Ancient Faiths And Modern Part 9

The only reason for believing that Hindostan and Ceylon were known to the Phoenicians is a short pa.s.sage in the Biblical History of Solomon, in which we are told that after a three years' absence, Hiram's Tyrian sailors returned from Tarshish, bringing what our translators call ivory, apes, and peac.o.c.ks. The words in the Hebrew original are said by Tennant to be all but identical with those in use in Ceylon at the present date. For a full account of the probable ident.i.ty of the Tarshish in the pa.s.sage alluded to and Galle, see Emerson Tennant's _History of Ceylon_.

Yet, if we grant that the Tyrian shipmen traded to India, we are bound to confess that the knowledge which they acquired died with them; nor did their successors, the Greeks, know anything distinctly about Hindostan prior to the time of Alexander the Great. In the Biblical story of Esther we are told, i. 1, viii. 9, that a Persian king reigned from India to Ethiopia, the Hebrew word for the former being _Hodoo_, supposed to be a form of _handoo_, or _hindoo_; Pehlevi, _hendo_; Zend, _heando_; Sanscrit, _Sindhu_ (Furst, s.v.), equivalent to the Greek _Indikee_, or the country of the Indus. We find reason to believe that the India of Artaxerxes was a portion of Hindostan--first, because the Persian monarch had Indian soldiers in his army, and elephants, when he fought with Alexander; and secondly, because the peac.o.c.k, a bird of Ceylon, was known to the Greeks, in the time of Aristophanes, as "the Persian bird." That the Persians traded with Northern India we infer, from the account which Appian gives us of the advance eastward of Alexander, after his victory at Arbela. But the whole story of the Grecian warrior's advance into the Punjaub and down the Indus, contains, in itself, tolerably clear proof that Hindostan was very little known to the Greeks. Of a subsequent invasion of India by Alexander's successor, Seleucus Nicator; of the mission of Megasthenes to Sandracottus, the grandfather of Asoka, the Buddhist Constantine; of the navigation of the Grecian ship down the Indus, and the subsequent traffic by land and sea between the Greeks and the Hindoos, we need not say more than that Augustus, b.c. 30, regulated the trade to Hindostan, _via_ Alexandria, and that, at the time of Pliny the elder, about A.D. _60_, voyages were being made to India every year, companies of archers being carried on board the vessels to protect them from pirates. We learn also that a twelvemonth did not elapse without a drain upon the Roman Empire of about one million and a-half sterling for India, in exchange for Hindoo wares (book vi., ch. 26).

At the period Pliny refers to, and for a long time previously, there can be no pretence that any of Jesus' apostles accompanied traders to Hindostan, for every one of them were employed nearer home. On the other hand, we may inquire into the possibility and the reasonableness of Buddhist missionaries travelling westward in the course of Alexandrian traffic, or of the caravans which, we have grounds for believing, came through Persia to the Roman Empire.

On turning to Oriental literature, we find that the often-mentioned King Asoka adopted Buddhism as the religion of his empire about b.c. 250, and that, in his time, missionaries carried that faith successfully to the uttermost parts of Hindostan--to Burmah, to Ceylon, to j.a.pan, to Thibet, and to China. The envoys carried with them, in some instances, written books, in others, their guide was oral tradition. Wherever they went they bore a biography of Sakya--or Buddha--accounts of miracles that he had performed, and a summary, more or less extended, of his preaching or doctrines. This dispersion of Hindoo envoys was about fifty years later than the mission of the Greek Megasthenes to the court of Asoka's grandfather, and it is quite as probable that Buddhist preachers went to enlighten what they imagined to be the benighted, and what they knew to be the then defeated Grecians, as that they went over frightful mountains and stormy seas to Thibet, China, and j.a.pan.

We may profitably pause for a moment here, to contemplate that which I at one time believed to be the most wonderful of all the miracles recorded in the New Testament, viz., "the gift of tongues." The references to this which we meet with in the epistles of the apostle Paul might lead to the supposition, that some who had this "gift" spoke mere gibberish--something which was not, either in intention or in reality, an utterance in a foreign language; but the story of the original imparting of power to speak in a previously unknown tongue involves the idea, that the disciples had, on the occasion referred to, a faculty given to them, by which they knew the languages used by various nationalities, without the trouble of learning them. Many divines have held that such ability was absolutely necessary to those who had to go forth to teach all nations the doctrines of the gospel I am quite aware that, however earnest I might be to propagate truth, I could not go, with advantage, to preach in Russia, because I know nothing of its language.

