friends meet at the house of the deceased, dressed in mourning, who, together with the priests, form the funeral procession, which is attended with the images or pictures of men, women, elephants, tigers, &c., all destined to be burned for the benefit of the party deceased. The priests, and those who are hired to read prayers or make a funeral panegyric over the grave, bring up the rear. Several persons march in the front, with brazen censers of a considerable size on their shoulders. The children of the deceased march directly after the corpse, on foot, leaning upon sticks, which is an expression - at least, an external one- of sorrow and

concern.

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After the children come the wives and the more distant relations of the deceased, in a close litter. A great variety of ceremonies attend this procession; but we shall only take notice, that it is accompanied with the sound of tymbals, drums, flutes, and other instrumental music. As soon as the coffin has advanced about thirty yards from the house, a considerable quantity of red sand is thrown upon it.

Each family has a sepulchre belonging to it, which is erected on some little hill, or place adjacent, embellished with figures and other decorations, like those at the procession. Epitaphs and other inscriptions are also in use among them.

SEC. IX.-RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS OF THE JAPANESE.

THE most prevalent religious sects in Japan are those of Sinto and Budsdo. That of Sinto, which is the most ancient, though its adherents

Sects.

are now least numerous, is conceived to have originated from Religious Babylonian emigrants, and to have been originally very simple and pure in its tenets. Its followers acknowledge a Supreme Being, who inhabits the highest heavens, and who is far too great to require their worship; but they admit a multitude of inferior divinities, who exercise dominion over the earth, water, air, &c., and have great power in promoting the happiness or misery of the human race. They have some conception of the soul's immortality, and believe that a happy abode immediately under heaven is assigned to the spirits of the virtuous, while those of the wicked shall be doomed to wander to and fro under the firmament. Their practical precepts are directed to inculcate a virtuous life, and obedience to the laws of the sovereign. They abstain from animal food, and are reluctant to shed innocent blood, or even to touch a dead body. Their churches contain no visible idols, nor any representation of the Supreme Being; but sometimes a small image is kept in a box, to represent some inferior deity to whom the temple is consecrated. In the centre of the temple is frequently placed a large mirror, made of wellpolished cast metal, which is designed to represent to the worshippers, that in like manner as their personal blemishes are therein displayed, so are their secret evil thoughts exposed to the all-searching eyes of the immortal gods. The worshippers approach these temples with great devotion of manner, and with the most scrupulous attention to cleanliness of person and apparel. Advancing reverently to the mirror, they bow themselves to the ground, prefer their prayers, present their offerings, and then ir to their amusements. The Kubo professes himself to belong

to this sect, and is bound to make a visit annually in person, or by an ambassador, to one of their temples, to perform his devotion and present gifts.

Sect of

Budsdo.

Budsdo's doctrine was brought originally from the coast of Malabar, and is considered the same with that of Buddha in Hindostan. Passing from China into Japan, it became blended with that of Sinto, and gave birth to a monstrous mixture of superstition. Its peculiar tenets are, that the souls of men and of beasts are equally immortal, and that the souls of the wicked are condemned to undergo punishment and purification, by passing after death into the bodies of the lower animals. There are many other sects, very opposite in their tenets and observances; but they are said to live together in great harmony, or rather to share in all their mutual superstitions. The Dairi, or ecclesiastical sovereign, seems to be the general head of all these different sects, and appoints the principal priests throughout the country. Every sect has its respective church and peculiar idols, which are commonly remarkable for their uncouth and hideous form. Thunberg mentions one colossal wooden image which measures ten yards across the shoulders, and affords room for six men to sit upon its wrist. The inferior divinities are innumerable, as almost every trade has its tutelar god; and in one temple not less than thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-three are said to be ranged around the supreme deity. The temples are commonly built in the suburbs of the town, on the most elevated and suitable spots, to which are frequently attached beautiful avenues of cypress trees, with handsome gates. The idols are usually exhibited upon an altar, surrounded with flowers, incense, and other decorations. They are filled with the lower or secular priests, who attend to keep them clean, to light the lamps and fires, to present the flowers and incense, and to admit worshippers at all times of the day. Even strangers are allowed to enter, and sometimes to lodge in the temples. To some of the more noted churches it is common to perform pilgrimages, especially to the temples of Tsie, the most ancient in the empire, and almost completely decayed with age, notwithstanding the utmost care to preserve its ruins. Its sole ornaments are a mirror, denoting that nothing can be hid from the Supreme Being, and slips of white paper hung round the walls, to signify that nothing but what is pure should approach his presence. To this place the emperor must send an ambassador on the first day of every month, and every individual must make a visit at least once in the course of his life. Such a pilgrimage, besides its merit, is rewarded with an indulgence or remission of sins for a whole year. There are also in Japan orders of monks or nuns; one of which consists of blind persons, a kind of beggars dispersed over the empire; and another, called monks of the mountain, are a species of fortune-tellers and quack-doctors, who are bound to live on roots and herbs, to practise constant ablutions, and to traverse deserts and mountains once in a year. There are likewise several philosophical sects in the country, who disclaim all external worship; one of the most celebrated of which adopts the tenets of the Chinese Confucius, and resembles in its general principles the ancient school of Epicurus. Its followers acknowledge a kind of anima mundi, but limit the existence of man to the present life; and inculcate the general practice of virtue, but allow, and even

