A rendering into English of Kumarajiva’s Chinese translation was accomplished by the Rev. S. Beal, and published in The _Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society_, 1864–65. The text and German translation of the Tibetan version were published in 1873 by M. Schmidt, in _The Mémoires de l’Académie St Pétersbourg_. The Mongolian translation was presented by the Baron de Constadt to the library of the Institut de France. The Manchu translation is in the possession of M. de Harlez, who, with the aid of the Tibetan, Manchu, and Chinese versions, published a French translation of the Sanscrit text of _The Diamond Sutra_ in the _Journal Asiatique_, 1892.[8] It has been observed[9] that “at first sight it may seem as if this metaphysical treatise hardly deserved the world-wide reputation which it has attained.” Regarding this descriptive “world-wide reputation,” devout Buddhists might suggest in extenuation, that throughout many centuries, the “spiritual wisdom” of _The Diamond Sutra_ produced in countless minds a “conscious blessedness of perfect peace.” This “spiritual wisdom” also appeared to be a “strong incentive to holiness,” and a grateful inspiration to those who had entered “the path which leads to Nirvana.” In a few renowned monasteries of Central China, our Buddhist friends frequently affirmed that, by contemplating the “spiritual wisdom” of _The Diamond Sutra_, the mind would inevitably become “transfused with the mellow light of imperishable truth.” In the preface to _The Vagrakkhedika_, Max Müller made a critical observation regarding certain peculiarities of “‘style’ adopted in this treatise by the Buddhist philosophers who wished to convince their hearers of the truth of their philosophy.” From the Sanscrit text, perhaps it is difficult to realise fully what Asvaghocha[10] described as the “persuasiveness of Buddha’s eloquence”;[11] yet we may quite appreciate the academic instinct of Kumarajiva, whose work on _The Diamond Sutra_ bears evidence of a laudable endeavour to produce a classic, which in the Chinese language is almost entirely beyond reproach. In all our aspirations to translate or to interpret Buddhist texts, perhaps it might prove advantageous to bear in mind the significant words incorporated in the _Light of Asia_:— “And time hath blurred their script and ancient sense, Which once was new and mighty, moving all.” Max Müller stated[12] that _The Diamond Sutra_ represents a treatise on “metaphysical agnosticism,” and he excused its “endless repetition of the same process of reasoning” on the assumption, that the subject-matter of the _Sutra_ was probably “perfectly familiar to children and ignorant persons.”