The Sun.
London, England, 1823-09-04 00:00:00

1 NOD. I. A,

ACCOUNT OF. THE.FOUNDER OF THE BUDDHIST
RELIGION.
Fe, or 'Bond& was the son of some Indian
Monarch, who being sent by his father to Rego.
crate a pace with a neighbouring. Monarch
,to
whom he ivavtributary, and :to whom. he, had
failed to pay his tribute, succeeded so vett, -as
not merely to' pro Cure a remission of the tribute,
but to gain the hand othis.daughter in marriage.
On his return to the cottrt of his father, he left
'the affairs of. his father's kingdom, mrd his new
wife, and retiring into the desert, was visited by
some genii, who suggested to him the laws which
he afterwards established for the conduct of his,
followers.
Fo had now become lawgiver, and had con
everted, several individuals to his religion.
sent these out to preach his doctrines, which they
did with incredible success. After India, Ceylon
embraced his System ; then Siam, and afterwards
the Burman Empire. These places were all in
their time visited by Fo, and in each of them is
to be seen the imprint of his foot, to which pit-
grimages are made, and which are regarded as
peculiarly holy by his followers. Tlu doctrine
of the transmigration of souls is the distinguish-
ing ohe of the 'professors of this faith : for al-
though split into many sects, not one of them
refuses his credence to this article of belief,..
The Buddist religion at length reached China,
the manner of which was very siagular. The
Emperor dreamt that he saw a man of an extra-
ordinary size in a dream, who gave him instrue•
tions to seek and find the law of the Great West.
On this intimation he resolved to go himself ; but
on being supplicated by his ministers and people,
he gave up the idea, and staying at home himself
to guard his empire,sent some of his nobles into the
`West to find that law. The Chinese sailed, and in
the then imperfect state of navigation, the voyage
seemed to them to be so long, that they resolved
to land in the first country they discovered, Avtsich
turned out to be the' Indies, which, since Europe
has been known to them, 'they have called the
Little West, but which was formerly distinguished
as the Great West.. It appeared to them that
they were here to find the law for which they .
sought, and which had ,been announced to their
Emperpr.

As, soon as the Chinese deputies landed, they
set themselves to acquire a knowledge of the re-
ligion of India; and becoming more and more
convinced that this was the religion for which
they were in search, they took some of the priests
with then, 'returned to China, where they were
received with much respect 'and distinction,. and
under their instructions the religion of Fo beCarne
that of the State.---(Bengal Jiurkarw.)
.111001WROFT.
Since the issue of our last publication, which
contained an abstract of 114 r. Noorcroft's pro=
ceedings and expectations, we have. been favour-
ed with the sight of tt late later from Leh in
Ludalth, dated September 14, 1822, which con-
tains some interesting particulars worthy of pub-
licatiOn. It appears from this letter, that on the
day preceding the date on which it was written,
the persons sent by Mr. hloorcroft to Yarktrnd
bad returned to Leh, with letters from the prin-
cipal authorities there, the tenor of which•was
unfavourable Whitt wishes : so that he was compel!.
ed to abandon all thoughts of visiting that city;
It is known that this refusal on the part of -the
authorities at Yarkund to admit a British travel-
ler into their territory from India, has been oc-
casioned by the ,preponderating infltience of
Russia in that quarter, where she is endeavouring
to secure, by gigantic.strides,that commercial in-
tercourse which might have been enjoyed by Bri-
fish Merchants, if earlier or more decisive mea-
sures hid been taken to ensure it. Mr. Moorcroft Moorcroft was, however, on the point of
setting out for Kashmeer,having already engaged
the horses necessary for his journey, and propos-
ing to commence his march early in October.
Among' the interesting acquisitions 'already
made by Mr. Moorcroft, in his progress through
these elevated and imperfectly known regions, the
following are; perhaps, worthy of enumeration
Ist.• The discovery of vast resources of timber
suited to ship-building, and sufficient itt clean-
tity to supply ull the demands of ship,builders
India for years to come. 2d. The discovery of a
-whiter and more productive kind of wheat that'
any variety yet known in Britain. 3d, The tlis-
comp of several sorts of barley, all more "pro-
ductive, and several containing more valuable
properties for malting than those hitherto culti-
vated in
,England. 4th. The discovery of a plant
that cures the rot in sheep, of which disease the
late Dr. Bakeiell asserted that some hundreds
of thousands died every year in Britain: 'Sill.
The discovery of a hardy variety of hay, with
which 'even the waste moors and heath-covered
commons of England may be cultivated, so ao to
afford winter food for. at least an additional
million of sheep, while the quality.,of this food- i:i
such as to fatten them in half the tituethey.wouici
require to fatten on any other- known forage, at
present in use. 6th. The discovery of it broed
of mountain sheepi of 'which every cottager in
England, not receiving parochial reliel,„ may
keep three with more ease than he mt., maintain
a
sen Ta. oflgo C; kso 0
fthat
eevery little e
presentfa r .181teorirti acslytie.
,tkw:e'eval4j.:
frdoaurncleehnoeifehlitleitxst
tfaarr em tn.
threea iiosar.lkleeopd secured,
trils:roaf i 4end
ey
if the remaindar'nf Mr. ,
tie
as• productive of adratitme to his.country as the
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public benefits resulting front their labdurs than
this enterprilingat+la,journ„o