Eastern monachism

"Eastern monachism : an account of the origin, laws, discipline, sacred writings, mysterious rites, religious ceremonies, and present circumstances of the order of mendicants founded by Gótama Budha, (compiled from Singhalese mss. and other original sources of information); with comparative notices of the usages and institutions of the western ascetics and a review of the monastic system"

The Author of " Eastern Monachism" has nearly ready for the press, should the sale of this work warrant the risk of publication,

GOTAMA BUDHA:

Containing an account of —

1. The System of the Universe, as received by the Budhists.

2. The various Orders of Sentient Existence.

3. The primi- tive Inhabitants of the Earth ; their faU fiom Purity ; and their- Division into foui- Castes.

4. The Budhas who preceded Gotania.

5. The Virtues of Gotania Bodhisat, and the States of Being through which he passed anterior to the Birth in which he became a supreme Budha.

6. The Ances- tors of Gotama Budha.

7. The Legends of the Life of Gotaina Budha.

8. The Psychology of Budliism. 9. Its Ethics.

BV R. SPENCE HARDY,

-MEMBER OF THE CEYLON BRANCH OF TUE ROTAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.

WILLIAMS AND NOEGATE, 14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON ;

It has been computed by Professor Neumann that there are in China, Tibet, the Indo-Chinese countries, and Tartary,

The laws and regulations of the priesthood belonging to a religion so extensively professed as the system of Gotama, must necessarily be an object of great interest. But whilst Brahmanism has been largely elucidated, comparatively little is yet known of Budhism by Europeans.

In the month of September, 1825, 1 landed in the beautiful island of Ceylon as a Wesleyan Missionary, and one of the first duties to which I addressed myself was, to acquire a knowledge of the language of the people among whom I was appointed to minister. After reading the New Testament in Singhalese, I began the study of the native books, that I might ascertain, from authentic sources, the character of the religion I was attempting to displace. From the commencement, I made notes of whatever appeared to me to be worthy of remembrance in the works I read ; and about ten years ago determined to pursue my researches with more of method, from the intention I then formed of publishing the result, if permitted to return to my native land.

In preparing the present work, it has been my principal aim to afford assistance to the missionaries who are living in

countries where Budhism is professed ; but as I enter upon a field of speculation that has hitherto been little cultivated, I trust that my labours Avill be regarded as of some interest by students of all classes. I have also endeavoured to apply the great lesson herein taught to a practical purpose. In my illustrations of the manners of the western monks, I have taken the liberty to indulge the bias of early association ; but if this has been done to too great an extent, with all submissiveness 1 crave the reader's pardon.

A residence of twenty years in Ceylon, and several thou- sands of hours spent with the palm-leaf in my hand and the ex-priest of Budha by my side, to assist me in cases of difficulty, entitle me to claim attention to my translations as a faithful transcript of the original documents. Further than this, I speak of my ability for the undertaking with sincere diffidence. During my residence in Ceylon, I was not con- nected with any scholastic institution ; I resided, for the most part, in the midst of the native population, and had to attend to the usual engagements of a missionary, in preaching, ex- amining native schools, visiting the sick, instructing the people from house to house, distributing tracts, and preparing other publications for the press, which left me no leisure for literary pursuits not immediately connected with my position. Since my return to England, about two years ago, I have been in- cessantly engaged in the work of the ministry, scarcely a day having passed over, in which I have not had either to preach or to deliver an address. It is, therefore, out of my poAver to make any pretension to western learning or general erudition. To add to my other disadvantages, my residence is in a village, where I have access to no public library ; and I have had no

literary friend whom I could ask to correct my MSS. or with whom I could consult in cases of perplexity. I am aware that the apologies of authors sometimes mean, that they do not consider the work they are publishing to be a fair specimen of their real ability ; but disclaiming this idea, and willing to be corrected wherein I am wrong, as it is my wish to know and teach the truth, I mention these circumstances that my defects may not be charged to negligence, when they are the result of necessity.

In my illustrations of Budhism 1 have not received much assistance from any European author, with the exception of the late Hon. George Turnour, translator of the Mahawanso, and the Rev. D. J. Gogerly, General Superintendant of the Wesleyan Mission in South Ceylon, who has been pronounced, by competent authority, to be the best Pali scholar in existence, and whose intellectual powers I have long regarded with the most profound veneration. When I first determined upon making myself acquainted with this extensive system, there were two courses open before me ; either to commence the study of Pali (the language in which the most sacred records of the Budhists were originally written), or to content myself with the more mediate authority of the Singhalese. The former course would have been the most satisfactory, if I could have assured myself of the time and assistance that would have been requisite ; but as it appeared to me probable that I should in this way be able to study only detached parts of the system, which would not have fulfilled the principal design I had in view, I resolved upon continuing my Singhalese studies, and by this means have succeeded in forming an outline of the most prominent features of the religion taught by Gotama.

I would not, for a moment, depreciate the more honourable labours of those who have chosen the arduous task of studying the system in the language in which it was originally promul- gated. I am like one who has met with individuals that have visited some Terra Incognita, and are able to describe it ; they have presented before me their stores of information, and I have examined them with all the accumen I possess ; and the result of my scrutiny is recorded in these pages. But they who study the original canon may be regarded as actually entering the land, and winning here and there a portion of territory more or less extensive ; and by and bye the whole region will be gained ; when the initiatory labours I am now pursuing will be forgotten, as they will have been succeeded by more authoritative investigations. Nevertheless, in the present state of our knowledge of Budhism, authentic trans- lations from the more modern languages are of great import- ance ; and they have an additional interest, peculiar to them- selves, as they reveal the sentiments, and illustrate the manners, of the present race of priests. The writings of the Singhalese authors abound Avith quotations from the Pali, of which language they have a competent knowledge ; and as they regard the works they translate or paraphrase as a divine record, we have every reason to believe that a correct idea of the original code may be gained through this medium.

As some of the names herein inserted have never previously been printed in English, I trust that the oriental scholar will forgive a want of uniformity in the spelling. It will be noticed that some of the words have a Sanskrit, and others a Pali or a Singhalese, form. I have endeavoured to avoid this

confusion, but have not succeeded to the extent that is to be desired * There are slight discrepancies in some of the dates ; but in each case I have followed the author whose work I was translating.

I send forth my treatise to the world, aware of its numerous imperfections, but cheered by the consciousness of integrity in its preparation ; and I ask for no higher reward than to be an humble instrument in assisting the ministers of the cross in their combats with this master error of the world, and in preventing the spread of the same delusion, under another guise, in regions nearer home.

• I have been under the necessity of reading some of the proof-sheets in the railway carriage, which will account for some oversights. The reader is requested to correct the following, in addition to the errors inserted in the errata :— Page 190, line 18, for Tabular Raica read Tabula Ilaica ; page 292, line 40, for nirwiwa read nirwuna, and dele the space between dharmma and bhisamaya ; page 308, Ime 4, for facultives read faculties ; page 379, line 28, for by rend of; page 386, line 16, for intelllgibiles read intelligibilis ; page 387, line 18, for interiorum read interiorcm ; page 388, after the u-ord things, line 3, insert as a note, " Morell's History of J*Iodern Philosophy ;" page 389, Knes 27 and 28, /or delusion read illusion; and for anhatamisra read and- hatamisra.

About two thousand years before the thunders of Wycliffe were rolled against the mendicant orders of the west, Gotama Budha commenced his career as a mendicant in the east, and established a religious system that has exercised a mightier influence upon the world than the doctrines of any other uninspired teacher, in any age or country. The incidents of his life are to be found in the sacred books of the Budhists, which are called in Pali, the language in which they are written, Pitakattayan, from pitakan, a basket or chest, and tayo, three, the text being divided into three great classes. The instructions contained in the first class, called Winaya, were addressed to the priests ; those in the second class, Sutra, to the laity ; and those in the third class, Abhidharmma, to the dewas and brahmas of the celestial worlds. There is a commentary, called the Atthakatha, which until recently was regarded as of equal authority with the text. The text was orally preserved until the reign of the Singhalese monarch Wattagamani, who reigned from b. c. 104 to B. c. 76, when it was committed to writing in the island of Ceylon. The commentary was written by Budhagosha, at the ancient city of Anuradhapura, in Ceylon, a. d. 420. In this interval there was ample space for the invention of the absurd legends that are inserted therein relative to Budha and his immediate disciples, as we may learn from the similar stories that were invented relative to the western saints, in a period less extended.

The father of Gotama Budha, Sudhodana, reigned at Kapilawastu, on the borders of (Nepaul ; and in a garden near that city the future sage was born, b. c. 624. At the moment of his birth he stepped

lupon the ground, and after looking around towards tlie four quarters, (the four half-quarters, above, and below, without seeing any one 'in any of these ten directions who was equal to himself, he exclaimed, " Aggo hamasmi lokassa; jettho hamasmi lokassa ; settho hamasmi lokassa ; ayamantimajati; natthidani punabbhawo ; / I am the most exalted in the world ; I am chief in the world ; I am the most excellent in the world ; this is my last birth ; hereafter there is to me no other existence." Upon his person were certain signs that enabled the soothsayers to foretell that he would become a recluse, preparatory to his reception of the supreme Budhaship. Five days after his birth he received the name of Sidhartta, but he is more commonly known by the name of Sakya or Gotama, both of which are patronymics. When five months old he sat in the air, Avithout any support, at a ploughing festival. AVhen sixteen years of age he was married to Yasodhara, daughter of Suprabudha, who reigned at Koli. The father of the predicted Budha having heard that it would be by the sight of four signs — decrepitude, sickness, a dead body, and a recluse — he would be induced to abandon the world, commanded that these objects should be kept away from the places to which he usvially resorted ; but these precautions Avere all in vain. One day, when proceeding to a garden at some distance from the palace, he saw an old man, whose trembling limbs were supported by a staff. Attracted by the sight, he asked his charioteer if he himself should ever be similarly feeble, and when he was told it was the lot of all men, he returned to the palace disconsolate. Four months afterwards he saw a leper, presenting an appearance utterly loathsome. Again, after the elapse of a similar period he saw a dead body, green with corruption, with worms creeping out of the nine apertures. • And a year after the sight of the aged man he saw a recluse proceeding along the road in a manner that indicated the possession of an inward tranquillity ; modest in his deportment, his whole appearance was strikingly decorous. Having

• The text is almost a literal parallelism to the words of the old ballad.

" On looking up, on looking down, She saw a dead man on the ground ; And from his nose, imto his chin, The worms crawl' d out, the worms crawl' d in.

'* Then she mito the parson said, Shall I be so when I am dead, Oh yes ! oh yes ! the parson said, You will be so when you are dead."

learnt from his charioteer the character of this interesting object, he commanded him to drive on rapidly to the garden, where he remained until sunset, in unbounded magnificence, a vast crowd of attendants ministering to his pleasure, amidst strains of the most animating music. In the course of the day a messenger arrived to announce that the princess had been delivered of a son. This was the last occasion on which he engaged in revelry. On his return to the city, the most beautiful attendants at the palace took up their instruments, upon which they played in their most skilful manner, but the mind of the prince wandered away to other objects ; and when they saw that they could not engage his attention they ceased to play, and fell asleep. The altered appearance of the sleeping covu-tesans excited additional contempt for the pleasures of the world ; as some of them began to gnash their teeth, whilst others unwittingly put themselves in unseemly postures, and the garments of all were in disorder, the splendour of the festive hall seemed to have been at once converted into the loathsomeness of a sepulchre. Roused by these appearances, Sidhartta called for his favourite charger, and having first taken a peep at his son from the threshold of the princess's apartment, who was asleep at the time with her arm aroimd the babe, he retired from the city, and when he had arrived at a convenient place assumed the character of a recluse. ,In the forest of Uruwela he remained six years, passing through a Icourse of ascetic discipline ; but as the austerities he practised led /to no beneficial result, he reduced his daily allowance of food to a pepperpod, or some equivalent minimum, until his body was greatly attenuated, and one night he fell senseless to the ground from ex- haustion. After this he went to another part of the forest, and under a bo-tree, near which Budha Gaya was afterwards built, received the supreme Budhaship.

In births innumerable, previous to his present state of existence as a man, he had set the office of a budha before him as the object of his ambition ; and in all the various states of existence through which he passed, animal, human and divine, had accomplished some end, or exercised some virtue, that better fitted him for its reception. Whilst under the bo-tree he was attacked by a formid- able host of demons ; but he remained tranquil, like the star in the midst of the storm, and the demons, when they had exerted their utmost power without effect, passed away like the thunder-cloud retiring from the orb of the moon, causing it to appear in greater

beauty. At the tenth hour of the same night, he attained the wisdom by which he knew the exact circumstances of all the beings that have ever existed in the infinite worlds ; at the twentieth hour he received the divine eyes by which he had the power to see all things within the space of the infinite systems of worlds as clearly as if they were close at hand ; and at the tenth hour of the follow- ing morning, or the close of the third watch of the night, he attained the knowledge by which he was enabled to understand the sequence of existence, the cause of all sorrow and of its cessation. The object of his protracted toils and numerous sacrifices, carried on incessantly through myriads of ages, was now accomplished. By having become a Budha he had received a power by which he could perform any act whatever, and a wisdom by which he could see perfectly any object, or understand any truth, to which he chose to direct his attention.

At this time he began the exercise of his ministry, announcing himself as the teacher of the three worlds, wiser than the wisest, higher than the highest. The places near which he principally resided were Benares, Rajagaha, Wesali, and Sewet ; but he visited many other parts of India, and is said to have proceeded as far as Ceylon. The dewas and brahmas were also included among his auditors, as he occasionally visited the celestial worlds in which they reside. The wonders that he performed were of the most marvellous description ; but in those days the possession of super- natural power was a common occurrence, and there were thousands of his disciples who could, with the utmost ease, have overturned the earth or arrested the course of the sun. At the age of eighty years he died, near Kusinara, which is supposed by some to be in Assam, and by others near Delhi. After the burning of his body, his relics were preserved, and became objects of worship to his disciples.

According to the doctrines propounded by Gotama Budha, there are innumerable systems of worlds, called sakwalas, which attain their prime, and then decay and are destroyed, at periods regularly recurring, and by agencies that are equally regular in the manner of their operation. Upon the earth there are four great continents, which do not communicate with each other, except in specified cases. In the centre of the earth is an immense mountain, called Maha Meru, around and above the summit of which are the dewa and brahma lokas, the abode of those beings who in their different

states of existence have attained a superior degree of merit. Within the earth is a material fire, the abode of those who possess a decided preponderance of demerit. Neither the one state nor the other is of permanent duration ; though it may extend to a period immensely great, it is not infinite.

The Budhas are beings who appear after intervals of time incon- ceivably vast. Previous to their reception of the Budhaship, they pass through countless phases of being ; at one time receiving birth as a dewa, and at another as a frog, in which they gradually accu- mulate a greater degree of merit. In this incipient state they are called Bodhisatwas. In the birth in which they become Budha they are always of woman born, and pass through infancy and youth like ordinary beings, imtil at a prescribed age they abandon the world and retire to the wilderness, where, after a course of ascetic observance, at the foot of a tree they receive the supernatural powers with which the office is endowed. But their greatest distinc- tion and highest glory is, that they receive the wisdom by which they can direct sentient beings to the path that leads to nirwana, or the cessation of existence. At their death, they cease to exist ; they do not continue to be Budhas, nor do they enter upon any other state of being. Expositions of the doctrines of Budha, whe- ther orally delivered or written in books, are called bana, or the Word ; and the system itself is called dharmma, or the Truth.

According to Budhism, there is no Creator, no being that is self- existent and eternal. All sentient beings are homogeneous. The difference between one being and another is only temporary, and results from the difi"erence in their degrees of merit. Any being whatever may be a candidate for the Budhaship ; but it is only by the uniform pursuit of this object throughout innumerable ages that it can be obtained.

The power that controls the universe is karma, literally action ; consisting of kusala and akusala, or merit and demerit. There is no such monad as an immaterial spirit, but at the death of any being, the aggregate of his merit and demerit is transferred to some other being, which new being is caused by the karma of the previous being, and receives from that karma all the circumstances of its existence. Thus, if the karma be good, the circumstances are favourable, producing happiness, but if it be bad, they are unfa- I'ourable, producing misery.

The manner in which being first commenced cannot now be

ascertained. The cause of the continuance of existence is ignorance, from which merit and demerit are produced, whence comes con- sciousness, then body and mind, and afterwards the six organs of sense. Again, from the organs of sense comes contact ; from contact, desire ; from desire, sensation ; from sensation, the cleaving to existing objects ; from this cleaving, reproduction ; and from reproduction, disease, decay, and death. Thus, like the revolutions of a wheel, there is a regular succession of death and birth, the moral cause of which is the cleaving to existing objects, whilst the instrumental cause is karma. It is therefore the great object of all beings who would be released from the sorrows of successive birth to seek the destruction of the moral cause of continued existence, that is to say, the cleaving to existing objects, or evil desire. It is possible to accomplish this destruction, by attending to a prescribed course of discipline, which results in an entrance to one of the four paths, with their fruition, that lead, by different modes, to the attainment of nirwana. They in whom evil desire is entirely destroyed are called rahats. The freedom from evil desire ensures the possession of a miraculous energy. At his death the rahat invariably attains nirwana, or ceases to exist.

But this review must be regarded as containing only a brief sum- mary of some of the principal doctrines of Budhism, intended to assist the reader of the following pages ; the system is so vast and complicated, that many volumes must be written before it can receive a perfect elucidation.

About two months after the prince Sidhartta had attained the dignity of a supreme Budha, he went to the city of Benares, and there delivered a discourse, by which Kondanya, and afterwards four other ascetics, were induced to become his disciples. From that period, whenever he preached, multitvides of men and women embraced his doctrines, and took upon themselves certain obliga- tions, by which they declared themselves to be prawarjita, or to have renounced the world. From time to time rules were made, and afterwards enlarged or modified, and exceptions allowed, by which the code was gradually completed. It is evident that all

laws referring to untried situations and circumstances must arise in this manner ; and though the Budhists maintain that their founder decUired at an early period in his career that this would be his rule, the Statement was most probably invented to avoid the imputation that might otherwise have been made against his omniscience. It is necessary to remember that these modifications took place, or the student of Budhism will meet with many anomalies for which he cannot account.

Milinda, the king of Sagal, when conversing with the priest Nagasena, objected to the mode in which Budha instituted the priestly discipline, and said, " If the rishis, by their own intuitive knowledge, were able to tell at once the nature of all diseases, and to prescribe remedies for them, why did not Budha, who by his divine eyes must have seen beforehand the faults of his disciples, forbid the commission of such and such things previous to their occurrence ?" Nagasena replied that it was forseen by Budha, at the commencement, that there were 150 precepts it would be proper to enforce ; but he reflected thus, " If I at once enforce the observance of all these precepts, the people will say, ' In this religion there are a great number of things that it is necessary to observe ; it is indeed a most difficult thing to be a priest of Budha,' and be afraid ; those who might think of becoming priests will hesitate ; they will not listen to my words ; they will not learn my precepts ; they will despise them, and thus be born in a place of torment. It will therefore be better, when a fault has been committed, to issue a precept forbidding it to be repeated." At subsequent periods, nine kelas (each kela containing ten millions), one hundred and eighty- five lacs, and thirty-six precepts, were promulgated by Budha.*

The manner in which the code was gradually perfected may be learnt from the circumstances under which the precept relative to continence arrived at the state in which it was promulgated in its complete form. There was a priest named Sudinna,%vho was so- licited by his mother-in-law to lie with the woman who was his wife previous to his embracing the life of an ascetic, that there

• Milinda Prasna : a work in Pali, of which there is a Sijighalese transla- tion, that contains an account of conversations that took place between Miliiida, kin<>- of Sagal, supposed to be the Sangala of the Greeks, and Naga- sena, a Budhist priest, a short time previous to the commencement of the Christian era. In the following chapters, whenever the name of Ndgasena, is introduced, it is to be miderstood that the information is taken liom this work.

might be a rightful heir to the family possessions. At that time there appears to have been no law prohibiting such a course ; but when Sudinna yielded to the solicitations by which he was assailed, and was afterwards led, from a conviction that he had done wrong, to declare to his fellow priests what had taken place, Budha, after reproving him for his conduct, enacted the following law, and declared that it was universally binding upon those who would renounce the world. " Yo pana bhikkhu methunan dhamman patiseweyya parajiko hoti asanwaso : What priest soever shall have intercourse with a woman is overcome and excluded." Under the plea that intercourse with women alone was prohibited by this law, another priest acted improperly in a forest frequented by monkeys, so that it became necessary to introduce the clause " antamaso tiratcha- nagatayapi : Even with an animal." At a subsequent period, some priests of Wajji, without a formal renunciation of asceticism, were guilty of improper conduct. Though they then laid aside their robes, yet, as they met with many afflictions in the world, such as the loss of relatives, they requested readmission to the priesthood. This request was not granted ; but a clause was added to the form of prohibition, by which any priest who was unable to maintain a state of continence might receive permission to become a laic, without any bar to his readmission to the priesthood at a future period, if he so willed it. The entire prohibition was then to this effect : " Any bhikkhu who has engaged to live according to the laws given to the priesthood, if he shall, without having made con- fession of his weakness and become a laic, hold intercourse with a female of what kind soever, is overcome and excluded." *

Of the five sections into which the Winaya Pitaka is divided, the first and second, Parajika and Pachiti, contain a code of ordinances relative to priestly crimes and misdemeanors ; the third and fourth, Maha Waga and Chula Waga, miscellaneous rules and regulations, relative to ordination, the ceremony called wass, &c. ; and the fifth, Pariwanapata, contains a recapitulation of the preceding books.

The precepts and prohibitions contained in the Parajika and Pachiti, 227 in number, are collected together, apart from the de- tails and explanations by which they are accompanied, in a work called Patimokkhan, or in Singhalese, Pratimoksha, which is to be recited twice every month in an assembly of priests consisting of

not fewer than four persons. The subjects of investigation are arranged in the following order: — 1. Parajika, four in number, referring to crimes that are to be punished by permanent exclusion from the priesthood. 2. Sanghadisesa, thirteen in number, that require suspension and penance, but not permanent exclusion. 3. Aniyata-dhamma, two in number, that involve exclusion, sus- pension, or penance, according to circumstances. 4. Nissagiya- pachittiya-dhamma, thirty in number, requiring forfeiture of such articles as the priests are permitted to possess. 5. Pachittiya- dhamma, ninety-two in nvmiber, requiring confession and absolu- tion. 6. Patidesani-dhamma, four in number, involving reprimand.

7. Sekhiya-dhamma, seventy-five in number, containing various prohibitions, and inculcating certain observances and proprieties.

8. Adhikarana-samata-dhamma, seven in number, the rules to be observed in conducting judicial investigations relative to the con- duct of the priests."^'

The four crimes that involve permanent exclusion from the priest- hood are sexual intercourse, theft, murder, and a false profession] of the attainment of rahatship ; but as the whole of the rules con- tained in the Patimokkhan appear in thefollowing chapters, under the heads to which they respectively belong, it will not be neces- sary to insert them in the order in which they are recited in the bi-monthly convention of ecclesiastics. The various rules and ob- ligations of the priest have been divided into an almost numberless array of classes ; but their tedious minuteness must ever tend to deter any one from prosecuting their examination, who does not trust in the three gems as an object of religious confidence.

There is, however, one division, called the Teles-dhutanga, from teles, thirteen, dhuta, destroyed, and anga, ordinance, meaning the thirteen ordinances by which the cleaving to existence is destroyed, too important to be omitted. These ordinances enjoin the following observances on the part of the priest by whom they are kept. 1. To reject all garments but those of the meanest description. 2. To possess only three garments. 3. To eat no food but that which has been received under certain restrictions. 4. To call at all houses alike when carrying the alms-bowl. 5. To remain on one seat, when eating, until the meal be finished. 6. To eat only from

• Gogcrly's Essay on the Laws of the Priesthood, Ceylon Friend, 1839. Nearly the whole of my inforniation relative to the contents of the Pati- mokkhan has been derived from this source.

one vessel. 7. To cease eating Avhen certain things occur. 8. To reside in the forest. 9. To reside at the foot of a tree. 10. To reside in an open space. 11. To reside in a cemetery. 12. To take any seat that may be provided. 13. To refrain from lying down under any circumstance whatever. The three principal observ- ances are the 4th, 5th, and 10th ; and he who observes these three may be said to practise the whole series. The entire number may be kept by priests, eight by priestesses, twelve by novices, seven by female novices, and two by the lay devotees called upasakas, whether male or female. Thus there are in all forty-two divisions. The five observances that the priestesses are forbidden to keep are the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th; the last three cannot be observed by them under any circumstances, as it would be highly improper for the priestess to remain in a solitary place. The novice may keep all except the 2nd. The lay devotee can keep only the 5th and 6th.*

Nearly the whole of these observances are included in the code that is known among the Chinese by the name of Chi eul theou tho king, or The Sacred Book of the Twelve Observances, quoted in the San tsang fa sou, lib. xliv. p. 10. Cf. Vocabulaire Pentaglotte, sect, xlv.f

III. NAMES AND TITLES.

The priests of Budha have received various names, of which the following are the principal: — 1. Srawakas, from the root sru, to hear, answering to the aKovariKoi of the Greeks. 2. Sarmanas, from srama, the performance of asceticism, answering to the aaKrirai, exercisers, of the ancient church. By the Chinese the word is written Cha men and Sang men, and is said by Klaproth to mean " celui qui restreint ses pensees, ou celui qui s'efforce et se re- streint." It is probable that the epithet Samanean, as applied to the religious system of Tartary, is derived from the same word. It is to the priests of Budha that Strabo (lib. xv. cap. i.) refers,

• Milanda Prasna : Wisudhi Margga Sanne.

t Eoe Koue Ki, ou Relation des Iloyaumes Bouddhiques : Voyage dans la Tartaric, dans I'Afghanistan et dans I'lnde, excciite a la fin du ive Siecle, par Chy fa hian. Traduit du Chinois et commente par M. Abel Remusat. Ouvrage i^osthume, revu, comjilete, et atigmente d'eclaircissements nou- veaux, par MM. Klaproth. et Landresse : Paris, 1836.

when he speaks of the Garmanas of India. By Clemens Alexan- drinus (Stromat. lib. i.) they are called Sarmanas, though he after- wards mentions the followers of Butta (Budha) as belonging to a separate community. In other works of the fathers they are called Scmnoi. Porphyrins (De Abst. lib. iv.) calls them Samanaeani. 3. Theros, or elders, answering to the D'^jpT'^' of the Old Testa- ment and the 7rp£(7/3v7-£poi of the New. 4. Bhikshus, or in Pali, bhikkhu, from bhiksha, to beg, literally a mendicant. The bhikshu is said to be so called " because of the fear he manifests of the repetition of existence ; because he goes to seek his food as a mendicant ; because he is arrayed in shreds and rags ; and because he avoids the practice of whatever is evil." The eastern etymo- logists, with their usual ingenuity, find all these ideas in the root of the word, either by addition, elision, or transposition. When Budha addressed the priests, it was usually by this appellation. It is said by M. Abel Remusat that the Chinese word Pi khieou " is the equivalent of the Sanskrit bhikchou, mendiant." They are called in Tibetan, dGe slong. " When the four rivers fall into the sea they no longer retain the name of river : when men of the four castes become Samaneans, they receive the common name of sons of Sakya (synonymous with bhikchou). The Tsun ching king calls them Pi thsiu (the name of a shrub that grows upon the Hima- layas)." t

In Ceylon, the novices, as -well as the priests who have not re- ceived ordination, are called ganinnanses, from gana, an assemblage or association ; and the superior priests are called terunnanses, from the Pali thero, an elder. Their collective name is mahunanse, literally, the great one. In the books they are represented as being addressed by the name of ayusmat, ancient, venerable. When any one embraced the priesthood he was said to be prawarjika, from Avraja, to abandon, one who has abandoned the world, answering to a name of the ancient monks, aTrora^a^tvoi, apotactates, re- nounccrs. In Nepaul the priests are called bandaya (whence also the Chinese bonze), which, in Sanskrit signifies a person entitled to reverence, from the word bandana. They are there divided into

• In like manner, Arab. Sheikh, an old man, and then " chief of a tribe ;" also Ital. Signor.Fr. Seigneur, Span. Senor.Engl. Sii-, all of which come from the Lat. Senior, elder; also, Germ. Graf, count, is pp. i. q. graw, krawo, grey-headed. Gesenius, sub voce.

four orders; bhlkshu, or mendicants; srawaka, or readers; chailaka, or scantily robed; and arhanta, or arhata, adepts.* Among the Burmese the priests, or talapoins, of the superior order, are called ponghis, and of the inferior pazens ; they are all subordinate to the zarado, who resides in the capital.f

It has been doubted whether Budhism allows of any such dis- tinction as that which is inferred in the use of the words clerus and laicus ; but all arguments founded upon the meaning of terms, when these terms can be used in a sense different to their primitive sio-nification, or when that signification has not been authoritatively defined, are inconclusive. Thus the word clergy, though we allow that it is derived from KXnpog, may either mean that the ministers of the church were chosen by lot, or that they were the lot and heritage of the Lord. The word priest is generally supposed to be derived, through the Saxon preost, from the Greek TrpsirftvTepoc, an elder, but by others it is said to be an ancient Saxon word, in use before the introduction of Christianity ; and if we look away from its original meaning to its conventional use, it may represent the sacerdos of the Latins, the lepevQ of the Greeks, the "^Tl-j of the Hebrews, or the minister of any other religion ; and its significa- tion will be altered according to the office that it represents. The rites of religion could only be performed among the Greeks and Romans by members of the sacerdotal class ; but these persons were not thereby incapacitated, by any positive law, from engaging in duties and offices that by ourselves would be regarded as utterly unsuited to the clerus. But this is the less remarkable when other circumstances are taken into the account ; as their duty consisted principally in the performance of certain ceremonies, or the in- structing of others in their proper mode of observance, whilst no traces are presented of their publicly addressing the people upon moral subjects. Hence the importance of the position maintained by the philosophers, who in some measure supplied this defect ; but their auditors were comparatively few ; and as he who appeared to understand the deepest mysteries would be regarded as the most wise, there was a continual tendency in all the schools to dwell upon subjects that bewilder, rather than upon those that are con- nected with practical instruction. The sramanas of Budha unite

the characters of priest and philosopher, as they were presented among the nations of classic antiquity ; but, from their possession of a record that they consider to be divine, the reverse of that which took place among the ancients of the west is presented ; individual speculation is almost entirely discovmtenanced, and the bare reading of the record too commonly usurps the place of hortatory teaching.

The apostle Paul tells us that the priest is " one who is ordained for men in things j^ertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins,"' Heb. v. 1 ; but this definition is confessedly inapplicable to any order of men among the Budhists, as the system knows nothing whatever of " sacrifices for sins.'"

When compared with the priest of Romanism there is a greater resemblance between the two orders. Both are separated from the world; both profess to instruct the people ; and both perform cere- monies that are supposed to confer merit upon those in whose name, or in whose presence they are conducted. I have therefore retained the word priest to designate the sramanas of Budha ; they are monks as to the economy of their own lives, but priests as to the world without ; clerici regulares.

The innovations made by St. Francis in the monastic institute were of great importance. Until that period the monks had been insulated from the world. Even the pastoral duties were forbidden them. It was ordained by Cone. Pictav. c. 11, that no monk should perform the work of a parochial minister, i. e. " to baptise, to preach, and to hear confession." He was not allowed (Cone. Lat. i.) to visit the sick. But when Francis received the impression that it was his duty to renounce the possession of gold, silver, and money ; to have neither wallet, nor satchel, nor bread ; to travel without a staff, and without shoes, and with a simple tunic ; he was at the same time moved to the resolution to preach repentance and the kingdom of God. When monachism commenced, the ascetic re- nounced all trust in the vicarious acts of a more favoured order ; he himself worked out his own salvation ; he was himself a priest, though without investiture or ordination ; and it was not until the monks had degenerated that individuals sought admission to the priesthood, and combined two offices that were at first distinct. But the rule of Francis did not contemplate merely the occasional election of a monk to the pastorate or episcopate, or the appoint- ment of an ordained abbot to rule over " the church in the house" of some separate fraternity ; his mendicant followers were thrown

upon the world ; from it they were to receive their subsistence ; and it was only by the personal activity of each individual member that the order could be preserved in its integrity. In the history of Budhism there are evidences of a similar departure from the first principles of asceticism ; but when it commenced, or in what manner it was effected, cannot now be ascertained. It appears to have been the original intention that the sramana, during the greater part of the year, should reside in solitude ; but the injunction to carry the alms-bowl to the houses of the people would tend to produce an unfavourable consequence, as it would continually present to his mind the advantages of social existence, and tempt him to take up his residence as near the dwellings of men as was possible without an entire change of the system. Then, as he was dependent upon the people for every comfort he enjoyed, it was natural that he should endeavour to magnify his office, and place as immense a distance as j^ossible between himself and his supporters, by con- vincing them that whilst he received from them the temporal aid that he needed they Avere indebted to him, and the power with which he was officially clothed, for their present prosperity and for their expectation of a future reward. Thus, although he offered no sacrifice in the literal sense of the term, he became virtually invested with the character of a priest. This change in the eco- nomy of Budhism has been carried to so great an extent, that the true ascetic, or one who renounces the world for his own soul's good, without regarding the souls of others, is now almost un- known.

There is undoubtedly a great difference between the sramana and the grahapati ; the receiver of alms, who by that recejstion confers merit, and the giver of alms, who by that gift exjjects to gain merit : the man who lives (to use a distinction of Pythagoras) vTTfp fvcrii', above nature, and him who lives cara (pvcrir, according to nature ; and the higher attainments of the systemcan only be acquired by one who has abandoned the world either in the present or some previous birth ; but the householder is not rejected as being without the pale of privilege, and is far from being classed among unbelievers. Even at the commencement of Budhism the bana was publicly recited, so that from the beginning a distinction must have existed between the teacher and the taught, which would cause the priest to be regarded as a mediator, or intervenient instrumentality, between the householder and the consequences of

his demerit. The benefits received from listening to the bana were not prospective or conditional ; they were not dependent upon some new course of action that was to be pursued in consequence of this instruction : it was an opus operatvun ; and the householder retired to his home, after listening to the word, with the consciousness that he had thereby acquired merit, and that if he continued in the wise exercise of the privileges placed within his reach, without taking upoa himself the more arduous practices of the ascetic, he would be enabled to attain a reward that was worthy of his ambi- tion. We therefore conclude that Budhism has always recognised the two classes of mendicant and householder ; and that both the one and the other is regarded as recipient of the blessings it im- parts to its disciples.

In the gospel there is a distinction between the clerus and laicus as to matters of discipline ; but the child, the woman, the slave, the lowest member of the church, whatever his condition, has an equal freedom of access to the throne of the heavenly grace with the mitred ecclesiastic or the most privileged priest, and may aspire to an equal inheritance of glory in the world to come. But in Bud- hism the distinction is more essential, as no one who has not in some state of existence, either present or past, observed the ordinances of asceticism, can obtain nirwana. This may be learnt from a con- versation that took place between the king of Sagal and Nagasena. One day, when Milinda was reclining upon his royal couch, reflect- ing upon religious subjects, he wondered how it was that, if house- holders could enter the paths leading to nirwana, any one should take the trouble to observe the Thirteen Ordinances, the practice of which is so exceedingly difficult ; and he therefore w^ent to Nagasena, that his doubts upon the subject might be removed. " Can the householder," said he, " attain nirwana ; he whose mind is occupied by (panchakama) that which is apparent to the five senses ; who lives in a fixed habitation, jorocreates children, enjoys possessions, uses ointments and perfumes, receives money, and puts on the crown adorned with jewels and gold? " Nagasena re- plied, " Not only one hundred but myriads of householders have attained nirwana. But as to the Thirteen Ordinances, it is a sub- ject most extensive ; however many things I might say relative to the religion of Budha they would all belong to them. As all the rain that falls runs into the rivers, and thence into the sea, so all that the most learned person might say relative to religion would

be directed to them. All the knowledge I possess is included in them ; they are, in the most eminent degree, profitable, beautiful, and complete. At Sewet there were many myriads of upasakas, both male and female, who entered the paths, of whom 356,000 entered the third path ; and at other places, when Budha preached different sutras, countless companies of men and dewas received the same privilege, all of whom were gihi, householders, and not pra- warjita, those who have abandoned or renounced the world." Milinda : — " Then to what purpose is it that men observe with so much strictness the Thirteen Ordinances, if they can enter the city of peace without it ? If a sick man can be cured by simples, he does not torture his body by taking emetics or violent purgatives ; if the enemy can be warded off by a slight blow we do not use clubs or formidable weapons ; the high ladder is of no use if the tree can be ascended without it ; when a man can sleep soundly on the ground he need not seek a splendid couch and coverlets ; Avhen the fearless man can traverse the wilderness alone he does not require an armed escort ; he who can swim across the river or lake does not look out for rafts, boats, or bridges ; he who has food of his own need not, in order to satisfy his hunger, go begging from his friends or the rich, flattering them and running hither and thither ; if water can be procured from a natural fountain, it is to no purpose to dig wells or tanks : in like manner, if the house- holder, who enjoys worldly possessions, can also enjoy the pros- pect of nirwana, of what benefit are the Thirteen Ordinances ? " Nagasena : — " The Budhas have set forth twenty-eight advantages as connected with the observance of these rites : such as fearless- ness, protection, freedom from evil desire, the patient endurance of affliction, confirmed attachment to religion, an entrance into the paths, &c. When the Thirteen Ordinances are observed, there are eighteen virtues that are brought into exercise, such as, that the thought is extinguished, that this is mine, or me ; hatred is avoided ; much sleep is shunned ; no fixed habitation is required ; solitary meditation is exercised ; and there is opposition to all evil. There are also ten other virtues that must be possessed : such as faith or purity, great diligence, freedom from all that tends to deceive, res- pect for the precepts, equanimity. Sec. When the householder attains nirwana, it is because he has kept the Thirteen Ordinances in some former state of existence : just as the bowman, after learn- ing the science of archery in the hall of instruction and becoming

perfect, then goes to the king and receives the reward of his skill. No one who has not observed the Thirteen Ordinances, either in the present birth or a former one, can enter the path that leads to the city of peace. , . . Men eat food that they may receive strength, take medicine that they may drive away disease, exercise friendship that they may secure assistance, enter a ship that they may cross the sea, and use flowers and perfumes that a fragrant smell may be emitted : the pupil who would receive instruction places himself under a preceptor ; he who would have honour seeks it from the king; and he who would have anything that he can wish for, gains possession of the magical jewel : in like manner, he who would re- ceive the full benefit of asceticism, practises the Thirteen Ordi- nances. As water for the nourishment of grain, fire for burning, food for imparting strength, withs for binding, women for conten- tion, water for removing thirst, treasure for independence, a ship for navigation, medicines for imparting health, a couch for repose, a place of refuge for safety, the king for protection, weapons for giving confidence, the preceptor for instruction, the mother for rear- ing children, the mirror for seeing the countenance, jewels for orna- ment, garments for clothing, scales for equality, the mantra for spells and charms, the lamp for dispelling darkness, and the pre- cept for restraining the disobedient ; so is an attention to the Thir- teen Ordinances for the nourishing of asceticism, the burning up of evil desire, &c."*

For the rapidity of its early extension, and its subsequent popu- larity, Budhism is in a great measure indebted to the broad basis upon which admission to the priesthood has been placed ; and in this respect it stands in perfect contrast with the system to which it is the greatest antagonist. No one can become a Brahman, ex- cept by birth ; but the privileges of the ascetic are offered to all who will receive them upon the condition implied in their accept- ance, unless the candidate be diseased, a slave, a soldier, or unable to obtain the permission of his parents. This comprehensive rule has been disregarded ; but the system itself is not to be charged

with the innovations that have been made in its original constitu- tion. The slave is inhibited from becoming a recluse ; but the name is not to be taken in its modern acceptation, as implying a state of degradation. The bar to admission does not arise from the inferiority of the condition, as even the oiitcast is received ; but as the peculium belongs to another, no slave is thought to have the right to place himself in a situation that may for ever deprive his master of his services. In the reign of Justinian (Nov. v. c. 2) slaves were allowed to enter convents without leave of their masters ; but among the Anglo-Saxons the candidate for ordination was requ.ired to prove that he was not of spurious or servile birth. That the priest should be free from disease has been generally insisted on in all ages. The Jews, in their comments upon Levit. xxi. 17, have enumerated 142 blemishes that produced unfitness to minister before the Lord. " Sacerdos integer sit," was a law of the Romans ; but among the ancients the disease or the blemish was not a bar to the reception of the office from its unsightliness alone ; it was regarded as unpropitious, and it was therefore said, " vitandus est," as it was supposed that it would render the sacrifice coming from such a source of no avail. This idea, though not expressed in the ritual, is entirely consonant with the Budhistical system.

