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XV 



On the Religion and Manners of the 

 People of Ceylon. 



By Mr. JOINVILLE. 



ANTIQUITY OF THE RELIGION OF BOUDHOU. 



It is generally known that the religion of Boud- 

 Hou is the rehgion of the people of Ceylon, but no 

 one is ac(iuainted with its forms and precepts. I 

 shall here relate what I have heard upon the subject, 

 and I have the satisfaction to think, that though 

 my information may not be altogether complete, yet 

 it will serve as a clue for future and deeper researches. 

 The first person who treats on such a subject, la- 

 bours under disadvantages, which succeeding authors 

 know liow to turn to their own account, by finishing 

 what a former hand had sketched, claiming the merit 

 of the whole work. Regardless, however, of this 

 consideration, I have the consolation to think I shall 

 be useful to him who may next treat of the present 

 subject. 



If Boudhou be not an allegorical being, he is a 

 man of genius, who has made laws and established 

 a relio'ion over a laro'C tract of Asia, It is hard to 

 say whether He, Zoroaster, or Brahma were the 

 most ancient. In fact, it would be necessary to- 

 wards the decision of this question, first, to establish 

 that these three legislators had really existed, or 

 rather if these names are not merely attributes. 

 Zoroaster is the only one represented as a man, 

 BitAHM A being always drawn as a part of and uniting 

 the three supreme powers of Creator, preserver and 

 destroyer, in his own person. Boudhou is superior 



to 



