four orders; bhikshu, or mendicants; sráwaka, 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 zaradó, who resides in the capital.† It has been doubted whether Budhism allows of any such distinction 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 signification, or when that signification has not been authoritatively defined, are inconclusive. Thus the word clergy, though we allow that it is derived from λŋpos, 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 πрɛσßurepos, 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 iɛpevç of the Greeks, the 1 of the Hebrews, or the minister of any other religion; and its signification 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 instructing 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 connected with practical instruction. The sramanas of Budha unite Hodgson's Illustrations of the Literature and Religion of the Buddhists: Serampore, 1841. + Sangarmano's Burmese Empire: Rome, 1833. 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 discountenanced, 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 pertaining 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 ceremonies 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 Conc. 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 (Conc. 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 renounced 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 appointment 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 possible between himself and his supporters, by convincing them that whilst he received from them the temporal aid that he needed they were 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 economy 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 unknown. There is undoubtedly a great difference between the sramana and the grahapati; the receiver of alms, who by that reception confers merit, and the giver of alms, who by that gift expects to gain merit the man who lives (to use a distinction of Pythagoras) ὑπερ φυσιν, above nature, and him who lives κατα φυσιν, 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 operatum; 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 upon himself the more arduous practices of the ascetic, he would be enabled to attain a reward that was worthy of his ambition. 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 imparts 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 Budhism 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 nirwána. This may be learnt from a conversation that took place between the king of Ságal and Nágaséna. One day, when Milinda was reclining upon his royal couch, reflecting upon religious subjects, he wondered how it was that, if householders could enter the paths leading to nirwána, any one should take the trouble to observe the Thirteen Ordinances, the practice of which is so exceedingly difficult; and he therefore went to Nágaséna, that his doubts upon the subject might be removed. "Can the householder," said he, "attain nirwána; he whose mind is occupied by (panchakáma) that which is apparent to the five senses; who lives in a fixed habitation, procreates children, enjoys possessions, uses ointments and perfumes, receives money, and puts on the crown adorned with jewels and gold?" Nágaséna replied, "Not only one hundred but myriads of householders have attained nirwana. But as to the Thirteen Ordinances, it is a subject 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 upásakas, both male and female, who entered the paths, of whom 356,000 entered the third path; and at other places, when Budha preached different sútras, countless companies of men and déwas received the same privilege, all of whom were gihi, householders, and not prawarjita, 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; when 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 householder, who enjoys worldly possessions, can also enjoy the prospect of nirwána, of what benefit are the Thirteen Ordinances? Nágaséna :-" The Budhas have set forth twenty-eight advantages as connected with the observance of these rites: such as fearlessness, 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, respect for the precepts, equanimity, &c. 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 learning the science of archery in the hall of instruction and becoming |