Doubt in the reality of the miracle recorded in Acts ii. was not born until I found that Buddhist missionaries went out into distant lands, where their own tongue was unknown, and yet made converts. When once I felt dubious as regards the veracity of the historian, I began to notice what the apostles generally did when they went to a new country or town.

Their practice seems to have been to have visited synagogues of the Jews living on the spot--and able, if they chose, to be interpreters--or, where there were such establishments, "the schools" were visited, where the students and the masters understood Greek. In the time of Paul the language of the h.e.l.lenes was spoken by Romans of high position, much as French was spoken at the court of Frederic the Great of Prussia, and as German is at St. Petersburg. The Apostle seems to have spoken Greek readily, and when he could use that tongue or the Hebrew he was fluent.

I have sought in vain for evidence that either Paul or any of the Apostles ever addressed a foreign mob, whose language was neither Greek nor Hebrew. A study of the nineteenth chapter of the Acts will show this--especially, we must notice the end of the tenth verse, where we are told "that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both _Jews and Greeks_." When disturbance occurred in the theatre, Paul was not the orator put forward to appease the people--he probably could not speak their patois. Yet he tells us, 1 Cor. xiv. 18, that he spoke with tongues more than his fellows.*

* There is much difference amongst ecclesiastical writers respecting what is called the "gift of tongues." The difficulty arises mainly from the desire to reconcile "the true" with "the absurd." Starting from the point that all "scripture" is written by "inspiration of G.o.d," the orthodox are obliged to receive the account narrated in Acts ii. as being literally correct.

In plain language, the story runs thus:--The Apostles, twelve in number, were sitting in a room. Whilst there, a noise was heard, and something like fiery tongues, more or less split, appeared, and one settled upon each of the company. These all, at once, began to speak in languages which were strange to all.

From the noise made, neighbours had their attention called, and from one mouth to another the tidings of the ranting ran, until it reached the ears of devout men, who, from every nation under heaven, were then a.s.sembled in Jerusalem. Whether these foreigners were Hebrews, or whether they, being strangers, had the gift of understanding the reports couched in Aramaic, we do not know. But it is narrated that, in the course of a few minutes--possibly an hour or two--the devout strangers came to listen to the Apostles, either speaking singly or at once.

As these foreigners noticed what was said, they recognized words in their own respective dialects, and then the Parthian said to the Mede--the Elamite to the Mesopotamian--the Phrygian to the Pamphyliaji, &c., "What does all this mean?" So to interchange a question involves that the interlocutors, like the Apostles, had suddenly received the gift of speaking, and understanding, other tongues than their own. When the listeners had convinced themselves about the marvel, each began to talk in his own language, and the Jews understood them to say, "What meaneth this?" the Hebrews, like the rest, having also the gift of knowing what was said in a strange language.

Some, however, had not this power of interpretation, and remarked, "the fellows are drunk!" For a moment we pause to inquire how many people there were in one room of one house. The Apostles were twelve; then there were, at least three, Parthians, Medes, &c., in all about forty-five more, and in addition, there were "the mockers." To all these Peter preached, and the wonders of the day were crowned by the conversion of three thousand people!

It seems, therefore, to be clear, from the account of this extraordinary miracle, that the Apostles then gathered together acquired the power of expressing their thoughts in languages which they had never learned, the judges of the feat being those whose dialects were spoken.

If we now proceed in biblical order to examine into the ideas connected with this strange faculty, we find, in Acts x. 44-46, that the circ.u.mcised Jews alone were satisfied, in the plenitude of their own ignorance, that Cornelius and his company could "speak with tongues."

Again, in Acts xix. 6, we learn that certain Ephesians, after baptism, and imposition of hands, "spake with tongues "--no judge of the fact being quoted.

