the Reformed Dutch Church-notable departures have been taken, two new church edifices and a manse having been erected in Colombo within the disestablishment era; chiefly, however, through property endow. ments belonging to the Wolfendahl Church from the time of the Dutch, though partly also through voluntary subscriptions. An assistant-chaplain had also come from Scotland to Colombo, and a Wesleyan-trained minister has been accepted by the Presbytery, and inducted as minister to the church at Point-de-Galle, in the absence on leave of the chaplain. "Another most desirable result is this, that while a good example has been shown for several years before by a handful of Congregationalists (Baptists and Independents) in their self-supporting Colombo church, as well as in some Baptist and Wesleyan native churches, yet undoubtedly the fact that self-support had to be taken up in so practical a way by the Anglican English churches has given a stimulus to this principle throughout the island, and Anglican (English-speaking and native) missionaries and Wesleyan, Baptist, and American Mission churches are now vieing with each other in showing what they can do for the support of the ministry, and in releasing funds from home in the case of the longer established mission churches.

"As regards the general effect of disestablishment and disendowment, I have no hesitation in saying that it has produced a more charitable brotherly feeling among the different bodies of Christians, and brought them more into line in their aggressive work on heathenism. The Bishop of Colombo is more widely esteemed and trusted in view of the moderate liberal views on many questions he has propounded of late years, as well as from the knowledge of his learning and piety. He has taken an active and leading part in more than one good work in connection with Christians of other denominations-more especially in connection with education and the grievances of managers of schools."

Mr. Ferguson also referred to the question of the Buddhist temporalities in Ceylon, which, he said, furnished a striking illustration of the evil of State endowments. When the island was conquered a guarantee was given that the temple endowments should be maintained inviolate, instead of being dependent on the will of the Kandyan kings. Many of the priests, becoming independent, grew careless and sensual, so that teaching in the temple schools ceased. In several districts, the priests became odious in the estimation of the people. On the other hand, where the temples had no endowments the priests attended to their duties and retained the respect of the people. The original blunder has been perpetuated in spite of remonstrances from some experienced officers of the Crown, and Sir Arthur Gordon's scheme of 1889 is likely to prove a failure. It appointed local committees to look after the endowments; but, through the apathy of the Buddhist laymen and the opposition of the priests, who object to the control of laymen, confusion is likely to be the result.*

*The following are the main provisions of Sir Arthur Gordon's Ordinance, but if they were strictly carried out and lay trustees generally appointed, it is the opinion, quoted by the Bishop of Colombo, that not one in a hundred of those now becoming Buddhist priests would join:

"All property, movable or immovable, belonging or in any wise appertaining to or appropriated to the use of any temple, together with all the issues, rents, and profits of the same, and all offerings made for the use of such temple other than the pudgalika offerings which are offered for the exclusive personal use of any individual priest, shall vest in the trustee of such temple, subject, however, to any leases or other tenancies, charges, and incumbrances affecting any such immovable property; and such issues,

"Referring to India, Mr. Ferguson said that the time had come when the Government might follow the precedent established in Ceylon, and so fulfil the promise of the Queen's proclamation. There was no need for ecclesiastical grants for civil servants and railway men, as they were sufficiently paid to provide religious ministrations for themselves, and the troops could be otherwise provided for. The ecclesiastical grants were paid out of funds mainly raised from Hindoos and Mohammedans, and he hoped that what had been done at Ceylon would encourage efforts to put an end to the State-support of religion in India."

MR. CARVELL WILLIAMS, in proposing a vote of thanks to Mr. Ferguson for his attendance and deeply interesting statements, said that the Committee would be able from those statements, so full and so lucid, to judge of the value of the services which he had rendered to the Disestablishment movement in Ceylon.

rents, profits, and offerings shall be appropriated by such trustee for the following purposes and no other :

(a) the proper repair and furnishing of such temple and the upkeep of the roads and buildings belonging thereto;

(b) the maintenance of the priesthood and ministerial officers attached to such temple;

(c) the due performance of religious services and ceremonies as heretofore carried on, in, or by, or in connection with, such temple;

(d) the promotion of education;

(e) the relief of the poor in the case of a déwála, and the customary hospitality to priests and others in the case of a vihára;

(f) the payment of compensation under section 43 or 44;

(g) the payment of such share of the expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this Ordinance as shall be determined by the

provincial committee.

APPENDIX VIII.

THE PRESENT STATE OF BUDDHISM IN CEYLON.

THE BISHOP OF COLOMBO ON BUDDHISM.*

(Review by Mr. J. Ferguson.)

