rally inhabited. It is necessary to understand these matters, or the sequel will be an impenetrable mystery. The third chapter is devoted to an account of the origin of the present race of men, with a more extended description of the teachings of Gótama and his disciples on the subject of caste. He was preceded by other Budhas, in "numbers without number," some of whose acts are detailed in the fourth chapter. Gótama became a Bódhisat, or a candidate for the Budhaship, myriads of ages before his birth as a prince in Magadha; and in the fifth chapter we have his history during some of these previous states of existence. This is followed by a notice of his ancestors, tracing his lineage, by the race of the sun, from the first king In the legends of his life, we learn the circumstances of his birth; the promise of his youth, his marriage, and his subsequent abandonment of the world; his contest with the powers of evil; the attainment of the Budhaship, by which he received the supremacy of the universe, with unlimited power to do or to know; his first converts; his principal disciples; the most celebrated of his acts during a ministry of forty-five years; the distribution of his relics; and a detail of his dignities, virtues, and powers. The concluding chapters present a compendium of the ontology and ethics of Budhism, as they are understood by the modern priesthood, and now taught to the people. In confining myself, almost exclusively, to translation, I have chosen the humblest form in which to re appear as an author. I might have written an extended essay upon the system, as it presents a rich mine, comparatively unexplored; or have attempted to make the subject popular, by leaving out its extravagances, and weaving its more interesting portions into a continued narrative; but neither of these modes would have fulfilled my intention. They would have enabled me only to give expression to an opinion; when I wish to present an authority. I have generally refrained from comment; but in order thereto, have had to lay aside matter that has cost me much thought in its preparation. The attentive reader will observe numerous discrepances. These occur, in some instances, between one author and another; and in others between one statement and another of the same author. I am not aware that I have omitted any great feature of the system; unless it be, that I have not given sufficient prominence to the statements of my authorities on the anatomy of the body, and to their reflections on the offensive accompaniments of death. It is probable that a careful review of insulated portions of the work will discover errors in my translation; as in much of my labour I have had no predecessor; but I have never wilfully perverted any statement, and have taken all practicable methods to secure the utmost accuracy. In the ontological terms I have usually adopted the nomenclature of the Rev. D. J. Gogerly, of the Wesleyan Mission in Ceylon. It is greatly to be regretted that the writings of that gentleman are so limited; as they are an invaluable treasure to the student of Budhism. Not without some emotion, and with sincere humility on account of the imperfections of my work, I now conclude my oriental researches. They were commenced in my youth; more than a quarter of a century has rolled over during their progress; and they have been constantly carried on, with more or less earnestness, until the present moment. By the messengers of the cross, who may succeed me in the field in which it was once my privilege to labour, this Manual will be received, I doubt not, as a boon; as it will enable them more readily to understand the system they are endeavouring to supersede, by the establishment of the Truth. I see before me, looming in the distance, a glorious vision, in which the lands of the east are presented in majesty; happy, holy, and free. I may not; I dare not, attempt to describe it; but it is the joy of my existence to have been an instrument, in a degree however feeble, to bring about this grand consummation. And now, my book, we part; but it shall not be without a fervent prayer that God may speed thee. Keighley, Nov. 30th, 1852. |