ii. p. xli.; iii. p. xliv). Moreover, those Parsees who wish to live happily, and have children who will do them honor, must pay four priests, who during three days and three nights perform the Yasna for them (Z. A., vol., ii. p. 564). In Thibet there is great merit in consecrating a domestic animal to a certain god, the animal being after a certain time "delivered to the Lamas, who may eat it" (B. T., p. 158). Giving alms to the monks is a duty most sedulously inculcated by Buddhism, and the Buddhist writings abound in illustrations of the advantages derived from the practice. Similar benefits accrue to the clergy from the custom, prevailing in Ceylon, of making offerings in the temples for recovery from sickness; for when the Singhalese have left their gift on the altar, "the priest presents it with all due ceremony to the god; and after its purpose is thus served, very prudently converts it to his own use" (A I. C., p. 205). Of the Levites it is solemnly declared in Deuteronomy that they have "no part nor inheritance with Israel," and that "the Lord is their inheritance." But "the Lord" is soon seen to be a very substantial inheritance indeed. From those that offer an ox or a sheep the priests are to receive "the shoulder, the two cheeks, and the maw;" while the first-fruits of corn, wine, and oil, and the first of the sheep's fleeces are to be given to them (Deut. xviii. 1-5). Moreover, giving to the priest is declared to be the same thing as giving to the Lord (Num. v. 8). A similar notion, always fostered by ecclesiastical influence, has led to the vast endowments bestowed by pious monarchs and wealthy individuals upon the Christian clergy.
Occasionally, the priests enjoy exemptions from the taxes, or other burdens levied upon ordinary people. A singular instance of this is found in the privilege of the Parsee priests, of not paying their doctors (J. A., vol. ii. p. 555). Large immunities used to be enjoyed by ecclesiastics among ourselves, especially that of exemption from the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts of law.
While the life of a priest often entails certain privations, he is nevertheless frequently sustained by the thought that there is merit in the sacrifices he makes. Thus, it is held by a Buddhist authority, that the merit obtained by entering the spiritual
