CHAPTER V.
CONSECRATED MEDIATORS.
Having seen the manner in which individuals devote themselves
to the special service of their deities, we have now to
observe the further fact that a whole class of men is devoted
to this service by the demands of society. This class is the
priesthood. They differ from the persons last treated of, inasmuch
as the consecration of ascetics has reference exclusively
to their own personal salvation, while the consecration of priests
has reference exclusively to the salvation of others. A monk
or a nun becomes by the act of profession a holier being; less
occupied with the world; mentally nearer to God; better fitted
to communicate with him than ordinary unchaste mortals. A
priest becomes by the act of ordination a being endowed with
special powers; better entitled to offer up the public prayers
than others; more likely to be heard when he does so; more
eligible as a channel of communication between men and God
than unordained mortals. In other words, his functions are of
a public, those of the monk of a private, kind.
We must not be confused by the fact that among Buddhists and among Catholics the two species of consecration are no longer completely distinct, the monks in both of those great religions being at the same time priests. The early writings of Buddhism sufficiently evince the fact that no kind of public ministry was at first connected with the profession of a mendicant. He had simply to observe the precepts of his order, and to aim at such perfection as should ensure the deliverance of his soul. Priestly duties are now indeed performed by monks in Buddhist countries, but this is an addition to their regular vocation, not a necessary part of it; while in Catholic countries, the ecclesiastical character which the monks at present enjoy