The novice is called a samanera, from sramana, an ascetic. He must be at least eight years of age, and must have received the consent of his parents to his abandonment of the world. He cannot receive upasampada, or ordination, until he is twenty years of age ; were even the office to be conferred on him by the proper authorities, and the ceremony to be performed according to the ritual, the proceedings would be invalid if the stipulated age was not attained. The novice is not regarded as a member of the sangha, or chapter ; he can perform any religious rite, but is not allowed to interfere in matters of discipline or government. But in China, ordination must be granted at an earlier period, as Bishop Smith states that he saw a little priest, about nine years of age, a pet of the abbot, who looked forward to the age of sixteen, " when he would have his head entirely shaven, and be inducted into the full privileges of the priesthood." '^*'

The necessity of some law, imperatively stating the earliest age at which the obligations of the recluse can be taken, must be at

once apparent. Leo I. required the age of forty in monks before their consecration, and the same age was ordered by several councils. Pius I. recommended the twenty-fifth year, which was confirmed by the third council of Carthage. Synods of a more recent date have allowed vows of virginity to be taken as early as fourteen years of age in males, and twelve in females. The council of Trent recognises sixteen years as the age before which vows should not be taken.* Among the Anglo-Saxons, the vows of the nun were retarded until she had reached her twenty-fifth year. In the monasteries of the Greek church belonging to the rule of St. Basil, the male novices are not allowed to take the vows before the thirtieth, nor females before the fiftieth year. The mendicant orders are accused by Wycliff'e of endeavouring to seduce young children into their " rotten habit ;" and it was decreed by the parlia- ment that no scholar under eighteen years of age should be received into the community, f

There are many circumstances that make the yoke of the sama- nera less onerous than that of the stricter communities among the western celibates. The vows are not in any case irrevocable ; and the constant intercourse that is of necessity kept up with the people, aff'ords opportunities of commvmion with the exterior world that are denied to the inmate of the high-walled monastery or the iron-barred convent. It must often cause the deepest sorrow, only passing away with the utter searing of every right affection or with life itself, Avhen the recluse has to reflect that by the step he has taken he has sent the barbed arrow into the heart of an affectionate mother, or stricken to premature age a father whose eye is ever filled with the gushing tear, as he looks around upon the social circle and sees that the place is vacant where the object of his brightest hopes once sat. Yet it was accounted as an additional merit by the Nicene doctors when the vow of celibacy was taken against the wish or advice of parents, or against their knowledge. | It was also regarded as an act of merit when the mother devoted her unconscious child to the service of the sanctuary, as in the case of Gregory Nazianzen, who, before his birth, was devoted to God by his mother Nonna. This was usually done by taking the child before the altar, and placing in its hands the book of the gospels ; but at a later period the parents wrapped the hands of their children

in the altar-cloth. By Cod. Just. i. 3, 55, parents were forbidden to hinder their children from becoming monks, if they so wished. Even among the Budhists, it sometimes occurs that a w"oman vows she will dedicate her son to the temple, should the reproach of her unfruitfulness be taken away ; and when the child afterwards received puts on the robe of a recluse, he may at first, and in his youth, be charmed by the honour he receives, so as to be more than reconciled to his situation ; and should there be, at a subsequent period, a painful sense of the constraint under which he lives, from a feeling of pride he may never utter to another the story of his woe, or take the liberty that is presented by the institute of returning for a time to the state of a laic. But in all such cases there will be the bearing of a burden that must greatly embitter existence ; and the spirit will become moody or morose, that under other circum- stances might have been cheerful as the lark at matins, or gentle as the lamb as it crops the grass of the mead.

The samanera usually begins his connexion with the monastery by becoming a pupil in the school kept by the priest ; and by this means he gains an insight into the duties he will afterwards be required to perform. The priesthood is to be sought in order that existence may be overcome, and that nirwana, or the cessation of existence, may be obtained. It was declared by Nagasena that the benefits to be derived from embracing the priesthood are, the destruction of present and the avoiding of future sorrow, the ipre- venting of the occurrence of the birth arising from evil desire- and scepticism, and the attainment of nirwana. " This," said he, " is the end for which the ^^riesthood ought always to be sought ; but it is sometimes sought from a different intention, as the fear of kings or of robbers, or because of debt, or to obtain a livelihood." Who- ever would enter upon the course of discipline necessary for the attainment of this great object, must be assured that by the observ- ance of the prescribed rules of asceticism, the cleaving to existence, which is regarded as the source of all evil, will be extinguished. If possible, the novice must live in the same monastery as his preceptor^ bvit if not convenient, he may live in another place, at the distance of four, eight, or sixteen miles. AVhen he thus lives at a distance, he must rise early in the morning, perform what is necessary to be done at his own dwelling, then go to the monastery of his preceptor, and return the following day to his own abode. And when he cannot live within the distance of sixteen miles, he must learn as

well as he can from his preceptor, and afterwards meditate at his leisure on the instruction he has received. In Ceylon, there are not at present any instances in which this privilege is accepted, as the samanera invariably resides at the monastery ; and from the com- mencement of his noviciate he is regarded as a priest.

When the pupil becomes an accepted novice, it is required of him that he be careful as to the character of the monastery in which he intends to reside. There are eighteen kinds of places that it will be well for him to avoid : 1 . A large wihara (the monastery or temple in which the priests reside), as in such a place many persons will meet together, and there will be much talking ; the enclosure round the bo-tree not being swept, and no water brought either to drink or for bathing, these things will have to be done, and thus time will be lost ; the novice, after performing this, must go with the alms-bowl, but as he will have been preceded by others, the food intended for the priesthood will all have been given away. In a large wihara, the noise of the novices repeating their lessons will cause a disturbance. But if all the work be properly attended to, and there be nothing to distract, a large wihara may be chosen. 2. A new wihara, as there will be much work to do, which if not done may cause the displeasure of the senior priests ; but if there should be others to do the work, so as to leave the novice free, he may remain in a new residence. 3. An old wihara, as it will require much reparation ; if this be not attended to, it will bring down the rebuke of the senior priests ; and if it be, it will leave no time for meditation. 4. A wihara near a high road, as stranger priests will be continually calling, who will require attention. 5. A wihara near which there are many tanks and much water, as people will resort thither, and the disciples of the learned men con- nected with the court will come from the city to dye their garments, and will want fuel, vessels, and other things. 6. A wihara near which there is an abundance of herbs, as women will con-!C to gather them, singing all kinds of foolish songs, the hearing of which is as poison ; and though they should even not be singing, the voice of a woman heard in any way is an enemy to the ascetic. 7. A wihara near which there are many flowers, as there w'ill be the same danger. 8. A wihara near which there are many fruit-trees, such as mango, jambu, and jack, as people will come to ask for them, and if not given they will become angry or take them by force ; and when the priest walks to and fro at night, to subdue the mind,

they will see and ridicule him. 9. A wihara that persons are accustomed to visit, such as Dakkhina-giri, Attikuchi-lena, Chetiya- giri, and Chittala-pabbata ; to these places the faithful resort that they may worship, because they were formerly the residences of rahats ; but the priest may dwell near these places, if he can make such arrangements as will enable him to be absent during the day, and return to them only at night. 10. A wihara near a city, as there will be many things to attract the eyes ; the women will not leave the road when they are met, and they will make a noise with their earthen vessels ; and the place will be resorted to by great men. 11. A wihara near which there is much fuel or timber for building, as women will come to gather the firewood and artisans to fell the trees ; at night, when they see the priest walking in the place of ambulation they will ridicule or otherwise molest him. 12. A wihara near a rice-field, as the cidtivators will have to make the platform on which the oxen tread out the rice, and a disturbance will be caused. 13. A wihara near which cattle are accustomed to graze, as they will break into the rice-fields, and the owners will accuse the priests, and make complaints to the magistrates. 14. A wihara in which the resident priests are not on friendly terms with each other ; they will quarrel, and if told to be at peace, they will say that they never prospered since this rigid ascetic came who now gives his advice. 15, 16, 17. A wihara near a seaport, a river, or a forest ; the mariners will request assistance, and these men are not believers in the truth. 18. A wihara on the borders of a coimtry,* as the resident will be exposed to wars, will be now under one king, and then under another, and will be liable to be accounted as a spy. f

All these places are to be avoided, as though they were inhabited by so many demons ; and the dangers arising from these non-human beings are represented as being by no means small. There was a priest residing in a forest, who one day hearing a female demon sing near'the door of his residence was (improperly) attracted to the place ; but when he came near she caught him and hurried him away that she might eat him. The priest insisting upon knowing

• The monks of Christendom, on some occasions, manifested a different spu-it to that which is here inculcated. On the edge of Spahling Moor, in Yorkshu-e, there was a cell for two monks, whose employment was to guide travellers over the dreary waste upon which they here entered. Whilst one acted as a conductor, the other implored by prayer the protection of heaven for those who were exposed to the dangers of the road.

what she was about to do, she said that she had eaten many such priests as he, and that she should reckon it to be a great misfortune if the time should come when she would be unable to secure some member of the sacred community.

The novice must choose a residence that is not far from the village to which he has to go to procure alms. Budha has said that it must not be more than four miles distant, nor nearer than the length of 500 bows. It must be a place easy of access ; free from dangers ; where the people offer no interruption ; at night subject to no noise ; at a distance from the hurry of the multitudes ; not infested by flies, musquitoes, or snakes, nor subject to an excess of wind or sun ; where the requisites of the priest can be obtained without difficulty ; and where there are superior priests to whom he can resort, that he may ask questions, and have his doubts solved.

The place of residence having been chosen, the novice must declare his intention to a superior priest ; or he must take a robe, and after having shaved his head and bathed, give it to a priest, requesting to receive it from him again, that he may thus be able to commence his noviciate. He must then ask the priest to impart to him the tun-sarana, or three-fold protective formulary, which is as follows : —

Budhang-saranang-gach'hami I take refuge in Budha.

Dhammang-saranang-gach'hami I take refuge in the Truth.

Sanghang-saranang-gach'hami I take refuge in the Associated

Priesthood, or the same formulary may be repeated by himself; but in that case he must change the tig at the end of each word into m, and say Budham saranam, instead of Budhang saranang, &:c. -^ He must then repeat the dasa-sil, or the ten obligations.

1 . Panatipataweramanisikkhapadangsamadiyami.

2. Adinnadanaweramanisikkhapadangsamadiyami.

3. Abrahmachariyaweramanisikkhapadangsamadiyami.-

4. Musawadaweramanisikkhapadangsamadiyami.

5. Suramerayamajjapamadatthanaweramanisikkhapadangsamadi-

yami.

6. Wikalabhojanaweramanisikkhapadangsamadiyami.

7. Nachagitawaditawisukadassanaweramanisikkhapadangsamadi- yami.

8. Malagandhawilepanadharanamandanawibhusanattanawerama- nisikkhapadangsamadiyami.

9. Uch'hasayanamahasayanaweramanisikkhapadangsamadiyami. 10. Jataruparajaiapatiggahanaweramanisikkhapadangsamadiyami.

1. I will observe the precept, or ordinance, that forbids the taking of life.

2. I will observe the precept, or ordinance, that forbids the taking of that which has not been given.

3. I will observe the precept, or ordinance, that forbids sexual intercourse.

4. I will observe the precept, or ordinance, that forbids the saying of that which is not true.

5. I will observe the precept, or ordinance, that forbids the use of intoxicating drinks, that lead to indifference towards religion.

6. I will observe the precept, or ordinance, that forbids the eating of food after mid-day.

7. I will observe the precept, or ordinance, that forbids attend- ance upon dancing, singing, music, and masks.

8. I will observe the precept, or ordinance, that forbids the adorning of the body with flowers, and the use of perfumes and unguents.

9. I will observe the precept, or ordinance, that forbids the use of high or honourable seats or couches.

10. I will observe the precept, or ordinance, that forbids the receiving of gold or silver.

The principal duties that are to be attended to by the novice are set forth in a manual called Dina Chariyawa, or the Daily Observ- ances of the Priest : — " He who, with a firm faith, believes in the religion of truth, rising before day-light, shall clean his teeth, and shall then sweep all the places that are proper to be swept, such as the court-yard, the platform near the bo-tree, and the approaches to the wihara ; after which he shall fetch the water that is required for drinking, filter it, and place it ready for use. When this is done, he shall retire to a solitary place, and for the space of three hours'^' meditate on the obligations, considering whether he has kept them or not. The bell will then ring, and he must reflect that greater than the gift of 100 elephants, 100 horses, and 100 chariots, is the reward of him who takes one step towards the place where worship

• There are sixty hours in one day.

is offered. Thus reflecting, he shall approach the dagoba (a conical erection under which some relic is placed) or the bo-tree, and per- form that which is appointed; he shall offer flowers, just as if Budha were present in person, if flowers can be procured ; meditate on the nine virtues of Budha, with a fixed and determined mind ; and having worshipped, seek absolution for his negligences and faults, just as if the sacred things (before which he worships) had life. Having risen from this act of reverence, he shall proceed to the other places where worship is offered, and spreading the cloth or skin that he is accustomed to place under him, he shall again worship (with his forehead to the ground, and touching the ground with his knees and toes). The next act that he is required to per- form is to look at his lita, or calendar, in order that he may learn the awach'hawa (the length of the shadow, by which according to rules regularly laid down, varying with the time of the year, the hour of the day may be known), the age of the moon, and the years that have elapsed since the death of Budha ; and then meditate on the advantages to be derived from the keeping of the obligations, carrying the alms-bowl, and putting on the yellow robe. It will now be time for him to take the alms-bowl, and when going his round, he is to bear in mind the four karmasthanas, not to go too near, nor to keep at too great a distance from, his upadya or pre- ceptor ; at a convenient distance from the village, having swept a small space clean, he is properly to adjust his robe. If going with his upadya or preceptor, he is to give the bowl into his hands, and accompany him to the village, carefully avoiding the sight of women, men, elephants, horses, chariots, or soldiers. According to the rules contained in the Sekhiya, he is to proceed along the road ; and after the alms have been received he is to retire from the village in the manner previously declared. Taking the bowl and outer robe of his superior, he shall then proceed to the wihara. If there be a place appointed for the robe, he shall put it there after folding it ; then place a seat, wash his feet, enquire if he is thirsty, place before him the tooth-cleaner, and bring the alms-bowl, or if this be refused, a small portion of rice. The stanzas must be repeated that are appointed to be said before eating, after eating, and when the things are received that may be used as sick diet ; and the food is to be eaten in the manner laid down in the Sekhiya. Then taking the bowl of his superior he shall w^ash it, put it in the sunshine to dry, and deposit it afterwards in its proper place. This

being done he is to wash his own face, and putting on his robe, he is first to worship his superior, and then Budha. The next act is to go again to some solitary place, and there repeat the appointed stanzas, considering whether he has omitted the practice of any obligation, or in any way acted contrary to them, after which he must exercise maitri-bhawana, or the meditation of kindness and affection. About an hour afterwards, when his weariness is gone, he is to read one of the sacred books, or write out a portion of one; and if he has anything to ask from his preceptor, or to tell him, this is the time at which it should be done. In some convenient place the bana is to be read ; and when this is concluded, if there be time before the setting of the sun, he is again to sweep the court-yard, &;c. as before.

" One by one each day, in regular order, the samanera novices shall kindle a fire, light a lamp, make all ready for the reading of the bana, call the priest who is appointed to recite it, wash his feet, sit down in an orderly manner and listen to the bana, and then repeat the pirit, or ritual of priestly exorcism. Having done what- ever is necessary to be done for the guru, and offered him worship, if the novice has doubts respecting any matter he must ask to have them solved ; or if accustomed to read the sacred books as a lesson, it must now be done, and he must repeat the Sekhiya and Chatu- parasudhi-sila. If there be in the same wihara a priest older than himself, he is to render him all necessary assistance, such as to wash his feet, and anoint them with oil, and after offering to him worship, he must ask permission to retire. Reclining in the place where he intends to sleep, he is again to repeat the four stanzas and the four karmasthanas, as before, and reflect that in the morn- ing he will have to rise. Having slept, he is to rise in the morning before day-break, and after again repeating the four stanzas and the four karmasthanas, he must repeat the pirit taken from the Ratana-sutra, exercise maitri-bhawana, and do all that is required to be done. In the morning, as well as at night, he is to reflect on the eight things that produce sorrow, on the infirmities of the body, on death, and on all that is declared in the Dasa-dharmma-sutra. Not giving his mind to the four things that lead to hell, viz. evil desire, anger, fear, and ignorance, should he know that any priest in the community has committed an error, he must go and declare it to him in a friendly manner, by which he will derive the benefit that follows right speech. If there be a priest who lives according

to the precepts, and is obedient thereto, he is like one who does personal service to Budha ; he honours Budha, acknowledges that he is supreme, and offers to him that which is the most excellent puja, or oblation. The samanera is then to reflect whether he has rightly attended to the Dina Chariyawa ; if he has done so, he must remain silent upon the subject, saying nothing about it; but if he finds that he has neglected obedience in any one particular, and is examined by the guru, he shall confess his fault. When anything has been done without due consideration, inadvertently, he is to bring a measure of sand, and sprinkle it in the sacred court. He must at all times be ready to do that which is necessary to be done for his preceptor, and to the more aged priests he must be respectful and obedient, washing their feet without any pride. With the four articles that he has received as a novice, of what kind soever they may be, whether good or bad, he must rest contented ; nor must he covet to have anything more than the allowed requisites of the priesthood. Maintaining a course of good behaviour, he must keep under the five senses, with matured wisdom, and without any haxightiness of either body, speech, or mind. He must not associate with those who are not ascetics, nor follow their customs ; and he must be careful to avoid the commission of the least crime. By this means he will render an oblation worthy of Biidha, the ruler of the world. This is the Dina Chariyawa."

In addition to the works read by the lay student, which will afterwards be enumerated, the following formularies are to be learnt by the samanera novice.

1. Heranasikha: from herana, a novice, and sikha, rule or pre- cept. It is written in Elu, a dialect of the ancient Singhalese, and contains the dasa-sil, the dasa-sikha, the dasa-pariji, the dasa- nasana, and the dasa-dandu. The dasa-sil, or the ten obligations, have already appeared. The dasa-sikha relate to the same rules as the dasa-sil, as do also the first five of the dasa-pariji, with the addition of the word " knowingly" to each ; and the other five forbid — 1. The speaking disrespectfully of Budha. 2. The speak- ing disrespectfully of the truth. 3. The speaking disrespectfully of the associated priesthood. 4. The entertaining of heretical no- tions. 5. Sexual intercourse with a priestess. The dasa-nasana make known that after expulsion for committing any of the first five of the pariji there may be restoration to the priesthood, but after expulsion for any of the second five there can be no restoration.

The dasa- dan du forbid — 1. The eating of food after mid-day. 2. The seeing of dances or the hearing of music or singing. 3. The use of ornaments or perfumes. 4. The use of a seat or couch more than a cubit high. 5. The receiving of gold, silver, or money. 6. Practising some deception to prevent another priest from receiv- ing that to which he is entitled. 7. Practising some deception to injure another priest, or bring him into danger. 8. Practising some deception in order to cause another priest to be expelled from the community. 9. Speaking evil of another priest. 10. Uttering slanders, in order to excite dissension among the priests of the same community. The first five of these crimes may be forgiven, if the priest bring sand and sprinkle it in the court yard of the ■wihara, and the second five may be forgiven, after temporary ex- pulsion.

2. Dina Chariyawa. This work is also written in Elu.

3. Satara-kamatahan, in Pali and Elu, from satara, four, and kamatahan, abstract meditation, contains rules for meditation on the four important subjects, Budha, kindness, evil desire, and death.

4. Dammapadan, or the Footsteps of Budha, in Pali. This work contains a number of moral precepts, apparently selected from various parts of the Tun-Pitakas. It is one of the fifteen books belonging to the fifth or last section of the discourses of Budha. It contains 423 verses, in each of which there are four or six lines of eight syllables each ; but other measures are occasionally used. It is divided into chapters, with such names as Yamaka, or double- answering Verses ; Appamado, or Religion ; Chittan, or Mind ; and Pvippham, or Flowers. There is a paraphrase of this work in Sin- ghalese, called Dhampiyawa, which is much valued by the people. About 350 of the verses have been translated by the Rev. D. J. Gogerly (Ceylon Friend, vol. iv. Aug. 1840, &.c.) ; and the selec- tion gives a more favourable idea of the morality of Budhism (though its principal defects are equally apparent) than any other work I have seen. The first chapter is thus rendered in Mr. Go- gerly's translation : —

" Mind precedes action. The motive is chief : actions proceed from mind. If any one speak or act from a corrupt mind, suffer- ing will follow the action, as the wheel follows the lifted foot of the ox.

" Mind precedes action. The motive is chief : actions proceed from

mind. If any one speak or act with a pure intention, enjoyment will follow the action, as the shadow attends the substance.

" Their anger is not subdued who recal to mind — ^he abused me, he struck me, he conquered me, he plundered me —

" But their anger is subdued who do not recal to mind — he abused me, he struck me, he conquered me, he plundered me.

" Anger will never be appeased by anger, but by gentleness. This is the doctrine of the ancients.

" Persons do not reflect. We shall speedily die ; if any do thus reflect, their quarrels speedily terminate.

" He who lives regarding the pleasures of existence, with un- restrained passions, immoderate in food, indolent, unpersevering, Maraya (lust) will certainly subdue him, as the feeble tree is over- turned by the blast.

" He who lives meditating on the evils of existence with re- strained passions, temperate in food, religious, and persevering, Maraya will certainly not overpower him, as the solid rock stands unmoved by the storm.

" He who wears the yellow garment with a polluted mind, re- gardless of true doctrine, and destitute of a subdued spirit, is un- worthy of the yellow robe.

" He is worthy of the yellow robe who is purified from lusts, established in virtue, of a subdued spirit, and conversant with true doctrine.

"Those who regard evil as good, or good as evil, will never attain to excellence, but are nurtured in error.

" Those who know good to be good, and evil to be evil, will attain to excellence, being nourished by truth.

" As the rain completely penetrates the ill-thatched roof, so will lust completely subdue the unmeditative mind.

" As the rain cannot penetrate the well-covered roof, so lust can- not overcome the contemplative mind.

" The sinner mourns in this world, and he will mourn in the next world. In both worlds he has sorrow ; he grieves, he is tormented, perceiving his own impure actions.

" The virtuous man rejoices in this world, and he will rejoice in the next world. In both worlds he has joy ; he rejoices, he exults, perceiving his own virtuous deeds.

" The sinner suffers in this world, and he will suffer in the next world. In both worlds he suffers ; he suffers, knowing — sin has

been committed by me ; and dreadfully will he suffer in the regions of torment.

" The virtuous man is happy in this world, and he will be happy in the next world. In both worlds he is happy ; he is happy, knowing — I have acted virtuously, and greatly will he rejoice in heaven.

" The worldly-minded man, who understands much" of religion, and talks much concerning it, without keeping its precepts, is like a herdsman of other men's cattle, who is not a partaker of the flock he tends.

" The pious man, who though he understands but little, and talks but little of religion, is an observer of its precepts ; who re- moves lust, wrath, and folly far from him ; who is considerative, possessed of a mind free from evil and without attachments ; he, in this world and that to come, is a partaker of the fruits of piety.

" End of the Yamaka, or the chapter of double-answering Verses."

5. Piruwana-pota. This work contains a Manual of Exorcism. It is written in Pali, and consists of extracts from the sacred books, the recital of which, with certain attendant ceremonies, called in Singhalese, pirit, is intended to ward off evil and bring prosperity. The whole of it has been translated by the Pev. D. J. Gogerly, and appears in the Ceylon Friend, vol. ii. April, 1839, Stc.

6. Sekhiya. In this work, which is also written in Pali, there are seventy rules, by which the priest is to be guided in such mat- ters as the putting on of his robes, the manner in which he enters a house or village, &c. The rules are incorporated in the following chapters. The work is referred to in an inscription at Mihintala, near Anuradhapura, recorded about the year a.d. 262 : " The priests resident at this wihara shall make it a constant practice to rise at the dawn, meditate on the four preservative principles, perform the ablution, and then, having attired themselves with the chiwara (robes), in the manner prescribed in the Sekhiya, they shall resort to the yEt wihara, and having there performed the religious offices, afterwards partake of rice-gruel and rice, and shall duly administer to the priests who could not attend on account of sickness, such things, at their respective cells, as the physicians had prescribed."

7. Pilikul-bhawana. This Manual, written in Pali, contains in- formation relative to the manner in which the priest is to meditate on the corrujjtion of his ow^n body. It is divided into thirty-two parts, corresponding with the principal members.

8. Satara-sangwara-sila, from satara, four, sangwara, self-control, and sila, precepts. They are — 1. Pratimoksha, the observance of all the precepts contained in the Pratimoksha, from the fear of break- ing even the least of them. 2. Indriya, the entire freedom from any affection for sensible objects, as when the beautiful figure is seen, it is as though it were not seen : when the pleasant sound is heard, it is as though it were not heard. 3. Ajiwaparisudhi, the keeping of such precepts, as that when the priest goes to receive alms he must not by word or gesture make known that food or rai- ment is desired by him. 4. Prat'yasannisrata, the observance of such precepts as those that inculcate that when the robe is put on, it is not for beauty or ornament, but to ward off the heat and cold, musquitoes, flies, snakes, the rays of the sun, and the wind.

These treatises are to be learnt by the novice ; and in the works that he is afterwards required to read, he is frequently reminded that great diligence and exertion must be used, if he would succeed in effecting the object for which he has become a recluse. On one occasion, Budha said to the priests by whom he was accompanied, " Were a man, who wishes to make a small fire into a large one, to take wet grass, wet cow-dung, and wet fuel, and blow it with a wet winnowing fan, you would say that he is unskilful. In like man- ner, the mind of the being who is idle and indifferent cannot be brought into the paths that lead to nirwana simply by abstract me- ditation ; he must investigate causes and exercise energy even as the fire is increased by applying to it fuel that is dry." It is said again, "The bowman seeks out good weapons, plants his foot care- fully, and when he has succeeded in cleaving a hair with the arrow, marks the manner in which it was done, and tries the same method on other occasions. The skilful cook seeketh out condiments that are savoury, and makes such food as he thinks will be agreeable to his master; and when he finds that his master has enjoyed this dish or eaten plentifully of that, he prepares the same kind of food again, and so gains credit with his master, receiving many presents. In like manner, the priest who would enter the paths meditates carefully on the precepts, puts them to the test, and repeats the practice of those by which he is assisted."*

The novice is taught that there are eight benefits to be derived from becoming a recluse: — 1. Deliverance from wastu-kama, the love of wealth, and klesa-kama, the love of pleasure. 2. The re-

ception of food in a proper manner. 3. The custom of eating any food that comes to hand, of what kind soever it may be. 4. De- liverance from the oppression of wicked men and of kings. 5. Free- dom from all anxiety about such things as gardens, fields, and cattle. 6. Deliverance from the dread of thieves. 7. Deliverance from the dread of persons in authority, and release from the neces- sity of rising "up when they approach. 8. Deliverance from fear, in whatever place.'^'

There are also ten things that cause men to neglect the assump- tion of the yellow robe, or tempt them to cast it off after it has been assumed:—!. The mother. 2. The father. 3. The wife. 4. Chil- dren. 5. Poor relations. The thought will come that these relatives ought to be provided for, which cannot be done by the recluse. 6. Friends. 7. Property. 8. The desire of obtaining wealth. 9. The desire of worldly honour. 10. The love of pleasure. f

The precepts must be obeyed from a pure motive. Were any one to practise the Ten Obligations merely " to fill the belly," this man, deceiving the laity, greedy of fame, destitute of virtue, and un- w^orthy to enjoy the privileges of the priesthood, will receive a dou- ble punishment ; after death he will be born in the Awichi hell, where he will have to reside myriads of years, in the midst of flames, hot, fierce, and overpowering, in which he will be turned upside down, and in every possible direction, covered with foam. When released from this hell, he will be born in the hell of sprites, where he will have a body extremely attenuated, and most loath- some in its appearance, whilst he will have to endure the severest privations, and will have to walk upon earth in misery, the siaectre of a priest. Just as when a man of ignoble appearance and inferior family, by some deception succeeds in being anointed king : but he is afterwards punished : his arms, legs, nose, and ears are cut off; the scalp is torn away, and boiling gruel poured on his head ; his skull is rubbed with gravel until it is white as a sea-shell ; a lighted brand being put in his mouth, his body is rubbed with oil and set on fire ; his frame is hacked ; he is thrown down, and a spike being driven from ear to ear he is pinned to the ground ; his flesh is torn with hooks, and cut with small pieces of metal like coins ; the body is transfixed to the ground, and turned round and round by the legs, the pin serving as a pivot ; he is flogged, until his body is of the consistence of a whisp of straw ; he is eaten by hungry-dogs ; his

tongue is fastened to a stake, and he remains there until he dies ; or he is beheaded.* By these terrible allusions the novice is warned against becoming a recluse merely that he may secure a livelihood ; and they may be received as illustrative of the modes of punishment then used.

The priest who does not obey the precepts Is represented as being like a man who daubs himself all over with the most disgusting filth in order to render himself beautiful : he is like an ass among cattle ; he is shunned by all ; he is like the fire of a cemetery where bodies are burnt, or like one blind, or an outcaste.f

Upon another occasion it was declared by Budha, in the Aggik- khanda-pariya-sutra, that it is better for a priest to embrace the flame than to approach a woman, however exalted her rank ; that the consquence of the one act would be only temporary pain, or at most death ; whilst the consequence of the other would be long-con- tinued torment amidst the flames of hell. He said further, that it were better for the priest who does not keep the precepts to be bound with a cord made of hair, and dragged from place to place until his flesh is torn off", and his bones are laid bare, even to the marrow, than for such a one to receive worship from the faithful of any of the three great castes : that it were better for him to be cruelly pierced in the body than to receive service from the well- disposed among the laity : that it were better for him to have mol- ten metal poured down his throat, until his lips, teeth, tongue, stomach, and intestines were all burnt, than for him to receive an off"ering of food given as alms : that it were better for him to be put in a red-hot iron chair or bed, or to be put into a caldron of molten metal with his head downwards, than for him to receive the gift of a residence. The misery in the one case is merely temporary, but in the other case it will endure long. The receiving of honour or assistance by the priest who breaks the precepts is like the eating of food upon which the serpent has left its poison : it is no benefit to him, and will be attended by intense suffering.;];

The course of asceticism upon which the novice enters is in- tended, not only to overcome the evils of the passing moment, but also to prevent the afflictions of the future. This is he taught from one of the conversations that took place between Milinda and Na- gasena. The king said to the sage, " Are the pains that you take intended to drive away past sorrow?" and when he answered that

they were not, the king again asked, " Are they to drive away pre- sent sorrow ? " but the answer was the same. Milinda : — " Then if it be neither to drive away past sorrow nor present, why do you take pains at all? " Nagasena: — " We thus exert ourselves that we may destroy present sorrow and drive away future sorrow." Milinda : — " Is there future sorrow ? " Nagasena : — " No." Milinda : — "You are wise and learned, and yet do you take pains to destroy a sorrow that does not exist ? " Nagasena : — " When the kings that are your enemies come to fight against you, do you just at that time dig the ditches of your fortifications, build the walls, place the guards in the watch-towers, and lay in provisions for the siege ? " Milinda: — "No: I should prepare all these things before the day came." Nagasena : — " Would you on that day begin to train the elephants, the horses, the charioteers, the archers, the swordsmen, and the mace-men?" Milinda: — "No : all this is done beforehand." Nagasena : — " Wliy ? " Milinda : — " To ward off" future fear (or fear of the future.) " Nagasena : — " Is there future fear ? " Milinda : — • " No." Nagasena : — " You are a wise and prudent king, and do you prepare all things necessary for the battle in order that you may drive away a fear that in reality has no existence ? " The king requested further information. Nagasena proceeded and said, " When you are thirsty, and wish to drink water, do you tell your servants to dig the well or open the fountain ? Do you not cause these places to be prepared beforehand ? And thus you give orders relative to a thirst that has no existence. Again, when you are hungry, and wish to eat rice, do you tell your servants to plough the field and sow the grain ? Do you not cause the rice to be cul- tivated beforehand ? And yet you, a wise and prudent king, do all this relative to the driving away of a hunger that is still future, and has therefore no existence. In like manner the priest acts in rela- tion to the future ; that which he does is in order to drive away future sorrow."

It excited the wonder of Milinda that the priests should have any regard whatever to the body ; but the novice is to bear in mind that this is done, not from complacency or pride, but that it may be the better adapted to carry into effect the ascetic rites he is called upon to exercise. The king said to Nagasena, " Do the priests respect the body ? " and when the sage replied in the negative, he again asked, " Then why do they take so much pains to preserve it ? Do they not by this means say, this is me, or mine ? " Nagasena : —

"Were you ever wounded by an arrow in battle?" Milinda: — " Yes." Nagasena : — " Was not the wound anointed? Was it not rubbed with oil ? And was it not covered with a soft bandage ? " Milinda : — " Yes." Nagasena : — " Was this done because you respected the wound, or took delight in it?" Milinda: — "No; but that it might be healed." Nagasena : — " In like manner, the priests do not preserve the body because they respect it ; but that they may have the power required for the keeping of the precepts." There are some priests who throw off the robe and return to the state of a laic. This might be brought as a charge against the sys- tem of Budha; it may be said that it is without power, or they Avould not have acted in such a manner. But the novice is taught to reason thus. There is a tank full of water ; now if a man have his body covered with dirt and dust, and his garments all soiled, where is the fault ? Can it be charged upon the water ? Again, there is a skilful physician ; now if a man labour under a severe disease, and does not apply to the physician, the disease may in- crease in malignity, but is the skill of the physician thereby im- peached ? Is it not rather the fault of the man ? Again, there is plenty of food provided, and plenty of water, and men are invited to partake of them ; but if they refuse, and will rather suffer hunger and thirst than come, can blame be attached to the food or the water ? In like manner, when the priest, without attaining nirwana, leaves his robe and becomes a laic, it is not the fault of the system but of the man ; he is not sincere ; therefore the system has no hold upon him, as the lotus does not allow the water to adhere to its petals, or as the sea casts upon the shore any body that may be thrown into its waves. When the warrior sees that he has to en- counter an armed host, he becomes afraid, and runs away ; he can- not face the enemy ; so the priest who does not keep the precepts, by which he might be preserved, is overcome by evil desire, as he is without any defence or protection. When there are flowers upon a tree, those that are worm-eaten fall down and rot ; whilst those that are not thus eaten continue to flourish, and send forth their perfume on every side ; and again, there may be grass and rushes in the field where the best rice is sown, but whilst the rice ripens, the grass and rushes will wither and die. Now the priest who does not keep the precepts is like the worm-eaten flower, or the grass of the rice field.*

Respecting some of the advantages that are expected to be gained by embracing the priesthood, the teachings of Budhism are not uni- form. It is sometimes said that the sins of the man are to the priest as the sins that have been committed in a former state of existence, and are no bar to the reception of nirwana. Thus Anguli-mala, a student, who at the instigation of his preceptor committed 999 mur- ders, became a rahat. But on another occasion it is said by Naga- sena that certain priests were prevented from attaining nirwana by the sins they had unknowingly committed before they abandoned the world. Milinda said to him, " There is a laic who unwittingly commits one of the five deadly sins ; he afterwards embraces the priesthood, and still unaware that he has committed the sin, endea- vours to become a rahat ; can such a one succeed in attaining nir- wana?" Nagasena replied, "No; if even previously to the commis- sion of the crime he had the merit whereby he might have attained nirwana, it would be destroyed, cut off, by his sin." Milinda: — "You have said on a previous occasion that when a man knows he has committed a deadly crime, he is in doubt ; when he is in doubt his mind is prevented from rightly attending to the obligations and the other ordinances ; and because his mind is thus agitated, he is un- able to attain nirwana ; but in this instance the crime is not known, and there is therefore no doubt." Nagasena : — " A man takes good seed, and sows it in the fertile soil of a field that has been ploughed and prepared for its reception ; he takes the same kind of seed, and sows it upon the bare rock ; in the one case it is productive ; in the other it is not : for this reason ; that upon the rock there is no hetu, that which is necessary for the fructifying of the seed is not there. Again, when sticks and stones are thrown upon the ground, there they remain ; but when the same things are thrown into the sky,' they do not remain there ; they fall down ; for this reason, that in the sky there is no hetu, nothing by which they can be supported. Again, when a fire is lighted upon the earth, it burns ; but a fire cannot be kindled upon the water ; for this reason : the water is ahetu as to fire, there is nothing in it upon which the fire can lay hold." Milinda : — " But explain to me how it is that when the crime is committed unwittingly, and there is therefore no doubt, no agitation, arising from it, still nirwana should not be obtained ? " Nagasena : — " When a man takes poison unknowingly, does it not injure him? When he treads upon fire unknowingly, does it not burn him ? When a naya bites him during sleep, or when in any

IV. THE NOVICIATE. 37

Other way unconscious, will ho not die ? There was a chakrawartti (a universal emperor, who also possesses jDreternatural jDowers), who with his army was one day passing through the sky ; unknowingly he happened to approach the bo-tree near which the prince Sidhartta became a supreme Budha ; but he was not able to pass over the sacred place ; his progress was arrested, though he knew not from what cause. In like manner, when a priest who during the time he was a laic has committed any of the five deadly sins, attempts to attain nirwana, he is unable to accomplish the object at which he aims."

It will be said by the Budhist that though Anguli-mala committed so many murders, he did not commit any of the five deadly sins ; which are, 1. Matricide. 2. Patricide. 3. The murder of a rahat. 4. Wounding the person of a supreme Budha (his life cannot pos- sibly be taken). 5. Causing a schism among the priesthood. But though this reply may seem to prove the uniformity of the system, it lays it open to a serious charge upon moral grounds. In the arguments brought forward by Nagasena, the dangerous extent to which imagery may be carried, and the manner in which the opera- tion of moral causes is confounded with that of physical causes, are too apparent to require specific indication. The advantages that may be gained by the sincere novice are, however, here represented as very great ; by becoming a recluse the vvay to nirwana is opened before him, and there can be no barrier to its attainment, if he be free from the five sins.

That considerable attention is yet paid to the conduct of the novices may be learnt from what is said in an epistle sent by the sangha raja of Burma to the priests of Ceylon in 1802. " As some erroneously think," he says, "that certain observances are not enacted for the novices, but are only obligatory on the ordained priests, I quote the following passage from the commentary on the Mahawaggo, to show how unfounded is their assertion — ' As long as a priest is ignorant of the discipline to be observed by him ; un- skilful in the adjusting of the robes, in the manner in which he ought to carry the alms-bowl, in the modes of standing and sitting, eating and drinking ; he ought not to be sent to any of the alms- houses where food is distributed to the priesthood at large, nor to any place where food is daily distributed to a select number of priests, nor to the forest, nor to any public assembly ; but he should be kept near the senior priests ; he should be nourished like a little

child ; he should constantly be informed of what is allowed and what is not ; and he should be duly trained up in the modes of wearing and covering the robes, and in the other parts of the disci- pline he is required to observe.' .... Some assert that whatever is sanctioned by the preceptor becomes binding upon the novices, and is legalised by his dictum alone. But hear what is said upon this point in the Sanghiti Khandaka. ' It is allowable to a pupil to observe some things, saying. My preceptor has enjoined it, or. My teacher has enjoined it ; therefore I observe it ; — but of the matters thus sanctioned some may be legal and some may not.' The com- mentary explains the expression, ' some are legal,' by saying that of course it is meant of those things that are in themselves good, and do not militate against the laws of Budha." *

The difficulties that have sometimes to be encountered by the youth who wishes to renounce the world, and the reasons that are supposed to induce him to take this important step, may be inferred from the legend of Rathapala, as it appears in the Rathapala-sutra- sanne. Though somewhat long, as it abounds with illustrative in- cidents, and contains a moral from which even the wisest may re- ceive instruction, I insert it in its original form, with scarcely any abridgement.

When Gotama Budha visited the different places in the province of Kuru, that he might confer benefits upon the people, he came to the brahman village of Thullakotthitan, so called on accoimt of the numerous castles it contained, that were filled with all kinds of treasures. The people of the village had embraced the doctrines of Budha. Among the rest there was a brahman of a respectable family called Rathapala, who came to Gotama when he visited the village, and requested that he might be admitted to the priesthood, as he said that it was difficult for him to act aright so long as he continued a laic. Budha enquired if his parents had given their consent, and when Rathapala said that he had not requested their permission, the sage made known to him that it was not his custom to receive any into the priesthood who had not gained the consent of their parents. The brahman then went to his parents, and told them that since he had heard the discourses of Budha it was his wish to become a priest ; and he now requested their permission to carry this wish into effect. But his parents replied, " You are our

beloved son, oixr only son ; we have none older than you, none younger ; you have lived in all happiness ; you have enjoyed your- self; you know nothing of sorrow; remain contented; eat and drink whatever is cherishing or delicious ; take to yourself a retinue of beautiful maidens ; have dancing girls to amuse you ; remain a householder ; and gain merit by giving alms to the three gems. We cannot give you permission to embrace the priesthood ; we do not wish you to become a priest even after we are dead, and cannot therefore give our consent whilst we are alive." Rathapala then said, " Unless I receive your permission, I will die here ; " and having said this, he lay do^vn upon the bare ground. The parents repeated their former declarations three several times, and entreated him to rise ; but as he still continued silent, they went to some of his friends, informed them of the determination of their son, and asked them to come and try to persuade him to change it. The friends accordingly came to the place where he was, and thrice urged the same reasons as his parents to induce him to remain a laic ; but he still remained silent. They then went to his parents, and telling them it was in vain to attempt to alter his resolution, said it would be better to give their consent ; they would then be able to see him at intervals ; but if they still refused their permis- sion he would die. To this advice they agreed, on condition that the person who ordained him would allow him to pay them a visit from time to time. When the friends informed Rathapala that his parents gave their consent, he arose, took some refreshment, and went to the residence of Budha, who admitted him to the priesthood on learning that his parents had granted their permission.

Not long after Rathapala had thus renounced the world, he attained rahatship, and became indeed one of the chief of the rahats ; after which he went to Budha, Avho was now resident at Rajagaha, and requested permission to go and see his parents according to the promise he had given. As his request was granted, he went to his native village, near which he remained in a garden called Migachira, belonging to the king Korawya. At the proper time, taking his alms-bowl, he went to the village to receive alms, after putting on his robe in such a way as to conceal his person. As he approached his own residence, in going regularly from house to house, his father was standing in the central door-way of the mansion, which had in all seven doors. When his father saw him in the distance he said, " This is one of the priests who took away from us our only

and beloved son." No attentions were paid to him by any of the family ; nor were any alms presented ; abuse was all that he received. At that time the female slave of one of his relatives was taking some food made of barley, which had been boiled the previous night and become stale, in order to throw it away. When Rathapala perceived her intention, he told her it would be better to put it in his bowl. She accordingly did so ; but when he held out his bowl to receive it, she had the opportunity of seeing his hands and feet, and from this, as well as from his voice, she knew that it was Rathapala. At once she went and informed his mother, who was overjoyed at receiving this intelligence, and promised the slave that if it were true she should receive her freedom. The mother went and imparted the news to his father ; and in the mean time Rathapala eat the stale food he had received. The father went to the place whither he had retired, and said to him, " Would it not be better to come and reside at your own house, than to eat food that has become stale ? " Rathapala replied, " Householder, the, priests are houseless ; we do not reside in houses ; I have already been to your house ; no alms were given me ; not even a kind word did I receive." The father again entreated his son to return ; but he said it was needless, as he had already partaken of food. He was then invited to come on the following day ; and though he remained silent, his father knew his intention. The mansion was fitted up for his reception in the most splendid manner, and the wife of Rathapala was commanded to put on her most beautiful ornaments.

