he effigy
he cut it into two pieces, saying that the deity Daikoku, having
competence to succour one thousand persons only, could be of little
use to him at such a crisis as he was now required to meet. Finally,
on the occasion of his expedition against the Hojo of Odawara, when
the sailors of Mishima, in Sagami, objected to carrying war-horses in
their boats on the plea that the god of the sea, Ryujin, hated
everything equine, Hideyoshi did not hesitate to remove these
scruples by addressing a despatch to the deity with orders to watch
over the safety of the steeds.

Yet this same Hideyoshi evidently recognized that the Buddhist faith
had great potentialities in Japan, and that its encouragement made
for the peace and progress of the country. Buddhism suffered terribly
at the hands of Nobunaga. The great monastery of Enryaku-ji was a
mass of blackened ruins at the time of the Oda baron's death, and it
has been shown that the monasteries of Kii and Osaka fared almost
equally badly at the hands of Hideyoshi. Nevertheless the latter had
no sooner grasped the supreme administrative power than he showed
himself a protector and promotor of Buddhism. Scattered throughout
the empire and apparently crippled for all time, the monks of
Hiei-zan very soon gave evidence of the vitality of their faith by
commencing a vigorous propaganda for the restoration of the great
monastery. Many renowned priests, as Zenso, Gosei, and others, headed
this movement; Prince Takatomo, adopted son of the Emperor Okimachi,
agreed to become lord-abbot of the sect (Tendai), and the Imperial
Court issued a proclamation exhorting the people to subscribe for the
pious purpose. Hideyoshi, Ieyasu, and other great barons addressed
their vassals in a similar sense, and in Hideyoshi's proclamation the
imperative necessity of Enryaku-ji as a barrier at the "Demon's Gate"
was distinctly stated. Under such auspices the monastery quickly rose
from its ashes, though in point of size and magnificence it was
inferior to its predecessor. At the same time Hideyoshi steadily
pursued the policy of checking the military tendencies of the monks,
and it may be said that, from his era, the soldier-priest ceased to
be a factor in the political situation.

THE KYOTO DAIBUTSU

The erection of a colossal image of the Buddha at Nara, in the eighth
century, and at Kamakura, in the thirteenth century, marked the
consummation of great political programmes in which religious
inf