my numerous questions, I would speak in terms of grateful appreciation.

[Ill.u.s.tration.]

Plan Of Buddhist Temple At Ikegami, Near Tokio. (_Head-quarters of the Hokkai or Nichiren sect._) The path to the left from the Entrance Gate leads to the Main Temple; that to the right to the Founder's Hall. To the right of the plan are the Drum-tower and PaG.o.da. Behind the Main Temple is the Rinzo or Revolving Library; and in the lower left-hand corner of the picture is the Reliquary. The two small buildings in the foreground are the Belfry and the Emado. In the background are the Priests' Apartments and Reception-rooms.

A visit to a Buddhist temple, however, can hardly fail to suggest to any, who are at all familiar with the observances of the Roman ritual, a comparison to which we have already referred,-I mean the striking resemblance between the Buddhist ceremonies and such as have found place in the Christian Church. The high-altar with its haloed statues, flowers, candelabra, and ever-burning lamps; the side-altars, similarly adorned, above one of which, it may be, is seen the image of Maia, the mother of Gautama, bearing her infant-son in her arms; the priests, tonsured, mitred, arrayed in their rich vestments, and attended by their acolytes; the people, bending low in adoration, or telling their rosaries as they pray; the tinkling of bells and the perfume of incense; the dim light of the sanctuary, and the monotonous chant, in the unknown tongue, of the litanies uplifted for living and for dead:-these are only some of the points of correspondence with Roman Catholic observances which meet us in almost every Buddhist temple. Indeed, to attempt to specify such resemblances in detail would prove a laborious task. But while the similarity to which I refer is far too close and remarkable to be accounted for by mere coincidence, its explanation is by no means easy.

Some would solve the difficulty by referring to the unquestionable fact that many of the ceremonies practised in the Christian Church are adaptations of ancient heathen rites: a leading captive of captivity of which, as it seems to me, Christianity has far more reason to be proud than ashamed. But though the Buddhist observances are, without doubt, of considerable antiquity, this explanation cannot be said to be adequate to the requirements of the case. Far more satisfactory is the theory that ascribes the phenomenon to an early contact of China with some form of Christianity-probably Nestorianism-and to the readiness which Buddhism has ever exhibited to extend its influence by a conformity to other faiths.

The problem, however, is one which we must, to a great extent, be satisfied to leave unsolved; the most eminent authorities in Orientalism having confessed themselves baffled. It is only the fact of the resemblance that admits of no dispute.

[Ill.u.s.tration.]

A Buddhist Priest.

It is curious to notice the different effects produced by an observation of the Buddhist ceremonial on the minds of Roman Catholic missionaries upon their first arrival in the East. By some its likeness to their own ritual has been regarded as a manuvre of Satan, designed for the hindrance of Christian truth; while others have regarded the resemblance with satisfaction, as calculated to diminish the difficulties of their work. Without entering further into this question, I may be allowed to express the conviction that an elaborate ceremonial forms at any rate no necessary factor of Christian work in j.a.pan. So far from this being the case, I was informed, on no prejudiced authority, that, the breach once made with the old a.s.sociations, converts are disposed to regard anything tending even remotely to suggest them as more of a hindrance than a help; and this view finds support in the large number of adherents gained by several of the Protestant Missions, with whom anything in the way of ceremonial is reduced to a minimum. On the other hand, must be remembered the very successful work accomplished in j.a.pan, alike by the Roman and Orthodox Churches, whose combined total of some 65,000 adherents is more than double that of the various Protestant sects,-the Churches of England and America, with 4,000 members, not being included in this computation.