The next day, Rathapala was informed that all was ready and he went to his former dwelling. His father displayed before him all his wealth, and said to him, " This is the property of your mother ; this belongs to your father ; the rest was inherited from our ances- tors. Illustrious Rathapala, take possession of all this, become a laic once more, and gain merit by the giving of alms." But he replied, " If my advice were followed, all this gold, and all these jewels, and this wealth, would be placed upon waggons, taken to the Ganges or the Yamuna, and thrown into the stream; for they cause only sorrow, lamentation, grief, distress, and disappointment." His wife then held him by the feet and said, " Have you abandoned the world for the sake of some celestial nymph ? If so, tell me, what is the manner of her ajipearance ? " He replied, " Yes ; it is for the sake of a celestial nymph that I have abandoned the world." On hearing this she fell down in a fit, from the excess of her grief.

Rathapala then said to his father, " If I am to receive food, let it be given ; do not distress me by showing me wealth, or by the approach of women."' His father informed him that all was prepared, and presented the food with his own hand, until he was satisfied. He then took the bowl, and preparing to depart, said, " The body is arrayed in garments and ornamented by jewels ; it is like an image beautifully painted; it has hands, feet, and various members, is built about with flesh, and is subject to disease and decay; think about it well : if it were not for the manner in which it is ornamented, it would be loathsome ; men and women have affection for this vile and perishing body, and none for nirwana. The body is washed in perfumed water ; the hair is braided in eight different ways, and ornamented with coronets ; and the eyes are anointed with collyrium ; but nirwana is despised. Householder ! you are like a man who places a gin made of withs to catch deer ; you have displayed before me this wealth that I might be ensnared ; but I am like the deer that eats the grass and escapes the snare ; I have partaken of your food, and now depart." Having spoken these words he went

away.

About this time Korawya, the king, called Migawa, the gardener, and commanded him to prepare the Migachira garden for his recep- tion. When the gardener was about to carry this command into effect, he saw Rathapala at the foot of a tree ; upon which he went to inform the king, who said that he would visit the place without delay. When leaving the palace, he sat in his chariot ; but when at a proper distance he alighted therefrom, and approached the priest on foot. The king requested him to mount the royal elephant ; but he refused, saying that they had both better remain as they then were, each on his own proper seat. " There are four causes of affliction;" the king proceeded to say; "on account of one or other of these causes men most frequently embrace the priesthood ; they are, decay, disease, the loss of property, and the loss of friends. A man becomes old ; all his powers have begun to fail ; he thinks thus : I am now old ; I can acquire no more property, or if I acquire it I cannot keep it ; it will be better for me to become a recluse. But you, most noble Rathapala ! are not old ; you are yet a youth ; your hair is like that of Krishna : you are yet in the beginning of your strength ; what, then, did you learn, or see, or hear, that induced you to become a priest ? There is the affliction arising from disease ; men are subject to coughs, asthma, diabetes, and other

diseases ; and they therefore embrace the i^riesthood. But you are in perfect health ; the digestive faculty is unimpaired ; why then did you embrace this ascetic course ? There is the affliction arising from the loss of property ; men lose their possessions and wealth ; they therefore embrace the priesthood. But you belong to a re- spectable family in this brahman village ; you have not suffered any loss of property ; then why do you endure these privations ? There is the affliction arising from the loss of friends ; men lose their children and other relatives ; they therefore embrace the priesthood. But you are a stranger to this affliction. Then, tell me, why did you become a priest ?"

Rathapala replied, " O king ! four aphorisms have been declared by Budha, and it was because I understood them, saw and heard them, that I became a priest. They are : 1 . The beings in this world are subject to decay, they cannot abide long. 2. They have no protection, no adequate helper. 3. They have no real posses- sions ; all that they have they must leave. 4. They cannot arrive at perfect satisfaction or content ; they are constantly the slaves of evil desire." The king enquired what was the meaning of these aphorisms, and Rathapala explained them thus : " When you, Korawya, were twenty or twenty-five j^ears of age, were you not able to subdue the horse, drive the chariot, and bend the bow ; and were you not then a powerful warrior ?" The king replied in the affirmative ; but when Rathapala asked him if he was the same now, he confessed that his former energy had passed away ; and when the priest further enquired how this had come to pass, he said, " I am now old ; I am eighty years of age ; if I think to place my foot here, it goes there ; I am feeble." " It was on this account," said Rathapala, " that Budha declared : the being who is resident in this world is carried away by decay, or old age ; he cannot remain long." The king said, "What Budha has declared is true ; but he has also said that though there may be an army to defend the monarch against his enemies, there is no protection against the approach of sickness ; what is the meaning of this?" The priest enquired, "Are you subject to any incurable disease?" and the king said, " Yes ; I am subject to such a disease ; sometimes my sons and other relatives assemble around me and exclaim : The king Korawya will now die." " Well then," asked the priest, " if at such a time you were to say to your relatives, or to the nobles in attendance, Help me to endure my pain ; divide it among yourselves,

and take part of it in my stead ; — would they be able thus to assist you?" The king declared that they would not. "Therefore," said the priest, " Budha has declared that man has no protection, no adequate helper." The king again said, " Budha has declared that though a man may have much wealth, it is not his own ; though he may possess it for a time, he must leave it ; what is the meaning of this ?" " You, O king," said Rathapala, " have abun- dance ; much wealth and many attendants ; when you enter the other world, will you still possess them, or will they be the property of another?" The king confessed that he must leave them, and that they would belong to another. " It was on this account," Rathapala said, "Budha declared that man has no real possessions." The king continued, " You have told me that Budha has said : The mind is not satisfied, or contented ; it still covets more ; what does this mean?" " Suppose" said the priest, " a man worthy of all credence were to come from the eastern part of Kuru, and say that in that part of the country he had seen many nations, with cities, armies, wealth, and maidens beautiful as the celestial dewis, what would you do?" The king said, he should go and conquer them. The priest put the same question relative to each of the other quarters ; and upon receiving the same reply he said, " It was on this account Budha has declared that the mind is never satisfied ; it is always wanting more ; and it was because I learnt these truths that I embraced the priesthood."

Rathapala then repeated these stanzas : — " There are some men who have much property ; but on account of the false medium, through which all things appear to them, it seems as if it were little ; they are covetous of more, and are continually trying to add to their possessions. There are kings who subdue the whole of the four quarters, even to the borders of the sea ; but they are still not content ; they wish to cross the ocean, that they may find out more worlds to conquer, but they are never satisfied with what they acquire, and the craving continues until death. There is no means of satisfying the desire of the worldling. When he dies, his friends go about with disordered hair, and weep ; they exclaim, He is gone, he is dead, — and they then enwrap the body in cloth, and burn it upon the pyre. He cannot take with him either property or wealth ; even the cloth in which he is enwrapped is burnt. When about to die, neither relatives, friends, nor companions, can afford him any protection. He who dies is accompanied only by his merit and de-

merit ; nothing else whatever goes with him ; he cannot take with him children, or women, or wealth, or lands. Decay is not prevented by wealth, nor is old age ; the life continues only for a little time. The rich and the poor, the wise and the unwise, men of every con- dition, must equally encounter death ; there is no one to whom its embrace does not come. The unwise man trembles at the approach of death ; but the wise man is unmoved. Wisdom is therefore better than wealth ; of all possessions it is the chief; it is the prin- cipal means by which evil desire is destroyed, and purity is attained, i The cleaving to sentient objects is the cause of many dangers, and liprevents the reception of nirwana. For these reasons I have em- I braced the priesthood."

It has been said that " ordination is nothing but a word borrowed from the Roman empire, in which it is the legitimate and customary mode of designating the institution of a person to some honoui'able office ; and this was the original church meaning, as both Eichhorn and Rothe have shown." * The act by which admission into the priesthood is received among the Budhists may therefore not im- properly be termed ordination. It binds the recipient to observe certain ordinances or rules ; but it is to be regarded as conveying an obligation to refrain from certain usages, rather than as im- posing a class of duties that he is to perform. On the part of the candidate it is an acknowledgment of the excellence of asceticism, with an implied declaration that its obligations shall be observed ; and on the part of the priests by whom the ceremony is conducted, it is an acknowledgment that the candidate is eligible to the recep- tion of the office, and that, so long as he fulfils its duties, he will be received as a member of the ascetic community, and be entitled to partake in all its rights and privileges.

The mode in which the ceremony is conducted is extremely simple, as appears from the formulary of admission contained in the work called Kammawachan, of which there is a Singhalese translation. A sangha, or chapter, having been called, the candi- date is asked if the requisites of the priest (as the alms-bowl, robes,

&c. that have been previously prepared and deposited in the place of assembly) belong to him. On answering in the affimative, he is commanded to remain in a place that is pointed out ; and he is then asked if he is free from certain diseases that are named, including the leprosy, epilepsy, &c. ; if he is a human being, a man, and a freeman ; if he is out of debt ; if he is free from the king's service ; if he has the consent of his parents ; if he has attained the age of twenty years ; and if he is provided with the priestly requisites. He is then asked his own name, and the name of his upadya (the priest by whom he is presented for ordination). These things being ascer- tained, the moderator commands him to advance ; and the candi- date, addressing the assembly, says respectfully, thrice, " I request upasampada." The moderator then makes known that he is free from the impediments that would bar his admission to the priest- hood, that he possesses the requisites, and that he requests upasam- pada ; and thrice calls out, " Let him who assents to this request be silent ; let him who dissents, now declare it !" If the assembly be silent the moderator infers that consent is given ; upon which he repeats to the candidate the more important of the rules by which he will have to abide — relating to the food he may receive, the garments he may wear, the place in which he may reside, the medicaments he may use in case of sickness, and the crimes that involve expulsion from the priesthood. It is declared that these ordinances are worthy to be kept unto the end of life ; to which the candidate assents, without, however, making any promise or taking any vow. From this time he is regarded as an upasampada, from upa, exceeding, and sampada, gain, advantage.

It is not unvisual for the candidate to put off the robe he had worn as a novice, and to reassume for the nonce the dress of a layman ; his body is anointed with sandal and other fragrant sub- stances ; and with banners and music his friends accompany him to the place of ordination. It is said that upon some occasions the monarch of Ceylon, the two adigars, .and the four nobles next in rank, accompanied the procession through the principal streets of Kandy. In like manner, the nun is arrayed in her gayest attire on the day when she finally abandons the world, and becomes what is called, though the name is too often a solemn mockery, " The spouse of Christ."

The ceremony of upasampada is sometimes called by Europeans the superior ordination, implying that there are two orders in the

Budhist priesthood ; but this mode of speaking is incorrect, as the samanera is regarded only as a candidate or novice, and requires no other permission for the wearing of the yellow robe than the sanc- tion of an upasampada priest.

In Ceylon, ordination is seldom conferred by the established com- munity in any place but the city of Kandy, where the maha-nayaka, or arch-priest, and the anu-nayaka, his deputy, reside ; but this is an innovation similar to the taking away of the power of ordination from " the hands of the presbytery," and confining it to hands episcopal, and has no sanction whatever from the earlier usages of Budhism.

Upasampada confers no mystic power, nor is it regarded as an indelible order. The instances are numerous in which the priest returns to the state of a laic, frequently remaining in this state until death ; but at other times returning to the profession ; which he is permitted again to assume without being regarded as having com- mitted a breach of the law by his temporary retirement. Indeed, it must be evident, upon a consideration of the subject, that no office or authority conferred by man, in that Avhich relates to matters that demand the consent of the will, and righteousness of life, for their right fulfilment, can be properly indelible. The master may coerce his slave; and the liege lord, his subjects; and an unwilling ser- vice or a constrained obedience may as effectually carry into effect the command of an earthly superior as the most affectionate sub- mission ; but the bad man, or the man who after ordination has received conscientious scruples relative to the ministry, cannot be coerced into a right discharge of the duties of this sacred office. This conclusion does not at all affect the case of man's responsibility to God ; when " a dispensation of the gospel" has been committed to any one, it is at his peril if he " entangleth himself with the affairs of this life ;" he may not be imperatively confined to any particular course of discipline ; he may modify his creed or change his community ; but the work of the Lord is not to be neglected, nor the ministry of the word forsaken, so long as there is the ability to fulfil the exercise in an efficient manner.

By an express ordinance of Budha his disciples are permitted to retire from the priesthood under certain circumstances ; such as their inability to remain continent ; impatience of restraint ; a wish to enter u.pon worldly engagements ; the love of parents or friends ; or doubts as to the truth of the system propounded by Budha. This permission would, however, open the way for the practice of

all kinds of evil, as the priest might do wrong under the supposition that, if detected, he had only to declare that he had renounced the obligations ; by which means he would be saved from the penalty that must otherwise be enforced, and his character be preserved. But to prevent these perversions it is ordained that no priest shall be allowed to throw off the robe without express permission had and obtained from a legal chapter.

In all ages, and among all nations, in which men have broken aAvay from the laws of the Lord, and attempted to establish their own righteousness, the practice of celibacy has been enjoined upon those who are called upon to perform the more sacred rites of reli- gion. The echo of the voice of God, " It is not good that man should be alone ;" first heard by man in innocence, was still carried on when the visions of Paradise had faded from his sight ; and its tones were sufficiently distinct many centuries after his expulsion from that scene of beauty, to exercise an influence the most power- ful. The divine revelations with which he was afterwards favoured, as we may clearly learn from the comparatively few of these inter- positions that are recorded in sacred writ, contributed to produce the same effect ; with the caution, however, that the help-meet should not be taken promiscuously from among women ; " the daughters of men," the maidens of Heth, were to be avoided. But still the wife was to be sought ; and domestic relations were en- tered into by the most holy of the patriarchs, not excepting even the one who " was not, for God took him." At what period a dif- ferent opinion began to prevail we have no evidence ; but it pro- bably commenced at the same time as polytheism, and spread co-extensively with that error. When the idea has gone forth that man possesses the power to offer a sacrifice, that as a natural con- sequence, irrespective of any ulterior arrangement, will bring to him merit, it is thought that in proportion to the value of the sacri- fice will be the increase of the treasure of righteousness acquired by its presentation ; and as it is only an expansion of the same thought, that the giving up of the will must be equally meritorious with the resignation of the substance, it follows that the more rigid

the course of self-denial that is entered upon, and the more cruel and comprehensive its requirements, the greater will be the amount of gain to the ascetic. The same consequences have been produced hy another error, of separate origin but correlative effect. It has been supposed that in all matter there is an evil principle, and that the body of man is an avatar, or impersonation of this principle in its most malignant type ; hence all that ministers to its gratification must be avoided ; the appetites and passions must be overcome ; and the man who neither eats, nor drinks, nor sleeps, who has no covering to his nakedness, no wife, and no home, is in a high state of preparation for extinguishing his existence for ever, or becoming absorbed in the ocean of the divine essence.

It were needless to multiply instances in proof of the prevalence of these sentiments. The priests of Isis were obliged to observe perpetual chastity. The persons who were initiated into the Eleu- sinian mysteries were obliged to keep themselves unpolluted during nine days ; and the high priest was never permitted to marry at all, as he was regarded as being given up entirely to the service of the gods. The neophytes admitted to the Bacchic mysteries were obliged to abstain from sexual intercourse during the ten days of initiation. The vestal virgins were bound by a solemn vow to preserve their chastity for the space of thirty years. The more strict of the Essenes avoided marriage, and extolled the virtue of continence ; in this, as in other instances, being opposed to the re- ligion that their forefathers had received from God.

At an earl)^ period of the church, celibacy was represented as the principal of the Christian virtues ; and it seemed to be the general supposition that no corporeal shrine desecrated by marriage was worthy of receiving the inhabitation of the Holy Spirit, according to the promise granted to the elect of God. Hence such declara- tions as that of Jerome (Adv. Jov. i. 4) : " Qamdiu impleo mariti officium, non impleo Christians ;" and such ordinances as that of Con. Carthag. iv. 13, that the newly married " cum benedictionem acceperint, eadem nocte pro reverentia ipsius benedictionis in vir- ginitate permaneant." At first the clei'gy wei'e only forbidden to marry a second time; then they were not allowed to marry at all after their ordination, unless at the time they put in a special claim to be exempted from the law, from having a previous engagement. After this no clergyman was allowed to marry, under any circum- stances ; and last of all, ordination was conferred upon no one who

had previously entered into the marriage state. By the ancient canons no priest was allowed to have any female in his house, un- less she were his mother, his sister, his aunt, or some person above suspicion. But the celibacy of the clergy, though first prescribed by law in the western church a.b. 385, was never enjoined in the eastern church ; and even some of the boldest advocates of mo- nachism rejected the notion that it was necessary for the clergyman to be unmarried. It was openly declared at the Council of Con- stance that no remedy could be devised for stopping the licentious- ness of the clergy but that of granting them permission to marry. Not long afterwards it was proposed that each church should have two married priests who were to do duty upon alternate weeks, and during the week of their ministration to preserve continence. Even at the Council of Trent, when the stroke fell that so welded the mighty fetter as to have rendered it hitherto proof against all at- tempts to break it asunder, the question was agitated, that if settled in a different manner would have brought a sweet serenity into many a circle that has only been brooded over by the worst pas- sions of hell. By the 10th canon of the 24th session it was de- creed, " Si quis dixerit, statum conjugalem anteponendum esse statui virginitatis, vel caclibatus, et non esse melius ac beatius manere in virginitate, aut caelibatu, quam jungi matrimonio ; an- athema sit:" i. e. " Whoever shall affirm that the conjugal state is to be preferred to a life of virginity or celibacy, and that it is not better and more conducive to hai^piness to remain in virginity or celibacy, than to be married, let him be accursed."

The legends of the Budhists agree with the records of the western historians in presenting the existence of a sect of religionists in India called gymnosophists, who were either literally naked, or had no clothing worthy of the name. One of the epithets by which they are designated is equivalent to " air-clad." Some of these ascetics retired to the woods, whilst others resided among men, in order that they might give the most convincing proof that their i)assions were entirely subdued. In the age of Gotama they appear to have been held in high honour, and to have been regarded as possessing a vir- tue that raised them to superhuman pre-eminence. They could only perpetuate these honours by a strict observance of their pro- fessions ; but at times there were individuals who disregarded the precepts of the community, and emulated the extravagancies of the Gnostics ; teaching, like them, that as everything outward is utterly

and entirely indifferent to the inward man, the outward man may o-ive himself up to every kind of excess, provided the inward man be not thereby disturbed in the tranquillity of his contemplation ; and representing themselves as like the ocean, that receives every- thing, but is still, from its own greatness, free from pollution, whilst other men are like the small collection of water that is defiled by a single earth-clod. The Brahmanical system could only be kept up by procreation, and it was therefore expressly ordained (Manu, v. 45) that " if a brahman have not begotten a son, yet shall aim at final beatitude, he shall sink to a place of degradation. " By the procreation of children (Inst. ii. 28) the human body is rendered fit for a divine state." In more mature age a course of asceticism was commenced ; and then he who could most completely assimilate himself to the denizens of the forest around him was the most ex- alted sage.

In the dasa-sil binding upon the priest of Budha, the precept that enjoins the practice of celibacy is the third in order. The depravity of the people among whom it was promulgated is seen in the strin- gency of its requirements. It was not an intact virginity that was held up to honour ; but true continence during the period in which anyone professed to be prawarjita, or to have renounced the world. Gotama was a married man, and had a son, Rahula, previous to his entrance upon the course of asceticism by which he became a su- preme Budha. This feature of the system opened the privileges of the priesthood to a greater number of postulants ; but it must often have brought deep sorrow into the domestic circle. Yet in this it was only in consistence with the habitudes of a more recent period, as we see in the instance of Paul the Simple, who resigned his wife and children to another with a smile, when he departed to embrace the monastic life. By Justinian (Novell, cxxiii. c. 40) it was or- dained that when a married person, whether it were the husband alone or the wife alone, entered a monastery, the marriage was dissolved ; but this law did not meet with universal approval.

Among the practices forbidden in the Patimokkhan* the follow- ing are included : — Sexual intercourse with any being of whatever kind, or in whatever form ; wilful pollution ; contact with the per- son of a woman ; impure conversation with a woman ; the commen- dation of acts of impurity in the presence of a woman ; acting the

part of a procurer ; sitting on the same seat as a woman in any private place ; giving the robe to a priestess, who is not a relation, to be smoothed or washed ; receiving a robe from a priestess ; procuring a fleece of wool to be prepared by a priestess who is not a relation ; sleeping with any one not a priest more than two or three times ; reclining on the same place as a woman ; preaching more than five or six sentences to a woman, except in the presence of a man who understands what is said ; delivering exhortations to the priestesses, without permission of the chapter, or when per- mitted, after sunset ; except in case of sickness, going to the resi- dence of the priestesses to deliver exhortations ; giving a robe to a priestess who is not a relation ; sewing, or causing to be sewed, the robe of a priestess who is not a relation ; except in a caravan, and when danger is apprehended, travelling in company with a priestess ; sailing on the water with a priestess by appointment, except in passing from one bank to another ; receiving food given on the re- quest of a priestess ; sitting in private with a priestess ; sitting with a woman on a couch in a secluded place ; being alone with a woman ; tickling with the fingers ; sporting in the water ; ac- companying a woman on a journey, though it be only to the end of the village ; entering the harem of a king without giving previous notice ; taking food from a priestess, unless she be a rela- tion ; and allowing a priestess to prescribe what food shall be given at a public meal.

The priest is told at his ordination that when the head is taken off it is impossible that life can be retained in the body ; and that in like manner the priest who holds sexual intercourse with any one, is thereby incapacitated from continuing to be a son of Sakya, or a sramana.^'"

In addition to the ordinances that refer to the outward conduct, the priests are directed to live in a state of entire abstraction from the world, so that when in the midst of enticements to evil, all im- purity may be avoided. The door of the eye is to be kept shut. When the outer gates of the city are left open, though the door of every separate house and store be shut, the enemy will enter the city and take possession ; in like manner, though all the ordinances be kept, if the eye be permitted to wander, evil desire will be pro- duced. ... It is better to have a red-hot piece of iron run through the eye, than for the eye to be permitted to wander, as by this

• Kamaw&.chan.

E 2

52 EASTERN MONACHISM.

means evil desire will be produced, and the breaking of all the precepts will follow. The mind will then be like a field of grain that has no hedge, or a treasure-house with the door left open, or a dwelling with a bad roof through which the rain continually falls. The same may be said of all the other senses ; and it is therefore requisite that they be kept under strict restraint.

Numerous examples are given of priests who are said to have attended to these advices, and gained therefrom the benefits they are intended to impart. On a certain day, when Maha Tissa resided in the rock Chetiya, he went to the city of Anuradhapura to receive alms, and in the way met a female who had quarrelled with her husband, and was returning in consequence to her parents. She was a beautiful woman, and arrayed in a very splendid manner. Wishing to attract the attention of the priest, she smiled ; but by so doing she showed her teeth, and on seeing them he thought only of the impermanence of the body ; by which means he attained rahatship. Soon afterwards he met her husband in the street, who asked him if he had seen a woman ; but he replied that he had seen only a loathsome skeleton ; whether it were that of a male or fe- male he could not tell.

A priest who had recently taken the obligations, on going to receive alms saw a beautiful female, by the sight of whom his mind was agitated. On this account he went to Ananda, a relative of Gotama Budha, and informed him of what had occurred. Ananda told him that he must reflect upon the subject in a proper manner, and that he would then see that the form he had looked upon was in reality utterly destitute of beauty ; that it was filthy, defiled, un- real, and impermanent ; by this means the agitation of his mind would pass away. This evil arose from the want of caution, as the priest had not kept a guard over the sense of sight.

There was another priest, Chittagutta, who resided in the Ka- randu-lena, a cave in the southern province of Ceylon, upon the walls of which were painted, in a superior manner, the stories of the Budhas. The cave was visited by some priests, who greatly admired the paintings, and expressed their admiration to Chitta- gutta ; but he replied that he had lived there sixty years and had never seen them, and that he should not now have known of their existence if it had not been for their information. There was near the door of the cave a large na-tree ; but he only knew that the tree was there from the fall of the pollen and flowers. The tree

itself he never saw, as he carefully observed the precept not to look upwards or to a distance. The king of Magam having heard of his sanctity, invited him to come to his palace that he might worship him ; but though he sent three messages, the priest was not willing to leave his cave. The king therefore bound up the nipple of a woman who was giving suck to her child, sealed it with the royal seal, and declared that it should not be broken until the priest came. When Chittagutta heard of what the king had done, out of compassion he went to the palace. The monarch wor- shipped him on his arrival, and told him that a transient sight of him was not sufficient, as he wanted to keep the precepts another day. This he did in order that he might detain the priest ; and in this way seven days passed over. At his departure the king and his queens worshipped him, and the king carried his alms-bowl some distance ; but he merely said in return, " May you prosper !" When some other priests expostulated with him, for not being more respectful, and told him that he ought to have said, " May you prosper, great king! May you prosper, illustrious queens !" he re- plied that he knew not to whom he was speaking ; he had not even noticed that they were persons of rank. On arriving at the cave, he walked at night to exercise the rite of meditation, when the dewa of the na-tree caused a light to shine, by which the great- ness of his abstraction was perceived, and the deities of the rocks around called out in approval. During the same night he became a rahat. From this may be learnt the benefit of keeping the eyes from wandering ; they must not be permitted to roll about, like those of a monkey, or of a beast of the forest when in fear, or of a child ; they must be directed downwards.*

The monks of the Greek and Roman churches have seen, in a similar manner, the necessity of placing a guard over their eyes, and of being circumspect in their intercourse with women. Aphraates, the Persian anchoret, would never speak to a woman but at a dis- tance, and always in as few words as possible. When the sister of Pachomius, the Egyptian ascetic, went to his monastery to see him, he sent her word that no woman could be allowed to enter the en- closure, and that she ought to be contented by hearing that he was alive. The Roman anchoret, Arsenius, would seldom see strangers who came to visit him, saying that he would only use his eyes to behold the heavens. Bernard is said to have walked a whole day

along the lake of Lausanne without perceiving it. In the rules laid down by Augustin he ordains that no one shall ever steadfastly fix her eyes upon another, even of the same sex, as this is a mark of immodesty ; he would never suffer a woman to converse in his house, not even his sister, as he said that she might sometimes be attended by other females, or be visited by them ; and he never sjDoke to a woman, vmless some of his clerks were near. Simeon Stylites never suffered a woman to come within the enclosure in which his pillar stood. It was Basil's rule never to speak to, to touch, or to look at, a Avoman, unless in case of necessity ; after a year's noviciate he did not know whether the top of his cell had any ceiling ; nor whether the church had more than one window, though it had three. Theodorus enjoined his monks not to open the gate of the monastery to any woman, nor ever to speak to a female, except in the presence of two witnesses. The sainted founder of the Franciscans kept so strict a watch over his eyes, that he scarcely knew any woman by sight. When some one fixed his eye too steadily, and for too long a time, upon Ignatius Loyola, he was enjoined to make the government of his eyes the subject of particular examination, and to say every day a short prayer for fifteen months. The Jesuits were not permitted by their founder to visit women, even of the highest quality, alone ; and when they conversed with them, or heard their confessions, it was to be so ordered that a companion might see all that passed, though he did not hear what was said. The monks of La Trappe usually keep their eyes cast down, and never look at strangers. Women are not only excluded from the second enclosure of the Carthusians, but even their church ; and no one is permitted to go out of the bounds of the monastery, except the prior and procurator, and they only upon the necessary affairs of the house. In some of the monas- teries it was the almoner's office either to enquire himself, or pro- cure proper persons to enquire for him, where any sick or infirm persons resided who had not a sufficient support ; but if he himself undertook this office, he was to take two servants Avith him, and before he entered any house, he was to cause the women, if there were any in it, to leave the house ; nor was he allowed to enter any house in which sick or infirm women lay.

As we approach our own times, this state of abstractedness from all things earthly, or these precautionary measures against the entrance of evil, appear to have been carried to the greatest es-

cess ; but to assimilate more to the practices of the Budhists. Peter, of Alcantara, who died in 1562, in order that his eyes might be " more easily kept under the government of reason, and that they might not, by superfluous curiosity, break in upon the interior recollection of his mind, put them upon such restraint that he had been a considerable time a religious man before he knew that the church of his convent was vaulted. After having had the care of serving the refectory for half a year, he was chid by the superior for having never given the friars any of the fruit in his custody, to which the servant of God humbly answered that he had never seen any. The truth was, he had never lifted up his eyes to the ceiling where the fruit was hanging upon twigs, as is usual in countries where grapes are dried and preserved. He lived four years in a convent, without taking notice of a tree that grew near the door." He told St. Teresa that he had lived three years in a house of his order without knowing any of the friars but by their speech, as he never lifted up his eyes ; if he did not follow the other friars, he was unable to find his way to many places that he frequented. It is said of Lewis Gonzaga, 1591, that although he every day waited on the infant of Spain, James, and had to pay his respects to the empress, he never looked at her face, or took notice of her person.* ii The permission to retire from the priesthood under certain cir- \|cumstances was an important feature in the monastic institutions of fiBudhism. In this it resembled the usages of the church when celibacy was first enjoined among Christians. Even Cyprian (Epist. 62), after extolling the merit of the virgins who had taken the vows, says, " but if they are unwilling to persevere, it is better that they marry." They who broke the vow were commanded (Cone. Ancyran. can. 19) to fulfil the same term as the bigamist. " Wherever (at the commencement of monachism) there dwelt a monk of superior reputation for sanctity," says Lingard, " the de- sire of profiting by his advice and example induced others to fix their habitations in his neighbourhood : he became their abbas or spiritual father, they his voluntary subjects ; and the group of sepa- rate cells which they formed around him was known to others by the name of his monastery (so that the word which originally sig- nified the single mansion of one solitary, now denoted a collection of such mansions). To obtain admission into their societies no

• Alban Butler's Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal Saints, passim. Wliitaker's History of AMialley. Tindal's History of Evesham.

other qualification was required in the postulant than a spirit of penitence and a desire of Christian perfection. As long as this spirit continued to animate his conduct, he was exercised in the several duties of the monastic profession ; if he repented of his choice, the road was open, and he was at liberty to depart ... It was not till a much later period, and after the decline of the original fervour, that irrevocable vows were enjoined by the policy of sub- sequent legislators."* It was by Benedict (Reg. c. 58) that the law was first peremptorily made that all who entered a convent should remain for life. This system was soon adopted in other convents besides the monasterium Cassinense in which he resided ; and these several convents, becoming united under one form of dis- cipline, gave rise to the first monastic order.f In some instances among the Romanists the abbots have retired upon pensions, be- come monks deraigne, and then quitted their profession and mar- ried.]: Among the Nestorians there are monks who are forbidden to marry whilst they remain in the fraternity, but they are at liberty to leave the convent when they wish to enter into the marriage state. § In the Abyssinian church the monks are generally mar- ried, except the abbot. They do not live in regular monasteries, but in solitary places near the church. They maintain themselves and their families by agriculture, and their only duty as monks is to read certain passages and psalms, so that the monastic life is properly speaking one of ascetic rustics.

In some countries where Budhism is professed it is usual for all persons to take upon themselves, during some period of their lives, the obligations of the priest ; but this is probably only an entrance into the noviciate. In Ceylon it is less common for any one thus to assume the yellow robe who does not intend to devote his whole life to the profession. Nearly every male inhabitant of Siam enters the priesthood once in his life. The monarch of this country every year, in the month of Asarha, throws off his regal robes, shaves his head, adopts the yellow sackcloth of a novice, and does penance in one of the wiharas, along with all his court. At the same time slaves are brought to be shaved and initiated, as an act of merit in their converter. The same practice prevails in Ava. Among the Burmans, instead of the expensive mode of putting away a husband

or wife, which the common law furnishes, a much easier is often resorted to with complete success. The parties aggrieved merely turn priests or nuns, and the matrimonial bond is at once dissolved. They may return to a secular life at any time, and marry another ; but, for the sake of appearance, their return to the world is usually deferred some months.* It is the custom in China to serve three years as abbot, and after this period to retire into privacy.

The true ascetic is enjoined to renounce all carnal indulgences; but this is only an inferior requirement of the institute. There must be a complete annihilation of the affections ; he must forget, so far as the most determined effort can accomplish this object, that he has now, or ever has had, any connexion with the world of men. Regarding himself as if thrown into existence immediately from the hand of God, without the intervention of any material instrumen- tality, or looking upon himself as the temporary incarnation of some seraph, whose native abode is the blue empyrean, he retires within the mystic circle of his own purity ; and though the affection mani- fested by his parents will at times start up in vivid imagery, and the cadence of the hymn with which his sweet sister was wont to soothe him in his little troubles will sometimes seem to be repeated in the wind's low tone as it passes in its softer mood, it is only like the dip of the swallow's beak into the water of the placid lake, or the gentle falling of the withered leaf upon its surface, a slight im- pression, in a moment gone. Intercessory prayer is a practice that he disdains to follow, as such an exercise would be a confession of weakness ; a spectre of earth in the shrine where angels only ought to enter. And if we were to question the correctness of this course, the advocates of the system would probably reply, that he prays for none but himself on earth, in order that he may have the more power to pray for others when he enters heaven.

These reprehensible sentiments have prevailed, with more or less intensity, in all places where monachism has been established; as they are a legitimate, and almost necessary, result of its institutions. The Essenes were forbidden to assist any of their relatives who might be in need, unless under the inspection of others, lest they should favour them above that which was their due. Alipius, bishop of Adrianople, forbade the nuns to receive visits from their parents, even though they might be at the point of death. f When

Fulgentius, procurator of Byzacena, embraced the monastic profes- sion, his mother went to the convent, and, in transports of grief, cried out to the abbot to restore her son, and not rob a desolate widow ; but the son was deaf to her cries, and refused to return to his paternal residence. When Paula, a Roman lady in whom was the blood of the Scipios and the Gracchi, had resolved upon taking a similar step, and for this purpose took her passage for Syria, her relations attended her to the water-side, striving with tears to in- duce her not to leave them. Even when the vessel was ready to sail, her little son Toxotius, with uplifted hands and bitterly weep- ing, begged her not to leave him. The rest, Avho were scarcely able to speak from the poignancy of their grief, entreated her at least to delay her departure a little time ; but the mother " turned her dry eyes to heaven," and was soon away from this touching scene. One of the works written by Chrysostom, entitled " On Providence," was addressed to Stagirius, who had exasperated his father by turning monk, and was afterward seized (as well he might) with a dreadful melancholy that the usvial palliatives were unable to subdue. In another of his works, entitled " Against the Impugners of the Monastic State," he addresses first a pagan father whose son had irritated him by becoming a monk, and afterwards a Christian father, whom he threatens with the judgment of Eli, if he withdrew his children from the monastery, telling him that in this profession " they would have become suns in heaven ; whereas, if they were saved in the world, their glory Avould probably be only that of the stars."*

It was demanded of the monk by Basil, though he did not per- mit the novice to be received without the consent of his parents, that after reception he should, as far as possible, break connexion with his nearest relatives, and literally cease henceforward to know his parents, brethren, and sisters, according to the flesh. " It is the devil's craft," said he, " to keep alive in the mind of the monk a recollection of his parents and natural relatives, so as that, under cover of rendering them some aid, he may be drawn aside from his heavenly course." A monk when urgently entreated to visit a dying sister, at last consented ; but as he had vowed never to see any of his relatives, and, in common with others, never to look upon a woman, he, after a long journey, presented himself at the door, and, resolutely shutting his eyes, called to his sister, " Here

am I, your brother, look at me!" and then, refusing to enter, re- turned to his wilderness.* "According to the scriptural declara- tion. He that hath said to his father and mother, I know ye not, and to his brethren, I know ye not, and hath not known his chil- dren, they have kept thy word. The monks were to forget filial aflfections, and this not of any stiffness or hardness of heart ; for if a mere stranger with them be in misery, they mourn as easily for him as for another ; but the sword is it that we spake of that is in their heart, and hath cut them away from their wonted acquaint- ance and affinity, not for that they have to love them still, that love also their very enemies, but because they have cast away all carnal love which groweth to mere dotage, and have converted the same wholly to spiritual charity." f The monks of La Trappe never write to their friends in the world after their profession, nor hear anything respecting them ; they only know that there is a world in order that they may pray for it. When the parent of any monk dies, the news is sent to the superior only, who tells the community that the father of one of them is dead, and enjoins them to pray for his soul. It is at present a rule in Italy, that when a monk meets any of his relatives in the street, he is not to raise his eyes to their countenances, but to give them a slight token of recognition, by raising the hat from the head.

There were, however, some exceptions to this general disregard of filial duty. There was a regulation of St. Augustine's Abbey, at Canterbury, that " if it should so happen that the father, the mother, the sister, or brother of any monk in the monastery should come to such great want and indigency as that (to the reproach of any of the brethren) he or she be forced to ask at the gates the alms of the fraternity, then, such of them so asking should be provided for in the hospital attached to the monastery of sufficient sustentation, according to the ability of the house." J There is a sentence written by the stern Jerome (Epist. ad Eustoch.) relative to the monks of Egypt, that speaks volumes, wherein he tells us that the sick monk was well attended to, " ut nee delitias urbium, nee matris quaerat affectum.^'

We shall perhaps be reminded, in defence of the monastic usages, of the command of Christ, Luke xiv. 26 ; but we think that these

words refer to the situation of the individual who must either dis- please his relatives or commit sin ; and that they have no reference whatever to the vows of the monk. Hence we admire rather than condemn the resolution of Phileos, an Egyptian nobleman, whose martyrdom is recorded in the same work as many of the preceding narratives.* As he refused to offer sacrifice, the governor, Culcion, endeavoured to overcome him by appealing to the grief of his wife, children, brother, and other relations, who were present at the trial ; but he, like the rock unshaken by the impetuous waves that dash around it, stood unmoved, and raising his heart to God, pro- tested aloud that he owned no other kindred but the apostles and martyrs ; and that he would die for Christ rather than deny him.

The eastern ascetic presents a similar insensibility to the impor- tant duties that are disregarded by the western monk. It is said by Manu (Inst. ii. 205), " Let not the Brahman student, unless or- dered by his spiritual father, prostrate himself, in his presence, before his natural father." The writings of the Budhists abound with maxims and legends illustrative of the same type of character. Kula, the family or relationship, is called a hindrance to the exercise of samadhi, which consists in the collecting of the thoughts, and the fixing of them upon one object, so as to be free from all wan- dering or perturbation of mind. The sramana recluse who enters into an intimacy with any other person, though it should even be a priest, will be prevented from acquiring the tranquillity at which he ought constantly to aim. He will be indisposed, by other calls upon his attention, to enter upon the exercises it is necesary for him to perform. But there are some priests who are superior to the attractions that would ensnare them, and are even indifferent respecting their parents, so that, when communicating with them, the relationship is entirely disregarded. We have seen that Ratha- pala called his father merely " Householder," and that he paid no regard to his wife or mother when in their presence. A priest who resided at Koranakara had a nephew who was a priest in the same wihara; but in the course of time the nephew went to reside at Ruhuna (the southern province of Ceylon, whilst the uncle's village must have been somewhere in the north). After this his parents were continually asking the older priest if he had heard any news of their son. At last, as they were so importunate, he set out for Ruhuna, that he might enquire after the welfare of his

nephew, and be able to satisfy the wishes of his parents. By this time the nephew thought it would be well to go and see his uncle, as he had been absent from him a considerable period. The two priests met on the borders of the river Mahaweli ; and, after mutual explanations, the uncle remained near the same place to perform a certain ceremony, and the nephew proceeded onward to his native village. The day after his arrival his father went to invite him to perform wass at his house, as he had heard that a stranger had come to the monastery. The priest accordingly went every day, for the space of three months, to his father's house to say bana ; but he was not recognized by any of his relatives. When the cere- mony was concluded, he informed his parents that he was about to depart ; but they entreated him to come the next day, and they then gave him a cruse of oil, a lump of sugar, and a piece of cloth nine cubits long. After giving them his blessing, he began his journey to Ruhuna. The two priests again met on the borders of the river, when the nephew informed his uncle that he had seen his parents, and at the same time washed his feet with the oil, gave him the sugar to eat, and presented him with the piece of cloth. He then proceeded on his journey, and his uncle set out to return to Koranakara. From the time that the son began to perform wass at his parent's house, his father went out every day in the direction of Ruhuna, to see if the priest was returning with his child ; but when he saw him alone, as he concluded at once that his son was dead, he threw himself at the feet of the priest, wept, and lamented aloud. The priest saw the error into which the father had fallen, and made known to him what had taken place, convincing him of the reality of what he said by showing him the cloth he had re- ceived. The father then went in the direction his son had gone, fell on his face and worshipped, saying that his son was without an equal, as he had visited his parents' house every day during three months, and yet never discovered himself to any of his rela- tives. To such a priest even parents are no palibhoda or hindrance to the reception of tranquillity.*

Wisudhi Margga Sanne.

The vow of poverty is a natural result of asceticism, so that we expect to meet with it as a matter of course wherever men have been taught that to save their souls it is necessary for them to abandon the world. The monks of Christendom suppose that they have an additional motive for this rule in the example of Christ and his apostles. Thus, Chaucer's Wife of Bath, v. 6761, exclaims,

" And ther as ye of poverte me repreve, The highe God, on whom that we beleve, In wilfid poverte chese to lede his lif : Aiid certes, every man, maiden, or ^^df May understond, that Jesus heven king, He wold not chese a vicious living."

