40 JAPAN. [APRIL, hands they had little calabashes, with which they made a terrible noise. I took no notice of them. They jumped and danced on, until, by an unfortunate turn, the mask of one flew off, and a great, almost naked fool stood there, to be laughed at. Sports like this occupy the attention and time of the poor Timnehs, and prevent them from attending to the glad tidings of the gospel. Fetish celebrations usually end in riotous scenes. Lord, hasten the time when the darkness shall be dispersed, and "the day-spring from on high," without an hindrance, shall break forth on the mountains and plains of Africa! JAPAN. WE pursue our endeavour to acquaint ourselves with that singular people, the Japanese. Jealously excluded as they have kept themselves from intercourse with foreigners, it is but little we can collect respecting them-scarcely more than gleanings; yet, because of this, not unsuitable to the character and intent of our little periodical. In the information respecting their national habits which we may be enabled to trace out, we may learn something that may be profitable to ourselves; above all, the great blessing of living in the light of Christianity, and of being thus preserved from innumerable evils, in which nations who are destitute of its happy influence are plunged. In How superior the glorious truths of the gospel, and the elevating and encouraging facts which it reveals, to the murky figures which are shadowed forth in the mist and haze of a gloomy idolatry, more resembling the confused and strange images which flit across the brain in the delirium of fever, than the thoughts of a sober, waking mind. And if such be the religion, what must be the character and habits, of a people? What ideas prevail in Japan under the name of religion? China there is a court religion; but which, being too abstract for the popular mind, Buddhism has introduced itself, to complete the chain of evil influences, and has multiplied superstition, in every absurdity of form, throughout the land. So, in Japan, there is a court religion, but one too ideal for the popular mind; and therefore Buddhism, that most versatile of all superstitions, ever ready to add new idols to those already honoured with a place in its pantheon, has established itself in Japan likewise. The state religion is called Sinsyu, from the words Sin (the gods), and syu (faith), and its followers Sintoos. They have indeed "gods many, and lords many." It is remarkable, that, like the gods of the Hindus, they are all finite beings: they all have had an admitted commencement of existence, being emanations from an uncreated being, like the Hindu god Brahma; but who, being supposed to be altogether uninterested in human affairs, is lost sight of and forgotten. It would be a tedious process to take our readers through the genealogies of these creature gods, who, not thinking our world worth their notice, suffered it to remain in chaos, until at length one of them, who had condescended to enter into the matrimonial state, dipped his jewelled spear into the waters, and, as he raised it up again, the drops which fell from it congealed into Kiusiu, the largest of the Japan islands. Having then 1855.] JAPAN. 41 called into existence eight millions of gods, he transferred the government of the whole to his favourite daughter, Ten-sio-dai-zin, the sun goddess, and the chief object of superstitious reverence among the Sintoos. After a long reign-too long to trouble our readers with-she was succeeded by four other gods, the last of whom, marrying a mortal wife, left a mortal son, the ancestor of the mikados, the nominal sovereigns of Japan; yet only in name such, for if there be a slave on the earth, it is the mikado. A more pitiable victim of form is not in existence. He is the chief slave of the great tyrant of Japan-custom, form, ceremonialthat never bends, never deviates from the prescribed routine, let what will be the consequence. It enchains all classes, inflicting upon them the greatest miseries; but its chief slave is the chief of the state, the mikado. The shadow of a ruler-for all power has passed from him—he is in reality the most pitiable being in his dominions. He may not use the members of his own body: he may not walk, lest his sacred foot touch the ground: when he moves, he is borne on men's shoulders. Unholy eyes may not look on him; and therefore he is shut up within the enclosure of his palace. For several hours each day he must remain sitting on his throne, during which time he must not move, lest calamity befal his empire, whose tranquillity is supposed to depend upon his sitting still on his throne. It is the most determinate attempt we have ever seen recorded to reduce a living man to the condition of a lifeless statue. In some respects the statue would best serve the purpose of the Japanese: there would be no fear of its disturbing the repose of the empire by moving upon its seat. Again, whatever the mikado uses once, he may never use again. Cups and bowls, plates and dishes, must be broken after his meals; the clothes which he puts off must be burned; the surplus of food must be destroyed; and forasmuch as this daily process of destruction is an expensive one, it is rendered as little so as possible, by care being taken that the clothes, ware, &c., shall be of the cheapest, that is, of the coarsest kind, and the supplies of his table are regulated by the same economy. We cannot be surprised if the poor mikado, anxious to escape from a position so burdensome, not unfrequently imitates the example of his ancestress, the sun-goddess, and, abdicating in favour of a son or daughter, escapes from the bondage of royalty into the comparative freedom of private life, where at least he can use his own feet, and turn his head which way he pleases, without the fear of rudely convulsing the whole empire. But we must finish, as briefly as we can, this sketch of Sinsyu. The sun-goddess is too great to be approached directly by man, and therefore there are numerous mediators provided, called kami, some of them born gods, others deified men. Families and individuals choose one from amongst them to be their patron saint, pretty much after the fashion that prevails amongst Romanist and Greek Christians, keeping an image of the same in shrines and chapels adjoining the temple which they frequent. Some say that these images are not worshipped, and that the only objects in the temples, intended as aids to devotion, are, a mirror, in which the