' CHINESE BUDDHISM. 537 



severely ; but so it docs in other countries, but this is thought not 

 to be sufficient. 



In China, where there is not a burglar-proof safe, and no con- 

 stant surveillance of policemen, there is comparative security to 

 life and property. It is apparent that the belief in the transmi- 

 gration doctrine has a repressing influence in this direction. But 

 the people are not, as a rule, as good as their religion would make 

 them if it were practiced. But in this, again, they are not pecul- 

 iar. The masses are grossly ignorant and largely brutalized by 

 ages of tyranny and poverty ; yet they plod on in patience and 

 industry, waiting their final rescue from existence. 



The bible of the sect is not without beauty and high moral as 

 well as poetic conceptions. There is much in it of the nature of 

 mythology and mysticism, which Buddhists do not pretend to 

 understand themselves, yet there is much to admire. From a 

 book of extracts and translations from the Buddhist bible I give 

 a few examples : 



" The perfect man is like the lily, unsoiled by the mud in which 

 it grows." Another : " The perfect man will not be angry with 

 him who brings him evil reports of himself, lest he be not able to 

 judge truthfully of the matter whereof he is accused." Its moral 

 code contains such rules as " Do not steal " ; " Do not lie " ; " Do 

 not kill " ; " Do not be a drunkard " ; " Do not to another what 

 you would not wish done to yourself." From these examples it 

 may be observed how nearly their moral law runs parallel with 

 our own ; and that this has exerted a potent influence in forming 

 the Chinese character is evident. Also, that they cover the car- 

 dinal rules of right living in good society, none will question. 



The system offers motives in the way of rewards for right 

 living, and punishments for evil-doing. It develops sympathy, 

 the source of many virtues. It teaches the equality of all men. 

 One man is better or worse than another only as he observes the 

 laws of good society or breaks them. That it satisfies the minds 

 of its votaries is certain. The Chinese will never abandon this 

 ancient faith on sentimental grounds. They must be convinced 

 that a better system is offered before they accept it. 



Whether this demonstration is forthcoming, remains to be 

 seen. Strong efforts are being made in that direction, and the 

 future alone will reveal the outcome. 



Rear- Admiral Belknap, of the United States Navy, combining his discovery 

 of the greatest oceanic depths yet found in the Japanese Kuro Sivro with what 

 other explorers have found in different oceans, announces the conclusion that, "as 

 a rule, the deepest water is found, not in the central parts of the great oceans, 

 but near, or approximately near, the land, whether of continental mass or island 

 isolation." 