The universal tendency there is among all ascetics to the breaking of this law, as well as the difficulty of framing regulations that may not be set aside by the ingenuity of those Avho wish to transgress them, may be seen in the fact, that nearly every order has been in- tended at its commencement to repress the style of luxury in which the preceding communities have lived ; whilst it has only required the elapse of a reasonable time before the new order has been drawn into the vortex of the very extravagancies it was intended to put down, and for which purpose it was originated. By Jerome (Ep. 95) complaint is made that some who called themselves solitarii lived in the midst of a crowd, and had the attendance of servants ; they had all the conveniences requisite for a carousal ; and their food was eaten from vessels of glass or some other costly material. The same author relates (Ep. 18) that a certain anchoret left a hun- dred crowns at his death. When the monks resident in the same desert met together to enquire what was to be done with the money, some proposed that it should be given to the poor, but it was finally resolved that the whole sum should be thrown into his grave, with the malediction, " May thy money pass with thee to perdition." Until the rise of the mendicants, the individual members of the various orders were regarded as denying themselves the enjoyment of personal property, though the community to which they belonged might itself possess ample revenues. Even Dominic, though he prescribed the most severe poverty, did not forbid the houses of his order to enjoy in common small rents in money. But Francis pro-

hibited his monks from possessing a collective revenue, and the vow of poverty was absolute. The rule was as follows : — " Fratres sibi nihil approprient, ncc domum, nee locum, nee aliquam rem; sed sicut perigrini et advenae in hoc seculo, in paupertate et hu- militate famulantcs Domino, vadant pro eleemosyna confidenter."' The bishop of Acco, 1220, writing of the Franciscans, says, " They have neither monasteries nor churches ; neither fields, nor vineyards, nor cattle ; nor houses, nor any possessions ; nor where to lay the head." When a church was bestowed upon Francis by the Bene- dictines of Monte Sonbazo, he refused to accept the property or dominion, and would only have the use of the place ; in token of which he sent the monks annually a basket of fish. He would not allow any property to be invested in his order, that he might sav more perfectly that he had neither house, food, nor clothes. When asked which of all the virtues he thought was the most agreeable to God, he replied, " Poverty is the way to salvation, the nurse of humility, and the root of perfection. Its fruits are hidden, but they multiply themselves in ways that are infinite," Yet a division broke out among his followers as to the precise interpretation of his rule, in consequence of which a mitigation of the requirement as to the total abrogation of all worldly possessions was made by Gregory IX. in 1231; and in 1245 the bull of Innocent IV. allowed them to possess certain articles of furniture, with a few utensils, books, &c. About a century afterwards a dispute arose between the Franciscans and Dominicans respecting the poverty of Christ and his apostles ; it being argued by the followers of Francis that they had no possessions of any kind whatever, either as private property or as a common treasure, whilst the followers of Dominic asserted most strenuously a contrary opinion. The pope decided in favour of the Dominicans ; and it is recorded that many of the Franciscans perished in the flames of the inquisition for persisting in their oppo- sition to this decree. It was enjoined by Ignatius Loyola that the professed Jesuits should not possess any real estates or revenues^ either in particular or in common ; but that colleges might enjoy revenues and rents for the maintenance of students of the order. It is said* to be jiecvdiar to this society, that the religious, after their first vows, retain some time the dominion or property of their patrimony, without the administration (the latter condition being essential to a religious vow of poverty) till they make their renun-

ciation. Francis of Sales did not allow the nuns belonging to the order of the Visitation to have the propriety or even the long use of anything whatever, even their chambers, beds, crosses, beads, and books, were to be changed every year.

The monastic churches were, however, sometimes adorned in a costly manner, even when the rule of poverty was personally re- garded with all strictness. Benedict long used wooden, and after- wards glass or pewter chalices at the altar, and if any presents of silk ornaments were made to him, he gave them to other churches ; but he afterwards effected a change in this practice, and built a stately church, furnished with silver chalices and rich ornaments. It was a rule among the Cistertians that in their places of worship all unnecessary display should be avoided ; they had neither gold nor silver crosses, nor candelabras, except one of iron ; nor a cha- lice, except it were one of copper or iron ; and they reproached the monks of Clugny with having churches " immensely high, immode- rately long, superfluously broad, sumptuously furnished, and curi- ously painted;" so that men were led to admire more that which was beautiful than that which was sacred. There were individual monks who carried out these ideas to their utmost extent. All the furniture in the little cell of John, the Carmelite, consisted of a paper image and a cross made of rushes, and his beads and breviary were of the meanest description.

The words fakir and dervish, so commonly met with in all accounts of Mahometan countries, are said to mean, the one in Arabic, and the other in Persian, poor. These devotees ask alms in the name of God, and are restricted to a life of poverty, relying for their sup- port upon the charity of the faithful. Some of them are indepen- dent, whilst others are associated together in communities like the monastic orders of Christendom. The monks endeavour to trace the origin of their system to the first year of the Hegira ; and it is said that there are now thirty-two different orders existing in the Turkish empire. They found the reason of the ascetic life upon a saying of Mahomet — Poverty is my glory.

The priest of Budha, previous to his ordination, must possess eight articles, called ata-pirikara. 1, 2, 3. Robes, of different de- scriptions. 4. A girdle for the loins. 5. A patara or alms-bowl. 6. A razor. 7. A needle. 8. A perahankada, or water-strainer. The robes will form the subject of a separate section. The bowl is for the purpose of receiving the food presented in alms by the

faithful. The razor is for the shaving of the hair. The needle, Avhich is for the repairing of the priest's robes, is not to have a case made of bone, ivory, or horn ; if he is found to possess one, it is to be broken, and the fault requires confession and absolution. In this respect some of the monks carried their vow of poverty to greater excess than the Budhists, as Theodorus forbade his followers to have even as much property as a needle. Among the later monks, however, every one had a table-book, knife, needle, and handker- chief. It was formerly common for men to carry needle-cases about their persons, in order that they might be able to mend their clothes. In the time of Chaucer the needle was of silver.-'" The water- strainer is considered to be a necessary article, as " if any priest shall knowingly drink water containing insects, it is a fault that requires confession and absolution ; " it is to be a cubit square, without a single thread broken. Even the laic who takes upon himself the five obligations is required to possess a strainer, and to use it whenever he drinks water. The Jaina priests, in addition to the strainer, carry a broom, in order that they may sweep the insects out of their way as they walk, as they fear to tread on the minutest being.f

These articles can be given to a single priest ; but as other de- scriptions of property can only be given to a chapter, they are the only things he can possess in his own individual right. When taking upon himself the last of the ten obligations, the priest de- clares, " I will observe the precept that forbids the receiving of gold or silver." But some other articles, such as chairs, couches, curtains, umbrellas, sandals, and staves, may be received by the chapter. If the priest receives coined gold or silver, or causes it to be received, or uses it if deposited for him ; or if he uses any kind of bullion ; it is a fault involving forfeiture. He is also ex- pressly forbidden to engage in mercantile transactions. When the priest sees money, jewels, or ornaments in any place, he is not to touch them, though they may appear to be lost, unless it be in a house or garden, in which case it may be picked up and given to the owner.

It was supposed by the late James Prinsep, from the absence of any of the titles of sovereignty on many coins that are evidently of Budhist origin from the symbols that they bear, that the Budhist

coinage was struck in the monasteries of the priesthood ; but as the priest was forbidden to touch money, under any circumstances, the supposition must be incorrect. It has been doubted whether any native coin, properly so called, was circulated in India anterior to the incursion of Alexander, as none of the ancient books of the Hindus mention coined money ;* but in the most ancient laws of the Budhists, the distinction is recognised between coined money and bullion. The monks of Britain were less scrupulous in this matter than their eastern compeers. The monastic mint was not unfrequently an establishment of great importance, and if we may judge from the number of their coins yet in existence, the issues must have been extensive. The abbey of Bury had the following officers : — custos cunei, or keeper of the mint ; monetarius, the moneyer or mint-master ; cambiator, or exchanger ; duo custodes, or keepers ; and duo assaisiatores, or assayers.f

Among the easterns generally, the most valuable personal pro- perty is that which can be corrupted by " the moth and the rust; " or garments, and ornaments fabricated of the precious metals ; and as the priest can only possess three robes, and these of a particular kind, and is not allowed to have rich furniture, or to possess gold or silver, it is not in his power to accumulate that which alone would in India be regarded as wealth. Even when articles of a more valuable description are presented to the community, they cannot be used by the priest without being previously disfigured. Thus the priest may have a carpet or coverlet, but it must not be made with a mixture of silk ; nor of woollen of a black colour, but two parts black, one white, and one brown ; it is to be used six years, and then not given away or renewed, without the consent of the other priests ; and the sitting carpet is to be disfigured by having part of an old carpet attached to it of a span in size.|

The second of the three great ecumenical convocations that at an early period were held by the Budhists, Avas assembled in conse- quence of the unauthorised practices of some of the priests in the city of Wesali. Among other things it was their custom upon the lunar festivals to fill a golden basin Avith water, and placing it in the midst of the assembly, to say to their followers, " Beloved ! bestow Tipon the priesthood a kahapanan coin, or half, or a . 67

quarter of one, or even the value of a masa ; to the priesthood it will afford the means of providing themselves with the sacerdotal requisites ! " *

But the rule of poverty, as among the monks of the west, was in a great degree nullified by the specious distinction between the priest and the priesthood, the individual and the community, the sramana and the sangha. The community is allowed to be rich in lands, and to have splendid edifices dedicated to its use, whilst the individual priest is regarded as having renounced all worldly pos- sessions. That which is given to the general fund is not to be appro- priated as private property by any member of the community, nor given to a laic. No stool or couch belonging to the chapter is to be carelessly left out in the open air ; by which is to be understood that the property of the community is to be taken care of in a proper manner. In an inscription cut in the rock near Mihintala in Ceylon, it is directed that the lands which belong to the wihara shall be enjoyed by the priesthood in common, and not divided into separate parcels. We leain from the same inscription, that exact accounts, regularly audited, were kept of the revenues of the temple. After paying the prescribed -wages to those who were en- titled to receive them, the rest of the revenues proceeding from the lands belonging to the wihara were to be entered in books by the proper officers, that the same might be under inspection. The daily expenditure on account of the public alms-bowl, and of the hired servants, and for repairs, was to be written in books ; and an account was to be kept of the contents of the store-room. Every month these several accounts were to be collected into one ; and at the end of the year the monthly accounts were again to be formed into one list or register, to be produced before a chapter of the priests.

When passing through the interior of Ceylon, amidst scenery so beautiful that it almost appears to give reality to the legend that it once was Paradise, and my attention has been attracted by the sight of lands teeming with more than usual fertility, it has almost invariably happened that on enquiring to whom these rich domains belonged, I have been told that they were the property of the priests. Their possessions must therefore be very extensive ; though perhaps not equal to those of the clergy in England, who in the

thirteenth century are said to have had in their hands 28,000 out of the 53,000 knights' fees connected witli the landed property of the realm. Though the monarch of Ceylon was considered to have been originally the sole possessor of the soil, there Avere in all times of which we have any statistical accounts a large proportion of lands appropriated to private individuals and to the priests. The temple lands were principally royal donations, but not in every instance. It is not very clear how lands came into the possession of private individuals, so as to be alienable ; but we may infer that they were originally granted by the kings for some signal services performed, and that the families thus rewarded, afterwards falling into decay, found themselves obliged to look out for some more powerful protection. Tliey might either become retainers of the crown or the church ; but as the temple service was nearer their own homes, was less arbitrary and oppressive, and had moreover the recommendation that by this means they might benefit their souls, it was natural that they should dedicate their lands to the priest, rather than to the king. Lands that were newly cleared might also be considered as liable to no compulsory custom ; and from a similar motive, to ensure protection, they would sometimes be given over to the temple ; then, in return for the protection re- ceived, certain services would be promised on the part of the indi- vidual who presented the gift, as it would be understood that his family was to retain possession of the lands, though the proprietor- ship was nominally in the temple. Of this mode of the transmission of property we have many parallel instances in the history of the feudal times. When lands were dedicated by the kings of Ceylon, the services that were to be rendered by the cultivator of the soil to the priesthood were very minutely set forth, as is testified by many inscriptions still to be traced upon slabs of stone, and occa- sionally in the solid rocks, near the temples to which the lands were given.

The temple lands were invariably free from royal custom or duty, the services v/hich in the royal villages were paid to the king being here paid to the temple. This system existed in very ancient times, some of the grants being nearly as old as the time of Christ. An extract from the Account of Ceylon, published by Robert Knox, will illustrate the usages as they prevailed during his captivity in Kandy, which commenced in the year 1659 : — " Unto each of the pagodas there are great revenues of land belonging ; which have

been allotted to them by former kings, according to the state of the kingdom : but they have much impaired the revenues of the crown, there being rather more towns belonging to the church than to the king. These estates of the temples are to supply a daily charge they are at, which is to prepare victuals or sacrifices to set before the idols. They have elephants also, as the king has, which serve them for state. Their temples have all sorts of officers belonging to them, as the palace hath. . . . Many of the vehars (wiharas) have farms belonging to them, and are endowed. The tirinanxes (priests who have received ordination) are the landlords, unto whom the tenants come at a certain time, and pay their rents. These farmers live the easiest of any in the land, for they have nothing to do but at these set times to bring in their dues and so depart, and to keep in repair certain little vehars in the country. So that the rest of the Chingulais envy them and say of them. Though they live easy in this world, they cannot escape unpunished in the life to come, for enjoying the Buddou's land and doing him so little service for it."

It is said, in an official report published in 1831 : — " The pos- sessions of the temples constitute a large proportion of the culti- vated lands in the Kandyan provinces. In the several temples and colleges there are registers of the lands dependent on them, but these registers not having been examined, their extent has not been accurately ascertained. At my request, translations were made of the registers of the principal temples of Kandy ; and from these it appears that the tenants and proprietors of what are called Temple Lands in the several provinces, are liable, on the requisition of the chiefs and priests, to render services and contributions of various kinds. These are minutely detailed in the registers, and the occu- pier of each allotment of land has a special duty assigned to him, or a special contribution to make, either for the repairs of the tem- ples, the subsistence of the chiefs and priests, and their attendants, or on occasion of the annual festivals."*

From these documents it is evident that the situation of the priests of Ceylon is at present very different to that which was in- tended at the commencement of their order by Gotama Budha, as they must have degenerated therefrom in proportion to the extent of their lands and of their social and political privileges. Professedly

• Report of Lieut. Col. Colebrookc, one of His Majesty's Commissioners of Enquiry upon the Administration of the Government of Ceylon, dated Dec. 24, 1831.

mendicants, and possessing only a few articles that are of no in- trinsic value, tliey are in reality the wealthiest and most honoured class in the nation to which they belong. In other countries where Budhism is professed, it is probable that they are less wealthy ; but in no place can we find the recluse of the primitive institution.

The priest of Budha is not allowed to bring Avithin the door of his mouth any food not given in alms, unless it be water, or some substance used for the purpose of cleaning the teeth ; and when in health the food that he eats must be procured by his own exertions in carrying the alms-bowl from house to house in the village or city near which he resides. When going to receive alms, the bowl is slung across his shoulder, and is usually covered by the outer robe. It may be made of either iron or clay, but not of any other material. It must first be received by a chapter, and then be officially delivered to the priest whose bowl, after examination, is found to be in the worst condition. No priest is allowed to pro- cure a new bowl so long as his old one has not been bound with five ligatures to prevent it from falling to pieces ; and he is not allowed to use an extra bowl more than ten days without permis- sion from a chapter. When passing from place to place, the priest must not look to a greater distance before him than the length of a yoke ; nor must he look on one side, or upwards, nor bend his body to look at anything upon the ground ; he is not to look at elephants, chariots, horses, soldiers, or women ; nor is he allowed to put out his arms or feet in a careless manner. He may not call a woman by her name, nor ask what kind of victuals there are in the house, or what kind will be presented. He may not say that he is hungry in order that food may be given him. Should he see a child driving calves, he may not ask if they still suck, in order that the child may tell its mother, and the mother be induced to give him milk. A certain priest, who was suffering from hunger, went to a house to receive food. The woman of the house said that she had nothing to give him, but she pretended that she would go and ask something from her neighbour, for which purpose she left the house and went to a little distance. The priest took the

opportunity of looking to see what was in the house ; and in the corner near the door he saw a piece of sugar-cane ; he also saw some sugar-candy, salted meat, rice, and ghee, in different vessels ; after which he again retired to the outer court. When the wo- man returned, she said that she had not succeeded in obtaining any rice. The priest replied, " It is not a fortunate day for the priest- hood ; I have seen an omen." She asked what it Avas : and he proceeded, " I saw a serpent, like a piece of sugar-cane ; on looking for something to strike it with, I saw some stones like pieces of sugar-candy; the hood of this snake was like a piece of salted meat ; its teeth were like grains of rice ; and the poisonous saliva falling from its gums was like ghee in an earthen vessel." The woman on hearing this, was unable to deny the truth of the infer- ence ; so she presented the priest with the whole of the articles he had seen. But in this manner to speak of what is near is forbidden ; it is samanta jappana.

It is forbidden to the priest to proclaim his purity, or attainments, to the householder, in order that he may gain honour or gifts. When persons come to the temple, he may not go up to them and address them, asking them why they have come ; and when he has ascertained that they have come to make offerings, tell them that his name is so and so, and that he is the religious teacher of such a noble or such a king ; he may not address them with high titles and flatter them; he may not say that during seven generations the members of their family have been generous to the priests, and ask why they do not follow the same excellent example ; nor is he allowed to be continually pressing them and urging them to give. Should he meet any one with a piece of sugar-cane in his hand, he may not ask from what garden it has been procured, in order that it may be given him. When two priests enter a village, they may not call for some noble female, and when she has come, say to each other that in such a way her mother assisted them, in order that she may be induced to do the same.*

There are some places to which the priest is allowed to go when seeking alms, and some to which he is not ; the former are called gochara and the latter agochara. Among the places that are not allowed may be reckoned houses of ill-fame, for though no sin might be committed by the priest, either in act or thought, it would expose him to ridicule ; houses of widows, or of women whose hus-

bands have gone to some distant place; places where there are grown- up women not given in marriage ; or where there are catamites or hermaphrodites, as in such places obscene words may be heard ; or where there are priestesses, lest the purity of both should be placed in danger : taverns, or places where there are persons in liquor ; the palaces of kings ; the mansions of noblemen ; the dwellings of tirttakas or unbelievers ; places where the people bear ill-will to the priests or the faithful, and would abuse or ill-treat them : all these places are to be avoided. Among the places that are allowed may be reckoned the dwellings of persons who have shown their charity by such acts as the digging of wells for the public benefit ; or of persons who treat the priests with respect and invite them to pay frequent visits ; or of persons who are sincere in the faith.

We also learn from the Milinda Prasna, that there are two modes of winyapti, or seeking alms. One is called k aya-winyapti, that which belongs to the body; and the other wachi- winyapti, that which belongs to the speech. Of each of these modes of seeking alms there are two kinds ; the one proper, or permitted ; the other improper, or not permitted. Thus, when the priest approaches a house with the alms-bowl, he must remain as though unseen ; he may not hem, nor may he make any other sign that he is present, and he is not allowed to approach too near the dwelling. If he falls into any of these practices it is a kaya- winyapti that is for- bidden ; he transgresses the precept : and it is equally a transgres- sion if he stretches out his neck like a peacock, or in any Avay bends his head that he may attract the attention of those who give alms ; he is not allowed even to move the jaw, or lift up the finger, for the same purpose. The proper mode is for the priest to take the alms- bowl in a becoming manner ; if anything is given, he remains to receive it; if not, he passes on. Budha has said, " The wise priest never asks for anything; he disdains to beg; it is a proper object for which he carries the alms-bowl ; and this is his only mode of solicitation." When the priest asks for robes, seats, medicine, or any other of the sacerdotal requisites, it is a wachi-winyapti that is forbidden ; nor is he allowed to say of anything, that if he were to receive it, it would be a benefit to him ; or to proclaim the benefit to be received from the giving of alms, that the people may be liberal to him. But when he is sick, he is permitted to ask for any medicine that he may require, without being guilty of any trans-

g The fourth of the Thirteen Ordinances is called Sapadanachari- kanga. The word apadana means the breaking, the not keeping or observing ; and sapadana is the keeping, the observing. The name is given to this ordinance because it enjoins the passing in regular order or succession from house to house. By this ordinance the priest is forbidden to pass by any house when going with the bowl to receive alms, on account of its meanness or inferiority ; but he may pass by the house if near it there be any danger, as from dogs. When he visits a village, street or house three successive days, without receiving anything, he is not required to go to the same place again ; but if he receives only the least particle, it must be regularly visited. When he has gone out with the bowl, and not received anything, should he meet a person in the road who is carrying food intended for the priesthood, he may receive it ; but if anything has previously been given him, this is forbidden. The priest who keeps the superior rule of the ordinance may receive food only from the house before which he stands, or from the hall where food is regularly given. It is said that no priest ever kept this precept like Maha Kasyapa. He who keeps the middle rule may remain only a short time before the house, and must then pass on. The inferior rule allows the priest to wait until the food is given, though there may be delay.

Though the priest is not required to go more than three times to the same house to receive alms when none are given, it is regarded as a merit, in certain cases, if he persevere. The priest Rohana went to the house of Sonuttara, the father of Nagasena, for the space of six years and ten months with the alms-bowl, although in the whole of this period he did not receive so much as a spoonful of rice, nor any mark of respect. Abuse was all that was given him ; until one day a girl peeped from behind the door, and said that it was early. On receiving this salutation he was greatly pleased. It so hajipened that on the same morning Sonuttara met him : and as he saw pleasure depicted in his countenance, he asked whether he had received anything at the house, and Rohana said that he had. Sonuttara was in great wrath that his orders should be dis- obeyed, as he had charged his household not to give anything to the priest ; but when he enquired who it was that had dared to act thus, all the members of the family denied that they had done any such thing. The next day, when Rohana came with the alms-bowl, the offended master stood near the door of his house, and charged

the priest with uttering an untruth ; but he said that he had spoken correctly, as a kind word had been given him, and this was what he had received. Then Sonuttara concluded, that if a single word had given so much pleasure, a gift of food would produce much more. He therefore commanded that Rohana should have as much rice as he could eat, and that he should receive the same daily in future. ■'•' The patience of Rohana was, however, exceeded by that of Isidore, an Egyptian monk. When asking to be admitted into the house, he said to the abbot, " I am in your hands, as iron in the hands of the smith." The abbot ordered him to remain without the gate, and to prostrate himself at the feet of every one who passed by, begging prayers for his soul as for a leper. This com- mand he obeyed, and remained in this humiliating position for the space of seven years. The first year he had a violent conflict ; the second, tranquillity; and the third, pleasure.f

Though the priests are required to go from house to house, not omitting the meanest residence, if the inhabitants be willing to give alms, the spirit of this law is frequently evaded in Ceylon. The people of the lower castes usually live in houses that are contiguous to each other, so that the priest can avoid going near them without appearing to break the rule. In the village of Rillegalle, where I sometimes resided, the quarter inhabited by the washers was never visited by the priests ; and an entire village at a little distance, in- habited by mat-weavers, was equally neglected.

The practice of mendicity as a religious observance is of very ancient origin ; and its existence may be traced among nations that greatly differ in their general character. The rules to be observed by the Brahman mendicant are laid down with much precision. " Every day must a Brahman student receive his food by begging, with due care, from the houses of persons renowned for discharging their duties. If none of those houses can be found, let him go begging through the whole district round the village, keeping his organs in subjection, and remaining silent; but let him turn away from such as have committed any deadly sin. . . . Let the student persist constantly in such begging, but let him not eat the food of one person only ; the subsistence of a student by begging is held equal to fasting in religious merit. . . . This duty of the wise is ordained for a Brahman only ; but no such act is appointed for a warrior or a merchant." — Manu, Inst. ii. 183, 185, 188, 190. The

sanyasi is also enjoined (Inst. vi. 58) to refrain from receiving food after humble reverence, since by taking it in consequence of a humble salutation, though free, he becomes a sceptic. The house- holder (Inst. iv. 32) is to make gifts, as far as he has ability, to religious mendicants, though heterodox. The uXvprai were mendi- cant priests among the Greeks, who went about from place to place soliciting alms in behalf of the gods whom they adored. It is sup- posed that their origin was eastern. They Avere connected with the worship of Isis, Opis, and Arge. Their character was not good, and they were ready to inflict injuries on the enemies of those who paid them for that purpose.* The same priests among the Romans, bound by vows of temperance and abstinence, were supported on the charity of the public. They went their daily rounds to receive alms with the sistrum in their hands. But by their avidity much opposition was excited against their order. " Stipes aereas immo vero et argenteas, multis certatim ofFerentibus sinu recepere patulo ; nee non et vini cadum et lactis et caseos avidis animis corradentes et in sacculos huic questui de industria preparatos furcientes, &c." — Apuleius, Metam. i. viii. It was proposed by Cicero to restrain their extravagance. " Stipem sustulimus nisi eam quam ad paucos dies propriam Idaeae Martis excepimus. Implet enim superstitione animos ; exhaurit domos." — Cic. de Legib. z,. ii. 9, 16. |

The mendicant orders among the Romanists came into notice in the thirteenth century ; but the practice existed among the monks at a much earlier period. Jerome complains (Ep. 18) that men with hair like women, beards like the goat, a black cloak and bare feet, entered into the houses of nobles and deceived silly women, laden with sin. The friars differed from the monks only in being mendicants by profession. Even the ascetics who were not pro- fessedly mendicants were sometimes obliged to beg. The monks who founded Fountains' Abbey, about 1137, were at one time re- duced to so much distress that the abbot went round the neigh- bourhood to ask alms, but without success, and they were reduced to feed on the leaves of trees, and on herbs gathered in the fields, boiled with a little salt.j According to some writers, there were three kinds of poverty among them ; some had nothing, either of their own or in common ; others had something in common, as

books, clothes, food, &c., but nothing of their own ; and others had a little of both kinds of property, but only necessaries, as food and clothes. It was requisite that the quester, whose office it was to collect the daily alms for the subsistence of the community, should be a man of great virtue and circumspection, as he was constantly exposed to temptations that to a monk must have been of the most formidable character. Such a one was the Capuchin, Felix of Can- talicio. It is said that Laurence Justinian, the first patriarch of Venice, when he went about the streets begging alms with a w^allet upon his back, obtruded himself into the presence of the nobles, on purpose that he might meet with derision and contempt. Fre- quently did he stand before the door of his own house, and cry out, " An alms, for the sake of God!" but he would not enter in, nor ever took more than two loaves. The storehouse in which the pro- visions of the community were laid up for the year, having been burnt down, a certain brother lamented the loss, but he said cheer- fully, "Why have ye embraced and vowed poverty? God has granted us this blessing that we may feel it." Francis called the begging of alms from door to door, " the table of the Lord." Many of the cities of Europe were divided or cantoned out into four parts, the first being assigned to the Dominicans, the second to the Fran- ciscans, the third to the Carmelites, and the fourth to the Augustines. The towns of Norwich, Lynn, and Yarmouth, appear to have been quartered in a similar way ; and in some instances the convents derived considerable revenvie from the privilege of confessing, preaching, and begging in their respective districts. At the crosses in cities and other places sermons were delivered on Sundays and holydays, at which time money was collected from the audience."* There are also instances upon record in which the sole right of frequenting particular circuits was purchased by individuals, who appear to have been not at all difiident in trying to turn their privi- lege to the best account. Thus Chaucer speaks of his " merry Frere" in the following terms : —

'• Ther n'as no man nowher so vertuous ; He was the beste begger in all his hous ; And gave a certaine ferme for the grant, Non of his bretheren came in liis haimt ; For though a widewe hadde but a shoo, (So pleasant was his In princijno) Yet wold he have a ferthing or he went."

The appearance of the mendicant orders was hailed with satis- faction, as it was supposed that it would be a means by which the corruptions of monachism might be avoided ; but the rapacity of the members soon excited general disgust. Richard Fitz Ralph, archbishop of Armagh, objected to the pope and cardinals, rela- tive to the mendicant orders, that " scarce could any great or mean man of the clergy or the laity eat his meat, but such kind of beggars would be at his elbow ; not like other poor folks humbly craving alms at the gate or the door (as Francis did command and teach them in his testament) by begging, but without shame intruding themselves into courts or houses, and lodging there ; where, with- out any inviting at all, they eat and drink what they do find among them, and, not with that content, carry away with them either wheat, or meal, or bread, or flesh, or cheese, although there were but two in the house, in a kind of an extorting manner, there being none that can deny them, unless he would cast away natural shame." ^^ The corrujDtion of these orders was fearlessly pro- claimed by Wyclifi'e, who wrote " Of the Poverty of Christ," "Against Able Beggary," and "Of Idleness in Beggary;" and maintained : " sith open Begging is thus sharply damned in holy Writ, it is a foule Error to meyntene it, but that it is more error to seie that Christ was such a Beggar." f In the famous petition called "the Supplication of Beggars," presented to Henry VIII. complaining of the encroachments of the mendicant orders, their revenues are stated at £43,333 per annum, besides their temporal goods ; and the supplicants add, that " four hundred years past these friars had not one penny of this money." | By the Stat. 22 Hen. VIII. c. 12, all proctors and pardoners (or itinerant vendors of indulgences) going about in any country, without suflicient autho- rity, are to be treated as vagabonds. §

To many of the friars, the necessity of seeking their subsistence in this manner must have been equally repugnant. When Luther was in the convent of St. Augustine, he was prevented by the superiors from shutting himself up in his cell, that he might pro- secute his studies, though offices the most menial had already been performed. They let him know that it was not by study, but by begging, that he was to benefit the cloister ; and we have an in- sight into the kind of alms they most coveted, from their own

enumeration : " bread, corn, eggs, fish, meat and money." " Cum sacco per civitatem !" Away with your wallet through the town ! cried the friars ; and, laden with his bread-bag, he had to wander through all the streets of Erfurth, begging from house to house. On his return he had to shut himself up in his cell, or resume his taskwork. The Franciscans, by the rule of their order, were com- manded to ask alms confidenter, which has been translated " stur- dily." The graphic pen of Chaucer draws the following picture in the Sumpnoure's Tale. It is intended as the portrait of a preacher in Holdernesse.

" With scrippe, and tipped staf, ytucked hie, In every hous he gan to pore and prie, And begged mele and chese, or elles com. His felaw had a staf tipped with horn, A pair of tables all of ivory, And a pomtel ypolished fetislily, And wrote alway the names, as he stood, Of alio folk that gave hem any good, Askaunce that he wolde for hem preye, ' Yeve us a bushel whete, or malt reye, A Goddes kichel, or a trippe of chese ; Or elles what you list, we may not chese, A Goddes halfpemiy, or a masse peny. Or yeve us of your braun, if ye have any, A dagon of your blanket, leve dame ! Omi sustre dere ! (lo, here I write your name) Bacon or beef, or s-\\iche thing as ye find.' A stm-dy harlot went hem, ay, behind, That was hu- hostes man, and bare a sakke. And what men yave hem laid it on his bakke." From these perversions of the original law of mendicancy, the priests of Budha are guarded by the rules laid down by their founder, which do not allow a single word to be spoken ; and when the bowl is sufficiently filled, the priest is to return to his dwelling and eat the food he has received, of whatever kind it may be. They are sufficiently rapacious in other respects, and their love of litigation has brought discredit upon their order; but when carrying the alms-bowl I have never seen them otherwise than observant of the

institute.

From some of the above quotations it would appear that the vessel carried by the mendicants for receiving the alms that were pre- sented, was not always of the same description. The alms-bowl of the Budhist is a convenient article to carry, and answers all the purposes required by the priest, in countries where the green leaf,

or the cocoa-nut shell, has not yet been superseded by articles of more complicated manufacture. There were some of the ancient ascetics in the east who went upon all fours, and ate their food like dogs. It is said, that when Diogenes savv a boy drink water out of the hollow of his hand, he took the cup from his wallet and threw it away, saying that the boy had exceeded him in frugality. The mendicant friars had a wallet or sack into which they put the pro- visions they received, and the Franciscans are represented as having their tunics full of pockets made for the same purpose. They some- times took persons with them to collect money, as they were not allowed to receive it themselves ; but this was contrary to an ex- press rule, as the Franciscans are forbidden (cap. iv.) to receive it in any form whatever, either themselves or by a substitute, " vel per se, vel per interpositam personam." There was a complaint (Alvarus Pelagius, ii. 6) against the Franciscans, that some of the brethren wandered through countries and cities, soliciting and de- manding pecuniary alms, frequently with great imi^ortunity, taking the servant backward, and filling their boxes and pockets with money ; and that some received money, either with wax, or with wood, or with the cloak, and carried it about sewed up in their habits, tunics, or hoods.

In whatever country religious mendicancy is practised, the virtue of almsgiving will be raised to an undue elevation in the scale of merit. The ancient chronicles say that it was customary for the monarchs of Ceylon to give annually five times their own weight of treasure in alms. In an inscription at Pollonnaruwa, about A. d. 1200, is is said that the king gave annually five times his own weight, and that of his two principal queens and son and daughter, of treasure, in alms to " the priests and the Brahmans." In 1818, Kappitapola was executed at Kandy for rebellion against the British government. Early in the morning he was taken to the temple, and as he knelt in the sanctuary the chief priest recounted the principal meritorious actions of his life, such as the benefits he had conferred on the priesthood, the gifts he had given to the temples, and other similar acts. He then pronounced his last wish, which was, that in the next birth he might be born in the forest of Himala and finally obtain nirwana. The priest, in an impressive manner, declared that his merits were great, and concluded a benediction by saying, "As sure as a stone thrown up into the air returns to the earth, so certainly will you, in consideration of your merit, be pre- sent at the next appearance of a Budha, and receive your reward."

When aboiit to die, the rebel turned to the Commissioner, an English gentleman, and saying, " I give you a share of the merit of my last religious oifering," he unwound his upper cloth from his waist, and presented it to the temple, jocularly observing, that although it was ragged and foul, " the merit of the offering would not on that account be diminished, it being all he had to give." *

From its necessary connexion with the circumstances of the re- cluse, and its prominence in the system of Gotama, it will be requi- site to enter upon the subject of almsgiving somewhat at lengths although many of the statements we shall have to make are puerile in the extreme, and would not in themselves, apart from the light they throw upon the system, justify the expenditure of the time that has been required for their compilation. The evils arising from this feature of the system appear to increase as years roll on ; and in consequence, the greater number of the following narratives are probably the invention of a period comparatively recent. They are principally taken from the works that are at present the most po- pular among the Budhists of Ceylon.

The faithful are required to give in alms of that which they have honestly earned by their own personal exertions ; this offering is called dana, which means literally " a gift." There must be a willing mind respecting that which they offer, from the time that the intention of making the offering is formed to the time when it is presented, as well as after it has been made. There must be no regret for that which has been given, no wish to regain it. That which is thus given with a pure mind must be given to the Budhas, the Pase-Budhas (who arise in the period in which there is no su- preme Budha, and discover intuitively the way to nirwana, but are unable to teach it to others), the rahats, or the priests. It is re- quisite that the thing given, the intention of the giver, and the re- ceiver of the gift, be all pure.

It is ever the rule of the Budhas to proclaim first the reward to be received for the giving of alms, and then to enforce the obser- vance of the precepts ; just as a child has some plaything given to it, whether it be a mimic plough, a bell, the sticks used in the game called kalli, a little bow and arrow, or a cart ; but when he arrives at riper years he has to work, in order that he may gain for him- self a livelihood. In the same way, the physician, when about to administer medicine, first mollifies the body of the patient by

anointing it with oil for three or four days. The giving of alms softens the mind, and brings it into subjection, by which the ascetic is prepared for the exercise of the rites he is afterwards to practise.

Pujawa is allied to duna, and is the ofFcring of flowers, lights, and rice. These must be presented continually to the three gems. There are four divisions of almsgiving when practised in relation to the priests, called siwpasadana. They are : — 1. Cliiwara-dana, the gift of robes. 2. Ahara-dana, the gift of food. 3. Sayanasana- dana, the gift of a pallet on which to recline. 4. Gilanapratya- dana, the gift of medicine or sick diet.

There is also a dana called sanghika, which is divided into seven kinds. 1. The giving of robes, food, kc. to a supreme Budha, or his immediate disciples ; this is the chief of the seven. 2. The giving of these things to the priests and priestesses, when assem- bled together, with a relic of Budha in their midst. 3. The giving of these things to the priests alone, under similar circumstances. 4. The giving of these things to the priestesses alone, under similar circumstances. 5. The giving of anything to the priests and priestesses, when permission has been previously asked. 6. The giving of anything to an individual priest, when permission has been previously asked from a sangha, or chapter of not less than four priests. 7. The giving of anything to a priestess, under similar circumstances. The reward that will be received for the offering of any of these gifts is like the atoms of the earth, it cannot be computed.

Of all the modes of acquiring merit, that of almsgiving is the principal ; it is the chief of the virtues that are requisite for the attainment of the Budhaship ; it is the first of the four great vir- tues, viz. almsgiving, afflibility, promoting the prosperity of others, and loving others as ourselves ; it is superior to the observance of the precepts, the path that all the Budhas have trod, a lineage to which they have all belonged.

AVhen the gift, the giver, and the receiver are all pure, the re- ward is proportionately great. When the giver possesses that which is good, but presents in alms that which is bad, it is called dana-dasa ; when he gives according to that which he has, whether it be good or bad, it is dana-sahaya ; when he himself retains that which is bad but presents that which is good, it is dana-pati. The giver must have purity of intention. When he presents the gift he must think. May it be to me as a hidden treasure, that I may find

again greatly increased, in a future birth. And he must think both before and after the gift is presented, that he gives to one who is possessed of merit. When any one gives that which has been pro- cured by his own labour, he will have as his reward wealth, but no retinue or attendants. When he gives that which he has received ■from others, he will have attendants, but no wealth. When he gives both kinds he will have both rewards ; but when he gives neither, he will have neither of the rewards. Kala-dana is the giving of alms to strangers, travellers, and sick persons, and in times of famine, and the giving of the first-fruits whether of the garden or the field. When alms are given without thought or affection, or by the hand of another, or when they are thrown to the receiver disdainfully, or given only after long intervals, or with- out any hope of reward, it is asat-purusha-dana ; when the reverse, it is sat-purusha-dana. There is no reward for him who gives in- toxicating liquors, or makes offerings to the tirttaka heretics, or gives to those who only dance and play and sing or exhibit inde- cencies, or make obscene paintings in some public place ; but in some instances there may be a reward for those who give to musi- cians and singers, as when alms are given to those who beat the drum at religious festivals, or to the priest who chaunts the bana.

When alms are given to some, and not to others, it is like a par- tial shower ; when they are given to all, it is like a universal rain ; but when any one only thinks to give, and does not give, it is like the gathering of the clouds and the thunder when there is no rain.

He who gives alms in a proper manner will have continued joy ; he will be admitted to the society of the wise ; his fame will spread on all the six sides, and reach as high as the brahma-loka ; and after death he will be born in one of the dewa-lokas. The reward for the giving of alms is not merely a benefit that is to be received at some future period ; it promotes length of days, personal beauty, agreeable sensations, strength, and knowledge ; and if the giver be born as a man, he will have all these advantages in an eminent de- gree.

That which follows was declared by Gotama to Uggradewa- putra : — " There is no reward, either in this world or the next, that may not be received through almsgiving. By means of it the glories of Sekra, Mara, and Maha-Brahma (rulers of the celestial worlds), the Chakrawartti, the rahats, the Pase-Budhas, and the supreme Budha are received."

When the five virtues of almsgiving are exercised, i. e. faith, ob- servance of the precepts, the hearing of bana, liberality, and wis- dom, the reward is appointed, whether it be in the brahma-loka, dewa-loka, or world of men, according to the wish formed by the giver ; but when alms are presented without these virtues, no re- ward is specially appointed, as a piece of wood when thrown into the air falls to the ground on any of its sides, just as it happens.

There are some gifts that have a great reward from the giver, and none from the receiver ; some that have the same from the re- ceiver, and none from the giver ; some that have a reward from both ; and others that have a reward from neither. If the gift be presented with a pure mind, though the receiver be bad, it will be rewarded, as when Wessantara presented his children to the brah- man Jujaka, who was a bad man. Sometimes the giver is bad, and the receiver good ; but if both be bad the reward is small. A hunter once gave alms to one who did not observe the precepts, in order to benefit his brother who -was a preta sprite, but he derived no benefit therefrom. The hunter then gave alms to one who did observe the precepts, and his brother was released from the preta- birth.

If a vessel be made clean, and water be given from it, even to a worm, the gift will receive a reward ; how then can the full reward be told of those who give to men ?

If any one gives food to dogs, crows, &c. with the intention of receiving merit, he will have long life, prosperity, beauty, power, and wisdom, in a hundred births. If any one gives food to a man who does not keep the precepts, with the same intention, he will have a similar reward in a thousand births ; if he gives food to one who keeps the precepts, but is not acquainted with the dharmma, he will receive a similar reward in myriads of births ; if to an upas- aka, an asankya of births (the asankya being a number that requires 141 figures to express it) ; and yet more, in accumulative propor- tion, if to a samanera, an upasampada, one who has entered the paths, a rahat, a Pase-Budha, and a supreme Budha. In this pro- portion the reward accumulates : — according to the earth in a threshing-floor, in four miles, in sixteen miles, in the earth, in a sakwala.

In a former age Bodhisat was the son of a brahman, and was educated along with 100,000 princes from various parts of Jam- budwipa. When their education was completed, all the princes

invited him to go and live with them ; but he chose to reside at Benares, where he became the king's prohita, or prime minister. Each of the princes went every year to see the king, and whenever they went they took rich presents for the minister. After some time, he gave away all these presents in alms to beggars ; and the giving of the whole occupied seven years and seven months ; he gave golden alms-bowls, couches, chariots, elephants, and many other treasures. But the giving of food, on one single occasion, to any one who has entered the first path that leads to nirwana, would produce greater merit to the giver than all the gifts of the prohita. The giving of alms to one in the second path produces greater merit by one hundred times than when given to one in the first path ; and when given to one in the third, it produces greater merit by one hundred times than when given to one in the second ; and when given to a rahat, produces greater merit by one hundred times than when given to one in the third path. When given to a Pase-Budha, it produces greater merit by one himdred times than when given to a rahat. But when given to a supreme Budha it produces greater merit by sixteen times multi^jlied by itself sixteen times than when given to a Pase-Budha. We will suppose that there are rows of thrones upon which the disciples of Budha are seated, extending from one end of Jambudwipa to the other, and that there are ten rows occupied by those who have entered the first path ; five by those who have entered the second path ; two and a-half by those who have entered the third path ; one and a-half by rahats ; and one by Pase-Budhas. Now if all these were to receive an offering of alms, the merit of such an offering would be immensely great ; but a single offering made to a supreme Budha would surpass even this in merit.

The narratives that illustrate the greatness of the reward to be received from the giving of alms are almost innumerable. They appear to vie with each other in the absurdity of their character ; and therefore a small selection from them will be regarded as more than sufficient.

