1: "They sacrifice upon the tops of mountains, and burn
incense under oaks, and poplars, and elms, because the shadow thereof is
good."--_Hosea_, iv. 13.]

[Footnote 2: The Bo-tree (_Ficus religiosa_) is the "pippul" of India.
It differs from the Banyan (_F. indica_), by sending down no roots from
its branches. Its heart-shaped leaves, with long attenuated points, are
attached to the stem by so slender a stalk, that they appear in the
profoundest calm to be ever in motion, and thus, like the leaves of the
aspen, which, from the tradition that the cross was made of that wood,
the Syrians believe to tremble in recollection of the events of the
crucifixion, those of the Bo-tree are supposed by the Buddhists to
exhibit a tremulous veneration, associated with the sacred scene of
which they were the witnesses.]

[Footnote 3: Previous Buddhas had each his Bo-tree or Buddha-tree. The
pippul had been before assumed by the first recorded Buddha; others had
the iron-tree, the champac, the nipa, &c.--_Mahawanso_, TURNOUR'S
Introd. p. xxxii.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 289.]

In order that his kingdom might possess a sacred tree of the supremest
sanctity, king Tissa solicited a branch of the identical tree under
which Gotama reclined, from Asoca, who then reigned in Magadha. The
difficulty of severing a portion without the sacrilegious offence of
"lopping it with any weapon," was overcome by the miracle of the branch
detaching itself spontaneously, and descending with its roots into the
fragrant earth prepared for it in a golden vase, in which it was
transported by sea to Ceylon[1], and planted by king Tissa in the spot
at Anarajapoora, where, after the lapse of more than 2000 years, it
still continues to flourish and to receive the profound veneration of
all Buddhist nations.[2]

[Footnote 1: The ceremonial of the mysterious severance of the sacred
branch "amid the din of music, the clamours of men, the howling of the
elements, the roar of animals, the screams of birds, the yells of
demons, and the crash of earthquakes," is minutely described in an
elaborate passage of the _Mahawanso_. And its landing in Ceylon, the
retinue of its attendants, the homage paid to it, its progress to the
capital, its arrival at the Northern-gate "at the hour when shadows are
most extended," its reception by princes "adorned with the insignia of
royalty," and its final deposition in the earth, under the auspices of
Mahindo and his sister Sanghamitta, form