In our article Buddha we have given the opinions that have been most generally current among orientalists on the Buddhistic system; and we now propose under this biographical notice of Gotama to give, from other sources of information more recently opened up, some further details, and a more complete analysis of that system, as far as it can be gathered from the most authoritative or the most popular of its own writers.

No religious teacher, apart from the sages who have had access to the revelations of Israel, has left more important traces of an existence in the world than the Hindu Gotama. It is supposed that at the present moment there are upwards of 300,000,000 who regard him as the Supreme Intelligence, "wiser than the wisest, and higher than the highest," though acknowledging at the same time that he was "of man conceived, of woman born." With the single exception of the most lofty of the pyramids, there is no structure upon earth of vaster dimensions than the mounds that have been raised over his own relics, or those of his disciples; and the cave temples that have been excavated in his honour are equally without a parallel in the labour that has been bestowed upon their preparation. In the system that bears his name there is the germ of nearly all the teachings that are now the most rife among the speculative philosophers of Europe; and in the discipline of his adherents there are resemblances without number to the most striking usages of the monastic orders of Christendom. Yet this ancient reformer is hitherto without a niche in our great temple of the world's biography; and his existence is regarded as a myth or mystery, without any warrant for its reality beyond the vivid imagination of the myriads who place in him their trust.

It is now most generally admitted that Gotama was born in the year 623-4 B.C., at Kapila-wastu, on the borders of Nepal. The name of his father was Sudhodana, a monarch of the Sakya race. As other kings are said to have reigned within a few miles of his metropolis, his dominions can have been of no great extent, though his race is represented as having sprung from that of the sun. His mother, Maya, died seven days after his birth. When he had attained his sixteenth year, he was married to the princess Yasodhara. The inoffensiveness of his disposition made the relatives of his bride suppose that he was unworthy to receive her hand; but by bending a bow of mighty strength, and other deeds of prowess, he convinced them, in the presence of multitudes, that they had entirely mistaken his character. Nevertheless, it was rather in obedience to the command of his parents than from personal inclination that he entered into the marriage state. Other thoughts were already brooding in his reflective mind, by which he was led to resolve upon renouncing the world and becoming an ascetic. The fulfilment of this resolution was hastened by four sights that he witnessed—an aged pilgrim leaning upon a staff; a loathsome leper full of sores; a dead body fed upon by worms; and a grave recluse passing modestly through the crowd without noticing its gaiety or grandeur. The day on which he fled from the palace was spent in unwonted revelry, perhaps to deceive the more readily those who might otherwise have detained him by force. Upon the same day the princess was delivered of a son, Rahula; but after taking a furtive glance at his wife and child, he succeeded in escaping to the forest on horseback with only one attendant. When at some distance he dismissed the attendant, with a charge to his relatives that they were not to sorrow for him under the supposition that he was lost, as he was about to become an ascetic. This occurrence took place when he was twenty-nine years of age. After seven days he entered the city of Rajagaha as a mendicant, but the gracefulness of his manner attracted the attention of the citizens, who informed the king, Bimsara, that some superior being must have become their visitant. On receiving this intelligence the king sought an interview with him, and entreated him, when he became acquainted with his rank, to renounce the low mode of life he had chosen, and return to the splendour of the palace. But Gotama was unmoved by these solicitations. Having seated himself upon a rock outside the city, he ate the food given him in alms, though it was not of the most inviting description. For the space of six years he practised the most severe austerities, which reduced him to a state of extreme weakness; but as he did not thereby obtain the object of his search, he commenced a less rigid course of abstinence, until his strength was restored. In a forest, on the banks of the Niranjara river, at the spot where the city of Buddha Gaya was afterwards built, he is said to have sustained a severe conflict with the powers of darkness; and after he had gained the victory by repelling the wiles of the tempter, he is represented as attaining an intuitive illumination of the most powerful kind, by which he became a Buddha. The joy of his triumph was expressed in a well-known stanza, in which he declared that he should now be free for ever from the trammels of existence, as he had attained to the extinction of desire.