Hitherto, I have referred only to the resemblance outwardly existing between the ceremonies and observances of Christianity and Buddhism. But an extension of the comparison results in what is, at first sight, an even more startling similarity between incidents recorded of Gautama Buddha, and events in the life of Jesus Christ, as narrated in the Gospels. Thus, we are told that Gautama was born of a virgin mother; that angels appeared at his nativity; that an ancient seer prostrated himself before him, and saluted him as one come down from heaven; that, as a child, he confounded his teachers by the understanding he displayed, and the questions which he asked; that, a.s.sailed by the Evil One(24) with the keenest temptations,-including the offer of Sovereignty over all the world, if he would renounce his mission,-he yet emerged victorious from all; that once, being on a mountain, he was enveloped in a cloud of heavenly light; that he went down into h.e.l.l; and that he ascended into heaven. Indeed, the Christian may be pardoned if, for the moment, he feels completely staggered at all that he finds advanced on behalf of Sakya-muni; and if his perplexity only begins to give place to relief, when he discovers that there is absolutely no trace of such extraordinary coincidence in the early Buddhist writings, and that there is no reason for supposing that these alleged events in the life of Gautama were ever heard of until the Christian era was already several centuries old.

We have now, as far as our limits permit, made an examination of Buddhism with especial reference to j.a.pan. But before leaving this part of our subject, I would humbly, but very earnestly, submit the question, Is there in Buddhism generally,-is there in Buddhism as it exists in j.a.pan at the present day,-nothing upon which Christianity may profitably fasten, nothing to which Christianity may properly appeal? Is that great proclamation of Christian tact, which, eighteen centuries ago, the Apostle Paul delivered on the Areopagus at Athens, "Whom ye ignorantly wors.h.i.+p, Him declare I unto you," one that cannot, more often than it does, find a place on the lips of our missionaries of to-day? Is the position a useless one to take, that both the faiths of Jesus Christ and of Buddha agree in this, that either has for its object the amelioration of man's lot, here and hereafter, and his release from the curse of suffering; only, as we believe, with this great difference, that the founder of Christianity was possessed of resources to which Sakya-muni laid no claim? These are questions which were constantly presenting themselves to my mind during my visit to j.a.pan; but they are questions also which I heard asked more than once by men who had closely studied the whole subject and were deeply interested in mission work. But whatever the true answer to these questions be, of this we may be certain: that by no reckless denunciation of a creed, of the very elements of which the denouncer is content to be in ignorance, will any victory of Christ's Cross be achieved. Be the errors and shortcomings of Buddhism what they may,-and we must, to be honest, p.r.o.nounce them in our judgment to be many and great,-it is, at least, a system of very great antiquity, in whose strength thousands of millions of our fellow-creatures have lived and died, both better and happier. Men cannot be expected lightly to abandon their allegiance to such a faith as this, nor would it be to their credit if they did; while in Christianity, even when faithfully represented, there is very much calculated to perplex and estrange one who has been trained in the tenets of Buddhism. Moreover, however little he may agree with them, the Buddhist holds that the religious convictions of others are ent.i.tled to respect, and that their feelings should never be wounded, if this can be avoided; it is only natural that he, in his turn, should be quickly alienated by unsympathetic treatment. I was told by an English resident of long standing that infidelity is largely on the increase in j.a.pan, especially among the men of the upper and middle cla.s.ses; and that among the causes of this was certainly to be reckoned the contemptuous and merely destructive att.i.tude towards Buddhism, with which some-let us hope they are the very few-would think to serve the cause of Jesus Christ. "Depend upon it," it was said to me, "it is irreligion that commonly succeeds to the vacant place, not Christianity. Carlyle was right when he said, 'Better even to believe a lie than to believe nothing.' " And Buddhism is not all a lie!

"The peris.h.i.+ng heathen." Many of us have been revolted by such expressions when heard at home. But it is only when one is living in the midst of the people of whom they are spoken, that it is possible to realize the full horror of their meaning. That men, women, and little children, who are distinguished by so many good qualities,(25) and who-with, as we believe, such immeasurably inferior opportunities-present, in many points, so favourable a contrast to ourselves, should be condemned to a future of hopeless and unending misery, for not believing that of which, it may be, they have not even heard, or heard only in crude, distorted statement-can any man _really_ think this, who recognizes the providence of a Father of Love; nay, I will dare to say, of a Deity of bare Justice? And yet language thus fearfully misrepresenting the Faith of Christ is still used by some who are called by His name; and that it is used is known by the people of j.a.pan.(26)

But again. There is, I have observed, much in the scheme of Christianity calculated to prove a stumbling-block to those who have been educated in the doctrines of Buddhism. Let me proceed to state some of the difficulties that would be experienced, some of the objections that would be raised, by a Buddhist of a certain amount of intellectual capacity, when confronted with the claims of the Christian Faith.

