■7i CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 092 346 166 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924092346166 THE HISTORY OF CHEISTIANITY. THE HISTOEY OF CHRISTIANITY. BY E: Ur BOUZIQUE, A RETIKED MEMBEfi OF THE FRENCH LEGISLATUUE AND THE FEBNCH BAU AUTHOR OF "LES SATIRES DE JUVENAL TRADUITES EN VEttS FliANCAIS; " " THEATRE ET SOUVENIRS," ETC. TRANSLATED FROM TEE FRENCH ORIGINAL WITH THE CONCURRENCE OF THE AUTHOR BY JOHN R^ BEARD, D.D. "And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." — JOHS Tiii. 32. Volume I. WILLIAMS & NOEGATE, LONDON & EDINBURGH. MDCCCLXXV. ^'■^' The '■'>'■ [^'esidcnt White ^ Library ^. BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE AUTHOK. Etienner TJesin Bouzique, the author of this " History of Christianity," 'was born at Cheteauneuf-sur-Cher the 7th January 1801. He went through his preliminary culture in the College of Bourges, and studied jurisprudence in Paris. Admitted to the bar in Bourges, he consecrated his leisure to general literature, and published a translation into French verse of the eighth, tenth, and fourteenth " Satires of Juvenal " (Paris, 1825, 8vo). ' Afterwards he put forth the whole of them with the Latin in the opposite page. This well-executed and scholarly work, which appeared in 1843, and in a new edition in 1864, procured for him high literary repute. Prompted by his truly enlightened and liberal patriotism, both before and after the Revolution of 1830, which seated Louis Philippe on the throne of Prance, Mons. Bouzique formed part of the Radical opposi- tion, and in 1833 was elected member of the General Council, in which he ceased not to combat the administra- tion. In 1848 he was, by acclamation, appointed mayor of the city of Bourges, and elected representative of the con- stituent assembly with all but unanimity of the votes, the candidates being in number seven. A member of the Committee of Justice, he ordinarily voted with the moderate democratic party. After the election of the 10th of Deceni- bei-, he took his stand in the ranks of the Republican opposition until the last days of the constituent assembly. Re-elected, the second over six, to the Legislature, he drew vi BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR. near La Montagne in order to defend the Constitution against tlie Eoyalist majority of the Assembly, and against the policy of the Elys6e. After the 2d December 1852, infamous for the Coup (T Etat, which issued in the clerically controlled despotism of Napoleon III., and against which Mons. Bouzique protested, he retired from the political arena, and giving himself up to specially religious and theological subjects, published his " History of Christianity," which is now submitted to the English reader. Already in 1857 he had put forth a volume of great value and interest, entitled " Theatre et Souvenirs.'' The title describes the greater portion of the matter. The former part of the volume contains two tragedies, " Servius TuUius," the latter " Les Dragonnades," illustrated by an historical essay which may be found in the Anti-Papal Library, translated into English.* From the few particulars thus given, the char- acter of Mons. Bouzique may be learnt in its principal features. If we declare him a French Puritan, of a highly cultivated kind, the effect produced in the mind by the study of the following pages will justify the desorijition. * The Anti-Papal Library, No. 4, " The Dragonades of Louis XIV., or The Barbarous Atrocities of Romanism under Pope Innocent XI.," trans- lated by John E. Beard, D.D. London : Smart & Allen, Paternoster Row. PEEFACE. The learned and accomplished author of this History of Christianity from its origin to the year 1870, has followed in the treatment of his subject a path of his own, which leads to positive and most satisfactory results. Profiting by the new lights thrown on antiquity by the study of the filiation of tongues and nations, he lays the foundation of his narrative in historical sketches of the principal oriental races, which are equally the hive of the world, the parent of its languages, and the source of its religions and superstitions. Having traced popular Christianity to its primal source, he has in his history of it only to present its natural results in the orthodoxies of the successive periods. These, instead of being " the Peculiar Doctrines of the Gospel,'' as they have been authoritatively called, are thus seen to be its corrup- tions and debasements. While this fact appears as an evident consequence, the author takes special pains to exhibit Jesus and his genuine followers in the light of their simple and transcendant glory, as well as in the greatness of their power, which becomes the more apparent as he draws near these "the times of Reformation," opening in the future a bright and gladdening prospect of the universal recognition of God's fatherhood and man's brotherhood, and the fulfilment of the divine will and purpose in the spread of " on earth peace, good will among men " (Luke ii. 1 4). A theme so vast and so grand implicates particular directions of the narrative which are so fundamental and Vlll PREFACE. important as to embrace to some extent the history of the ■world in its more important relations. Accordingly this History of Christianity is in reality a history of civilisation in its chief constituent elements. How literally this is true the reader may learn by carefully perusing and minutely analysing the author's Table of Contents, which we subjoin, in what he designates " Summaries." The spirit of the work may be learnt from the motto which stands in the title page, " Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free " (John viii. 32). The book is anything but controversial. It is as rigidly deductive as Eticlid's Geometry. Starting from certain prolific facts, the writer simply narrates what they naturally and necessarily bring forth from the matrix of humanity. Hence the narration, true at first, remains true to the end. As thus true, it embodies God's thought, while it reports man's uses and abuses of that sublime reality. Accordingly the work is as simple and natural as it is instructive and impressive. No passion, no meretricious ornament, no secondary aim, no personal end. As is the spirit, so is the style of these volumes, concise- ness and lucidity are their characteristics. They consist of a successive string of sentences alike pithy and lucid, so that, had they been written in cyphers, their meaning could not be clearer or more striking and impressive. They con- ciliate belief even by the absence of pretension. Such a work is of the greater value if only because histories of Christianity are generally facsimiles of partizan aims and interpretations. Here at last is A History op Cheistianity itself made the more clear and the more acceptable, because the abuses and corruptions which the spirit of the world engrafted on the spirit of Jesus are presented by its side. PREFACE. ix Men and women, the young as well as the old, will welcome the volumes because they offer a living picture of God's great reaUties as embodied in his son and his son's followers, and as divinely designed to be the light and the bread of life to mankind. Without resers'ation, without qualification, the work may be put into the hands of all ages and all classes. Adapted to the scholar it is not less intelligible to the peasant. The work has n speciality which recommends it in the present state of the religious world. Speaking the truth throughout, it speaks the truth in regard to the papacy. Here the student may find the papacy depicted in its own colours. Founded in falsities, it is seen to be built up of shadows, assumptions, and exaggerations. These are here exposed under the strong light of historical fact. The task dispassionately accomplished, leaves on the mind convictions the deepest and most prevailing, which carry the reader back from Rome to the uplands of Galilee and the quicken- ing presence of the great religious Teacher of the world. CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. Iittrxrinctifl n. PAGE SuMMAE,"X — The Ancient Worships : Brahmanism, Buddhism, Zoroasterism, Chaldeism, Oairism, Mosaism — The Eoman Empire in the Time of Augustus .... 