In 1 Cor. xii. 10, we discover that amongst the gifts of the Holy Spirit are "kinds of tongues," and the interpretation thereof which will, probably, remind the lover of Shakespeare of Act iv. Scenes 1 and 3, in "All's well that ends well," wherein there is a nonsensical jargon spoken by one person which another interprets to the satisfaction of the silly Parolles. In vv 28, 30, we see strong indications that the gift of tongues and interpretation may be compared to some things now heard of in spiritualistic or other conjuring seances.

This notion of "speaking with other tongues" reaches its climax, apparently, in 1 Cor. xiii. 1, wherein Paul indicates, but does not positively a.s.sert, that he can "speak with the tongues of men and angels," a boast which 2 Cor. xii. 4 leads us to take literally. But how any one on earth could test the reality of a.s.sertion it is difficult to conceive.

In 1 Cor. xiv. we see indications that "speaking with tongues" is little more or less than a sort of hysterical utterance of gibberish, which we may compare to the once celebrated chorus of

Lilli-bullero-lero-lero-Lillibullero bullen a la.

One may now ask, "Why did people think that it was part of the Christian's privileges or powers to speak with tongues?" The only answer which I can discover is indicated in Acts ii. 18, wherein we find it given as the opinion of Peter, that a certain vaticination in Joel applied to the followers of Jesus. The philosopher may wonder at the ignorance--possibly at the knowledge--which confounded "prophesying"

with the utterance of unintelligible rubbish; but the philologist should be led to investigate more strictly the real signification of words, and to inquire into the theories which are traceable to false interpretations.

Considerations such as these, which might be multiplied indefinitely, I have come to the belief that the Apostles of Jesus were no better, as regards their knowledge of foreign tongues, than their predecessors, the missionaries sent by Asoka, or than the modern envoys sent out by a London Society.

What renders it probable that Buddhist ascetics found their way, probably amongst the camp followers of Antiochus the Great, and endeavoured to promulgate their doctrines in western Asia, is the fact that a sect sprang up amongst the Jews after the Grecian conquest of Palestine--called "The Essenes," to which we have before referred, amongst whose tenets Buddhism and Judaism were closely mingled The asceticism practised by this sect was, so far as we know, different to anything known at that time in Greece or Western Asia, and as it came into fashion at the same time in Palestine as Indian elephants and Hindoo Mahouts, there is some reason for the belief that it was brought by disciples of Siddartha. Without dwelling upon this again, we return to the well ascertained fact that Buddhism was promulgated most widely in Eastern and Northern Asia about 250 b.c., that a collection of religious books was made about two hundred years prior to that date, and that these were revised again during Asoka's reign. But, however earnest were the teachers and the taught, the scriptures which they respected were so voluminous and the facilities for multiplying them were so small, that it happened, as it did amongst early Christians, that many a church had no written book of the law. As a consequence of this, one part or another of Sakya's doctrines became exalted unduly in one locality, whilst in another a portion was left out of sight. Stories, also, of miracles became varied, just as we find that they have been by the writers in the New Testament, the tendency being, as in the history of the blind man near Jericho, to exaggerate the wonder--for example, Mark and Luke, chap. x. and xviii, give an account of one man being cured of blindness, whilst Matthew, chap, xx., tells us that there were two. The narrators under such circ.u.mstances act as if they thought that it is as easy for a divinity to heal two or two thousand as to cure one, and we who tolerate the practice in a Christian evangelist must not ridicule it in Buddhist disciples.

When we contemplate the confusion that existed in the Christian church--the gradual deterioration of the faith taught by Jesus, and more especially by Paul, and the steady absorption of Pagan rites into the worship inaugurated by Peter and the other apostles, we can readily understand that in the course of six or seven hundred years there would be reason in countries distant from the home of Siddartha to deplore the gradual decadence of Buddhism, and a desire amongst the devout for tuition at the fountain-head. In modern times we have read of hierarchs coming from the uttermost parts of the earth to consult the Roman Pontiff upon points of discipline affecting the church, and we therefore see without surprise that, about A.D. 400, six hundred years after it had been planted, the congregation of Buddhists in China had within it men who determined to go to India, and bring back to their fellow-worshippers what they hoped would be a purer doctrine than that which they were accustomed to, and, if possible, to secure authentic books. Pilgrimage, with this object, cannot be regarded as being so absurd as that which has in modern days taken numbers of Christians to Lourdes, in the Pyrenees, or to St. Paray-le-Monial.

