Chapter 68 of 68 · 5341 words · ~27 min read

CHAPTER XXXVII

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WINNING THE WORLD TO THE WORSHIP OF THE ONE GOD.

There is a cry in Burmah, and a rush Of thousand footsteps from the distant bound Of watery Siam and the rich Cathay. Not for food Or raiment ask they. Simply girding on The scanty garment o’er the weary limb, They pass unmarked the lofty domes of wealth Inquiring for a stranger. There he stands; The mark of foreign climes is on his brow; He hath no power, no costly gifts to deal Among the people, and his lore perchance The earth-bowed worldling, with his scales of gold, Accounteth folly. Yet to him is raised Each straining eyeball, “Tell us of the Christ!” And like the far-off murmur of the sea Lashed by the tempest, swelled their blended tone, “Sir, we would hear of Christ. Give us a scroll Bearing His name.” MRS. L. H. SIGOURNEY.

Before concluding the pleasant task upon which he has been engaged so long, the author feels that it will be necessary to meet the expectation that he should say something about the work of bringing the world back to its first worship. At first, we have seen, the world worshiped one God; then many gods and idols were introduced. Repeated efforts to restore the pure worship of primitive times ended in failure. Zoroaster tried and failed; Buddha tried, and _he_ failed; Mohammed tried, and _he_ failed; Jesus the Christ tried, and _He_ did not fail.

WHY GIVE THE GOSPEL TO THE WORLD?

[Illustration: TWO NEW ZEALANDERS: THE SAVAGE TE WETERE AND THE CHRISTIAN TE KOTE.]

The ground of the success of Christianity lies in its superior character. Its revelations are clearer and fuller, its motives are purer, and its hopes are higher than those of any heathen system. One may glean the choicest sayings of the masters of religious teachings, and in comparison with those of Jesus the Christ, their light is as that of a candle compared with the light of the sun. Undoubtedly this conviction has forced itself upon the mind of the reader as he has considered the various systems of religion; that there is not one among them all that can do for the world that which Christianity can accomplish. Compare the founders of religions with the Founder of Christianity, in their lives, characters and teachings. Compare together the sacred books; the Vedas, the laws of Manu, the Zend-Avesta, the Tripitakas and the Koran, with the Bible. Compare the effects of these religions upon the political, social, civil and domestic life of the people with the effects of Christianity; compare Christian and heathen lands, Christian and heathen homes, Christian and heathen governments. Compare the best parts of the best of heathen religions with any part of Christianity. One cannot but see the marked contrasts, and the infinite superiority of Christianity. This being so, then does it not follow that they who are seeking to give the Gospel of Jesus the Christ to the world are rendering a service to the cause of humanity? And they are but obeying the command of Jesus Christ to “preach the Gospel to every creature.” A young curate, who had fed on Sydney Smith’s diet of sarcastic witticisms, once approached the Duke of Wellington with the question, “Do you not think that the work of converting the Hindus is all a fanatical farce?” “Look to your marching orders, sir!” the stern old Iron Duke replied. Common gratitude moves us to desire that the world shall be made to know of Jesus Christ. When we read of the worship of our heathen ancestors, and remember that we should have been doing to-day as they did, had it not been for the Christian men who took the Gospel to England, we feel new obligations resting upon us. Further, all things are working to this end. Inventions, explorations, the discoveries of science, progress in government, everything waits upon this work.

THE STORY OF THE WORK.

It began 1,850 years ago. A Christian man named Paul went among the heathen of Asia Minor and South-eastern Europe--among the worshipers of the gods of Greece and Rome--to tell them of Christ. He was accompanied by other Christians. They met with considerable success, though they were made to suffer for it.

In later years, from Rome, that had then become the centre of Christianity, other Christians went to Western Europe. From Greenland, of the Arctic Zone, to the West Indies, of the Tropics, Christianity was extended. Nation after nation gave up its idols, cruel customs were abolished, and a purer life and worship was begun. But it was left for the last hundred years to witness the development of this work to its greatest extent.

THE PRESENT POSITION OF THE CHRISTIAN ARMY.

The Christian camp-fires are lighted and the tents of the Christian army have been erected in almost every land of the globe. The conquering army pursues only peaceful methods; it does not seek to drive but to win; not to harm but to help. In gaining its present position many lives have been lost, many sacrifices have been made. It has had to contend for the ground it occupies, inch by inch; the forces of idolatry have been mustered against its advance. The giant Goliath, Heathenism, has counted on a speedy destruction of the stripling David, Christianity. One country after another has opened its doors to the coming of Christianity. India, in the year 1705, opened her doors only to close them again after a little; since 1830, however, the work has been prosecuted vigorously. China, in 1807, and Japan, in 1859, welcomed the first Protestant Christian missionaries. Thus, too, other countries of Asia, Africa and the Islands of the Pacific have received the Christian heralds, within the last hundred years. Now behold them marshaled for the fight. Let us hastily glance at the various fields in succession.

