Borro Boedoor

An ancient temple of an ancient faith,
When man, to show the vanity of man,
Was left to his own fantasies. All life
Was conscious of a God;—the sun, the wind,
The mighty ocean, and the distant stars,
Become his prototypes. At length there came
The great appointed hour; the Truth shone forth,
The living waters of the Gospel flowed,
And earth drank life and hope. The work is still
Gradual and incomplete;—it is man’s task,
And more his glorious privilege, to aid.
Our England is a living fountain now,
Whence flow the waves of life,—eternal life.

    Oh, what a power and duty is our own!
’Tis ours to shed upon man’s present day
The blessing of the future and the past.
How much of India yet in darkness lies!
We must dethrone the idol, and dispel
The shadows that but herald the true faith.—
We must give peace, love, charity, to earth;
And from old superstitions, vain beliefs,
And false religions, realize the true:
So morning springs from out the depths of night.

The temple of Borro Boedoor was in former days the most celebrated Budha temple in the Island of Java equally distinguished for its extent and its magnificence.

These remarkable ruins, representing in a high style of Indian architecture a number of small Hindoo sacred buildings with their several idols, so peculiarly combined as to form one place of worship, are engraved from a drawing forming part of the collection brought to England by Sir Alexander Johnstone, to shew the moral and political influence which the religion of Budha had exercised in former days, and still continues to exercise; and the importance of instructing the two High-priests of Budha, (whose portraits are given in this volume,) whom he had brought over with him at the same time, in every branch of European science and literature, in order that they might, upon their return to Ceylon, be made use of as a powerful engine for enlightening those who professed their creed.