It is possible to see in this developing Buddhology evidence of Christian influence: the late Arthur Lloyd of Tokyo is the chief exponent of such a view. To me, however, it seems at once more scientific and more interesting to find in these parallels one more evidence alike of the similarity of human nature in all lands and ages, and of the indwelling Presence of the one Father of us all, guiding the nations in their search for Truth. The vitality and adaptability of Buddhism are evidences of His Spirit. This vitality, even if at times adaptability has degenerated into compromise, is, as we have seen, great in Southern Asia, and amongst the sources of its strength we have noted its great influence as a civilising power and as a bond of social life: its appeal to the imagination and to the gratitude of the peoples: its philosophical explanation of the age-old problem of suffering, and the moderation and sanity of its ethical teachings. All these factors enter in differing degrees into the vitality of Buddhism in China and Japan: for it has done much to help the civilisation of these countries also, and to give them a popular philosophy of life and a pleasant social setting for religious faith. Let us consider these facts in more detail as regards the Buddhism of Japan; for she is leading the Orient not only in matters of material progress, but in such spiritual things as a revival of the old faith which she is characteristically using to her own advantage. In 1918, for instance, a Pan-Buddhistic League was formed in Tokyo, and more remarkable has been the lead taken by the Buddhists of Japan in sending strong idealistic appeals to the Conferences at Versailles and Washington. The vital forces of Buddhism in Japan, then, are as follows:-- 1. Buddhism has for twelve centuries rendered a unique service to the culture of the nation. Letters, architecture, painting, the discipline of the mind--in fact, the whole culture of Japan is shot through and through with Buddhist influence. It is significant that the two Western writers who entered most deeply into the spirit of Japanese culture, Lafcadio Hearn and Fenollosa, both became Buddhists and are buried in Buddhist cemeteries. 2. Buddhism is again a great bond of social union. Its great pilgrimages, for example, are the favourite recreation of the people, and its great festivals such as the _Bon Matsuri_, in which the spirits of the departed are honoured, are seasons of great sociability. Here, again, the "pessimistic" Buddhism is a cheerful and a pleasant thing. 3. Its appeal to the imagination is obvious. Splendid temples with their dim golden altars, gorgeous vestments, sonorous chanting, and all the splendour of an artistic ritual--all this leaps to the eye of the most casual visitor. What must it not be to the artistic Japanese worshipper with all its tender associations?