applaud, the commission of suicide. Almost immediately after the discovery of Japan by the Portuguese, the Christian religion was introduced into the country by the Jesuit missionaries in the year 1549, and made such rapid progress, that several princes of the empire were soon ranked among its converts; and about the year 1582, a public embassy was sent from the Japanese court with letters and valuable presents to the Roman pontiff. But the Portuguese, who had settled in great numbers in Japan, intoxicated by the extent of their commerce and the success of their religion, became so obnoxious to the natives by their avaricious and domineering conduct, that the representations of the heathen priests became at length sufficiently powerful to procure a prohibition from the emperor against the new religion, which threatened to overturn all the ancient institutions of the country. A violent persecution was commenced against the Christians, of whom twenty thousand are said to have been put to death in the year 1590. Still did the number of proselytes continue to increase; and in the years 1591 and 1592, twelve thousand were converted and baptized. One of the emperors, named Kubo Fide Jori, with his whole court and army, embraced the Christian name; and had the Portuguese settlers in the country acted with ordinary prudence and gentleness, their cause must have triumphed; but the insolence of some of their prelates, to some princes of the blood, became so insupportable, that a new persecution arose in the year 1596, which was carried on without intermission for the space of forty years, and ended in the year 1638 with the total extermination of the Christians, and the banishment of the Portuguese from the country. The Japanese government, considering the unwarrantable conduct of these settlers to be inseparable from their principles as Christians, have persevered in the enforcement of the most efficacious measures to prevent their re-introduction into the country; and in order to detect any concealed adherents to these proscribed sentiments, all persons are required to prove their freedom from such heresy, by publicly trampling, at the festival of the new year, upon the images of the Catholic saints.

Having given a general account of the two prevalent religious sects in Japan, we shall proceed to notice more particularly some of their religious tenets and practices.

Punishments.

If the Japanese have any idea of rewards and punishments in a future state, they perfectly extinguish it, both by their conduct and their system. Their most refined conceptions amount to no more than this, Rewards and that the soul, after its separation from the body, wings her way towards Takamans-ferra,—that is, high and sub-celestial fields, which lie, in their opinion, beneath the three-and-thirtieth heaven. The souls of the virtuous are admitted in a moment into those realms of bliss; but those of the vicious are refused admittance, and obliged to wander about in a disconsolate manner for a long time, to make atonement for their sins. As to their notion of hell, Kæmpfer assures us, that the Sintoists acknowledge no other than the torment of wandering like vagabonds around those sub-celestial fields, nor any other devil than the detestable fox, whom they conjure in the most solemn manner; for a great number of the Japanese look upon that animal as the receptacle of the souls of the wicked in a future state. The odious name which their

priests give to that creature is much the same with our denomination of the foul fiend.

We shall next proceed to the morals of the Sintoists. They who are of this sect maintain, that in order to draw down the benediction of the gods upon their souls in the life to come, but more particularly

Morality. in this, they must take indefatigable pains to keep their souls unspotted and undefiled, religiously abstain from everything that may possibly pollute them or their bodies-strictly observe all festivals and other days set apart for the service and worship of the gods, and make voluntary pilgrimages to the province of Isie. This part of their empire is looked upon by their devotees as their Holy Land, because IsanagiMikotto, and his wife Isanami, who are the Adam and Eve of these islanders, sojourned there during the whole of their lives. Tensio-daisin, who was the first of the race of their terrestrial gods, and the eldest son of Isanagi, sojourned likewise in this very province. They who carry their devotion to the highest pitch add penance and humiliation to these four precepts of Sintoism.

Purity of Soul.

Purity of soul, according to these Sintoists, consists in a strict obedienco to the dictates of nature and the voice of reason; in an utter abhorrence of what those dictates respectively prohibit; in the exact observance of the laws of the realm, and the commands of their prince; and in the abstinence from every action that is inconsistent with either the one or the other. But Sintoism, in a more peculiar manner, recommends to its admirers an external purity, to which its devotees are inviolably attached,-as devotees, indeed, in all religions generally are. This external purity consists in not defiling themselves with blood, in abstaining from all manner of flesh, and taking particular care not to touch the dead.

of Festivals.

The observance of solemn festivals, and of those days which are set apart for the service of the gods, is the third article of Sintoism. At those times the devotees are obliged to visit their pagods, unless Observance they happen to be in a state of impurity, or their minds be ruffled and discomposed by any inordinate passions. But before they presume to appear in the presence of their gods, even before they depart from their houses, in order to go to the temple, they first purify and wash themselves, then dress with propriety and neatness; and, above all, take particular care to put on their kamisino, which is a ceremonial habit, and undoubtedly looked upon as a fundamental article of their religious worship. They go to the temple with an air of gravity and sedateness; and as soon as they enter the outward court, there is a large conservatory of water, in which they are obliged to wash their hands before they proceed any further. After this ablution, they approach the temple with downcast eyes and an air of contrition; then they present themselves before a window, in which stands a large looking-glass, which is an emblem of the Deity, who sees all things, past, present, and to come, at one view, as in a glass. He knows all the secrets, all the thoughts, of his adorers. This is the illustration which the Japanese give of this looking-glass. The Sintoists fall upon their knees, and bow down their heads before this window; and after having remained a few moments in that humble posture, they lift up their heads, and as they say their prayers,