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race. Wherever it may have originated, it is, as a religion, hollow, empty and jejune beyond any other that is known among men. It is certain, that the Japanese government in attempting to substitute Shintôism for the long prevalent Buddhistic faith, has undertaken a herculean task. Buddhism appeals to men’s religious susceptibilities, and has long been the popular faith, but Shintôism has nothing in it that comes down to men’s hearts, and it is futile to attempt to make it the substitute for that religion to which the people have been accustomed for ages, and which is intimately interwoven with the whole social fabric. The government tacitly confesses that Shintôism is a vapid lifeless thing when it sends men to preach throughout the country, and provides them with texts taken from no Japanese sacred-book but borrowed from Confucius and Mencius. The endeavour to revive the interest in this would-be religion must end in entire failure.
Mr. Mori considered the leading idea of the Shintô system to be reverential feeling toward the dead. As to the political use that was made of it, he thought that the state was quite right in turning it to account in support of the absolute Government which exists in Japan. He must admit that the early records of Japan were by no means reliable.
Mr. von Brandt remarked that the use of symbols similar to those mentioned by Sir Harry Parkes extended to many nations; thus the sword and dragon, the thyrsus staff and ivy, the staff of Æsculapius and snakes most probably had the same signification as the Japanese gohei, and that as Siebold had already remarked, it symbolized the union of the two elements the male and female. The history also of the creation of the world as given by the Japanese bore the closest resemblance to the myths of India and China, so that little doubt could exist that this also had been imported from the west. But here again the difficulty arose to fix a date for the importation of this myth, as it might as well have been brought over by the first immigrants as later when Buddhism was introduced. To-day little was known of Shintôism which might give it the character of a religion as understood by western nations; nothing could be found in it referring to the idea of future life, while the simple fact of horses, cows and servants being buried with a deceased chieftain, went far to prove that a belief in a continuation of existence in another world after death in this one, existed. The same custom existed also with the ancient Chinese; and even Confucius speaks of the custom of burying wooden images with the dead, reproving it from fear that it might lead to human sacrifices. As to the historical records of Japan, it is first mentioned that under the 20th Emperor in 415 A. D. officials were sent into country to verify and describe the names of all the families. Latterly a transcription of these records originally written in all probability in the old Japanese letters “the gods’ letters,” in Chinese characters took place, and in 644 a historical account of the Emperors, the country, the officials and the people is said to have existed which was destroyed when Iruka was murdered and his father’s