1 § o ok t h« Jfir St. THE CHUECH OF THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES. Pkeliminaet Observations. Summary — Silence of the Profane Authors — Apocryphal Writers — Acknowledged Gospels — The Apostle John is not the Author of the Fourth Gospel — The Acts of the ' Apostles — The Epistles — The Apocalypse— Other Works of the Two First Centuries . . . .125 CHAPTER I. From the Baptism or Jesus to the Capture of Jerusalem, (30-70 A.D.). Summary — Jesus — His Doctrine — Preaching of the Apostles .—Martyrdom of Stephen — Conversion of Paul — His Mis- sion to the Gentiles — Paul and Barnabas in Cyprus, in Pamphylia, in Pisidia, in Lycaonia — Jerusalem Conference — Peter at Antioch — Paul in Asia Minor, in Macedonia, in Achaia — His Sojourn at Corinth and at Ephesus — Nazarene Opposition in Galatia and in Ephesus — The Christians of Rome — Last J ourney of Paul to Jerusalem — The Jews Plot his Destruction — His Captivity in Cesarea — Twice Brought to the Bar— Paul at Rome — Peter did not Enter that City— Where did Paul Die ?— What Became of the Apostles of Judea ? — Nero did not CONTENTS. Persecute the Christians— Paul's Doctrine— Organisation of the Church— Baptism— The Eucharist — Vocation of theGentUes 1^1 CHAPTER II. Fkom the Captukb of Jerusalem to the End oe the Second Century- (70-200). Summary — The Nazarenes — The Ebionites — Jesus Trans- formed — Cerinthus — John the Presbyter — The Eourtli Gospel — Domitian's Persecution — Troubles in the Church of Corinth— Persecution under Trajan — Letter of Pliny the Younger— Piebellion of the Jews — Ignatius — Disper- sion of the Jews — The Gnostics : Saturninus, ilarcion, Bardesanes, Tatian, Basilides, Carpocrates, ' Valentinus — The Montanists — Toleration on the part of Hadrian and of Antoninus Pius — Formation of the Legends on the Apostles — Extension of Christianity — Rage of the Jlulti- tude — Imputations on the Christians — Persecutions under Marcus Aurelius — Apologies — Dispute on the Passover — Christianity at the End of the Second Century — Influ- ence of Philosophy and of Hellenism — Advent of Chris- totheism (the Worship of the God-ilan) — Its Earliest Opponents : Theodotus of Byzantium, Artemon, Theo- dotus the Banker, Praxeas, Noetus — The Beginning of the Trinity— Angels and Devils— The Soul— HeU— ilil- lenariauism — Ministers of Worship — Christian Festivals and Assemblies — Agapee (Love Feasts) — The Supper — Baptism — Penance — Fasts — Prayers for the Dead — Divers Customs ...... 191 CHAPTER III. From the End of the Second Century to the Council OF Nice— (200-325). Summary — Persecutions ; Septimus Severus, Maximin, Decius, Gallus, Valerian — Progress of Christianity — Apostles of Philosophy : ApoUonius of Tyaua — Neopla- tonism : Ammonius Saccas — Plotinus — Platonising Chris- tians of Alexandria : Pantenus, Clement, Origen — Schism of the Novatians — Baptism of Heretics — MiUenarianism — Anti-Trinitarian Christians : Sabellius, Paul of Samo- sata — Manicheaus — Monachism : Paul, Antonius, Hilar- CONTENTS. xm PAGE ion, Pacomius — Last Persecution : Diocletian, Galerius, Maximin — Oonstantine Emperor — Schisms of the Mele- tians and Donatista — Ariauism — Council of Nice — Doc- trine, Rites, Discipline .... 254 CHAPTER IV. Apocryphal Books, Fables, and Legends. Summary — Divers Apocryphal Writings — The Recognitions and the Clementines — The Apostolic Constitutions — The Apostolic Canon — Eables and Legends on the Holy Family — Birth, Education, and Nuptials of Mary — Birth of Jesus — Journey into Egypt — Miracles of Jesus while an Infant — Death of Joseph — Silence of the Scripture and of the Fathers respecting Mary — Her Apotheosis did not Begin until the VI. Century — The Brothers of Jesus — The Twelve Apostles — Legends on the Abode and Death of Peter at Rome — Legends on the Other Apostles — Apostles' Creed— The Disciples of Jesus and the Apostles — Mark the Evangelist — Succession of the Bishops before the Middle of the Second Century — Pontius Pilate ...... 338 HISTORY OF OHRISTIAFITY. INTEODUCTION. Summary — The Ancient Forms of Worship — Brahmanism, Buddhism, Mazdaism or Zoroasterism, Chaldseism, Osirism, Hellenism, Mosa- ism — The Roman Empire in the time of Augustus. The history of Christianity is perhaps that which is least read ; it is certainly that which it most concerns us to know. It is not easy to explain this inattention when one re- flects on the importance of religious systems for the future of human societies, to say nothing of the life to come. Re- ligion is man's educator, his counsellor, and his guide every moment of his career ; from it does he receive in infancy those primary notions which remain engraven in indelible characters. The majority learn nothing else in the whole course of their life. Others with more instruction take little ! or no care to verify received doctrinesT" it seems more con- t venient to them it may be to admit all or to reject all with- out examination, it may be to pass through existence in unconcerned doubt, sure in the decline of age, to be re- occupied with the ideas on which their early days were nursed. Religion supplies the mould in which the political con- dition of a nation is cast. There is no moral progress with superstitious forms of worship, which live only by the in- fatuation of the multitude. There is no liberty with sacer- dotal castes of which the organisation, the doctrines, the traditions are a continued system of despotism for the chiefs and of servitude for the people. 2 INTRODUCTION. You cannot understand the history of the first centuries of Christianity, the phases through which it passed, the heresies which sprang up around it, the changes which it underwent, unless you first make yourself acquainted with the anterior or contemporaneous doctrines and religions. Nothing is insulated in the destinies of our race ; it is by the past that the present is explained and the future un- veiled. Most of the ancient forms of worship seem to be derived from a common origin. You find in that common origin, with some slight exceptions, the same theogonies, the same cosmogonies, the same religious institutions. Mosaism, although distinguished from the rest by the purity of its conceptions, nevertheless took from them divers ceremonies and ordinances. In the last ages preceding the Christian era the Israelites, brought into contact with other nations by the captivity and by voluntary dispersion, adopted, under the influence of traditions and commentaries of old unknown, opinions which their sacred books do not contain, or at least do not declare in an explicit manner. Christianity in its turn coming, in its earliest days, forth from Judea to establish itself in the midst of polytheistic populations, failed to keep itself free from the influence of that medium ; in the degree in which it spread abroad it borrowed more or less according to the position of each Church or each group of Churches, from their philosophy, their rites, their superstitions. BRAHMANISM. Modern philology has by a comparison of their lan- guages ascertained that the Persians and the superior castes of India were of the same family as most of the European nations. Their common ancestors, who are designated under the name of Aryans, inhabited the interior of Asia, whence the nations of Europe, namely the Greeks, Latins, Iberians, Gauls, Germans, Sclaves, came successively, at epochs that are lost in the night of time. The other tribes of the same race, or the Aryans properly so called, after having long sojourned in Central Asia, saw, about 2500 BRAHMANISM. 