Ere we describe this Chinese search after truth, let us imagine a Christian from Central Russia determining to seek for enlightenment at Antioch about a.d. 640, and subsequently at the seven churches named in the Apocalypse--and afterwards writing his experience. We should be certain to find him bewailing the fall of Christianity and the rise of Islam. We may indeed affirm that if such a history was now to be discovered undated, we should regard it as having been written before or after the date named, according as "the churches" were described as being the seat of Mahommedism or of Christianity. Still further, if in every place which this traveller visited, he found a general belief in the stories told of Jesus and in the efficacy of his doctrine, we should consider this as proof that the people remained faithful to their early teaching. If, on the other hand, the wanderer found himself proscribed in any locality as a benighted heathen, without knowledge of the way of salvation--he would naturally think that a teacher had given to its inhabitants instruction different from that which was familiar to him.

I do not exaggerate when I say that a genuine account of the travels in search of sound Christian doctrine through every part of Europe in the fifth century of our era, would be invaluable as an indication of the tenure of certain doctrines, not only in various localities, but as to the existence or the reverse of dogmas now regarded as of supreme importance.

Such a ma.n.u.script, which, however, relates to Buddhism and not to Christianity, exists in China, and it has lately been translated into English _Travels of Fah-Hian and Sung-Yun, Buddhist Pilgrims from China to India_, 400 a.d. and 518 a.d., translated from the Chinese by Samuel Bea. (Trubner & Co., London, 1869.) It tells us, in a singularly terse style, how a large portion of China was traversed by these pilgrims;--of the terrible journey over the mountains to the north of Hindustan; of a visit to the birth-place of Siddartha; to Benares, to Calcutta, and to Ceylon;--with an account of the return voyage in a good-sized ship back again to China. Everywhere, with one single exception, they find the law of Buddha prevailing. The place referred to as exceptional is Yopoti, Java, of which it is said: "In this country, heretics and Brahmins flourish; but the law of Buddha is not much known" (p. 168). In every other spot which they visit the Chinese wanderers speak applaudingly of the hold which the religion of Siddartha has upon the people, and the exemplary conduct of the faithful. From the beginning of the journey to the end, the enquirers appear always to have found the same form of faith which had been preached in their own country six hundred years before. The most careful investigator fails to find a shadow of those doctrines in which the teaching of Jesus differs from that of Sakya.

There is not any allusion made to an impending dissolution of the world, to baptism, or to any sacrament; every remark relates to the essentials of Buddhism as known in each place where Europeans have been able to peruse the authorized Buddhist scriptures.

We may now quote some pa.s.sages bearing on important points. About the sources of the Indus: "All the priests asked Fah-Hian what he knew as to the time when the law of Buddha began to spread eastward from their country." Hian replied, "On enquiry, men of those lands agreed in saying that, according to an ancient tradition, Shamans from India began to carry the sacred books of Buddha beyond the river, from the time when the image of Maitreya Bodhisatwa was set up." This image was set up three hundred years or so after the Nirvana of Buddha (about B.C.

243--or, according to some estimates, B.C. 177), which corresponds with the time of Pingw.a.n.g of the Chan family (b.c. 770--the Chinese date of Buddha's Nirvana being different from that which is usually received in India.) Hence it may be said that the diffusion of the great doctrine can be attributed to the influence of this image. For, apart from the power of the divine teacher Mait-reya, who followed in the footsteps of Sakya, who would have been sufficient to cause the knowledge of the three precious ones to be spread so far, that even men on the outskirts of the world acquired that knowledge? We may conclude, therefore, with certainty, that the origin of this diffusion of the law of Buddha was no human work, but sprung from the same cause as the dream of Ming Ti (pp. 23-25). The three precious ones above referred to, are the Buddhist trinity, everywhere acknowledged, Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha--or, as some say, Buddha--the law and the church. The dream of Ming Ti resembles that which we know as the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, and foretells the coming of "the Saviour," one of the names given to Siddartha. The vision of a divine being, 70 feet high, with a body like gold, and his head glorious as the sun--one who is fanciful may here discern a likeness to the individual described in Rev. i. 13, seq.--induced the king to send to India to seek after the law of Fo, or Buddha. Some one speaking of two great towers adorned with all the precious substances, which had been erected at a certain town--the Taxila of the Greeks--to commemorate episodes in the life of Buddha, makes the remark "The kings, ministers, and people of all the surrounding countries vie with each other in making religious offerings at these places, in scattering flowers and burning incense continually" (p. 33).