A FLIGHT OVER THE FIELDS.

Let us rub our Aladdin’s lamps, and summon the genii to bear us away over the world. Let us on imagination’s swift wings fly over the battle-fields.[9]

In _Japan_ we see Buddhism being galvanized into a new life for the moment, and Shintoism cast off by the government and in great part by the people. We see a few new temples being erected, but many old ones falling into ruins. Western ideas have been introduced, and western civilization is making rapid progress in this most eastern land. One hundred and twenty-three Christian missionaries have won 3,000 Japanese to join their churches. The Japanese have the New Testament in their own language. Corea has just been reached by missionaries, and the New Testament is being published in the Corean language.

Old China is being brought to the childhood of conversion to Christ; her conservatism is passing away; her exclusive policy is being yielded up; her hatred of the foreigners (the “foreign devils” and “barbarians”) is being overcome and replaced by respect and in some cases by love. To-day a man behaving himself properly and not bearing himself insolently, can travel unmolested in any part of China, even where foreigners once were murdered. Every one of its provinces has been visited by Christian missionaries; in almost all they reside. The language (said to have been invented by the devil to perplex missionaries) is very thoroughly understood and used. Their false science and law is being replaced by true instruction. Christ is taking Confucius’s place, as it is seen that his teaching can never regenerate China. Buddha’s dreary faith of annihilation, and Lao-tze’s superstitious materialism are being slowly yielded up by the people. The taking of this Gibraltar of heathenism is by no means accomplished; yet her walls are being scaled, and a foothold on their summit gained. They that have turned the world upside down have gone thither also. By unique and unexpected providence, God is aiding His workers. The recent terrible famine was such a providence. Yet while the number of converts is not great, a very great deal of unseen work has been accomplished. It seems as though a whole legion of devils catch up the seed of the Gospel sown in China, almost as quickly as it touches the ground; still some, and much, brings forth good fruit. Considering the powerful opposition, the gigantic obstacles, the almost insurmountable difficulties, that there should be 19,000 living Chinese Christians to-day, and probably 85,000 nominal Christians, is surprising. To-day 496 missionaries are at work in China, seeking to convert its 400,000,000 people.

Moravian missionaries are preaching the Gospel of Christ on the borders of Thibet, the stronghold of Buddhism. It is here that the Buddhist Lama or Pope resides.

In Siam great changes have recently occurred. The country is now open to foreigners; a missionary is in charge of the government school and this nation, like Japan, seems to be progressing toward the light. Twenty-four missionaries (one among Chinese colonists), with 631 converts represent the strength of the church there.

In Assam “the light of a brighter day gilds the hill-tops and spreads along the valleys, ripening the long corn-fields for the reaper’s sickle.” Long and patient toil has not as yet been rewarded with great harvest gatherings, but the missionaries look forward in patient waiting for a better day. There are 13 churches, with 1,800 members; 26 missionaries, and 75 native preachers.

There are European missionaries in Borneo, Celebes, and the Moluccas; among the aborigines of Australia, and in the Island of Mauritius.

What a grand work has been done in Burmah, where missionary labor has been so emphatically blessed; among Burmese, Karens, Shans and Kakyens. The young mission at Bhamo is in a precarious condition at present, owing to the relations of King Thee-bau to England; yet the missionaries there stand by their posts. The Buddhism of Burmah seems as yet but little affected by the presence of Christianity; the work among the Karens has made more rapid progress than among the Burmese, because of the preparation for the Gospel by their singular traditions and prophecies. There are 23,000 Christians, the nucleus of a Christian community of about 75,000. There are 103 missionaries in Burmah.

[Illustration: A MISSIONARY HOME IN BURMAH.]

India has been very thoroughly evangelized. The opposition of the representatives of so-called Christian nations, the strength of caste, and the attachment to the elaborate system of Hinduism were the principal obstacles to the progress of Christianity. Five-sixths of all the converts are from the lower castes or ranks of the people. By education in mission-schools, but mainly by direct preaching, about 115,000 converts have been made. There is a native Christian community (M. A. Sherring says) of a half a million. Six hundred and seven missionaries were at work in 1875. One of the most extraordinary events of all modern missionary history was the sudden turning of the thousands of Teloogoos to Christ. The people of India have been greatly enlightened, thought awakened, and a wonderful transformation is occurring. The sacrifice of infants, the horrible practice of suttee, the Juggernaut festivals, are no more tolerated. English and American ladies have gained an entrance into the zenanas, and the women of India are becoming aware of a new life of which they never dreamed. All over India, Christian villages and churches dot the land; and before another generation has passed away, if the increase shall be proportionate to the recent past, India will be a Christian country. The Brahmo-Somaj, a sort of reform on Brahminism, has recently drawn very near to Christianity, and as illustrated by Keshub Chunder Sen’s recent remarkable address may soon become a Christian body.