Thus, (_a_) _the Bible_. "We are unable," the Buddhist would say, "to recognize in your Old and New Testaments an inspired revelation. Why should we accept your Scriptures, with all their alleged miracles and supernatural occurrences, when you reject ours? Besides, you are not agreed among yourselves as to inspiration, authenticity, translation, interpretation. Some of you, again, are for diffusing the Bible broadcast, others would keep it in the background. Again, the Christian doctrine of immortality appears to us entirely absent from the pages of the Old Testament; while even the Jews, 'G.o.d's chosen people,' refuse to see in the New Testament the fulfilment of the Old."

(_b_) _The Old Testament._ "We cannot regard the story of Creation, as given in the Book of Genesis, as anything more than a myth, containing a germ of truth. Neither can we accept, as historically true, the story of the temptation in the Garden of Eden. And yet, upon this is made to rest your whole theory of the Fall, of Original Sin, and of Christian Redemption. As for the history of the Jewish people, we can see in it nothing but one long story of cruelty and bloodshed; how can a Creator, a G.o.d of Love, be supposed to have permitted and approved such things?"

(_c_) _The Incarnation._ The whole doctrine of the Incarnation is full of difficulty to the mind of an Oriental; _not_ because of its strangeness and novelty, but owing to his very familiarity with stories of miraculous birth in his own legends.

(_d_) _The Atonement._ "Why should Jehovah require the sacrifice of His own Son?" This is a difficulty that would present itself with especial force to the Buddhist; by whom all life is held sacred, and whom such texts as "Without shedding of blood there is no remission," fill with repugnance. The explanation offered by Buddhists themselves of the Christian doctrine of Atonement is, that its origin must be sought in the fact that, from the most ancient times, the idea of sacrifice, and of human sacrifice, has existed; and this explanation they go on to apply to the Holy Eucharist.

(_e_) _Eternal Punishment._ "How," it is asked, "is your doctrine of Everlasting Punishment consistent with that of the Remission of Sins? And how, on the other hand, is not your scheme of salvation ethically wrong, if it allows people, after sinning all their lives, to be forgiven on their death-beds, that so they may enter a Paradise, wherein good and bad alike have a place?"

(_f_) _Faith and Belief._ "What right have you to ask us to believe anything that does not accord with science and experience, when you have no better opportunities of knowing than we?"

(_g_) _Christian Ethics._ "Some of these-e.g. the doctrine of the Sermon on the Mount-we admit to be good; but they are not peculiar to Christianity-our own teaching is very similar. In other of your ethics, we see only an ign.o.ble and selfish storing of treasure; it appears to us that a good action, done for the sake of reward or gain, must entirely lose its merit."

(_h_) _Missionary Work._ "We do not claim that our religion is the only way of salvation, but readily recognize the good points in other systems as well. You, on the contrary, appear to hold that there is no other way but your own; and indeed it is only on this supposition that we can understand the strenuous efforts which you make to bring us to abandon our religion for yours."(27)

It forms no part of my purpose to discuss these objections; which, let me add, are merely representative, and by no means exhaustive. With many of them we are already familiar at home; and the j.a.panese, I would mention, are fully aware of the unbelief prevalent in England, and well acquainted with its arguments. Indeed, few English people, it is probable, have any idea how closely their history and their literature are studied by nations living at the other side of the globe, who are to them simply "the heathen." Some, again, of the above objections would seem to have been suggested by imperfect and distorted statements of Christian truth. I have thought it worth while to refer to them, in the hope that the fact of such questions being raised may serve to impress upon us these two important points:-(i) the need of missionaries, at the present day, being not only men of holy and devoted lives, but also fully equal in intellectual equipment and culture to our home clergy; and (ii) the fallacy of trusting to the circulation of the Bible, as an instrument of mission work, unless it be accompanied-or rather preceded-by the teaching of the living agent.

