Hence Buddha, who was thoroughly honest himself, and did not become a preacher for the sake of emolument or a livelihood, adopted, as part of his plan, a systematic estrangement from every luxury of whatever sort,--or, in other words, the adoption of a poverty as great as exists in the lower animals. He enjoined that the saintly teacher, having food and raiment of the most homely kind, ought therewith to be content. This was Paul's view also--see 1 Tim. vi. 8. In this teaching the son of Mary concurred; like the son of Maya, he "had not where to lay his head," he had not even such a home as a fox or a bird (Matt, viii. 20), and when he sent out his disciples to preach, his direction to them was, "Take nothing for your journey" (Luke ix. 3, see also Matt, vi. 25-28). To sum up our remarks upon this particular command of Buddha to avoid the taint of ignorance, we may frame an axiom in political economy, thus--"Ignorance in the many ensures wealth in a few," or, "A diffusion of sound knowledge amongst the ruled, reduces the power and the emoluments of the rulers, and compels them to work hard if they wish to retain their position." To apply this idea still further, I would add that a thoroughly educated people, each one of whom feels that he must "work out his own salvation" (Phil ii. 12), does not require a priesthood. Consequently hierarchs, whose sole business in this world seems to be to instil terror into young minds, and to make rules for them to break, that priests may be paid for showing how the imaginary results may be escaped, would have no place if men were wise and thoughtful. It is a curious, though a certain fact, that the depth of savagery and the height of civilization alike ignore the necessity of a hierarchy. The first does so because it never thinks of God--the second, because its conceptions of the Almighty are such that it cannot believe Him to be influenced by individuals who assume to be His earthly vicegerents, or are elected to that pretentious situation by their fellow-men. The God of the Bible can only be adored by individuals whose minds are not emancipated wholly from the thraldom of barbarism, and who regard Jehovah as a man, and not a good one either, or, as we have before remarked--a devil. We may once more extract some sentences for comparison, to show, either that no inspiration was necessary to pen the Bible, or that the Dhammapada has equal claims with the Old Testament-- 244. "Life is easy to live for a man who is without shame, a crow hero, a mischief maker, an insulting, bold, and wretched fellow. But life is hard to live for a modest man, who always looks for what is pure, who is disinterested, quiet, spotless, and intelligent. O man, know this, that the unrestrained are in a bad state; take care that greediness and vice do not bring thee to grief for a long time."