362 ON THE RELIGION AN'D 



^vifdom, has a very ftrong rcfemblance to the images 

 of Godama; and perhaps the CA??2e/e ambafTdors, and 

 their fuite, whom I fawat ^7Wfl7'^j&wra worfhippingthe 

 images of Bouddha, conceived the two deities to be 

 the lame. When in the fird century of the Chrijlian 

 aera the fuperltition of a Chinefe monarch had intro- 

 duced into his dominions the religion of the Brahmens^ 

 his fuccefTors were too jufl; to hinder their fubjefts 

 from worfliipping what gods they thought proper; but 

 they were too v/iie to admit the Brahmens as priefts, 

 or to tolerate their intriguing fpirit, or their detellable 

 fyftem of government: a condu6l entirely fimilar to 

 that wifely adopted towards the jfefttits by the late 

 emperor Yong-tching. On the whole I am inclined 

 to believe, that the religion mofl commonly profeffed 

 by the vulgar Chinefe^ has nearly the fame afhnity to 

 that of the Brahmens, which the fe6t of quakers has 

 to our eftablifhed church. It is true, that they have^ 

 Bonzes, or regular priefts : but thefe are neither Brah^ 

 mens, nor are they acknowledged by the Rahans to 

 be legitimate priefts of Bouddiia. But the wor.- 

 fhip of thefe Brahmenical gods, as communicated to 

 the Chinefe, is quite diftiniil from that of Godama. 

 'Whether the god Fo be one of thefe gods of the 

 Brahmens, or whether he be ShakaJ or whether all 

 the three be diftin^t, I will not prefume, for want of 

 fufficient information, to afiert: but there is a great 

 probability, that a very confiderable fe6l among the 

 Chinefe \i ox ^'\\> Godama under tbe name of Shaka, 

 pr, as the Portuguefe write it, Xaca. 



The feet of Bouddha is faid by fome to have been 

 introduced into China in the year of our aera 63*. 

 Others allege, that this event did not happen till the 

 year 519: and that the apoftle was a certain Darma, 

 third ion of an Indian king, the twenty-eighth 

 in defcent from Shaka, or as, the Dutch write, 



SjAKA. 



* Far I A Y SouzA tranflatedby Stepjiexs, II. p. 4. C. XVI.par. 12. 

 Gaps IE k's general dcfcription of C/««djj 11, 215, 