When the Bodhisat Sumeda was in the forest of Himala, a rishi, or holy sage, came to him and offered him three flowers. By this act the sage was saved during the whole of 30,000 kalj^as from being born in hell ; he was always either a dewa or a man, and Avhen born as man, he was always either of the royal or brahman caste. He was 500 times a dewa ; 300 times Sekra ; and in the

time of Gotama, when he was a respectable brahman in Rajagaha, he entered the priesthood, and became a rahat.

A florist named Sumana, who resided in Rajagaha, and presented to a former Budha eight nosegays of jessamine flowers, received in the same birth elephants, horses, sons, daughters, females beauti- fully arrayed, and villages, eight of each ; and eight of all kinds of ornaments, gems, and robes ; was preserved from being born in hell during a hundred thousand kalpas, received blessings without number in the world of men ; at last became the Pase-Budha Su- mana, and attained nirwana.

There was a poor weaver, who resided near the mansion of a charitable nobleman, and when beggars enquired the way to it, he was accustomed to point out the road with his finger. For this he was afterwards born as the dewa of a tree, and by the lifting up of his finger he could in a moment produce whatever he desired.

One day Budha and his priests went to a certain village to receive alms, but the people were unwilling to give them so much as a drop of water, until a female servant gave them a little from a vessel. As the water was poured out it did not become less, though she gave to all the priests. For this charitable act, she was afterwards born as a dewi.

There was a family in Rajagaha, all the members of which fell sick and died, except one woman, who escaped from the house through a hole made in the wall.^' When at a little distance from the house she was approached by the priest Kasyapa, who was carrying the alms- bowl at the time, but as she had only a little dirty rice-gruel, she thought it was too mean to present as an ofiering. The priest however continued to remain near her, and as she thought it was out of kindness, she presented to him the gruel. For this she was born in the highest dewa-loka ; but she had also acquired great merit in previous births.

There was a king of Ceylon, Sila Maha Tissa, who reigned in great splendour at Anuradhapura. In the earlier years of his reign, as he had heard that the most meritorious alms are such as are given from that which has been procured by personal labour, he

• There is a disease called ahiwataka-roga, supposed to be caused by a pestilential blast, mixed with the breath of poisonous serpents, that comes upon a dwelling, when the Hies first die ; then the lizards and other reptdes ; afterwards cats, dogs, goats, and cattle ; and last of all human beings. There is no escape from it but by bursting tlirough the wall ; to depart through the door would be certain death.

went in disguise to the harvest field, where he worked as a common labourer ; and when he received the walahana, the portion of rice that fell to his share as wages, he presented it to the priest Maha Suma. After this he worked three years in a sugar plantation, near the mountain Swarnnagiri, and gave the sugar that he received as Avages to the priests. Thus he who had thousands of treasure and many thousands of attendants, worked with his own hands, that he might give the produce in alms.

In the time of Gotama Budha there was in the city of Sewet a rich man, who died, and the king of Kosala became the inheritor of his property. On going to worship Budha the king was late ; and when the sage asked the reason, he replied, "There was a rich man in our city, who had plenty of good food, but he would eat only that which was common ; Avhen proper garments were brought to him he refused them, and made his clothes of pieces of rags ; he went about in a shabby cart, covered by a leaf ; he is now dead, and as he has no relative to be his heir, I have taken possession of his wealth, which has detained me beyond the usual hour." Budha then said, " If there be a pond infested with devils, the people are afraid to approach it ; they do not bathe in it, nor do they drink the water ; and as there is no benefit from it, it is allowed to dry up. In like manner, the wealth of the unwise man is of no benefit to himself, his parents, his wife, or his children. The rich man of whom you speak had no advantage from his wealth in this world, and he will have none in the next ; he is now in the Rowra hell." The king enquired how it was that he had so much wealth, and no heart to enjoy it ; when Budha informed him that in a former birth he resided in Benares, a most uncharitable man ; but as he was one day going to the king's palace he met a Pase-Budha seeking alms, upon which he commanded one of his attendants to take him to his house, and order some food to be given to him. His wife thought this was something new, and gave him food of the richest kind, which he received but did not eat, as he began to say bana. On the rich man's return he looked into the alms-bowl, and when he saw its contents, he thought, " If this had been given to my cattle or my slaves, it might have done me some good." " For ordering this food," said Gotama, " his reward was the wealth he has just left ; but for afterwards regretting that food so good had been given, he was prevented from enjoying it." Thus it is necessary that what is given be given freely, with a spirit free from cove- tousness.

In Rajagaha there was a man whose employment it was to cut sugar-cane. One day, as he was walking along with a bundle of canes over his shoulder, he was followed by an upasaka, carrying a child, which cried for some of the cane. At first he refused to give it any ; but afterwards threw for it a piece behind him. In the next birth he became a preta, and lived near a grove of sugar-cane ; but when from hunger he went to take any of the canes that he might eat them, they bent down and struck him, so that he had no means of appeasing his hunger. It happened that Mugalan (one of the principal disciples of Gotama Budha) passed that way, to whom the preta made known what had occurred to him ; when the priest informed him that it was in consequence of what he had done to a child in a former birth ; but he recommended him to try and seize the canes, with his face turned away from them, in the same man- ner as he had thrown the cane to the child ; which he did. The preta afterwards gave a cane to Mugalan as an offering, who pre- sented part of it to Budha ; and in the next birth the sprite became a dewa. Thus that which is given must be presented in a kind manner and with affection.

In a former age Gotama Bodhisat was a man of wealth, and as he was exceedingly charitable, he afterwards became Sekra. His descendants for four generations were also charitable, and went to the same dewa-loka ; but the fifth was a great miser. Sekra there- fore called these dewas, and informing them that the merit of the family was now about to pass away, he directed them all to put on the appearance of brahmans, and go to the door of their former dwelling to ask alms. The first who went was ordered away ; but he repeated a stanza, for which he received permission to remain- The same occurrence happened to them all. Then the rich man told his slave to give them rice in the husk, but they would not receive it ; then unboiled rice, but they still refused it ; and after- wards such rice, boiled, as is given to oxen ; but when they at- tempted to eat it, it stuck in their throats, and they fell down as if dead. The master therefore told his slaves to take the rice away, and put in its stead such rice as he himself was accustomed to eat ; after which he called together the citizens, and said that as he had given them good rice, it was no fault of his that they were choked. Then Sekra assumed the appearance of a dewa, and exposed his deception ; but he also gave him good advice, telling him the merit of giving alms, by means of which he was induced to become

charitable, and continued so until the day of his death, after which he was born a dewa. Thus, such food must be given as is com- monly used, when alms are presented, and not that which is of an inferior kind.

A great feast was to be given to Piyumatura Budha and his priests, in a former age, by the citizens of Benares. The scribes went round from house to house, to know how many priests each householder would feed. Some gave their names for ten, and some for four hundred, according to their ability ; but there was a poor labourer who could only put his name down to feed one ; and he resolved that he would work a whole day, and devote whatever he received in wages to procure food for the priest. On arriving at home he informed his wife of the promise he had made, and she determined to assist him. The next day they both worked hard, and received good wages, with which they purchased the articles that were requisite for the feast. The merit of the couple being observed by Sekra, he went in disguise as a cook to the house, and requested employment. They told him their intention and circumstances ; but he agreed to assist them without wages, if they were unable to pay him. When all was ready, the man went to the scribe to enquire what priest he was to have ; but the scribe told him that, as he was so poor a man, he had paid no more attention to the matter. The labourer, on hearing this was sorely disappointed, and began to weep ; when the bystanders, who had been attracted to the place by his expressions of sorrow, recom- mended him to go and inform Piyumatura. Accordingly he went at once to the wihara, and Budha, who was at that moment coming out of his residence, put the alms-bowl in his hand, though kings and nobles were waiting to receive it, who offered him untold trea- sures if he would give it up ; but he still retained it. Budha went to his house, and partook of the food that had been prepared, which filled the whole city with its fragrance. As a reward for his cha- ritable act, Sekra filled the labourer's house with jewels; he was afterwards ennobled by the king, and, when he died, was born in a dewa-loka.

In the time of Dipankara Budha, Gotama Bodhisat was a rich man in Benares, who gave alms in such abundance that the whole of Jambudwipa was as if " all the ploughs had been hung up :" all persons ceased from labour. When Sekra saw this he became alarmed, (thinking that the merit of the rich man would be so great

as to entitle him to receive the office he himself then held as ruler of a celestial world) and destroyed all his remaining substance, except a sickle, a cord, and a yoke. With these Bodhisat went to cut grass, resolving to give half his earnings to the poor ; but when he saw so many in destitute circumstances he gave away the whole, and his wife and he had nothing to eat for the space of six days. At last he fainted away, when in the act of cutting grass. At this moment Sekra appeared to him, and offered to return him all his substance if he would cease to give alms ; but he refused to make a promise to this effect. However, as Sekra now found out that he did not do this to obtain his throne in Tawutisa, he became pro- pitious to him, and gave him an immensity of wealth.

There was a certain noble who did not keep the precepts, but he one day presented a mango to a priestess. When he died, he was next born, by night a dewa with a thousand beautiful attendants, and by day a preta ; by night his body was like a flower of the garden, but by day like fire ; by night he had the usual number of fingers, but by day he had two claws. Thus he was alternately punished for his crimes, and rewarded for the giving of the mango. When Gotama, in the seventh year after he became Budha, went to the Tawutisa dewa-loka, Ankura and Indaka were the first of the dewas who went to hear bana. Even before the arrival of Sekra, Maha Brahma, Maheswara, and the other principal dewas, they approached the teacher of the three worlds. Indaka took his station on the right hand, and Ankura on the left ; but as the dewas successively arrived, Ankura gradually receded to a greater distance, until he was twelve yojanas from Budha, whilst Indaka remained at his original station. Before Budha commenced the saying of bana to the assembled dewas, he declared to them how it was that this difference had been caused, " In a former birth," said the sage, "Ankura presented an offering twelve yojanas in extent, and gave alms continually during 10,000 years ; but he gave always to the unworthy, as there were none in existence at that period who possessed merit. On the other hand, Indaka gave only a single spoonful of rice to the priest Anurudha. It is on account of the difference in the merit of those who received their respective gifts, that Indaka remains at my right hand, whilst Ankura retires to a distance." In like manner, when the husband- man scatters his seed in bad ground, though it be ever so much in quantity, the produce is small ; whilst he who scatters his seed in

good ground, though the quantity be small, gains an abundant

harvest.

In this manner we might proceed, heaping together in palling profusion similar instances of the fertility of man's imagination, when that which concerns his subsistence is the object of regard. The noble principle implanted in the heart by God of sympathy, charity, or love, has in all ages been seized upon by men, who are either to be charged with selfishness, or with extreme ignorance of the teachings of the Avord of inspiration. How mournful the feel- ing that enters the spirit at the reading of such passages as the following, from the page of Chrysostom ! "The fire," says he, speaking of the lamps carried by the virgins mentioned in,the para- ble, " is virginity, and the oil is alms-giving. And in like manner as the flame, unless supplied with a stream of oil, disappears, so virginity, unless it have alms-giving, is extinguished. . , . Hast thou a penny, purchase heaven. . . . Heaven is on sale, and in the market, and yet ye mind it not ! Give a crust, and take back para- dise ; give the least, and receive the greatest ; give the perishable, and receive the imperishable ; give the corruptible, and receive the incorruptible. . . . Alms are the redemption of the soul. . . . Alms- giving, which is able to break the chain of thy sins. . . . Almsgiving, the queen of virtues, and the readiest of all ways of getting into heaven, and the best advocate there." * St. Eligius, or Eloi, in the seventh century, exhorts the people to make oblations to the church, that when our Lord comes to judgment they may be able to say, " Da, Domine, quia dedimus." f Again, in a similar strain, Edgar says of this virtue, " Oh, excellent almsgiving ! Oh, worthy reward of the soul ! Oh, salutary remedy of our sins !" It was usual to recommend this mode of obtaining liberation from guilt. Nor were arguments wanting to set forth the propriety of this course.

" For many a man so hard is of hcrte, He may not wepe although him sore smerte : Therefore in stede of weping and praieres, Men mote give silver to the pom-c freres."

Chaucer's Prologue, v. 229.

By the exercise of charity the sick were taught to expect cures. The rich, as well as the poor, were accustomed to put a written schedule of their sins under the cloth which covered the altar of a

favourite saint, accompanied by a donation ; and a day or two after- wards, when they re-examined the schedule, the virtues of the saint had converted it into a blank. '^^

Here we must pause. If these statements be true ; if this be the appointment of God, how are we to reconcile with it the decla- rations of Scripture, that represent the redemption of man as re- quiring for its accomplishment the richest ransom that the whole universe can provide? Either these ancient teachers were mis- taken, or Jesus of Nazareth died in vain. But, as Christ is " the wisdom of God," " in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," all his acts must be invested with an infinite pro- priety and fitness ; and it must have behoved him to suff'er. There- fore, if man would seek to enter heaven, it must be by the method that He has appointed. Our hope of immortality cannot be fixed upon saintly absolution purchased by an obolus ; the merits in which we are to trust are those of Him, " in whom we have re- demption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace ; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence." Apart from this trust, and the charity welling up from the purity of principle it instils, I may bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and give my body to be burned, but it will profit me nothing. Yet, how full of all that is beautiful are the arrangements of God ! We need not look out for some rahat or Budha upon whom to bestow ovir alms, lest we fail of receiving an adequate reward. In the day when the eternal crowns shall be distributed to the victors of the cross, " the King shall answer and say unto them. Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." How afiecting the example that is presented for our imita- tion ! " Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." "Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us." How exact, how discriminating, how powerfully impressive, are the words of the law ! " As ye have opportunity, do good unto all men." " To do good and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Where little is given, little is required ; where much is given, much is required. "Not grudgingly, or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver."

In taking upon himself the ten obligations, the priest of Budha resolves, according to the fifth, to refrain from the use of intoxicating drinks, as it is said that they lead to indifference towards religion. But the use of animal food is not absolutely forbidden ; and in the Avhole economy of the institute there is a general indifference upon this question, which is in powerful contrast to the requirements of other orders of ascetics. This may have arisen from the fact that Gotama Budha died from eating pork ; a circumstance too well known to be set aside by the more rigid of his disciples, who might otherwise have been ready to insist upon a dietetic discipline more extensive in its prohibitions. But although in certain cases, as in times of sickness, animal food is allowed, there are many regula- tions intended to guard against the abuse of this privilege.

We shall generally find that, when any of our natural desires are debarred the indulgence that they seek, the other appetites, that are not under the same restraint, will exert their liberty with the greater freedom. Hence it is to be supposed that the founder of an ascetic institute will here meet with one of his greatest perplexities. And his task is the more difficult, as eating and drinking cannot, like a luxury or a mere vanity, be entirely forbidden. The laws of the priesthood, as they appear in the Patimokkhan, are numerous and comprehensive ; but there is no rule relative to diet the breach of which is attended with permanent exclusion, suspension, or penance. The people of Ceylon not unfrequently express their displeasure against the priests, on the ground that they urge them to bring meat curries as offerings, whilst vegetable preparations are received with disdain. They appear to have degenerated since the time of Robert Knox, who says, " The people reckon it one of the chief points of godness to abstain from eating any flesh at all, be- cause they would not have any hand, or anything to do, in killing any living thing; they reckon herbs and plants more genial food."

According to the Patimokkhan, no priest is allowed to partake ;of food after the sun has passed the meridian. When ghee, butter, /oil, honey, sugar, or other articles included in what is regarded as sick diet are received, they may not be kept in store by the priest more than seven days ; unless in case of sickness, he may not re- ceive food more than one day at a place where provisions are pre-

pared for a number of persons ; unless upon authorised occasions, he may not partake of food provided expressly for a number of priests ; he may not, unless upon authorised occasions, eat his ordinary meal before going by invitation to any place to receive an offering of food ; when, at any place, more than two or three bowls full of rice or other grain are presented to him, he may not accept them, unless he share them with the other priests ; when a meal is given at any house, he may not, after receiving it, partake of food given by another person ; no priest shall tempt another priest, who has already partaken of a meal given by invitation, to eat more, unless it be of food reserved from the same occasion ; the priest may not partake of food reserved from the previous day ; unless when sick, he may not solicit such luxuries as ghee, butter, oil, honey, sugar, fish and flesh, milk or curds ; he may not with his own hand give food to a naked or wandering ascetic ; when going with the alms-bowl, he may not enter a house ; when invited, along with other priests, to partake of food at any place, he may not go before or after the appointed time, unless he inform the other priests ; when any one offers to provide the proper diet for a priest in case he should be sick, he may not avail himself of it after the lapse of four months from the time it is given ; he may not receive food from the alms-bowl of a priestess ; unless when sick, he may not go to the house of one of the faithful (out of the ordi- nary course) to receive refreshments, without an invitation ; and the priest who resides in a dangerous place, and has food brought to him, must warn those who bring it of their danger.

The food given in alms to the priest is to be received by him meditatively ; it is not to be received carelessly, so that in the act of being poured into the alms-bowl some may fall over the sides ; the liquor and the solid food are to be received together, without being separated ; and the alms-bowl is not to be piled up above the mouth. The food is also to be eaten meditatively, with care, so that it is not scattered about ; without picking and choosing, the particles that come first to hand being first to be eaten ; the liquor and the solid food are to be eaten together, not beginning in the centre, and heaping the food up, nor covering the liquor with rice. The priest, unless when sick, may not ask for rice or curry to eat ; he may not look with envy into the bowl of another ; nor eat mouth- fuls larger than a pigeon's egg, but in small round balls ; he may not fill the mouth, nor put the hand into the mouth when taking

food ; nor talk when his mouth is full ; nor allow particles to drop from his mouth; nor swallow his food without being properly masticated ; and one mouthful must be swallowed before another is taken. He may not shake his hand to free it from the particles that may be attached to it, nor may the food be scattered about, nor the tongue put out, nor the lips smacked, nor the food sucked up with a noise. He may not lick his hands, nor the bowl, nor his lips, when he eats. A vessel of water may not be taken up when the hand is soiled from eating, and the rincing of the bowl is not to be carelessly thrown away. No priest can partake of food unless he be seated.

It will be remarked, that the rules relative to the manner of eating are here laid down with the utmost precision. We can imagine that, at the commencement of Budhism, as men of all grades were admitted to the priesthood, many rudenesses would be exhibited that would be extremely offensive in the sight of the prince whose doctrines they had embraced ; and that it could only be by a series of regulations stooping down to the commonest acts they would be prevented from bringing the priestly character into contempt. It was therefore necessary to make laws, not only as to the quantity and character of the food, but also as to the manner in which it was to be eaten. From this we have an insight into the manners of the times, in reference to a class of society to which the ancient historian seldom directed his attention, owing to whose neg- lect in this particular we are ignorant of the manners of the mass, even when the conduct of monarchs and nobles is recorded with a fulness that is offensive.

The hours in Avhich it is forbidden to eat food are called wikala. The appointed hours are from sunrise to the end of the fifteenth hour, i. e. until the sun has passed the meridian. The food that is eaten in any other part of the day or night is called wikala- bhojana; and by the sixth of the ten obligations the priest pro- fesses that he will reject this untimely or unseasonable food.*

The priests are commanded by Budha to be contented with as much as is requisite to appease th&ir hunger, when they take the alms-bowl from house to house, and not to loiter on the ground ; as those who eat more than a sufficient quantity will be led to take life and steal, and commit the five deadly sins, whilst those who are temperate will be enabled readily to keep the precepts, and practise

all the ordinances that are prescribed. There were a certain num- ber of parrots in the Himalayan forest that went from tree to tree, feeding upon the fruits they found ; but thei'e was one parrot that always remained upon the same tree, and when it died, it fed upon the bark. This was seen by Sekra, who as a reward for the mode- ration of the parrot, caused the tree to live again, and to put forth leaves and fruit. This example is worthy of being imitated by the priests.*

At one time Seriyut and Mugalan (the two principal priests of Gotama Budha) went into a forest for the benefit of solitude ; but Mugalan fell sick. When Seriyut asked him if he had ever been attacked in the same way before, he said that he had when young ; and when he further asked by what means he had been cured, he said that his mother had made him a confection of certain ingre- dients. This was overheard by a dewa that resided in a neigh- bouring tree, who went and informed the persons of a house where Seriyut was accustomed to go to receive alms. The ingredients re- quired for the confection were therefore put into his bowl, and he took them to the sick priest. When Mugalan looked with his divine eyes to see by what means this had been brought about, he saw that it was through what he himself had said. But as it was given through what he had said, and to receive it would have been contrary to the precept, he threw the whole away ; in that instant, however, the pain left him, and never returned again, though he lived afterwards forty-five years.

There was a priest in Chiwara Gumba who, when suffering from hunger, would not eat the fruit that had fallen from a tree, because it had not been given him by the owner ; rather than break the precept by eating it, he suffered life to become nearly extinct, and was found in this condition by an upasaka, who took him upon his back, and while thus carried he attained rahatship.

On one occasion, when Gotama and his priests were in Weranja, a famine prevailed so extensively that the priests were not able to procure any food from the people when going from house to house with the alms-bowl : and they were compelled to live on some hard barley-cakes used as provender for horses. f The priest Mugalan requested permission to exert his supernatural power in order to obtain food, but the exercise was forbidden by Budha.

The priest is not to eat as a pastime, nor for pleasure ; nor to make the body strong, like the public wrestlers ; nor to render it beautiful, like the dancers. As a man with a falling house props it up, as a man with a broken waggon puts in a piece of wood ; so may the priest eat to preserve his body and prevent untimely death. As hunger is the most powerful of all the appetites, he may eat to ward it off. As a man and woman, when crossing a vast desert with a child, if their food fails them, eat the flesh of their own child in their anxiety to escape from the desert, with similar dis- gust must the priest eat his food, that he may escape from the evils of existence.*

It is said in the Wisudhi Margga Sanne, that there are ten modes of defilement (pratikula sangignya) produced by food, as seen under the following circumstances. 1. In going to the place where it is to be received. 2. Its reception. 3. The act of eating. 4. The ingredients with which it combines. 5. Its place of deposit. 6, Before it is digested. 7. After it is digested. 8. The fruit it produces. 9. Its discharge or emission. 10. The pollution from its touch.

1. In the journey that the priest must undertake to procure food, he will have to pass along roads that are difficult, dangerous, and dirty ; he will be exposed to wind and cold ; and he will see many disagreeable objects, filth of all kinds. 2. As he waits in different places to receive food, insects will come from dirty places and settle on his robe, and in his bowl ; some persons will tell him to go away, whilst others will take no notice of him. whatever, or look at him as if he were a thief, or perhaps abuse him ; and in passing from place to place he will have to encounter foul smells and tread on many kinds of refuse. 3. In eating the food there will be many things to cause shame ; the tongue must do the work of the hand, and before the food is swallowed it must be made of the consistence of the vomit thrown up by a dog. 4. When the food has passed into the stomach it becomes foul and corrupt. Even in the bodies of the Chakrawarttis and Budhas there are bile, phlegm, and blood. If the bile be too abundant, the food that has been eaten will be- come like mee oil ; if the phlegm be too abundant, it will become like the juice of the keliya or nagabala fruit ; and if the blood be too abundant, it will become like red dye. 5. The place to which the food descends is not a vessel of gold ; in a child ten years of

age it is like a privy that has been used as many years without being cleaned, increasing in loathsomeness with the age of the in- dividual. 6. ^^^len a shower in the hot season falls upon a village inhabited by low people, it runs into the cess at the extremity of the place, abounding with all kinds of filth ; and when the sun arises fi'oth and bubbles are formed upon the surface of this com- post. In like manner, when food is taken into the body, in a little time it is mixed with all kinds of impure secretions, and the jata,- ragni, or digestive fire, working upon the mass, causes it to appear with a surface like that of the compost. 7. When the food is digested, it docs not become gold or gems, but is changed into excrement and urine. 8. The food passes away from the body by the nine apertures, but principally by the intestinal passage ; and a part of it is ejected by the pores of the skin. 10. When the food is eaten it soils the fingers, teeth, and tongue ; and even by con- tinual washing it is not possible to take away the defilement and smell.

These are the ten modes by which the defilement arising from food is exhibited ; and they are steadily to be meditated on by the priest, that the desire of food may be taken away. By this means, though nirwana should not be obtained, it will secure an inheritance in one of the celestial worlds.

The third of the Thirteen Ordinances is called Pindapatikanga, from pinda, pieces or morsels, and pata, falling, from the falling of the particles of food into the bowl of the priest. He who keeps this ordinance cannot receive food which has been given under any of the following circumstances : — for the sake of an assemblage of priests ; that which has been given at an appointed time, or by in- vitation ; that which is given to a certain number of priests, by sending them a tally, or some instrument upon which the number of the priests that are invited is marked : food given on a certain number of days in each half-moon ; on the days called poya ; on the day after the full-moon poya : food prepared for priests who are strangers, after their arrival ; for priests who are going on a journey ; for sick priests ; for those priests who minister to their sick companions : food given statedly to a temple ; regularly and constantly given ; or given by the people of any village on certain appointed days. Thus there are fourteen different descriptions of food that are not to be received by the priest who keeps this ordi- nance. When food has been prepared for the assembly, it may be

received by the priest without breaking the law if he has not been told for what purpose it was originally intended ; or he may receive it from any place where food is given to an assembly regularly and without interruption, under certain circumstances.

When the priest who keeps the superior ordinance goes with the bowl to receive food, he may receive it from the house either imme- diately before or behind him, or from the halls where food is con- stantly given ; but should any one say, " Do not carry the bowl to- day ; I will take what is necessary to the place where you dwell," he may not receive the food that in this way is offered. He who keeps the middle ordinance may in this way receive food that is not more than sufficient for one day ; bvxt if the person offers to bring it the next day, it must be refused. The inferior ordinance allows the food to be thus received on three successive days, but not longer.

The second of the Twelve Sacred Observances of the Chinese is also called pin'd'apatika, according to which the priest is to procure his food by taking the bowl, in order that he may extinguish all desire. He may not accept the invitation of any one. He must seek the nourishment that is necessary for the support of his mate- rial body and the accomplishment of his moral duties. He must make no difference with the food he receives, whether it be good or bad, nor feel any resentment in cases where he meets with a re- fusal, but keep his mind at all times in perfect tranquillity.'^'

The fifth of the Thirteen Ordinances is called Ekasanikanga, from eka, one, and asana, a seat. He who keeps this ordinance may not eat food in two or three different places ; he is to remain on one seat until he has finished his repast. When in the refectory he must look out for a proper seat, so that if a superior priest were to come in, he may not have to rise, in order to give place to him. Chulabaya, learned in the sacred books, spake thus : — It is not proper to rise until the repast be finished ; if the priest has sat down, but not begun to eat, he may rise ; but if he has begun to eat, he may not rise, and if it should be required of him to rise, he may not sit down again to eat.

The priest who keeps the superior ordinance cannot receive more food than that which he has when he first sits down, though it be ever so little in quantity ; but he may receive oil or honey, or any- thing that is allowed as sick diet, when he is not in health. He

who keeps the middle ordinance may receive anything that is given to him previous to the end of his repast. He who keeps the inferior ordinance may receive more food, even though his repast be done, if he has not risen from his seat. He who eats again after he has risen from his seat breaks this ordinance.

The fourth of the Twelve Sacred Observances of the Chinese is called eka panika, and is said to mean the rejection of a multipli- city of repasts, and the adopting of the custom of having one only.*'

The sixth of the Thirteen Ordinances is called Pattapindikanga, from patta, the alms-bowl, and pinda, morsels. He who keeps this ordinance must eat from one vessel only. If he have at the same time liquid food and solid, he may eat first the one and then the other, but he may not put them in two separate vessels. If flesh has been put to the liquid, it must still be eaten without thinking of its disagreeable qualities, even though loathing should be caused; yet if vomiting follow, on the next occasion on which it is received, it may be separated from the other food. If any one receive sugar or honey, or anything else that is good to be taken with the liquid, they may be taken together. Though the priest eats from one vessel only, he may not take more than a proper quantity ; all that he eats must first be put in the alms-bowl, even though it were something he might take in his fingers, as pepper-pods ; Avhat others might put on a leaf, must not by him be so put.

The priest who keeps the superior ordinance may throw away the refuse of sugar-cane, when he has sucked the juice, but all other things that are in the bowl he must eat ; he may not break flesh, cakes, or any other substance, either with his teeth, hands, or an instrument, in order to divide it. He who keeps the middle ordinance may break his food with one hand, whilst holding the bowl with the other. He who keeps the inferior ordinance may break anything that is put into the bowl, in any way whatever. Any of the three who cats from a second vessel breaks this ordi- nance.

The seventh of the Thirteen Ordinances is called Khalupach'ha- bhattikanga, from khalu, forbidden ; pach'hti, after ; and bhatta, period of time : khalu is also a bird, that when eating any fruit, if it lets it fall, eats no more that day. The priest who keeps this ordinance cannot eat any more after he has met with that Avhich is

akapa, i.e. if he has, for any reason, to refuse that which is brought to him when he is eating ; or if he be presented with, that which is improper to be eaten, from its loathsomeness or otherwise.

He wlio keeps the superior ordinance may only eat that which is in his mouth, and nothing more, although even the first handful of food that he takes is akapa. He who keeps the middle ordinance may eat that which is akapa but nothing more. He who keeps the inferior ordinance may eat as long as he remains on one seat.

The fifth of the Twelve Sacred Observances of the Chinese is called in Sanskrit khaloupas"waddhaktinka, and is said to enjoin that the food obtained by the mendicant is to be divided into three portions ; one to be given to any person whom he sees to be suffer- ing from hunger, and a second to be carried to some quiet place in the forest, and placed upon a stone for the birds and beasts. If he does not meet with any one who is in want, he is not to eat the whole of the food that he has received, but two-thirds only. By this means his body will be lighter and more active, and his diges- tion quicker and less laboiired. He will be able readily to enter upon the practice of all good works. When any one eats too greedily, the intestines and belly become gross, and respiration is impeded. Nothing is more hurtful to the development of reason.*

It is said in the Wisudhi Margga Sanne that the priest who keeps the Thirteen Ordinances is to avoid the usual food of men, as ghee, honey, and sugar ; and live on such things as galls and the urine of goats.

By many of the Budhists it is considered to be an act of great •merit to make a vow never to partake of food without giving a por- tion to the priests. On one occasion, the monarch Duttagamini thus meditated 

— In my childhood, my father and mother administered an oath to me, that I should never make a meal without sharing it with the priesthood. Have I, or have I not, ever partaken of a meal without sharing it with the priesthood ? While thus ponder- ing, he recollected that he had eaten a round chilly, or pepper-pod, at his morning meal, in a moment of abstraction, without reserving any part of it for the priesthood. He therefore decided that it was requisite for him to perform penance on that account, and he after- wards built a dagoba and wihara to expiate the crime.*

The subject of diet has not only engaged the anxious attention af

the founders of monastic institutions, but lias also been regarded by legislators and moralists who have been under no such influence as the superstitions of the ascetic. It would be seen at once that the use of food, either to an excessive degree, or when jirepared in a luxurious manner, unfitted men for the right performance of reli- gious exercises, and that intoxicating liquors taken to excess had a moral effect still more to be reprehended. Hence the enforcement of various prohibitions relative to the quality and quantity of food ; in some instances, however, applying only to particular classes of individuals, or to certain seasons. The brahman student is to be- ware of eating anything between morning and evening."^' Accord- ing to the Institutes of Manu (v. 51, 52, 53), "he who makes the flesh of an animal his food, is a principal in its slaughter ; not a mortal exists more sinful than he who, without an oblation to the manes or gods, desires to enlarge his own flesh with the flesh of another creature : the man who performs annually for a hundred years, an aswamedha, or sacrifice of a horse, and the man who ab- stains from flesh-meat, enjoy for their virtue an equal reward." The only fast required of the Jews was on the great day of atone- ment. On one occasion Daniel mourned " full three weeks," and during this period " ate no pleasant bread," nor did flesh or wine come into his mouth. — Dan. x. 2. The Hebrew priests were not allowed to drink wine or strong drink when they went into the tabernacle of the congregation, Lev. x. 9; but it was supposed that they did not break this command if they drank no more than a log, or an egg-shell and a-half. By the regulations of the Orphic bro- therhood the use of animal food was forbidden. The Essenes were permitted to partake of only a single plate of one kind of food ; and as they took an oath at the time of their initiation, not to partake of any food that was not cooked by one of their own number, those who for any fault w-ere excommunicated from their society were re- duced to extreme distress, and sometimes perished from hunger. The rule prescribed by Manes may be sufficient to represent the practices of the early heretics. He insisted upon an entire absti- nence from flesh, eggs, milk, fish, wine, and all intoxicating drinks ; and his disciples were to support their shrivelled and emaciated bodies with bread, herbs, pulse, and melons. The followers of Saturninus, or the Syrian Gnostics, refused to partake of animal food, in order that they might avoid all contact w'ith the evil prin- .

ciple, Avhich they supposed to be matter ; and they taught that all those souls who purpose to return to God after death must abstain from wine, flesh, and wedlock, and from all that tends to sensual gratification. Both Pythagoras and Empedokles prohibited the eating of animal food, from the supposition that there is a Koivwvia between gods, animals, and men.

The rule of entire abstinence from flesh, though generally in- sisted upon, was not of universal obligation among the ancient Vimonks. The Carthusians are not allowed to eat flesh, even in the most dangerous sickness. They fast eight months in the year, and in Lent, Advent, and all Fridays, reject all white meats, as eggs, milk, butter, and cheese. On Sundays and holidays they eat to- gether in a common refectory, but on other days they dine alone in their cells, their food being carried to them by a lay brother, who puts it into each cell at a little window, without speaking a word. They are not permitted to eat in any other place but the convent, nor to drink anything but water. According to the rule of Bene- dict, the monks were allowed as their daily portion (Reg. 33, 40) twelve, or eighteen, ounces of bread, a hemina of wine, and two dishes of vegetables. The flesh of quadrupeds was strictly pro- hibited, except to the feeble and the sick. When the Lombards, in 580, destroyed the abbey in which Benedict had resided on Mount Cassino, the abbot escaped to Rome, taking with him the weight of the bread and the measure of the wine which were the daily allowance of each monk. No monk is allowed to eat out of the monastery, unless he is at such a distance that he cannot return the same day. The Cistertians never eat flesh except in times of dangerous sickness ; unless upon extraordinary occasions, they ab- stain also from eggs, butter, milk, and cheese, but they can make xise of these articles of diet when they have been given in alms. From the Scptuagesima until Easter flesh is banished even from the infirmaries. They all take their food together in the refectory.

" In preieres and penaunces Putten hem manye, Al for the love of om-e Lord Lyveden ful streyte, In hope to have after Hevene rich blisse ; As ancres and heremites That holden hem in hhe selles, And coveiten noght in contree To carien aboute, For no likevous liflodc ' Hii'e likame to ple.se." — Pieys Plour/hman, v. 49.

We have seen that the use of wine was not universally for- bidden ; but by the early canons the ascetics were prohibited from entering a public house. In the Anglo-Saxon church the priest was enjoined " to keep aloof from all parties assembled for the pur- pose of singing and carousing, and above all to preserve himself from drunkenness, the besetting sin of his countrymen." By the council of Cloveshoe, all inhabitants of monasteries are forbidden to drink to excess themselves, or to encourage such excess in others ; they are to exclude from their entertainment coarse un- seemly amusements, and never to allow their cells to become the resort of gleemen, harpers, and buffoons. Yet Alcuin accuses them of being addicted to " secret junketings, and furtive compota- tions."* In 1521, in the abbey of Whalley, containing about twenty monks, there was expended for red wine, the sum of £33 15s. 8f/. ; and for white or sweet wine, £9, which at the rate at which wdne was then sold would give about eight pipes per annum.f The monks of Sallay brewed annually 255 quarters of malted oats and 104 of barley, and as the whole establishment con- sisted of about seventy persons, each individual would consume about 300 gallons annually ; but a large allowance must be made for hospitality. :];

Many of the earlier ascetics took only one meal daily, which was generally after sunset ; some fasted three or four days without any nourishment whatever; and even when partaking of food they lived only on wild herbs and roots, or on pulse steeped in cold water, and never touched anything that had passed the fire. The water that they drank was sometimes kept until it was offensive. From the time of his conversion, Pachomius never ate a full meal. Paul, the Thebaean, had half a loaf brought him every day, by a raven, except upon one occasion when he was visited by Anthony, and the provident bird brought a whole one. According to Athan- asius, the food of Anthony was bread and salt, and his drink water ; whilst feeding upon this diet, he neither became fatter nor thinner ; and his meals were taken in private, as he was ashamed that he was obliged to eat. An account of the daily food of Hilarion has been preserved. From his twenty-first to his t^venty-seventh year, he ate at first lentiles in half-a-pint of cold water, and afterwards

bread, salt, and water; from his twenty- seventh to his thirtieth 5^ear, wild herbs and undressed roots ; from his thirty-first to his thirty-fifth year, six ounces of barley bread and parboiled cabbage without oil. But finding that he was becoming near-sighted, and his skin scurfy he added a little oil. From sixty-four till eighty he abstained altogether from bread, and substituted five ounces of a compound of flour and chopped cabbage.'^" Palladius contented himself with four or five oimces of bread daily, and one small vessel of oil in a year. Simeon Stylites took only one meal in the week, which was on the Sabbath. In Lent, he fasted so long that I must give the account in the words of my authority, lest I be accused of exaggeration. " At the foot of Mount Thelanissa," says Alban Butler, " he came to the resolution of passing the whole forty days of Lent in total abstinence, after the example of Christ, without either eating or drinking. Bassus, a holy priest, and abbot of 200 monks, who was his director, and to whom he had communicated his design, had left with him ten loaves and water, that he might eat if he found it necessary. At the expiration of the forty days he came to visit him, and found the loaves and water untouched, but Simeon stretched out on the ground, almost without any signs of life. Taking a sponge, he moistened his lips with water, then gave him the blessed eucharist. Simeon, having recovered a little, rose up, and chewed and swallowed by degrees a few lettuce leaves and other herbs. This was his method of keeping Lent during the remainder of his life." Catherine, of Sienna, accustomed herself to so rigorous an abstinence, that the eucharist was nearly the Avhole nourishment she took ; and once she fasted, with the exception of what she took in the eucharist, from Ash Wednesday to Ascension Day. The food that Basil took was so small in quantity, that he appeared to live without it, and to have put on beforehand the life angelic. Paul, of Mount Latrus, for some weeks had no other subsistence than green acorns, which caused him at first to vomit, even to blood. A countryman sometimes brought him a little coarse food, but he principally lived upon what grew wild upon the mountain. When he wanted water, a constant spring was pro- duced near his dwelling. In the midst of these privations, the ascetics preserved their equanimity, even upon the most trying occasions. Once, when Ephralm, of Edessa, had fasted several days, the brother who was bringing him a mess of pottage made

with a few herbs, let the pot fall, and broke it. The saint seeing him in confusion, said cheerfully, " As our supper will not come to us, let us go to it ; " then sitting down he picked up his meal from the ground. When Arscnius, Avho had been a courtier, presented himself for admission before the monks of Scete, he was allowed to stand whilst the monks took their repast, and no notice was taken of him ; but John the Dwarf, took a piece of bread and threw it down on the ground before him, upon which Arsenius fell down, and in that posture cheerfully ate the bread. Germanus began every meal by putting a few ashes in his mouth, and the bread he ate was from barley he had himself threshed and ground. Francis generally put ashes or water upon what he ate, even when it was only a little coarse bread.* Piers Ploughman says, v. 4086 : —

" Ac ancres and heremites That eten noght but at nones, And na-moore er the morwe, Mjni almesse shul thei have. And of catel to kepe hem with, That han-cloistres and chirches."

These legends are many of them incredible, and nearly all of them absurd. The only meats from which the Christian is to abstain are those offered to idols, and blood, and things strangled. — Acts XV. 29. We may eat "whatsoever is sold in the shambles ;"' and it is regarded by St. Paul as the sign of " a departing from the faith," a giving heed to " seducing spirits and doctrines of devils," when men command us " to abstain from meats, which God hatli created to be received Avith thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth : for every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving." — 1 Tim. iv. 3. The law of the Lord inculcates the relinquishment of certain kinds of food for an especial reason, and men make the law universal ; they forget the reason, and make a merit of the act. The word of God enjoins temperance, and man demands total abstinence. These are perversions that may in some instances produce a temporary good, but they are in danger of inflicting a permanent evil upon the church by setting another law above the revealed will of God, or by carrying out one branch of that will to an undue extent, putting a part in place of the whole, and thus infringing God's prerogative as

• Albau Butler, passim : Professor Emerson, Andover, in the Bibliotheca Sacra.

the supreme legislator. The religion of Christ is one of cheerful- ness and holy joy ; the primitive believers " did eat their meat with gladness of heart ; " and though there is a good moral in the words of Herbert, we must not allow the principle to rob us of our privi- lege " to rejoice evermore : " —

" Take thy meat ; thiiik it dust : then eat a bit, And say with all, Earth to earth I commit."

Whilst yet in innocence, Adam slept; and calm indeed must have been the midnight hour of Paradise. The repose of all ani- mate creation would be profound ; the beast as still in its slumber as the herbage upon which it reclined, or the flower that grew in beauty by the side of its lair. But the ancient ascetics regarded sleep as a part of animality they were to throw off to as great an extent as possible. With some it would be difiicult to accomplish this design, as those persons who have few cares to perplex their minds are possessed of powers of sleep to which we whose lot has been cast in this restless generation must ever be utter strangers. The better informed among them would perhaps sometimes re- member that Adam was neither deprived of wedlock, nor food, nor speech, nor sleep ; and as they in their solitude were debarred from the former of these privileges, they would be tempted the more to indulge in the fourth, and to say to themselves, " a little more sleep and a little more slumber," when. the rule of their order or their personal vow would call upon them with its stern voice to arouse themselves and pray ; yet it is a hard task to resist sleep in some frames of the body, and the morning twilight would often see them nodding their heads like the bulrush when bowed down by the wind, at a time when they ought to have been erect as the trunk of the tree, blasted by the lightning and now decayed, into which they had crept at sunset.

