"Panadaré, Ceylon, 22nd July, 1881. "Sir. It is with the greatest pleasure that I have to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of The Light of Asia,' which you had the kindness to present to the Viharé. Please to accept our most sincere thanks for your precious gift. The Venerable priest Weligama Sri Sumangala, who is renowned alike for his deep learning and devoted priest-hood, in handing over the copy of The Light of Asia,' said that you wished to know whether we approve of it. After what the great critics of the day have said of the work and the high commendations of the newspapers on either side of the Atlantic, I need hardly say anything either by way of comment or praise. This much I may say, that The Light of Asia is highly appreciated by all the Buddhists in Ceylon. The fact that your noble work was approved by the King of Siam, and that you were admitted to the celebrated Order of the White Elephant, was known to me long before our learned priest received your letter. Some time back in an American paper an account of it appeared, as also the letter of the King to you, which I have translated and published in one of the Singhalese journals for the information of the Ceylon Buddhists. I have kept your admirable book in the sacred library attached to the Viharé. Enclosed you will find a view of the Viharé, which I would thank you to accept as a poor return for your valuable present. The Rankoth Viharé, I may here observe, is one of the most famous of the Buddhist temples in Ceylon, and it is here that the learned priest Weligama Sri Sumangala for the most part resides.—I am, Sir, yours faithfully, J. J. CoORAY."

Extract from letter of the Chief Conductor of Ceremonies in the Rankoth Viharé, Ceylon.

"Panadaré.

"My dear Sir, I have received your very welcome letter. Agreeably to your desire expressed in the postscript to your letter, I have handed one of the two copies of The Light of Asia' to the head of the community of this Viharé, and have asked him to write to you giving his opinion of the same. However great and almost immeasurable the distance of the sun and moon be from the earth, yet the lotus spreads its petals through the influence of the distant sun, and the water-lily (kumuda) through that of the distant moon. In like manner, however distant though we be from each other, the kind expressions in your letter are to me what the sun and the moon are to the lotus and the water-lily respectively. Since you are anxious to know what my relations have been and are to the Sangha, allow me to inform you that of the two sects, Amarapura' and 'Siam,' existing in Ceylon, I belong to the former. There are several sub-divisions of the Amarapura sect. I am one of the four chiefs in our division in particular. I was some thirty years ago ordained or made an Upasampada priest by the Maha Sangha. About seven years ago the name of Isthawira' (a Sangha of the highest grade) was conferred on me by the Sangha, in conformity with the rules laid down in the Vinayapitaka. I am usually appointed Investigator or Judge in cases of the priests of almost all the divisions in Ceylon of the Amarapura sect, and the chief Conductor of the following Ceremonies of the Sangha or priesthood, to wit, the Parivása (the confession of sins of the priests). the Manatha (the compromising of sins), and the Abhána (the rectifying of former sins). In accordance with the rules of the Vinaya Pitaka, the Buddhist priests have after every sin of commission or omission to go through these ceremonies. At a meeting held at Ratnapura

OF ASIA."

about thirteen years ago, for the purpose of going through the whole of the Pitaka Texts, I was entrusted with a third of the task.. If there be anything in my power to do for you, I am at your service.-I am, my dear Sir, your faithfully, WELIGAMA SRI SUMANGALA."

