There is that in Buddhism, intelligible to the poor and the suffering, which has endeared Buddhism to the hearts of millions not the silly, metaphysical phantasmagorias of worlds of gods and worlds of Brahma, or final dissolution of the soul in Nirvāna. No, the beautiful, the tender, the humanly true, which, like pure gold, lies buried in all religions, even in the sand of the Buddhist canon.--F. MAX MÜLLER. Gautama had himself thoroughly worked out his system of religion. With regard to his teachings, we have more reliable information than in regard to his life. During his fifty years of teaching he had ample time to repeat over and over again to his disciples the principles of his faith. In the interval between Buddha’s death and the reign of the Buddhist king, Asoka (in 307 B.C.), legends and stories of miraculous deeds multiplied about the narrative of Buddha’s life. Gautama Buddha’s teachings were committed to writing and commentaries were written upon these. To determine what were the genuine Buddhist sacred books, and what were apocryphal, a council was called by King Asoka. This king was to the Buddhists what Constantine the Great was to the early Christian Church. King Asoka said to the assembled priests, “what has been said by Buddha, that alone is well said.” The canon of sacred books, as declared by this council, include the collection called the Tripitaka, or “Three Baskets.” These are to Buddhism what the New Testament is to Christianity; in these we find the orthodox belief. The first of these baskets is called the Vinaya, and contains all of Buddha’s teachings that refer to morality; the second is called the Sutras, containing the sermons of Buddha; the third is called the Abhidharma, containing all that treats of philosophy and metaphysics. The general name, Dharma, or “law,” is applied to the second and third Pitakas, or baskets. The first and second baskets each contain five separate works, and the third basket seven. In addition to these books the Buddhists look upon the commentaries and parables of the famous Buddhist missionary, Buddhaghosha, as of nearly equal value. These were written about 430 A.D. Still further, we have the work called the Dharma Pada, or “Footsteps of the Law.” This is a book of Buddhist’s morals, and Spence Hardy, one of the best writers on Buddhism, says that a collection of precepts might be made from this work, which in purity of morals could hardly be equaled by any heathen author. We now give a summary of Buddha’s teachings on the more important topics as found in the Tripitakas. THE BUDDHIST WAY OF SALVATION.