friendship,
is inflamed by religious hatred; and their merciless zeal has
strenuously administered the holy office of the Inquisition." But this
was Gibbon, the hater of everything monastic. Between these extreme
views lies a wide field upon which many a deathless duel has been fought
by the writers of monastic history.

The variety of judgments respecting the nature and effects of
monasticism is partly due to the diversity in the facts of its history.
Monasticism was the friend and the foe of true religion. It was the
inspiration of virtue and the encouragement of vice. It was the patron
of industry and the promoter of idleness. It was a pioneer in education
and the teacher of superstition. It was the disburser of alms and a
many-handed robber. It was the friend of human liberty and the abettor
of tyranny. It was the champion of the common people and the defender of
class privileges. It was, in short, everything that man was and is, so
varied were its operations, so complex was its influence, so
comprehensive was its life.

Of some things we may be certain. Any religious institution or ideal of
life that has survived the changes of twelve centuries, and that has
enlisted the enthusiastic services and warmest sympathies of numerous
men and women who have been honorably distinguished for their
intellectual attainments and moral character, must have possessed
elements of truth and moral worth. A contemptuous treatment of
monasticism implies either an ignorance of its real history or a wilful
disregard of the deep significance of its commendable features.

It is also certain that while the methods of monasticism, judged by
their effects upon the individual and upon society, may be justly
censured, it is beyond question that many monks, groping their way
toward the light in an age of ignorance and superstition, were inspired
by the purest motives. "Conscience," observes Waddington, "however
misguided, cannot be despised by a reflecting mind. When it leads one to
self-sacrifice and moral fortitude we cannot but admire his spirit,
while we condemn his sagacity and method."

_The Effects of Self-Sacrifice Upon the Individual_

Christianity requires some sort of self-denial as the condition of true
Christian discipleship. Self-love is to yield to a love of others. In
some sense, the Christian is to become dead to the world and its
demoralizing pleasures. But this primal demand upon the soul needs to be
interpreted. W