About two months after this period, being thirty-five years of age, he began to proclaim the tenets of his religion, at a temple near Benares; and when his converts were sixty in number, he sent them forth to declare that a supreme Buddha had appeared in the world. Bimsara, at this time lord paramount of India, declared himself a convert to the teachings of the sage. His principal disciples were Seriyut and Mugalan. The former was convinced of the truthfulness of his doctrines by hearing one of his followers repeat the stanza that is found engraven in Pali upon many existing monuments: "All things proceed from some cause; this cause has been declared by Buddha; all things will cease to exist; this is that which is declared by the great ascetic." Soon afterwards, Gotama delivered another stanza of equal celebrity: "This is the advice of the Buddhas; avoid all demerit; obtain all merit; let the mind be cleansed from all evil desire." In process of time, his wife, his royal father, and his son, acknowledged the validity of his claims to the Buddhaship; and in all the regions that he visited he made numerous converts. The manner in which he taught the people may be inferred from the following narrative:—There was a ploughing festival near Rajagaha, held by a wealthy Brahman, at which were a thousand oxen profusely ornamented; five hundred ploughs tipped with gold; five hundred ploughmen in gay attire, and many thousands of spectators. Thither the sage repaired, and seated himself in a conspicuous part of the field. When perceived, he was upbraided by the Brahman, and reproached with idleness, for attending festivals and other places, that he might receive something to eat instead of working like the rest of men. "I plough and sow," said he, "and from my ploughing and sowing I receive grain and enjoy the produce; priest, it would be better if you, in like manner, were to plough and sow, and then you would have food to eat." "Brahman," was the reply, "I do plough and sow, and from my ploughing and sowing I reap immortal fruit." But the Brahman thought thus: "The ascetic says that he ploughs and sows, but he has neither plough nor any other implement; he must have spoken falsely?" then addressing Buddha, he said, "I see no plough; no goad; no oxen; if you perform the work of the husbandman, where are the necessary implements?" In reply to this question, he was informed that the field of Gotama was the truth; the weeds that he plucked up, the cleaving to existence; the plough that he used, wisdom; the seed that he sowed, purity; the work that he performed, obedience to the precepts; the harvest that he reaped, the cessation of the evils of existence; and when he had explained these matters at great length, he exhorted the Brahman to sow in the same field, that he might reap its unrivalled fruit. The Brahman Buddha was thereby caught in the net of wisdom, and immediately prepared a repast for Buddha of the most excellent food. The teacher however refused to partake of it, telling him that it was not the custom of the Buddhas to receive offerings after they had been setting forth the excellence of the truth, or they would be like musicians and dancers, who make a collection after they have amused the people.

The principal opponents of Gotama were the fire-worshippers; but it was an age of religious excitement, and many sects are presented in the story of his life, all claiming to have the power to overcome evil desire, and free man from its presence and consequences. It was not unopposed that he was allowed to maintain his opinions, and extend his system. At one time he was accused of incontinence by a female unbeliever, Chinci; but the charge resulted only in the greater confusion of his adversaries. His bitterest foe was his own brother-in-law, Dewalatta, who made several attempts to take his life: once, by the arrow of an assassin; at another time by hurling a stone from a machine constructed for the purpose; and again, by letting loose against him an intoxicated elephant. After wandering from place to place, confounding the sceptics who opposed him, and everywhere teaching the emptiness and vanity of all sensuous pursuits, in his old age he was entertained at the house of a smith, Chunda, who prepared for him a repast of pork; but by partaking of this gross food he became disordered, and soon afterwards died, at Kusinara, having attained his eightieth year. His body was burnt with many honours; after which his relics were collected and divided among his disciples. All the accounts that are given of him represent him as being extremely beautiful in person; graceful in deportment as became a prince, and gentle in disposition as became one who professed to be a divine teacher. It is said that he never addressed to any one a ruder epithet than to call him "vain."

We must now leave entirely the meagre thread of reality, almost imperceptible amidst the vast tissue into which it has been woven; in which exaggerations carried out until they become monstrous, and errors the most destructive to the best interests of man, are strangely blended with gorgeous imaginings, or the dim shadows of great and important truths. The legends of the far east are too improbable to be in themselves an object of interest; but the extent to which the system has been received, the massiveness of the lore that its votaries regard as inspired, the wildness of some of its speculations, and the near approach to revelation in some branches of its ethics, entitle it to more regard than it has yet received from the learned men of our own country; and as no system can be properly comprehended unless taken in its entirety, we shall present, in order that it may be the more perfectly understood, its romance as well as its reality. The people of Ceylon, Burmah, Siam, China, and Tibet, are equally agreed in the extravagance of the character they ascribe to Gotama; and we may here remark, that in all the more popular of their legends, as well as in all the more important of their tenets, a uniformity may be traced, which proves an identity of origin; and even those customs that at first sight appear to be the most anomalous may be reconciled with the records that profess to introduce us to the doctrines of primitive Buddhism. In the present article we shall confine ourselves almost exclusively to the principles upon which nearly all the Buddhist nations are agreed; leaving the exceptions and discrepancies to be noticed under the head of the people among whom they take place.