It must not, however, be imagined that the obstacles to the progress of the Gospel in j.a.pan are wholly, or even mainly, of the character I have referred to. Another great hindrance is most unquestionably presented in the large number of competing sects and organizations, which, here as in other countries where mission work is being carried on, address the people in the name of Christianity. It is true that Buddhists themselves are divided into numerous sects and schools; but between these there can scarcely be said to be anything of party animosity and strife. It will, indeed, be heard with satisfaction that the feeling towards one another of the various Christian bodies in j.a.pan is, speaking generally, free from bitterness; and that each would appear desirous of doing its own work, in the wide field before it, without interference with the efforts of others.

"The feeling here," it was observed to me, "is nothing like so bad as it is at home."(28) And as in England bigotry and suspicion are steadily giving place to mutual toleration and respect, so may we hope that, both in our colonies and abroad, counsels of charity may more and more prevail.

Still, at the best, so long as Romanists, Orthodox, Anglicans, and Sectarians adhere to the positions they at present occupy, so long must any real unity of action be impossible; neither can peace be sought by surrender or compromise of principle. But meanwhile there is, of course, a lamentable want of compactness among the converts-as a recent writer in the _j.a.pan Mail_, remarked "they are more like scattered groups of soldiers than an army";-while the perplexity occasioned to those we are seeking to convince is terrible and great.

The following extract from Miss Bickersteth's recently-published _j.a.pan as we saw it_ (Sampson Low, 1893), draws an able contrast between the religious condition of j.a.pan at the present day and the position of Christianity in the time of St. Francis Xavier. "It was impossible not to be struck with the present complication of religious matters in the country as compared with the days of Xavier. Then, on the one side, there was the Buddhist-s.h.i.+nto creed, undermined by no Western science, still powerful in its attraction for the popular mind, and presenting a more or less solid resistance to the foreign missionary; and, on the other, Christianity as represented by Roman Catholicism, imperfect truly, but without a rival in dogma or in ritual. Now the ranks of Buddhist-s.h.i.+ntoism are hopelessly broken; the superst.i.tion of its votaries is exposed by the strong light of modern science, and their enthusiasm too often quenched in the deeper darkness of atheism. Christianity, though present in much greater force than in the days of Xavier, is, alas, not proportionately stronger. The divisions of Christendom are nowhere more evident than in its foreign missions to an intellectual people like the j.a.panese. The Greek, the Roman, the Anglican churches, the endless 'splits' of Nonconformity, must and do present to the j.a.panese mind a bewildering selection of possibilities in religious truth."

To refer to but one other hindrance to Christian progress in j.a.pan-which, although the last mentioned, is by no means the least serious-I mean the estimate formed by the natives of the practical influence of the Christian religion upon English people and upon other nations professing it.

Applying to Christianity the test of its results, they urge that it has, at any rate, only very partially succeeded. For instance, the j.a.panese comment upon the fact that numbers of Englishmen in j.a.pan never attend the services of their Church; and that the lives of many of them display a flagrant disregard for the principles which should regulate the conduct of Christians. Without, however, denying either the justice of these charges, or the reasonableness of the mood which advances them, I think it may be urged with fairness that the influence of Christianity on us as a nation cannot rightly be estimated in this particular way. As a rule, the Englishman can scarcely be said to appear to advantage abroad. Too often he a.s.sumes an att.i.tude of insolent superiority to the people whose guest he is; while the position in which our countrymen are placed in a country like j.a.pan-coupled with the freedom from restraint, so much greater than at home-has, for reasons which we need not now enter into, its peculiar difficulties. Neither is it by any means certain that a j.a.panese, paying a short visit to England, will gather any just impression of what hold Christianity has on us as a people. In all probability the range of his observations will be very limited and superficial; his wanderings will be chiefly confined to the great thoroughfares of the princ.i.p.al cities; while the circle of his acquaintance will, it is likely, be equally restricted, and equally unrepresentative of English life. Not that, in saying this, we would seek to excuse ourselves, or deny that there is far more truth than we could wish, and than there ought to be, in the charges brought against us. We would merely submit that there is another side to the picture which ought not, in fairness, to be overlooked. Admitting as we must, for instance, the great prevalence of infidelity in our England of to-day, there is yet to be placed over against it,-and may I not add, drawing it out into the light?-the increased activity of the Church during this last half-century, the remarkable power she has exhibited of adapting herself to meet the needs of her times, the influence for good that she has not only been in the past, but remains at the present day, in the nation at large, and in thousands and thousands of English homes. "By their fruits ye shall know them": and Christianity must not and need not deprecate the application of that test to herself. Only, we would urge, that is not a fair judgment, which takes account only of what the Church of Jesus Christ has failed to do, without recognizing also all that, in the strength of her Divine Head, she has been permitted to accomplish.

