The Amarapura sect openly preaches against the superstitions brought from India, and never invoke the Hindu Gods during the recitation of the Pirit. It confers holy orders on all castes, without distinction, as the Buddha did. It reprobates the mundane occupations of the Siamese priests, who practise medicine and astrology, and prohibits, under pain of excommunication, these deviations from the primitive rule. It refuses to recognize the authority of the royal decrees in respect of religion, particularly with regard to the privileges conferred by Kirtisri on the Malvata and Asgiri establishments. Ordination, it declares, can be conferred anywhere, and always possesses the same value, provided it is conducted according to the prescribed rules. The Amarapura sect does not admit the precepts of former Buddhas, unless they have been sanctioned by Gautama Buddha. It does not therefore allow a blessing to be recited, or thanks to be uttered when food or any other gift is received. It does not either permit the use of two seats, or the presence of two priests at the reading of the Bana. It also forbids that this reading should be done in a tremulous voice. And what is much more important: the reforming sect expounds and preaches the Vinaya to the laity, whereas the Siamese priests only read it to the monks, and that with closed doors. It only allows confirmation several years after ordination, whereas the opposite sect unreservedly permit it immediately after. It celebrates the feast of lamps, without preaching or reading, whereas the Siamese read the Bana all through the night. Finally the Amarapuras differ from the Siamese in their costume, or rather in the manner in which they wear their robes; both shoulders are covered by a fold that reaches from under one arm to the other. They refrain from shaving their eyebrows as is the custom of the Siamese. The Amarapuras study Pāli literature with great assiduity in order to find arguments against the errors and corruptions of their ad

versaries. And, as Spence Hardy remarks, it is certain that these studies and discussions only increased and widened the distance which already separated the two sects.

In 1835 a new sect arose against which the Amarapuras and the Siamese were for a time united. The subject of contention was the precise time of the year at which the Varsha retreat should begin. The priest who raised this controversy was more learned in astronomy than his adversaries, but he had few partisans, and the motive of the heresy was not serious enough for it to assume much importance. It died out in the course of a few years, and never spread beyond the Bentoste district where it had arisen. The priest who promoted it was called Attadassa, and may still be living.

All these facts tend to prove that the Buddhist faith has remained deeply rooted in the hearts of the natives of Ceylon, for heresies are proof of life; indifference alone shows decay.

Buddhism, however, is in a different position now that Christianity has made its way in Ceylon; more especially since the watchful and powerful administration of the English Government has introduced a higher order of civilization. It may be said that, judging by all that has taken place in the last fifty years, Christianity is likely to supplant Buddhism. This is a question no less interesting to study than those we have already treated; and we will try to complete all we have said about the past and the present condition of Sinhalese Buddhism by a few words as to the future1.

Spence Hardy says that there are only 2,500 Buddhist priests at the present day in Ceylon. If we compare these figures not only with those given by Fa-Hian, but also with those mentioned by Hiouen-Thsang, we find that they are

We have taken most of our information from the official documents published by Parliament: The Report we have already mentioned on the insurrection in 1848; the Report in 1852; and Viscount Torrington's Correspondence, 11th of May, 1857.

singularly diminished. In the official reports of 1856 the total population of the island is set down as 1,691,924 inhabitants'; but the priests have not been numbered apart, and we must therefore rely on Spence Hardy's estimation.

The influence of Buddhism is gradually decreasing with the increasing success of Christianity. The English Government bestows a grant upon three Protestant sects: the Anglican, the Scotch Presbyterian, and Dutch Presbyterian Churches. This grant, of which the Anglican Church receives fourfifths, attains an annual sum of £13,000; but in 1850 it was proposed to reduce it, and to leave the maintenance of the worship to the fervour and generosity of the faithful. The Catholic Church has no grant; and this anomaly is explained, not by a rivalry of sects, but by the wealth of that Church which requires no assistance, and to which moreover full liberty is accorded".

1 The following official estimates are contained in the Report made by the financial committee of the Executive Council of Ceylon published on the 1st of July, 1852, by order of the House of Commons: folio, 268 pages. It was upon this report, drawn up by Lord Torrington, December 13, 1849, that the whole administration of the island was reorganized. The condition of the population in the different provinces may be found at page 55, appendix B. The Western province contained 499,678 inhabitants; the Southern 265,289; the Eastern 114,274, the Northern 255,415, and the Central 323,043. Total 1,458,359. In 1832 the population did not exceed a million of souls; but, as the administration improved, it rapidly increased. It must now number at least 1,800,000 souls. The census of 1850 gave 1,572,743 inhabitants, and that of 1856, 1,691,924.