In order to separate Gotama from the numerous other teachers, all claiming the same powers, who existed in the same age, his followers have ascribed to him perfect intelligence. The others saw truth, but it was partially; they could only reason imperfectly from the premises that were within their reach. The wisdom of Buddha did not arise from any process of reasoning, nor was it imparted unto him from any outward source whatever, either immediately or as an instrumentality. It came to him as the result of his own efforts and aspirations, carried on through myriads of ages; and was "an intuitive undervied power, or self-generated effulgence." By the energy of his own mind, the whole field of truth was presented to his vision; and he could see it at once, and with the utmost clearness. The literal meaning of the word Buddha, according to Professor Wilson, is "he by whom truth is known," which answers exactly to the idea formed of him by his disciples. There have ever been Buddhas, and there ever will be; but they appear after intervals of time inconceivably vast. There is a period (asankya) so immense, that it requires a unit with 140 cyphers to express it. By Klaproth, a still vaster period is mentioned, which he says is "indiciblement indicible," and is expressed by a unit followed by 4,456,448 zeros, and would present, in ordinary type, an array of figures nearly 44,000 feet long. As many of these periods intervene between the appearance of one Buddha and that of another, it is only the cycles of geology that can approach them in immensity. The history of some of these Buddhas is known; but for all the intelligence we receive of their acts we are indebted to Gotama, as he is made to declare, repeatedly, that all knowledge of these distant ages is derived solely from his own intuition. There were, therefore, no traditions of the previous Buddhas until Gotama made known their existence. In the present cycle four Buddhas have appeared, Kakusanda, Konagamana, Kasyapa, and Gotama, and another is yet to appear, Maitree. Attempts have been made to ascertain the era in which they existed; and though, upon the acknowledged principles of the system, this may not be possible, further researches may enable us to reduce these limitless periods to some standard nearer the truth. It is somewhat remarkable, when these mighty numbers are looked at, that Gotama should have predicted, as he is said to have done, the decline of his religion, after the comparatively limited period of 5000 years.

The period at which existence commences is unknown to all but the Buddhas, so that we cannot tell when Gotama began to be; but we can trace his actions in some of these remote ages by the aid of his own revelations. The Buddhas, previous to their last appearance, as the deliverers of sentient being from the sequence of existence, are called Bodhisats. The story of the previous births of Gotama is contained in the Pali Commentary on one section of the discourses of Buddha, called Jataka Gatha, or Birth Stanzas. In this work we have the history of the Bodhisat, who afterwards became Gotama Buddha, in 550 different births. These narratives occupy about 2000 pages of the palm-leaf on which they are usually written, and are of unequal length. In some of them we have the fables we have been accustomed to ascribe to Aesop, with scarcely a single variation of circumstance. Each story begins with the well-known formula "in days of yore;" and the foxes and monkeys, whose wit and cunning amused us in childhood, little as we suspected it, became afterwards "the all-wise teacher of the three worlds." In all these births he did, or said, or suffered something that further fitted him for the high office he was afterwards to assume. The sufferings he voluntarily endured no one can compute; but we may give one example out of many that are named. Were all the blood shed from his person, in the instances in which he suffered it to be poured out for the good of others (as when he threw himself before a hungry tiger, that he might save its life by his own death), to be collected together, it would form a greater mass than all the water of the four oceans. Myriads of years before his last birth he lamented the misery that prevailed. He might then have ceased to be, and thus have escaped finally from the unquiet of existence; but as he foresaw that by becoming a Buddha he might impart the same privilege to numberless other beings; he voluntarily threw himself into the stream of continued existence, in all the births he afterwards received making some progress towards the accomplishment of his great design. It was from a residence in one of the heavens that he entered into the womb of Maya, and was born as man.

At the moment of his conception thirty-two wonders were presented: the sky was covered as by a canopy of flowers; the waters of the sea became sweet; and the torments of the lapsed intelligences had a temporary cessation. The body of his mother was transparent, so that in the months of gestation he appeared like an image of gold in a vase of crystal. The queen one day set out to visit her native city in a golden litter, but on arriving at the garden of Lumbini she alighted, that she might enjoy its prospects and perfumes. As she held the branch of a tree the other branches bent around her of their own accord, and whilst in this seclusion her wondrous boy was born. At once he asserted his supremacy, and stepping forth he looked round in all directions that he might search through all worlds; but as he saw no one greater than himself, in any place, he exclaimed, as with the voice of a fearless lion, "I am the most excellent and the most exalted of beings." Five months after his birth there was a ploughing festival, attended by the king, at which he sat in the air without any support, and received the homage of his father and his nurses. But we pass by the accounts that are given of his marriage, his escape from the palace, his wanderings in the wilderness, and his contest with Mara and an innumerable host of demons and sprites; all of which abound with the most incredible accompaniments. The day on which he gained the victory over Mara was the most memorable in his whole career, including his previous births as well as the present. In the first watch he was able to remember all the circumstances of all the births he had previously received; in the second watch he saw the varied miseries to which sentient beings are exposed in the repetition of existence; and in the third watch he acquired the knowledge that unfolds the causes of the repetition of existence, and sets forth the means by which the stream of existence can be arrested for ever.

