an interest which may lead those who are naturally
frightened by the appalling proportions of Buddhist literature, and
the uncouth sounds of Buddhist terminology, to a study of the quartos
of Burnouf, Turnour, and others. To those who may wish for more
detailed information on Buddhism, than could be given by M. Barthelemy
Saint-Hilaire, consistently with the plan of his work, we can strongly
recommend the work of a German writer, 'Die Religion des Buddha,' von
Koeppen, Berlin, 1857. It is founded on the same materials as the
French work, but being written by a scholar and for scholars, it
enters on a more minute examination of all that has been said or
written on Buddha and Buddhism. In a second volume the same learned
and industrious student has lately published a history of Buddhism in
Tibet.

M. Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire's work is divided into three portions. The
first contains an account of the origin of Buddhism, a life of Buddha,
and an examination of Buddhist ethics and metaphysics. In the second,
he describes the state of Buddhism in India in the seventh century of
our era, from the materials supplied by the travels of Hiouen-Thsang.
The third gives a description of Buddhism as actually existing in
Ceylon, and as lately described by an eye-witness, the Rev. Spence
Hardy. We shall confine ourselves chiefly to the first part, which
treats of the life and teaching of Buddha.

M. Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire, following the example of Burnouf, Lassen,
and Wilson, accepts the date of the Ceylonese era 543 B.C. as the date
of Buddha's death. Though we cannot enter here into long chronological
discussions, we must remark, that this date was clearly obtained by
the Buddhists of Ceylon by calculation, not by historical tradition,
and that it is easy to point out in that calculation a mistake of
about seventy years. The more plausible date of Buddha's death is 477
B.C. For the purposes, however, which M. Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire had
in view, this difference is of small importance. We know so little of
the history of India during the sixth and fifth centuries B.C., that
the stage on which he represents Buddha as preaching and teaching
would have had very much the same background, the same costume and
accessories, for the sixth as for the fifth century B.C.

In the life of Buddha, which extends from p. 1 to 79, M. Barthelemy
Saint-Hilaire follows almost exclusively the Lalita-Vistara. This is
one of the most popular works of t