Little has been undertaken in Afghanistan, Beloochistan or Arabia, as yet. There are 29 missionaries and 1,376 converts in Persia. The converts are principally from the Nestorians, who have long been nominally Christians. Access to the Mohammedans is becoming easier.

In Turkey, momentous changes are occurring. The despicable, despotic government is losing its power. Here the first triumphs of the first missionaries were won. The old Armenian race, the Anglo-Saxons of the East, who received Christianity in the fourth century, have in later years shown a remarkable readiness to receive Protestant preaching. The Mohammedans, here as elsewhere, are almost inaccessible. In Constantinople alone, a city of the size of Philadelphia, they have 300 mosques. There are 158 missionaries in Turkey, and 7,200 converts, and 14,000 children in their schools. In Syria there is a strong missionary body. It is difficult to reach the Jews, Mussulmans and Christians (Greek and Roman Catholic churches), because of their exceeding religiosity. The American Congregationalists and Presbyterians, and also the Church of England, have missionaries here. There are 1,317 Protestant Christians, 110 missionaries, and 12,057 scholars in Syria.

Central Asia is almost the only part of the world yet closed against the Gospel, though even here a little has been done by the brave old Joseph Wolff and English officers.

Africa, the dark continent, has a population of about 200,000,000. Mohammedanism has thoroughly overrun Africa, especially the northern portions. Fetichism, the lowest form of idolatry, holds the great mass of the African peoples. There are two missions in Egypt; the British, with one missionary and two stations, and the American, with twenty-two missionaries, thirty-four stations and 1,000 members, mainly from the Copts, an old Christian sect. The children in the mission-schools are mostly Mohammedan. In South Africa twelve or fifteen societies have not less than 40,000 converts. The western coast, from Sierra Leone to the Gulf of Guinea, is fringed with Christian missions. At the mouth of the Congo, on the west, and on the Niger and Zanzibar coast, on the east, the missions are flourishing. The greatest interest attaches to the very recent occupancy of Central Africa. On November 15th, 1876, Stanley’s famous letter, mentioning King Mtesa’s request for Christian teachers, was received. A few days after, $20,000 were offered to found a mission at Victoria Nyanza. Within seven months a picked party of seven missionaries stood on the eastern shore of Africa. They have experienced great difficulties and met with slight success.

Madagascar may be called a Christian country now, as may also the Sandwich Islands, the British West Indies, and, perhaps, the greater part of the islands of Polynesia. In Mexico, and in South America, as in the Papal lands of Europe, Protestant missionaries are laboring.

“The field is the world;” the motto is--the world for Christ and Christ for the world. The great triumphs of the past are being eclipsed by the greater ones of the present. The old decrepit and deformed sects of Christianity, long sleeping if not long dead, are taking on a new life. The Pagan religions are attempting the impossible task of preventing the incoming of Christianity; but their thraldom is broken, and everywhere the dropping of the broken fetters is heard. Mohammedanism alone is gathering itself with vigor to resist and repel and overcome Christianity, but its sword has been wrested from its grasp. The conquests of Christianity have not been won by might of sword; her victories over old faiths have not been gained by worldly wisdom. By love, by persuasion, by patient toil and suffering, the self-offered but God-called missionaries have done this work. God be praised for their lives, their works and their successes. May the day soon come when, his “Gospel having been published throughout the whole world for a testimony to all the nations,” Christ, by whose command they went forth, shall come and gather out of all nations His own!

INDEX.

