784 Review of L'histoire [No. 167. 



Klaproth, Landresse, A. C. de Koros, whose indefatigable zeal and 

 perseverance opened new sources for the history and religion of the 

 Buddhists in the literature of the Tibetans. About the same time the 

 excavations of Buddhist monuments in the Punjaub and other places, 

 secured a geographical basis for the empires of the Buddhists, and the 

 coins found in the topes, with the decyphering of their legends by J. 

 Prinsep, brought to light a series of facts, which were of the highest im- 

 portance to true history. All these results were eminently corroborat- 

 ed and illustrated by an ancient Buddhist work, written in Pali, the 

 " Mahawanso," of which a translation into the English was published by 

 the Hon. Mr. Tumour. From a different quarter of India the numerous 

 communications of Mr. Hogdson on Buddhism in Nepaul, and his dis- 

 covery of an immense number of Buddhist works, written in Sanscrit, 

 excited the highest interest ; but a critical examination of these books not 

 having been given, no dependance could be placed upon these illustra- 

 tions otherwise so valuable. The present work of Mr. Burnouf is the 

 result of such a research, and through it we have returned to the central 

 source of the Buddhist writings, from which all others, with exception 

 of the Pali, are only radiations. It owes its origin to a number of Sanscrit 

 manuscripts (80) which Mr. Hodgson collected in Nepaul, and which, 

 with his disinterested liberality in promoting the cultivation of Oriental 

 studies, he presented, about the end of 1837, to the Asiatic Society of 

 Paris ; a liberality, the first fruit of which is this remarkable work of 

 Burnouf, who does not fail to do full justice to the noble disinter- 

 estedness of Mr. Hodgson. There are very few scholars capable of 

 undertaking a research into the materials. As a fortunate combination 

 of circumstances had concentrated at Paris all the first and secondary 

 sources for the history of Buddhism, a man was required who united 

 to a profound knowledge of the ancient languages of India, an ac- 

 quaintance with the modern languages and literature of the Bud- 

 dhists, the critical tact of the philologist and historian, and the com- 

 prehensive grasp of the philosopher, qualities, which in E. Burnouf 

 are most happily blended together. It is certainly not an easy task 

 to go through eighty large manuscript works, written in a barbarous 

 language, made often unintelligible by the ignorance of the copyist, to 

 analyse the contents of all, to bring them in their true chronological 

 order, to compare them with the documents of other nations, written 



