4. ****. These are the expressive words of Sozomen, who
copiously and agreeably describes (l. i. c. 12, 13, 14) the
origin and progress of this monkish philosophy (see Saicer.
Thesaur. Eccles. tom. ii. p. 1441). Some modern writers,
Lipsius (tom. iv. p. 448; Manuduct. ad Philosoph. Stoic.
iii. 13) and La Mothe de Vayer (tom. ix. de la Vertu des
Payens, p. 228-262), have compared the Carmelites to the
Pythagoreans, and the Cynics to the Capucins.