G YMNOSOPIIISTS. BONZES. 
537 
a religion apart; and they allege that throughout the whole of their 
system of doctrine and practice, we may discern traces of Christianity, 
though much defaced ; such as the annunciation, the magi, the mas- 
sacre of the infants, our vSaviour’s miracles, his persecution, ascen- 
sion, &c. 
Gymnosophists. 
These were a sect of Indian philosophers, famous in antiquity, so 
called from their going naked. They, however, did not absolutely 
go naked, but only clothed themselves no farther than modesty 
required. There were some of these sages in Africa, but the most 
celebrated of them were in India. In general the Gymnosophists 
were wise and learned men; their manners and discourses,' recorded 
by historians, do not savour of a barbarous education, but are the 
result of great sense and deep thought. They kept up the dignity of 
their character to so high a degree, that it was never their custom to 
wait upon any body, not even upon princes. They believed the im- 
mortality and transmigration of the soul; they placed the chief hap- 
piness of man in contempt of the goods of fortune, and the pleasures 
of sense ; and gloried in having given faithful and disinterested coun- 
cils even to their princes and magistrates. It is said that when they 
became old and infirm, they threw themselves into a pile of burning 
wood, in order to prevent the miseries of an advanced age. One of 
them, named Calaney, thus burnt himself in the presence of Alexan- 
der the Great. 
Apuleius describes the Gymnosophists thus: “They are all de- 
voted to the study of wisdom, both the elder masters and the younger 
pupils ; and what to me appears the most amiable thing in their cha- 
racter is, that they have an utter aversion to idleness and indolence ; 
accordingly, as soon as the table is spread, before a bit of victuals be 
brought, the youths are all called together from their several places and 
offices, and the masters examine them what good they have done 
since the sun-rise ; here one relates something he has discovered by 
meditation ; another has learned something by demonstration ; and 
as for those who have nothing to allege why they should dine, they 
are turned out to work fasting.” The great leader of the Gymnoso- 
pbists, according to Jerome, was one Buddas or Butta, who is ranked 
by Suidas arnong the Brachmans. He makes Buddas the preceptor 
of Manes the Persian, the founder of the Gymnosophists. 
Bonzes of China. 
These are the priests of the Fohists, or sect of Fohi. It is one of 
their established tenets that great rewards are allotted for the righte- 
ous, and punishments for the wicked, in the next world ; and that 
there are various mansions in which the souls of men will reside, ac- 
cording to their different degrees of merit. But in order to deserve the 
favour of heaven, the Bonzes instruct the people to treat the priests 
with respect and reverence, to support and maintain them, and to 
erect temples and monasteries for them. They tell them, that unless 
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