3 years before Christ, rise among them religious dissensions on occasion of the reforms of Zoroaster, embraced by these, combatted by those. The adversaries of the new worship ended by emigrating in the direction of the south-east ; for several centuries they dwelt in the Punjaub, exposed to divers vicissitudes, and then progressively spread over the lands of India. Among them sprang up the religion of Brahma. In the Brahmanic religion you find three principal phases, each of which has its own religious writings. The first, which came to an end fifteen centuries before our era, cor- responds to the time which preceded the conquest of India by the Aryans. The Vedas are its sacred books. The second opens after those people had taken possession of India ; it has for its revealed code the Laws of Manu, who is supposed to have lived in the tenth or ninth century before Christ. In the third, which commenced a century or two after the second, appears the Brahmanic trinity (or Trimurti) and the divine incarnations (Avatars); the sacred books bear the name of Puranas. In the days of the earliest hymns of the Vedas the Aryans still live in tlie patriarchal state. The head of the family is at once priest and warrior. Worship is paid to the gods of the elements, the forces of nature, who are classed into divinities of the sky, the air, the earth, and the sea. After the conquest of India, followed by the establishment of castes, those gods are subordinated to a supreme being. Then appear the Laws of Manu, which contain a complete theogonic and cosmologic system, as well as a thorough classification of Indian society. The idea of a Nature-God, whence all things proceeded by successive emanations, the transmigration of souls, the hereditary castes, which are consecrated in this book, as well as the trinity, and the incarnations which the Brahmans admitted at a later time, are unknown to the religion of the Vedas. Those opinions came from the nations which before the Aryans occupied the districts of the Indus and the Ganges, peoples possessing a civilisation much more advanced than theirs, and which affinities of origin and worship connect 4 INTRODUCTION. with the Egyptians and the primitive inhabitants of Baby- lonia. Let us trace a rapid outline of the doctrines of Mann. Brahm or Svayambhu (the self-existent) is one, infinite, eternal, incomprehensible. He is the beginning and the end of all things. In him all is born, subsists, and dissolves. SmiiUer than an atom, greater than the universe, he takes innumerable forms and acts in an infinitude of manners. His subtle and indivisible essence penetrates the bodies of the highest and the lowest creatures. The universe reposes in the supreme soul. That soul produces the series of acts performed by animated beings. From its substance proceed numberless vital principles like sparks of fire, which ceaselessly communicate movement to all creation. At first every thing was in darkness, without sensible form (Gen. i. 2), without distinct attributes, and, as it wei-e, in a deep sleep. The Supreme Being appears and Ids s])lendour dissipates the obscurity. He produces the waters and in them deposits a germ which becomes an egg, brilliant as gold. In that egg Brahm himself is born, under the form of Brahma, the great ancestor of all worlds. After a year of inaction, Brahma divides the egg, and of the two parts his word forms heaven and earth, the atmosphere which separate them, the eight regions and the permanent abyss of the waters. Then he gives existence to all beings, assigning to each creature a distinct name and diflFerent functions and duties. Brahma produces a multitude of gods (Devas) with active attributes and pure souls, a number of genii of an elevated order (Sadhyas), and the eternal sacrifice. For the accom- plishment of this sacrifice he draws from fire, air, and the sun, three Vedas, the Big, the Yadjuch, and the Sama. He creates time and its divisions, the constellations, the planets, the rivers, the seas, the mountains, the plains the valleys ; austere devotion, the Word, and pleasure, desire, anger, and finally all the beings to which he wishes to give existence. For the propagation of the human species, he produces from liis mouth the Brahman (priest), from his arm the BRAHMANISM. 5 Shatriya (warrior), from his thigli the Vai'shya (merchant, artizan, agriculturist), and from his foot the Sudra (serf). The Sudras were the descendants of the old brown popula- tion which the Aryans reduced into servitude. All the creation, then, emanatfs from the Supreme Being, but that emanation is not instantaneous and imme- diate : it takes place in a continuous and successive manner. When he wishes to produce beings, Brahma, dividing his body into two parts, becomes half male and half female ; the union of these two parts engenders Viradj, the divine male. Viradj, by the power of austere devotion, produces from himself Manu, surnamed Svayambhuva (issue of the self-existent one), from whom all proceeds. From the first Manu, six others are descended, each of which gave birth to a race of creatures. These seven Manus have, by turns, formed and directed the universe. Now, Manu Svayambhuva, after the severest austerities, produces first ten eminent saints to whom is given the name of lords of creatures (Pradjapatis), as also to Brahma, Viradj, and Manu. The ten eminent saints create seven other Manus, the gods (Devas), and their abod.es, sages endowed with immense power, the different tribes of Pitris (the divine ancestors of the gods, the genii, and men), the genii of all orders, and all the assemblage of moveable and immoveable beings. The Indian theogony is the hugest that is known. In the first rank stand the gods (Devas). The chief of them are the guardians of the eight regions of the universe (Lokapalas), that is to say, Indra, god of heaven ; Agni, god of fire ; Yama, god of hell ; Surya or Arka, god of the sun ; Varuna, god of the waters ; Anila Vayu, or Pavana, god of the winds ; Kuvera, god of riches ; Tohandra, or Soma, god of the moon. The gods chose Indra for king of heaven (Swarga, abode of the gods and the blessed). He has for weapon the rainbow, and his body is covered with a thousand eyes, which are the stars. He holds his court with his spouse on Mount Meru. In that court, whose entrance is guarded by the two Asvins, you meet a mul- titude of genii of the retinue of Indra ; myriads of nymphs b INTRODUCTION. of celestial mnsicians, divine birds of which Garuda is the chief. The reign of Indra is temporary, and ends at one of the periods of Manu, then he is replaced by that of the gods, the Asuras or men who have best deserved that hon- our. The other guardians of the eight regions have also each a wife, a court, and genii in their retinue. The Yak- shas (Gnomes) guard the treasures of Kuvera ; musicians, with the head of a horse, are attached to his service. Var- una, god of the waters, is at the same time god of chastise- ment ; he retains the wicked at the bottom of his