COMPILER'S PROEM.

E. M. BOWDEN.


In this compilation no attempt has been made to present a general view
of Buddhism as a religious or philosophical system. The aim has rather
been to turn Buddhism to account as a moral force by bringing together
a selection of its beautiful sentiments, and lofty maxims, and
particularly including some of those which inculcate mercy to the
lower animals.

On this point a far higher stand is taken by Buddhism than by
Christianity--or at any rate than by Christianity as understood and
interpreted by those who ought to know. Not only is the whole question
of our duties to the lower animals commonly ignored in Christian works
as, for instance, in the famous Imitation of Christ, and scores of
others; but, as if this were not enough, a reasoned attempt has
actually been made, on the strength of Christian teaching, to explode
the notion that animals have any right (e.g., in Moral Philosophy, by
Father Joseph Rickaby). Very different in this respect is the tone of
the average Buddhist treatise, with its earnest exhortations,
recurring as a matter of course, to show mercy on every living thing;
and this difference alone is an adequate reason for compiling a
Buddhist anthology.