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 pass 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' manuscript. "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.