sual evidence of common fame in
the ballad or romance, if we would extenuate the general corruption of
those institutions. In vain new rules of discipline were devised, or the
old corrected by reforms. Many of their worst vices grew so naturally
out of their mode of life, that a stricter discipline could have no
tendency to extirpate them. Such were the frauds I have already noticed,
and the whole scheme of hypocritical austerities. Their extreme
licentiousness was sometimes hardly concealed by the cowl of sanctity. I
know not by what right we should disbelieve the reports of the
visitation under Henry VIII., entering as they do into a multitude of
specific charges both probable in their nature and consonant to the
unanimous opinion of the world.[538] Doubtless there were many
communities, as well as individuals, to whom none of these reproaches
would apply. In the very best view, however, that can be taken of
monasteries, their existence is deeply injurious to the general morals
of a nation. They withdraw men of pure conduct and conscientious
principles from the exercise of social duties, and leave the common mass
of human vice more unmixed. Such men are always inclined to form schemes
of ascetic perfection, which can only be fulfilled in retirement; but in
the strict rules of monastic life, and under the influence of a
grovelling superstition, their virtue lost all its usefulness. They fell
implicitly into the snares of crafty priests, who made submission to the
church not only the condition but the measure of all praise. "He is a
good Christian," says Eligius, a saint of the seventh century, "who
comes frequently to church; who presents an oblation that it may be
offered to God on the altar; who does not taste the fruits of his land
till he has consecrated a part of them to God; who can repeat the Creed
or the Lord's Prayer. Redeem your souls from punishment while it is in
your power; offer presents and tithes to churches, light candles in holy
places, as much as you can afford, come more frequently to church,
implore the protection of the saints; for, if you observe these things,
you may come with security at the day of judgment to say, Give unto us,
Lord, for we have given unto thee."[539]

With such a definition of the Christian character, it is not surprising
that any fraud and injustice became honourable when it contributed to
the riches of the clergy and glory of their order. Their frauds,
however, were less at