The last attainment is regarded as the essentiality of the Buddhahood, and its most exalted privilege. When the incipient Buddha awakes to a realization of the misery attendant upon sentient existence, he looks into all worlds to try if he can discover any state that is entirely free from its evils. For this purpose he looks to the insect in the sunbeam, the worm in the clod of earth, the fish as it glides through the waters, the fowl as it darts through the air, and the beast as it browses on the tender grass, or roams through the forest in terrible majesty; to man in all positions, from the monarch to the outcast: then, not finding one species of being with whom there is the home of absolute peace, he passes in thought to the other systems, the worlds beneath and the worlds above; but among all the varied intelligences that inhabit these innumerable worlds he finds no one that is not subject, either at the present moment or in some future state, to the three evils of existence, impermanency (anitya), sorrow (dukkha), and unreality (anatma). In all beings there is a cleaving to sensuous objects, and so long as this remains there will be the continuance of existence. The agent that carries on the continuance of existence, and that, as to any given individual, is the cause of existence, is karma. This karma is the aggregate of all the actions ever done by the individual in whatever birth. Though a mere abstraction, it controls his destiny; it shapes out his weal or woe; it is fate not acting blindly, but under the guidance of moral influences. The Buddhist carries out the principle, "whosoever a man soweth that shall he also reap" to its utmost extent, not restricting it to the present life alone, so that man is now as much under the influence of acts he did a myriad ages ago, as if they were done in his infancy or youth, or in the moment just passed away. On these accounts, as there is sorrow wherever there is existence, it is man's great object to free himself from the sequence of existence; and as this sequence can only be overcome by the destruction of all cleaving to sensuous objects, the wise man seeks the utter annihilation of the passions, which may be accomplished by an attention to the course of ascetic discipline set forth by the Buddhas. The cessation of existence is called nirvana in Sanscrit; in Pali, nibbanna or nibbuti. Though expressions are sometimes used relative to it which would seem to indicate that it is a state, it cannot mean anything more or less than non-entity. Were it otherwise, Buddhism would fail to accomplish the very sequence which it regards as its greatest triumph—its own peculiar and exclusive heritage, constituting its great claim upon man's regard. It was this discovery that gave to Gotama his supremacy as a teacher, and entitled him to receive the homage of all intelligences in the three worlds. The four great truths, as they are called, are thus expressed:

1. Where there is existence there is sorrow; 2. Sorrow arises from an attachment to existing objects; 3. There is no escape from sorrow but by the destruction of this attachment; 4. This attachment will be destroyed by an entrance into the paths that lead to nirvana."

Accompanied by his disciples, the sage is represented as going about from place to place to teach men the way to "the city of peace," as nirvana is figuratively called. But we wonder, as we proceed, how even the most credulous can be brought to receive the legends of his life as a truthful narrative. It has ever been with the nations of India as it is now; they cannot be content with the simple truth, but must add some accompaniment to make it appear the more truthful, robbing it of its credibility by the mode in which they try to place its reality on a firmer basis. The wildest tale of the nursery is soberness itself when compared with the fictions of the Hindu religionist. Of this we have ample evidence in the deeds that are recorded of Buddha. When he put his foot on the ground there sprang forth a lotus on which for him to step; he could pass through the earth or the sky; he could hear all sounds, and tell the thoughts of all intelligences; at the doing of his more important acts, deities innumerable were present, and the rays proceeding from his person penetrated to all worlds. His stature is represented as being twelve cubits; but it is said to be difficult to describe his appearance, and for this a cogent reason is given. He could walk in a space not larger than a mustard-seed, and in an instant he could scale the heavens. If there were any substances that might hinder or obstruct his walking, they moved out of his path of their own accord, and the ground became level as the head of a drum; the air appeared as if sweetened by perfumes; and if he passed any being that was in pain it ceased in an instant.

With such advantages as a teacher we wonder not when we are told that he soon numbered among his converts more than a hundred nobles and princes; and that a thousand fire-worshippers were convinced of his superiority to their own teachers by the displays of his power. A visit to his native city resulted in the conversion of nearly all his relatives. In the ninth month of his Buddhahood he visited Ceylon, which he found to be inhabited exclusively by demons, and he afterwards paid two other visits to the same island. As no other place in Southern India is mentioned as having received a similar honour, we may suppose that this legend, which is by no means confined to the Sinhalese, was invented that he might not appear to be inferior to Rama, the conqueror of the giants of Lanka in an earlier age. When the city of Wisala was becoming desolate from the ravages made by pestilence, famine, and sprites, he commanded his attendant to go round the city sprinkling water from his alms-bowl, by which the city was freed at once from its deadly plagues. There was an assassin, in a forest, who had put many hundreds of travellers to death, but he followed him to his retreat, and succeeded in persuading him to renounce his cruelties and become a recluse. This led the convert to say, "The hook of the driver subdues the elephant and other animals, but Buddha subdues by kindness." It was the custom in that age for companies, both of men and women, to visit different places, and hold public disputations. But whenever any of them encountered Buddha they were obliged to confess the superiority of his wisdom in every instance, and they generally became his adherents at the conclusion of the contest.

