the throne on the subject of the punishment of Honen; and that, in consequence, the plates from which the Senchaku was printed were forfeited, and publicly burned as a thankoffering for the mercies of the Buddhas of the Three Worlds? Did you know that Inujin-nin of the Kanjin-in was ordered to destroy the tomb of Honen? Or that Honen's disciples, Ryukwan, Shoko, Jogaku, and Sassho, were sent into exile and have not yet been pardoned? I don't think you can say that the authorities have not been memorialized on the subject.

The Visitor (somewhat mollified). I quite agree with you that Honen did advise his disciples to have nothing to do with the Sutras, or with the other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. What he always impressed upon his disciples was that they ought constantly to pray to Amida, and if men would always pray, the country would be at peace. The peace of the country is what we all desire. I cannot see how it can be the duty of the Government to put these people down.

The Master. I am not speaking from my own wisdom. I can but repeat that which I find in the Sutras. And there I find the doctrine laid down most clearly. I cannot quote all the instances; I will give a few. [Here follow various instances from Sutras in which the doctrine is laid down that the extirpation of heretics with the sword is the duty of every right-minded Government. S'akyamuni is brought in in one case as relating that in a previous existence, when he was the king of a country in Southern India, he had once slain a Brahman for speaking evil of Buddhism. But he had not suffered for his crime

in hell, because the Brahman was a heretic, and the killing of a heretic is no murder. ] Thus Buddha provided for the preservation of his doctrines. But these men, the slanderers of Buddhism, have departed from the true ways. They have made graven images of Honen himself, and have carried his impious opinions from one end of the Empire to another. They have mutilated the images of Shaka, and placed Amida in his stead. They have removed Akshobya from his seat, and placed thereon the Lord of the Western Paradise. They have ceased to copy out and reverence the Scriptures, and their zeal is only for the Three Books of the Pure Land. They refuse to hear the lectures of Tendai Daishi, and have ears only for those of Zendo. Woe be to this people. They disregard the warnings of S'akyamuni, and listen to the foolish words of the false prophets. If a man wish to secure the peace of the country, let him first begin by bridling the slanderers of Buddhism.