hundred Monks. The Abbot went out to meet him and greet him, and to call his attention to everything worthy of notice. The whole appeared to be in most excellent order, and the principal halls were very magnificent. He was, however, considerably excited to see in a large square lateral building, having a circular gallery, and two long ones opening into it, intersecting each other at right angles, five hundred images of saints nearly as large as life; some of which were made of bronze, and disposed of in such a manner as to have a row seated on both sides of the galleries, whilst, in the middle, two were standing with their backs to each other: so that a considerable time was required to see the whole, a matter, however, not to be regretted, from the intense interest he derived in gazing on this pantheon of the celestial empire. He then took leave of the courtly Abbot, and pursued his journey; but soon after, he says, We, in travelling to this place, passed at least a dozen convents, a proof most certain that the Monks lead a very comfortable life." * The last we shall mention, is one a considerable way up the side of the mountain, where there are one hundred and fifty Monks; and it was so sacred, that the Emperor himself had visited it six times. Close to it was a tower, the walls of which at the bottom were eleven feet and a half thick, and the roof was about one hundred and seventy feet in height. The place is said to have been built seven hundred years, and in some of the apartments the most influential saints in the empire are devoutly worshipped. With such descriptions as these we cannot help being astonished at the extent and influence of the monastic institutions of Paganism. Dobell† briefly says, there are monasteries in China, both for men and women, where numbers of each sex devote themselves to celibacy, and are punished if caught breaking their vows; but it is commonly reported, he adds, that they are most depraved. The convents had excellent rice-fields and gardens; and as the Monks chiefly lived on vegetables, they had a full supply for themselves, and a good surplus for the market. Medhurst, the Missionary, lets us into the secret how these nunneries are furnished with victims: he says that numerous parents rather than destroy their female infants, give them up to the sacred houses. He informs us that the cloistered Monks subsist principally by begging: they take a vow of poverty, and from their abject condition acquire habits of cringing meanness and deceit.

As to the regulations or rules for these places, scarcely any of them strike us with so much force as the one which prohibits persons from taking the veil, or the cowl, without first having permission of the civil authority ;‡ a most salutary enactment, which might well adorn the laws of our native land. It is a curious coincidence, that the Nuns of the Pagan monasteries in China change their names when initiated, as do those of the Popish profession, and submit to the tonsure, and despise marriage.

But we proceed, with all possible brevity, to investigate some of the monastic regulations of the pagan convents; in the performance of which we think it will be impossible to avoid surprise at the peculiar identity of some of the laws of the Chinese Monks with those prescribed by Pythagoras, as well as those observed under the Church of Rome.

Obedience to the Superior is most strictly enjoined. He is not to be called by his own name, not to be watched secretly; his faults are not to be spoken of, and no one is permitted to sit in his presence. The disciple in + Vol. ii., p. 286.

* Van Braam, vol. ii., pp. 234, 232.

Neumann, pp. 72, 57.

his novitiate, or the recluse, must rise early, and knock or call three times, at the door of his Master or Teacher, before he enters; and should he be corrected, he is not to reply again. When the Master is in his meditations, or if reading the Scriptures, or if eating or going out, he shall not be visited. Should food have to be presented to him, it must be done with both the hands; and when spoken to, it must be in a low voice. Should the Master tell him to withdraw from his presence, he shall do so without showing disappointment or joy. When a fault has been committed, it is not to be concealed, but instantly to be confessed with shame, in order to be forgiven. He is not to sit in the Master's chair, not recline in his bed, not dress in his clothes. Should he be sent with a letter, he is not to open it. When the Master dresses, he is to hold his shoes; and when near him, he is not to lean against the wall. On going out with him, he is not to look to the right hand or the left, but walk behind him, having his head bowed down to the earth. In the public hall of the monastery, when he or any other shall say their prayers, you shall not make a noise, you shall not quarrel with any one about a seat, nor hold a loud conversation with any at a distance, nor laugh with him. You shall not go to bed before others, neither rise later than they. When you hear the bell, you shall join your hands in prayer: and when you find anything, you shall take it to the Superior; you shall not take anything privately into your cell. You shall not have more than three garments, nor shall you wear ornamented clothes, like the laity. When you hear the wooden roller, prepare yourself for dinner, and behave decently at the prayers, before and after the meal: whether the dinner be good or bad, you shall not say anything about it, neither shall you utter a word, when going in, or coming out, from the repast, and only salute with the hand. When you have once taken a place, you shall not change it; and should dinner not be ready when you come in, you shall not complain; and when you want anything, you are silently to point at it. You shall not study profane books, neither the different explanations of the Scriptures! Neither works on foreign religions, nor physiognomy, medicine, astronomy, geography, spells, or the furnace of Hwangphia, neither poetry, nor novels. On entering the halls of the monastery you shall not take the middle passage; you shall not strike anything with a stick; and being near the altar, you shall not whisper to another. In the morning, after the second stroke of the bell, it is proper to enter the hall and say your prayers; and coming from the altar you shall walk slowly along. Being in bed you shall neither laugh, nor speak aloud ; and when the watchman comes round a second time, and asks you anything, you shall give a satisfactory reply. You shall not leave your sleeping-room at night without a particular reason. On returning from a nunnery you shall not say, 'This is good, or bad, or fine, or ugly.' You shall not read a book with a Nun, neither shave her head. Two persons shall go together to a nunnery, but they shall not carry a present. Should you visit your relations or friends, you shall not speak of your monastic rule, or about your Teacher, or the law; and on your business being done, you shall not delay to return to the monastery. You shall not play the hypocrite by dissembling an air of gravity and spirituality. On going out to beg, you