One of the greatest of his encounters was with a demon, Alawaka, who every day demanded the sacrifice of a human being from the king of Alow; but even this monster was overcome by the simple weapons of gentleness and equanimity. The ruler of one of the celestial worlds, Sekra, having paid him a visit, was enabled to gain a prolongation of his present state of existence, extending to many myriads of years, from the mere circumstance that Buddha, on his entrance, saluted him with these words, "May your age be multiplied." Subsequently the sage visited Sekra in his own dominion, and passed from earth to the celestial city at three steps. Here he remained three months preaching the word to the deities and their queens. On his departure, Sekra caused a ladder to descend to the earth, with another on each side, upon which were choristers and musicians, and the residents in many worlds assembled to do him honour. We are informed by Fa Hian, the Chinese traveller, that the three ladders disappeared under the earth; but that the monarch Asoka built a monument over the ladder by which Buddha descended, which was still in existence in the fourth century.

We have no contemporary account of Gotama, nor any writings of his immediate disciples. The sacred books of the Buddhists are written in Pali, the vernacular language of Magadha, of which Rajagaha was then the capital. It is allied to the Sanscrit, and is regarded as the language of the celestial regions. "There is a language," says the grammarian Kachchayana, "which is the root [of all languages]; men and Brahmans, at the commencement of the cycle, who never before heard or uttered a human accent, and even the supreme Buddhas, spoke it; it is Magadhi." The discourses of Buddha are said to have been preserved in the memory of his followers during the space of 450 years, after which they were reduced to writing in the island of Ceylon. The volumes in which they are contained are called the Three Caskets, or Receptacles (Pitakattayan). 1. Winaya, or Discipline; 2. Sutra, or Discourses; 3. Abhidhamma, or Pre-eminent Truths. At a convocation held in the same year in which Gotama died, the discourses were orally repeated, and the text accurately defined; and at two subsequent convocations, held B.C. 443 and 309, they were again repeated, together with the Atakatha or commentaries; but as the native authorities, both Singhalese and Burman, affirm that the commentaries, as we now possess them, were translated from Singhalese into Pali, by Buddhagosha, between A.D. 410 and 452, we may conclude that they had not previously been known in their collected form. Both the text and commentary are regarded as having been compiled by men who, from their purity, were incapable of falling into error; but the sages who thus claimed the intuitive possession of divine knowledge ceased to appear about 100 years B.C. The sacred books are worshipped with the same reverence that is paid to the images of Buddha. The scriptures of the Chinese are contained in 800 large volumes, known under the general name of Gandjour or Kan-gyur. The best edition, issued at Pekin from the imperial press, is in four languages—Tibetan, Mongol, Manchou, and Chinese. An analysis of the contents of this great compilation was published by Csoma Körös in the Asiatic Researches and the Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society.