abysses, where they are surrounded with chains made of serpents. Yama has under his orders, in hell, governoi-s for the differ- ent regions of his empire (patolas), and ministers of his justice. After the guardians of the eight regions come other orders of gods, namely, the twelve Adityas, who pre- side over the twelve months of the year, among whom are Mitra, Varuna, Indra, and Vishnu ; the last is the most eminent of the Adityas. The eight Yasus, of whom Vishnu also makes part. The eleven Rudias, who have at their head, Hara — with whom, in later times, Siva is confounded. The ten Viswadevas (assembled gods) and the two Asvins. Ambrosia (Amrita), is the meat and drink of the gods ; it comes, it is said, from the foam of the sea, which the Devas and the Asuras have together produced in making use of Mount jSIandara as a churning staff. These two oi'ders of genii disputed with each other for the possession of the ambrosia, which became the property of the Devas. Below the last is a crowd of intermediate and inferior di- vinities, genii of all kinds, holy penitents, chiefs of races, and others. Each of them has its own offices ; some of them are good and propitious, others evil and maleficent. Let us mark out in the number : The Asuras, Mho are in perpetual hostility with the Devas ; the traditions of the Vedas speak of a terrible war between them, in which the Devas obtained the victory only with the aid of the Creator's eldest son : (The fall of the angels.) BRAHMANISM. 7 The Rakchasas, maleficent genii, of whom some are the gigantic enemies of the Devas, and the others, ogres or vampires greedy of blood and human flesh : (the devil and his angels). The Pisatchas, another species of vampires. The Kagas (dragons), demi-gods, having a human face and a serpent's tail ; they dwell in the infernal regions. The Sarpas, serpents of an order inferior to the Nagas. Other genii, of different ranks, fill the worlds. They people the heaven, the earth, the intermediate regions, all the parts of nature ; divinities of the forest who reside in the trees ; divinities of the mountains, the valleys, the risers, the seas, the years, the seasons, genii of the Vedas, the stars, night, the winds ; legions of demi-gods with aerian chariots, dawns, auroras, infant gods born of virgins, &o. The total number of divinities amounts to hundreds of millions. Most of them are personifications of the heavens, the stars, the elements, other corporeal objects, the forces of nature. At- tributes of the Supreme being, moral faculties are trans- formed into real and distinct beings, divinities that have their own life, their functions, their history, and who iden- tify themselves with the universal soul whence they ema- nate ; thus Brahma is nothing but Brahm considered in his creative energy ; Manu, son of Brahma, is an incarna- tion of him in time and space ; thus also, toward the end of the tenth book of the Big- Veda, you find a hymn in which Vatch (the Word), who proceeds from Brahma, glo- rifies himself and says, in terminating : " I penetrate all beings, I touch heaven with my form. In giving birth to all beings, I pass as the wind ; I am above heaven, beyond the earth ; and what the Great One is, that am I " (John 1). These myriads of divinities are honoured by the mul- titude in the superstitions of the grossest idolatry. But religious belief acquires purity and greatness in the thought of the sages. Notwithstanding an apparent polytheism, the most absolute unity is none the less the basis of the doctrine taught in the laws of Manu. From the unique being, the world-god, they in thought detach his diverse attributes, his distinct parts, which become so many divi- 8 INTRODUCTION. nities emanated from him, and from whom others emanate in their turn ; then this infinity of emanations falling back, the one on the other, return to lose themselves in the unity of the Supreme Being ; God is all, and all is God. When a world has been produced, Brahma disappears again, ab- sorbed in the supreme soul ; and the time of creation is succeeded by a time of dissolution. If that God awakes, forthwith the universe performs its acts ; does he sleep, everything stops and dissolves in the supreme soul ; then that soul of all beings falls asleep in perfect quietude. Thus, by an alternative awaking and repose, the changeless being makes all that assemblage of moveable and immove- able creatures die and revive eternally. The creations and the destructions of the world are innumerable. The Su- preme Being renews them as if in play. Now, this alternative repose and awaking are called Brahma's day and night. Brahma's day comprises a thou- sand ages of the gods ; the age of the gods consists of twelve millions of divine years ; the divine year is three hundred and sixty human years. At the expiration of Brahma's day the dissolution of the world takes place, and Brahma's night begins ; the duration of the night is equal to the duration of the day. Three himdred and sixty of those days and those nights compose Brahma's year (3,1 1 8,400,000,000 human years). A hundred years of Brahma (or Brahma's century) form his era, at the end of which that god, ceasing to exist, will be absorbed in the Supreme Being. The 12,000 divine years, making up the age of the gods, are divided into four human The first of the human ages, called Krita, is composed of 4800 divine years, comprising the two twilights. The second called Treta, contains with its two twilights, 3600 years. The third, named Dvapara has 2400 years, and the fourth named Kali, 1200. Men live 400 years during the first age ; in the others their existence loses successively a fourth of its duration. In the first age justice, under the form of an ox, maintains itself firm on its four feet ; it loses a foot in each of the following years. BRAHMANISM. According to the Hindoos the three first ages of the actual period are gone ; we are now in Kali's age, which began 3000 years before the Christian era. Our period is found in the first day of the fifty-first year of the era of Brahma. Such in sum is the system of cosmogony and theology presented in the Yedas and the laws of Manu. Those divine laws concern only the people of India who consider themselves as the only men loved of the gods — The Israelites. In the popular belief, the Yedas, composed at first by Brahma himself, were gradually revealed to inspired writers. Without pretending to fix absolutely at what epoch the compilation was made, scholars accord a high antiquity to it. According to tradition Brahma was equally the author of the book of the laws of Manu. He made Manu his son learn it by heart. From that son it was received by the ten eminent saints ; it is by Bhrigu, one of them, that it was revealed to the Brahman sages. The mythology of this book agrees with that of the Vedas to whose authoritv it ceaselessly appeals. Although in the Yedas a certain virtue is ascribed to the number three, nevertheless there exists neither in those collections nor in the book of Manu, any real trace of the Trimurti or Brah manic trinity. Vishnu and Hara are, in the laws of Manu, placed in the number of the divinities created by Brahma ; they play no part, not even a second- ary one, in the creations and the destructions of the world ; nowhere are Yishnu's incarnations mentioned. It is to another mythological system that we must ascribe the col- lections of legends or Puranas which represent Vishnu and Siva as two divinities equal or superior to Brahma, with whom they form the trinity which creates, preserves, and destroys successively all beings. In the Indian trinity Brahma