worshipper looks, and the gohei, or a number of strips of white paper, either blank, or inscribed with sage sentences. We would they had in their temples that true mirror which the apostle James speaks of, when he says, "If any be a hearer 42 THE LOST FRIEND. [APRIL, of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:" they would then see their natural state in the faithful mirror of God's word, and their need of a spiritual cleansing, which their miserable superstitions cannot yield them. Once a year a grand muster takes place of all the images. They are transferred to the mikado's court, to pay their respects in person to the living representative of the sun-goddess, and to receive his counsel regarding their deportment throughout the coming year. It must be a highly-instructive conclave; and if the mikado's tongue is more at liberty than his feet, he has before him an assemblage of quiet, if not intelligent, hearers. That month is known by a name which signifies "without gods," the gods, like men, being deemed incapable of being in more than one place at any given moment of time, and the land being, therefore, simultaneously deserted of them, while they remain within the precincts of the dairi, or mikado's palace. If the Japanese were not without the true God, they would have learned ere this that they were better without such gods. THE LOST FRIEND. THERE rides on the breast of the Winnipeg wave All pallid and wan, he seems nearing the grave, Which the hands of that poor youth employ. Half-passed is the lake; far behind the abode Where a sister's affection had smoothed the rough road But why does the youth cease to speed on his way? Why turns he so quickly the boat in dismay? Or what "friend" is in danger of harm? Yes, a "friend" most belov'd, most endeared, has been lost, The lake, though half-passed, is quickly re-crossed, "Tis the lot of his sister the news to impart That his lost "friend"-the Bible-is there: From that "friend" with whom none can compare. O God! let Thy church in her glory arise, Let her "hold forth" the word Thou hast given; J. M. 1855.] ( 43 ) TARTARS OF KUNAWUR. We have from time to time introduced into the pages of the "Gleaner" some notices of this singular country, the Himalaya Switzerland, and its inhabitants. As the traveller ascends from the hilly country which lies nearest the plains, the Hindu race gradually becomes more and more intermixed with another race-the Tartarsone remarkably unlike them in physical appearance, language, and religion, until the Hindus disappear, and the Tartars, in the high mountainous valleys that lie under the shadow of the passes into Thibet, become the exclusive inhabitants. Our Missionary, the Rev. J. D. Prochnow, who has recently been in these regions, has forwarded to us the following sketch of a Tartar couple. Their religion is lamaism, or the form of Buddhism which prevails in Thibet, and the darkness in which it leaves the people will be collected from the following description, by the same Missionary, of a lama temple in one of these Tartar villages I found the temple much enlarged since my visit in May 1845: another large room was built, containing three huge idols, and the temple servants would not let me enter. I told them that I had en 44 THE INDIAN CHIEF MANSUK. [APRIL, tered and seen the prayer-wheel some years ago, but could not prevail on them: they said the great lama had forbidden it. I requested them to call the great lama, and tell him that I wished to speak to him. After a little while he came a very fine figure, rather tall and portly, in a large red toga: one arm was free, in the hand of which he held his rosary, counting the beads and muttering his prayers. He was bareheaded, and wore rather long hair: a venerable-looking man, and, as it seemed to me, simple and unprejudiced. After the usual salutations, he asked the two temple servants why they had not allowed me to enter the temple. I did not understand the reply they made. He went before, and beckoned me to follow, which I did. We went through the first room, where the three huge idols stood, which had been added only during the last two or three years. The servants had gone before to put aside several things-I suspect eatables-that they might not be polluted by my presence. When we came to the door of the second room, in which the prayer-wheel was deposited, the chief lama put off his shoesthe servants had taken off their shoes before entering the first; and when he intimated to me to do the same, I refused, and remained outside. The prayer-wheel was set in motion: at the upper end of it were three small chairs, the middle one a little higher than the rest, for the lamas to sit upon on solemn occasions. The prayer-wheel was a large one, beautifully painted, about six or seven feet high, and three in diameter. The lama kept constantly muttering his prayers and counting his beads, when not addressed by me through an interpreter, as he could not talk Hindui. A large crowd had assembled by this time, when we were in the entrance of the temple, and I addressed them all. I was surprised that no one interrupted me, nor expressed any wonder. When I stated, at considerable length, the truths of our blessed gospel, the death of Christ for our sake, to wash our souls and purify them in His blood, that after death we may rise and enter heaven as He rose from the dead, all listened attentively; and the chief lama said that they all knew that the religion of the English would spread all over the country, in fact, all over the whole world. Yes, that is our encouragement, our hope. "It shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light." www THE INDIAN CHIEF MANSUK. AMIDST the many excellencies grouped together in the character of our blessed Lord, which peculiarly fitted Him for the accomplishment of the work which the Father had given Him to do, we find this mentioned amongst others " He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for His law." How necessary is it not that all who would do spiritual work on earth, and labour for the extension of that gospel which can heal the woes and miseries of man, should be endued with the same admirable qualification? The Lord's work must be commenced in the face of opposition, sustained amidst continuous difficulties and discouragements, and persevered in, without flinching, to the end, in the full belief and persuasion, that, however unsuccessful our efforts may appear to us, they will in due time yield a glo |