Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c6.67.4

c6.67.4

It is not easy to suggest a remedy for fear of the out-cry, ‘The Government is supporting Buddhism’: better let lying, fraud, and robbery go unpunished, than do anything which would have any appearance of protecting from ruin, and from loss to the public, those lands which have been set apart for the maintenance of a religion which is not ours’—even though that religion is the pure and simple creed which is held by one-third of the human race, and has been the faith of the Sinhalese people for 2000 years. It would be well if this question could be dealt with merely as a matter of good government, untrammelled by the odium theologicum. It is simply the question of preserving for the public those public lands at present set apart for religious purposes, which, unless closely looked after, will gradually become lost to the public altogether.”