V. CHRISTIANITY IN j.a.pAN.

I propose now to place before my readers some account of the various Missions at work in j.a.pan. I am enabled to do this the better from having obtained, in the course of my visit, a useful table, compiled by the Rev.

H. Loomis, of the American Bible Society, Yokohama, giving statistics of the different organizations up to the beginning of the year 1893. The plan adopted by Mr. Loomis is to arrange his statistics into three cla.s.ses: (1) "Protestant Missions," (2) "Catholic Missions," and (3) "The Greek Church in j.a.pan." Under the head of "Protestant Missions," are included the Church of England, the Episcopal Church of America, a large number of other American denominations, the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the Swiss Evangelical Protestant Mission, the Society of Friends, U.S.A., Universalists, Unitarians and others; while under the head of "Catholic Missions" we find particulars of only one branch of the Holy Catholic Church-the Church of Rome. This is not the arrangement I should have made myself; but, as a matter of convenience, we will follow it more or less closely.(29) It is right to add that of the thirty "Protestant Missions"

seven are grouped together under the t.i.tle of the "Church of Christ in j.a.pan," and work, it would appear, in general harmony on Presbyterian principles. In the same way, the American Episcopal Church, the Church of England-represented by both the Church Missionary Society and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel-and the Mission of Wyckliffe College, Canada, are a.s.sociated together; leaving some twenty sects working independently.(30)

Before, however, proceeding to an examination of Mr. Loomis' table, we must briefly observe the past history of Christianity in j.a.pan. This dates from the arrival of St. Francis Xavier in 1549, seven years after the country was discovered by the Portuguese. For some while the missionaries were permitted to prosecute their work without molestation, and considerable progress was being effected. A deputation of native priests appealed to the Tyc.o.o.n, but their remonstrances were unheeded. With thirty-five religious sects already represented in j.a.pan, the country, he answered, might very well find room for a thirty-sixth religion, viz.

Christianity. Presently, however, the Jesuits being followed by the Dominicans and Franciscans, mutual factions broke out; while, elated by their success, some of the missionaries began to adopt an att.i.tude of high-handed intolerance and interference. For the first time in their history, the j.a.panese found themselves entangled in all the turmoil and animosity of religious strife. In 1587 the first persecution of the Christians took place, but apparently soon subsided. The warning, however, was disregarded; and the fatal policy of arrogance and oppression was still persisted in. Native priests were put to death; Buddhist monasteries were destroyed; the Inquisition was set up. In 1614 we find a j.a.panese emba.s.sy despatched to Rome, in order, so it is said, to make an act of submission to the spiritual supremacy of the Pope. Meanwhile the Dutch, jealous of the position that was being gained by the Portuguese traders, accused the Roman propagandists to the j.a.panese authorities of aiming at a territorial ascendency; and that intrigues were actually being carried on by the Jesuits for the overthrow of the Shogun there seems little doubt.

