believers, some of whom were more factious than devout. Brahmanism had
no need of this. The Brahman priest had his law in tradition; his life
and conduct were regulated by immemorial law. The corporations of
these priests were but temporary organizations for specific purposes.
They made no attempt to proselytize. Their members never exceeded the
bounds of the caste. The cause, then, of the rapid spread of Buddhism
at the beginning of its career lies only in the conditions of its
teaching and the influential backing of its founder. It was the
individual Buddha that captivated men; it was the teaching that
emanated from him that fired enthusiasm; it was his position as an
aristocrat that made him acceptable to the aristocracy, his magnetism
that made him the idol of the people. From every page stands out the
strong, attractive personality of this teacher and winner of hearts.
No man ever lived so godless yet so godlike. Arrogating to himself no
divinity, despairing of future bliss, but without fear as without
hope, leader of thought but despising lovingly the folly of the world,
exalted but adored, the universal brother, he wandered among men,
simply, serenely; with gentle irony subduing them that opposed him, to
congregation after congregation speaking with majestic sweetness, the
master to each, the friend of all. His voice was singularly vibrant
and eloquent;[34] his very tones convinced the hearer, his looks
inspired awe. From the tradition it appears that he must have been one
of those whose personality alone suffices to make a man not only a
leader but a god to the hearts of his fellows. When such an one speaks
he obtains hearers. It matters little what he says, for he influences
the emotions, and bends whoever listens to his will. But if added to
this personality, if encompassing it, there be the feeling in the
minds of others that what this man teaches is not only a verity, but
the very hope of their salvation; if for the first time they recognize
in his words the truth that makes of slaves free men, of classes a
brotherhood, then it is not difficult to see wherein lies the
lightning-like speed with which the electric current passes from heart
to heart. Such a man was Buddha, such was the essential of his
teaching; and such was the inevitable rapidity of Buddhistic
expansion, and the profound influence of the shock that was produced
by the new faith upon the moral consciousness of Buddha's people.

The literature