In eastern climes the nights are so beautiful, and the bare ground so comfortable a place of rest, that in the Indian systems of asceti- cism we meet with little account of the modes of penance that are connected with sleep. It is an ordinance of the Dina Chariyawa that the novice is to arise before daylight. There are sixty hours

in the day, according to the mode of reckoning in India, thirty of which belong to the night, which is divided into three watches of ten hours each. It is said that Gotama Budha slept during one- third of the third watch, or three hours and one-third. In the first watch he preached or engaged in religious conversation ; in the second watch he answered questions put to him by the dewas ; and in the first division of the third watch he slept, in the second exer- cised meditation, and in the third looked abroad in the world with his divine eyes to see what being or beings it would be proper to catch in the net of truth during the day.*

The last of the Thirteen Ordinances is called Nesajjikanga, which is the same as nisajja, ni being a particle of emphasis, and sajjika the act of sitting. He who keeps this ordinance may not lie down to sleep, and during the whole of one watch of the night he must walk about. He may not recline at full length, but may walk, or stand, or sit. The priest who keeps the superior ordinance may not lean on any place, or make his robe into a seat, or take hold of a piece of cloth fastened to a tree. He who keeps the middle ordi- nance is allowed to make use of any of these assistances. He who keeps the inferior ordinance may make seats (in particular Avays that are mentioned). None of the three are permitted to lie down.

The last of the Twelve Sacred Ordinances of the Chinese is called nai'chadika. It prohibits the mendicant from lying down. A seated position is that which comports best with his design. His diges- tion and respiration are easily carried on, and he can bend his mind to that which is wise. Indolence leaves itself open to be attacked by vice, that seizes its advantage. The mendicant ought therefore to take his repose sitting, and his body ought not to touch the earth. f

This mode of penance has probably been carried to a greater extent by the Brahmans than by any other order of ascetics. And in their case it is not an incredible tale upon which we have to de- pend ; they are presented before our eyes in vast numbers, with bodies and members so dry and withered, that they cannot have been brought to such a state without the practice of the most pain- ful austerities. But it is the recluse alone who is called upon to endure these hardships. According to the sage Aurva, the house- holder, " after eating his evening meal, and, having washed his feet, is to go to rest. His bed is to be entire, and made of wood ; it is

not to be scanty, nor cracked, nor vineven, nor dirty, nor infested by insects, nor without a bedding ; and he is to sleep with his head either to the east or to the south ; any other position is un- healthy." '"

There was an order of monks called aKoijiriToi, insomnes, the sleepless ; and by other monks the same austerities were observed. One was called Rectus, from standing erect until his legs refused to hold him up any longer. Chrysostom persisted in remaining in a standing posture so long, that wiih this and other exercises he ruined his health. Anthony was accustomed to remain whole nights without sleep. Paul, the hermit, never lay down to sleep, but only leaned his head against a stone or tree. John, of Old Castile, only slept two or three hours in the night. Peter of Alcantara, knelt a great part of the night, sometimes leaning on his heels for a little rest ; but he slept sitting, leaning his head against a wall. Pallodius neither stretched out his legs nor lay down to sleep ; the night through he sat erect at his work of plat- ting ropes, and sleejiing only in a doze at his meals ; an angel might be persuaded to sleep, but not he. Macarius continued abroad during twenty days and twenty night.s, in order to conquer his pro- pensity to sleep, vmtil he was in danger of going mad ; he remained erect during the forty days of Lent, neither bending the knee, nor sitting, nor lying down. The Ethiopian Moses persisted six years in standing erect the night through, never closing his eyes. Daniel, the Stylite, supported himself against the balustrade of his pillar, until, by continually standing, his legs and feet became swollen and full of ulcers. On one occasion, in the winter, he was found so stiff with cold, that his disciples had to soak some sponges in warm water, and rub him therewith, before he could be revived. Nor has our own country been without saints of the same order. Cuthbert was accustomed to spend whole nights in prayer ; and to resist sleep he walked about the island in which he lived— Landis- farne. One night he was seen to go down to the sea-shore, where he went into the water until it reached his arm-pits, and continued there until the break of clay, singing the praises of God. It is not said whether his position was affected by the tide.

By the rule of Basil, sleep was not to be continued after mid- night, the rest of the night being devoted to prayer. Alexander, in 402, instituted the order of Akoemites, which differed from that

of Basil only in this rule, that each monastery was divided into diftbrent choirs, which, succeeding each other, continued the offices of the church, day and night without interruption. Among the Cistercians, the monks, who slept in their habits upon straw, rose at midnight, and spent the rest of the night in singing the offices."*

The prophet of Israel made use of a very significant figure to describe the calamities that were about to overtake his countrymen for their shis, when he said that, instead of " well-set hair" there should be baldness. The right arrangement of the hair tells of comfort and ease, and betokens a sense of the proprieties of social existence ; whilst, if left in disorder, it tells with a voice equally truthful of carelessness or calamity. It is a great addition to the grace or dignity of the human form ; and whether we see it in flowing ringlets upon the necks of children, or in the modest tresses of the matron as she walks in comeliness, or in the scanty locks upon the head of the aged, white as the falling snow, the appear- ance that it presents is in imison with the circumstances of the in- dividual, and therefore beautiful. We cannot wonder, then, that the hair has been an especial object of dislike to the gloomy foun- ders of all monastic institutions ; and that they have been un- sparing in their demand that it should either be entirely removed, or deprived of all its grace.

But in some instances there have been other motives for its re- moval. It has been supposed that it would promote the cleanliness of the person, or that, as it is a mere earthly excrescence, the body is more pure, and partakes more of divinity, when free from its presence. It is said that the Hebrew priests shaved off all their hair when inaugurated, and that when on duty they cut it every fortnight. They were not allowed, in cases of mourning, to make baldness upon their head, nor to shave off the corner of the beard — Lev. xxi. 5. The passage, " Uncover noi your heads," Lev. x. 6, is by many of the Jews translated, " Let not the hair of your head grow," as was sometimes the custom of mourners. They supposed that this law, except in the case of the high priest, was only binding

during the period of their ministration. It is remarkable that, in the only rite approaching to asceticism in use among the Israelites, the Nazarite was required to allow his hair to grow long. The Egyptian priests every third day shaved every part of their bodies, to prevent vermin or any other species of impurity from adhering to their persons when engaged in their sacred duties. Hence Plutarch, in his exhortation to the priestess of Isis, says, " As the long robe and the mantle do not make a philosopher, neither does the linen garb and shaven head constitute a priest of Isis." The learned Origen was once shaved by his persecutors, when in Alexandria, and taken to the temple of Serapis, that he might be induced to join in an act of idolatry as a priest.

Among other nations the hair has been cut off for different rea- sons :— as a sacrifice; at marriage; after escape from imminent danger ; after a campaign ; on the day of consecration ; and as a token of mourning. Sappho (epigram ii.) says of Timas,

" Her loved companions pay the rites of woe, All, all, alas ! tlie living can bestow ; From their fair heads the graceful locks they shear, Place on her tomb, and di-op the tender tear."

Faiokes's Sappho.

Tlie hair of Achilles w^as dedicated to the river-god, Sperclieius. In honour of the Hyperborean virgins (Herod, iii. 34) who died at Delos, the Delian youths of both sexes celebrated certain rites, in which they cut off their hair. This was done by virgins previous to their marriage, who wound their hair round a spindle, and by the young men, who wound it round a certain herb, and placed it upon the strangers' tomb. The Spartan ephors, on entering upon office, issued a kind of edict, in which it was ordered " to shave the beard, f.iv(TTa^, and obey the laws," the former being a metaphorical ex^ pression for subjection and obedience. At Sparta the beard was considered as a mark of freedom, as well as at Byzantium and Rhodes, where shaving was prohibited by ancient laws.*' The slaves were shaved as a mark of servitude. The hair of the vestal virgins was cut off, probably at the time of their consecration.

Among the Scandinavians it was a mark of infamy to cut off the hair. The Dutch, when in possession of Ceylon, adopted this cus- tom as a mode of punishment, which was continued by the English ;

but when it was found that on this account the native soldiers re- fused to have their hair cut, it was no longer adopted.

From some of the above customs originated the tonsure, that designated the clerical or monastic state among Christians. In the early church, male penitents were required to cut off their hair and shave their beards, in token of contrition ; and females had to ap- pear with their hair in disorder. But the old ecclesiastical rules expressly enjoined the clergy (Constit. Apost. lib. i. c. 3) to wear their hair and beards long.* It is said by Alban Butler (Oct. 12) that the tonsure was introduced in the fourth or fifth century, after the persecutions had ceased. The first locks were sometimes cut off by the king or some other great personage. In the eighth cen- tury there were three varieties of tonsure : the Greek, in which the entire top of the head was shaven ; the Roman, in a circular form, in imitation of the crown of thorns ; and that of St. Paul, or the oriental, from the forehead to the crown. It is supposed that the custom among the British monks was to have the hair cut in the fore part of the head, in a semicircle, from ear to ear.f To say that a man was shaven, was equivalent to saying that he had be- come a priest or monk. When Wilfrid was admitted among the clergy, by receiving the tonsure, but not any holy order, Bede says simply, " Attonsus est," which Alfred translated, " He was shorn to priest." J Hilarion Avas accustomed to cut his hair once yearly, a little before Easter. It was the custom in the community of Aicard, a French saint, for every monk to shave his crown on the Saturday. The founder having once been hindred on the Saturday from performing the usual operation, began to shave himself very early on the Sunday morning ; but he was touched with remorse, and is said to have seen in a vision a devil picking up every hair he had cut off at this forbidden hour, to produce against him at the judgment seat of God. The aunt of Eustochium, whose history is related by Jerome (De Virgin, et ep. 22, 26, 27), having caused her hair to be gracefully curled, after the fashion of the times, a terrible angel appeared to her the following night, threatening her severely for having attempted to instil vanity into one who was consecrated as the spouse of Christ. The Capuchins wear their beards, not shaved close, but long and not clipped. Francis wore a beard, but it was very short, and his followers, who had long

beards, were commanded to shave them.* The Templars, among other peculiarities of their institute, were commanded to wear their beards long. It is said of Chaucer's Monk, that

" His hcd was balled, and shone as any glas."

The Institutes of Manu contain the following regvilations on the subject of the hair. " By the tonsure of the child's head, with a lock of hair left on it . . . are the seminal and uterine taints of the three classes wholly removed. ... By the command of the Veda, the ceremony of the tonsure should be legally performed by the first three classes in the first or third year after birth.f , . . The ceremony of kesanta, or cutting off the hair, is ordained for a priest in the sixteenth year after conception ; for a soldier, in the twenty-second; for a merchant, two years later than that. . . . Sudras, engaged in religious duties, must perform each month the cere- mony of shaving their heads. . . . Ignominious tonsure is ordained, instead of capital punishment, for an adulterer of the priestly class, where the punishment of other classes may extend to loss of life." j The god Siva is represented as having matted hair ; and the jatala ascetics among the Brahmans, wear their hair clotted together in inextricable involutions.

Among the Budhists, the priest, from the commencement of his noviciate, is shaved ; and he is provided with a razor, as one of the eight articles he is allowed to possess, in order that his tonsure may be regularly performed. The law is, that the hair is not to be permitted to grow to a greater length than two inches ; but it is the usual custom to shave once every fortnight. The priests shave each other, but it is not forbidden to have the operation performed by a laic. Among the Brahmans no one is allowed (Manu, Inst, iv. 9) to cut his own hair or nails. Until the year 1266, the monks of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, were accustomed to shave one another in the cloister ; but frequent injuries ensuing through their awkwardness in that office, secular persons were hired. In some instances the camerarius provided razors and towels for the monks, and they were shaved by the infirmarius. In the Sempringham

• Alban Butler, passim.

t Times and seasons, and the phases of the moon, are closely observed in the Fylde, Lancashu-e, when the first operation of cutting the infant's nails and hair is to be performed, which for a whole year are carefully guarded from the scissors.

rule the canons were shaved seventeen times per annum ; but one of the Inquirencla of Henry's visitors was, "Whether ye bee wyckely shaven?" Shaving the beard began about the year 1200, lest the eucharist should be defiled by it.*

The priests of Budha never put a covering upon tlic head in Ceylon, though this custom appears not to be followed in other countries where the same religion is professed. They walk out uncovered, with the bald crown exposed to the fiercest beam of a tropical sun, but without appearing to feel any ill effect in conse- quence. It is said by Herodotus (iii. 12), that after a battle be- tween the Persians and Egyptians, it was found that the skulls of the Egyptians were so hard, that a stone would scarcely break them ; whilst those of the Persians were so soft, that they might be broken or pierced through with the greatest ease. The former "were accustomed from their infancy to have their heads shaved, and go uncovered ; whilst the latter always wore some form of head-dress. Hence it would appear that the skull, from exposure, becomes crass and callous.

In the metaphysical drama, called Prabodha-chandra-ndaya, a Budhist is addressed thus : — " Aha ! sinner that thou art, vilest of heretics, with thy shaven crown, drest like the lowest outcastes — uncombed one — away with thee !" f

There are fifteen evils connected witli the growth of the hair, such as that it must be ornamented, anointed, washed, perfumed, purified, unloosed, tied, combed, curled, unknotted, and freed from vermin ; and when it begins to fall off, there is regret. But the freedom from care and trouble is not the only advantage to be gained by cutting off the hair. J When the hair of the priest, or his nails, are suft'ered to grow long, his robe is dirty and full of holes, the perspiration is allowed to remain upon his body, and his various requisites are covered with filth, his mind will partake of the same uncleanness. When the lamp, or the oil, or the wick, are not free from dirt, the light that is given is not clear ; in like man- ner, when the mind is unclean, the truths necessary to be known cannot be discovered, and the rites of asceticism cannot be pro- perly exercised. But w^hen the body is clean, the mind partakes of the same purity ; and as the lamp, oil, and wick, when free from dirt, give a clear light, so the mind that is pure can discern the truths, and exercise the rites in a projier manner. §

• Foshroke's British Moiiachism. t Wilson's Hindu Theatre.

I Milinda I'rasna. vj Wisudlii Margga Sanno.

The use of dress is one of the consequences of sin ; and though at its first adoption it was intended only as " the veil of shame," it has since been made the instrument of much evil, by ministering to pride and passion. Hence the wish of nearly all ascetics to prevent this evil, either by returning to the simplicity of man in innocence, or by making the garment of scanty dimensions, or by adopting a dress of mean appearance, coarse, rough and ragged. / The precepts given in the Patimokkhan relative to the dress of the priest of Budha are numerous. He is permitted to have three I robes,*' called respectively sanghatiya, uttarasanggaya, and antara- ' wasakaya, and is not allowed to retain an extra robe more than ten days ; the whole three are always to be in his possession, unless danger be apprehended, in which case he may leave one robe in the village, but not more than six days, unless specially permitted. When cloth is received for a new robe it must be made up without delay ; and when it is insufficient for the making of a robe, it may not be kept longer than a month, even when waiting for so much as is required to complete it ; unless when the robe has been stolen or accidentally destroyed, another robe is not to be solicited from any one ; when given under these circumstances, he is only to re- ceive two ; no priest shall persuade any one to collect money to purchase for him a robe ; no robe that the giver has jjreviously been requested to present may be received : the priest may not take money from the messenger of a king or other great person for the purchase of a robe, but the money may be given to some one else ; and when the priest wants a robe he may go thrice to that person, and remind him that a robe is required, and if not then given, he may thrice try to obtain it by standing in silence ; but if still refused, he may not make any further effort to procure it, except that he may inform the person who sent the money of the circumstance. A priest may not seek the extra robe allowed during the rainy months before the last month of the hot season, nor have it made up before the last half-month. When a priest has given a robe to another, he may not afterwards try to regain it, or have it

• The word robe may appear to be a misnomer as apjDlied to the dress of a Buclhist mendicant ; but it had not always the dignity that is now attached to it, as our forefathers called the dress of a slave, roba garcionis.

taken away ; he may not ask for cotton thread, and then give it to a weaver to be made into cloth for a robe ; when he knows that the weaver is making cloth for a robe, he may not go to him and give instructions as to the manner in which he is to make it, promising him a present. The time for making (he offering of a robe being at the end of the rainy season, when wass has been performed, the priest may not receive a robe more than ten days prior to that period. When the priest obtains a new robe it must be disfigured, by marks of mud or otherwise, before he puts it on ; he may not give his robe to another, without the regular form of investiture. When a robe has been given in the regular form, he is not to make a complaint that it has been given with partiality. No cloth shall be used as a covering for a sore that is more than two spans in breadth and four in length. The priest may not wear in the rainy season a robe larger than six spans in length and two and a half in breadth ; and he is never to wear a robe as large or larger than the robe of Budha, v/hich was nine spans long and six broad (in each case the span of Budha being intended). The under robe is to be so worn that no part of the body from the navel to the knee be ex- posed, and with the upper robe the body is to be covered from the shoulders to the heels.

When the priest has forfeited a robe, on account of having kept it beyond the prescribed period, he is to deliver it up to a chapter. Approaching the assembly, and baring one of his shoulders, he worships the feet of the senior priests ; then, kneeling down or sitting on his heels, he raises his clasped hands to his forehead, and says that the robe has been forfeited, being an extra one, and kept longer than ten days. The robe is delivered to the chapter, and another priest is appointed to receive it."^-'

In the missive sent by the sangha raja of Burma to the priests of Ceylon, that hierarch dwells at length upon the necessity of great attention being paid "to the proper adjustment of the robes," and quotes the following rules from the Sekhiyawa : — " The precept ought to be observed that I should wear the tipper robe so as to envelope the body. . . . The precept ought to be observed that I should enter the village or house, well covered wdth my robes." From the work called Khandakawatta, which is said to contain precepts taken from the Maha Waga and Chula Waga the follow- ing rule is taken : — " When the time is announced for the perform-

ance of any sacred duty, every priest should enter the village in a quiet orderly manner, putting on the robe so as to conceal the three mandala, or the parts of the body from the navel to the ankles, and envelope the body, tying the waist-band, coveiing the body with the upper robe doubled, and tying the knot, taking in the hand the alms-bowl, after having properly washed it." And again, the raja proceeds, " Some persons erroneously think, that to tie a band or sash round the upper robe, to prevent it from flying off, is not contrary to the Winaya ; but to show that this is a mistake, I quote the following passage from the Chula Waga : — "Priests, do not wear a girdle, not even a string, round the small of the back : the priest who wears it is guilty of an offence requiring confession and abso- lution."

The physician Jiwaka having given two magnificent robes to Gotama Budha ; the sage reflected that if the priests were allowed to receive robes of this description, they would be in danger from thieves ; and he therefore intimated this danger to his attendant, Ananda, who cut them into thirty pieces, and then sewed them to- gether in five divisions, so that the robe resembled the patches in a rice-field divided by embankments. On seeing this contrivance, Budha made a law that his priests should only have three robes at one time, and that they should always be composed of thirty pieces of cloth.*"

When Gotama Bodhisat was the ascetic Sumedha, in the time of Dipankara Budha, he reflected that there are nine objections to the garment of the laic. 1. It is too magnificent. 2. It must be re- ceived from some one, as it does not appear by itself, and cannot be found in the forest. 3. It soon becomes soiled. 4. It is soon worn away, or is otherwise destroyed. 5. It cannot be procured at any moment, just when it is required. 6. It is a thing of value. 7. It may be stolen. 8. It enervates the body of the wearer. 9. It gives rise to evil desire. He also reflected that there are twelve advantages from wearing the garment of the ascetic (vvak-chiwara, a covering made of bark, or of some other vegetable substance). 1. It is plain. 2. There is no necessity to apply to any one, in order to procure it. 3. It can be made by the ascetic's own hand. 4. It does not soon become soiled. 5. Thieves will not notice it. 6. It can easily be procured in any place. 7. It becomes the wearer. 8. It does not give rise to evil desire. 9. It does not

cause covetousness. 10. It is readily put on. 11. It requires no trouble to procure it. 12. When evil desire has been destroyed, it does not cause its reproduction.*

The robe is to be put on by the priest as if it were a bandage to

cover a sore, or a cloth to cover a skeleton ; and he must carry the

alms-bowl as if it were a vessel of medicine. There are some

priests who put on the robe as young men, or even as lewd women,

put on their garments, to attract attention ; but this is contrary to

the precepts. It may be put on to keep off the snow, as by extreme

cold disease is produced, and the mind is prevented from exer-

I'bising continued thought. Its principal advantage, however, is to

i bover the shame of the priest ; other benefits are occasional, but

^ this is without intermission.

When invited to receive the offering of a robe, the priest may not say that he does not desire it, that a few rags from the grave-yard will be sufficient for him, in order that he may receive the greater respect. By this means the people might be led to think that they will gain merit by giving to so holy a man, and thus be induced to bring him many offerings ; and the priest who at first appeared so disinterested, will be led to ask for more and more, thus bringing discredit upon the truth. f

The king of Kosala one day presented to each of his 500 wives a splendid robe ; but they made an offering of them to Ananda, when he came to the palace to say bana. The next day, as the king saw them in their former garments, he enquired what they had done with the robes ; when they said that they had jaresented them to Ananda. The king, in anger, asked if the priest wanted to sell them, and went immediately to the wihara to enquire into the matter ; but he spoke only to Ananda, and not to Budha, asking if Budha had not said that no priest was to have more than three robes. Ananda replied, " Yes, as his ow^n property ; but he is to receive w'hatever is presented, in order that the giver may thereby obtain merit. On a certain occasion the priest Wanawasatissa re- ceived a thousand bowls of rice-milk, wdiich he gave to as many priests ; and at another time he received a thousand mantles, which he disposed of in a similar manner. In the same way I received the 500 Kasi robes from the queens, and gave them to as many I)riests whose robes were old." The king enquired what the priests did with their old robes, and Ananda said, that " after stitching

them they took them for loose wrappers." The king : " What be- comes of the former wrappers ?" Ananda : " They cut away the old pieces, and taking the good pieces that are left, they make them into inner robes." The king : " What becomes of the inner robes that have been cast off?" Ananda: "They spread them upon the ground, that they may sleep upon them at night." The king : " What becomes of the cloths upon which they slept pre- viously ?" Ananda : " The priests spread them in the places where they dwell, to walk upon." The king : " What is done with the cloths upon which they formerly walked ?" Ananda : " They make them into the rugs upon which they wipe their feet." The king : " What becomes of the former rugs ?" Ananda : " They use them in preparing the clay of which their dwellings are built." The king's anger was appeased by these answers ; and to show his satisfaction he presented to Ananda 500 other robes of similar value, greatly praising the institutions of Budha.*

The first of the Thirteen Ordinances is called Pansukulikanga. The word pansu means earth, and may here be used in reference to the cloth about which the ordinance is instituted, which must be taken from the earth or ground ; or it may be used as meaning anything mean or low. The word kula means a heap, collection, or bank ; it is also used for disgrace. The garment of the priest is called pansukula ; the priest observing this ordinance is called pansukulika, and the observance itself pansukulikanga. The priest who keeps this ordinance must resolve, " I will not receive the garment given by a householder ; I will receive it only in ac- cordance with the precept." This precept forbids the receiving of any cloth for the making of a garment that has not been found under one or other of the following circumstances : — The cloth that has been thrown into a burial-ground, or thrown away in the bazaar, or thrown out of a window with the intention of acquiring merit ; the cloth used for the purification of a woman in childbirth ; the cloth that a demon priest has tied round his head on the perform- ance of some ceremony, and thrown away when going to bathe ; the cloth thrown away by a person after bathing ; the cloth thrown away by persons who have carried a corpse to the place of sepul- ture ; the cloth eaten by cattle, or white ants, or rats ; the cloth that has been partially burnt, and thrown away in consequence ; the cloth that is torn at the end ; the piece of cloth that is only a

shred or remnant ; the cloth that has been put up like a flag by persons who have sailed away in a vessel, which may be taken after they are out of sight ; the flag tied in a battle-field after the fight is done ; the cloth put on an ant-hill with an offering to a demon ; the cloth that has belonged to a priest, or that has been used at the anointing of a king, or that has belonged to a priest who is a rishi ; the cloth left in a road by mistake, after it has been seen that no one claims it ; the cloth carried away by the wind ; the cloth given by the dewas, like the one given to Anurudha ; and the cloth cast on shore by the waves. Pieces of cloth that are found in any of these twenty-three ways may be taken by the priest for the making of his garment, and no other. There are three ways in which this ordinance, as well as the other dhutangas, may be kept ; the supe- rior, the middle, and the inferior. The superior allows the cloth to be taken only from the place of sepulture. The middle ordinance allows the priest to take the garment that has been put for him by another priest, in any place. The inferior ordinance allows him to take a garment that has been put at his feet by another priest. The priest who receives a robe from a householder breaks this or- dinance ; but he may receive it with the intention of giving it to another priest, without any fault. Even the things allowed are not in all cases to be taken. When the mother of the noble Tissa was confined, the cloth used at her purification, worth a hundred pieces of gold, was thrown into the street of Anuradhapura, called Jala-w^eli, under the supposition that it would be taken by some priest ob- serving this ordinance ; but though it was seen by the priests, they did not take it, on account of its value.

As Gotama Budha, when he proclaimed that Kasyapa was to be his successor, said, " Kasyapa, thou shalt wear my pansukula robe," we may learn that the garment of the great sage was of this mean description. We may also infer from this expression that the re- ception of the habit of any public teacher was intended to convey the idea that the individual who received it had succeeded to the office of the person by whom it was previously worn. It may have been on this account that Elisha " took up the mantle of Elijah, that fell from him," at his glorious removal to the company of the ever happy. — 2 Kings ii. 13.

The seventh of the Twelve Sacred Observances of the Chinese is said to teach that the mendicant ought not to wish for any kind of ornament ; he is not to look for sumptuous habits, but to take those

which are torn and tattered, and have been rejected by others. These he washes and cleans, and makes them into patched gar- ments, solely to protect him from the cold and cover his nakedness. New garments and beautiful habits give rise to the desire of re- newed existence, and agitate the mind; they also attract thieves.*

The second of the Thirteen Ordinances is called Techiwarakanga, from te, three, and chiwara, a robe. The three robes are the one underneath, the one outside, and the sangala that covers all (an- swering to the peribolaem, which the Gangram canons observe was used by the ascetics). The priest who observes this ordinance can- not possess more than three robes at one time ; if he possesses a fourth, the ordinance is broken. When cloth for the robes is re- ceived it may be put by for future use, if there be no tailor, or no thread, or no needle, until they can be met with : but it must be made up at the first opportunity that presents itself. If an old robe be cast away merely that a new one may be received, though the ordinance is not broken thereby, its spirit is disregarded. The priest who keeps the superior ordinance may put on one robe whilst the two others are dyed, if he lives near a village ; but if he lives in the forest, he must dye all the three at the same time, and remain in the interval without clothing ; yet, should any one approach, he must take one of the robes from the dye and put it on. The middle ordinance allows a robe to be put on during the process of dying, but the robe for this purpose must be one that was previously in the dye, and no other can be taken. The inferior ordinance allows the robe of another priest, or any common cloth, to be put on, whilst his own are in the dye ; but it may not be retained when the pro- cess is done : he may nevertheless possess a piece of cloth like a sheet without breaking the precept. In addition to the three robes, the priest may not possess any other garment ; but he may have a dat-kada, for the purpose of cleaning the teeth, if it be not more than a span broad and three cubits long.

The eighth of the Twelve Sacred Observances of the Chinese is called traitchivarika, which signifies that the mendicant is to con- tent himself with the kia cha of nine, seven, or five pieces. He has few desires, and is easily satisfied. He wishes neither for too much nor too little clothing. He is equally distant from those who are habited in white, and have a number of habits, and the heretics who are entirely naked; both the one and the other excess is

• Remusat's Relation des Royaumes Bouddhiques.

avoided : the three habits are a just medium. As for the rest, the word kia cha signifies, of different colours, on account of the pieces that form the habit of the first, second, and third order.

The three robes are said by Klaproth to be called in Chinese — 1 . Seng kia li (sanghat'i), meaning " reuni" or " double." 2. Yu to lo scng (oiittarasanghat'i) meaning " habit de dessus." 3. Aii tho hoei (antaravasaka) meaning " habit de dessous." The first is used when visiting the palaces of kings and other public places ; the second, when conducting worship or preaching ; and the third, when in the interior of the dwelling. •>*

In Burma the priests observe only one part of the law. They tear the cloth into a great number of pieces, but take care that it shall be of the finest quality. f

The month succeeding the three months of the rainy season, in ( which wass is performed, is called in Ceylon chiwara-masa, or the I ' robe-month. At this time the people purchase one or more pieces of cloth, according to their circumstances, which they present to the priests. The cloth for this purpose is called katina. It cannot be received except by a chapter, which must be constituted of at least five priests. When the cloth is off'ered, the priests hold a conver- sation among each other, and enquire, " Which of us stands in need of a robe ?" The priest who is most in need of a garment ought now to rriake known his want ; but this rule is not attended to, as the priest who has read the sacred books, or expounded them, during the performance of wass, whether the most destitute or not, usually receives the robe. The priest respectfully asks the rest of the chapter to partake of the merits produced by the oflTering. The assembled priests, assisted by the lay devotees, make the cloth into a robe, and dye it yellow ; the whole of which process must be concluded in sixty hours, or a natural day.

On some occasions the robe is manufactured throughout, from the raw material, in the same space of time. The hall where the bana is read is seen filled with women, sitting upon the ground ; some bring in the cotton from the tree, or free it from the pod, whilst others prepare it for the spinners, who make it into yarn ; it is then handed over to the weavers, who sit outside with their simple looms, and make it into cloth. In the evening of the same day the cloth is received by the priests, who stitch it into a robe,

• Rcnuisat's llelatiou dos lloyaumcs Bouddhiques, xiii. 10. t Sangcriiiauo's liurnicso Empire, 89.

and dye it the prescribed colour. This custom is more practised in the maritime provinces than in the interior of the island. It is not an ordinance of Budha. The Egyptian priests had a garment woven in one day when they observed the festival in memory of the return of Rampsinitus from the infernal regions. — Herod ii. 123. The magic standard of the ancient Danes was also woven and embroi- dered by royal hands in one noon-tide.

The regulations made by Gotama upon the subject of dress, were probably in part intended to set aside the custom that appears to have prevailed throughout India in the age in which he lived, for the ascetics to be entirely destitute of clothing. When Alexander arrived at Taxila, he met with the gymnosophists, and was surprised at their extraordinary patience in the endurance of pain. It is re- lated by Plutarch that when Onesicritus was sent to desire some of them to come and see the monarch, Calamus commanded him to strip, and hear what he said naked, otherwise he would not speak to him, though he were even a divine being. Some of the ancient ascetics of the west were contented with a costume equally primi- tive. When Zosimus had been in the Arabian desert about twenty days, he one day saw a strange figure, like a human being, with short white hair, but extremely sunburnt. Thinking it was some holy anchoret, he ran after the figure, when a voice said to him, " Abbot Zosimus, I am a woman ; throw me your mantle." After covering herself, the woman, who proved to be Mary, of Egypt, said that she had lived in the desert forty-seven years, and in that period had not seen a single human being. There were other saints who had no other covering but their own hair ; as was said of one of these worthies, " nuditatem suam divino munere ves- tiebat."

It is expressly stated by Gotama that one purpose of the robe is to preserve the priest's body from the attacks of musquitoes. Hence, in Budhistical works we meet with no such narratives as that which is related of Macarius. This great anchoret having one day killed a gnat that had bitten him in his cell, as a penance he hastened to the marshes, that abounded with fiies that could pene- trate the thick skin of the wild boar, and there remained six months, until his body was so much disfigured with sores and swellings that he could only be recognised by his voice. Bernard acted a wiser part : when his monastery was troubled by swarms of flies, he excommunicated them, and they all died. When Gotama retired to

the shade of the midella tree, at the time he received the supreme Budhaship, there was a storm of wind and rain ; but a snake-god, Muchalinda, came and entwined himself seven times round the body of the sage, extending his large hood over his head, and saying, " Let not Bagawa'be affected by cold, or heat, or flies, or gnats, or wind, or sunbeams, or insects." Gotama accepted his protection, until the storm had passed away. In the native paintings that re- present the sage in this position, his general appearance greatly resembles that of a monk ensconced in his hood.

It was customary, at an early period, for those Christians who assumed an ascetic course of life, to put on the pallium of the an- cient philosophers. The monks of Egypt, according to Cassian, wore a mean habit, merely enough to cover their nakedness, with short sleeves. Libanius (Haeres. xlvi. c. 1) calls them " black- coat monks." The dress of Anthony was hair-cloth within and sheepskin without, which he never changed ; but no one saw him naked until his death. He bequeathed one sheepskin to Athana- sius, with an old blanket ; another to Serapion ; and his hair- cloth to his attendant. Hilarion never changed his sackcloth until it was worn out, and never washed it, saying that it is idle to look for neatness in a hair-shirt. The covering of Paul, the hermit, was made of the leaves of the palm-tree. John, of Alexandria, had a valuable blanket sent to him, but he used it only for one night, and the next day sold it and gave the price to the poor. When others were given to him, he acted in the same manner. Basil had only one tunic and one coat. Bruno had only one coarse habit. When Aphraates was once offered a garment, he said that he had only one, which he had worn sixteen years, and he Avas not willing to have two at the same time, or to exchange an old and faithful servant for a new one. The dress of Germanus was the same in winter as summer, and was never changed until it was worn to pieces. Thomas, when made archbishop of Valentia, kept for some years the habit he had worn in the monastery, which he con- tinued to mend with his own hand. On the day when Francis re- nounced the world, he stripped himself of his clothes, in the fer- vour of his zeal ; and when the cloak of a country labourer working for the bishop of Assize was brought, he cheerfully put it on, making i;pon it a cross with chalk or mortar. Afterwards he contented him- self with one poor coat, which he girt about with a cord ; and this habit, which was the dress of the poor shepherds and peasants, he

gave to his followers, with a short cloak over the shoulders, and a hood to cover the head. When his rough garment became too soft, he sewed it with packthread. When he found that his vicar- o-eneral had put on a habit of finer material than the other friars, and adopted other novelties, he deposed him from office. Peter, of Alcantara, never wore any other garment but a habit of thick coarse sackcloth, with a short cloak. When the weather was very cold he left the door and window of his cell open, and took off his man- tle, that when he again put it on and closed his door, his body might be refreshed with the warmth. The habit of Colette was of the coarsest description and made of more than a hundred patches sewed together. Turgesius, abbot of Kirkstall, in Yorkshire, was always clad in hair-cloth, frequently repeating to himself, " They who are clad in soft raiment are in kings' houses."

The various orders of monks were known by their dress, as each had some difference either in the shape or colour of the garment. Their most common appellation was frequently from the colour of their dress, as the Black and White Friars, and the Pied Friars, or Fratres de Pica, who were so called from their outer garment, which was black and white, like a magpie. The dresses of the monks were sometimes costly. In 1478, the sum of £5 was paid for the habit of the abbot of Whalley, and £39 for the habits of the monks, who were about twenty in number. Master William de Stowe, sacrist of Evesham, acquired four copes, one of cloth of gold, very fine, another of red velvet with pearls, a third of red satin of the best kind, and a fourth also of red satin with flowers of gold ; he also procured three albs, one of which had a representation of the Deity in gold work, with the heads of the apostles also in gold.

The Egyptian priests, as well as the Pythagoreans and Essenes, wore white garments ; and were confined to one particular mode of dress. The garb of the earlier Christian ascetics was also white. The monks with whom Chrysostom associated had garments made of the rough hair of goats or camels, or of old skins. The followers of Gregory Nazianzen had only one cloak, made of sackcloth. The monks of Pachomius wore on their shoulders a white goatskin, called a melotes ; their tunic was of white linen, without sleeves, with a cowl of the same material. According to the rule of Bene- dict, the abbot was to appoint the dress of the fraternity, and each brother was to have two tunics, cowls, and scapularies, the best being worn when they went abroad. When travelling they wore

breeclies, but at other times their gown was to suffice. Their founder was indifferent to the colour, form, or quality of their dress, but recommended that it should be adapted to the climate, and similar to that of the labouring poor ; when reqviisite it was to be mended with sacks and scraps. The Cistercensians exchanged the black habit of the Benedictines for a white one. The Janitareans wore a white habit, with a red and blue cross upon the breast. Peter, the venerable, says of the Carthusians, that their dress was meaner and poorer than that of other monks, and so short, scanty, and rough, that the very sight was frightful. The Dominicans wear a white robe with a white hood, over which, when they go out, they put a black cloak with a black hood. Ignatius appointed no other habit than the one used by the clergy in his time, that his disciples might be able the more readily to converse with persons of all ranks.*

Notwithstanding the example set by the more rigid of these asce- tics, and the stringency of the monastic rules, there were many of the order who disregarded the institute, and even reverted to dis- honourable means to procure costly habits. Piers Ploughman says, —

" I. found there freres,

All the four orders, Preachiiig the people,

For profit of hemselve. Glosed the gospel,

As hem good liked ; For covetise of copes

Construed it as they would. Many of these master fi-ercs

Now clothen hem at likiiig ; For hir money and her merchandize

Marchen togeders."

The love of dress was an ancient evil among our countrymen, and even the inmates of our monastic establishments partook of the same principle. At the beginning of the ninth century, Alcuin, in his letters to the rulers of the Anglo-Saxon monasteries, implored them " to prefer the virtues of their profession to the display of the hoods of silk, of bands round the waist, of rings on the finger, and

• Ilospin. De Monachis. Alban Butler, passim. Giesler's Text-Book. Glimpses of the Dark Ages. AMiitakcr's History of Whalley. Tiudal's History of Evesham.

of fillets round the feet."* As might be expected the principal difficulty was presented among the women. When Ethelwold, bishop of Winchester, saw at court the abbess Edith, daughter of king Edgar, in a splendid dress, he was so shocked that he said to her, " Daughter, the spouse whom you have chosen delights not in external pomp. It is the heart which he demands." " True, father," replied the abbess, " and my heart I have given to him. While he possesses it, he will not be off'ended with external pomp.f To those who have been accustomed to regard the earlier ages of the church as the most pure, and its recluses as the holiest of man- kind, appeals like the following, from the pen of the martyr bishop of Carthage, must come with startling effect. " What do orna- ments mean, what means decking of the hair, except to one who either has, or who is seeking, a husband ? . . . . Peter dehorts married women from an excessive ornamenting of their persons, who might plead, in excuse of their fault, the will and taste of their husbands ; but what excuse can virgins find for a like regard to dress, who are liable to no such interference ? . . . Thou, if thou goest abroad, sumptuously arrayed, alluring the eyes of youth, drawing after thee the sighs of admirers, fomenting lawless pas- sions, and kindling the sparks of desire, and even, if not destroying thyself, destroying others, and presenting to their bosoms a poisoned dagger, canst not excuse thyself on the pretence of preserving a mind pure and modest. Thy pretext is shamed by thy criminal attire, and thy immodest decorations, nor shouldest thou be reck- oned amongst the maids of Christ, who so livest as if willing to captivate, and to be loved by, another." % The monks had many maxims that were intended to teach them a better lesson. The following lines are from Old Rhymes of the Monastic Life, pub- lished by Fabricius, and quoted by Fosbroke, in his British Mo-

nachism : —

" Habens vestltum et victum,

Ut fert apostoli dictum,

Niliil quseras amplius,

De colore ne causeris,

Si fit vilis tunc Iseteris,

Et ficeris sobrius.

Cave ne fis ciuiosus,

In vestitu, nee gulosus

In diversis epulis."

• Lingard's Anglo-Saxon Church. t Ibid.

X Taylor's Ancient Christianity.

In some Budhistical countries there has been a similar departure from proi^riety ; but in lands where the fashions of dress change not, and each class or caste has its appropriate costume, the temptations to this evil are less powerful in their influence. The garment now Iworn by the priests in Ceylon is entirely of a yellow colour, but there is a considerable difference in the shade, the dress of some ' appearing as if it were made of cloth that had been dyed by being i steeped in the mud, whilst that worn by others is of silk, bright and glossy. A priest who frequently visited me had a silken vest that was presented to him by the king of Siam ; and of this distinction, though an old man, he was not a little proud. The priests do not change their dress when proceeding to the performance of any ceremony, the usual robe being retained on all occasions. After the late rebellion in Ceylon, a priest who was sentenced to death for participation in the crime, having been shot in his robes, the go- vernor of the island was greatly blamed, in the House of Commons and by the press, for allowing the execution to take place in this manner ; but I think, unjustly ; unless the priest expressed a wish to adopt another dress, and was forbidden by the authorities. No one had the right to deprive him of his robes, until he was degraded from office by the superior priests ; and it -would probably have been regarded by him as an additional insult if an attempt had been made to take them away at the time of his execution. The robes of the Burman priests are sometimes of woollen cloth, of European manufacture. The Tibetan priests wear silken vests, adorned with images, and have a lettered border of sacred texts woven into the scarf.

The adoption of one particular mode of dress by the ascetics was attended by a pernicious consequence, as it w^as supposed that merit might be gained by putting it on, though it covered a heart full of all corruption. According to a tradition of the Carmelites, Simon Stock, the prior general, 1251, received the scapulary from the Virgin. " The Virgin appeared to me," Stock is made to say, " with a great retinue, and holding up the habit of the order, exclaimed, This shall be a privilege to thee and to the whole body of the Carmelites ; whosoever shall die in it will be preserved from the eternal flame." It was said by some of the Franciscans that their sainted founder went down once a year to purgatory, and set free the souls of all whose bodies were buried in the habit of his order.*

• Giesler's Text Book.