* There is a list of prohibited and spurious books in the Chinese convents, such as kin-kang-swan, kin-kang-lung, three books of the splendours of the law; so that the Chinese have their Index Expurgatorum et Prohibitorum, as well as the Roman Catholics.

shall accompany an aged Priest; but if you must go alone, you shall say where you are going: you shall not beg in a piteous and lamentable manner; and when you have received the food, you shall, after thanking the donor, bring it to the monastery. When abroad, you shall not lounge about, looking after this or that object; you shall not walk in a straight line with a woman or a Nun. You shall never ride on horseback, except when sick; and on seeing people quarrel, you shall turn another way. You shall not go out without first asking your Superior; neither provide a new monastic dress, nor put it on, without his permission. Nay, before you take medicine, or shave your head, you shall have his leave; and every important thing you see or hear shall be communicated to him. On going to another place, you shall ask him the way, and what you may expect to meet with in it; and on proceeding, you shall not gaze on the mountains or rivers;" reminding us of St. Bernard, who, according to Gibbon, saw not the splendid lake of Lausanne, when he passed that way.

4. In Japan also, these Heathen institutions greatly prevail, as Thunberg and others inform us: the Monks are exceedingly numerous, and lead an indolent life, some of them spending their time in feeding and training black turtles in artificial ponds. And Gasparvillala says, the Friars of that country generally close their discourses with eloquent appeals, stating it is requisite to bestow plentiful gifts to the cloisters; for their prayers and intercessions are offered to the gods, and, through these, blessings of this world come to men, and infinitely more so in the life to come. Japanese mendicant Nuns are also very importunate and annoying.

*

The

5. In Thibet the monastic institutions of Heathenism greatly abound: and Captain Turner, who travelled in that country in the year 1783, favours us with a most interesting account of them. He says, "The Monks" (who have a novitiate also) "assemble in their chapel, three times a day, for the performance of their religious ceremonies; and that he was regularly aroused at the earliest dawn, by the clangour of their instruments, and the chanting of their matins. The gates were kept closed, as well for the sake of tranquillity, as to prevent any transgression of the laws; for the fifteen hundred Monks there accommodated were bound to lead a life of celibacy. The Fathers were very athletic, and much fairer than their countrymen, and were often seen passing in procession to a little island, where they bathed their brawny limbs. As they went to the water, they were always preceded by their Superior; and were most unique in their appearance, having their heads, and legs, and feet bare. Their dress also was simple, consisting of a philibeg, hanging nearly as low as the knee, a short vest of woollen cloth, and, over the whole, a mantle of deep crimson. The left arm was placed over the chest, and in the right was carried the rosary, which was used as they went along.

Many of the monasteries were in most beautiful and romantic localities; and one, seen in Boottan, was on the summit of the noble mountain Pomale. Those who live in them are exempted from all labour, and many of them are, of course, voluntary members; though in all families where there are more than four boys, it is expected that one of them shall be made over to the sacred order. In the monastery of Teshooloomboo, there were not fewer than three thousand seven hundred brethren; and four Superiors, to direct the daily ceremonies and services. One of these presides over the whole, and has a right at any time to enter the apartments and cells: he is

* Arnoldus Montanus, p. 291.

present at processions, and, armed with a badge of office, carries a wand in one hand and a censer of incense, suspended from a staff, in the other. With these insignia, he is at liberty to mark any visible inattention, by slightly burning the party who offends, or by inflicting a blow. During Captain Turner's journey towards the capital, he lodged in a monastery, in a room which had no opening but the door. He says the Superior was a stout old man, most sedate and hospitable; and that the supper furnished him consisted of mutton, rice, milk, and confectionary. In the distance he saw another sacred establishment, situated on the concave side of a steep rock, and consisting of about one hundred and fifty houses, which arose in rows one above another. The walls were whitewashed, and had a band at the top of about three feet broad, of a deep garnet colour, which, associated with the decorated building of the Superior, had a most beautiful appearance. The whole was surrounded with high walls, which ran along the ridges of the rocks. In the neighbourhood there were very numerous beggars, who are the usual attendants on those erections of indolence and superstition. The monastery of Lubong was composed of three or four hundred houses, besides temples and mausoleums. The buildings were all of stone, and generally two stories in height, having flat roofs, and crowned with a parapet: here again was the broad stripe of garnet colour, which, mixed with the gilding, gave the whole a splendid appearance. The inmates chanted alternately, recitative and chorus; and, by so doing, recalled to the mind of our traveller, the ceremonials and sound of the Romish mass!