Dr. G. T. Flanders in the (American) "Universalist Quarterly Review," under the title of Christ or Buddha draws a parallel between the lives of Jesus the Christ and Gautama the Buddha. It is singular how nearly the events in the histories of the two benefactors of humanity coinci and Dr. Flanders' aim is to decide the theological side of the question rather than to review Mr. Edwin Arnold's poem We will endeavour to summarize his statements. He com pares the births of Gautama and Jesus, and shows that whilst that of the former is related with oriental imagery involving absurdity, the latter is essentially simple and realistic, with the exception of the miraculous conception. In comparing the asserted miracles of both, he shows that those attributed to Gautama were utterly useless, whilst those of Jesus wan always for a benevolent or useful purpose. Gautama, who wa born to princely estate, which he gave up to devote hime to alleviate evils incidental to humanity, died of eating pork, a dish. we believe, generally eschewed by Orientas Jesus was born of poor estate and was crucitied, foretold by the prophets of his own people. Dr. Flander comes to the conclusion of Dr. Eitel, that there is not a sugle Buddhistic manuscript in existence which could vie antiquity and undoubted authenticity with the oldest col of the Gospels. The Codex Vaticanus was written in a fourth century. one hundred years before the first edition of Buddhist Scriptures was undertaken, of which not a arg ancient manuscript has been preserved! Putting on one the claims of Buddhism and Christianity as rivals in the matter of antiquity, there is no doubt that the former relig resembles the latter in teaching brotherly love, and the has greatly benefited India in breaking down caste, wi is inimical to it. We opine that a religion founded ery in error could not have existed so long as it has, nor wo have drawn into its folds by far a larger portion of the huma race than any other. The Swedish seer, Emanuel Sweden. borg, stated that some part of Asia was possessed of th sacred scriptures, or "the Word" as he terms it. The Be Dr. Tafel has kindly sent us the following quotation from "The Apocalypse Revealed," No. II- Respecting that Ancient Word which existed before the Israelitic Word in Asia. I am allowed to relate this new information; namely, that it s still preserved among the peoples who inhabit the Great Tartary. I conversed with spirits and angels who were thence in the spiritual world, and they stated that they possessed the Word, and that they possessed it from the ancient times; and that according to that Divine Word they celebrated their worship, which consisted entirely of mere correspondences. They also said that it contained the Book of Jasher mentioned in Joshua x. 12, 13, and in the second Book of Samuel 1. 17. 18. And that there was also with them the books called The Wars of Jehovah and the Prophetical Enunciations, mentioned by Moses in Numbers XXI. 14, 15. and 27-30. On reading to them the words which Moses had quoted from these books, they examined whether they were in the original, and found them there; from which it became evident to me that the Ancient Word is still with them. . . They related further that they did not permit any foreigners to come among them, except the Chinese, with whom they cultivate peace, because the Emperor of China is from their country; and besides that they are so populous that they cannot imagine any country in the world to be more so; which indeed appears credible from the great length of the wall which the Chinese formerly built as a security against their incursions. Look for that Word in China and perhaps you will find it there among the Tartars." Dr. Flanders' review has been reprinted in a separate form, and published by Mr. Geo. Bates, of Salem, Mass.

DR. ROST, the learned Librarian of the India Office, has been elected a Corresponding Member of the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences.

THE ARCHEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA. - We have received volumes X. and XI. of Major-General Cunningham's Archæological Survey of India. The first contains Reports of Tours in Bundelkhand and Malwa, 1874-5 and 1876-7, which resulted in the discovery of antiquities of the time of

Asoka and some specimens of the architecture of the Gupta period. In the appendix will be found a dissertation on the dates of the Gupta Dynasty. The second contains Reports of Tours in the Gangetic Provinces from Badaon to Bihar in 1875-6 and 1877-8. During this tour General Cunningham identified the site of the famous Uruvilwa forest which gave its name to Uruvilwa Kasyapa, the fire-worshipping opponent of Buddha. It was in this Vilwa (bel tree) forest that Sakya

Sinha retired for contemplation, and where he finally attained Baddhahood. The place is now the small hamlet Urel, a ontraction of the Pali name Urawel, but the whole neighsourhood round still abounds with bel trees.

ANCIENT INDIAN INSCRIPTIONS.-The Science and Art Department has made arrangements for the translation into English of the inscriptions to be found on the articles in the adian Museum, and Mr. A. N. Woollaston has been placed harge of the work with Mirza Muhammad Bakur Khan s his assistant. Mr. Woollaston is Examiner in Persian to Royal Military College at Sandhurst. and the translator f the "Anvar-i-Subali," and Mirza Muhammad Bakur . who was attached to the British Residency at Bushire, a clever Persian and Arabic scholar ranking amongst the Persian poets of the present day. When the Indian ptions have been translated, it is probable that those in @Persian collection will be proceeded with.

