ttery and seduction
were employed to secure those proselytes who might bestow wealth or
dignity on the monastic profession. The indignant father bewailed the
loss, perhaps, of an only son; the credulous maid was betrayed by vanity
to violate the laws of nature; and the matron aspired to imaginary
perfection, by renouncing the virtues of domestic life. Paula yielded
to the persuasive eloquence of Jerom; and the profane title of
mother-in-law of God tempted that illustrious widow to consecrate the
virginity of her daughter Eustochium. By the advice, and in the company,
of her spiritual guide, Paula abandoned Rome and her infant son; retired
to the holy village of Bethlem; founded a hospital and four monasteries;
and acquired, by her alms and penance, an eminent and conspicuous
station in the Catholic church. Such rare and illustrious penitents were
celebrated as the glory and example of their age; but the monasteries
were filled by a crowd of obscure and abject plebeians, who gained in
the cloister much more than they had sacrificed in the world. Peasants,
slaves, and mechanics, might escape from poverty and contempt to a safe
and honorable profession; whose apparent hardships are mitigated by
custom, by popular applause, and by the secret relaxation of discipline.
The subjects of Rome, whose persons and fortunes were made responsible
for unequal and exorbitant tributes, retired from the oppression of the
Imperial government; and the pusillanimous youth preferred the penance
of a monastic, to the dangers of a military, life. The affrighted
provincials of every rank, who fled before the Barbarians, found
shelter and subsistence: whole legions were buried in these religious
sanctuaries; and the same cause, which relieved the distress of
individuals, impaired the strength and fortitude of the empire.

The monastic profession of the ancients was an act of voluntary
devotion. The inconstant fanatic was threatened with the eternal
vengeance of the God whom he deserted; but the doors of the monastery
were still open for repentance. Those monks, whose conscience was
fortified by reason or passion, were at liberty to resume the character
of men and citizens; and even the spouses of Christ might accept the
legal embraces of an earthly lover. The examples of scandal, and the
progress of superstition, suggested the propriety of more forcible
restraints. After a sufficient trial, the fidelity of the novice was
secured by a solemn and