We now come to the study of the last of the systems of idol worship, Buddhism. This is one of the most interesting of all. It stands at once nearest to and farthest from Christianity. In its extent, it is the greatest religion of the world. It includes four-tenths (nearly one-half) of all the world’s population. The following figures indicate the comparative strength of the different existing religions: Parsees, 150,000. Jews, 7,000,000 (being about ½ per ct. of total). Greek Church, 75,000,000 „ „ 6 „ „ Roman Catholics, 152,000,000 „ „ 12 „ „ Other Christians, 100,000,000 „ „ 8 „ „ Hindus, 161,200,000 „ „ 13 „ „ Mohammedans, 155,000,000 „ „ 12½ „ „ Buddhists, 500,000,000 „ „ 40 „ „ Not included in the above, Fetichists, etc., 100,000,000 „ „ 8 „ „ ------------- --- Total, 1,250,350,000 100 „ [Illustration: Briton Riviere ARA, Painter. Illman Brothers, Engravers & Printers. THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY.] [Illustration: THE BRONZE IDOL OF BUDDHA, AT KAMAKURA, JAPAN. Sixty-five feet high, thirty feet across the shoulders, six hundred years old; covered with bronze plates, its interior forming a temple. From an original photograph.] It must be remembered, however, that very few of the 500,000,000 of Buddhists are Buddhists only. Many of the Chinese Buddhists are Confucianists and Taoists as well. Many of the Ceylonese (or rather Singhalese) Buddhists are devil-worshipers and star-worshipers as well. So, also, one often sees in the Buddhist temples of Japan the Shinto symbols. Indeed, the rapid and wide growth of Buddhism is due to the readiness with which it tolerates other religions. To write the history of Buddhism is to write the history of the hopes, and aspirations, and most sacred feelings of nearly one-half the human race of modern times. Buddhism has been received by both very savage and very civilized peoples--the wild Nomad hordes of the cold northern lands of Tartary, Thibet and Nepal; the cultured Chinese and Japanese, and the quiet Siamese, Burmese and Ceylonese.