ii8 Japan and the Japanese, 
suffering of body before he formulated this system, and who 
taught the doctrine of the migration of souls, until each 
soul was finally absorbed in Buddha. The prevailing re- 
ligion of Japan is a curious mixture of these two systems. 
It is said that there are in Japan one hundred thousand 
temples, each one containing a statue of Buddha. The 
largest idol is called Dia Butz, or Dai-Butsu, which is 
made of bronze, and stands fifty feet high. Being hollow, a 
chapel is fitted up inside the image, where thousands of 
pilgrims go to offer petitions. They use praying machines at 
these temples, in order to facilitate their devotions. These 
machines are stone wheels set in high posts. When a man 
wants to repeat a large number of prayers he turns the 
wheel, and every time it goes round, he believes that a 
prayer is recorded in heaven to his credit. In some places 
these wheels are turned by machinery. Generally speaking, 
there is no idea of a Saviour in Buddhism; every man 
must be his own Saviour, by means of religious duties and 
life. This is a cheerless faith. Its founder, Buddha, is said 
to have come into the world in the same way that Christ 
did, but only as a guide and example. He is never held up 
as a Saviour ; never dreamt of as anything but a teacher. 
Still, from the analogies which exist between the early 
traditions of these false systems, and the Christian religion, 
there seems reason to suppose that some tidings of the 
Christian faith must have reached these ancient peoples in 
the early centuries of which we have been speaking. In- 
deed, it is asserted that during the first centuries of Bud- 
dhism in Japan, there existed a sect of Buddhists who really 
believed and taught the doctrine of salvation by faith, but 
they form an exception to the generality of Buddhists. 
There are at this day some descendants of this sect, and 
they are known as the " Protestants of Japan.'' The chief 