Abhidharma, 514

Abu Bekr, 728

Abyssinia, 724

Adar, 130

Aditi, 216

Africa, 341

African Religion, 89, 341; Missions, 776

African Travelers, 341

Agni, 216

Agra, 760

Agricola, 195

Agriculture, Temple of, at Peking, 467

Ahriman, 410

Ainos, 716

Akamatz, 669, 673

Alaskans, 362, 371

Alexander, 412

Alger, W. R., 741

Allegory of Winter and Spring, 369

Altars, 60

Amaterasu, 311

Amazon sun-worship, 377

American Indians, 361; Traditions of Deluge, 72

Amon, 104

Ancestors, Worship of, 364, 481, 486

Angkor, 592

Anubis, 104

Apis, 106

Apollo and Hermes, 159

Arabian Night’s Entertainment, 567

Arab slave-dealers, 341

Araucanians, 378

Arhans, 626, 687

Arnold, Edwin, 500, 507, 522, 598

Arnold, Matthew, 184

Asakusa, 673

Ashtoreth, 141

Asoka, 513, 527, 532, 540

Assamese Missions, 773

Asshur, 127

Assyrian Triad, 128; Bull, 135

Atagosa-Yama, 686

Athens, 167

Augustine, 209

Avesta, 411

Aztecs, 53, 379

Baal, 142, 194

Baalbec, Temple of Sun at, 583

Baal-Peor, 141

Babel, Chaldean story of, 74

Babylon, 135

Bangkok, Pagoda of, 576

Baruch, 138

Basutos, 347

Bear Worship, 717

Beatitudes of Buddha, 520

Beggars, Buddhist, 523

Begging-bowl, 525

Bel, 128

Bell of Osaka, 691

Bells, The, 578

Benares, 255, 502, 508

Benten, 328, 678

Benzura, 680

Berosus, 63, 74, 121, 128

Bible and Idolatry, 74

Bible of Thibet, 609

Bible testimony to first worship, 34

Bidasu, 657

Binzurn, 680

Bishamon, 328

Black Stone, 721

Bodhidharma, 615, 657

Bombay, 518

Bonny, 355

Bon Religion, 598

Bonzes, Chinese, 651

Book of the Dead, Egyptian, 108

Books of Brick, 123

Booldo, 654

Borsippa, 136

Bo-tree, 507, 539, 550; of Ceylon, 546

Bowring, Sir John, 588

Boyesen, 200

Boy, Moslem, 752

Boy, The Old, 424

Brahma, 216

Brahmanas, 217

Brahminism, 92, 502

Brahmins and Gautama, 507

Brick Books, 123

Bricks of Chaldea, 122

Bridge-ladder, Turning the, 483

Britain in ancient times, 186

Brittan, Miss H. G., 295

Browning, Mrs. E., 84

Buddha, 500; Gautama becomes, 508; and Christ, 509–512

Buddhaghosha, 514, 528, 550; Parables of, 528

Buddhas, The Three Precious, 625

Buddha’s Tooth, Worship of, 553

Buddhism, 87, 93, 500; in China, 420, 611; in India and Ceylon, 532; in Burmah, 555; in Siam, 575; in Thibet, 598; in Corea, 654; in Japan, 656

Buddhist Councils, 527

Buddhist Saint’s Tomb, 590

Bull, Assyrian, 135

Burmese Buddhism, 555; Missions, 773

Burmese Superstitions, 570

Bushmen, 346

Byron, 536

Cæsar, 192, 527

Cairo University, 720

Calf, Golden, 140

Caliphs, 728

Cambyses, 106

Camel Driver, 721

Canton, 615, 626, 637

Canton, Examination Hall in, 473

Caste, 222

Cathay, 699

Causes of decay in religion, 84

Cave of Idols, 596

Cazembe Fetich-man, 351

Cemetery at Mecca, 727

Centaurs, 163

Ceremony of Water-lamps, 653

Ceres and Liber, 179

Ceylonese Buddhism, 540; Bible, 554

Chair of Nails, 652

Chaldean story of Deluge, 64; of Babel, 74; Tablets, 119

Champollion, 100

Channa, 507

Chaos, 154

Charlemagne, 527

Charms, Chinese, 439

Childe Harold, 536

Children taught to worship idols, 230, 490

China, 416; religions of, 94, 416, 419; Missions in, 771

Chinese Deities, 56; Languages, 418; Home Life, 478; Buddhism, 611; Idols, 641; Devotees, 652