is the creative god, Vishnu the preserver, Siva the destroyer and the restorer. The three proceed from the Supreme Being by a triple emanation ; or rather of the three members of the trinity, one is the Supreme God whence the two others emanate. According to the laws of Manu, the Supreme Being is Brahm, who passes into 10 INTRODUCTION. Brahma in the exercise of his creative power. In the trinitarian mythology there exist two sects, of which one regards Vishnu as the Supreme Being, the other Siva. The Vishnu sect appears to he the more widely spread. Siva was the great god (Mahadeva) of the ante-Aryan populations. The Brahmanic trinity was completed by his addition shortly before the coming of Buddha. According to other writings the trinity is a pure abstraction. There is no real distinction between Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva ; they are three different manifestations of the Supreme Being ; this unique being appears under three forms for the acts of creation, conservation, and destruction ; but he himself is one (Bagavadam). The sun is the living image of the triple power Brahma, Vishnu, Siva ; for the sun vivifies, pre- serves, destroys. Seated on his radiating chariot, he pursues his course in space ; he it is that constitutes time j he is the prince of the heavenly bodies. For spouse Brahma (the Supreme Being) has Saoti, Parasacti or Maya (the queen of illusion). She is the primitive matter, the creative energy, the mother of beings ; she descends and divides herself into a trinity like Brahm. From her emanate Sarasuati, spouse of Brahma, goddess of eloquence, Lakchmi or Sri, spouse of Vishnu, goddess of abundance, and Durga^ Parvati, Bhavani or Kali, spouse of Siva, goddess of death. Each of the gods of the trinity has children which in truth are only emanations or incarnations of the god himself; a certain number of incarnations are ascribed to Brahma and to Siva ; but the most celebrated and the most useful for the human race are those of Vishnu, the conservative divinity ; he showed himself for the salva- tion of the world under metamorphoses and innumerable forms. We will cite the most known. It is under the human form that Vishnu (considered as the Supreme Being), reposed in contemplative sleep on a bed of milk when from his navel comes forth Brahma, who created in his members all living beings. Under the form of a boar, Vishnu lifted up the earth submerged by the waters. Under the form of a tortoise he sustains Mount Meru. BRAHMANISir. 1 1 TJndei- the name of Eguia he explains theology to the sages. Under the name of Danmudry he teaches medicine. Under the name of Vyasa he made the compilation of the Vedas. Under the name of Eama, son of king Dassarada, he put to death the giant Ravana, king of Candy. Under the name of Krishna and of Balarama, he cleared the earth overrun with wicked men. He appeared under the name of Buddha, at the com- mencement of the age of Kali ; at the end of the same age he will, under the name of Calki, come again to destroy the race of impure and wicked men. The idea of divine incarnation comes from gratitude or admiration. When a man rises above others by his heroism, his wisdom, by the services which he renders, the popular voice cries out that he is not a mortal, but Vishnu himself incarnated. This thought seems quite simple in the pan- theistic beliefs of Hindo.stan, which see God in all and all in God (John i.). The most important of Vishnu's in- carnations is, according to the Brahmans, that of Krishna, whose death coincides with the commencement of our age. In the other Avatars that God appeared only in part, but in this Krishna he appeared entire. On complaints made by the goddess of the earth against the race of the giants by which it is desolated, Vishnu forms the design of incarnating himself under that name. " Some time after he replenished King Vasudeva with rays of his splendour. The king places them in the bosom of his wife Devaki. At the moment of conception she appeared as brilliant as the east where the moon rises " (Bagavadam). However, the throne of Vasudeva is usurped by the tyrant Kansa, who, on a report that Devaki was with child, has her thrown into prison, in the fear of a future avenger. But the birth of the child is kept from his know- ledge. "At the approach of the time of the birth, Brahma, Siva, and all the gods prepare to go and worship Vishnu in the prison. They celebrate the virtues of the child about to be born. At the moment of his appearance they throw 1 2 INTEODUCTION. flowers on him. The genii sing, dance, and play their melodious instruments. All the planets and stars appear under happy aspects " (Bagavadam). Under these sacred legends we may see all the life of Krishna, who, after avenging his parents and clearing the earth of the giants and the wicked by whom it was infested, perished while hunting, being wounded by a poisoned arrow. But if the incarnation of Krishna is specially venerated by the people of Hindustan, that of Buddha lias, for the other districts of oriental Asia, been attended with consequences of the greatest consequence. There arose from it a complete reform of Brahmanism, or, to speak more correctly, a new religion which established itself in the face of that of the Brahmans of which it is, in fundamental points, not only the negation but the contradiction. The influence of the trinity and the inoa.rnations of its members introduced important modifica- tions into the Brahmanic religion. To the worship of the stars and the elements, personified in Indra and the other gods or genii, there was added, and in some sort substituted, but with more pomp and splendour, the worship of the per- sons of the Trimurti, under the dilferent forms that they had assumed. At present the most solemn festivals are those of Krishna- Djagannatha-Govinda and those of Siva or Mahadeva, and of his spouse Durga-Bhavani-Kali ; the wor- ship of the two last is accompanied by that of the Lingam, and of numerous animal sacrifices. Properly speaking no public festival is celebrated in honour of Brahma and Vishnu, but they are worshipped in a sacrifice of fire, and in the daily meditations and prayers of the Brahmans. To the anchorets and ascetics, who lived insulated in woods and secluded spots, succeeded monks united in numerous monasteries. Numerous pagodas or temples were raised which became consecrated places of devotion whither pilgrims flocked in crowds. This direction of mind seenjs to have received a powerful impulse from Buddhism. Like all militant sects, it is distinguished by an ardent propagandism. The necessities of the conflict, not less than its Unitarian beliefs, lead it to a strong religious organisation, to zealous endeavours, results of which still survive in India. BRAHMANISM. 