PROFESSOR LANMAN'S BOOKS.-Professor Lanman's book, On Noun-Inflection in the Veda" (New Haven, 1880, 277 pp. jaims at an exhaustive and systematic discussion of the an-forms in the Rig- and Atharva-vedas. It is primarily grammatical investigation of the actual usages of the die dialect, and upon it Professor W. D. Whitney has ed his treatment of the subject in his Sanskrit grammar gently issued. Secondarily, however, it treats of a great y questions of exegesis, metre, and the text criticism of ividual passages. Scattered throughout the work, also, numerous statistical researches, which shed interesting at upon broader problems of Vedic criticism. It is proled with an index of citations, an index of Sanskrit words, da general index. His Sanskrit Reader, with dictionary notes. is now going through the press. The most Hous obstacle to the progress of Sanskrit studies in merica has been the utter lack of suitable text-books. his difficulty has been removed in part by Professor hitney's Sanskrit Grammar. Böhtlingk's abridged Sant-German Dictionary will probably be finished in several ar, and will be very complete and cheap. His Reader is cheap and good, but contains neither glossary nor exanatory notes. Williams' Dictionary costs 24 dollars; the Petersburgh Lexicon about 75 dollars. Few students can expected to buy these costly works at the outset, when they e uncertain whether Sanskrit will be of sufficient interest or use to them to warrant their continuing it. At the end of the first year, however, a decision will be easy. A well-made and inexpensive manual for the first year's work in Sanskrit is. therefore, a real desideratum. This the handbook whose fitle is given above will attempt to supply. It will furnish enough material for about forty weeks in a course of three hours a week. It will consist of three parts: text, dictionary, and notes. Of these, the first part is in the Sanskrit characters. The Sanskrit words of the other two will be in English letters. In all, there are 105 large octavo pages,

-thirds being classical Sanskrit, and the last third belonging to the Vedic period. The easy Nala is the Xenophon's Anabasis of Sanskrit students, and quotations from it appear very often as examples in the grammars. The first five cantos form a complete story. The fables were chosen according to their intrinsic excellence and their interest as originals of well-known Occidental fables (Gellert, Perrette, etc.). The same is true of the tales. The selections from Manu give a picture of the life of a Brahman in its four stadia, the legend of the creation, and the details of the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. Among the Vedic hymns are, first, some of the easiest; then some taken on account of their literary merit; and, finally, some taken because of their historical importance. The Brahmana pieces are chosen in such a way as to show the relation of this kind of literature to the hymns. Thus, some of the legends are amplifications of allusions in the hymns. The Sutra chapters on wedding and burial are given for the interest of their contents. Since these rubrics prescribe that certain numerous verses of the Rig-veda be repeated at these ceremonials, care has been had that all those verses may be found among the Vedic selections. The dictionary will be absolutely complete for the text given. It will also combine some of the features of Professor John Williams White's projected Greek word-book; that is, about each root- not only verbal root, but also those of nouns and pronouns-will be grouped all the derivatives of that root occurring in the reader. There will probably be brief mentions of the cognate Greek. Latin, and English words. The notes will be short, but will give ample assistance. They will explain allusions to the history and antiquities of India, contain references throughout (especially for irregular forms) to Whitney's Grammar, and give concise literary introductions to the

THE STUDENT'S MARATHI GRAMMAR.-The Rev. Ganpatrao R. Navalkar, of Alibag near Bombay, issued last year a new edition of his Student's Marathi Grammar, which is now to be had of Trübner & Co. This edition contains many improvements and corrections on the Manual of Marathi Grammar," under which title the first edition was issued. The author traces the development of the Marathi language from the Sanskrit through Prakrit to its present condition, the Marathi being like the English, a composite language continually growing by the adoption of new words, some of its later ones being even borrowed from the latter.