The Monks were in general most hospitable and kind, and often beguiled away his solitary hours by various conversations, by instructions in the language, and amusing games; and chess, especially, was a great favourite there. In one place he saw a monastery, which occupied about a mile of ground in circumference, and the whole was encompassed by a wall. But sacred as those places are considered, they are sometimes violated; for the marauders of Nepaul had made an inroad into the dominions of the Lama, and carried off a rich booty. But the head of the celestial empire, astounded by such sacrilegious proceedings, sent a large army to chastise the miscreants, and made them disgorge all that they had taken away.

When the infant Lama, the divine Pontiff of Thibet, was first discovered, it was resolved to remove him to a monastery, and great was the excitement amongst the sacred orders. The bells of the holy place were struck to summon the Monks to their devotion, who came together in great numbers, and applied themselves with the utmost fervour to invoke a propitious reception for their chief. On the appointed day for his transmission, though the distance was sixteen miles, yet the concourse was so great, that they were obliged to halt for the night, and crowds cast themselves at his feet for a blessing!

In describing another of these drone-houses, our author says, there was a low hum of devotion, both night and day, which was occasionally changed to a most vociferous clamour, from the tongues of nearly two thousand five hundred Monks; and on almost every day, there was the solemn pageantry of a procession moving along the sacred building. In another monastery which he visited, he passed through a long corridor, and, after descending two flights of stairs, went through several passages, and then came to a small gate, where he found himself in the enclosure of the grand mausoleum. Three sides were surrounded by a colonnade for the accommodation of pilgrims and other devotees. In the centre was a large gate, which

opened to a principal avenue of the monastery; around which were figures resembling a dragon and other creatures, and numerous small bells were tinkling in the breeze.

Under a portico sat a Priest, who, relieved by others, had perpetually to pray, and to keep alive the sacred fire. Two ponderous doors, on being turned on their pivots, made the whole fabric ring; and then Turner saw the place where the mortal remains of the Sovereign Lamas were deposited. Around were the rosaries, and richest gems, consisting of emeralds, and rubies, and sapphires, and crystals, and lapis lazuli, and pearls, all of which had belonged to the departed Pontiffs.

But we have also an account of the death of a Superior of a monastery in an apartment near to that occupied by our informant, which occasioned noisy invocations and purifications in the place where he expired. Ilis body was burned with sandal-wood, the ashes were carefully collected, and put into a small brass image, and removed to the gallery appointed for the saints of Thibet, in order to receive the idolatrous adorations of his brethren. A nunnery was seen in a most romantic situation, surrounded by naked eminences; on one of which the edifice stood, bearing a southern aspect, and being full of devotees, who, like their brethren the Monks, rise to matins, and chant the mid-day mass, and, having concluded vespers, retire to their solitary cells. In conclusion, with reference to Thibet, we quote the words of an able Orientalist and Missionary, who says, "What places of abomination are the Thibetian monasteries, where myriads of men, gifted with vigour of mind and body, dream away their lives, conversant only with crime, from which the sanctity of the cloister exculpates them!"* (To be continued.)

SKETCHES IN SICILY.

THE EPOMEO RE-VISITED.

WHOEVER passes a month in Ischia should scale the Epomeo. I have been up it twice; once alone, when I was favoured with paradise weather, and saw the wonderful prospect from San Nicolo's convent; and again in company, some seven of us, besides a cook, servants, donkey-men, and dogs. On this last occasion, as will sometimes happen, we were unlucky in our day, a fog escorted by a sweeping blast overtook us at Pansa, and by the time we reached the summit we were children of the mist. There was nothing for it but to dry our dresses, dine, and then descend, how we might, over ankle-breaking crags and banks of slippery clay, to a cup of tea and a nightcap. The giro of the whole island in an open boat is both agreeable and instructive. For the twentieth time in my life I was within an ace of becoming a zealous geologist, but escaped it. We had many adventures in the course of the day one was disturbing a wasps' nest, when our boatman was stung by one of these insects on the cheek; this man, a brave and hardy sailor, and built like a wrestler, cried like a child, and we all had to set to and comfort him!

NATURAL COOK-SHOP.

On the long sandy reach facing Capri we made acquaintance with a natural cuisine well-known to the contadini and fishermen, and large

* Gutzlaff, vol. i., p. 279.