1 3 After its expulsion the simplicity of the primitive worship of the Vedas did not reappear. Many things taught in those books are observed no longer. Rituals in relation with the Puranas have been introduced. ISTew forms of worship have been instituted. To the incarnation of Vishnu in Buddha, the Brahmans opposed that of the same god in Rama and in Krishna. A similar thing took 'place in the worship of Mahadevaandof Bhavani among the sects which worship Siva. But whatever modifications theological beliefs underwent in the course of centuries, whatever sects appeared, the legis- lation of Manu does not seem to have been sensibly altered among the populations of India. The trinity, personifications of attributes and energies of the Supreme Being, incarnations of the gods, deifications of heroes — all these metaphysical speculations introduced few changes into the civil and criminal laws, and into the religious or moral prescriptions of Brahama's divine son. This legislation takes up man at his birth, and goes with him into all ages, all social posi- tions down to the day when, quitting this mortal body, he goes to, receive in the other life, the rewards or the punish- ments which his actions have deserved. Religious and poli- tical institutions, moral precepts — -all are compi'ised from teachings of the highest kind to details the most minute and the most puerile. The peoples of India, we have said, are divided into four classes diifering in origin. Some are born of the higher parts of Brahma, others of the lower, and they are placed in this class or that in consideration of their preceding lives. Resignation is a pious duty for the disinherited. Each one should accept his lot and fulfil the obligations which it im- poses. He will receive his reward in this life and in the other. But to trench on the rights of the upper classes is to break God's law. The guilty, if he escapes earthly retri- butive justice will not avoid the punishment of heaven. On these principles rest the system of laws given by Manu for the difierent classes. The duty of the Brahmans is to learn and teach the Vedas, to perform the sacrifices, to direct the sacrifices of others, to give and to receive. 1 4 INTRODUCTION. The duties of the Shatriyas are to protect the people, to ex- ercise charity, to saciufice, to read the sacred books, and not to yield to the pleasures of sense. The Vai'shya has for his functions to take care of the cattle, to bestow alms, to study the sacred books, to carry on commerce, to lend on interest, to till the earth. One sole office is assigned to the Sudra, that of serving the three other classes, without depreciating their merit. The Brahman is of right the lord of all creation, because he draws his origin from the most noble member ; is born first and possesses the holy scripture. The birth of a Brahman is the everlasting incarnation of justice; he is destined to identify himself with Brahm. A Brahman cannot be punished corporeally. If he commits all possible crimes he is banished without personal injury and in possession of his property. He never incurs a penalty as severe as that which is in- flicted for the same transgression on men of the other classes, and attacks on his person or liis goods are severally re- pressed. The militaiy class proceeds from the sacerdotal class ; the human race is placed under their joint protection. The king is formed of the eternal particles of the sub- stance of the principal gods, guardians of the eight regions ; he is a great divinity under a human form. The Brahm ans are his principal councillors ; when the king enters the court of justice he is attended by Brahmans. The Vaishya must assiduously occupy himself with his profession and with care of the cattle. The Sudra, whether bought or not bought, is obliged to discharge his servile functions. Although unfranchised by his master, he is not set free from the condition of servitude • that state is natural to him. Despite the condemnation be- stowed by the laws of Manu of everything that damages the distinction of castes, the inclinations of nature cannot change. It is necessary to permit, or at least to tolerate unions between persons of different classes ; b>i t the favours of the law are reserved for those which take place between persons of the same caste. The children that are born of BRAHMANISM. 15 the latter alone make parts of the four legal classes. Manu determines the inferior condition which is destined for child- ren the issue of diverse admixtures. An infinite variety of classes ensues. To-day in India the Vai'shyas and the Sudras, entirely confounded under the name Hindoos, are divided according to their professions into a multitude of particular tribes ; each' occupation constitutes an hereditary class out of which its members cannot go. The caste of Shatriyas is singularly reduced in number. That of Brahmans, on the contrary, has preserved all its importance and its religious authority, notwithstanding successive revolutions and dominations. Of the four castes established by the laws of Manu, the three first are called regenerate, because by the study of the Vedas they may arrive at a second birth, the spiritual birth ; on the other hand the servile class is accounted unworthy to receive the sacred science ; they are to live in ignoi-ance and contempt. The regenerate or twice-born (dvidjas) are of four diflFerent orders : — the novice, the master of the house, the anchoret, and the devout ascetic. The order of the master of the house or the head of the family is the most eminent ; the three others owe their origin to him and are supported by him. The Dvidjas of the four orders are bound to practice with the greatest care the ten virtues which form the substance of duty. Those virtues are, resignation, returning good for evil, temperance, probity, purity, mastery over the senses, acquaintance with the Shastras (sacred books), knowledge of the higher soul, veracity, absence of anger. There are three births for the regenerate man; the first takes place in his mother's bosom ; the second at the time of investiture with the girdle and the sacred cord ; the third at the per- formance of the sacrifice when married. Sacraments or sacred ceremonies have been instituted with a view to purify the body of the DviJjas, and to pre- pare it for absorption in the Supreme Being. By the sacra- ments of conception, the ceremonies attending birth, the tonsure, investiture with the sacred cord are effaced all the impurities received by the infant in his mother's bosom. 16 INTRODUCTION. The study of the Veda, pious observances, oblations to fire, the devotional act of the traividya, offerings to the gods, and to the manes during the noviciat, the procreation of children, the five great oblations, and the solemn sacrifices prepare the body for absorption in the Divine Being. At the time of conception offerings are presented on behalf of the purification of the foetus. At the moment of the birth of a male child and before the unabilical cord is cut, the child is made to ta.3i,e honey and clarified butter in a golden spoon, during the repetition of sacred words. (Isaiah vii. 15, 22). Every child receives a name on the tenth or twelfth day after birth. In the fourth month the child is taken out of the house where he is born that he may see the sun. Eice is given him to eat in tlie sixth month. During the first or the third year the ceremony of the tonsure takes place with the Dvidjas ; it consists in shaving the head except the summit on which a tuft of hair is left. The ceremony of initiation is performed from the fifth to the sixth year for a Braliinan, from the sixth to the twenty-second year for a Shatriya, from the eighth to the twenty-fourth for a Yaishya ; beyond that term those who have not received the sacra- ment of initiation are exposed to the contempt of respectable people, as unworthy and excommunicated. The symbol of initiation is the sacred cord. This cord is made of cotton thread for a Brahman, hemp for a Shatriya, of wool for a Vai'shya. It is worn on the up])er part of the body, tied to one shoulder and passing under the other. At the same time the initiated put on a girdle, garments, and take a staff, the materials and form of which are deter- mined by the law: They vary in each class. The initiation of the Dvidyas is the token of their new birth and sanctifies them. The marriage ceremony holds with women the place of the sacrament of initiation ; their zeal to serve their husbands holds the place of sojourn near their spiritual father, and the care of their house makes the maintenance of the sacred fire unnecessary. From the time of initiation the young Dvidyas are, as novices, placed under the direction of the spiritual master who has initiated them and remain in his bouse. The novice BRAIIJIANISM. 