JAPANESE ACCOUNT OF COLONIAL LIFE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 77, 3 April 1877, Page 4

JAPANESE ACCOUNT OF COLONIAL LIFE.

A Japanese gentleman, for sojaie time was On a ■ visit to. the Australian, colonies, is said to tr^ve recently delivered a lecture' in Japan, the translation of ' whichJg^ve;s_t_re.folloJ?ing^ : rr 4Jt h _>_ , gh -.-J. *toSWA with care and assiduity tha r< r eligipn A pf6'fesse<f u By 1 these people,! am obliged to'adniit that it Qfewi ajj^^led^ebpf eies to the philosopher. They "say t_.at the founder of , their; cree^jwas, a young, man born t in the humblest walk of lif£|j in a djjstatii ;j c6untry nearly- tvvo thouaaadl _year& jigb, or abou t fl vq hu ndred J years after the vine JBuddah began hia gloci<_us mission/ This founder laid down some admirable maxims, , orlrather gave hi_ adhesion to maxims "already^ laid down by ttie Wages of old for the guidapcq of hia foflpwers, abo^e. a^iWJß^f3 l^ce.and tole'rerance as thftiy^y ; I 9orn§r-s.pne' ( of his sysjerji," His immediate followers '~-fl.bg. -7 rude, illiterate men^ and outcast woman — 4rere ; ( Bo- imbued with his persuasive gefcrt^ss that thOy adhered to the which even .the73i .pip.es of other inepired teaohers cannot fail', to admire. di Rf. .generation* however, fla E^lfl^ B^cejßts. of .he Masjtei" disr'e r -' garded;j Abjqgre.jymbpis ( substituted for the teacher's burning words, and safr'agfc jealousy for his loving charity. After a thousand years of bloodshed, igpiirimce, w_<i basement, the , ancestors of these, people slowly, emerged froa>. tbemental tbiajdomin which they wewJheld, and re_a_d.ln their own homes th §._ P°p£? ,/ n , y Woh the teachings of , their' Founder were written; 1 instead of ' x blindly adhering' to the cloud_r and repelling systems built up by generasion* of Zealot's; But the 'history of oo.r ? own land shows as how slowly all great mental revolutions are accocn-. pliahed, and although over three hdfnt dred years have 'come and gone since that daya of the great anno sator_v_th'e^ r9_t6.uJ.uM_ is. .for :from.:compli_te r iand ■tfangaxas- itCmayiaeem^theiliberators o*_.4hr__j_ -centuries uagO,l as if ..afraid of their own temerity, Jeft.^tdiwihed nearl^raH. the funftSfaental dogmas Df their predecessors, and only revoltecl 1 on ™?^ 8 f? P f comparative insignificance. 1 \Qh &JMm*> who c are naepiVyVdouvarsant with the sayings of the sages— wko await with philosophic oalm the approach of dissolution, equally re?R7 e § fromjoninarily fear and unavaUiog.regret, conscious that death is J but another: name ior .he absorption into the mighty sool : that permeates the aa 7» be prone tp. .rsussf m with pardonabla merriment an outline of the religious tenets professed by 'this people, were it not that, a*, thinking men, 1 you will, I am; sure, jojp , with ,me in. deeming that the beliefs, aspirations and hopes of our fellow-men, however grotesque they njiay be, are sufejects more __ited.for., patient .investigation than light laughtesv I .shall not, however, impose too much ou your sense of decorum by entering into a ldng accoubt of the numberless dogmas.inter.twined amongst tbe-precepls of the Founder, and which, oiucarefiU scrutiny,, fall to pieces like a child's house of xards. J may,' however, mention one, the belief in which seems alii but universal, namely, the ..attendance 1 ton- a Certain day, more or, lees _£??_*» fP. a certain valley of limited extent, t of nil the human beings who .ever : inhabited .tbis earth of ours, with ttteisame bodies they had While living 1 hß r?P!!^ r having allowed ten joainutes;- for jthe'; subsidence of various signs of astonishment and dissent, continued as follows):— Scio^ the alchemist, whbnd I see before me to-night, can tell ypu v that the' human ; nody, is' chiefly i composed of water,, which in itself is 'composed of the two gases hydrogen, and oxygen. He can also show, that _¥*_ c ? w i e d, e the substance pf our, bb.iiks , returns toitselementß,and these again be- 1 icome material from which the suba'tanao I Organised beibgs—aiitmlls and i . Pl anta r. are Dvi ' t t up. Portions of ,the . dead^body ; of Jo-day. may be fpund in! the leg of a chair to morrow; or may be falling iu'snbwflakes on the moun- , ta f ,nß?fOyama yonder. Part of the ff!! #M Dc at-pVesen'tmay have belonged Jo, an Australian savage t A e J° . . th. h 9 u8a P d . years ago, "and ypu.cfinnpt fail to see how manifestly, .'unjust it would be to the savage in question if at. some future time I should come forward and claim as mine materials which he possessed unnumbered agee ago. But yon would do the people a serious injustice if you thought that they conformed strictly to all the rules laid down with such minuteness in the sacred books. During my residence . in the I attended frequently a c<-le- . grated, tenj^le of publio ' worship, and heard the same gaily-dressed people ..copfess with, tbe most astonishing coolness that during. the period whichhad since their former attendance seven days ago, they bad chiefly .' devoted themselves to slandering and cheating their neighbors. They then begged forgiveness in terms the most abject, promised amendment in language the most pitiful, and with extraordinary regularity commenced on the following day the practices they had : deplored on the previous one. I noticed one bid gentleman with a mild and .benignant countenance, whoso responses —were delivered with faultless intonation and unmistakable contrition. He is said to be very rich, and is held in great esteem by the members oi the church. His money was chiefly made in business, and it was noticed some r tim# t before he retired, from active life, as a curious circumstance, that one of the

