earliest Sutras, Nirvana is mentioned as a state attained in this life, being a condition in which all desires cease, all passions die. Bunsen maintains that the Buddha never denied or questioned the existence of God or the doctrine of immortality.

The Pali Sacred Books give the following account of Nirvana:

"Again the King of Ságal said to Nágaséna: 'Is the joy of Nirvana unmixed, or is it associated with sorrow?' The priest replied that it was unmixed satisfaction, entirely free from sorrow.

"Again the King of Ságal said to Nágasèna: 'Is Nirvana in the east, west, south or north; above or below? Is there such a place as Nirvana? If so, where is it?' Nágaséna replied: 'Neither in the east, south, west or north; neither in the sky above, nor in the earth below, nor in any of the infinite sakwalas, is there such a place as Nirvana.' Milinda asked: 'Then if Nirvana have no locality, there can be no such thing; and when it is said that any one attains Nirvana, the declaration is false.' Nágaséna replied: 'There is no such place as Nirvana, and yet it exists; the priest who seeks it in the right manner will attain it.' Milinda asked: 'When Nirvana is attained is there such a place?' Nágaséna replied: 'When a priest attains Nirvana there is such a place?' Milinda asked: 'Where is that place?' Nágaséna replied: 'Whereever the precepts can be observed; it may be anywhere; just as he who has two eyes can see the sky from any or all places; or as all places may have an eastern side.'''

The Buddhists regarded Nirvana as the object of all their hope, but if you ask them what it is, they may answer: "Nothing." This would apparently imply that utter annihilation is the highest goodthe most desirable end. Such a doctrine would be the most extreme pessimism.

When a Buddhist says that Nirvana is nothing, he means that it is no thing; that it is nothing that we can at present perceive; that it is the contrary of all we know, of what we now call life, a condition so entirely different from what we know or are able to

know at present that it is just the same as nothing to us. All present life is subject to constant change; that is permanent. All present life goes up and down; that is stable. All present life is the life of sense; that is spirit.

In the same way the Buddhist denies God. He regards Him as unknowable-as impossible to be conceived of. The Buddhist regards the element of time and the finite as all, in the same way that the Brahman regards the element of eternity as all. It is the most extreme opposite of Brahmanism.

It seems as though the Oriental mind could not at the same time conceive of God and nature, the finite and the infinite, eternity and time. Brahmanism believes only in the reality of God, the infinite and the eternal, and ignores the reality of the finite, of nature, history, time and the world. The Buddhist, on the contrary, accepts the last and ignores the first.

Buddhism is a system of rationalism. It appeals to man's reason. It proposes to save man by knowledge, from a present hell, and not a future one. The Buddha preached numberless sermons, while his missionaries preached abroad. Buddhism extended itself by peaceful means-by its rational appeal to the human mind. It never propagated its doctrines by the sword, even when it had the power of rajas to uphold it. Buddhism has won all triumphs peacefully, not depending on the sword of the conqueror or the frauds of priestcraft. It has its superstitions and errors, but it has not deceived. It is the most tolerant of all religions. It has not persecuted, and has no prejudices against the adherents of other religions. Buddhism has had no Inquisition. It has not burned alive or imprisoned or excommunicated heretics. Though extremely zealous in extending their faith, Buddhists have all the time displayed a spirit of toleration truly remarkable. But one religious war has obscured their peaceful history during twenty-three centuries. That war occurred in Thibet, but little is known about it. A Buddhist in Siam told Mr. Crawford

that he believed all the religions of the world to be branches of the true religion. A Buddhist in Ceylon sent his son to a Christian school, and said to the missionary: "I respect Christianity as much as Buddhism, for I regard it a help to Buddhism." The French Roman Catholic missionaries, MM. Huc and Gabet, were told by a Buddhist in Thibet that he considered himself both a good Buddhist and a good Christian.

Buddhism is also humane in spirit, and therein lay the cause of its wonderful success. In its origin it was a protest against the power of the Brahmanic priesthood. It broke down all castes by asserting the doctrine of human equality, and by allowing any one wishing to lead a holy life to become a priest. It displays an unbounded charity for all souls, and considers it a duty to make sacrifices for all. Said the Buddha: "Not from birth does one become a Vasala (slave), not from birth does one become a Brahman. By bad conduct does one become a Vasala, by good conduct does one become a Brahman." One legend says that the Buddha gave his body for food to a starving tigress, which was too weak to nurse her young. An incident is on record concerning the Buddha, who asked a woman of low caste for water, and who, when she expressd surprise, said: "Give me drink, and I will give you truth." The commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," which applies directly to all living creatures, has exerted a wonderful influence in softening the manners of the Mongol nations, whose history has not been filled with constant wars and bloodshed as has the history of Christian and other nations.

