The writer who furnished this curious Chinese account of Christ has supplied another remarkable coincidence between the practices of Budhuism and Popery. He says-"There is something to be said in favour of those Christians who believe in the magic powers of foreign words, and who think a prayer either more acceptable to the Deity or more suited to common edification, because the people do not generally understand it. They are not singular in this belief. Some of the Jews had the same opinion; the followers of Budhu, and the Mohammedans, all cherish the same sentiment. From the seat of his holiness at Rome, and eastward through all Asia, to the cave of the Jammaboos of Japan, this sentiment is espoused. The bloody Druids of ancient Europe; the naked gymnosophists of India; the Mohammedan Hatib; the Hoshang, or Budhist priests of China; the Roman Catholic clergy; and the bonzes of Japan, all entertain the notion that the mysteries of religion will be the more revered the less they are understood, and the devotions of the people performed by proxy the more welcome in heaven for their being dressed in the garb of a foreign tongue. Thus the synagogue, the mosque, the pagan temple, and the Romish church, seem all to agree in ascribing marvellous efficacy to the sounds of an unknown language; and as they have Jews, Mohammedans, and pagans, on their side, those Christians who plead for the use of an unknown tongue in the services of religion have certainly a host, as to number, in support of their opinion, though Scripture, reason, and common sense, are on the other side.

"The sacred language of the Budhists is called,

'the language of Fân,' which is the name of the birth-place of Budhu. It is totally unknown to the Chinese generally, and the priests themselves know nothing of it beyond the sound of a few favourite words and phrases. There are, it is true, glossaries attached to some of their religious books, which are designed to explain these technical shibboleths; but the definition is sometimes given in other technical terms, equally unintelligible; and, from their general ignorance of letters, very few of the priests are capable of consulting such helps. Among them there may now and then be found a scholar, and some have written books, but as a body they are extremely ignorant. Beyond the stated and occasional lessons of their liturgy, which they have learned to repeat by rote, they have very little knowledge of books, and many of them cannot read. As a sect, however, they profess to cherish the most profound veneration for the language of Fân. They ascribe miraculous effects to the use of the written character and of the oral language, and consider both to be of celestial origin. To the repetition of the bare sounds, without regard to the meaning, they attach the highest importance; hence they occasionally go over the same words hundreds and thousands of times. I once asked a priest, 'What advantage can you expect to derive from merely repeating a number of words, with the sense of which you are entirely unacquainted?' His answer was, 'True, I do not know the sense; it is profound and mysterious; yet the benefit of often repeating the sounds is incalculable, it is infinite!'"

We now notice the paradise of the Budhists. The creed of Budhuism represents that there are

thirty-three stories of heaven, and that Budhu sits upon a lotus, which is a favourite type of creative power, in the uppermost story, whence he surveys the whole world. The land of his kingdom is gold, and its gardens, groves, houses, and temples are adorned with seven kinds of precious stones. Around it are seven rows of trees, seven elegant net-works, seven fences of palisades; while in the midst are seven towers of gems, having seven flights of pearl stairs, and seven bridges made of pearls. It is inhabited by the Olo-han, the first disciples of Budhu; by the demi-gods, and pure gods of the ocean; by the numberless renovating Fos; and by the demi-gods of the past, present, and future; and all the sages, whether produced in heaven or earth. To obtain an entrance into this kingdom, it is represented that a man must have Fŏ in the mind, and Fŏ in the lips, at all times and seasons; and Fŏ is made to swear that if such a votary should miss the bliss he seeks, he will descend from his lotus throne, and no longer be a god!

The paradise of Fŏ includes most of those sensual indulgences which the founders of false religions have universally promised their votaries. When those die, who have earned for themselves a title to inherit it, their bodies, reproduced from the lotus, become pure and fragrant, and their countenances fair and well formed. Their hearts are replete with wisdom, and without vexation. If they dress not, they are not cold; and if they do, they are not made hot. So also, if they do not eat, they do not become hungry; and if they do, they are not satiated. They are without pain, irritation, and sickness, and they do not become

aged. Around them they behold the lotus flowers, and trees of gems, delightfully waving, like the motion of a sheet of embroidered silk, while over their heads they see the firmament full of to-lo flowers, falling in beautiful confusion, like rain. In fine, the felicity of the paradise of Fŏ may be called superlative, and its inhabitants are represented as enjoying it for ever.

These absurd notions of paradise are equalled by those which the Budhists entertain of hell. These have been thus described from a translation made by Dr. Morrison, of the explanatory letterpress on ten large wood-cuts, which are occasionally exhibited in their temples, and which have reference to this subject:-"Prior to their final condemnation, the souls are exposed to judgment in the courts of the She-ming-wâng, 'the ten kings of darkness.' The proceedings in these courts are represented exactly after the manner of the Chinese judicial trials, with the difference in the punishments, which, in these pictures of the infernal regions, are of course sufficiently appalling. In one view are seen the judge, with his attendants and officers of the court, to whom the merciful goddess Kuan-yin appears, in order to save from punishment a soul that is condemned to be pounded in a mortar. Other punishments consist of sawing asunder, tying to a burning pillar of brass, etc. Liars have their tongues cut out; thieves and robbers are cast upon a hill of knives, and so on. After the trials are over, the more eminently good ascend to paradise; the middling class return to earth in other bodies to enjoy riches and honours; while the wicked are tormented in hell, or transformed into various animals whose dispositions!

and habits they imitated during their past lives."

It appears singular, that while the Budhist priests teach their votaries there is a heaven and hell, that they should also teach the dogma of the transmigration of souls, in which doctrine they are represented as being finally swallowed up in annihilation. But the truth is, they know not what they teach. As, indeed, they have collected idols from every country, so it would appear that they have collected notions from every country, and grafted them on their original creed, so that it has become hard to be understood and explained.

The priests of Budhu are very numerous in China. They are taken from the dregs of the people, are a stupid and indolent class of men, and are generally very poor. They live a life of celibacy, and confine themselves principally to a vegetable diet. The costume which they wear resembles that of the Romish priesthood; and they are, in China, a society of mendicants, and go about like the monks, asking alms for the support of their establishment. Among them there is also a regular gradation of rank, as in the Romish church. According to his reputation for sanctity, his length of service, and other claims, each priest may rise from the rank of servitor, whose duty it is to perform the menial offices of the temple, to that of Tae-hoshang, abbot, or head of the establishment.

The temples of Budhuism differ very little from those of the state religion and Taouism. One of the most celebrated, which is at Canton, has been thus described by an eye-witness :-" I visited, one evening, the temple situated at a short