In the ma.s.sacre which ensued several thousand Christians were put to death. "Their unflinching devotion compels our admiration. One may search the grim history of early Christian martyrology without finding anything to surpa.s.s the heroism of the Roman Catholic Martyrs of j.a.pan. Burnt on stakes made of crosses, torn limb from limb, buried alive, they yet refused to recant. We are told of one Jesuit priest, Christopher Ferreya, who, after enduring horrible tortures, was at length hung by his feet in such a way that his head was buried in a hole in the ground from which air and light were excluded. His right-hand was left loose that he might make the sign of recantation. He hung for four hours, and then made the sign; whereupon, with a rare refinement of cruelty, he was appointed the president of the tribunal before which Christians were brought for condemnation. Then, after a lull, in 1637 thousands of Christians rose in armed rebellion. After two months they were forced to surrender, and 37,000 were slaughtered. Stern decrees were then issued, forbidding the admission of any foreign vessel; an exception being made in favour of the Chinese and Dutch. For more than two hundred years, notice-boards stood beside highways, ferries, and mountain-pa.s.ses, containing, among other prohibitions, the following:-'So long as the sun shall warm the earth, let no Christian be so bold as to come to j.a.pan; and let all know that the King of Spain himself, or the Christians' G.o.d, or the great G.o.d of all, if he violate this commandment, shall pay for it with his head.' For centuries the name 'Christian' would blanch the cheek and pale the lip.

Christianity was remembered only as an awful scar on the national annals.

But in the Southern Island the smouldering fire was never quite extinguished; while, as recently as 1829, six men and an old woman were crucified at Osaka."(31)

At the time of the closing of the country to foreigners, an exception was made of the one port of Nagasaki, the scene of the final great ma.s.sacre, when thousands of native Christians were hurled from a rocky islet into the sea. Here, however, as has been already mentioned, the Dutch were the only Europeans permitted to trade; they being closely confined to the small island of Des.h.i.+ma. In addition to having pay a heavy rental, they were subjected to the closest espionage, not being suffered, under any circ.u.mstances, to pa.s.s beyond the narrow limits a.s.signed to them. Several times in each year they were summoned before the authorities, and required to tread under foot the Crucifix, and other symbols of the Catholic Faith.

Several of the trampling-boards employed on these occasions are still to be seen at the Ueno Museum, Tokio. The Dutch, it would appear, quieted any qualms of conscience by regarding their action as amounting to an abnegation, not of Christianity, but of Romanism. It was not until thirty years ago that intercourse between j.a.pan and other nations began to be resumed; and that, after a short period of ill-feeling and suspicion, circ.u.mstances were brought about which enabled both Roman Catholics and other Christians to work without hindrance. In 1872 the interdict against Christianity was formally removed; and the release from imprisonment and return from banishment of hundreds of Christians took place.

Such is the past history of Christianity in j.a.pan. It has, indeed, its elements of glorious and heroic martyrdom, but it has elements, also, on which few of us can look back without a deep sense of shame. Let us trust that by this time the people of j.a.pan have come to understand that the conflict of their forefathers was not with Christianity, but rather with Christians who had forgotten "what spirit they were of."

Turning now to the condition of Christian Missions at the present day, it seems right to commence with those of the Roman Church. Not only has the Roman Church in j.a.pan a history which extends over three hundred years, but it reckons at the present time considerably more than double the number of adherents claimed by any other Christian body. The Roman influence has been particularly successful in the Goto Islands, in the neighbourhood of Nagasaki, where the devoted labours of the missionaries have won over a considerable portion of the population.

To come to the statistics. These give one Archbishop, three Bishops, seventy-eight missionary, and fifteen native priests, with over 300 (native) minor clergy and catechists; 185 churches and chapels, with 244 congregations. Seventy-six sisters of the Order of St. Paul de Chartres are stationed in j.a.pan, and there are further nineteen native novices.