"In the city of Hilo is the Vitiara containing the relic of the skull-bone of Buddha. This Vitiara is entirely covered with plates of gold, and decorated with the seven precious substances (gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, cornelian, coral, and ruby.) The king of the country reverences in a high degree this sacred relic." As this example shows well the Buddhist veneration for memorials of the dead, I will not quote more. It is clear that old bones were regarded with religious awe in Hindostan before they were enshrined in Christendom. In the case above recorded, "extraordinary pains are taken to preserve the relic from theft or subst.i.tution, and the king offers flowers and incense in front of it daily, then bends his head to the ground before it in adoration, and departs." In another place Buddha's robe is kept, although we may fairly doubt whether he ever possessed one, but doubtless it is quite as authentic as "the holy coat" of Treves, or the Virgin Mary's milk. There is another relic of Sakya not yet copied by Christian pagans, viz., the shadow of the great teacher--which lives in a cave, and can only be seen by the faithful (p. 45, 46). We commend this to thaumaturgical Gallican divines, such as those who describe how certain it is that Mary of Judea came to show herself at Lourdes, and to talk French.

On arriving at the Punjaub the record states, "The law of Buddha is prosperous and flourishing here..." On seeing disciples from China coming among them they were much affected, and spoke thus: "How wonderful to think that men from the ends of the earth should know the character of this religion, and should come thus far to seek the law of Buddha. We received from them all that we required, and were treated according to the provisions of the law" (p. 51,52). "All the kingdoms beyond the sandy deserts are spoken of as belonging to Western India.

The kings of all these countries firmly believe in the law of Buddha"

(pp. 53, 54).

In the following, we may see the prototype of monasteries, "From the time of Buddha's Nirvana, the kings and n.o.bles of all these countries began to erect viharas for the priesthood, and to endow them with lands, gardens, houses, and also men and oxen to cultivate them. The records of these endowments being engraved on sheets of copper, have been handed down from one king to another, so that no one has dared to deprive them of possession, and they continue to this day to enjoy their proper revenues. All the resident priests have chambers, beds, coverlets, food, drink, and clothes provided for them without stint or reserve. Thus it is in all places. The priests, on the other hand, continually employ themselves in reciting their scriptures, in works of benevolence, or in profound meditation" (pp. 55, 56).

It is very important that we should notice, although it is unnecessary to dwell upon the fact, that the pilgrims visited the spot whence Buddha went up to heaven to preach his law to his mother Maya, who died when her child was seven days old, and, consequently, long before he became "the Saviour." The son remained with his parent three months (p. 62.) Jesus, it will be remembered, only preached to the spirits in prison during a day and a-half--which, by common consent, pa.s.ses amongst Christians for three days. I may also notice that there is mentioned (p.

66), an idea that three Buddhas existed before the advent of Sakya Muni, and that the following are their precepts, translated from the Chinese copy of a Buddhist book:--1. The heart carefully avoiding idle dissipation, diligently applying itself to religion, forsaking all l.u.s.t and consequent disappointment, fixed and immovable, attains Nirvana (rest.) 2. Practising no vice, advancing in the exercise of virtue, and purifying the mind from evil; this is the doctrine of all the Buddhas.

3. To keep one's tongue, to cleanse one's mind, to do no ill--this is the way to purify oneself throughout, and to attain this state of discipline is the doctrine of all the great sages (p. 66).

The Buddhists also preserve impressions of Siddartha's feet and show them to pilgrims, just as certain papal priests show the impressions of St. Peter's feet at a church a little outside Rome, on the Appian way. The pilgrims "visit Kapilavastu, now a desert, but once the royal residence of Suddhodana. There are here a congregation of priests and ten families of lay people. In the ruined palace there is a picture of the Prince Apparent and his mother (supposed to be) taken at the time of his miraculous conception. The prince is represented as descending towards his mother riding on a white elephant." This elephant came from the Tusita heaven surrounded by light like the sun, and entered the left side of the mother. As the elephant is the strongest of known terrestrial animals, it certainly represented "The power of the Highest"

(see Luke i. 35), and we may draw one of two inferences--either that the sons of Maya and Mary were conceived equally miraculously, or that the story of one is just as true or as incredible as that of the other.