Chinese in Siam, 596

Chinese tradition of early ages, 44; of Deluge, 69

Christ and Buddha, 509–512; and other Masters, 767

Christian and Buddhist ideas, 515

Christianity’s Conquest, 95, 767; in Great Britain, 195

Clement of Alexandria, 104

Coffee, King, 346

Coleridge, S. T., 47

Colossal Buddha, 632, 693

Comparative religion, 35

Confucianism, 94, 419

Confucian Temples, 461, 471

Confucius, 445, 710; and Lao-Tsze, 425

Constantine the Great, 513, 527, 754

Corea, 654, 699

Corean Priest, 657; Buddhism, 687

Corinth, 168

Costumes of Chaldea, 125

Councils of the Buddhists, 527

Creation, Traditions of, 62, 307

Cross and Crescent, 766

Crusades, 733

Cuneiform Letters, 124

Cunningham, A., 540

Cyclops, 154

Cypress-tree of Ceylon, 532, 546

Dagabas, 548, 620

Dagon, 58

Dai Butsu of Kamakura, 693; of Nara, 699

Daikoku, 323, 678

Dalai Lama, 600

Dante, 527

Dead and living Religions, 82

Dead, Egyptian Book of the, 108

Dead Pan, 85

Dead Religions, 84

Delhi, 754

Deluge, Traditions of, 66

Dervishes, 748

Devil Mask, 549

Devils, Driving out, 705

Devotees, 281; of China, 652

Dharma, 514

Diana of Ephesus, 171, 583

Dining-room of a Buddhist Temple, 670

Dispersion of the Nations, 45

Do-nothing Sect, 654

Doolittle, J., 653

Douglass, R. K., 446

Dragon Boat-race, 436

Druids, 188

Du Chaillu, P., 358

Dyaus, 214

Ebisu, 326

Ebn-el Farid, 77

Edda, 199

Edkins, J., 419

Egyptian Architect, 38

Egyptian Book of the Dead, 108

Elephanta, Cave of, 256

Elephant, Palace of, 579

Elephant, White, 588

Elfin story, 205

Elijah, 144, 621

Elysian Fields, 518

Emerald Idol, 579

English Heathenism, 185

Ephesian Diana, 171

Erebus, 154

Etruscan Religion, 174

Europe, 92

Examinations in China, 473

Exodus of Nations, 45

Fa Hian, 599, 612

Fakirs, 279

Farrar, F. W., 290

Fetich, 350

Field, H. M., 97, 473, 758

Fielde, A. M., 498

Fijian Temple, 391

Fiji Islanders’ Tradition of the Deluge, 71

Fire Crackers, 499

Fire-god’s Secret, 393

Fire-worshipers, 407

First Hymns, 53

First Worship, 33

Five Hundred Gods Temple, in China, 626; in Japan, 687

Flight of Mohammed, 719, 725

Flowing Invocation, 715

Foism, 611

“Footsteps of the Law”, 518

Fox-worship, 703

Freiligrath, F., 41

Fuji-yama, 329, 708

Fukuroku Jin, 322

Funeral in Japan, 711

Funeral of Burmese Monk, 571

Funeral of Siamese King, 596

Funeral Ritual of Egypt, 104

Funeral Temple of Siam, 578

Gabriel’s Message, 724

Gambler’s God, 498

Ganesha, 265

Ganges, 255, 272

Garden, Buddhist, 562

Gata and Karpara, 40

Gate-ways of Shinto Temples, 332

Gathas, 409

Gautama, 502

Gedeen-tubpa, 600

Genii of Assyria, 132

Goddess of Mercy, 632; of women, 637

God of Letters, 438; of War, 439; of Riches, 440; of Kitchen, 493

Gods, African, 343; Japanese, 703

Gods of Taoism, 434

Gounja-Gounja, 345

Grand Lama, 607

Graves, Worship at, 631

Gray, J. H., 443

Great Spirit, 364

Greek Tradition of Deluge, 72

Greek Tradition of Early Ages, 44

Gregory the Great, 208

Griffis, W. E., 658, 667

Grouping Religions, 77

Guards of Temple, 677

Gutzlaff, C., 69

Gwalior, Cave of, 257

Hachiman, 678

Hairs of White Elephant, 587

Hamonim, 654

Hardwick, C., 61, 428

Hardy, Spence, 502, 514

Haroun-al-Raschid, 732

Heine, H., 575

