ld in no particular sanctity, and who are at liberty, at any time,
to adopt a more secular calling--perform a service before the altar, vested
in white dresses, somewhat resembling albs and confined at the waist by a
girdle. The service consists of the presentation of offerings and of the
recital of various invocations, chiefly laudatory. The devotions of the
people are remarkable for their brevity and simplicity. The worshipper, on
arriving at the shrine, rings a bell, or sounds a gong, to engage the
attention of the deity he desires to invoke; throws a coin of the smallest
possible value on to the matting within the sanctuary rails; makes one or
two prostrations; and then, clapping his hands, to intimate to his patron
that his business with him is over, retires--it not being considered
necessary to give to the petition any verbal expression. The making of
pilgrimages, however, still occupies a prominent place in the Shinto
system, and though of late years the number of pilgrims has considerably
decreased, long journeys are still undertaken to the great temple of the
sun-goddess at Ise--the "Mecca of Japan,"--and other celebrated shrines. The
chief object of the pilgrimage is the purchase of _O-harai_, or sacred
charms, which can only be obtained on the spot. These, when brought home,
are placed on the _Kamidana_, or god-shelf--a miniature temple of wood,
found in every Shinto house, to which are attached the names of various
patron deities, and the monumental tablets of the family. His purchase of
the O-harai completed, the pilgrim betakes himself to the enjoyment of the
various shows and other amusements provided for him in the neighbourhood
of the temple.

To conclude this brief sketch of Shintoism. Such influence as the cult
still possesses may be attributed to the superstition of the poor and
illiterate; and to a reluctance, on the part of the more educated, to
break with so venerable a past. The latter, however, though they continue
to conform to them, do not regard its observances seriously; while the
importance attached to them by the State is, as we have seen, wholly
political. In the words of Diayoro Goh, spoken in the course of a lecture
delivered in London two or three years since: "Shintoism, being so
restricted in its sphere, offers little obstacle to the introduction of
another religion,"--provided, as he added, that the veneration of the
Mikado, which has always formed the fundamental feature of Japanese