182 THE REV. R. COLLINS; ON 



as near wisdom and goodness as you can in this life. Trouble not 

 yourselves about the gods. Disturb not yourselves by curiosities 

 or desires as to a future existence. Seek only after the fruit of 

 the noble path, of self-culture and self-control." 



In reading Buddhist works it seems to me that what Buddha 

 meant by Nirvana was endless peace, and final rest after the 

 troubles of the world ; but later writers gave so many different 

 explanations that almost any theory can be supported, by selecting 

 certain passages from the enormous literature of the Buddhists. 



As regards a few of the details of the paper, I would beg to 

 note that writing is believed to have reached India about 600 B.C. 

 The northern alphabets were derived from the Aramean scripts of 

 Persia, the southern from the Arab characters of Yemen. In 

 Asoka's time the Greek alphabet had also appeared on the coins of 

 the Greek princes of Bactria. 



The suggestion of Jewish influence in India in Buddha's time 

 seems to me very improbable. The Jews were then captives, and 

 only a small part of the Bible existed, in the form of scattered 

 manuscripts, known only to the few, and not yet collected by 

 Ezra. The Pentateuch was not translated into Greek till Asoka's 

 time, and the same Ptolemy who caused this translation, is said 

 by Ensebius to have collected Buddhist works as well. Between 

 India and the Jews lay Persia, where the Zoroastrian creed was 

 flourishing ; and there is no trace of Jewish influence in the earlier 

 books of the Zendavesta. If the Jews were unable to influence 

 their Persian masters, it is hardly probable that they would have 

 iuflaenced the civilised states beyond. They were still a small 

 subject people in Asoka's time, and it was not till the days of the 

 Hasmoneans that they began powerfully to affect the thought of 

 Western Asia. 



As regards the Buddhist legends their importance would be 

 much greater if they were peculiar to Buddhism. But this is not 

 the case. Stories similar to some of them are found all over Asia, 

 and which appear to be much older than Buddha. They occur in 

 the mythology of the Turks, the Mongols, and the Chinese, as well 

 as of the Persians and Hindus. Buddhism was not altogether 

 unknown to the fathers of the Church — to Clement of Alexandria, 

 Jerome, and others. (Stromata III, 7. Contra Jovianum Eptst.), 

 atid Jerome knew the story of the Virgin birth of the 

 Buddha, But I believe these coincidences between Buddhist and 