Hejira, 725

Hell, Chinese idea of, 642; Japanese idea of, 688, 700

Hemis, Monastery of, 600

Herculaneum, 183

Hercules, 163

Hermes and Apollo, 159

Herodotus, 97

Hesiod, 151

Hiawatha, 368

Hieroglyphics, 50, 100

Hilaire, B. St., 500, 510

Hindu Tradition of Early Ages, 44

Hindu Tradition of Deluge, 68

Hiogo Buddha, 666

H’lassa, 599; Cathedral, 603

Holy men of Hindus, 279

Holy Scriptures, 518

Homer, 151

Homes, Chinese, 478

Hooghly River Mosque, 742

Horrors, Temple of, 642

Hotei, 327, 703

Hottentots, 345, 349

Household gods of Japan, 321

Howqua, 478

Human Sacrifices in Britain, 192; among Hindus, 225

Humbert, Aime, 656

Humboldt, 387

Ibsambul, 99

Idolatry and the Bible, 74

Idol, Emerald, 579; Sleeping, 579

Idol of Buddha, 509

Idols and Koran, 738

Ilu, 127

Imám, 742

Inari, 703

Incarnations of Vishnu, 299

Incas, 383

India, 92, 532; Missions in, 773

Indian Tradition of Deluge, 72

Indians of America, 363; Legends, 367

Initiation Ceremony, 523

Insect-god, 349

Ise, 332

Ishtar, 130

Izanagi and Izanami, 308

Jacob, 138

Jagan-nath, 233

Jains, 518, 532

Janus, 180

Japanese Customs, 709

Japanese Gods, 703

Japanese Pilgrims, 669, 709

Japanese Poem, 709

Japanese Shintoism, 94; Buddhism, 656

Japanese story of Creation, 307

Japanese Superstitions, 712

Japan, Mission in, 771

Jesuit Missionaries, 666

Jesus and Buddha, 509–512; and Koran, 737

Jimmu Tenno, 313, 319

Jingu Kogo, 687

Jogees, 532

Jonas, 535

Joong, 654

Joshua, 138

Joss-stick, 461, 620

Jove, 176

Judge of Hell, 700

Judgment, 739

Judson, A., 767

Judson, Emily C., 402, 555

Juggernaut, 233

Jummah Musjid, 754

Juno, 178

Jupiter, 164, 177

Kaaba, 721

Kaang, 346

Kaffirs, 351

Kakavanna, King, 529

Kali, 240

Kamakura, 661, 693

Kandy, 553

Karens, 402, 555

Karnak, 113

Keshub Chunder Sen, 212

Khadija, 723

Kin-mu, 654

Kitchen, God of, 493

Kitsune, 703

Kobe, 668, 687

Kobo Daishi, 657, 665

Koran, 734, 737

Koutub, 757

Krishna, 233

Kronos, 154

Kum-Fa, 637

Kushan Monastery, 622

Kwanon, 661; Temple of, 673; Picture of, 680

Kwan-te, God of War, 439

Kwan-Yin, 631, 645

Laban, 138

Lama, 600; Grand, 607

Lamaism, 598

Lamaist Bible, 609

Lao-Tsze, 416

Lenormant, 119

Leonowens, Mrs. A., 583

Leper King, 595

Letters, God of, 438

Leyden, 230

Living Worships, 86

Longfellow, H. W., 367, 611

Lotus Eaters, 161

Luther, R. M., 402

Luxor, 114

Ma-chu, 494, 498, 638

Maclear, G. F., 185

Magi, 410

Mahawanso, 554

Mahinda, 540, 549

Malayo-Polynesians, 387

Mandarin of China, 615

Mani Padee, 608

Manu’s Laws, 293

Mara, 508, 519

Marriage in Japan, 710

Mason, Francis, 555

Master Thief, Stories of, 37

Matsuri, 704

Maulmain Pagoda, 565

Mecca, 721, 727, 752, 763

Medicine Men, 364

Medina, 725

Memnon, 114

Mencius, 475

Mendes, 104

Mendicants, Buddhist, 523

Mercy, Goddess of, 632, 661, 673, 680

Merodach, 130

Meteor-gods, 58

Mexican Tradition of Early Ages, 43; of Deluge, 70

Michell, N., 210

Mikado of Japan, 657

Mikado’s Crest, 317

Milton, J., 138

Minerva, 179

Ming-ti, 611

Missionary and non-missionary Religions, 82

Missionary work, Christian, 767; in Japan and China, 771; in Thibet, 772; in Siam, Burmah, Assam and India, 773; in Turkey, 775; in Africa, 776