128 EASTERN MONACHISM.

We have many proofs that among the ancients the use of orna- ments, garlands, perfumes, and unguents was carried to an extrava- gant excess. In taking upon himself the ten obligations, the priest says, according to the seventh, " I will observe the precept that forbids the adorning of the body with flowers or garlands, and the use of perfumes and unguents." In the Institutes of Manu (ii. 178) there is a similar command ; " let the brahmachari, or student in theology, abstain from chaplets of flowers." But this law is not always binding, as we read again (Inst. iii. 3) ; " the student having received from his natural or spiritual father the sacred gift of the Veda, let him sit, before his nuptials, on an elegant bed, decked with a garland of flowers." The use of garlands was denied by Solon to any of the Athenians who were proved to be cowards. Empedokles, when saying that he was honoured by all, adds that he was " covered with garlands." The oil with which Venus anointed the body of Hector was perfumed with roses. In Capua there was one great street called the Seplasia, which con- sisted entirely of shops in which ointments and perfumes were sold. Horace (Sat. i. v. 36) ridicules the pomposity of a municipal officer in the small town of Fundi, who had a shovel of red-hot charcoal carried before him in public, for the purpose of burning on it frankincense and other odours. " The preparation of perfumes among the Israelites required great skill, and therefore formed a particular profession. The rokechim of Exod. xxx. 25, 35 ; Neh. iii. 8 ; Eccles. X. 1, called apothecary in the authorised version, was no other than a maker of perfumes. So strong were the better kinds of ointments, and so perfectly were the different component sub- stances amalgamated, that they have been known to retain their scent several hundred years. One of the alabaster vases in the museum at Alnwick castle, contains some of the ancient Egyptian ointment, between two and three thousand years old, and yet its odour remains."^' That the number of ornaments then in use was excessive we may learn from Isa. iii. 18 — 23. In the full dress of an eastern prince there were sixty-two different ornaments, the names of which are on record. And in restricting the priests to three robes of a prescribed kind, Gotama may have had in view the evils connected with a multiplicity of dresses. The Talmud enu- merates eighteen several garments that belonged to the clothing of the Jews.

The ascetics had less authority for their peculiarities with respect to clothing than for some other of their customs, as even the angels, whom they loved so much to imitate, are represented as being clothed, when they visit our lower world, and as having '•• shining garments. In the Scriptures there is the same golden mean ob- served upon the subject of dress, that distinguishes the sacred record from all other Avritings. The garments of men and women are not to be of the same kind, Deut. xxii. 5 ; and extravagance in dress is censured ; but no restrictions are enforced that would be opi^rcssive to the w'earer, or make him an object of ridicule to the world. " I will," says the apostle Paul, " that women adorn them- selves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array ; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with, good works." — 1 Tim. ii. 9. With which agreeth the admonition of the apostle Peter : — " Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel ; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corrup- tible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." — 1 Peter iii. 4.

Neither in the ten obligations binding upon the priest of Budha, nor in the precepts of the Patimokkhan, is a residence in the forest ' insisted upon as a necessary privation. Gotama Budha, and the priests by whom he was usually accompanied, resided in wiharas. Nevertheless, the importance of a complete abandonment of all the conveniences of social life is frequently incvilcated in the sacred books ; and he is regarded as the sincerest recluse who resides in the wilderness, far away from the roof of a house, or even the umbra- geous canopy of a tree. The usual name by which the laic is desig- nated is that of grahapati, meaning literally the ruler or chief of a house ; but the word house is here to be regarded as referring rather to the family than to the place of residence. Among the Singhalese the word wihara is now more generally used of the place where worship is conducted; whilst the dwelling of the priest is called a ipansala, from pan, leaves, and sala, a dwelling, or a place to

In the age of Gotama, the practice of asceticism appears to have prevailed throughout India in its most rigorous form, and to a great extent. But by the institutions of Budha, the infliction of self-torture is discountenanced ; and though some of the ordinances cannot be observed without much painful suff'ering, the primary idea in their appointment appears to have been that of privation and not of penance. Yet it was foreseen, or experience had already taught, that the enthusiasm of vast masses of celibates, frequently in solitude, but occasionally congregated for some common pur- pose, was too powerful an impulse to be brought under any ordinary mode of control ; and therefore, whilst the calmer spirits were allowed the advantage of a contemplative life, away from the temp- tations of ordinary existence, the fervour of individuals was directed into such a course, that it might be allowed the utmost extravagance of exercise, amidst the solitude of the wilderness, without pro- ducing any pernicious consequence beyond the personal limit of the ascetic.

The apparent contradiction between the command given to the people to build wiharas, and the advice given to the priests to dwell in solitude, did not escape the notice of Milinda. The reply of Nagasena, when, enquiry was made as to the reason of this anomaly, was to the following effect : — " The beast of the forest has no settled dwelling; he eats his food here or there, and lies down to sleep in whatever place he may happen to be ; and the faithful priest must in these respects be like him. But still, from the building of wiharas there are two advantages. 1. It is an act that has been praised by all the Budhas, and they who perform it will be released from sorrow and attain nirwana. 2. When wiharas are built the priestesses have an opportunity of seeing the priests (and receiving instruction). Thus there is a reward for those who build dwellings for the priests ; but the faithful priest will not prefer such a place for his residence."

In a former age the ascetic Sumedha reflected that there are eight objections to residing in a house : — 1. It causes much trouble in its erection. 2. It requires continual repair. 3. Some more exalted personage may require it. 4. The persons living in it may be nu- merous. 5. It causes the body to become tender. 6. It aff'ords opportunity for the commission of evil deeds. 7. It causes the

covetous thought, This is mine. 8. It harbours lice, bugs, and other vermin. He then reflected that there are ten advantages to be derived from residing under a tree : — 1 . Such a place can be found with ease. 2. It can be found in any locality. 3. When seeing the decay of the leaves, the priest is reminded of other im- permancnces. 4. It does not cause any covetous thought. 5. It does not afford any opportunity for evil deeds. 6. It is not re- ceived from another. 7. It is the residence of dewas. 8. It requires no fence around it. 9. It promotes health. 10. As the ascetic can meet with it anywhere, it is not necessary for him to think that he will have to return to the place he previously occupied.*

"When the priest resides in a fixed habitation, there are many things that require his attention ; there are also many conveniences, such as access to good water ; and all these things have a tendency to gain his affections, and induce the love of that which is connected with existence. But there are some priests to whom these things are not a snare, and who can use them without harm. There were two persons respectably connected who took the obligations of the priesthood at the wdhara of Thuparama, near Anuradhajjura. One of them afterwards went to the forest of Pachinakandaraja, where he resided five years. As he found it beneficial thus to live in solitude, he resolved to go and inform his friend of the advantage he had received, that he might be induced to enter upon the same course. When the day dawned, after his arrival at the wihara, he thought thus : — " The people who assist the priests will now send them cakes and rice-gruel, and whatever else they require ;" but nothing of this kind took place. He then thought that as the people did not bring any food, the priests would go with the bowl to the city to receive alms. At the proper hour he accompanied his friend to the city, and, though the food they received was trifling, they went to the appointed place and ate it. He now sup- posed that in a little time the people would be cooking their own rice, and that then the priests would be plentifully supplied. But the portion they received was small ; and they said that this was the quantity usually presented. The two priests afterwards set out to go to the forest ; but when they reached a potters' village in the way, it was found that the stranger had left at the wihara his walking-stick, his cruse for holding oil, and the bag in which he put his sandals ; but on mentioning this to the resident priest he

learnt that his friend had no earthly possession whatever, as even the seat and bed that he used belonged to the chapter. The priest from the forest then said that it would be of no benefit to such a person to go to the solitude to which he had been invited, as all places were alike to him ; whilst at Thuparama he had many pri- vileges : he was near the relics of the Budhas ; he could hear the reading of the bana at the Lohaprasada ; there were many dagobas ; he could see many priests ; it was as though a supreme Budha were alive. He therefore recommended his friend to remain where he was, and he returned to the forest alone.

It is recommended that when slesmawa, phlegm, or moha, igno- rance, is in excess, the priest should reside in the open forest ; when pita, bile, or dwesa, anger, at the foot of a tree ; when wata, wind, or raga, evil desire, in an empty house.*

It is directed in the Palimokkhan, that the residence of the priest, if it be built for himself alone, shall be twelve spans, according to hthe span of Budha in length, and seven in breadth, inside. The site must be chosen in a place that is free from vermin, snakes, wild beasts, &:c., that the life of the priest, or of those who resort to him, may not be in danger, and that the destruction of animal life may not be caused by its erection. There must be a path around it wide enough for the passage of a cart. Before possession is taken a chapter of priests must see that it is not larger than the pre- scribed limits. Whether the residence is intended for one priest or for many, this rule must be enforced. When the dwelling is erected the priest may direct materials to be brought two or three times from grounds not under immediate cultivation, that the parts re- quiring stability may be rendered firm ; but this number of times is not to be exceeded.

In the time of Gotama Budha, a priest who resided at Isigilla, near Rajagaha, having had his hut thrice broken down by the inhabitants, and being a potter, prepared a house entirely of earth. Collecting grass, wood, and other combustibles, he burnt it thoroughly, so that it became of a beautiful red colour, appeared like a golden beetle, and was sonorous as a bell. But when Budha saw it, he reprimanded him severely for having burnt the clay, without any feeling of compassion for the sentient beings he had destroyed during the operation, and commanded that it should be broken down.f

The eighth of the Thirteen Ordinances is called Aranyakangu. The word aranya means a forest. The priest who keeps this ordi- nance cannot reside near a village, but must remain in the forest. If there be a boundary to the village, or a wall, he must remain as far from it as a strong man can throw a stone ; and if there be no boundary, he must reckon from the place where the women of the last house are accustomed to throw the water when they have washed their vessels. If there be only a single waggon or a soli- tary house, it must be regarded as a village ; whether there be a boundary or not, if there be people, or if people are intending to come, it is the same as a village. All places not coming under this description may be considered as the forest. It is said in the Ab- hidharmma, that the forest begins at the distance of the length of 500 bows from the village. If a superior priest be sick, and that which is necessary for him cannot be obtained in the forest, he may be taken to a village ; but the priest who accompanies him must leave before sunrise the next morning ; though his superior should even be dangerously ill, he cannot remain in the village to assist him. The priest who keeps the superior ordinance must always remain in the forest. He who keeps the middle ordinance may re- main in a village during the rainy season, in which wass is per- formed. He who keeps the inferior ordinance may remain in a village during the four months of the hot season, as well as during the four months of the rains. Whoever enters a village to hear bana, and for this purpose alone, does not violate the rule ; but he must go away before sunrise, and may not remain when the bana is concluded. Budha declared that the priest who resides in a forest had his respect. The recluse of the forest does not meet with those things that suggest what is improper to enter into the mind ; he becomes free from fear, though living in solitude ; the love of existence passes away, through his being continually exposed to wild beasts and other dangers. When at a distance from men, there is the true privilege of solitude, an advantage that even Sekra does not receive. To him who lives thus, the second ordinance will be as a shield, and the rest of the ordinances as so many weapons ; the forest will be as an arena of battle, and, as if in a chariot, he will proceed to conquer Mara, or evil desire.

The first of the Twelve Sacred Observances of the Chinese is called a Ian jo (aranyaka), according to which the mendicant ought always to dwell in a " lieu de repos, lieu tranquille." It is the

means of avoiding the troubles of the mind, of removing the dust of desire, of destroying the causes of revolt, and of obtaining tran- scendental wisdom.*

The ninth of the Thirteen Ordinances is called Rukhamulikanga, from rukha, a tree, and mula a root. The priest who keeps this ordinance must avoid all tiled houses, and live at the root of a tree (the root being defined to be the space within which the leaves fall on a calm day, or on which the shadow of the tree falls at noon) ; but trees of the following kinds are prohibited : a tree at the limit of a country ; a tree in which any dewa resides who receives offer- ings from the people ; a tree whence gum is taken, or edible fruits are gathered ; a tree in which there are owls, or a hollow tree ; and a tree in the midst of the ground belonging to a wihara. The priest who keeps the superior ordinance may not live in a place that is pleasant or agreeable. From the spot in which he resides he must put away the leaves with his foot. He who keeps the middle or- dinance may live in a place prepared by others. He who keeps the inferior ordinance may call a novice to prepare a place for him, by sprinkling sand, and putting a fence round, as if it were a house. The priest must leave the tree, if ever there should be a festival near it. None of the three can live in a house without breaking the ordinance ; and it is also broken if the priest goes to any place where there is a concourse of people. When he sees the leaves falling he is to think of the impermanency of all things. This or- dinance was much commended by Gotama Budha. It was at the root of a tree that he received his birth, became Budha, preached his first sermon, and died.

The tenth of the Twelve Sacred Observances of the Chinese is called vrikchamoulika. The mendicant who has not attained to wisdom amidst the tombs ought to meditate imder a tree, and there to search out reason, as did Budha, who accomplished under a tree the principal circumstances of his life.f

The tenth of the Thirteen Ordinances is called Abbhokasikanga, from abbhi, open, void, and okasa, space. The priest who keeps this ordinance may not live in a place where there are people, or at the root of a tree ; but in an open space. He may enter the wihara to hear bana ; and he may go to hear bana, or to say bana to another, if called for that purpose ; as may the priest who ob- serves the preceding ordinance. He may enter the refectory, or

the place where water is warmed for the priests to bathe, when going to hear or say bana ; he may also go inside to place a seat for a superior priest, if there be not one previously ; when going along the road, if he sees an aged priest carrying the alms-bowl, or any other requisite, he may carry it for him to relieve him, or even for a young priest, if he be weak ; when it rains he may go for shelter to any place in the middle of the road, but he may not leave the road for that purpose, nor is he allowed to run ; but when carrying the requisites of another he may go quickly, and may seek a place of shelter, even though it be not in the middle of the road ; yet he may not remain Avhen the rain is over. The same rules apply to the priest who observes the jDreceding ordinance. The priest who keeps the superior ordinance cannot live near a tree, or a rock, or a house ; but in an open space he may put up his robe as a screen. He who keeps the middle ordinance may remain under an overhanging rock. He who keeps the inferior ordinance may live in a cave into which the rain percolates, a threshing-floor when the people are gone, a shed made wdth leaves or with talipot, or a lodge made for the purpose of watching the rice-fields. Any of the three who lives in a place where there are people, or at the root of a tree, and not in an open space, breaks this ordinance.

The eleventh of the Twelve Sacred Observances of the Chinese is called abhyavakashika. The mendicant, remaining under a tree, and partly covered by its shade, minds not the cold. It is true that the rain and humidity reach him, that the dung of birds defiles him, and that he is liable to be wounded by venomous beasts ; but he is at liberty to exercise meditation. Remaining upon the ground his spirit is refreshed ; the shining of the moon seems to purify his mind ; and he can more readily become entranced.*

The eleventh of the Thirteen Ordinances is called Sosanikanga, from sosana, a cemetery, or place where the dead have been depo- sited, or where dead bodies have been burnt. The priest who keeps this ordinance must ahvays reside in a cemetery, and it must not be near a village. Until twelve years have passed over from the time a body is burnt, the place may be regarded as a sosana. The priest may not make a place like a court of ambulation, nor frame a hut ; he may not sit in a chair or recline on a couch ; and he is forbidden to provide water, as if it were a priest's regular dwelling. This is a very difficult ordinance, and must be observed

with much sorrowful determination. When walking, he must turn his eye in part towards the cemetery ; and when he enters it, it must not be by the principal road, but by an unfrequented bye- path. When walking in the day-tinr(e, if he sees a tree or an ant- hill, he must mark what it is, and he will then not be afraid of what he may see at night. He may not cast stones at the devils he may see or hear. He may not remain away from the place a single night ; he must always be there at midnight, but at dawn may leave it ; he must not eat any kind of food that is agreeable to the devils or that is made with sesamum, mee, flour, flesh, or sugar (lest evil should befall him from the wish of the devils to possess these things for their own benefit) ; he must look out for the bones left by dogs and other animals. He may not enter any house, as he lives in the midst of the smoke arising from the funeral pile and of the stench proceeding from dead bodies. The priest who keeps the superior ordinance is always to remain in some place where there is the burning of bodies, the stench of corruption, and weep- ing for the loss of friends. He who keeps the middle ordinance may remain in the place where there is any one of these three. He who keeps the inferior ordinance may remain in any place where a body has been deposited within the space of twelve years. The priest who remains away from the sosana a single night breaks this ordinance.

The ninth of the Twelve Sacred Observances of the Chinese is called s'mas'anika. To dwell among the tombs brings to the mind of the mendicant just ideas relative to the three things that are the first gate of the law of Foe, "I'instabilite, la douleur, et le vide." He here sees the spectacle of death and of funerals. The putridity and corruption, tlie impurities of every kind, the funeral piles, the birds of prey, generate within him thoughts relative to the imper- manency of all things and hasten the progress of that which is good."^-'

The residences of the priests in Ceylon are usually mean erec- tions, being built of wattle, filled up with mud, whilst the roof is covered with straw, or the platted leaves of the cocoa-nut tree. Their residences in Burma appear to be of the same description, but those in Siam are much superior, having richly-carved entrances, and ornamented roofs. None of the fervour of the original institu- tion is now manifested among the Singhalese. About the year

1835 there was a priest near Negombo who professed never to re- side in a house, and to subsist entirely upon fruits. From the sin- guhirity of his appearance, and the mystery of his life, he was an object of great terror to children. Though regarded by some persons as sincere, his conduct was generally condemned, and he was thought to be of weak intellect.

This mode of asceticism is of too striking a character not to have had many imitators in the west. Mary, of Egypt, resided in the desert beyond the Jordan forty- seven years. During the first four years of the penance of Hilarion he had no other shelter from the inclemencies of the weather than a little hovel, made of reeds and rushes woven together. He afterwards built a little cell, still to be seen in the time of Jerome, which was only a little longer than his body, four feet broad, and five feet in height. Martinianus lived many years upon a rock surrounded by water, in the open air. James, of Nisibis, chose the highest mountains for his abode, re- tiring to a cave in the winter, and the rest of the year living in the woods, in the open air. Martin, of Tours, had a cell built of wood, his monks having generally cells of a similar description, whilst some resided in various holes dug in the sides of the rocks. In the sixth century it was customary in some places for a monk, cele- brated for his virtues, to be chosen, who was aftei'wards to lead the life of a recluse, walled up in a cell, and spending his whole time in fasting, praying, and weeping. Marcian shut himself up in a small enclosure, out of which he never went, his cell being so low and narrow, that he could neither stand nor lie in it without bending his body. But the most singular residence was that of Simeon Stylites, who passed thirty years of his life upon the top of a column, which was gradually raised from nine to sixty feet in height.

Even in our own inclement country, the zeal of these ancient ascetics has been emulated. Simon Stock, a youth of Kent, in the twelfth year of his age, retired to the forest, and resided in the hollow of a large oak tree. AVhen the anchorets of England re- tired from the world, the ceremony of seclusion was generally presided over by the bishop. Their cells, twelve feet square, had three apertures, one for receiving the housel, another for food, and the third for lights. The door was generally walled up, and the anchoret was not permitted to come out, "but by consent and bene- diction of the bishop, in case of great necessity."

The yoke of the recluse must in many instances be exceedingly painful of endurance. Far away is he from all the amenities of the world, though formed by the hand of God to seek their enjoyment; he is often alone, and has much leisure, by which the melancholy circvimstances of his situation are almost continually presented to his mind ; the silence and solitude that are around him people themselves with shapes that appear to him with mockery and gibe, until his own spirit seems to add its powers to the number of his persecutors ; and in the place where he expected to find peace there is only disappointment and vexation. Yet if he be a coe- nobite also, there are occasional opportunities of intercourse with other men, all of whom are enduring the same piercing of the soul by that which is -more cruel than the serpent's tooth ; and if per- mitted the exhibition of the slightest symptom of dissatisfaction, or to communicate to each other their individual woes, the heaviest bar and the strongest wall would be insufficient to retain them within the bounds by which they are circumscribed. The gloomy abstractedness, the svmken eye, channelled brow, hollow cheek, pallid countenance, and attenuated frame, with which the painter delights to present to us the monk, are the faithful semblances of a sad reality ; and these emaciations are too frequently the result of painful exercises of discipline imposed by an imperious master, and not from vigils and penances self-imposed, that the body may be subdued, and the Avhole man be soul. The code of discipline to which he is subject is therefore most severe and stringent in all that relates to intercourse with members of the same fraternity : to his superior, he must be in every respect submissive ; to his equal, reserved ; and to his inferior, distant. The necessity of implicit obedience is therefore insisted upon in all monkish canons. It is one of the eight things requisite to monastic perfection, and is called " the cardinal virtue of monks." In the monasteries founded by David, the patron of Wales, the candidates for admission had to wait ten days at the door, during which time they were tried with harsh words and repeated refusals, in order that they might learn to die to themselves ; and they were afterwards required to discover their most secret thoughts and temptations to the abbot. In the Hegula Benedicti, cap. 5, it is said, " Primus humilitatis gradus est obcdientia sine mora;" and in tlie first chapter it is said that

the rule and life of the Franciscans is this, " to obey the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience, without property, and in chastity." But to see this principle in perfection we must exa- mine the institutes of the Jesuits. The most perfect obedience and self-denial were the two first lessons that Ignatius inculcated upon his novices. They were told at the door, as they entered, that they must leave behind them all self-will and private judgment. In his letter to the Portuguese Jesuits, On the Virtue of Obedience, he says that this alone brings forth and nourishes all other virtues. He calls it the peculiar virtue and distinguishing characteristic of his society, in which, if any member suffer himself to be outdone by those of other orders in fasting or watching, he must yield to none in obedience. He adds that true obedience must reach the understanding as well as the will, and never suffer a person even secretly, to complain of, or censure, the precept of a superior ; nor is it a less fault to break the laws of obedience in watching than in sleeping, in labouring than in doing nothing. No particular bodily austerities are prescribed by the rules of the society ; but there are two practices that are to be most rigorously observed. The first is called the rule of Manifestation, by which every member is required to discover even his inclinations to his superior ; the second is, that every member renounces his right to his own reputation with his superior, giving leave to every brother immediately to inform his superior of his faults, without first observing the law of private cor- rection, which in common cases is acknowledged to be right."^'

The profound respect that was paid by the inmates of the monas- tery to their abbot maybe learnt from the following extract of a MS. in the British Museum relative to the abbey of Evesham. " The newly-elected abbot, if he were consecrated out of the monastery, shall, when he returns, be received by us in a festive procession. After his instalment by the prior, he is everywhere to be received with particular reverence. We must be reverently obedient to him in all things lawful: and as he passes along, either through the cloister, through any of the offices, or any where except in the dor- mitory, all shall stand up and bow to him while passing No

one shall walk abreast with him, except to mass. Wherever he shall sit, no one shall presume to sit down by him, unless he command him so to do. If bidden to sit down by him, that person shall bow to him in a devout manner, and thus humbly take his seat

Whoever shall give anything into his hand, or receive anything from him, shall kiss his hand. Wherever he shall be present, there should be observed the strictest order and discipline. When he shall reprehend any monk who has behaved or spoken amiss, ■whether it be within the cloister or not, that monk shall afterwards entreat his pardon in a humble manner, as if in the chapter-house, and shall stand before him till ordered to sit down ; and as long as he sees him to be angry, so long shall he entreat for pardon, till his wrath be appeased." *•'

The Essenes paid so great a respect to each other, that if ten of them were sitting together, no one would speak if it were contrary to the wishes of the nine ; and if a senior among them were only touched by a junior, he had to wash himself from the pollution, as he would have had to do if touched by a stranger. The results to which the law of obedience led were of a varied character. The director of John, the Dwarf, bade him, as his first lesson, plant a dry walking-stick in the ground, which he was to water every day until it brought forth fruit. The novice was obedient, though he had to fetch the water a considerable distance ; but in the third year the stick actually took root, put forth leaves and buds, and pro- duced fruit, which John gathered and gave to his brethren, telling them that it was the fruit of obedience. When Lanfranc, after- wards archbishop of Canterbury, was once reading a Latin sentence he was stopped and told by his superior to pronounce the e in do- cere short. Though he knew that he was right, he made the altera- tion as commanded, saying that it was a greater sin to disobey the abbot, who commanded him in Christ's name, than to adopt a wrong quantity. A similar story is told of the still more celebrated Thomas Aquinas. It was part of the Benedictine rule, that when two monks met, the junior was to ask benediction from the senior ; and Avhen he passed by the junior was to rise and give him his seat, nor to sit down till he bade him. When the abbot entered the chapter, all descended one step and bowed to him, standing on the same step until he sat down. ^Vhen he went out with benediction, the monks met him on their knees, and gave the kiss of charity, to his hand first, and afterwards to his mouth, if he offered it. When the monks delivered anything to him they kneeled, kissing his hand if he was seated. No brother was allowed (cap. 37) among

the Benedictines to cross the threshold of the monastery without the permission of his superior.

It is probable that in this part of the institute the ascetic would meet with his heaviest cross. By the constitution of our species, as social beings, we are necessitated on many occasioiis to give up our own will ; and whenever new associations are formed, whether as a family, a club, an order, a sect, a city, or a country, there are addi- tional barriers to the exercise of the individual will. But in all these instances there is an interchange of assistance, a reciprocity of kindly offices, and an acknowledged advantage, that causes the mo- mentary sacrifice on our part to be recompensed in a thousand modes, that are more than an equivalent for the loss we have had to sustain ; so that the home in which the family is congregated, or the country by which the exercise of our national institutions is bounded, are magic words that have often been the most powerful impulse in the rallying cry that has led men on to victory or death. But there is in man a natural propensity to usurp a greater autho- rity than that which is properly conceded to him, on account of the position in which he is accidentally placed as a ruler. In this re- spect we are true children of the father-fiend, who is made to say that he had rather reign in hell than serve in heaven. It is a base lie that he utters, as he would readily give up his sovereignty to be the lowest of the seraphs that ministers before the throne ; but it is one so consonant with our own corrupt imaginations that we give it credence, until maturer thought has convinced us that it is an empty boast. In the monastic institutes this passion has been carried out to its utmost limit. The recluse was taught that all within, as well as all without, is to be abandoned ; that not only the mine but the me was to be sacrificed at the ascetic altar. The superior aimed at exercising an influence like that of the steam-engine of some exten- sive manufactory in modern times, which throughout the vast edifice over which it rules is the motive power by which every thread is thrown and every wheel revolves. There was a restriction upon all the senses of the monk, that there might be no outward irregularity ; and if the mind wandered, however innocently, from the pre:scribcd course, the weakness was to be confessed to the superior aud abso- lution sought. In the Patimokkhan the misdemeanours that require confession and absolution form the more numerous class.

When viewed in connexion with this severity of discipline, some of the names given to the monks and nuns, as brother, and abbot ;

sister, and abbess ; appear to be singularly inappropriate, as the tender associations to which they allude ought to have no place in the breast of the recluse, if the principle of asceticism be right. He is not allowed to love any being whatever upon earth ; the order or the institute, a thing of the imagination, is to engross the place of every relationship ; and it sometimes usurps the place of God. The titles given to the superior priests of Budha are more consistent with their circumstances, being equivalent rather to prior or archi- mandrite. Jerome did not api:)rove of the word abbas, as he thought that its use was contrary to the command, to " call no man father upon earth."

Among the Budhists, so strict a rigidity of social discipline is not required, as the priests are enjoined to take the alms-bowl from house to house, in order to procure food. This itself is an employ- ment, enough to engage the attention withov;t producing fatigue, whilst it affords them the opportunity of exercise ; and by bringing them into contact with much that is beautiful in the world without, is equally beneficial to the body and the mind. We have therefore no reason to suppose that in the pansal there is exercised the cruelty of the western inquisitor, who too frequently wrings tears and blood from the reluctant inmate of his dark prison-house before his spirit is subdued or his heart broken. Nevertheless, there is the recogni- tion of the same principle ; every mark of respect is to be paid to the superior priest, and the causing of a division among the priest- hood is one of the sins from the penal consequences of which there is no possible release by means of anything that can be done in the present state of existence.

The following precepts are contained in the Patimokkhan : The priest is forbidden to bring a groundless charge against another priest, in order to have him excluded from the community ; he is not to take hold of some trifling matter, and found a charge thereon ; with all solemnity he is charged not to sow dissensions, or to en- deavour to perpetuate existing divisions, among the priesthood ; no one is to aid and abet a priest who is causing divisions : the priest is not to refuse admonition ; when spoken to on account of any evil conduct, he is not to say that the priests are captious and par- tial ; he is not to use contemptuous speech, nor to slander the priests ; unless with permission, he is not to declare to others the crimes of the priests ; he is not to go to the place previously occu- pied by another priest, in order to annoy him, and cause him to

leave ; he is not from anger, to expel another priest, or cause him to be expelled ; he is not to act unkindly, or do anything that would discompose another priest; he is not to hide, or cause to be hid, even in sport, the articles belonging to another priest ; he is not to brine forward again a cause that has been once decided ; he is im- plicitly to obey the precepts called Sahadammikan (laws binding on all the priests) ; he is not to be angry with another priest and strike him or push against him ; he is not to suggest doubts against ano- ther priest, in order to annoy him, nor is he to listen when other priests are in debate or at strife ; and he is not to consent to any ecclesiastical procedure, and then complain of the investigation.

The law declaring that the priest shall not take hold of any trifling matter and found a charge thereon was enacted by Gotama Budha under the following circumstances. A certain priest wish- ing to ruin another priest, named Dabbo, was unable to accomplish his object without resorting to an equivocation, as the conduct of Dabbo was blameless. Walking one day with his fellow-priests, and seeing a flock of goats, he said that he would give to one of the he-goats the name of Dabbo, and to a she-goat the name of Mettiya (a priestess who had been previously excluded), in order that he might be enabled to declare that he had seen Dabbo and Mettiya guilty of improper conduct. An investigation took place, but the equivocation was detected ; and this law was enacted in conse- quence.'^'

It is forbidden to the inferior priests to be in the company of the superior, or those who are more aged, without paying them proper respect. They are not to jostle them, nor to go in front of them when seated ; nor arc they to sit on a higher seat, or to talk when near them, or when talking with them to use action with their hands and feet ; they are not to walk near them with their sandals on, or to walk about in some part of the same court at a higher elevation, or to walk at the same place at the same time. They are not to go before them or press upon them, when carrying the alms-bowl. They are not to be harsh with the novices. And they are not to take upon themselves matters with which they have no right to in- terfere, such as to put firewood in the place where water is warmed for bathing, or to shut the door of the bath, without permission.! The crime called sangha-bheda, or the causing of a division

• Gogcrly's Translation of the P^timokkhan ; Ceylon Friend, Dec. 1839. t Wisudhi Margga Sanne.

among the priesthood, is one of the five deadly sins, for which the delinquent must suffer during a whole kalpa in hell. It cannot be committed by a laic or a novice ; it can only be done by one who has received upasampada ordination/* The five deadly sins have been already enumerated, p. 37.

Some of these regulations will remind the reader of the forms observed on board our men of war. The strictness of the discipline that is enforced is the salient point at which the monk and the sol- dier meet ; and though the warrior and the recluse form an anti- thesis, in this as in many other instances extremes have been made to meet from some partial resemblance, and in the year 1119, a military order was founded in Jerusalem combining the monastic life with the tumult of the camp and the strife of the battle.

, The code of ecclesiastical law called Patimokkhan, is to be re- f cited bi-monthly in a chapter of not fewer than four priests. But the ascetic brotherhood appear ever to dislike being reminded of their duty, as this rule is not attended to in Ceylon, and an abbot of Wardon, in his letter of resignation, assigns the following as one of the reasons why he could no longer hold the office. " They be in nombre xv brethern, and excepte iij of them, non understande ne knowe ther rule nor the statutes of ther religione." Yet according to the Regulations of Benedict all the monks who are able, are to learn the rules of the order memoriter.

Before the Patimokkhan is read, the place of assembly must be swept, low cushions prepared for the priests to sit upon, and water placed for them to drink. There are twenty-one persons who may not be present, as laics, eunuchs, &c. Between each priest a space is to be left of two cubits and a-half. The chapter is not legally constituted if all the priests are under ecclesiastical censure for the same crime. In that case it will be necessary that they be absolved by some one who is not guilty; but if they be guilty of different faults they can absolve each other, after confession, and then proceed to business. When one section of the rule is read, the enquiry is made three times if all that are present have observed

the precept ; and if no answer is given, it is supposed to be in the affirmative ; but if any one has broken the precept, and does not confess it, he is regarded as being guilty of a wilful lie. When a priest has been guilty of any of the thirteen crimes that involve suspension and penance, and shall conceal the fact, upon its discovery he is placed under restraint as many days as he has concealed it, then for six nights he is subject to a kind of penance, and after this period he may be restored to his office by a chapter, at which twenty priests must be present. No priest is allowed to question the utility of reading the Patimokkhan, in the manner prescribed, and if any priest is convicted of manifesting im- patience relative to the reading of this code, he is to confess his crime and receive absolution. The matters brought before the chapter are to be deliberately investigated, and the sentence is to be determined by the majority. The modes of punishment that are appointed are of the mildest description, including reprimand, for- feiture, penance, suspension, and exclusion. The principal exer- cises of penance appear to be, sweeping the court-yard of the wihara, and sprinkling sand under the bo-tree or near the dagobas. i In one legend it is stated that some ascetics, who were required as 1 penance to go to the Ganges and take up a portion of sand which they were to bring to a certain place, had by this means, in the course of time, made a mound of sand that was many miles in ex- tent. It was the custom of Pachomius to carry sand from one place to another, in the night season, when he wished to overcome his drowsiness.

It is said in the Wisudhi Margga Sanne, that when a priest falls into an error, or commits a fault, that is comparatively of little mo- ment, he is to seek forgiveness from a superior priest ; and if all who reside in the same wihara are inferior to himself, he is to go to some other wihara for the purpose. Until absolution is thus re- ceived, the evils arising from the fault continue to exist.

In Burma, when a priest is detected in the violation of the law of continence, the inhabitants of the place where he lives expel him from his monastery, sometimes driving him away with stones. The government then strips him of his habit, and inflicts upon him a public punishment. The grand master, under the predecessor of Badonsachen, having been convicted of this crime, he was deprived of all his dignities, and narrowly escaped decapitation, to which punishment he was condemned by the emperor. Whenever a priest

has been guilty of a violation of the rules of his order, he is required to go immediately to his superior, and kneeling down before him, confess his crime. There are some sins, of which confession must be made, not merely before the priest, but before all who are as- sembled in the chapter. A penance is then imposed upon the de- linquent, which consists of prayers (or, more probably, of stanzas from the bana), to be recited for a certain number of days, accord- ing to the time he has suffered to elapse without confession ; and these prayers must be said in the night. A promise must also be given to refrain from such faults in future, and pardon asked of all the priests for the scandal given, with a humble request to be again admitted into the order. But these regulations are at present much netrlected, as the priests content themselves with an indefinite mode of confession, something resembling the Confiteor of the Roman- ists.*

Among the Benedictines, when an offence was committed, there was, first, private admonition, then public reproof, separation from the society of the brethren, corporal punishment, expidsion ; the delinquent was permitted to return thrice, but after the fourth re- lapse he was ejected for ever. The discipline of some of the orders was extremely severe. According to the rule imposed by an Irish saint, Columban, the monk who did not say Amen at grace, before and after meals, was to have six lashes ; he who talked in the refec- tory was also to have six lashes ; and he who coughed at the be- ginning of a psalm was to be treated in a similar manner, as well as he who touched the chalice with his teeth, or smiled during the time of divine service. They who spoke roughly and frowardly were to re- ceive fifty lashes, as well as they who were disrespectful to the supe- rior. For small faidts the chastisement was six lashes ; for greater, especially in things relating to the mass, sometimes 200 lashes were given, but never more than twenty-five at one time. When a monk had finished his task of work, if he did not ask for more, penance was enjoined. Among the punishments were prolonged fasts, silence, separation from the table, and humilations.f

The clergy were anciently punished by suspension ; by being mulcted of a portion of their salary ; by being forbidden to exercise some of the duties of their office ; by degradation, as from the rank of priest to that of deacon ; and by non-admission to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, unless they approached the table as laymen. The inferior clergy were liable to imprisonment and stripes. In

• Sangermano's Burmese Empire. f Alban Butler, Nov. 21.

large cities there were houses of correction, decanica, attached to the churches. In extreme cases excommunication was resorted to, after which there was no possibility of restoration to the clerical dignity."^'

The authority of the popes of Rome was never displayed in such appalling magnificence as when they laid the nations under an in- terdict. It was then that the prophecy was fulfilled, which spake of him " who opposeth and exalteth himself ahove all that is called God, or that is worshipped ; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." — 2 Thess. ii. 4. As the ancient kings are represented as being moved from beneath to meet the monarch of Babylon on his entrance into sheol, so we can ima- gine the princes of all times, from those who had merely executed justice to those who had waded through seas of gore, going forth to do homage to these " vicegerents of the Almighty," when their " pomp was brought down to the grave," for having so far surpassed all other potentates, in the strength of the spell they dared to mutter, the terribleness of the fears they aroused, and the varied character of the miseries they inflicted upon men. It was not merely that all religious offices were suspensed, that the churches were closed against the laity, the altar against the performance of marriage, and the churchyard against the burial of the dead; in addition, the clergy were placed in deadly opposition to the laity, and the laity to the clergy. The consequences of this antagonism were sometimes tremendous, as when John cast into prison GeofFry, archdeacon of Norwich (for having abdicated the functions of his office as a judge of the exchequer when he heard that his king was excom- municated), and caused him to be wrapped in a sheet of lead shaped like an ecclesiastical mantle, leaving him, without food, to perish under the weight of the metal by which he was oppressed. At the period of the same interdict the ecclesiastics, generally, were ex- posed to ill-treatment and murder from all ranks. They had sus- pended the privileges of the church to punish the people, and the people suspended the privileges of the state to punish them.

It was the peculiar privilege of the commandries of the Knights Hospitalars to be permitted to receive persons under sentence of excommunication. By a rule of their order persons who had been denounced might take refuge in their churches, where lights were directed to be kept continually burning. The Hospitalars might

visit interdicted persons when sick to administer consolation, and inter them when dead with the rites of the church in the cemeteries belonging to their own order ; if they passed through an interdicted place, they, and they alone, could perform mass in the churches ; and if even a whole city or province were excommunicated the people could still resort to the commandries for the offices of reli- gion. There were certain monasteries, as that at Bury, that had also the privilege, as a peculiar mark of pontifical favour, of exemp- tion from the general effects of the interdict. " With the doors shut, without ringing of bell, and with a low voice," the services were at such times to be performed.*

It appears from the Tibetan works on Eiidhism that the priests of Gotama were accustomed to put under ban, or interdict, any per- son or family, in the following mode. In a public assembly, after the facts had been investigated, an alms-bowl was turned with its mouth downwards, it being declared by this act that from that time no one was' to hold communication with the individual against whom the fault had been proved. According to the text, no one was to enter his house, or to sit down there, or to take alms from him, or to give him religious instruction. After a reconciliation had taken place, the ban was taken off by the alms-bowl being placed in its usual position. This act was as significant as the bell, book, and candle ; but much less repulsive in its aspect and associations.

The priests in Ceylon are seldom seen with anything in the hand, unless it be the alms-bowl, or the fan which, like a hand-screen, is carried to prevent the eyes from beholding vanity. They are usually followed by an attendant, called the abittaya. When the priest receives the offering of a fleece of wool, he is forbidden by the Patimokkhan to carry it a greater distance than three yojanas.

The priest is forbidden to dig the ground, or to cause it to be dug ; he is not to cut trees or grass ; he is not to sprinkle water in which there are insects upon grass or clay, or cause it to be sprin- kled ; he is not to go to view an army, unless there be a sufficient reason, in which case he may remain with the army two or three

nights, but not longer, and in this period he may not go to the place of combat, or to the muster of troops, or to see any sight con- nected with the army. The priest may not, when in health, kindle a fire to warm himself, or cause one to be kindled, unless it be the mere lighting of a lamp, or some similar act.*

The disgusting filthiness exhibited by some of the ancient monks is seldom presented among the jiricsts of Budha. Cleanliness of the person is inculcated ; but the priest is not allowed to bathe more frequently than once a fortnight, unless it be in six weeks of the summer and the first month of the rainy season, or when sick, or engaged in work or travelling, or when there is rain accompanied by wind. The priests of Egypt, according to Herodotus (ii. 37), washed themselves in cold water twice every day and twice every night. Among the Benedictines, the monks in health, and espe- cially the young, were commanded (Reg. cap. 36) to be sparing in the use of the bath ; but it might be used by the sick as often as was necessary. The more rigorous climate in which the greater part of the ascetics of Christendom resided, would cause the more ancient institute to be greatly modified, in order that it might be- come adapted to its novel circumstances. The monks in the fens of Lincolnshire, as well as those that have had to live amidst the everlasting snows of the Alps, would have perished, if not allowed the warmth of a fire. Hence the calefactory was a necessary apart- ment in all the monasteries of the north ; and would no doubt be a favourite place of resort to those of the fraternity who were the ten- derest, the merriest, or the most indolent.

The priest is to use a tooth-cleaner regularly in the morning. It is generally made of some fibrous substance. The Brahmans have a similar observance. " A brahman rising from sleep is enjoined, under penalty of losing the benefit of all rites performed by him, to rub his teeth with a proper withe." f

In the sacred writings there are frequent allusions to customs connected with the strangers who visited the wiharas, from which we may infer that they received all necessary attention and assist- ance ; but in every instance that I remember, the reference is to priests alone, and it does not appear that laymen are permitted, when travelling, to take up their abode within the precincts of any place occupied by the sramanas of Budha. There was therefore no edifice attached to the wihara, like the xenodochium, in which any

• Patimokkhan. t Colcbrooke's Miscellaneous Essays, i. 12-1.

traveller might receive temporary relief, and in which a certain number of the poor were relieved by a daily alms. The monks were indebted to this institution for a great part of their popularity ; but thovigh in the olden time it was a useful and almost necessary establishment, it was liable to be much abused, and its proceedings would often bring sorrow to the minds of the more conscientious brethren.

The priest may not enter the village, or sit down in it loudly laughing, but speaking in a low tone, with a steady gait ; not swinging the arms about, or turning the head, or with his arms placed on his hips, or with his head covered. He may not sit on his heels in the village, or sit lolling. And he is not to perform the offices of nature standing, nor upon any growing vegetable sub- stance, nor in water. ^'

There are some precepts contained in the Patimokkhan that can- not be understood unless the circumstances that gave rise to them are known ; such as, that " if any priest shall place a bed or stool with unfastened legs upon the upper terrace of a residence, and sit or lie down upon it, it is pachittiyan, a fault requiring absolution and confession."' This law was enacted on account of a priest who lay down upon a bed with a loose leg in this position, and the leg falling down materially injured a priest who was below.

