25 



The Ceremonial of the Ordination of a Burmese Priest of 

 Budd'ha, with NoteSj communicated by George Knox, Esq., 

 of the Hon. East-India Company's Medical Establishment^ 

 Madras. (Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society.) 

 Read 18th of June 1831. 



To Sir George Thomas Staunton, Bart., V. P. R. A. S. ^c. 



London, 26th April 1831. 



Sir : 



In the course of a conversation he4d not long ago at Canton with 

 Professor Neumann, respecting the affinity between the Chinese 

 and Burman languages, I happened to shew him a translation that 

 I had, which he considered somewhat furious, and recommended 

 me to present to the Royal Asiatic^ Society ; and Doctor Morri- 

 son offered me an introduction to the President, which, with the 

 translation, I have now the honor to forward to you. 



It is fair that I should, at the same tine, submit a short criticism 

 of the Doctor**, which I found with the manuscript on its return 

 from him ; and to mention that I transcribed it anew, leaving out 

 some redundancies of expression, and the too frequent mention of 

 the sacred name, which, if nothing more, appeared irreverent. Res- 

 pecting what the Doctor remarks, I would say, that the work is 

 the translation of a translation (for I know nothing of the Pali), 

 and that as such it was delivered to me orally by a respectable na- 

 tive, whom I employed in the business : I profess, therefore, to be 

 answerable only so far for its fidelity ; but I have little or no doubt 

 that the spirit at least of the original js preserved. 



The Doctor also takes, I suppose, his notions of Buddhism from 

 the Chinese people alone; but having seen both, I can affirm, that 

 the Burmans appear to be a much more religious people than the 

 Chinese, at least externally, if one may judge from their regulaf 

 visits to their temples, and the deep veneration with which they re- 

 gard the priests and every thing belonging to their objects of wor- 

 ship. It is, however, possible that my assistant had caught some- 

 thing of the turn of expression in use amongst us on matters of 

 religion, as he had associated a good deal with the American mis- 

 sionaries who visited the Burman country. 



I have the honor to be. Sir, 



Your most obedient servant, 



G. Knox. 