One of the most striking features of the system when seen in actual working is the monasticism of its priests. They sometimes live singly; whilst in some of the temples of Tartary there are several thousands of residents. The priesthood does not belong to them by primitive institution; but as their time is now principally occupied in receiving the offerings of the people and presenting them to the idols, with the recitation of a set form of words, they may be regarded as priests in a modified sense. The rules by which they are bound are most stringent. They are required, at their investiture, to take upon themselves ten obligations: not to take life; not to take that which has not been given; not to have sexual intercourse; not to say that which is not true; not to use intoxicating drinks; not to eat solid food after mid-day; not to attend places of amusement; not to use garlands, perfumes, or unguents; not to use seats or couches above the prescribed elevation; and not to receive gold or silver. The novice must be at least eight years of age; and he cannot receive investiture until he is twenty. From the time of his entrance upon the noviciate his head is shaven and he wears the yellow robe. The form of investiture is extremely simple. A chapter having been called, the candidate is asked if he is free from certain diseases that are named; if he is a human being, a male, and a freeman; if he is out of debt, and free from the king's service; if he has the consent of his parents; if he has attained the prescribed age; and if he is provided with the eight priestly requisites. These include—1, 2, 3. Three robes of different descriptions; 4. A girdle for the loins; 5. An alms-bowl; 6. A razor; 7. A needle; 8. A piece of rag for a water-strainer. When the answer is in the affirmative, his admission is proposed to the assembled priests; and if they agree to receive him, the more important of the rules by which he will have to abide are repeated to him, to which he makes known his assent. The precepts and prohibitions contained in the first and second of the five sections into which the Vinaya is divided, are to be recited fortnightly in a chapter consisting of not fewer than four persons. When one class of precepts has been recited, the inquiry is made three times if all present have observed them; and if no answer is given it is supposed that no one is in fault; but if any one has broken the precept and does not confess it, he is regarded as being guilty of a wilful lie, and as subjecting himself to penance. The exercise of discipline includes reprimand, forfeiture, labour (such as carrying sand, and sweeping the sacred places), suspension, and exclusion. In certain cases that are named, the priest may ask permission of the chapter to lay aside his robe for a season; and if leave be granted, he may live as a laic, in all respects, and afterwards return to the position of a recluse without receiving any stain upon his character by this temporary breaking away from restraint. The present monarch of Siam, previous to his accession, was a high priest. The power of conferring investiture is confined within certain limits. It cannot be exercised but by a legally-constituted chapter, and must have been transmitted, in regular succession, from chapter to chapter, from the time of primitive Buddhism; and no investiture is regarded as valid, if the link required to bind the postulant of our own day to Buddha be broken. In some instances the succession has been lost from persecution or other causes; and in others particular castes have been wrongfully excluded from the privilege; but in both cases those who have assumed the yellow robe have regarded themselves as in the noviciate only, and they have patiently waited until the power could be received from some orthodox community without attempting to introduce an unauthorized order or a spurious succession. The conduct of the priest who would live according to the strict rules of his order, is to be free from all suspicion of evil. He may not sit upon the same seat as a female, or ever be with one alone, even to teach her the precepts. The temples are sometimes rich in lands; but the individual priest is not permitted to have any property beyond the eight "requisites." He is not allowed to eat, in ordinary circumstances, any food that has not been presented to him in alms. Every morning he leaves his monastery, with a bowl slung across his shoulder, and visits a prescribed round. Every house is to be visited, in regular order, unless there be moral reasons for the omission, none being passed by on account of the low position of its inmates. Nothing is to be done to attract attention; there must not even be the lifting of a finger, a raising of the head, a movement of the jaw, or a hem of the throat. If nothing be given, after remaining a certain time, he is quietly to pass onward; and when his bowl is sufficiently full, he is to return home. He is not to eat any solid food before sunrise, or after the sun has passed the meridian; but in the lawful hours the use of animal food is not prohibited. He is not to carry a burden, dig the ground, cut down trees, or light a fire. During the months of the rainy season he may reside in a substantial dwelling; and at this period he is to read and expound the discourses of Buddha to the people; but at other times, according to the institute, he is to have no settled dwelling; like the beast of the forest, in whatever place he may happen to be, he is to lie down to sleep. One part of his daily service is, to introduce the people into the presence of the image of Buddha, when they come to worship; and to assist them in repeating the formulary of protection,—"I take refuge in Buddha, the Truth, and the Associated Priesthood;" or in repeating as many of the precepts as their circumstances will allow them to observe. The Buddhists are taught that their sage has become entirely extinct; that he has passed away like the light of the lamp when the flame is extinguished. Yet they worship him upon this principle: They believe that the act is in itself an opus operatum; that as the seed germinates when it is put into the earth, without any consciousness upon the part of the elements relative to the vivifying influence they exercise, so does merit arise from the worship of the images of Buddha, though the beings they represent is unconscious of the deed; and this merit is, in like manner, spontaneously, without the intervention of any intelligent agent, productive of prosperity and peace. For the same reason they worship the bo, or Pious religiosa, the tree under which the Buddhahood was attained. Equal honours are paid to the relics of the sage, and to those of his disciples, which are usually enshrined under a dagoba or tope. The Swadagon pagoda, at Rangoon, 338 feet high, is a receptacle of this kind; and at Anuradhapura, in Ceylon, there are the remains of a tope which was originally 405 feet high. The images of Buddha are in several postures—recumbent, sitting, and standing—and of all sizes, from an inch to 50 feet.

The exercise of meditation is enjoined upon the priest who would enjoy the fullest privileges of his order. It is to be carried on far away from the haunts of men, and will be most efficient when conducted amidst the offensiveness of a cemetery. There are various modes, all intended to free the mind from earthly agitation, and prepare it for an abstraction the most intense. He is to take a circle, about the making of which directions the most minute are given, and to contemplate it, in various ways that are named, until he attains to an illumination that will enable him to exercise miraculous power. He may then pass through the air, or walk on the water, or penetrate the earth; shake the foundations of the world, and cause a light to be enkindled that will enable him to see in any place, as by divine eyes. By another process, a joy so great may be made to arise, that it will overcome the grossness of the body and enable the ascetic to rise into the air; and by the recitation of acts of merit done by the individual in this or some former birth, he may produce any effect he wills to be, however wonderful its character. By this means a courtezan turned the stream of the Ganges backward. But it is wisely said, that out of a hundred thousand persons who practise these rites, scarcely one attains to the full reception of the power.

