In the time of Asoka, Buddhism had almost become the State religion of India. The conversion of the king, however, proved the beginning of its decline. It continued to exist until the eighth or ninth century after Christ. To-day there is scarcely a trace of the religion among all the people of India proper. The only body of people in India that has any connection with Buddhism is the singular sect of the Jains. The views of this body are half Buddhist and half Brahmin. They are found especially on the Western coast of India, in and around the city of Bombay. They are divided into two classes, the Soetambaras, or “clothed in white garments,” and the Digambaras, or “sky-clad,” that is naked. The last class now wear colored garments, though formerly they went naked. Like the Buddhists they reject the Vedas or sacred books of the Brahmins. The principal point of their practice is the reverence paid to holy men, who, by long discipline, have raised themselves to divine perfection. These men are called Jinas or “conquering saints,” whence comes the name of their followers, the Jains. They believe in two ever-returning cycles of time, of immense duration, which defy all human calculation. The first Jina of the second cycle, in which we now live, attained the age of 8,400,000 years, and each Jina since has lived a shorter and shorter time. There are three ways, they say, by which the soul is delivered, viz.: right intuition, right knowledge and right conduct. This last consists in observing five duties, or vows of self-restraint. 1. Do not kill or injure. (Strict Jains carry this to a ridiculous extent. They strain water before drinking it, sweep the ground with a brush before treading it, never eat or drink in the dark, and sometimes wear a muslin strip over their mouths to prevent the risk of swallowing minute insects. They will never eat figs or any fruit containing seeds, nor even touch flesh-meat with their finger-tips). 2. Do not tell lies. 3. Do not steal. 4. Be chaste and temperate in thought, word or deed. 5. Do not desire anything immoderately. In Bombay there is a hospital temple of the Jains where sick animals are received and cared for. In this temple one may see oxen, some with bandages over their eyes, and some lame lying upon beds of clean straw; others, blind and paralyzed, are having their food brought to them and are being rubbed down by pious devotees. Here are gathered sick or wounded dogs, cats, fowls of every sort, crows, buzzards, vultures, rats, mice, sparrows, peacocks, jackals, etc., and are tenderly cared for. THE FAMOUS TOPES.