1 7 has his head shaven or long hair. He rises before the sun and goes to bed after its setting. He bathes every day and then makes a libation of fresh water to the gods, the saints, and spirits of his ancestors (manes). He abstains from honey, meat, perfumes, garlands, savoury juices, ■women, all sub- stances becotne acid, and bad treatment of animals. He represses the senses, gets his daily bread by begging, makes an oblation to fire morning and evening, applies zealously to the study of the Veda. He reads Holy Scripture with pious attention and with his hands joined. At the begin- ning and the end of each reading he pronounces the syllable aum (om, oum), the letters of which Brahma drew from the three sacred books, as well as the three great words Bhur, Bhuvah, and Swar (earth, atmosphere, heaven). Brahma also extracted from the three Vedas the prayer called Savitri. In repeating that prayer, preceded by the sacred monosyllable and the three great words, in a low voice with suppressed breath, and in determined circum- stances inappreciable advantages are procured in this world and in the next. The mystic monosyllable is the symbol of Brahm ; the suppression of the breath is pious austerity the most perfect ; nothing is above the Savitri. This prayer is pronounced daring the twilights, standing in the morning, seated in the evening. Its recitation is called the oblation of the Sacred Scripture ; it is a sacrifice always meritorious. The Brahman, who teaches the Sacred Scrip- ture, is regarded by his pupil as a father, as a mother. The father who gives existence has not a right to as much re- spect as the spiritual father. After the study of the Vedas and of mystic treatises, he who has never broken his noviciate may enter into the order of masters of the house or heads of families. He marries a wife of good promise. His first wife must be of the same class as himself If he wishes to take others they are preferred in the direct order of the classes. There are eight forms of marriage for the four classes. Some are good, others bad in this world and the world to come. The union of the hands of the intended husband and wife is enjoined when the woman is of the same class 18 INTKODUCTION. as the man ; in the other cases, different emblems are em- ployed. Married women shouJd be laden with attentions and presents. Whenever women are honoured the divinities are satisfied, but when women are dishonoured acts of piety remain sterile. The nuptial fire is kindled the moment of marriage. The master of the house makes use of it afterwards, according to tlie fixed rule, for the domestic offerings of the morning and the evening, for the five great oblations, and the daily cooking of the food. The five great oblations are made every day ; they are addressed to the saints, to the gods and genii, to the manes, to the guests, to the spirits. The law regulates the cere- monies and the conditions. The funeral repust (Sraddha) made in honour of the manes, secures them lively satisfaction in the other world. He who provides it for a recently- deceased relative has for his object to pave the way for his soul into the celestial abode ; if that oblation were not made, that soul would wander here below among the bad spirits. There is no sacrifice, no pious observance, no fast which concern women in particular ; let a wife respect and cherish her husband and she will be honoured in heaven. After the death of her husband the virtuous wife keeps herself perfectly chaste ; the right to marry again is not conceded. The third period of life commences with the Dvidja when he sees his skin wrinkle and his hair turn grey, and when he has under his eyes the son of his son. He then retires into a forest to lead the life of an anchoret, whether with his wife or alone after having confided his wife to his sons. There he regularly goes through the oblations, the sacrifices, and the other religious ceremonies. He is clad in goat-skin or in bark ; he bathes evening and morning, lets his hair grow as well as his beard, the hair of his body and his nails. Ceaselessly does he apply to the study of the Veda, endures all with patience, gives constantly, never receives, shows himself benevolent and compassionate in regard to all beings. He feeds on pot herbs, flowera, roots, fruits pro- duced by pure trees and oils extracted from the fruits. BRAHMANISM. 19 He rolls on the earth or stands erect for a whole day. In the hot season he bears the ardour of the five fires ; in rainy times he exposes himself naked to the torrents that pour down from the clouds ; in the cold season he wears damp garments. His austerities end by drying up his mortal substance. After the life of an anchoret comes the period of the ascetic life, during which the Dvidja renounces aifection of all kinds in order to obtain supreme felicity after his death. The ascetic lives alone, without fire, with- out home, begging his food, resigned, meditating in silence, and fixing his mind on the Divine Being. With his hair, his beard, his nails cut, furnished with a dish, a jug, and a staff, he wanders about continually absorbed in meditation ; by night as well as by day he walks, his eyes fixed on the earth that he may not cause the death of any creature. He effaces his sins by suppression of his breath, by absolute self- absorption, by reading the sacred books, by meditation on the sacred Scripture and on the universal soul of beings. The Brahman who fulfils the ascetic life according to the fixed rules cleanses himself here from all sin and grows into union with the Supreme Divinity. After having traced the special prescriptions for the four orders of Dvidjas, the religious law determines the aliments which are not to be used, the purifications required by the legal impurities, the penance and expiations which atone for faults and crimes. The rules of abstinence bear on a great number of aliments, and appear to be established mostly in view of the climate of India, where it would be unhealthy to habitually use certain meats which are eaten without inconvenience and even with advantage in cold or temperate regions. Some of these injunctions are also con- nected with the religious opinions of the Hindoos, who assimilate to man all animated beings and even vegetables. The law on impurities indicates the circumstances under which you become impure, the time that the state of im- purity lasts, the purification it requires. We give some ex- amples. On the birth of a child the father and mother are impure, especially the latter. The death of an infant who has received the investiture, 20 INTRODUCTION. and that of a more aged person, render divers members of their family impure. Among the impure are the father of a bastard, the woiran who has had a miscarriage, also a woman during her monthly courses, he who has touched an impure person or a dead body. There are things which are always pure ; for instance, water of which a cow has drunk, the hand of a labouring man, goods exposed for sale, food given to a begging novice, a woman's mouth, a bird which causes fruit to fall. The agents of purification for animated beings are sacred science, austerities, fire, pure aliments, the earth, the mind, water, ointment made of cow-dung, the