Certainly the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was known in India long before it was enunciated by a Christian Pope in Rome. Perhaps, had Pio Nono known that he was copying a Buddhistic story, he would have wavered long before he a.s.similated his religion to that of Siddartha.

At the same locality a tower is raised to mark the spot where the Rishi (Saint or Prophet) Asita calculated the horoscope of Sakya, and declared that he would become a supreme Buddha--a legend which is very similar to that told of old Simeon and the infant Jesus (Luke ii. 25, seq.). The pilgrims were also shown the garden--not a stable--in which Maya brought forth her son, and wherein immediately afterwards the infant walked. Two dragon kings--perhaps wise men from the East--washed the infant's body, and this spot afterwards became a sacred well (p. 88).

We must pa.s.s by an account of a miracle, to the full as wonderful and quite as incredible as that of Saint Ursula and the eleven thousand virgins, who left their bones at Cologne because it has no distinct reference to Buddha. (P. 97)--But I may mention that the Chinese writer states after the end of the story, that a certain violation of the law occurred one hundred years after Sakya's death, and upon this record Mr Beal has the following important note--"This refers to the second great council of the Buddhist church. According to Singhalese authorities (Mahawanso) there were three great convocations or councils--1st, immediately after Buddha's death to compile the authorised scriptures; 2d, to refute certain errors that had crept into the church; 3d, under the great Asoka," (p. 99). We may doubt the value of the Mahawanso, but at the same time we may express a wish that early Christians had even a tradition of a council to compile authorised scriptures about the son of Mary ere time sufficient had elapsed to allow "the marvellous" to develop itself into "the incredible."

In like manner I must omit the description of a procession of images, amongst which that of Buddha is conspicuous; the fete is held at Patna, supposed to be the ancient Palimbothra where Asoka reigned. It resembles in almost all its details the grand processions of the Papists on certain occasions,--lamps, lights, games, riot, and religious offerings are mingled together for the healthy and for the sick, and wonderful cures are provided as far as possible. To this account is to be appended a very significant, perhaps I might say satirical, note by the translator of the pilgrims' ma.n.u.script. "From the whole of this account (of the procession of images), it would seem that the Buddhist worship had already begun to degenerate from its primitive simplicity and severity. Plays and music and concerts, are strictly forbidden by the rules of the order; we can begin to see how Buddhism lapsed into Sivite worship, and sank finally into the horrors of Jaganath" (p. 107). To the thoughtful reader of our christian history, this note upon Buddhist processions of images is painfully pregnant. It reminds us that the followers of Maya's son and Mary's alike lapsed into paganism, and almost by the same stages. We cannot accuse the Hindoos of copying the orgies of the Christian saturnalia or carnival, nor do we think that the Europeans cared to imitate the Hindoos; but what we do believe is that both parties have fallen lower and lower from their pristine purity in consequence of the gradually increasing feeling that the generality of human beings can only be brought under priestly power by an appeal to their animal propensities.

Some affirm, with great show of argumentation, that it is man's b.e.s.t.i.a.l propensities which lead his race to h.e.l.l. It may be so, but then, on the other hand, it is certain that ecclesiastics endeavour to chain us to their chariots by pandering to, managing, exciting, or otherwise playing upon those propensities, which man has in common with the sheep, the ox, the tiger, the serpent, and the elephant. Every form of religion, yet promulgated, that appeals to sound sense, thought, and reason, has failed from the want of followers capable of dominating their pa.s.sions.

Than a pure religion based upon thoughts such as Sakya Muni and the son of Mary gave utterance to, nothing seems grander, but such is its nature that it can only be fully embraced by a few. If all are poor, none can live upon alms--if all sell their worldly goods to purchase Heaven, no buyers will be found in the market. The Buddhist and the Christian anchorite may, for a time, live on charity, yet each succeeding generation of ascetics will more and more dislike the plan of winning food by misery. We have seen how kings made grand provision for the comfort of the priestly followers of the son of Maya; and in later times, we have seen how the followers of the son of Mary have, by artfulness, provided many similar homes for themselves. Yet, with all this, there are both Buddhists and Christians who have protested, by their actions, against religious luxury of every kind. Each of my readers may judge of what spirit he is, by asking himself whether he regards such individuals as wise or foolish.

