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THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
The next in dignity to him is their God Buddpu, the 
Saviour of souls. This idea of a Saviour seems in some 
degree to pervade every religion in the world, although 
tainted by a variety of different superstitions which are joined 
to it; and what is remarkable, the expectations formed 
from the interference of this Saviour are in almost every 
religion nearly the same. Buddou, according to the most 
general tradition, was originally the spirit of a good man, 
who was again sent to revisit the earth ; and after having 
performed a prodigious number of virtuous actions, and 
been transformed into a hundred and ninety-nine different 
shapes, reascended into heaven, and is still employed in 
procuring the pardon of his worshippers. The introduction 
of the worship of Buddou into Ceylon is fixed at about 
forty years after the Christain era, at which time, some 
say, a violent quarrel took place between the Brahmins 
and the followers of Buddou who then formed one of the 
religious sects on the continent. The Brahmins prevailed, 
and the Buddites were compelled to take refuge in Ceylon. 
What religion subsisted there before, or if the same religion 
then prevailed, is a fruitless and unavailing inquiry. The 
Buddites are said to have been originally a sect of monks, 
or rather hermits, who led a wandering solitary life, re- 
markable for chastity, renouncing all the pursuits of the 
world, and all care of property, and contented with the 
support of piety amidst the extremest poverty. 
It is alleged that Buddou is worshipped in Pegu and 
