and therefore all communion with it must be more or less connected with sin.

But, although the principal ascetics of heathendom and heresy have now passed under our review, all their mortifications and abstractions appear to be feeble and effete, when compared with the manifestations of the same principle that are seen among the myriads of India. The system towered to the loftiest height in the place of its birth; and it was here that it assumed the most formidable majesty and exercised the most extended influence.

There is in all men a yearning after something that is beyond the limits of the visible world; and although this feeling may too generally be overpowered by the pressure of toil and the strife of passion, there are times when the solemn thought will present itself that a higher destiny is intended for man than that which he now inherits. By some minds, a divinity is communicated to the simplest objects of creation; and a. pebble, a flower, a cloud, or a rill, becomes an instrument of music from which are sent forth strains of sweet harmony or lofty measure: this type of mind forms the poet. In other minds there is dissatisfaction with the common affairs of life, a moodiness which scowls at all that is connected with refinement and luxury, and would turn away from the sight of the brightest gem that ever adorned a coronet to contemplate the lack-lustre sockets of a skull: this type forms the recluse. By other minds the attention is directed to voices unheard by the busy multitude; they realise the objective presence of some superior intelligence, to whose influence they implicitly resign themselves, or they lose their own consciousness in the mute contemplation of its more glorious attributes: this type forms the mystic. And there are other minds that seek only to dive into the mysteries of the future, or to gain possession of miraculous energies, either by an increase of their own inherent powers or by allying themselves with the spirits of other spheres: this type forms the soothsayer and the magician.

All these types of mind are united in the recluse of India; but he has thoughts and sympathies that are peculiar to his own order. When he would become a poet, he makes his pebble into a mountain and his rill into a sea; when a recluse, he rejects not only the pleasures of earth, but the enjoyments of heaven; when a mystic, he would lose his very being, as well as his consciousness; and

when a soothsayer or a magician, he invokes not the aid of other intelligences, as he can stretch forth his hand and the universe becomes plastic to his touch, and he can summons eternity to present itself to his vision. Though the thoughts he loves best to cherish are vast even to utter extravagance, he allows not the tranquillity of his mind to be ruffled by their presence; in its inner depths his spirit is still placid; thus resembling rather the thick-ribbed ice of the lake, which the rock that has toppled from the summit of the overhanging mountain cannot move, than its limped water that the gentlest breeze will ripple. Hence, when he would assume to himself a supernatural power, he utters no spell; he seeks no voice of incantation; he asks for no mystic strain from the minstrel's harp. A clod of earth or a basin of water, and deep silence, are all that he requires to enable him to work the mightiest miracles. Even these simple signs can be dispensed with, when he proceeds to the higher stages of the exercise. In the twenty-second chapter of the Vishnu Purána we have a representation of one mode of dhyána, in which the conception of a thing is attempted to be rendered more definite by thinking upon its types; or in which, at least, the thoughts are more readily concentrated by being addressed to a sensible emblem instead of an abstract truth. Thus the yogi says to himself, "I meditate upon the jewel on Vishnu's brow, as the soul of the world; upon the gem on his breast, as the first principle of all things," and so on: and thus through a perceptible substance proceeds to an imperceptible idea.* But the rahat only needs the emblem in the preparatory rite; when once he has received an inner evidence that the power he seeks is gained, he can ever afterwards exercise it by an act of volition, without any supernumerary aid.

The entrance of the spirit of asceticism into the Christian church was affected at an early period. Its progress was at first slow. Those who have seen the approach of the lion know well that every limb of the animal's body, and almost every hair, seems to be instinct with a separate life, the object of which is, to deprive its advance of all appearance of motion; and then there is the bound, the seizure, and the conquest absolute. Thus stealthy, and thus fatal, was the approach of the ascetic spirit; and it was this that enabled it to gain a hold so mighty upon the early professors of the

*Wilson's Vishnu Purána.

faith. Satan became transformed into a sylph of light, very beautiful in appearance, and too diminutive to be supposed capable of working harm. By this means the capitol had been taken before the enemy was discovered; and the principle in question was too congenial to human nature to allow of any prolonged resistance when its evils became apparent.

At an after period, when the advocates of the system were called upon to defend it from the attacks of its opponents, precedents were sought in the Scriptures. Jerome (Ep. 49) cited Elias and John the Baptist as the fathers of monachism, and referred to the sons of the prophets, who dwelt in the fields and solitudes, and "erected for themselves tabernacles near the Jordan; and also to the Rechabites, "who drank no wine nor strong drink, and dwelt in tents." It was supposed, from a misconstruction of Exod. xiii. 2, that the first-born who were sanctified to the Lord embraced perpetual virginity, and that Mary was one of the temple virgins thus consecrated. The Carmelites were so specific in their assertions as to maintain that Elias was the first of their own order, and that he was called "bald-head" because he had adopted the tonsure. By some writers it was argued that there was a regular succession of hermits upon mount Carmel from the sons of the prophets to the time of Christ; and that these hermits, having at an early period embraced Christianity, continued the succession to the twelfth century, when the order was introduced into Europe. The community of goods, for a time adopted by the apostolic converts, was adduced in defence of another branch of their peculiarities.

