Mr. B. H. Hodgson's Sketch of Buddhism. 283 



" Meanwhile, as the Pdtan Bauddha seemed very intelhgent, and my 

 " curiosity was excited, I proposed to him (about four years ago) a set of 

 " questions, which I desired he would answer from his books. He did so ; 

 " and these questions and answers form the text of the paper which I herewith 

 " forward. The reason why I have so long kept it to myself, is, that with the 

 " lapse of time my opportunities for obtaining information increased ; and I 

 " at length persuaded the sensible minister of this state to permit my old 

 " friend to visit me. Having in his answers quoted sundry slukas in proof 

 " of his statements ; and many of the scriptures whence these were taken 

 " being now in my possession, I was tempted to try tlie truth of his 

 " quotations. Of that, my research gave me in general satisfactory proof. 

 " But the possession of the books led to questions respecting their relative 

 " age and authority ; and, tried by this test, the Bauddha's quotations were 

 •' not always so satisfactory. Thus one step led to another, until I con- 

 •' ceived the idea of drawing up, with the aid of my old friend and his 

 " books, a sketch of the terminology and general disposition of the external 

 " parts of Buddhism, in the belief that such a sketch, though but imperfectly 

 " executed, would be of some assistance to such of my countrymen as» 

 " with the books only before them, might be disposed to enter into a full and 

 " accurate investigation of this almost unknown subject. 



" When, however, I conceived that design, I little suspected where it 

 " would lead me ; I began ere long to feel my want of languages, and (to 

 " confess the truth) of patience, and almost looked back with a sigh to the 

 " tolerably full and tolerably accurate account of Buddhism which I had 

 " obtained so long ago, and with little comparative labour, from my old 

 " friend's answers to my queries. I also saw certain notices of Buddhism 

 " coming from time to time before the world, ushered by the talents and 

 " industry of Klaproth and Remusat ; and, so far as I had opportunity to 

 •' learn what these notices contained, it seemed that the answers to my 

 " questions furnished much ampler and more accurate views of the subject 

 " than these distinguished men could extract from their limited sources of 

 " information. 



" These considerations have induced me to present, without further delay, 

 " the accompanying paper to Mr. Colebrooke, to whose sound knowledge 

 «« if it be first submitted, there can be no danger of the publication being 

 «' made without sufficient warrant for its usefulness. Whether or not I shall 

 " persevere in the undertaking before hinted at, I can hardly venture to say ; 