At the commencement of the system there were female recluses, or nuns, who were subject to the same rules, and appointed to the same offices as the men. But the practice was not encouraged by Gotama, who speaks most disrespectfully of the sex. "That which is named woman," he says, "is sin;" that is, as the meaning has been interpreted, she is not vicious, but vice. There are no nuns in Ceylon, but they are met with in Burmah, Arracan, China, and Nepaul. They make a vow to remain chaste so long as they continue in the order, but they may leave it at any time. Though Buddha has spoken in such rude terms of woman, in some of the countries where his system is professed she enjoys considerable influence. This may arise, however, from the facility of divorce, which allows the wife to leave her husband for reasons so trifling that the bond of marriage has little power.

It is probable that the ethics of Gotama have come down to us in the form in which they were originally taught, as to the more important of the rules; but so many glosses have been added, and exceptions made, that their purity is vitiated, and their power weakened. It is difficult to speak of this part of the system correctly, without great circumlocution. The moral observances can neither be called laws, precepts, nor commands. They are self-imposed restraints, taken by the postulant for a set purpose, the acquirement of merit. They have not proceeded from an authoritative power or supreme judge. The Buddhas have made known to the universe, that particular courses of action will lead to certain results, pleasant or painful, as the case may be; and that, therefore, the wise man will choose the course that ensures prosperity, and avoid the practice that leads to pain. No contrition is required from the transgressor; and if he expresses sorrow, as he knows nothing of condemnation or guilt, it will merely be because he has acted contrary to his own interests, and not because he has grieved any Intelligence whose will he is bound to obey, or insulted any authoritative Legislator. The practice of the right, and the avoiding of the wrong, become, under these circumstances, little more than mercenary acts; and man is robbed thereby of his dignity as a moral agent. Beyond the offering of the flower or the first-fruits, and the giving of alms, the idea of atonement, or vicarious sacrifice, never enters into the mind of the Buddhist. In the Discourses of Gotama there are insulated sentiments of the purest order of morality, but they mingle with others that are imperfect, confused, or contradictory, and all are without authority. A single excerpt from a comparatively modern work, on the taking of life, will illustrate the nature of the glosses to which we have alluded. "There are five things," it is said, "necessary to the crime of taking life:—1. There must be the knowledge that there is life. 2. There must be the actual presence of a living being. 3. There must be the intention to take life. 4. With this intention, there must be something done, as the placing of a bow, or the setting of a snare; and there must be some movement towards it, as walking or running. 5. The life must be actually taken." The laics are aware of the subtle distinctions made by their priestly casuists, and use them in defence of their conduct when accused of having acted wrong.

On the essentialities of being, the doctrines of Gotama are imperfect and unsatisfactory; but possess an interest from their originality. There are five classes of constituents that enter into the composition of a sentient being, each of which is divided into a number of elements, defined by the Buddhist authors with great precision; but the insertion of their names, amounting to 184, would be useless, without extended explanations. In this enumeration, which is said to include every essentiality pertaining to that which we call man, we can discover nothing that answers to the soul or self. It was expressly declared by Gotama, that "supremely happy is the state in which the pride of I am is subdued." The aggregate of a number of things, such as wood, leather, brass, is called a chariot; but apart from these things, there is no chariot, it is but a name; so also, the aggregate of a number of things, such as blood, hair, sensation, is called a man; but apart from these things, there is no man; it is but a name. There is, therefore, no individuality, no ego. When a sentient being dies, all the elements of his existence are broken up, and pass away; they exist no more. But though the being dies, his actions (karma) still live, and possess potentiality. This power it is that causes the existence of another being, into which being it enters, with all its virtues and energies, causing a virtuous and prosperous being to exist, if it be good; but if bad, a wicked and unfortunate being. This process must necessarily go on until the attainment of nirvana. The manner in which it commences, the first causes of being, no one can learn unless he become a Buddha. The causes of the continuance of being are thus enumerated, in what is called the sequence of existence. On account of ignorance, merit and demerit are produced; then, in regular succession, the first-named educt producing the next constituent, consciousness; body and mind; the six organs of sense; touch, or contact; desire; sensation; cleaving to that which causes sensation; renewed existence; birth; decay and death. Inversely: when ignorance ceases, merit and demerit are not produced; and so on, through every link of the chain of existence. This normal arrangement is common to all Buddhists. The Singhalese, Burmese, and Siamese have it in Pali, of which the above is a literal translation. Hodgson gives it from the Nepalese; Csoma Kürös, from the Tibetan; Klaproth, from the Chinese; and Colebrooke, from the Sanscrit.

