88 



Whatever may have been the form of record adopted, whether on 

 papyrus or skins, on clay or metal, on olas or any other substance, 

 it will hardly be contended in the face of the evidence extant of the 

 extent to whicli the art prevailed at the period under discussion, that 

 in the country and age which saw the birth of Buddha, kings, philo- 

 sophers, poets, and priests were less advanced in civilization in this 

 particular respect, than the North American Indians of the present 

 century. But if it be admitted, that, 2,500 years ago, Maghada and 

 its adjacent kingdoms, had attained to a high degree of civilization, 

 then it is inconceivable that Buddha and his principal disciples 

 should deliberately have chosen to entrust the future of the new 

 religion to mere oral and traditional deliverances, when a surer 

 method for securing its lasting stability was at their command. 



Professor Max Miiller has well said, that "Buddhism, as a 

 religion and a political fact, was a reaction against Brahmanism, 

 though it retained much of that more primitive form of faith and 

 worship."* To ensure the permanency of such a reaction no 

 means could be better adapted than the record in writing of the 

 laws and teachings of its promulgator, who, as he claimed to be 

 omniscient, the sage and seer supreme in wisdom, would not, nay, 

 could not, overlook the importance of the art. That it was not 

 overlooked we are assured, for how otherwise can the remarkable fact 

 be accounted for, that from the time of Buddha is to be dated the 

 commencement of authentic Indian History, — a fact entirely attri- 

 butable to Buddhism and Buddhist writers. Upon this point the 

 following remarks by Professor Salisbury are most apposite : — 



"A result of the general elevation of society effected by Buddhism, is 

 seen in its creation of history. In India, while Brahmanism held un- 

 disputed sway, there were indeed traditions of the past handed down by 



* Chips from a German Workshop, vol. i. p. 238.— Doctors differ upon this as 

 upon other matters. The able author of the paper on the 'Literature and Origins 



