The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1877-12-14
EBENSBURG. PA, FRIDAY, DECEMBER IA, 1877.

man get the subject of his work? From
here we went to the Temple Of the Thirty
Three Thousand Three Hundred and Thir
ty-Three Gods,-this being the exact num-
Der of idols it contains. Oae thousand of
these idols are life size, and hold the other
small ones on their hands. They stand In
serried ranks. like brigade of soldiers on
drill. They are every one, large and small,
richly gilded with gold, and as the sliding
doors of the vast temple were thrown back,
and the sunlight poured in upon the scene,
and its rays flashed back from the thous-
ands of golden gods, there was presented:
SCENE OF DAZZLING sPLENDoR
we'll calculated to strike the beholder with
awe. There is no other temple in the
world that can produce such sight and L
long for the advent of some cool headed ex-
pert who will calculate the cost in dollars
and cents of this magnificent Buddhist
Temple and it's gods. The jealous priests
would allow no measurement, but L rough
ly estimate the building at 600 to 700 feet
square. Near here we saw the great idol
Dia Butza, over so feet high and richly
gilded. 1t is simply head and shoulders.
The features, like every idol seen so far in
Japan, wear an expression of the utmost
rest and quiet happiness. The present i'm.
age is said to be but the model of the head
and shoulders Of the original, of bronze,
down by an earthquake hundreds of years
ago. BY the side of the idol lies colossal
bell, fully as large as the one just men
toned, but for 600 years my guide said 1t
had lain there unused and neglected. In
front of this temple is a wall built of i'm
mense stones, some of them 40 feet long,
1S feet high, and 80 feet thick as they lie in
the wall. What power of the present day
can hew and convey from the mountain
uuarries such tremendous stones! These
two temples | have described SO briefly are
the principal ones in the city. To give an
idea of how impossible in even volume
the magnificence of KyOto's places of wor-
ship, the records of the city show that at
one time the Shinto faith,
THE OFFICIAL RELIGION OF JAPAN,
had in Kyoto and suburbs 2, 1877 temple,
while the Buddhist religion had in its dit
ferent sects no less than $500 temples,
pagodas, or chapels. Truly, this ancient
CITY is to Europeans as yet an unexplored
country, and, as l contemplate this vast
array of costly buildings, now fast going to
to decay, l believe it is city that can
challenge the world to produce its equal.
After the temples, we visited the famous
porcelain factories and silk weaving estab-
lishments, where the richest brocades are
made. Next we saw the imperial palaces,
which the people regard with sacred vene-
and occupy the northeastern portion of the
city. Long lines of trees of great size and
height, towering above the glittering roofs,
give vague idea of the extent and tran
guilty of the parks, i'll whose recesses the
imperial dwellings hide themselves from
profane gaze and the noise of the city.
Here dwelt for over thousand years the
Pontifcal Sovereign of Japan. Claiming
direct descent from Heaven, he was sacred
and invisible, and only women surrounded
his person. They dressed him and fec him,
attiring him every day in new costume,
and serving his meals in vessels which each
day came fresh from the makers hands.
His sacred feet never touched the ground
his face was never seen by profane eyes.
Such was the Mikado up to 1868 At kyOto.
What change in nine years The other
day at Yeddo | saw him on his horse re-
viewing the victorious army returning from
the scene of the late rebellion. He row
mingles freely with the people, opens new
railroads, and sails in his private steamer
| Truly those who wish to see any traces of
old Japan must hasten to its shores.