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 Wycliffe of endeavouring to seduce young children into their "rotten habit ;" and it was decreed by the parliament that no scholar under eighteen years of age should be received into the community. †

There are many circumstances that make the yoke of the sámanéra 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, affords opportunities of communion 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, when 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 * Elliott's Roman Catholicism. + Vaughan's Wycliffe.

Taylor's Ancient Christianity.

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 woman 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 circumstances might have been cheerful as the lark at matins, or gentle as the lamb as it crops the grass of the mead.

66

The sámanéra 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 nirwána, or the cessation of existence, may be obtained. It was declared by Nágaséna that the benefits to be derived from embracing the priesthood are, the destruction of present and the avoiding of future sorrow, the preventing 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 priesthood 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." Whoever would enter upon the course of discipline necessary for the attainment of this great object, must be assured that by the observance 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, but if not convenient, he may live in another place, at the distance of four, eight, or sixteen miles. When 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 sámanéra invariably resides at the monastery; and from the commencement 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 wihára (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 bó-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 wihára, 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 wihára may be chosen. 2. A new wihára, 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 wihára, 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 wihára near a high road, as stranger priests will be continually calling, who will require attention. 5. A wihára near which there are many tanks and much water, as people will resort thither, and the disciples of the learned men connected with the court will come from the city to dye their garments, and will want fuel, vessels, and other things. 6. A wihára near which there is an abundance of herbs, as women will come 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 wihára near which there are many flowers, as there will be the same danger. 8. A wihára 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,

men.

they will see and ridicule him. 9. A wihára that persons are accustomed to visit, such as Dakkhina-giri, Attikuchi-léna, Chétiyagiri, 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 wihára 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 11. A wihára 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 wihára near a rice-field, as the cultivators will have to make the platform on which the oxen tread out the rice, and a disturbance will be caused. 13. A wihára 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 wihára 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 wihára near a seaport, a river, or a forest; the mariners will request assistance, and these men are not believers in the truth. 18. A wihára on the borders of a country,* 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. †

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 spirit to that which is here inculcated. On the edge of Spalding Moor, in Yorkshire, 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.

+ Wisudhi Margga Sanné.

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'hámi

I take refuge in Budha. Dhammang-saranang-gach'hámi I take refuge in the Truth. Sanghang-saranang-gach'hámi

I take refuge in the Associated

Priesthood.

or the same formulary may be repeated by himself; but in that case he must change the ng 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. Pánátipátáwéramanísikkhápadangsamádiyámi.

2. Adinnádánáwéramanísikkhápadangsamádiyámi.

3. Abrahmachariyáwéramanísikkhápadangsamádiyámi.

4. Musáwádáwéramanísikkhápadangsamádiyámi.

5. Surámérayamajjapamádatthánáwéramanísikkhápadangsamádiyámi.

6. Wikálábhójanáwéramanísikkhápadangsamádiyámi.

7. Nachagítawáditawisúkadassanáweramanísikkhápadangsamádi

yámi.

* Wisudhi Margga Sanné.