The pilgrims pa.s.s on to the place where five hundred saints a.s.sembled after Sakya's death to arrange the collection of sacred books (p.

118)--thence to the spot where Siddartha bathed, and the Deva or Angel held out the branch of a tree to a.s.sist him in coming out of the water (p. 121)--thence to the spot where Buddha was tempted by three daughters of Maka as courtesans, a more severe temptation than befel the Christian Anthony--and by Mara himself with a vast army; but all uselessly, for Sakya was as impregnable as Jesus. And we find that in the same spot he subsequently underwent mortification, not for forty days only, but for six years. All of these localities are marked by towers, which must, according to ecclesiastical reasoning, demonstrate the truth of the legends.

After a very long search--for the purpose of Fah Hian was to seek for copies of the _Vinaya Pitaka_--he found his exertions to find a copy of the sacred work were useless, because, throughout the whole of Northern India, the various masters trusted to tradition only for their knowledge of the precepts, and had no written codes. The pilgrims, however, when they arrived in Middle India, found a copy, "which was that used by the first great a.s.sembly of priests convened during Buddha's lifetime" (p.

142); this appears to have been generally regarded as the most correct and complete (p. 144). Fah Hian also obtained "one copy of Precepts, in ma.n.u.script, comprising about 7000 gathas (verses or stanzas). This was the same as that generally used in China. In this place also an imperfect copy of the Abhidharma was obtained, containing 6000 gathas; also, an abreviated form of Sutras, or Precepts, containing 2500 verses in an abreviated form; also, another expanded Sutra, with 5000 verses, and a second copy of the Abhidharma," according to the school of the Maha Sanghihas (the greater vehicle). "On this account Fah Hian abode in the place (Patma, the ancient Palibothra) for the s.p.a.ce of three years, engaged in learning to read the Sanscrit books, to converse in that language, and to copy the Precepts. Here his companion, To Ching, remained; but Fah Hian, desiring with his whole heart to spread the knowledge of the Precepts throughout China, returned alone" (p. 146).

This pilgrim then goes to the kingdom of Champa, where he stopped two years, to copy out sacred Sutras, and to take impressions of the figures used in worship. Here the law of Buddha was generally respected. He then sailed in a great merchant vessel for Ceylon (p. 148). From this expression we presume that he entered a seaport, and, as such, one likely to have been reached by some Christian missionary, if any had ever visited India, as Paul attained Asia Minor, Italy, &c. All that we learn about it, however, is in a translator's note, which tells us that the place was mentioned by another China man, Hiouen Thsang, who spoke of the number of heretical sects who were mixed together here--Buddhism being here corrupted at an early period by local superst.i.tions. In Ceylon Fah Hian remained two years, and, continuing his search for the sacred books, obtained a copy of the Vinaya Pitaka, of the great Agama, and the miscellaneous Agama (books of elementary doctrine), also a volume of miscellaneous collections from the Pitakas, all of which were hitherto entirely unknown in China. Having obtained these works in the original language (Pali), he forthwith shipped himself on board a great merchant vessel, which carried about 200 men, and started for his native land (p. 166). "After Fah Hian left home, he was five years in arriving at Mid India. He resided there during six years, and was three more ere he arrived again in China. He had successively pa.s.sed through thirty different countries." In all the countries of India, after pa.s.sing the sandy desert (of Gobi), the dignified carriage of the priesthood, and the surprising influence of religion (amongst the people), cannot be adequately described... "Having been preserved by Divine power (by the influences of the Three honourable Ones), and brought through all dangers safely, he was induced to commit to writing the record of his travels, desirous that the virtuous of all ages may be informed of them as well as himself" (p. 173).

