alting the
Philosopher and the Guide to a height, which is scarcely, if at all,
distinguishable from the Throne of God.

I may conclude this chapter by quoting a passage from the late Dean
Stanley's _History of the Jewish Church_, where he is referring to Gautama
Buddha: "It is difficult for those who believe the permanent elements of
the Jewish and Christian religion to be universal and Divine not to hail
these corresponding forms of truth and goodness elsewhere, or to recognize
that the mere appearance of such saint-like and god-like characters in
other parts of the earth, if not directly preparing the way for a greater
manifestation, illustrates that manifestation by showing how mighty has
been the witness borne to it even under circumstances of such
discouragement, and even with effects inadequate to their grandeur."(15)

III. BUDDHISM IN JAPAN.

In the last Chapter we sketched in outline the life and teaching of
Gautama Buddha; omitting the many fanciful legends that have gathered
round his name, and confining ourselves to what would be accepted by
Buddhists generally. Of the long period that divides the death of
Sakya-muni from the introduction of Buddhism into Japan about 550 A.D., it
is no part of our purpose to treat in detail. But enough must be said to
connect in some intelligible way these two events.

After the death of Gautama, his disciples are said to have gathered
together, and recited all that they remembered of his teaching, arranging
it in three divisions. This was the origin of the sacred books known as
the _Tripitaca_, i.e. the "three baskets," the "three receptacles." The
first of these--consisting of sayings, aphorisms, parables, &c., attributed
to Buddha, together with his first sermon addressed to the ascetics, (the
"Wheel of the Law,")--is known as the _Sutra_ or "Canon;" the second is
called the _Vinaya_ or "Book of Discipline;" and the third, the
_Abhidharma_, i.e. the "Book of Metaphysics," the "Further Doctrine." Of
the three books, the Sutra, being mainly ethical, would have a more
general application than the other two; while the Vinaya would be chiefly
applicable to the Brotherhood, and the Abhidharma concerned with abstruse
philosophical dissertations. The Tripitaca, of which the Buddhists of
Ceylon are the custodians, are written in Pali, an early modification of
Sanskrit, and the sacred language of Buddhism; and they are, undoubtedly,
the oldest and purest of the numerou