In taking upon himself the seventh of the ten obligations, the priest declares, " I will observe the precept that forbids attendance upon dancing, singing, music, and masks." The Brahmans were placed under a similar restraint. " Let the student in theology abstain from . . . dancing, and from vocal and instrumental music. . . . The Brahman must not gain wealth by music or dancing, or by any art that pleases the sense. . . . Let him neither dance nor sing, nor play upon musical instruments, except in religious rites. . . . Brah- mans who profess dancing and singing, let the judge exhort and examine as if they were Sudras." — Manu, Inst. ii. 178 ; iv. 15, 212 ; viii. 102. That the drama Avas much cultivated in India at an early period, we may learn from Wilson's Hindu Theatre and other sources. But these exhibitions have ever been condemned by the more thoughtful among mankind. Diogenes said that the Olympic games were only great wonders to a set of fools. It was decreed by the council of Constantinople, held a. d. 681, that no monk should be allowed to witness theatrical exhibitions.

By taking the ninth of the ten obligations the priest declares that he will forego the use of high or honourable seats, or couches. The ancients appear to have been most extravagant in the costli- ness of their beds and couches. The prophet Amos (vi. 4) pro- nounces woe upon those who " lie upon beds of ivorj% and stretcli themselves upon their couches . . . that chant to the sound of the viol and invent to themselves instruments of music." Among the offerings made to the temple at Delphi by Croesus were a great number of couches decorated with gold and silver. We are informed by Chrjsostom that the beds of the principal Antiochians were of ivory, inlaid with silver and gold. Clemens of Alexandria, in his Paedagogue, book ii. cap. 9, condemns the use of beds of carved ivory, w'ith silver feet, in imitation of animals or reptiles, and upon which are coverlets embroidered with gold. He says that silver sofas, and beds of choice woods ornamented with tortoise- shell and gold, with coverlets of purple, are to be abandoned ; and asks if we shall rest the worse because our beds are not of ivory, or our coverlets tinted with Tyrian dyes.

The priest is not allowed to take even so little as a blade of grass, when it is not given ; and if he takes a sandal, or anything of the same value, or above that value, he ceases to be a son of Sakya, as the withered branch that is severed from the tree ceases to put forth the tender bud or to bear iruit.

He is not allowed knowingly to deprive any animal, though it be even so insignificant as an ant, of life ; and if he deprives any human being of life, even though it be by the causing of abortion, he ceases to be a son of Sakya, as the mountain that has been severed in two cannot again be united."^

In the time of Gotama there was a priest who was under the in- fluence of passion ; and as he was unable to maintain his purity he thought it would be better to die than to continue under this re- straint. He therefore threw himself from a precipice near the rock Gijakuta ; but it happened that as he came down he fell upon a man who had come to the forest to cut bamboos, whom he killed, though he did not succeed in taking his own life. From having taken the life of another he supposed that he had become parajika, or excluded from the priesthood ; but when he informed Budha of what had taken place, the sage declared that it was not so, as he had killed the man unintentionally ; his intention being to take his

own life. Budha, however, made a law forbidding the priests to commit suicide.* Several stories are related in the Tibetan Dul-va, of suicide or poisoning among the priests, or of causing themselves to be slain or deprived of life, out of grief or despair, upon hearing of the various kinds of miseries or calamities of life. Budha, in consequence, prohibited any one from discoursing on these miseries in such a manner as thereby to cause desperation. f A similar story is related of Hegesias, whose gloomy descriptions of human misery were so overpowering, that they drove many persons to commit suicide, in consequence of which he received the surname of Peisi- thanatos.

In the city of Wesali there was a priest, who one day, on going with the alms-bowl, sat down upon a chair that was covered with a cloth, by which he killed a child that was underneath. About the same time there was a priest who received food mixed with poison into his alms-bowl, which he gave to another priest, not knowing that it was poisoned, and the priest died. Both of these priests went to Budha, and in much sorrow informed him of what had taken place. The sage declared, after hearing their story, that the priest who gave the poisoned food, though it caused the death of another priest, was innocent, because he had done it un-wittingly ; but that the priest who sat upon the chair, though it only caused the death of a child, was excluded from the priesthood, as he had not taken the proper precaution to look under the cloth, and had sat down without being invited by the householder. |

It is said by Budha, in the Brahma Jala Sutra, that there are some sages who attend places of amusement, where there are reci- tations, masques, and dancing, and combats are exhibited between men, animals, or birds ; they also play at various games of chance, and practice all kinds of buffoonery ; and they love jesting and sports that are childish or vain. They prognosticate the nature of future events, and pretend to tell whether they will be prosperous or adverse from the voices of animals and birds, as well as from the marks upon their bodies, from meteors, the appearance of fire in any particular direction, earthquakes, dreams, and the manner in which cloth is eaten by rats or insects. They pretend to foretell the fate of princes and empires ; they deal in spells, invocations, elixirs, and panaceas ; they teach the sciences, and write deeds and contracts ; they practise certain ceremonies with fire fed by a par-

ticular kind of spoon, and from the manner in which it burns they predict the future. But all these practices are disreputable, and are to be avoided by the faithful priest.*

No priest is allowed to make false pretensions to the possession of rahatship; and if any priest acts contrary to this precept, he ceases to be a son of Sakya ; as the palm-tree cannot continue to grow when deprived of the branches that form its head.f

There are thirty-two subjects upon which the priests are forbidden to converse : — about kings, as to their array ; robbers, the royal guard, armies, narrations that cause fear, wars, harangues, food, drink, garments, vehicles, couches, garlands, perfumes, music, vil- lages, as to the pleasantness of their situation or otherwise ; towns, cities, provinces, relatives, women, intoxicating liquors, streets, khumbandas (imaginary beings of a most disgusting appearance), deceased relatives, wealth, the origin of the earth, the origin of the sea, the sayings of the sceptics, mental error, sensual enjoyments, and their own imaginations.]:

There are sixty-three charitas, influences, or states of the mind, of which the principal are raga, dwesa, and moha. 1. Raga, com- placency, pride, or evil desire. 2. Dwesa, anger, of which hatred is a component part. 3. Moha, unwiseness, ignorance of the truth. The manifestation of these principles is diversified, as seen in the conduct of different priests, according to, 1. The position of the body. 2. The work that is performed. 3. The manner of eating. 4. The objects that are seen. 5. The natural disposition or general conduct.

1. The position of the body. The priest who is under the in- fluence of the first principle, when he walks puts his foot down gently ; both his feet are put down and lifted up in an uniform manner, and they are gracefully bent when moved. The priest under the influence of the second seems to plough the ground with his feet, or to dig it ; he walks hurriedly, and lifts his foot with violence. The priest under the influence of the third has no uni- formity in his gait ; he puts his foot down as if he were doubtful or afraid, and walks as if he were fatigued. This is declared by Budha in the Magandhiya Sutra. In like manner, when the first priest sits down or reclines, it is done gently ; his feet and hands are put in the proper place, and he rises in a quiet manner. The second sits down quickly, and rises as if in displeasure. The third throws

himself down in any way, puts his hand and feet in any posture that suits his convenience for the moment, and when he rises it is as if with rehictance.

2. The work that is performed. The first priest, when he pre- pares to sweep any place, takes hold of the broom in a proper manner, neither too firmly nor too loosely, and sweeps evenly. The second seizes the broom with violence, sends the dust or sand here and there, and sweeps without any uniformity. The third holds the broom loosely, throws the dirt away carelessly, and does not sweep clean. It is the same with all other things. The first does them in the best manner, the second with a bang, and the third negligently. The first, as another instance, puts on his robe in such a manner that it appears round and full ; the second wraps it closely round his body ; and the third puts it on loosely.

3. The food that is eaten. The first priest likes food of a deli- clous flavour ; he makes the rice into neat round balls, and throws it into his mouth gently. The second likes sour things, or those that are highly seasoned ; he fills his mouth and eats in haste. The third has no partiality for any particular kind of food ; he lets it fall whilst he is eating, and throws it into his mouth without care.

4. The objects that are seen. The first priest, when he sees any common thing looks at it as if it was something wonderful ; if it is only good in a trifling degree, his attention is arrested ; he looks over any faults that there may be, and is loth to leave that which pleases him. The second, when he sees anything that is not pleas- ing, turns away from it at once. If there be only a trifling fault he is angry ; he does not acknowledge the good that there may be, and he turns away as if it was unworthy of his regard. The third looks at all things without manifesting any emotion ; if anything is depreciated he commends it, or if it is praised he commends it too.

5. The general conduct. The first priest does not see his own faults ; he boasts to others of things he does not possess ; he is deceptive, proud, and covetous ; he likes his bowl, robe, and per- son to appear to the best advantage. The second cannot endure the faults of another ; he seeks to destroy the good name of other priests, envies their prosperity, and goes about to injure their pos- sessions. The third goes on without diligence or care ; his mind

is in doubt ; he is never settled ; he is unwise, without discrimina- tion, and does not perceive error.

"When the priest who is under the influence of the first principle enters upon the exercise of the ordinances, it will be an advantage to him to reside in some place that has a dirty floor and clay walls, or under the shelter of a rock, or in a hut made with straw, or in some place that is covered with dust, defiled by birds, broken down, very high or very low, and altogether uncomfortable ; there should be no good water near it ; the road to it should be infested by wild beasts, and in bad order ; such furniture will be good for him as is covered with cobwebs and of a disagreeable appearance ; his robe should be torn at the end, threadbare, like a net, rough, heavy, and therefore difiicult to keep out of the dirt ; his alms-bowl should be of dirty clay, or pierced with nails, or of heavy iron, disgusting as a skull ; he should go to seek alms where there is a bad road, a great distance to go, the houses are far asunder, and the people difficult to find ; where the food will be given him by a low slave, and be made in a filthy manner, of inferior rice, with bad whey, toddy, or rotten fruit ; nor is it well for him to lie down, but to stand or walk about ; and his kasina-mandala (a magical circle that will afterwards be explained) should be made in some disagreeable form. By this means his pride or evil desire will be subdued.

The priest under the influence of dwesa should reside in a place that, on the contrary, is clean, pleasant, and beautiful, and where there are plenty of people ; his robe should be made of the cloth of China, Sochara, Kosala, or Kasi, or of fine cotton, or of goat's hair, light and graceful ; his bowl should be round as the bubble ; the village that he visits should neither be too near nor too distant ; nor is it good for him to sit or to lie down, but to stand or walk, and his kasina-mandala should be made in some agreeable form. By this means his anger or hatred will be subdued.

The priest under the influence of moha should reside in an open place, not surrounded by trees ; he should be where there are plenty of people ; it is good for him to walk, and his kasina-mandala should be the size of the brazen dish called teti ; not smaller. By this means his ignorance will be subdued.

There are three other states: — 1. Sardhaw-a, confidence. 2. Bodhi, Avisdom. 3. Witarka, reasoning. The priest who is under the influence of the first principle may be known by his being always cheerful ; he delights in hearing bana ; he docs not asso-

ciate with the worldling ; he does not hide his own faults ; and he seeks the assistance of the three gems. The priest under the in- fluence of the second is kind and tractable ; he eats his food slowly, and is thoughtful ; he avoids much sleep, and does not procras- tinate ; and he reflects on such subjects as impermanency and death. The priest under the influence of the third talks much ; he delights in being where there are many people ; his mind is never settled ; at night he thinks he will do this or that ; indeed he is always thinking ; but he does not try to do in the day what he had resolved upon at night, and his thoughts continually pass from one subject to another. Such a priest should reside in a place where the doors are thrown o^ien ; it is a disadvantage when there are people near him, or gardens, tanks, or green hills. It is therefore better for him to live in some such place as a cave, or in the midst of trees ; his thoughts must be restrained, or he will continually reason ; and his kasina-mandala must be small. ^'

In an inscription, cut about the year 262 in the rock near the temple of Mihintala, in Ceylon, the following passages occur : — " The resident priests at this wihara shall make it a constant practice to rise at the dawn, meditate on the four preservative principles, perform the ablution, and then, having attired them- selves with the robe, in the manner prescribed in the Sekhiya, they shall resort to the -^t wihara, and having there performed the re- ligious oflices, afterwards partake of rice-gruel and rice, and shall duly administer to the priests who could not attend on account of sickness, such things, at their respective cells, as the physicians had prescribed. . . . To the expounders of the Abhidharmma pitaka shall be assigned twelve cells ; to those who preach from the Sutra pitaka seven cells ; and to such of the resident priests as read the Winaya pitaka, five cells, with food and raiment. . . . All the lands that belong to this wihara shall, with the products thereof, be enjoyed by the priesthood in common, and shall not be subdivided and pos- sessed separately. . . . When orders are issued to the dej)endants or retainers, or when any of them are to be dismissed, it shall be with the concurrence of the whole community of priests, and not by the will of an individual. . . . Those who have services and offices allotted to them shall attend duly at their respective places, excepting those who may have gone on Avihara service to a distance ; those who have to attend at the place whei'e rice is issued, and at the place

where rice and gruel are prepared in the morning, will not be allowed to be absent. ... If the servants attached to the places where offer- ings are made embezzle or squander the offerings made thereat, laborious work shall be imposed upon tliem. . . . Those who have only assumed the yellow robe, but engage in traffic inconsistently therewith, and destroy life (by such occupations as the chase) shall not be permitted to dwell around the mount. . . . Throughout the domains of this wihara, neither palm-trees, nor mee-trees, nor any other fruit-bearing trees, shall be felled, even with the consent of the tenants. ... If a fault be committed by any of the cultivators, the adequate fine shall be assessed according to usage, and, in lieu thereof, the delinquents shall be directed to work at the lake, in making an excavation not exceeding sixteen cubits in circumference and one cubit in depth. If he refuse so to labour, the assessed fine shall be levied." *'

Not long previous to his death, Gotama Budha, in the city of Rajagaha, propounded unto Ananda various precepts, in sections of seven, which were declared to be imperishable. The first series was to the following effect: — The priests were enjoined to meet fre- quently (for the performance of religious ordinances), and to assem- ble in great numbers ; to rise from these meetings simultaneously, and simultaneously and unanimously discharge their sacerdotal duties ; to abstain from establishing that which has not been pre- scribed, from abrogating that which has been established, and to accept the precepts as they are laid down, and inculcate and main- tain them ; to support, reverence, respect, and obey the elders of the priesthood, of great experience, venerable by their ordina- tion, fathers of the community, and chiefs of the sacerdotal body, and to learn from them that which ought to be acquired ; to overcome the desires that cause the wish for regeneration in ano- ther mode of existence ; to delight to dwell in the wilderness, and to keep their minds embued with pious aspirations. It is declared that, as long as these precepts are observed, the designs of the priests must prosper, and cannot fail.

The priests were enjoined in the second series to abstain from excessive indulgence in allowable gratifications ; to abstain from unprofitable gossip ; to abstain from an indolent existence ; to avoid the omission of meeting together in chapters ; to shim the society of evil-doers ; to abstain from becoming the friends of the unwise ; and never to relinquish the pursuit of the rahatship.

In the Analysis of the Tibetan Kah-gyur, by Csoma Korosi, there are allusions to many of the observances of the priesthood, among which the following may be enumerated : — The observances are of a very comprehensive description, extending not only to moral and cere- monial duties, but to modes of personal deportment, and the different articles of food or attire. The precepts are interspersed with legen- dary accounts, explaining the occasion on which Sakya thought it necessary to communicate the instructions given. The order in which converts are received into the order of the priesthood, either by Sakya or his disciples, is particularized ; two presidents are ap- pointed, and five classes of teachers ordained ; the questions to be propounded are given, and the description of persons inadmissible from bodily imperfections or disease explained ; a variety of rules on the subject of admission is laid down; the behaviour of the person after admission is regulated ; the cases in which he should require the permission of his principal specified, and various moral obligations prescribed, particularly resignation and forbearance, when maltreated or reviled. No person is to be admitted except in full conclave, nor any one allowed to reside among the priests without ordination. Confession and expiation should be observed every new and full moon, in a public place and congregation, the ceremony being fully detailed. There are a number of precepts of a whimsical character, such as that a priest shall not wear wooden shoes, nor lay hold of a cow's tail in assisting himself to cross a river. There is a treatise on the subject of dress, particularly on the fitness of leather or hides for the shoes of the priests, and on the drugs and medicaments the priests are allowed to use or carry about. The priests are permitted to eat treacle, to cook for them- selves in time of famine, to cook in ten kinds of places, to eat meat under certain restrictions, and to accept gifts from the laity. They are to wear not more than three pieces of cloth, of a red colour, to wear cotton garments when bathing, to be clean in their dress and in their bedding, and never to go naked. Refractory or disputa- tious brethren are first to be admonished in the public congregation (of the priests), and if impenitent to be expelled from the com- munity.'^'

• Abstract of the Contents of the Dul-v^i, or first Portion of the K&h-gyiu-, from the Analysis of Mr. Alexander Csoma de Koros. By H. H. Wilson, Sec. A. S. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, No. 1, Jan. 1832.

In the commencement of Budhism there \vas an order of female recluses. The names they receive are generally equivalent to those that are given to the males, with a feminine termination ; but the name of priestess is applied to them less properly than that of priest to the men. In their case, as well as in that of the other sex, it is not an intact virginity that is lauded, but the future abandonment of sexual intercourse.

The first female admitted to profession was Maha Prajapati, the foster-mother of Gotama Budha. The wife of the sage, Yasodhara, and several other of his principal female relatives, abandoned the world at a subsequent period. It was stated upon the admission of the queen-mother that there were eight ordinances to which the priestesses would be required to attend. " Women are hasty," said Gotama ;'^ " they are given to quarrel, they exercise hatred, and are full of evil. If I exalt them to the principal places in this in- stitution, they will become more wilful than before ; they will despise my priests ; but unto them who act thus there can be no benefit from profession ; they cannot attain the paths (that lead to nirwana). There must therefore be eight ordinances of restraint, that they may be kept in, as the waters of the lake are kept in by the embankment. 1. The female recluse, though she be a hundred years old, when she sees a samanera novice, though he be only eight years old and just received, shall be obliged to rise from her seat when she perceives him in the distance ; go towards him, and offer him worship. 2. The female recluses shall not be permitted to go to any place at their pleasure. When they go to receive in- struction, they must retire at the conclusion of the service, and not remain in any place beyond their appointed limit. 3. Upon the day of every alternate poya festival they must go to the priest and request to be instructed. 4. At the end of the performance of wass they must join with the priests to conclude the ceremony. 5. Any female who wishes to perform the act of meditation called wap may be allowed to retire for the purpose during the period of two poyas, or fifteen days, but not for a longer time. 6. When any female recluse wishes to become upasampada, and receive the superior profession, she must previously exercise herself in all things that

are appointed, for the space of two years, and at the end of this period must receive the privilege in a chapter composed of the pro- fessed of both sexes. 7. The female recluse is not to speak to the priest in terms of disparagement or abuse. 8. She must not be allowed to teach the priest, but must herself listen to the instruc- tion he gives, and obey his commands. These eight ordinances are enjoined upon all the female recluses who would receive pro- fession in this institute, and are to be observed continually until the day of their death." The better sex is not treated with much re- spect by Budhist writers. One sentence will be sufficient to show this : — Matu gamo namo papo.* " That which is named woman is sin ;" i. e. she is not vicious, but vice. Upon another occasion Gotama said, " Any woman whatever, if she have a proper oppor- tunity, and can do it in secret, and be enticed thereto, will do that which is wrong, however ugly the paramour may be ; nay, should he be even without hands and without feet." But in order to show that this declaration is not true, the king of Sagal, in one of his conversations with Nagasena, repeated the instance of a woman, Amara, who, though a thousand times solicited by a man whose appearance was like that of a king, in a place where there was no second person to see what was done, resisted his entreaties, and kept herself pure. Nagasena replied, that the declaration of Budha was made when relating the crime committed in a former age by the queen Kinnara, who secretly stole away from the palace when the king slept, and committed sin with a man whose hands and feet had been cut off, and who was ugly as a preta sprite. " And think you," said the priest, " that if Amara had met with a proper oppor- tunity she would not have done the same ? This opportunity was not presented ; she was afraid of others, and of the sorrow she must have endured in the world to come ; she knew the severity of th0 punishment she would have to receive for such a sin ; she was un-' willing to do anything against the husband whom she loved ; she ; respected that which is good and pure ; she abhorred that which is mean ; she was a faithful and virtuous wife ; and all these things (with many others of a similar kind) took from her the opportunity of doing wrong. She might have been seen by men ; if not seen by men, she might have been seen by the preta sprites, or by the priests who have divine eyes, or by the pretas that know the

thoughts of others ; or, if unseen by any of these, she could not have hid herself from her own sin and its consequences ; and it was by these causes she was prevented from doing wrong." This was a curious mode of confirming the declaration of Budha ; but it un- folds before us the Budhistical motives for resisting sin.

In the works I have read there are few allusions to the female recluses, and it is probable that this part of the system, from being found to be connected with so many evils, was gradually discon- tinued. The priestesses carried the alms-bowl from door to door, in the same manner as the priests, and are represented as being present at the meetings of the sangha, or chapter. They could only be admitted to the order by a chapter composed entirely of females. The convents were in some instances contiguous to the residences of the priests ; but the intercourse between members of the two orders was guarded by many restrictions. To violate a priestess involves expulsion from the priesthood, without the possibility of restoration.

Clemens Alexandrinus, in his account of the eastern ascetics, notices the virgins called "Lefivcu. In one of the caves of Ajunta there is painted a female worshipper of Budha, in the act of teach- ing, surrounded by a group of smaller figures who are attentively listening, one of whom is supposed to be a Brahman. There are at present no female recluses in Ceylon. It is said by Robert Knox that, at the period of his captivity, the ladies of Kandy were accus- tomed to beg for Budha. " The greatest ladies of all," he says, " do not go themselves, but send their maids, dressed up finely, in their stead. These women, taking the image along with them, carry it upon the palms of their hands, covered with a piece of white cloth ; and so go to men's houses, and will say. We come a begging of your charity for the Budha, towards his sacrifice. And the people are very liberal ; they give only of three (four ?) things to him ; either oil for his lam^i, or rice for his sacrifice, or money, or cotton yarn for his use." Occasionally, in more recent times, a female has been known to shave her head and put on a white gar- ment ; but these instances are rare.

The priestesses or nuns, in Burma, are called Thilashen : they are far less numerous than the priests. The greater part of them are old women ; but there are also some that are young, who, how- ever, forsake the sisterhood as soon as they can procure husbands. The Burman nuns shave the head, and wear a garment of a parti-

cular form, generally of a white colour. They live in humble dwel- lings, close to the monasteries, and make a vow to remain chaste so long as they continue in the order ; but they may quit it when- ever they please. Any breach of their vow is punished by their secular chief. The profession of a nun is not much respected by the people, and in general may be looked upon as only a more re- spectable mode of begging. They openly ask for alms in the public markets, contrary to the custom of the priests, who only " expect charity." There are a few recluses of a more respectable class, commonly widows, who have funds of their own, or are supported by their relatives.*' The nuns in Siam are less numerous than in Burma.

The nuns in Arrakan are said to be equally common with the priests : they either reside in convents, or live separately in some house constructed near a temple, superintending the offerings, and leading a life of religious abstinence. The greater part have re- mained in continence from their youth ; others have retired from the world at a more advanced age, and in some instances after mar- riage ; but only when that marriage has not been productive of children. Their dress is similar to that of the priests, and their discipline in every other respect alike. The may-thee-laying are an inferior order, wearing white dresses, and having their heads shaven. They live in convents of their own, and their discipline is less severe than that imposed upon the priests, as their know- ledge of the doctrines of the faith is less extensive. f

In China the nuns are said, by Bishop Smith, to be generally women of coarse manners and unprepossessing appearance. Their dress is very like that of the priests, their heads being entirely shaven, and their principal garment consisting of a loose flowing robe. An abbess whom he saw wore a black silk cap over her crown, in the centre of Avhich was a hole, through which her bare head w^as perceptible.]:

Frequent mention is made by travellers of the worship of the Queen of Heaven by the Budhists of China. It appears that her name is Tien-how, and that she is equally venerated by Confucians and Budhists. According to the legend she was a native of the province of Fokien, in early life distinguished for her devotion and

celibacy.* It was in the thirteenth century, under the Soong dynasty, that she became deified ; and though her worship is not inconsistent with the principles of Eudhism, she was of course un- known to its earlier teachers.

The eight ordinances of restraint enforced by Gotama, as above, are enumerated by Remusat as being known to the Chinese, with slight variations. f There are also eight sins and eight acts that are mentioned by him as demonstrating, when committed, that the female recluse has abandoned the precepts of Budha, and deserves to be shunned by all. The acts are, to hold the hands of a man with an evil intention, to touch his dress, to be with him in a re- tired place, to sit with him, to converse with him, to walk with him, to lean upon him, and to give him a meeting.

Among the followers of Pythagoras there was an order of females, the charge of which was given to his daughter. The Druids ad- mitted females into their sacred order, and initiated them into the mysteries of their religion. The priestesses of the Saxon Frigga, who were usually king's daughters, devoted themselves to perjoetual virginity. At an early period of the church, virginity began to be unduly exalted, and in nearly all places there were females who, though not recluses, were regarded as possessing a virtue more ex- cellent than that which fell to the portion of the other members of the Christian politj'. At first admired, they were then looked upon as being super-human, and at last as being super- angelic, inasmuch as they continued in this state from choice, and were enabled to retain their purity by the reception of special grace, whilst the angels were chaste from the necessity of their original constitution. When in the church they were separated from the rest of the wor- shippers by a partition, probably similar to the lattice-work screen that is now used to separate the women from the men in the eastern churches and the synagogues of the Jews ; and sentences of Scrip- ture were painted upon the walls for their instruction. But they resided with their relations at home, convents being then unknown ; and, from the cautions that were given to them by the fathers, we may infer that they were not always willing " to see the stir of the great Babel," without sometimes " feeling the crowd." We have evidence that their situation, as well as that of other females, re- ceived the anxious attention of the rulers of the church, from the number of works upon this subject still extant, that were written

• Davis's Chinese. t Rcmusat's Relation.

at the period preceding the disruption of the Roman empire, when the last generations of a mighty nation revelled in the undisturbed enjoyment of the luxuries transmitted from their more energetic ancestors, and the votaries of pleasure were hurried on towards the goal of eternity amidst scenes of revelry that, in the rapidity of their succession, the seductiveness of their character, and the magnifi- cence of their preparation, will probably have no parallel so long as the world shall endure. By Tertullian were written : De Cultu Foeminarum ; Ad Uxorem ; De Virginibus Velandis. By Cyprian : De Disciplina et Habitu Virginum. By Ambrose : De Virginibus ; De Virginis Institutione ; De Hortatione ad Virginitatem ; and, doubtful, De Virginis Forma Vivendi ; De Virginis Lapsu. By Chrysostom : Quod Regulares Foeminae Viris cohabitare non de- bent ; In Eos qui Sorores adoptivas habent ; De Virginitate ; Ad Viduam juniorem. By Gregory Nyssen : De Virginitate vera et in- corrupta."'-' And these works were in addition to many allusions to the same subjects in their letters, homilies, and other writings. The " canonical virgins" and " virgins of the church," are recog- nized by Tertullian and Cyprian ; and in the fourth century mo- nastic establishments for females were introduced. They were also called ascetriae, monastriae, castimoniales, sanctimoniales, and nonnae. The inmates were not obliged to remain for life in this seclusion, and in certain cases were permitted to retract their vows ; but they could not return to the world without exposing themselves to great scandal. It was said of them (Hieron. Ep. 97) " ut aut nubant, si se non possunt continere ; aut contineant, si nolunt nubere." Monks or nuns might profess their obedience to a par- ticular monastic rule in the hands of an abbot or abbess ; but the consecration of a virgin was reserved expressly for the bishop. We learn from Ambrose (De Virg. Inst.) that when a virgin was professed she presented herself before the altar, when the bishop preached to her, and gave her the veil which distinguished her from other virgins ; but her hair was not cut off as in the case of monks. In many instances the nunnery afforded a secure retreat to the un- protected female from the violence of the monsters in human shape who then almost every where abounded.

In some instances, monks and nuns resided in the same convent. It is said in Tanner's Notitia Monastica that, after the Conquest, it was usual for the great abbies to build nunneries upon some of their

manors, which should be priories to them, and subject to their visi- tation. In some instances the nunneries belonged to a different order from the house to which they were subject; as at Shouldham, where the canons observed the rule of Augustine, whilst the nuns were under that of Benedict. Lingard says that, during the first two centuries after the conversion of our ancestors, nearly all nun- neries were built upon the principle of those attached to Fonte- vrault, which contained both monks and nuns under the government of an abbess, the men being subject to the women. The abbey of St. Hilda, at Whitby, was of this kind. In one part was a sister- hood of nuns, and in another a confraternity of monks, both of whom obeyed the authority of the abbess. " There were two mo- nasteries at Wimborne," says Ralph of Fulda, who wrote the life of St. Lioba, " formerly erected by the kings of the country, sur- rounded with strong and lofty walls, and endowed with competent revenues. Of those, one was designed for clerks, the other for females ; but neither (for such was the law of their foundation) was ever entered by any individual of the other sex. No woman could obtain permission to come into the monastery of the men ; nor could the men come into the convent of the women, with the exception of the priests who entered to celebrate mass, and withdrew the mo- ment the service was over.""' The princess Bridget, of Sweden, built a monastery in which she placed sixty nuns, and, in a sepa- rate enclosure, thirteen priests, four deacons, and eight lay-brothers. The men were subject to the prioress in temporals ; but in spiri- tuals the women were under the jurisdiction of the friars, as the order was instituted principally for the women, and the m.en were only admitted to render them spiritual assistance. The convents were separated by an enclosure ; but so near, that both classes made use of the same church, in which the nuns kejit choir above in a doxal, and the men underneath, without their being able to see each other. Sion House, near London, was the only monastery of this order in England. f

In Italy there are orders, as of the Collatines, or Oblates, the members of which reside in a monastery, but make no vows except a promise of obedience. They can go abroad, inherit property, and the restrictions under Avhich they arc placed are few. Some abbies of this description are said to be filled by ladies of rank.

The Budhas, the sacred books, and the priesthood, are regarded as the three most precious gems. They are all associated in the threefold formulary repeated by the Budhist when he names, as an act of worship, the triad to which he looks as the object of his con- fidence and his refuge. There is thus among the Budhists the same reverence paid to the number three, that we witness in nearly all ancient systems, as in the Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva of the Brahmans ; the Amoun-ra, Amoun-neu, and Sevek-ra of the Egyptians ; and the Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto of the Greeks and Romans.

The importance of the possession of a written code, regarded as having been given by inspiration, may be seen in the fact that no system of religion has yet become extinct that has presented a record of this description. However absurd the document may be in itself, or however unintelligible the style in which it is writ- ten, it has appeared as the palladium of the system it contains. Hence the missionaries to the east have a difficulty to contend with that was not presented to the early messengers of the cross in any of the countries where they principally laboured. But from the same cause the priests of India are encumbered by weapons that maybe wrested from their hands, and used to their own destruction. When it is clearly proved to them that their venerated records con- tain absurdities and contradictions, they must of necessity conclude that their origin cannot have been divine ; and the foundation of the systems being once shaken, the whole mass must speedily fall, leaving only the unsightly ruin, as a monument of man's folly, when he endeavours to form a religion from the feculence of his own cor- rupt heart, or the fancies of his own perverted imagination. And there is another thought that must not be forgotten. Whenever the Scriptures have been translated into any language, from that time there have always been individuals speaking that language who have believed in the truths they contain, so long as the dialect has continued in use as a vernacular medium of intercourse.

In our notice of the sacred books of the Budhists we propose to consider : — 1. Their names and divisions. 2. The history of their transmission. 3. The honours they receive and the benefits they confer in return.

is called Dhammo, or in Singhalese, Dharmma. This word has various meanings, but is here to be understood in the sense of truth. It is not unfrequently translated " the law," but this interpre- tation gives an idea contrary to the entire genius of Budhism. The

'(iDharmma is therefore emphatically, the truth. In common conver- sation this venerated compilation is called the Bana ; the books in which it is written are called bana-pot ; and the erection in which it is preached or explained is called the bana-maduwa. The word bana means literally the word ; from the root bana, or wana, to sound. In the names that have been given by different religionists to their sacred books there is a considerable similarity of meaning, which is generally marked by simplicity. Thus, we have the Scrip- tures, or the writings ; the law, torah, from the root torah, instruc tion ; the Talmud, from the root lamad, to learn ; the Gemara, from a root of similar meaning, gamar, to learn ; the Mishna, from the root shamah, to repeat ; the Koran, from the root karaa, to read ; the Zand Avasta, from zand, the Persian language, and avasta, word ; and the Veda, from vida, to know. The different portions of the Dharmma, when collected together, were divided into two principal classes, called Suttani and Abhidhammani. These two classes are again divided into three collections, called respectively v;\in Singhalese : — 1. Winaya, or discipline. 2. Sutra, or discourses.

\\S. Abhidharmma, or pre- eminent truths. The three collections, as

'already intimated (page 1), are called in Pali, Pitakattayan, from pita- kan, a chest or basket, and tayo, three ; or in Singhalese, Tunpitaka. A Glossary and a Commentary on the whole of the Pitakas were written by Budhagosha, about the year A. D. 420. They are called in Pali, Atthakatha, or in Singhalese, Atuwaw^a. The Rev. D. J. Gogcrly has in his possession a copy of the whole of the sacred text, " and the principal of the ancient cgmments, which, however, form but a small portion of the comments that may exist." As this gentleman resided in 1835, and some subsequent years, at Dondra, near which place the most learned of the priests in the maritime provinces in Ceylon are found, he had admirable facilities for securing a correct copy of the Pitakas. Mr. Tumour states that the Pali version of the three Pitakas consists of about 4,500 leaves, which w^ould constitute seven or eight volumes of the ordi- nary size, though the various sections are bound up in different forms for the convenience of reference.

It is said to be the life of the religion of Budha, as where discijillne is at an end, religion is at an end. It is divided into five books : — 1. Parajika. 2. Pachiti. 3. Maha Waggo, or Maha Waga. 4. Chula Waggo, or Chula Waga. 5. Pariwara Pata. " The Para- jika and Pachiti contain the criminal code ; the Maha Waggo and Chula Waggo the ecclesiastical and civil code ; and the Pariwara Pata is a recapitulation and elucidation of the preceding books, in a kind of catechetical form."

This Pitaka contains 169 banawaras, which appear to resemble the sidarim into which the books of the Old Testament were divided by the Jews, being the portion read in the synagogue upon one Sabbath day. The first sixty-four banawaras constitute the Bhik- khuni-wibhango ; the next eighty, the Maha Waggo ; and the last twenty-five, the Pariwara Pata. As each banawara contains 250 stanzas, called gathas or granthas, composed of four padas, or thirty-two syllables, in this Pitaka there must be 42,250 stanzas. The Commentary on it, called Samantapasadika, contains 27,000 stanzas. Thus, in the whole of the Winaya Pitaka, including the text and the comment, there are 69,250 stanzas.

The Parajika occupies 191 leaves; the Pachiti 154; the Maha Waggo 199 ; the Chula Waggo 196 ; and the Pariwara Pata 146 ; each page containing about nine lines, and averaging 1 foot 9 inches in length.

2. The Sutra Pitaka contains seven sections. It is said in the commentary called Sumangala Wilasini, as translated by Turnour, that the Suttan is so called " from its precise definition of right ; from its exquisite tenor, from its collective excellence, as well as from its overflowing richness ; from its protecting (the good), and from its dividing as with a line (or thread)." For each of these epithets various reasons are given. It is said to overflow, " because it is like unto the milk streaming from the cow." It is like a line, " because as the line (suttan) is a mark of definition to carpenters, so is this suttan a rule of conduct to the wise." In the same way that flowers strung together upon a thread, or line, are neither scattered nor lost, " so are the precepts which are contained herein united by this (suttan) line." The seven sections, called sangis, are as follows: — 1. The Dighanikayo, or Dik-sangi, written upon 292 leaves, with eight lines on each page, and 1 foot 10 inches long. It contains three warggas, Silaskhanda, Maha, and Pati, and has 64 banawaras, or 16,000 stanzas, including 34 sutras of greater

length (digha, long) than the rest, the first being the Brahmajala- sutra. 2. The Majjhima-nikayo, or Mcdum-sangi, written upon 432 leaves, with eight and nine lines on each page, and 1 foot 1 1 inches long. It contains three pannasas, Mula, Majjhima, and Upari, and has 15 warggas, including 80 banawaras, 152 sutras, of moderate (majjhima, middle) length, and 21,250 stanzas. 3. The Sanyutta-nikayo, or Sanyut-sangi, written upon 351 leaves, with eight and nine lines on each page, and 2 feet 2 inches long. It contains five warggas, Sata, Nidhana, Skhanda, Salayatana, and Maha. It has 100 banawaras, 7,762 sutras, classed (sanyutta) under different heads, and 25,000 stanzas. 4. The Anguttara- nikayo, or Angotra-sangi, written upon 654 leaves, with eight or nine lines on each page, and 1 foot 10 inches long. It has six nipatas, Tika, Chatuska, Panchaka, Chasattaka, Atthanawaka, and Dasa-ekadasa ; and it has also 120 banawaras, 9,557 sutras, in different classes (anga, members), and 44,250 stanzas. 5. The Khudaka-nikayo, or Khudugot-sangi, contains 15 books, some of which are in the form of sermons, and has 44,250 stanzas : — (1.) The Khudapatan, written upon four leaves, with eight lines on each page, and 2 feet 4 inches long. (2.) The Dhammapadan, or Dam- piyawa, the Paths of Religion, written upon 15 leaves, with nine lines on each page, and 1 foot 8 inches long. It contains 423 gathas, which appear to have been spoken on various occasions, and afterwards collected into one volume. Several of the chapters have been translated by Mr. Gogerly, and appear in the Friend, vol. iv. 1840. The Singhalese paraphrase of the Paths, is regarded by the people as one of their most excellent works, as it treats upon \1 moral subjects, delivered for the most part in aphorisms, the mode ■ of instruction that is most popv^lar among all nations that have few books at their command, and have to trust in a great degree to memory for their stores of knowledge. A collection might be made from the precepts of this work, that in the purity of its ethics could scarcely be equalled from any other heathen author. (3.) The Udanan, written upon 48 leaves, with nine lines on each page, and 3 feet long. It contains compilations from other parts of Budha's discourses. (4.) The Itti-attakan, written upon 31 leaves, with eight lines on each page, and 1 foot 9 inches long. (5.) The Sutta- nipatan, written upon 40 leaves, with nine lines on each page, and 2 feet long. (6.) The Wimana-watthu, written upon 158 leaves, with seven and eight lines on each page, and 1 foot 9 inches long. (7.) The Peta-watthu, written upon 142 leaves, with eight and nine

lines on each page, and 1 foot 8 inches long. (8.) The Thera-gatha, written upon 43 leaves, with nine lines on each page, and 2 feet 4 inches long, contains instructions to the priests. (9.) The Theri- gatha, written upon 110 leaves, with eight lines on each page, and

I foot 7 inches long, contains instructions to the priestesses. (10.) The Jatakan, containing an accoimt of 550 births of the Bodhisat who afterwards became Gotama Budha. The text and commentary- are blended into one narrative, in which form it is written upon 900 leaves. (H-) The Niddeso (of the size of which I have not met with any account). (12.) The Pathisambhidan, or Pratisambhidawa^ written upon 220 leaves, with eight lines on each page, and 1 foot

II inches long. (13.) The Apadanan, written upon 196 leaves, with ten lines on each page, and 2 feet long. (14.) The Budha-wanso, written upon 37 leaves, with eight lines on each page, and 2 feet long. (15.) The Chariya-pitako, written upon 10 leaves, with eight lines on each page, and 3 feet long.

It is said in the Sadharmmalankare that the whole of the five sangis contain 142,250 stanzas ; but this does not agree with the separate numbers as stated in the same work. The commentary contains 254,250 stanzas. Hence the whole of the Sutra-pitaka, including both the text and commentary, contains 396,500 stanzas.

3. The Abhidharmma-pitaka was addressed by Budha to the dewas and brahmas. " The books are not in the form of sermons, but specify terms and doctrines with them, with definitions and ex- planations." It contains seven sections. 1. The Dhammasangani, written upon 72 leaves. 2. The Wibhanga, written upon 130 leaves. 3. The Katha-watthu, written upon 151 leaves. 4. The Puggalan, or Pudgala-pragnyapti, written upon 28 leaves. 5. The Dhatu, written upon 31 leaves. 6. The Yamakan written upon 131 leaves. 7. The Patthanan, written upon 170 leaves. The whole of these leaves are 2 feet 4 inches long, and average about nine lines on each page.

The text contains 96,250 stanzas, and in the commentaries Arthasaliniya, Sammowinodana, and Sattaka, there are 30,000; so that in the whole of the Abhidharmma-pitaka, including both the text and commentary, there are 126,250 stanzas,*

• For the names of the books, their divisions and their size, I am indebted to Turnour, and for the character of their contents to Gogerly, see Tumour's Mahawanso ; Timiour's Examination of the Pali Budhistical Amials, Joiu-nal Bengal As. Soc. July 1837 ; Gogerly's Essay on Budliism, Jom-nal Ceylon Branch Royal As. Soc. vol. I. part i. The other parts of the information contained in this section are taken fiom the Smghalese Sadharnunalankarc,

From the above statements it will be seen that whilst the com- mentary on the Winaya and Abhidharmma Pitakas is smaller, that on the Sutra Pitaka is much larger, than the text.

The Atthakatha, Atuwawas, or commentaries, as well as the text of the Pitakas, were defined and authenticated at a convocation (to the history of which we shall presently refer), and repeated at a j second and third, without any alteration, except that an account of ,' the previous convocations was added. When Mahindo, son of the / monarch Asoka, introduced the religion of Budha into Ceylon, he carried thither in his memory the whole of the commentaries, and translated them into Singhalese. By Budhagosha, about a.d. 420, they were again translated from Singhalese into Pali ; and it is this version alone that is now in existence, the original Pali version and the translation into Singhalese having alike perished. These com- mentaries are therefore more recent than the text ; and from the slight opportunities I have had of ascertaining their contents, I should infer that they abound much more with details of miraculous interposition than the Pitakas that they profess to explain. It is said in the Mahawanso, cap. xxxvii, that " all the theros and acha- riyos (preceptors) held this compilation in the same estimation as the original text." Not long ago, this was also acknowledged by the priesthood of