7. "He who lives looking for pleasures only, his senses uncontrolled, immoderate in his enjoyments, idle and weak, Mara (the Tempter, the Adversary, or Satan) will certainly overcome him, as the wind throws down a weak tree."

8. "He who lives without looking for pleasures, his senses well controlled, in his enjoyments moderate, faithful and strong, Mara will certainly not overcome him, any more than the wind throws down a rocky mountain."

11. "They who imagine truth in untruth, and see untruth in truth, never arrive at truth, but follow vain desires."

15. "The evildoer mourns in this world, and he mourns in the next, he mourns in both."....

16. "The virtuous man delights in this world, and he delights in the next; he delights in both."

We may pause here, and ask ourselves whether, throughout the whole of the Old Testament, we can find a single passage which so distinctly points to a future state as does this Buddhistic teaching. Yet bibliolaters assert that the effusions of Jewish writers were inspired by God! Mortal men cannot tell what takes place after their bodies have become dissipated into various chemical compounds; consequently, they cannot decide, with certainty, which deserves the greater credit for accuracy—the Dhammapada, or the Hebrew Scriptures; but all those who believe in the teaching of Jesus are bound to acknowledge that the Indian sage was inspired by a power superior to that which is said to have dictated to the Israelite.

How profitably, again, might the following observations be enunciated from our pulpits, instead of the vapid and superficial divinity, which disgraces both the utterer and the listener:—

21. "Reflection is the path of immortality, thoughtlessness the path of death. Those who reflect do not die; those who are thoughtless are as if dead already."

25. "By rousing himself, by reflection, by restraint and control, the wise man may make for himself an island, which no flood can overwhelm."

27. "Follow not after vanity, nor after the enjoyment of love and lust. He who reflects and meditates obtains ample joy"