quarter of one, or even the value of a mása; 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 possessions. That which is given to the general fund is not to be appropriated 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 wihára shall be enjoyed by the priesthood in common, and not divided into separate parcels. We learn 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 entitled to receive them, the rest of the revenues proceeding from the lands belonging to the wihára 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

*Turnour's Examination of the Pali Budhistical Annals: Journ. Bengal As. Soc. Sept. 1837.

thirteenth century are said to have had in their hands 28,000 out of the 53,000 knights' fees connected with the landed property of the realm. Though the monarch of Ceylon was considered to have been originally the sole possessor of the soil, there were 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. They 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 received, certain services would be promised on the part of the individual who presented the gift, as it would be understood that his family was to retain possession of the lands, though the proprietorship 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 occasionally 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 which 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 (wiháras) 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 possessions of the temples constitute a large proportion of the cultivated 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 occupier of each allotment of land has a special duty assigned to him, or a special contribution to make, either for the repairs of the temples, 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 intended at the commencement of their order by Gótama 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. Colebrooke, 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 intrinsic value, they 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.

VIII. MENDICANCY.

The priest of Budha is not allowed to bring within 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 procure 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 permission 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 woman returned, she said that she had not succeeded in obtaining any rice. The priest replied, "It is not a fortunate day for the priesthood; I have seen an omen." She asked what it was; 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 inference; 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 góchara and the latter agóchara. 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

* Wisudhi Margga Sanné.