CEYLON INSCRIPTIONS.-Edward Muller's work on Ceylon Inscriptions, copied during four years' residence in the Island, is in the press, and will shortly be published under the auspices of the Government of Ceylon; it will be an 8vo. volume of about 200 pages.

CHINA." The Middle Kingdom," or the Cathay of the Ancients, which possessed a civilization considerably advanced when Europe was just emerging from barbarism, and which is said to contain one-tenth of the inhabitants of the whole world, must necessarily possess an interest for the reading public both of Europe and America, and authentic works which throw light on China and the Chinese always meet with a ready sale. The latest work on this subject, by the Rev. L. N. Wheeler, is published by Messrs. Griggs & Co., of Chicago; it is entitled "The Foreigner in China," giving a history of the effects on the Chinese of the teachings of Christianity and western civilization as represented in the labour of the Missionaries. Dr. Wheeler was nearly eight years a resident in China, and enjoyed exceptional opportunities for becoming acquainted with the facts he relates. Like all who have had an opportunity of seeing the effects of opium smoking on the physique of the populace, he strenuously advocates a repeal of the Treaty which exposes the Chinese nation to slow poisoning. Dr. Wheeler attributes the hostility of foreigners, and especially the British, to the Ti Ping rebels, to the fact that their leader had strictly forbidden the use of opium amongst his followers. The account he gives of the doings of the rebels compare favourably with those of their Manchoo opponents, the former always treating Europeans well, even when their relatives were being slaughtered through the assistance given by foreign mercenaries to the Manchoos.-"China and Japan, a record of observations made during a residence of several years, and a tour of visitation to the Missions of both countries in 1877-8," by the Rev. J. W. Wiley, D.D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and published by Hitchcock & Walden, Cincinnati, is another book upon our table. Mr. Wiley seems to have travelled over a large portion of both countries, and he has a happy way of imparting his experiences to his readers that fixes their attention without wearying them, and at the same time copious illustrations add to the attractiveness of the narrative The Chinese, their Education, Philosophy, and Letters," by the Rev. W. A. P. Martin, D.D., President of the Tungwen College, Peking (London, Trubner & Co.; New York, Harper Bros.), gives us another view of Chinese life, and shows us how the governing classes of China receive their education. The first edition of this book, which was printed in China, bore the title of the "Hanlin Papers," because the Hanlin Yuan or Imperial Academy represents the embodiment of the highest forms of Chinese intellectual life. The influence of the Hanlin Academy does not appear to reach the masses to any extent, that is, if we accept Mr. Martin's statistics, that though every one is supposed to read and write in China, not one, although he may read with perfect accuracy, will comprehend a single sentence of what he is reading-the ordinary Chinese school-boy merely representing a parrot who can read, but does not think. We are glad to hear that Dr. S. Wells Williams is progressing in his preparation of a new edition of his work entitled the "Middle Kingdom," which is undoubtedly the fullest and most exhaustive work on China which has appeared during the present century. Messrs. Trübner & Co. will probably issue it next year.

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SWEDENBORG ON THE BRAIN.-It is proposed to publish the Treatise on the Brain-consisting of portions hitherto unpublished of the "Animal Kingdom," and the " Economy of the Animal Kingdom," by Emanuel Swedenborg, translated and edited by R. L. Tafel, A.M., Ph.D., in four volumes, large Svo. cloth, at the subscription price of 18 dols. ; atlas of plates, 4 dols. 50 cents, providing enough subscribers can be obtained to pay the cost. This encyclopaedic treatise has been translated from the photolithographed MSS. of Swedenborg, by Dr. R L. Tafel. It contains the first complete theory of the brain and of the nervous system that has ever been set forth. As the work was written one hundred