History and Religion, 
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article in the creed of these Buddhists is this : Rejecting 
all other religious austerities and actions, giving up all idea 
of self-power, rely upon Amita Buddha with the whole 
heart for salvation, which is the most important thing ; be- 
lieving that at the moment of putting one's faith in Amita 
Buddha, our salvation is settled." If, for the words "Amita 
Buddha " we substitute Jesus Christy is it not easy to read in 
this doctrine, the Christian one of salvation by faith ? 
It is interesting to note that some distant echo- of the 
Christian religion fell early upon these far-off peoples ; but 
in the absence of reliable teachers, copies of the Holy 
Scriptures, and direct Christian instruction, these echoes 
died off, only to be heard of again in garbled forms^ and 
mixed up with idolatrous usages and ceremonies. The 
Buddhist party, called the Monto sect, which adhere to the 
above doctrine, indulge the hope of one day converting 
Europe to their faith, and have a large college at Kioto for 
the training of 600 students, some of whom are destined to 
act as missionaries in Europe and America. They are 
somewhat self-righteous too ; for it is asserted by them that 
"morals were invented by the Chinese, because they were 
an immoral people ; but in Japan there was no necessity 
for any system of morals, as every Japanese acted aright if 
he only consulted his own heart." How religious a people 
the Japanese were according to thair light, may be in- 
ferred from the fact that, according to the census of 1876, 
the number of priests, priestesses, monks, and religious 
officials was returned as 207,669. The Government dis- 
established and disendowed both Buddhism, and Shintoism 
about 1879. In this fact we may rejoice, for, deprived 
of the powerful aid of the Government, these erroneous 
religious systems will have less chance to fight against the 
Christian religion. 
