158 Dicovery of the name of Antiochus the Great, [Feb. 



one great variance in the parallel, — for, while the pillars were almost 

 identical letter for letter, the Girnar and Cuttack texts turned out to 

 be only so in substance, the language and alphabet having both very 

 notable and characteristic differences. 



Having premised thus much in explanation of the manner of my dis- 

 covery, I must now quit the general subject for a time, to single out the 

 particular passage in the inscriptions which is to form the theme of my 

 present communication. 



The second tablet at Girnar is in very good preservation ; every 

 letter is legible, and but two or three are in any way dubious. The 

 paragraph at Aswastuma which I found to correspond therewith, is far 

 from being in so good a state ; nevertheless when the extant letters are 

 interlined with the more perfect Girnar text, as in the accompanying 

 copy, they will be seen to confirm the most important passage, while they 

 throw a corroborative evidence upon the remainder, and give a great deal 

 of instruction on the respective idioms in which the two are couched. 



The edict relates to the establishment of a system of medical admi- 

 nistration throughout the dominions of the supreme sovereign of India, 

 one at which we may smile in the present day, for it includes both man 

 and beast; but this we know to be in accordance with the fastidious 

 humanity of the Buddhist creed, and we must therefore make due al- 

 lowance for a state of society and of opinions altogether different from 

 our own. 



I here present the whole paragraph in the old character as it stands 

 at Girnar, following it up with an interlined transcript in the roman 

 character, so as to place under one view the parallel texts from opposite 

 sides of India. 



Second Tablet at Girridr. 



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