very long, and his frame extremely emaciated. In this manner he is reported to have spent 37 years; and at last, in his 69th year, to have expired unobserved, in a praying attitude, in which no one ventured to disturb him, till after three days; when Antony, his disciple and biographer, mounting the pillar, found that his spirit was departed, and his holy body was emitting a delightful odor. His remains were borne, in great pomp, to Antioch, in order to be the safeguard of that unwalled town, and innumerable miracles were performed at his shrine. His pillar, also, was so venerated, that it was literally enclosed with chapels and monasteries, for some ages. Simeon was so averse from women, that he never allowed one to come within the sacred precincts of his pillar. Even his own mother was debarred this privilege, till after her death, when her corpse was brought to him; and he now restored her to life, for a short time, that she might see him and converse with him a little before she ascended to heaven. Such is the story, gravely told us by the greatest writers of that age; and as gravely repeated, in modern times, by the Catholic historians."

This Simeon became the founder of a sect of fanatics called "Holy birds" and "ærial martyrs," who peopled a long time the columns of the East, and continued this ridiculous form of religion so late as the twelfth century. Some ceremonies peculiar to the Roman Catholics, I think, must be painful, and sometimes injurious to the body. When at Rome, in 1829, I saw near the Basilica of S. Giovanni, the Scala Santa, or holy stairs, which at that time were covered with devotees of both sexes, slowly, and I thought painfully ascending on

their knees, occasionally kissing the steps and saying prayers. These stairs consist of twenty-eight steps, and are said to have once belonged to the palace of Pontius Pilate, at Jerusalem.

CHAPTER III.

OF AUSTERITIES, PENANCES, MONACHISM, FASTING, &C.

THE subjects treated of in this chapter, are eminently deserving the profound meditation of the philosopher and the physician. I shall not, however, inquire minutely into the probable causes, which have led devout men in all ages, and of all religions, to seek the favor of the Deity by seclusion from social life, by abstemiousness and fasting, and by numerous other penances. Whether it is natural to man in certain stages of civilization, to believe the Deity to be a malevolent being, delighted with the misery of his creatures, and demanding of them a worship influenced by fear, I shall not inquire. It is sufficient for my purpose to show the fact, that men in all ages have sought the favor of the Deity by severe penances and austerities, by extreme fasting, and by solitude and contemplation.

Of Monachism.

It is a well established fact that extreme temperance may be easily borne, and is often necessary for the enjoyment of health in hot climates, and no doubt such climates, by producing lassitude of the body, disposes people to contemplation.

Mosheim remarks that "a propensity to austerity and gloom, is a disease under which many labor, in Syria, Egypt, and other provinces of the East ;" and Waddington says, "The monastic spirit was alike congenial to the scenery and climate of the East, and to the peculiar character of the inhabitants: vast solitudes of unbroken and unbounded expanse; rocks, with the most grotesque outlines, abounding in natural excavations; a dry air and an unclouded sky, afforded facilities-might we not say temptations-to a wild, unsocial and contemplative life. The serious enthusiasm of the natives of Egypt and Asia, that combination of indolence with energy; of the calmest languor with the fiercest passion, which marks their features and their actions, disposed them to embrace with eagerness the tranquil but exciting duties of religious seclusion. And thus, even in earlier ages, before the zeal of devotion superseded all other motives to retirement, we observe, without any surprise, the mention of that practice, as indigenous and immemorial."

Something of this spirit, however, has been exhibited in all countries and all climates, and my object in alluding to the conduct to which it has given rise, is to point out the influence it has upon the health of mankind; leaving the political economist to show the injury a country must sustain by having a large portion of the population idle, and devoted to celibacy.

I consider this spirit to be an effect of the Religious Sentiment, which impels men to flee society and to give themselves up to devotion, and by bodily suffering, seek to render themselves more pure and acceptable to the Deity.

As I have said, all countries and all religions have

furnished numerous instances of the kind. Such were the Gymnosophists or Brachmans of India and Hindostan, a name given to them because they usually went naked. They made philosophy or religion to consist in severe ascetic habits, and constant meditation, in order, as they said, to overcome their sensual propensities, and to become united to God. So desirous were they of purifying themselves, and of being disencumbered of their bodies, which they regarded as impure, that they often burned themselves alive, to become pure the sooner.

Such were also the Bonzes and Talapoins, priests of Fo in China and the East Indies. These devotees resemble in their habits and customs, the Christian monks, and like them, live in monasteries.

The Dervises, among the Mahometans, seem also to be actuated by the same religious spirit, and resemble the Monks of modern times and Christian countries.

Such were also the ancient Essenes and the Therapeuta, of India, Syria and Egypt. These existed before Christ, and are described by Philo, Josephus and Pliny, from whose writings all subsequent accounts of them have been derived. Some Roman Catholic writers, however, have asserted, on the authority of Eusebius, (s) that the Therapeuta were Christians, and that,

(8) Eusebius says that the Therapeutics of Judea and Egypt were Christian solitaires of the first century, and had their rules from St. Mark. But as it will be seen from Philo, this is incorrect. It should, however, be considered that many of them became Christians, and still adhering to their former customs, might, and probably did, introduce Monachism among Christians. They might also plead, that though this system existed in the time of Christ, he did not condemn it; though the censure of the Pharisees may well apply to the practices of the Essenes and Therapeutics. He who wishes to obtain a correct understanding of the ceremonies which have been connected with Christianity, should commence with the History of the Jews and of other nations, in the century preceding Christ, and learn