been done by the evil spirits, whose good-will
has thus been secured in behalf of the credulous planter. The base and
groveling superstitions and credulity of the natives of Ceylon are
simply disgusting. There are said to be three thousand devil-priests
supported in the island, living with unblushing assurance upon the
ignorance of the masses. How closely akin is all this to the Roman
Catholic priests, who pretend "on liberal terms" to pray departed
souls out of purgatory.

Does it not seem extraordinary that the idea of worshiping or
propitiating some powerful evil spirit should prevail almost
universally among barbarous and half-civilized races? It is not the
force of example which inculcates such an idea, since the author has
met with it as a native custom among various tribes situated as far
apart as the poles. The Alaska Indians, the denizens of "Darkest
Africa," the Maoris of New Zealand, and the cannibal tribes of the
Fiji Islands, all yield more or less to this instinct. Nor were the
Indians of North America devoid of an equivalent custom when the
European settlers first came among them. It is only natural that all
people, civilized or otherwise, should be exercised by an instinct
leading up to the worship of a great Heavenly Father of mankind, but
the belief in the existence of an opposing and more important power,
which must first be propitiated, is certainly as singular as it is
universal among the barbarous races of both hemispheres. When visiting
the famous temples of Nikko, in Japan, the author saw a priest
sitting before a temple in the open air, beside a collection of
prepared pine chips with which he was feeding a small fire upon an
open stone slab, and accompanying the burning process by beating at
intervals upon a tom-tom. On inquiring as to the significance of this
singular ceremony, we were sagely told by the native guide that the
priest thus solicited the good-will of the god of fire, who was very
powerful and inimical to man, unless his favor was frequently sought
by such means.

"How terrible it would be," added the devout Japanese, "if he (the god
of fire) were to consume these sacred temples," pointing as he spoke
to the unique group of buildings so elaborately ornamented, which
contain such priceless hoards of rich bronzes, carved images, and
delicate lacquered ware.

The sacred temples of Nikko are in their way quite unequaled in the
world, having, with other remarkable attractions, the c