BUDDHISM. 



109 



which the bricks are laid without cutting. In 

 the latter case, the difference in the lengths of 

 the curves, that is. of the intrados and the ex- 

 trados of the arch, is reached by the forma- 

 tion of wedge-shaped mortar-joints. Ganged 

 arches are formed of specially made bricks, in 

 which a proportion of sand has been used to 

 render them triable, and the cutting is effected 

 by means of a coarse-toothed saw. the exact 

 shape being obtained by rubbing the sides on 

 a stone, to the form of a template. This is 



EXVERTED ARCH. 



often done by the bricklayer on the job, bat 

 more frequently in the brickmaker's yard, 

 from detail drawings furnished him by the 

 architect. The nances by which arches are 

 known, unlike most of the technicalities of 

 the building-trade, are substantially identical 

 throughout the country. They are taken in 

 nearly every case from the curves to which 

 they are formed. Thus we have semi or 

 semicircular, segmental, elliptical, and cy- 

 cloidal arches. Among pointed arches there 

 is the equilateral, which comprises two arcs 

 struck from the abutments. The inverted arch 

 is always segmental, and is struck upside down, 

 for the purpose of distributing the weight of 

 the superincumbent building over the space in- 

 tervening between two piers. Flat arches are 

 useful over horizontal window and door heads, 

 and are usually formed with the camber or 

 curve on the intrados. 



The manner in which the exterior joints of 

 brickwork are finished varies considerably in 

 different parts of the country and in different 



FLAT ARCH. 



kinds of work. In interior walls the joint is 

 "struck." 1 that is, finished by drawing the 

 trowel along it to render it smooth. Where 

 the same wall is plastered, the mortar is left 

 rough so as to form a key for the plaster. In 

 exterior walls the mortar-joints, as a rule, are 

 finished level with the bricks, and the whole 

 surface is painted with two or three coats of 

 oil-paint. The mortar-joints are thus hidden. 

 A small brush guided by a straight edge and 

 dipped in white paint is used to paint in the 

 mortar-joints at the proper distance apart. 



BUDDHISM. An analysis of Southern Bud- 

 dhism, which has been published by the Bishop 

 of Colombo, embodies the results of twelve 



years' ob-ervation of the system in Ceylon and 

 first-hand studies of the sacred books. The 

 author draws a general distinction between the 

 traditional school of interpretation, as it is 

 known to Singalese scholars, and that to which 

 Europeans incline. " The Singalese tradition, 

 if it differs, differs always in the direction of a 

 meaning more puerile, more wooden. 

 Christian.'' although the higher meaning may 

 in some cases be acknowledged by the Buddhist 

 interpreter. 



Numerical estimates of Buddhist adherents 

 are of no value, because Buddhism, unlike other 

 religions, does not claim exclusive possession 

 of the ground. It is a parasitic religion, ready 

 to thrive where it can, without displacing or 

 excluding another with which it comes in con- 

 tact. While a Christian or a Mohammedan or 

 a Hindoo can be that only, a Buddhist can also 

 be a Confucianist or a Taoist or both, and to 

 a great extent a Hindoo or planet-worshiper. 

 In Ceylon, the statues of Hindoo deities are 

 found in the precincts of the Buddhist riharag ; 

 on the Buddhist festivals, Buddhists visit Hindoo 

 and Buddhist temples alike; when Buddhists 

 are sick the Hindoo or the devil-priest meets the 

 Buddhist monk at the door without offense. 

 ' What is most practically the refuge of a Cey- 

 lon Buddhist is not anything truly Buddhistic, 

 but the system of astrology, charm, devil-danc- 

 ing, and other low superstitions." It is these, 

 and not the doctrines of the Tripitaka or any 

 rule of self-sacrifice, that the Buddhist has to 

 abandon when he becomes a Christian. 



Buddhism is a system of precepts or a method 

 of escape from evil, which is discovered and 

 lost again and again in successive ages. The 

 precepts are held to be unchangeable, but be- 

 come lost sight of till a new Buddha appears, 

 who revives the knowledge of them for the 

 benefit of his age. All the Buddhas of the suc- 

 cessive ages the term '' ages " being taken in 

 an infinite sense " do and say exactly the same 

 things: they are born in the same family, leave 

 home at the same hour of the night, throw their 

 bowls into the same stream, and so on.'' The 

 Buddha of the present age is Gautama. 



There is not the slightest hint that the truth 

 came by revelation from any person superior 

 to the Buddha, or that the Buddha is in any 

 sense God. But, if it be asked whether Bud- 

 dhists believe the Buddha to be a mere man. 

 or to be the Supreme Being, the question can 

 not be answered in one word. Buddhism does 

 not possess the idea of distinct grades of being, 

 permanently separated from one another. To 

 Buddhism all life is one. He who was a god 

 may now be a brute, and afterward may be a 

 man. The difference is rot one of indelible 

 character, but of stage. But of all beings, a 

 Buddha has reached the highest staire. He is. 

 therefore, the supreme being, but the phrases 

 in which this dogma is expressed do not imply 

 anything like what we mean by God. The 

 Buddha attained a position higher not in do- 

 minion, but in enlightenment than those of 



