A close parallel in Lillie's comparisons
the robe of the Lama is rent in pieces out of respect, and the remnants highly valued
A close identifiable parallel appears in Arthur Lillie's The Influence of Buddhism on Primitive Christianity (1893; inspected in Project Gutenberg's transcription of the London/New York edition). Chapter III, p. 67, places a report of the dead Bokté Lama's clothing being divided into treasured strips under the Gospel heading ‘They Parted My Garments.’ Lillie attributes it to Abbé Huc, Voyages, II, p. 278. This is strong evidence for the comparative literature Chesterton attacks, though not proof that this particular volume was his unnamed book. Chesterton's ‘certain religious feasts’ differs from Lillie's explicit death setting.
The foot-washing comparison is also there, on p. 64: Buddha personally tends a diseased monk whom others avoid. That comparison involves compassionate service, more than merely possessing feet; Chesterton's joke understates its ethical content. Neither similarity by itself demonstrates literary borrowing.
Blatchford supplies a documented route into this literature. In God and My Neighbour (first published 1903; inspected in Gutenberg's unpaginated transcription), ‘Christianity Before Christ’ praises Buddhist–Christian parallels and cites Lillie's different book, Buddha and Buddhism. The named opponent and the unnamed comparator should therefore not automatically be treated as the same author. Lillie, chapter III, pp. 64, 67; Blatchford, ‘Christianity Before Christ’.
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