After reading this account, we think that no thoughtful man can reasonably a.s.sert that Christianity was taught in India at an early period, was widely adopted, and became the parent of Buddhism. If, in rejoinder, we are told that no writers have a.s.serted that there were Christians in India in olden times, except in Malabar, the answer is, that these were described by those who first met with their successors as totally distinct from the Hindoos, and, consequently, neither Buddhists nor Brahmins. Moreover, we are told that they were regarded by the Holy Inquisition of Europe as heretics, and were, consequently, persecuted by the Christians (see Gibbon's _Roman Empire_, vol. viii, 355).

Rosse, in his book of dates (London, 1858), speaks of an Indian emba.s.sy to Constantine the Great, a.d. 334, and another sent to Constantius the Second, but received by Julian, A.D. 362. I cannot, however, as yet, find his authority. But Socrates, in his _Ecclesiastical History_, book i, ch. 19, about A.D. 331, speaks of a treaty which had been in existence a short time before, between the Romans and the Indians, but which had been recently violated. He also, in the same chapter, states that there were Christians amongst the Roman merchants in India--no town or locality being given, however, so that we cannot test his a.s.sertion--but that they did not then unite to worship. We find also, from the same chapter, that up to that period there were no Christian Indians known.

Coupling the foregoing fragments of history together, we may safely a.s.sert that India, generally, was Buddhist in A.D. 400, and that, according to Pliny, the Romans, or, rather, the Alexandrians, had been in yearly communication with the country, for at least three centuries, at the time of Constantine. As it appears that there were Roman merchants in India, so we presume that there were Hindoo traders resident in Egypt. The presumption is, that these were Buddhists, and that they were attended, or followed, by missionary Buddhist priests.

Absolute proof of this there is none.

We now turn to Gibbon's history, and inquire into the period when monastic asceticism first began to prevail in Egypt, the necessary residence of our presumed Hindoo traffickers. We find (see _Decline and Fall_, chapter 37) that Anthony, an Egyptian, and unable to write in Greek, living in the lower parts of Thebais, distributed his patrimony, deserted his family and native home, lived amongst tombs, or in a ruined tower, then in the desert, and then in some lonely spot, near the Red Sea, where he found shade and water. It certainly seems clear that he took the son of Maya, rather than the child of Mary, as his exemplar.

At and after this time, the rage for asceticism spread amongst the inhabitants of Eastern Africa as conspicuously as it had done in Oriental Asia at the time of Asoka. It is difficult to read the chapter of Gibbon's history to which we refer, and a history of Buddhism, without regarding Egypt, and her miserable ascetics, in the same light as we look upon the folks of Hindustan and Thibet. If Jesus of Nazareth had dictated such a life, surely his early followers would have been more conspicuous in their habitual mortifications than their later disciples were. The son of man--the child of Mary--"came eating and drinking," and was called "a gluttonous man and a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners" (Luke vii. 34; Matt, xi. 19). Not so the son of Maya. The Apostles of Jesus had power to lead about a wife or a sister, and they did so. Neither Paul nor Peter shunned woman's society, nor did they practise poverty; nay, they worked with their own hands, lest they should have to live on alms (2 Thess. iii. 8), and they collected money for poor saints from the wealthier brethren. There was no asceticism here, nor can we find, in any part of the New Testament, a text upon which a system of austerity can be founded.

We might, perhaps, think comparatively little of the parallel which we have drawn between Buddhism, and Christianity, did we not recognize the fact, that almost everyone of the later developments of the latter had, for centuries before, found a place in the former, even including, as we have mentioned, the dogma of the immaculate conception.

To the preceding considerations we may add another, which, as Ivanhoe said of himself, "is of lesser renown and lower rank, and a.s.sumed into the honourable company less to aid their enterprise than to make up their number." Standing alone it may have small power, but as a link in a chain it is important. We refer to the abundant testimony which we possess of the strength of Grecian influence upon the tenets of Christianity. Without laying any stress upon the fact that the whole of the New Testament extant is written in Greek, we may advert to the current belief amongst thoughtful scholars, that the so-called Gospel of St. John was written by some Alexandrian Greek about 150 A.D., or by one who was imbued with the philosophy of Plato. Sharpe has distinctly shown that the doctrine of the trinity was held in Ancient Egypt, and first adopted, then promulgated, by the Egyptian or Alexandrian divines. The influence of Greek ideas upon Philo Judaeus is very conspicuous.