sides of the balance in which he weighed soap, sugar, and other articles was a couple of inches shorter than the other, and he is supposed to have frequently cheated himself by unconsciously placiog the weights in the shorter scale. He prqaperad,, however, .which is an additional J proof of how virtue > ia often rewarded, even in this life. I noticed that the portion of the i~ religious service, '? which the people are admonished to lay :up treasurer- fori themselves A_n ty.aven, where no thieves reside, seemed tf> be chiefly relished by this old man. His face tben assumed an expression described in the language of tf_e country as ' smug/ and with touchiifeg pathos be confessed, that. he^as, ipdeed, 'a miserable sinner." Befoe taking leave of this subject I may mention a circumstance which came under tpy own observation, and which will explain 1 far; better than I can the singular anomalies miked up with the religious practices of the people I am describing. Happening one day to visit one of the large establishments in . insane people : are confined I fell into conversation with an inmate, whom 4 had seen a month previously preaching, intone of the gardens. His con vernation ' certainly gave no evidence of mental hallucination, and on my departure I ventured to ask how him it <jame to pass that he was confined to a madhouse. * Because,' said this poor creature sorrowfully, *in endeavoring to follow the teachings of my Master I j fold most of my property and -gave to the poor; that fact alone was sufficient io warrant my commit ta! as a maniac.' ; ,' " Tbe social observances of this distant people are novel and interesting. Although great unanimity for the public weal would probaby be found amongst ihem should any national calamity, iuch 1 as war or famine, desolate I the iaijd.ye^ in ; tbeir- everyday life, the principle of caste is carried out to an extent unknown, amongst us^ and Restraints the most laughable are cheerfully endured in order' to be in what ' tbey call the . . Two families |Will live in adjacent' houses for years, without ever enjoying each other's society, or exchanging ideas on any of ;the innumerable, subjects .of ..interest daily cropping up, tperely became, the j ihend of ona family kills and chops up ! 'cattle, andithe pther-p-iaen ; or jbecause jone sells an ar.ic.e inOarge. quantities, and the other vends the same commodity jin small parcels. ; Even : among the llearned men — scholars, as they are (called — whose minds shouid be far -above such childish considerations, these distinctions are to be found. |Two men will scarcely accost each [other, because one has obtained his jknowledge through tbe high sohool ior university, and the other has received the same knowlege at his own i fireside and. by his own unaided efforts. ; Tfee degrading jnfluence Jof 'fashion' . seems .o J -leAveh the; whcftelsooialAbady. in its endless ramifications,: from the Governor to the beggar^ : and I am obliged to confess that it is chiefly upheld by the womeo r and these the most frivolous and 'empty-headed of- their sex. ITnUke ojif own dear country, a man is esteemed or despised inVicforia on account of his .occupation,! andj stranger still, he who does nothing: is held in ! a reverence litile ; short- of veneration. I.fear that generation's will require to pass before this natiop, for which I cherish a certain regard, although I smile at their 'singular foibles, will iearn that a man who" respects or despises, another merely, because of the latter-s avocation is not far removed from' a fool.''