JOURNAL 



ASIATIC SOCIETY 



Review of L/histoire du Buddhism Indien, par E. Burnouf. By Dr. 



E. Roer. 



It is with great satisfaction, that we hail the appearance of a work, 

 which will, we suspect, form an epoch in our knowledge of Buddhism. 

 Seeing the name of the author at the head of this " Introduction to the 

 History of Buddhism" important results were to be expected from his 

 knowledge of Sanscrit and of Pali literature, but we did not anticipate, 

 that a great part of his researches was based on Sanscrit sources. It is^ 

 indeed singular, that our first information about Buddhism should have 

 been derived from secondary sources ; from the Burmese, the Moguls, 

 the Chinese, &c. and should only gradually have returned to its main 

 spring. Our first acquaintance with Buddhism was in fact not of a kind 

 to invite research ; the mixture of extravagant fables, apparent histori- 

 cal facts, philosophical and religious doctrines was so monstrous, that 

 it seemed to defy every attempt to unravel it. There were architec- 

 tural monuments in abundance, which bore witness to high ancient 

 civilization among Buddhist nations, but in referring to their tradi- 

 tional or written records, which alone could give language to those 

 relics, enquiry was startled at their incoherence and inconsistency. The 

 researches of Abel Remusat, especially on the Buddhist writings of the 

 Mongolian nations, threw the first light on these mysteries. He was 

 closely followed by F. J. Smith, and from Chinese authorities by 



No. 167. No. 83. New Series. 5 m 