I THINK the bishop may be complimented, if not heartily congratulated on the able way in which he has discharged the self-imposed duty of affording a fair representation of "Buddhism" in Ceylon-of its history in the past and its condition at the present time. Still more may all who are interested in the correct state of things being described for the benefit of readers in England-in Europe and America too-feel a deep satisfaction at the appearance of this volume. Since its announcement was made, I have been able, whenever asked for information about Ceylon Buddhism, to advise all and sundry, literary, ministerial or missionary enquirers, to wait for the latest and most authentic informa tion until Dr. Copleston's work appeared; and I am quite satisfied that a felt need is now supplied, and that here we have, what will be for many years to come, the standard authority and book of reference on all questions connected with Ceylon Buddhism. Behind the shield of these learned and yet very simple and easily-followed chapters, the average Englishman who has never left the old country will be quite able to counteract the absurd glosses and glamours which the versifying of Edwin Arnold, and the lectures (more than the books) of Rhys Davids and other Western so-called Buddhists, have put on the system to make it attractive to the ignorant and curious in England and America who are ever seeking after something new. Studiously moderate in language, fair and courteous to opponents almost in some instances to the point of weakness, fully acknowledging anything that is good in Buddhismit is impossible for any one to say that the bishop is not a trustworthy exponent and arbiter when he delineates what he knows or has seen, or weighs the system and its fruits in the balance.

The evidence of his careful enquiry and erudition, of his adequate acquaintance with all past and present authorities, and of his industry in bringing his work to the level of the very latest results, is most fully manifest. The volume is therefore, to my mind, a very satisfying one, albeit on a wide and difficult subject. Dr. Copleston, with his great philological acquirements and close acquaintance with Oriental as well as Western literature on the subject, does not hesitate to criticise very keenly some of the weak points in the work of previous writers. The

"Buddhism, Primitive and Present, in Magadha and in Ceylon," by Reginald Stephen Copleston, D.D., Bishop of Colombo, President of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1892.

bishop even corrects blunders on the part of Professor Rhys Davids, Dr. Oldenburg, and others. Of course the ordinary lay reader cannot interpose here; but from the clear, adequate way in which the case is put from both sides, in respect of disputed points, I shall be much surprised if there is a reversal of the bishop's judgment on any essential matters.

Allusion has already been made to indications of weakness in straining after an excess of courtesy; for example, in the concluding chapter on "Present Customs and Conduct of the Buddhist Laity in Ceylon." Dr. Copleston, in explaining the difficulties encountered in his attempt to treat this branch of his theme, alludes to his personal relations with those of whom he is to write, and he feels that every unfavourable feature in his picture may arouse resentment, or give praise to people whom he esteems, and desires to please. The words I have italicised might surely well be omitted. It is no part of the duty of the historian, or even of the descriptive writer, to think of pleasing a class or a people who have become subjects for his pen. In some parts of the book there are marks of haste and of a want of literary finish and lucid arrangement, due, we may be sure, to the distance between author and publisher and printer, and the impossibility therefore of giving that final supervision and finishing touches which are of much importance in a work of this kind brought up to date.

Let me now more particularly describe the volume. It is one of some 500 pages octavo; the body of the work, divided into four parts and thirty-one chapters, occupies 485 pages; but the type used is so large and so well spaced out that, while it is a pleasure to read as it stands, the matter might well be got into an ordinary volume of 300 pages. The authorities are most fully and freely given in notes to the pages; but apart from these there are not many notes with information in small type, often such a distraction in works of this kind. The only appendix is a short paper on Sirimddhamapura not being Kandy; and in a postscript to this, dated "July 1892," reference is made to Mr. Henry Parker's announcement in the Ceylon Literary Register that he possesses ample and conclusive information on the subject.

Then, in addition, there are two indexes of a few pages each.-1. With "Pali and Sinhalese proper names." 2. "Subjects and European proper names."

In his preface Dr. Copleston explains that he has tried to treat his subject in a way at once popular enough to interest the general reader, and accurate enough to be of value to the scholar.

The bishop fairly claims to be an independent student, not a mere follower of previous writers, because he has read a large part of the original "sacred books," and has had access to Sinhalese authorities; and it is very interesting to learn that while he refrained from reading or consulting the writings of one very important author, the "learned Spence Hardy," during the preparation of his own work, yet, since his manuscript has been sent to the printer, he has read "Eastern Monarchism" and "Manual of Buddhism," only to feel astonishment at the accuracy with which Spence Hardy obtained the contents of the Pali texts and commentaries.

In regard to the history, the bishop arrives at a conclusion midway between scepticism and credulity in respect of the moral value of the "sacred books; ' and in the description of modern Buddhism in Ceylon he admits that he has aimed at not merely impartial but generous treatment. This is certainly the impression left on my mind; and yet there is quite enough of statement and evidence affordedalbeit, as I have said, in studiously moderate language-to justify our