m, l. v. p. 617,)
the fourteenth libel or discourse is on the subject of obedience; and
the Jesuit Rosweyde, who published that huge volume for the use of
convents, has collected all the scattered passages in his two copious
indexes.]

[Footnote 39: Dr. Jortin (Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. p.
161) has observed the scandalous valor of the Cappadocian monks, which
was exemplified in the banishment of Chrysostom.] Superstition has often
framed and consecrated the fantastic garments of the monks: [40]
but their apparent singularity sometimes proceeds from their uniform
attachment to a simple and primitive model, which the revolutions of
fashion have made ridiculous in the eyes of mankind. The father of
the Benedictines expressly disclaims all idea of choice of merit; and
soberly exhorts his disciples to adopt the coarse and convenient dress
of the countries which they may inhabit. [41] The monastic habits of
the ancients varied with the climate, and their mode of life; and they
assumed, with the same indifference, the sheep-skin of the Egyptian
peasants, or the cloak of the Grecian philosophers. They allowed
themselves the use of linen in Egypt, where it was a cheap and domestic
manufacture; but in the West they rejected such an expensive article of
foreign luxury. [42] It was the practice of the monks either to cut or
shave their hair; they wrapped their heads in a cowl to escape the
sight of profane objects; their legs and feet were naked, except in the
extreme cold of winter; and their slow and feeble steps were supported
by a long staff. The aspect of a genuine anachoret was horrid and
disgusting: every sensation that is offensive to man was thought
acceptable to God; and the angelic rule of Tabenne condemned the
salutary custom of bathing the limbs in water, and of anointing them
with oil. [43] [431] The austere monks slept on the ground, on a hard
mat, or a rough blanket; and the same bundle of palm-leaves served them
as a seat in the lay, and a pillow in the night. Their original cells
were low, narrow huts, built of the slightest materials; which formed,
by the regular distribution of the streets, a large and populous
village, enclosing, within the common wall, a church, a hospital,
perhaps a library, some necessary offices, a garden, and a fountain or
reservoir of fresh water. Thirty or forty brethren composed a family
of separate discipline and diet; and the great monasteries of Egypt
consisted of