air, religious ceremonies, the sun, and time. There are also modes of purification for things that are used, such as metals, precious stones, pots, vases, liquids, vestments, grains, fruits, silk, or wool stuffs, utensils of wood, horn, bone, ivory, a house, the soil. The legal impurities wliioh often proceed from involun- tary causes, are removed by easy means ; but faults and crimes born of human wickedness, subject the guilty to penances and expiations proportioned to the gravity of the action, independently of judicial repression. The Dvidja who has committed a fault, whether during his actual or his previous life, cannot live with respectable people so long as he has not performed penance. There are crimes that entail certain maladies or infirmi- ties, such as idiotcy, dumbness, blindness, deafness ; the cul- prits who do not expiate these crimes are born into another life with the ignominious marks that are their conse- quences. A sinner may be relieved of his sin by a confession made in public, by repentance or a punishment, for mental acts in his mind, for those of speech in his organs of speech, for bodily acts in his body. "When the body has ceased to live, the soul returns toward the supreme soul, and the in- telligence. Those two principles examine together and cease- lessly the vices and virtues of the soul ; and, according as it has owned the control of virtue or vice, it obtains in this world and the next, pleasure or pain. If the soul has prac- tised virtue almost always, and vice rarely, it receives BRAHMANISM. 2 1 another body, and enjoys delights in the celestial abode (Swarga). If it has yielded to evil frequently, and rarely observed good, it is subject in hell to torments inflicted by Yama. Great criminals pass many series of years in the infernal regions, where they suffer all kinds of tortures ; some are devoured by ravens and owls; others swallow burning cakes, or walk on flaming sands, others are put in the fire like potters' vases. After having sufiered the penalties pronounced by the sentence of the infernal judge, the soul entering another body, is bom again into an earthly ex- istence, where it is placed according to its qualities and merits. There are three qualities in the soul, namely, good- ness, passion, darkness, or ignorance. The efieots of the quality of goodness are, the study of the Veda, austere de- votion, divine knowledge, purity, subjection of the senses, performance of duty, and meditation on the Supreme Being. The efiects of the quality of passion are, not to act except in view of a reward, to allow yourself to fall into despair, to do things forbidden by the law, -to yield ceaselessly to the pleasures of the senses. The effects of the quality of dark- ness are, cupidity, indolence, irresolution, evil speaking, omission of prescribed acts, importunity, negligence, atheism. Souls endowed with the quality of goodness acquire in a new birth the divine nature ; those who are mastered by passion have the human condition for their lot ; souls plunged into darkness, sink into the state of animals and even that of vegetables. Such are the three principal kinds of transmigration. In each of these there are three degrees : the inferior, the intermediate, the superior. The inferior degree of the quality of darkness comprises vegetables, worms, insects, fish, tortoises, beasts, and savage animals ; while, in the superior quality of goodness, the soul has intercourse with Brahma, the creator of the world, the genius of virtue, the two divinities of the intellectual principle and the invisible principle. Between these two extreme lines are classed all the other states of being. The Sudras, for example, and despised barbarians are placed in the same degree as elephants, lions, tigers ; on the con- 22 INTKODUCTION. trary, the Brahmana are found in the legions of the aerial demi-gods, the genii of the lunar asterisms and the Daityas. Above the happiest states of this world is the Supreme Beatitude which consists in being absorbed in Brahm. The works which lead a Brahman into that beatitude are to study and to understand the Vedas, to practise rigorous devotion, to know Bi-ahm, to honour your spiritual master ; the study of the Veda for the purpose of knowing the Supreme Being is regarded as the most efficacious work. When a Brahman acknowledges in his own soul the supreme soul which lives in all creatures, and shows himself the same in regard to all, he obtains at last the sovereign hap- piness of absorption in Brahm. A hundred millions of Hindoos now observe the Brahmanic religion. BUDDHISM. Tradition has preserved the memory of six Buddhas that came upon earth before Sakyamuni, the founder of a new religion. According to the most accredited opinion, he was born in the year 622 before Christ, and died in 543. The new Buddha (enlightened) belongs to the caste of Sha- triyas, to the race of the Gotamides, and to the family of the Sakyas, who are said to descend from the solar kings of India. He came down from heaven in the bosom of Maya, wife of the king Suddhodana. His mother conceived him with- out stain, and after ten months were over, brought him forth without pain. He was born at the foot of a tree. Brahma received him in a golden vase. Gods or kincs ; incarnations of the gods, are present at his birth. Sages recognise the character of the divinity in this marvellous child ; he is called Siddhartha. At the age of twenty-nine he embraces the ascetic life and from that time is known under the names of Sakyamuni (the hermit Sakya), and of Sramana Gautama (the Gotamide Ascetic, or the Ascetic of the race of the Gotamides.) He gathers around him a certain number of ascetics or monks who become his dis- ciples. Nothing distinguishes him from other hermits. BUDDHISM. 23 His monks and himself are in the Biiddhic books placed in the same rank as the ascetics of the caste of the Brahnians. Sakyamuni does not depend on any god ; he holds all of himself and of the grace of an anterior Buddha, of more divine origin. His power is superior to that of the gods who obey even his disciples. Indra appears to him ordi- narily, and comes to converse with him. Sakya converses with his disciples in presence of an assembly composed of auditors of all kinds, from gods down to men the most vulgar. To be admitted to the number of his hearers, it is enough to have faith in him and a will to follow him. His disciples bear the name of ascetics or monks. There are also nuns in his retinue. Both observe chastity, and get their living by begging. These two orders constitute the bulk of the assembly ; below them come devotees of both sexes. The monks of Sakya live at first in insulation. They come together to hear the master's word, until they are dis- persed by the rainy season, returning when that is over. The necessity of recurring to other steps soon makes itself felt. They raise in woods and in gardens a kind of monas- teries where the master gives his instructions. In principle, these establishments are temporary ; they are frequently transported from one place to another. In time they settle down in one place and receive a regular organization. Opu- lent monasteries and smiling hermitages are founded. The necessity to withstand advei-saries, united Sakya's disciples in one body. He establishes among them a hierarchy based on age and merit. After the master come the elders, some of whom bear the title of elders of the elders or superiors (bishops), others are qualified as venerable. Below these are divers titles and classifications. Set rules fix the gar- ments of the monks, their admission, their meals,