Arr Buddhists, throughout the wide range of countries where the doctrines of Buddha prevail, call their religion the doctrine of “ The Wheel of the Law.” I have adopted the name for this book, because it is peculiarly appropriate to a theory of Buddhism, which the book in some degree illustrates. I refer to the theory that all existence of which we have any conception is but a part of an endless chain, or circle, of causes and effects; that 80 long as we remain in that wheel there is no rest and

Or the three hundred and sixty-five millions of men, the third of the human race who, according to a comwmon. estimate, profess in some form the religion of Buddha, the four million inhabitants of Siam are excelled by none in the sincerity of their belief and the liberality with which they support their religion. No other Buddhist country, of similar extent, can show so many splendid temples and monasteries. In Bangkok alone there are more than a hundred monasteries, and, it is said, ten thousan

Tne Creat, the Toly Tard, the Being who was about to become a Buddha, passed the first twenty-nine years of his life as a layman by the name of Prince Sidharta.? He then became a religions mendicant,? and for six years subjected himself to self-denials of a nature that other men could not endure. Thereafter he became the Lord Buddha, and gave to men and angels the draught of Immortality,* which is the savour of the True Law. Forty-five years after this the Lord, the Teacher, entered the Holy Nir

But a short time after the death of Buddha, Adjatasatr,” king of Magadha, convened an assembly of the monks of the highest order of sanctity, at a monastery built by him on the Wephara? Hill ; and having done homage to them, requested the patriarch? Kasyappa to teach him the doctrine which the great Buddha had preached. Then Kasyappa answered that he was an authority only in meditative science’ (Bhawana), and that his knowledge of the words and acts of the great master was not equal to that of A

Tar most illustrious king, the Grand Being who was born the exalted crown of the world, the anointed head of the world, was moved Ly his vast compassion to endeavour to redeem all teachable beings sunk in the great ocean of ever-cireling existence, and lead them to the jewelled realm of happiness, the immortal Nirwana. For this olject he gave up the glories of universal # dominion, the pomp of state, and the possession of the seven great treasures, which he was within seven days of attaining; he

Ix the city of Kapila, on the fifteenth’ day of the cighth month, Suddhodana the king commanded his people to celebrate the festival of the constellation Asanha. And they had great rejoicings, feasting and music, and sports of all kinds, and gave themselves up to pleasure without restraint. For seven days before the festival, the Queen Maia, clad in her sumptuous royal robes, and perfumed with precious ointments, appeared in all the glory and pomp of her high dignity. On the morning of the seven

Ox that day, the angels of the Davadungza heavens, led Dy the archangel Indra, vied in joyful cries, saying—*To Suddhodana, king of Kapila, and Maia his queen, there is now a son born, who, in days to come, when Le attains the full age of manhood, shall sit on the jewclled throne beneath the holy tree, and shall there arrive at the Buddhahood, and shall make manifest the law of the revolving wheel to all teachable beings who arc now enveloped in ignorance. We, too, shall see the glory, and prais

Tue King, Suddhodana, inquired of the Brahmins who had interpreted the signs: * By what vision will my son be induced to adopt a religious life 2” And they answered : “ He will sce four visions —an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a wan in holy orders; these will cause him to adopt a religious life.” Then the King, desiring that his son might become the emperor of the world, determined to prevent his seeing those signs which might lead him to adopt a religious life; and to that end, statione

THE Grand Being entered his magnificent palace, redolent with fragrant perfumes, Inilliantly illuminated with innumerable candles, and gay with wreaths of flowers—a palace splendid as the abode of Indra—and sat down upon his royal couch. A bevy of the most lovely and fascinating girls surrounded him, striving by dancing, music, and songs to attract his thoughts to pleasure ; but all their enticements were vain. He no longer found any satisfaction in such things, and, heeding them not, he fell as

THEN the most excellent Grand Being, turning to Channa, said: “Channa, that hast been my friend, helping me to enter the noble order of mendicants, now take these my ornaments to my royal parents, and tell thom from me, that they should not grieve nor fee! anxiety on my account. Tell them that 1 have entered the order of mendicants, not from want of gratitude towards them, nor from any feeling of spite or annoyance, nor because any desire of mine has not been gratified ; hut because T have ponde

Ix the village Sanekka of Uruwela, there lived a malden named Suchada, the daughter of a rich man. She had made a vow to the angel established in a great banyan-tree, that if she married a worthy husband, aud if her first-born proved to be a son, she would yearly make an immense offering in honowr of the angel of the tree The objects of her vow having been accomplished, she prepared her offering for the fifteenth day of the sixth month. She selected a thousand cows, fed in the ricliest pastures;

THE great King Mara, who ruled over all the Mara angels, he whose nature is sinful and filthy, had throughout these six years heen vainly seeking au occasion against the Grand Being. Ie heard the rejoicings of the angels, and knew their canse, and determined that he must at once destroy the man who was about to pass beyond his power. For this purpose he sent his three daughters, Raka, Aradi, and Tanha.’! Beautifully bedecked, and escorted by five hundred maidens, they approached the throne of th

Tug Lord, the Teacher, * not having yet attained omniscience, continued to sit on his throne shaded by the holy jewel the Bo-tree, where he had routed King Mara and all his host. His victory had been completed in the evening near about nightfall, And in the first watch of the night, the Lord entered into that state of meditation which gave him the power of remembering his former existences to a number beyond count. He remembered the time and place and nature of each existence, his form, his colo

The Lord Buddha having obtained omniscience, yet remained seated on the jewelled throne beneath the great holy Bo-tree for a space of seven days, full of satisfaction and happiness, arising from the fruition of his holiness. ’ And at the end of seven days, rising from his throne, and proceeding to a short distance from it, he stood on its cast and on its north in due order, and thus reflected— “ Vast has been the kindness and the service which this great holy Bo-tree has rendered to me. Trusting

Ix this note I wiil endeavour to esplain the words Buddha, Bodhi, Bodhisatva, and Phra. Buddha, in Siamese, Plut and Pluthe, * The Wise, is the principal title of every Buddha, of whom it is supposed there have been infinite numbers, who have enlightened the world successively at distant intervals. The word comes from the Sanscrit “ Budha,” which is derived from “ budh "—to fathom, penetrate, understand, Bodhi, a Sanscrit word, in Siamese, PZothi, has in both languages the same meanings— (1.) wi

In the “Modern Buddhist” an attempt is made, by the aid of translations from the writings of an eminent Siamese philosopher, to give a glimpse of the reasonable religions teaching and beautiful morality which lie buried among the superstitions of corrupted Buddhism ; and prominence is given to Buddha's Sermon on Faith, to show how strictly Le charged his disciples to believe in nothing that their reasoning powers did not commend to their belief. The present essay will show how far Buddhists have

I visirep Phrabat in December 1868, having Leen provided by the Ministry in Bangkok with very excellent letters of commendation or command to the authorities of the towns I was likely to stay at en route. Be the season wes or dry, there is only one way of travelling from Bangkok, that is, hy water; for even when the floods have left the rice-fields, the numerous canals and branches of the river which reticulate the flat alluvial plain of the Mcnam effectually prevent Jand-travelling. The travell

Tie drawing of the footprint is surrounded hy an ornamental border, the desion of which is derived from the lotus (eyinphas). This lotus-pattern is found everywhere in Buddhist architecture, and notably is used for the capitals of columns, and for the decoration of the “ lion seats” or altars on which images of Buddha are placed. The toes are three-juinted, and cach juint is marked with a spiral pattern, “the network” of the books. The great-toe is on the left side, showing this to be a print of