Other statistics include seventeen orphanages, with an average of over 100 children; twenty Industrial Schools; eight Nursing establishments; a Hospital for the Aged; and a Hospital for Lepers, with sixty-two inmates, situated at Gotemba, at the foot of Fuji-san. The number of infant baptisms for 1892 is given as, children of Christian parents 1,337, and Heathen parents 1,166; these, with 2,806 adult baptisms, and forty-five "conversions of heretics," bringing the total of baptisms and conversions for the year to 5,354. The work that is being done by the Roman missionaries is commended on all sides; a prominent feature in their methods being a consideration for, and adaptation to, the habits and prejudices of the people, that greatly facilitate their progress, especially among the poor of the country districts. The whole number of Roman Catholics in j.a.pan amounts, as has been said already, to about 45,000.

I pa.s.s on to speak of the condition of the Greek, or Orthodox Russian, Church in j.a.pan; whose relations with the Church of England are here, as elsewhere, of a friendly though not, of course, of a very intimate character. Its head-quarters are at Tokio, where an imposing Cathedral, situated on high ground and in a central position, has recently been erected. Unfortunately our information in this case is very incomplete; but a.s.suming the correctness of the numbers before us, one is struck by the paucity of missionary clergy, viz. one bishop and three priests. To these must be added eighteen native clergy, and 128 unordained teachers and workers. There are in all 219 congregations. The number of adult baptisms in 1892 is given as 952; and the total members.h.i.+p at the present time exceeds 20,000. Scanty as these details are, they indicate much activity and progress. The proximity of Russian territory to j.a.pan-Vladivostock being only some 700 miles N. of Nagasaki-is, of course, a circ.u.mstance highly favourable to the Orthodox Mission.

Coming now to the various bodies arranged by Mr. Loomis under the t.i.tle of "Protestant," we will take first the _Nippon Sei Kokwai_, or Church of j.a.pan, which is the name given to the union formed by the Missions of the American Episcopal Church, the Church of England, and the English Church in Canada. It is, however, only fair to say that the total number of adherents of the Nippon Sei Kokwai are greatly less than half the number claimed by the Presbyterian Churches, as also by the Churches of the American Board's Mission. The Missions, then, of the American Church and of the Church of England are to a great extent worked independently of each other, each being under its own Episcopal control; but at the same time, the two Churches enjoy, of course, full intercommunion, and are practically one,-often taking counsel together, and dividing the various districts by mutual arrangement in such a way as to make the best use of their resources. To the American Church belongs the honour of being the first body to commence Christian work in j.a.pan in the present century; the Rev. C. M. Williams, afterwards Bishop for j.a.pan and China, establis.h.i.+ng himself at Tokio in 1859, and proceeding at once to translate portions of the Bible and Prayer-Book, hold services for the benefit of English-speaking people, and set on foot schemes for the study of our language. There are now twelve missionary clergy at work, and twenty-one female missionaries; together with seven native clergy and nineteen unordained workers and preachers. Of the twenty-seven organized churches only one is wholly self-supporting. The number of baptisms in 1892 was, adults 208, children fifty-eight; while the total members.h.i.+p amounts to over 1,400, with a like number of children receiving instruction in Sunday Schools. In 1873, Dr. Henry Laming was appointed missionary physician, and arrived at Osaka, where he has done and is still doing an excellent work.

A good deal of secular educational work is also carried on in connexion with the mission.

[Ill.u.s.tration.]

Sketch Map of j.a.pan.

We next come to the work of the Church Missionary Society, which commenced operations in j.a.pan in 1869. The Society has now twenty-two missionary and seven native clergy engaged; forty-two female missionaries, and sixty unordained preachers. Of its sixteen organized churches one is self-supporting. The number of baptisms in 1892 was, adults 267, children 121; and the total members.h.i.+p at the present time amounts to 2,126, with 600 children in Sunday Schools.

The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel commenced work in 1873; and has its headquarters at Tokio. The work of the two Community Missions, founded by Bishop Bickersteth in 1887, is apparently included in the statistics a.s.signed to the S. P. G. in the table before us. At St.

Andrew's University Mission, five clergy-all of whom are University Graduates,-live in community with several native students preparing for Ordination, while at St. Hilda's Mission, a staff of English ladies is engaged in work, which includes schools, a hospital, and a home for mission women. Both these Missions are supported by the "Guild of St.