As the ascetic principle is universally prevalent in the heart of man, and requires scarcely any encouragement to call it forth to activity, it is in vain to enquire how it arose in the church of Christ, or in what form it was first manifested. There are many virtues essential to the evangelic life, that, if carried to excess or perverted from their original intention, would each do something towards the advancement of this specious delusion. Of this kind are humility, the non-resistance of injuries, chastity, fasting, prayer, almsgiving, abstraction from the world, and communion with God. There is not one of these graces that the recluse does not imagine he fulfils in a better manner than other men; and upon this he founds his claim to superiority of holiness upon earth, and to a greater degree of glory throughout eternity.

The high estimation in which celibacy was held by many mem

bers of the primitive church was probably of spontaneous origin. It would at first be commended by those pastors of the church in whom there had been a departure from the simple doctrines of the gospel, as enunciated by the apostle Paul, Rom. iii. 38. Among those who listened to their instructions would be many who had received as much light as was necessary to enable them to discover their own wretchedness, but not enough to lead them to the cross as the source of brighter expectations. These mistaken neophytes, glad to discover any course that held out a prospect of deliverance, would be ready to embrace the ascetic principle, and put it to the test. The pastors, receiving these convictions as the evidence of a divine attestation to the truth of their words, would be induced to give greater prominence to this principle in their public addresses; and the multitude, ever ready to look at the outward and visible form, rather than the inward and spiritual grace, would begin to regard the celibate with peculiar reverence, causing a class of persons to arise whose pernicious influence upon the church was like that of the palmer-worm among the vine-leaves or the locust in the cultivated vale. The order of development might be thus:Occasional continence, 1 Cor. vii. 5, would pass into perpetual abnegation; and chastity would pass into celibacy. The motive would be at first concealed, then avowed, followed by the applauses of the crowd and the sanction of the church. The avowed celibates would cling to each other from similarity of position; in their mutual intercourse certain observances would be regarded, and then a code of laws would be formally drawn up, and an association known by some particular name would be organised. In the be.. ginning, admission would be open to nearly any candidate whatever; but a period of probation would afterwards be appointed and restrictions would be placed upon the privilege of membership. The members would at first carry on their own concerns; and then the rulers of the church would interfere. There would, at the commencement, be a simple acknowledgment of the excellence of celibacy; and then vows to maintain it inviolate, at first whilst connected with the association, and then until death, would be made. No change in the mode of dress would at first be insisted upon; but in process of time a particular habit would be adopted. Instruction might at first be given to the celibates or virgins at separate hours, after which a separate place would be assigned to them in the churches. The next step was, to leave entirely the habitations of

men, and reside in the wilderness; and at last, to erect monasteries, in which the recluses could be assembled, whether from the city or the forest, and be leagued together as one family, apart from the world. The way to the desert had been previously thrown open, by men who fled thither from persecution, and who, from the advantages they found in a life of retirement, were induced to make it their permanent abode.

By common consent, the title of the father of monachism (among Christians) is given to Anthony, who in the Decian persecution took refuge in the mountains of Egypt, and there adopted a course of the most rigid self-denial. After living twenty years in solitude, amidst the vivid associations that could not fail to be presented by the ruined tower in which he dwelt, he began a more active career; and proclaiming to others the privileges of the anchoret, he estab lished two settlements to which many resorted for the love of God. But the institutor of the conventual life was Pachomius, who founded the first cloister in the island of Tabenna, on the banks of the Nile, A. D. 340. Until this period each monk performed his exercises alone, not far from his own village; but Pachomius gave to the recluses by whom he was joined a system of rules, and subjected them to control, by this means forming the associations that had formerly existed without discipline or inspection into a regularly constituted order. These examples were soon followed in other parts of Christendom. The names of Ammon, Paul the Simple, Hilarion, and Simon Stylites will ever be renowned, unless the time should come when men will have too many objects of present interest to allow them to contemplate the follies of the past. Eusebius, bishop of Vercelli, about a. D. 350, retained the clergy of his diocese in his own dwelling, that he might instruct them in the duties of their profession, and by this means introduced a form of monastic observance that is supposed to have given origin to the institution of regular canons.* Basil, an eloquent writer, and one of the most eminent men of his age, introduced monachism into Pontus and the neighbouring provinces, A. D. 378. By Athanasius, it was introduced into Rome; by Benedict, into the other parts of Italy; by Martin and Cassian, into Gaul; and by Boniface, into Germany.

*The canons were a middle order between the monks and secular clergy. They adopted the monastic discipline and manner of life, having a common dwelling and mess; but they did not take upon themselves any vows. They were appointed to discharge ministerial functions in certain churches. In some monasteries there were both canons and monks.