BUDDHISM, AND "THE LIGHT OP ASIA." 175 



seen more emphasis laid on the argument that the hooks from 

 which points of resemblance between Christianity and Buddhism 

 are obtained, are books which were written long after the 

 establishment of Christianity and the dissemination of it through- 

 out a great part of the world.* 



Both at home and abroad, I would like much more to be done 

 than is done by Christians, in the matter of opposing Buddhistic 

 teaching, and I think it would be very desirable that some 

 attempt should be made to meet the Buddhistic literature which is 

 being cii'culated so extensively here in London, not only in books 

 and tracts but in the periodical literature that is being distributed. 

 I may mention a little incident connected with the manner in 

 which this Buddhism or Theosophy is taught in London. I was 

 present a few weeks ago at a " service " conducted by a man who 

 called himself a minister. A text from the New Testament was 

 given out, and the first sentence of the sermon was to the effect 

 that the Bible was the most interesting book in the world, 

 provided you did not read it religiously, and his second or third 

 sentence was to the effect that the Bible consisted of incidents of 

 teachings and stories taken from all the sacred books of the 

 world, and that led up to the statement that the words of the text 

 were taken from an incident in the life of Buddha ! Now, I know 

 a little about Buddha and the writings on Buddhism, and I have 

 never heard of any Buddhistic writings that could in any way 

 give a plausible ground for the statement made by that man 

 from the pulpit. So next day I wrote a respectfully phrased 

 card to the gentleman and said I should be very much obliged 

 to him if he would tell me where he got the incident in the life 

 of Buddha, with regard to the statement he made from the 

 pulpit, and he replied — "You will fiud it in the Maha-Vagga.'^ 

 Now, this is a big book, about as big as our Bible, and to say to a 

 person, " this incident you have referred to is in the Bible," would 

 be rather vague, "unless chapter and verse" were given. However, 

 after searching in vain for the incident in question, I invited my 

 correspondent to meet me at the British Museum : on the appoin ted 

 day, he did so, and with the book in question — with which I had 

 previously provided myself from the Museum's shelves — before 

 me : I told him I had been unable to find the incident in it 



* See Transactions, vol. xviii, Buddhism and Christianity. — Ed, 



