In some Budhistical countries there has been a similar departure from propriety; 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 worn 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 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 governor 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 was 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.

We have many proofs that among the ancients the use of ornaments, garlands, perfumes, and unguents was carried to an extravagant 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 brahmachári, 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 Véda, 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 consisted 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 substances 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, Gótama may have had in view the evils connected with a multiplicity of dresses. The Talmud enumerates eighteen several garments that belonged to the clothing of

the Jews.

Kitto's Cyclopedia, art. Perfume.

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 observed upon the subject of dress, that distinguishes the sacred record from all other writings. 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 oppressive to the wearer, or make him an object of ridicule to the world. "I will," says the apostle Paul, "that women adorn themselves 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 corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price."-1 Peter iii. 4.

XIII. THE RESIDENCE.

Neither in the ten obligations binding upon the priest of Budha, nor in the precepts of the Pátimokkhan, is a residence in the forest insisted upon as a necessary privation. Gótama Budha, and the priests by whom he was usually accompanied, resided in wiháras. Nevertheless, the importance of a complete abandonment of all the conveniences of social life is frequently inculcated 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 umbrageous canopy of a tree. The usual name by which the laic is designated 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 wihára is now more generally used of the place where worship is conducted; whilst the dwelling of the priest is called a pansala, from pan, leaves, and sala, a dwelling, or a place to

K

which any one is accustomed to resort, from a root which signifies

to go.

In the age of Gótama, 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 suffering, 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 purpose, 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 temptations 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 producing any pernicious consequence beyond the personal limit of the ascetic.

The apparent contradiction between the command given to the people to build wiháras, and the advice given to the priests to dwell in solitude, did not escape the notice of Milinda. The reply of Nágaséna, 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 cats 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 wiháras 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 nirwána. 2. When wiháras 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 Sumédha 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 numerous. 5. It causes the body to become tender. 6. It affords 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 impermanences. 4. It does not cause any covetous thought. 5. It does not afford any opportunity for evil deeds. 6. It is not received from another. 7. It is the residence of déwas. 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.*

course.

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 wihára of Thúpáráma, near Anuradhapura. One of them afterwards went to the forest of Pachinákandarája, 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 When the day dawned, after his arrival at the wihára, 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 supposed 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 wihára 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 * Pújáwaliya.