2 In this respect the Executive Council of 1849 displayed the most liberal and judicious feeling. It expressed surprise at the establishment of an Anglican Bishopric at Colombo, as there were in Ceylon so few members of the English Church; and it recalled the fact that, in 1844, there had only been an Archdeacon under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Madras. The Council did not explicitly propose to abolish the Bishopric of Colombo; but it pointed this out as a desirable reform. The Council maintained the small grant allotted to the Dutch Presbyterian Church out of respect for its past history, as that Church had long been the only one available for the Christian population of the maritime provinces. Finally, the Council pointed out that the official neglect of the Catholic Church was a cause of jealousy and discord which it would be good policy to avoid. It is evident that the

The Anglican faith meets with little success among the native population of Ceylon, and in 1852 an intelligent observer1 stated that it did not number more than 1,500 adherents. The Wesleyan has spread a great deal more, although not protected by the Colonial government; and a return made in 1851 states that it had, at that time, 4,792 proselytes.

All these Protestant sects, however, sink into insignificance by the side of Catholicism, which daily increases in power. The monopoly of Catholicism belongs to the Portuguese, who first introduced Christianity into the island at the beginning of the sixteenth century. At the present time there are two Catholic vicarages; one at Colombo, under the authority of the Bishop of Cochin and Goa; the other at Jafna, created in 1836 by pope Gregory XVI under the direct sway of the Roman See. The Mission for the propagation of the faith is composed of fifty priests, mostly Spaniards, Portuguese, and Italians. In 1852, six French priests resided at Kandy, where a Church had been built and was maintained by the native converts.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century Catholicism had only 70,000 adherents. In 100 years this number has more than doubled; in 1848 it counted 113,000, and in 1852 155,000 members. This marvellous increase is easily explained. Every year, especially since 1840, a very large immigration of Hindus takes place, and it is more especially among this Hindu-Sinhalese population that Catholicism. succeeds. These Hindus, Parsees, and Malabars, are more

Council would have suppressed all the subventions had it been free to do so.

1 The traveller to whom we allude, and to whom we are indebted for part of this information is Mr. Anthony Rey, Chancellor of the French Consulate in the Mauritius.

2 In 1836 the tomb of Don Juan Monteiro de Setuelo, Portuguese Bishop of the island, who died in 1530, was discovered at Colombo. Catholicism in Ceylon thus dates back to more than three centuries ago.

docile and laborious than the natives. They come over twice a year for the coffee harvest, crossing the Straits in donies, small boats of about fifty tons; and many of them remain and settle in the island. In 1852, the number of this floating population amounted to 40,000. Hence the increase of the inhabitants of Ceylon, and at the same time that of the Catholic neophytes. By a secret but strong affinity, the Hindus are more inclined to accept Catholicism than any other Christian form of worship. The Sinhalese, especially the Kandyans, remain faithful to Buddhism, just as they remain, like their ancestors, labourers and warriors.

By the side of the Christian propaganda of the churches is that of the schools, which is perhaps more powerful and penetrates deeper. In 1841 a central committee of the schools for the instruction of the Sinhalese population was established, and it unremittingly continues its functions. With a creditable spirit of tolerance the committee admitted Anglicans, Wesleyans and Catholics on the board, and their united efforts were directed, without distinction of sects, to the enlightenment and instruction of all the children received in the schools; from the academy at Colombo, and the native normal school, down to the mixed schools in which English and Sinhalese are taught, and even to the ordinary Sinhalese schools. In 1850 there were no less than 128 schools of all kinds for boys and girls, most of them under the supervision of Portuguese masters. The grant given them by government was about the same as that accorded to the clergy.1

1 The Report of the committee on the reforming of the schools throughout the island is dated 9th August, 1848. The committee divided all the educational establishments into five classes: (1) the Academy of Colombo, and the normal school for the instruction of native masters; (2) the Central schools in Colombo and Kandy; (3) the elementary schools, where instruction was exclusively given in English;