The cosmical speculations of Buddhism, though retaining, in some respects, a character of their own, are more nearly allied to the theory of the Brahmans than some other parts of the system. In the centre of the earth is a huge mountain, Maha Meru, around which are four continents, surrounded by seven concentric circles of rock, separated from each other by vast seas. We live in the southern continent, Jambudvipa, and cannot reach the others but by supernatural aids. The earth rests upon a world of waters, and the waters upon a world of wind. There are twenty-two superior worlds, divided into dewa and brahma, in the highest of which "the inhabitants are not fully conscious, and yet not altogether unconscious;" and there are eight infernal worlds. The systems of worlds are infinite in number, but homogeneous in their character. They are all subject to destruction, at periods regularly recurring, by fire, water, or wind. The first inhabitants of the earth came from a brahma world, and for a time retained their celestial splendour and purity; but by degrees these advantages were lost, and the brahmans degenerated into men. It is from them that the human race has sprung. All men are of one origin and one caste; and the only caste recognised by Buddha was that of the wise and the unwise. No distinction was made among his disciples on account of their former position; the prince and the barber were of equal rank.

The Buddhists of Nepaul suppose that there is a Supreme Creator, whom they call Adi Buddha; but in Ceylon this word would be interpreted as meaning ancient, or former—one who existed prior to Gotama, but of the same order and attributes. In Tartary and Tibet there are living Buddhas, one of whom is to be found in every monastery of the first class. The principal Buddha is the Grand Lama of Lassa, a living idol, who is daily worshipped by the devout. At his death, his spirit is supposed to enter into some child, who is recognised by certain tokens, and succeeds to the same office. But in these regions the monks have departed greatly from the rules of Gotama. One single sentence spoken by certain novices to the missionaries Huc and Gabet will be sufficient to confirm this statement. "The prayers are known best," said they, "that one has gotten with the most blows. The lamas who cannot recite prayers, or cure maladies, or tell fortunes, or predict the future, are those who have not been beaten well by their masters." Among the Buddhist nations visited by M. Huc, those who appeared to him to be most attached to their religion were, first, the Mongols, then came the Tibetans, in the third place the Singhalese, and lowest in the scale stood the Chinese, whom he regards as having fallen into complete scepticism.

The age in which Gotama appeared has been disputed, there being different eras in use among the nations that profess his faith. The other records, so far as we can learn, speak doubtfully upon the subject, or their discrepancies can be accounted for; but in the Pali Commentary on the sacred books a series of epochs is given, by which the date of his appearance may be calculated with precision; and with regard to several of these periods we have collateral evidence of their general correctness. In the ritual of the novice, one duty that he is required to attend to daily is, to reflect on the number of years that have elapsed since the death of Buddha, as they appear in his lita, or calendar. The very existence of Gotama has been called in question by one of the most eminent of living orientalists; who, however, acknowledges it to be certain that "a change in the religious organization of the Brahmanical system did take place about the time attributed to Saky'a's death."

From the traditions of the Buddhists, and the monuments, inscriptions, images, and coins, that have been discovered in almost every part of India, it is evident that at one time the religion of Gotama was generally received among the nations of the Peninsula; but if we may judge from the prevalence of nat worship in Burmah, of demon worship in Ceylon, and of the unauthorized usages of other countries among the Buddhists of the present day, we may infer that it was never the exclusive religion of the people. After the sixth century, we can discover few traces of its existence; but whether it was put down forcibly by the terrible arm of power, or by the slow progress of events, we are yet unable to determine. The deciphering of the ancient alphabets of India by the lamented James Prinsep, and the explanation thereby of the inscriptions upon monuments now known to be Buddhist, will enable the future historian of India to investigate this subject with greater precision than has hitherto been possible, from the want of authoritative data. The vexed question of the relative antiquity of Buddhism and Brahmanism presents no difficulty to the followers of Gotama. The existence of the Vedas, and the proud pretensions of the Brahmans, are frequently referred to in the legends of his life; but we conclude, from the same premises, that the social position of the "twice-born" must have been greatly changed since that period, and that nearly all the more popular usages of the present race of Hindus are of more recent origin.

If we except Nepaul, it is probable that there is not now a single Buddhist in the whole continent of India; but the system still lives among the lovely groves and flower-clad mountains of Ceylon; the voices of its priests mingle with the murmur of the Irrawaddy, the Meinam, and the Cambodia; it droops and dotes among the forlorn masses of China; it flourishes under the protective exclusiveness of Japan; and exercises kingly authority amidst the snows Gotha are considerable, the former comprising cotton and woollen goods, porcelain, paper, leather, musical and scientific instruments, sausages, &c., for the manufacture of which last article it is celebrated. The Almanach de Gotha is published here; and the large geographical establishment of Justus Perthes employs several hundred printers, engravers, map-colourers, &c. Pop. 14,280.