The commandment not to kill is closely related with the doctrine of the metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, which is one of the leading doctrines of Buddhism, as well as of Brahmanism. Buddhism has abolished all human and animal sacrifices; and its altars, free from innocent blood, are crowned only with flowers and leaves. It likewise teaches a practical humanity consisting of good actions. It made it the duty of children to obey and honor their

parents, and of parents to care for their children. It also made it a duty of all to forgive their enemies, to return good for evil, to do unto others as they would have others do unto them, to be kind to the sick and the poor and the sorrowing. It diffused a spirit of charity abroad which encompassed the life of the lowest, as well as that of the highest. All the priests of Buddhism are supported by daily alms. It is a duty of Buddhists to be hospitable to strangers, to establish hospitals for the sick and the poor, and even for sick animals, to plant shade trees and to erect houses for travelers.

Mr. Malcolm, the Baptist missionary, says that as he sat down to rest one day in a small village in Burmah, a woman brought a nice mat for him to lie on. Another brought some cool water for him, while a man brought him a half dozen good oranges. None expected or desired the least reward, but went away, leaving him to his repose. He says: "None can ascend the river without being struck with the hardihood, skill, energy, and good humor of the Burmese boatmen. In point of temper and morality, they are infinitely superior to the boatmen of our Western waters. In my various trips, I have seen no quarrel nor heard a hard word."

Mr. Malcolm says further: "Many of these people have never seen a white man before, but I am constantly struck with their politeness. They desist from anything on the slightest intimation; never crowd around to be troublesome; and if on my showing them my watch or pencil-case, or anything which particularly attracts them, there are more than can get a sight the outer ones stand aloof and wait till their turn comes . .

"I saw no intemperance in Burmah, though an intoxicating liquor is made easily of the juice of a palm.

"A man may travel from one end of the kingdom to the other without money, feeding and lodging as well as the people."

"I have seen thousands together, for hours, on public occasions, rejoicing in all

ardor, and no act of violence or case of intoxication.

"During my whole residence in the country I never saw an indecent act or immodest gesture in man or woman. . . . I have seen hundreds of men and women bathing, and no immodest or careless act.. "Children are treated with great kindness, not only by the mother but by the father, who, when unemployed, takes the young child in his arms, and seems pleased to attend to it, while the mother cleans the rice or sits unemployed at his side. I have as often seen fathers caressing female infants as male. A widow with male and female children is more likely to be sought in marriage than if she has none.

"Children are almost as reverent to parents as among the Chinese. The aged are treated with great care and tenderness, and occupy the best places in all assemblies."

According to Saint-Hilaire, the Buddhist morality is one of endurance, patience, submission and abstinence, instead of one of action, energy or enterprise. It is based on love for all things, every animal being possibly our relative. The virtues of Buddhists are to love their enemies, to offer their lives for animals, to abstain from even defensive warfare, to govern themselves, to shun vices, to obey superiors, to reverence age, to provide food and shelter for men and animals, to dig wells and plant trees, to despise no religion, to show no intolerance and not to persecute. Polygamy, though tolerated, is not sanctioned. Monogamy generally prevails in Ceylon, Siam and Burmah; but is less prevalent in Thibet and Mongolia. Buddhism affords women better treatment than any other Oriental religion.

Buddhism has regular priests but no secular ones; and all its clergy are monks, who take the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, as did the Christian monks of the middle ages. The vows of the Buddhists are not irrevocable, and they can be relinquished at any time, and return into the world if they desire to do so. The first Roman Catholic missionaries who met the Buddhist priests were struck with wonder at

the many resemblances between the customs of Buddhism and those of Roman Catholicism, and thought that Satan had been mocking their sacred rites. Father Bury, a Portuguese missionary, on beholding Chinese bonzes tonsured, using rosaries, praying in an unknown language, and kneeling before images, exclaimed in astonishment: "There is not a piece of dress, not a sacerdotal function, not a ceremony of the court of Rome, which the Devil has not copied in this country." Mr. Davis, an English authority, alludes to "the celibacy of the Buddhist clergy, and the monastic life of the societies of both sexes; to which might be added their strings of beads, their manner of chanting prayers, their incense, and their candles.” Mr. Medhurst, another English authority, speaks of the images of a virgin, called the "queen of heaven," having an infant in her arms, and holding a cross. Confession of sins is practiced regularly. Father Huc, the French missionary, says of the Buddhists in China, Thibet and Tartary: "The cross, the miter, the dalmatica, the cope, which the Grand Lamas wear on their journeys, or when they are performing some ceremony out of the temple-the service with double choirs, the psalmody, the exorcisms, the censer pended from five chains, and which you can open or close at pleasure-the benedictions given by the lamas by extending the right hand over the heads of the faithful-the chaplet, ecclesiastical celibacy, religious retirement, the worship of the saints, the fasts, the processions, the litanies, the holy water -all these are analogies between the Buddhists and ourselves." He might have also said that in Thibet is the Dalai Lama (Grand Lama), a sort of Buddhist Pope.

