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the only one. Given a universe, with evil, but without God, and pessimism 
is the most rational philosophy. Accept Buddha’s premises and his pessimism 
is only the decision of an honest mind. 
The four great truths are: (1.) Sorrow is; (2.) The cause of sorrow is 
the desire of being ; (3) the cure of sorrow is the suppression of desire ; (4) 
knowledge alone gives deliverance. The great blessing is to escape from. 
being. Merit and demerit are alike bad, for both make existence necessary. 
To escape from the wheel of being, to find quiet and uuconscious repose in 
Nirvana, was the aim of life ; this was salvation—being without the desire 
to be. It is remarkable that on such a metaphysical basis Buddha should 
have erected so pure an ethical system. There is in it much to admire. To 
reach Nirvana it was necessary to be right in belief, heart, speech, action, 
profession, spirit, memory, and meditation—a very complete and noble moral 
code. The ethics of the system are those of Buddha; when he was gone 
they declined. And the religion he founded, though ethically far purer, was 
organically weaker than the older Brahminism, and succumbed to it. Out 
- of the Union arose the present religion of India—Hinduism. 
Hinduism is a perfect Pantheon. It has an infinity of gods, and power 
for any number more; it readily deifies men. Its principal deities are 
Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. The female deities are especially worshipped. 
Hinduism is of all systems the hardest to conquer, for it gathers in and 
sanctifies the darkest in man.’ 
The Reviewer remarks as follows :— 
“Imperfect, as this report manifestly is, it demonstrates 
much study and a worthy grasp of the subjects discussed. 
And yet there are not a few points on which we would thank 
the learned lecturer for more definite and explicit utterances. 
1. Of the Aryan sacrifices he tells us: ‘The gods are 
reached through sacrifice; only the priest can offerit .... 
Gods and men are separated by the priests, and through them 
alone can unite.’ 
Whence the origin of this Aryan idea and usage in regard 
to sacrifices ? and wherein did the Aryan sacrifices differ, in 
theory and practice, from the ancient Jewish sacrifices en- 
joined in the Mosaic Code ? 
2. Of Brahminism Dr. Fairbairn says: ‘It teaches that 
Brahma is all in all. From him by evolution and emanation, 
all comes ; unto him all returns. He only is permanent... . 
To be swallowed up in Brahma is supreme bliss.’ 
The Bible teaches that ‘ Christ is all and in all,’ Col. i. 11; 
that He ‘filleth all in all,? Hph.i. 23. ‘For of Him, and 
through Him, and to Him, are all things,’ Rom. xi. 36.‘ All 
things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything 
made that was made,’ Johni. 3. ‘That they may be one, 