Mnevis, 104

Mohammed,

Mohammedanism, 87, 95, 522

Mohammedans, 210

Mohurrim, 764

Moloch, 143

Monasteries of China, 646

Monks, Buddhist, 525; Burmese, 571; of Thibet, 600

Monk’s Monument, 650

Monto Priests, 668; Creed of, 673

Monuments, Ancient, 50

Moon-god,

Moses,

Moslem Boy, 752

Moslems, 719

Mosque of Omar, 730

Mosques, 741; Worship in, 747

Mother’s Memorial, 715

Mother, The Goddess, 490

Mouhot, H., 592

Mountain, Sacred Japanese, 329, 708

Mpomo, 358

Muir, Sir W., 735

Müller, F. Max, 340, 407, 513, 517, 668

Müller, J. G., 362

Mummies, 104

Music lesson of Confucius, 450

Mystic sentence of Thibet, 606

Myths of Greece, 159

Nagkon Wat, 592

Nanking, 611, 621

Naoroji, 414

Nara, 699

Nats, 530, 566

Nature-worship, Beginning of, 51

Ndengei, 389

Nebo, 130

Nebuchadnezzar, 121

Nergal, 130

New Testament, 514

New Year’s Day in Japan, 704

Niam-Niams, 347

Nichiren, 658

Nick, Old, 198

Nigban, 517

Nio, 677

Nirvana, 517

Nitsukis, 703

Nixes, 206

Nobunaga, 665

Numa, 177

Oannes, 128

Oceanica, 387

Odyssey, 155, 162

Old Boy, 424

Olympus, 153

Omar, 729

Omens, 712

Om Mani Padmi Hum, 606

Ongole, 272

Original and Reformed Religions, 82

Ormazd, 409, 410

Osaka, 704

Osiris, 102

Othman, 732

Oudh, King of, 594

Pagoda, Shway-da-Gong of Rangoon, 557; of Maulmain, 565; of Wat Chang, Siam, 576

Pagodas, 122; of India, 269; of Burmah, 560; the Seven, 565; of China, 620

Pan is dead, 85

Papuans, 387

Paradise of Buddha, 517; of Mohammed, 518, 738

Parseeism, 88, 407

Parsees, 407

Parsee Worship, 414

Patagonians, 365, 378

Patna, Council of, 527

Paul, St., 164, 770

Pearly Emperor, 435

Pechaburi, 596

Peking, 461, 626, 652

Persia, 408

Peru, 372, 383

Peruvian Tradition of Early Ages, 43

Peter, St., Statue of, in Siam, 584

Petsi, King, 657

Phidian Jupiter, 164

Pilgrimage to Mecca, 763

Pilgrim, Japanese, 669, 673

Plagues of Egypt, 139

Pliny, 189

Poe, Edgar, 578

Poison-god, 394

Polyphemus, 162

Pombi, 344

Pompeii, 183

Pondicherry, 270

Pongyee, Burmese Monks, 571

Poor Mason, 39

Pope, 497

Porcelain Tower, 611, 621

Prayers, Sale of, 616

Praying for rain, 344

Praying-wheels in Thibet, 605; in China, 649

Priest, 651

Priest’s lament, 656

Priest’s trick, 350

Proposed treatment, 87

Proverbs and Precepts, Chinese, 431

Pyramids, 117

Queen of Heaven, 497

Ra, 102

Rahanda, 529

Raiden, 318, 319

Railroad in Japan, 662

Rain, Praying for, 344

Rajaratnacari, 554

Ramayana, 594

Rammohun Roy, 212, 221

Rangoon, 557

Reed, Sir Edw., 305

Refuges, The Three, 524

Relics of Buddhists, 540

Religions, missionary and non-missionary; dead and living; original and living, 38