The Roman Catholic missionaries next thought that the Buddhists had learned these customs from the Nestorian missionaries who visited China in the early centuries of the Christian era. But Wilson translated plays from written works before the time of Christ, in which Buddhist monks appear as mendicants. The worship of relics is no less ancient. Fergusson describes topes, or shrines of relics, of exceeding antiquity, in

India, Ceylon, Burmah and Java; many of them belonging to the time of King Asoka, the great Buddhist sovereign who ruled all India about B. C. 250, and in whose reign Buddhism was made the state religion of India and held its third church council.

The ancient Buddhist architecture, very curious and some of it very elegant, includes topes, rock-cut temples and monasteries. Some of the topes are monolithic columns, over forty feet high, and having ornamented capitals; while others are enormous domes of brick and stone, containing sacred relics. The tooth of Buddha was once preserved in a magnificent shrine in India, but was taken to Ceylon in A. D. 311, where it yet remains an object of universal reverence. It is a piece of ivory or bone two inches long, and is kept in six cases, the largest being of solid silver, five feet high. The other cases are inlaid with rubies and precious stones. Ceylon likewise has the "left collar-bone relic," in a bell-shaped tope, fifty feet high, and the thorax bone, in a tope erected by a Hindoo rajah, B. C. 250. Besides these topes there are two others, which were afterwards built, the last being eighty cubits high. Sanchi tope is the finest in India, and is a solid stone dome, one hundred and six feet in diameter and forty-two feet high, with a basement and terrace having a colonnade, now fallen, of sixty pillars, with elegantlycarved stone railing and gateway.

The

The numerous rock-cut temples of the Buddhists in India are of great antiquity. Fergusson believes that over nine hundred yet remain, most of which are within the Presidency of Bombay. Many of these date back two centuries before Christ. They resemble the earliest Roman Catholic churches in form. They are excavated out of solid rock, and have a nave and side aisles, ending in an apse, or semi-dome, round which the aisle is carried. One of the excavated rock temples at Karli, built in this style, is one hundred and twentysix feet long and forty-five feet wide, having fifteen elegantly-carved columns on each side, which separate the nave from the

aisles. The façade of this temple is likewise profusely ornamented, and has a large open window to light the inside, below a beautiful gallery of rood loft.

The numerous rock-cut monasteries of the Buddhists in India have now been deserted for centuries. Between seven and eight hundred are known to remain, most of which were excavated between B. C. 200 and A. D. 500. Buddhist monks at that early period, as well as at the present time, took the three vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience, which are taken by the members of Roman Catholic orders. Besides this, all the Buddhist priests are mendicants. They shave their heads, wear a friar's robe tied round the waist with a rope, and beg from house to house, carrying their wooden bowls for boiled rice. The old monasteries of India have chapels and cells for the monks; but the largest could accommodate only thirty or forty; while one monastery in Thibet visited by MM. Huc and Gabet (the lamasery of Kounboum) is occupied by four thousand lamas. The structure of these monasteries clearly proves that the Buddhist monkish system is far too ancient to have been adopted from the Christian system.

But while Buddhism thus resembles Romanism in its outward forms, it manifests the spirit of Protestantism. In Asia the human mind protested in the interest of mankind against the oppression of priestridden Brahmanism, as the European reformers of the sixteenth century revolted against the tyranny of the Church of Rome. Brahmanism established a system of salvation by sacraments, but Buddhism revolted and founded a doctrine of personal salvation by teaching. Brahmanism was the more spiritual, as it made God everything, this world nothing; Buddhism was the more rationalistic, as it made this world everything and ignored Deity. Brahmanism is a system of fixed castes; Buddhism a system wherein the doctrine of individual freedom is asserted. Brahmanism considers the body as the soul's enemy; Buddhism accepts the laws of nature and is a religion of humanity as well as of devotion. Buddhism