Religions of the World, 500

Renunciation, The Grea, 506

Rewards and Punishments, Book of, 430

Rhampsinitos, 38

Rhys-David, 514, 524, 537, 603

Riches, God of, 440

Rogers, Captain, 529

Romans, Paul’s letter to, 182

Ruins of Egypt, 98

Sabellian Religion, 175

Sabines, 175

Sacred animals of Egypt, 106

Sacred books of Japan, 306

Sacred Bo-tree, 507, 539; of Ceylon, 546

Sacrifices, Human, 192, 225

Sage, The Little, 475

Sakya Muni, 502

Sailors’ Goddess, 494

Saint Hilaire, B., 500, 510

Sale of Prayers, 616

Samoyedes, 56

Sanchi Tope, 536

Sangha, 523

Sanno, 678

Sanskrit stories, 301

Sargon, Palace of, 132

Satan, 737

Saxon Paganism, 197

Sayings of Confucius, 456

Schaff, P., 748

Schiller, F. Von, 150

Schlegel, F. Von, 33

School-boy of China, 460

Schoolcraft, H., 368

Scottish story of the Shifty Lad, 40

Sea-God, 707

Sebek, 104

Secret Blessings, Book of, 433

Sects of Hindus, 218; Buddhists in Japan, 667

Serpent Idol, 59

Set, 103

Seven Pagodas, 565

Shakespeare, 203

Shamanism, 371, 555

Shanghai, 421

Shang-te, 463, 654

Shans, 555

Shasters, 298

Shiba, Temple of, 682

Shinran, 662

Shin-Shin Sect, 657, 668

Shinto Symbols, 681

Shintoism, 94, 656

Shoes, Putting off, 587

Shrines of Ise, 332

Shway-da-Gong Pagoda, 557

Siamese Buddhism, 575; Missions, 773

Siamese White Elephant, 588

Sigourney, Mrs. L. H., 767

Sikhs, 256

Sioux, 365

Siva, 216

Sleeping Idol, 579

Smith, Sidney, 769

Song of the Threshers, 101

Sotheby, 173

Soul, Bringing home the, 483

Southern migration, 92

Southey, 232

Spanish story of the Poor Mason, 39

Sphinx, 97, 112

Spires, 122

Spirit, Great, 364

Spirit-house, 390

Stanley, H. M., 356

Stoddard, R. H., 450, 460

Stonehenge, 188

Stories from the Sanskrit, 301

Stories of the Master Thief, 37

St. Paul, 164

St. Sophia, 748, 753

Student, The Tired, 475

Suddhodana, 502

Sun-child, 658

Sun-goddess of Japan, 313

Sun, Temple of, in Peking, 467

Sun-worship of Indians, 372

Superstitions, Japanese, 712

Suttee, 231, 296

Tae-Ping Rebellion, 621

Taj Mahal, 758

Talisman of Long Life, 424

Taoism, 416

Taoist Books, 428

Tao-te-king, 428

Tartar Woman, 601

Tartarus, 153

Taylor, B., 739, 741

Tektha, 567

Temple of Horrors, 642

Tengou, 707

Tennent, Sir E., 546, 548

Tennyson, Alfred, 77

Teraphim, 57, 138

Teshu Lumbo Monastery, 602

Testament, New, 514

Thibet, 598; Mission in, 772

Thor, 200

Thoth, 104

Thousand Lamas’ Temple, 626

Three Baskets, 513

Three Precious Buddhas, 625

Three Pure Ones, 434

Threshers, Song of, 101

Thunder, Japanese God of, 318, 319

Tien-chi, 56

Tient-sin, 652

Tinnevelly, 213

Tired Student, 475

Tissa, 540

Titans, 153

Tokio, 673, 682

Tooth, Buddha’s, 553

Topes, Buddhist, 508, 535

Torii, 332

Tortures of Holy Men, 283

Towers, 122

Traditions of man in early ages, 43; of creation, 62, 305; of deluge, 66

Trees, Sacred, 712

Triad, Assyrian, 128

Trick of Priests, 348

Tripitaka, 513, 545, 548

Tsong-khapa, 599

Tung-cho, 620

Turkish Mission, 775

Tussaud, Madame, 681

Umkululu, 347

Umritsur, 256

Universe, Greek conception of, 151; Hindu, 246

University at Cairo, 720

Varuna, 216

Vedas, 49, 54, 92, 286, 548

Vesta, 179

Vinaya, 514

Vindya Mountains, 507

Vinton, Mrs., 406

Virgil, 173

Vishnu, 216; incarnations of, 299

Visions of Gautama, 504

Visparad, 414

Walhalla, 199

War, God of, 439

Wat Chang Pagoda, 576

Water-lamps, 653

Wat P’hra Keau, 579

Wax-works, 681

Wellington, Duke of, 769

White Elephant of Siam, 579, 588

Whittier, J. G., 53, 532

Wilkinson, 101

Williams, M., 54

Williams, S. W., 416, 482

Woden, 199

Woman, according to Hinduism, 227, 295; and Mohammedanism, 748

Wu-Wei-Kiau, 654

Xavier, 666

Xisuthrus, 66

Yasnas, 413

Yasodhara, 508

Yebisu, 687

Yema, God of Hell, 688

Yezzo, 716

Yuah, 403

Zenanas, 228, 295

Zend Avesta, 43, 49, 411

Zoroaster, 409

Zulus, 345, 347

THE END.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] In later ages the scribes of Babylonia wrote important matters on both burnt and unburnt bricks. One would be left unharmed by water, while the other was made permanent by fire.

[2] Lenormant, the eminent French scholar of Assyrian antiquities, is our authority for the main part of this chapter, and we have quoted liberally from his writings.

[3] King of Congo.

[4] Contributed by the Rev. R. M. Luther, of Burmah.

[5] A crore is 10,000,000; a thousand thousand crores would be 10 million millions.

[6] Monk.

[7] Abbot.

[8] Bayard Taylor writes thus:

“Till the sun grows cold And the stars are old And the leaves of the Judgment Book unfold.”

[9] The facts and figures that follow are gathered from the latest reports of over seventy missionary societies of Germany, France, Great Britain and America. These are in the writer’s possession, and from them he presents the latest ascertainable returns to March 20th, 1881.

Transcriber’s Notes:

1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been corrected silently.

2. Where hyphenation is in doubt, it has been retained as in the original.

3. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have been retained as in the original.

4. Italics are shown as _xxx_.