Chapter XIV: Section IV

EFFECTS OF MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS ON SOCIETY.

But we must not extend these illustrations of monastic life and influence. Enough has been said to show that the effect of these institutions on society was of a mixed character. They were fountains both of good and evil. Their effect on society at large, would mainly depend upon the effect which they produced on their members: and that effect would be greatly modified by the peculiar character and temperament of each individual.

Their natural influence upon idle and sensually-minded men was to cherish their indolence and depravity, and to lead to that vice and dissoluteness which, unless we are to disbelieve the strongest evidence, did really characterise the inmates of many an abbey. To the man of ambition and energy the scenes of the cloister, though apparently separated from the world, presented no unsuitable sphere for the exercise of qualities which fitted him to take a leading part in the political affairs of the nation;--for a monastery of some three or four hundred brethren, (in certain cases it contained many more,) with, their gradations of rank, their forms of government, their legislative power in the chapter-house, their judicial proceedings, and their different employments, formed a little world which was a type of the greater world, with its intrigues, controversies, conflicts, and struggles after place, power, and influence;--hence, from these retreats there came forth many a churchman animated by a spirit, and possessing policy and tact, which prepared him to take a leading part in the transactions of the day, and even to lay his hand on the helm of affairs, and to guide the vessel of the state for good or evil. As it regards persons of a studious turn, the monastery was a sort of college, where, in quietude, and with the best assistance which the age supplied, they could train and improve their minds, and write for the instruction of their brethren. And as it respects men of a mechanical genius, or of artistic taste, there were employments for them, suited to their predilections, and adapted to call forth their industry and skill.

Individuals of a contemplative cast, and of devout habits, it cannot be doubted, found aliment for their piety in the better parts of the services of the church--in some of those beautiful hymns sung at vespers, or the hour of prime, which cannot be read, in these days, but with the deepest pleasure--in certain writings of the fathers--and in those scenes of nature's loveliness which lay outspread around the convent walls, reminding the beholder of their Creator's power and goodness. And further, in the case of men of a benevolent disposition, with hearts open to the appeals of distress, the monastery might furnish them with the means of supplying relief to the suffering sons and daughters of humanity, and might give some scope, though limited, to the exemplification of the active virtues.

With regard to some of the beneficial, as well as some of the evil effects of the monastic institute, it is to be observed that they arose from innovations made upon the original system. If any contend that the profligacy of monks arose from the corruption of monastic discipline, and is not to be charged upon the system, as it proceeded from its founder, they must also admit that the literature of the monks, and whatever they accomplished as architects, and artists, and men of taste, equally arose in a departure from the strict rules of monastic order, and cannot, therefore, be regarded as fruits of the original institute. That an attention to literature, in its secular branches, and the cultivation of art, in its highest forms, was not provided for in the letter, nay, was out of harmony with the spirit of the rules of St. Benedict, must be apparent to every one who looks at that code of discipline; and, moreover, that these things were blamed by monastic reformers in the middle ages, and by those who, in the spirit of monachism, aspired to ascetic perfection, is evident from a glance at their history and writings.

We have said nothing respecting nunneries. "Their rules were formed, for the most part, upon those which bound the monks. Like the monks, they lived from common funds, and used a common dormitory, table, and wardrobe; the same religious services exercised their piety; and habitual temperance and occasional fasting were enjoined with the same severity. Manual labour was no less rigidly enforced; but instead of the agricultural toils imposed upon their 'brethren,' to them were committed the easier tasks of the needle, or the distaff. By duties so numerous, by occupations admitting so great variety, they beguiled the tediousness of the day and the dulness of monastic seclusion."[1] The sister of St. Benedict is said to have been the founder of the Benedictine order of nuns, who soon became so numerous, that, in the city of Rome, under the pontificate of Gregory the Great, there were no less than three thousand of these "_ancillœ Dei_," "hand-maids of God." In the ninth century, they had risen to such an elevation of rank and power, that it became necessary to repress the pretended right of the abbesses to consecrate and ordain, and perform other sacerdotal functions.[2] "The establishment of female recluses followed very closely the numerous diversities of the monastic scheme, and imitated the names of the male institutions, where they could not adopt their practice, or even their profession. An order of Canonesses Regular was founded, or, at least, presented with a rule, by the council of Aix la Chapelle, in A.D. 813. And we read, in later times, of a community of noble young ladies, who were associated under a very easy discipline, and unrestrained by any vow of celibacy, under the title of Canonesses Secular. But these last pretenders to religious seclusion were, on more than one occasion, discountenanced by the authorities of the church."[3]

The taking the veil was a ceremony in harmony with the ascetic spirit of the institute, and the scene within the convent chapel, as the priestly voice pronounced the accustomed formula in the ears of the novice,--"Behold, daughter, and consider; forget thine own people, and thy father's house, that the King may desire thy beauty,"--seemed to indicate a complete abandonment of the world; but there is abundant evidence that a secular temper, and a love of earthly vanities, often followed the recluse to her cell, however she might attempt to conceal it beneath the foldings of her veil. The worldly, the ambitious, the sensual, the devout, the literary, the benevolent, might be found within the walls of the nunnery, as within the walls of the monastery; and the influence of the institute upon its professors in the one case, as in the other, and through them upon society in general, would vary accordingly.

Such is an outline of the character and effects of monasticism--a principle which constituted a leading element in what has been termed "the mediæval system." It is worthy of a deeper consideration, and of a more philosophical and Christian method of inquiry into its nature and results than it has commonly received. It sprung out of mistaken views of the human mind and of the Christian religion, and was wholly opposed to the latter in spirit and practice. It is deeply affecting to think of the many earnest and pious men who were misled by such a system, and who vainly sought by its artificial expedients that deliverance from the power of sin, which can be obtained only by faith in the Redeemer, by contemplating Divine truth, by prayer for the Holy Spirit, and by the discharge of the manifold duties of social life. Yet does the record of this great mistake, with all the evils which followed it, furnish us with a most important and invaluable lesson. "From the very nature of man, and of the Divine government on earth, when man is left to try all his inventions, the age of monasticism must, in all probability, one day have come. And had it not come when it did, we might now have been dreaming in the depths of its midnight. We may be grateful, then, as well as solemn, while contemplating the mistakes and consequent gloom of the past, and may thus become the more forbearing in the sweeping judgments we are apt to form of those who, with no bad intention, and in an age of but little light, and less experience, were left to lead the way in untried paths, which have since conducted to results so appalling and unforeseen."[4] The failure of the monastic system to yield to the aspirant after holiness and peace the help he needs, should warn us against adopting any human devices for the accomplishment of an end so infinitely important, and induce us to cleave to the simple methods prescribed in the Bible--belief of the truth, self-watchfulness, and prayer.

Unsound in principle, the system yielded, as might be expected, a harvest of mischief, not only to pure and noble minds whom it misled, but to other minds whose indolence and vice it nourished, while to mankind at large, it exhibited, in many an instance, a most unlovely spectacle of religious pretensions allied with irreligious practice; and, at the same time, poured over the mass of society the contagion of a pernicious example. Yet, during an age of barbarism, it preserved the seeds of taste and art--during an age of misrule, it afforded a shelter for the oppressed--during an age of ignorance, it kept alive some germs of learning--and during an age of cruel selfishness it illumined the world by some kindly gleams of benevolence. By an overruling Power it was made to serve some useful purposes, for many centuries after its establishment; but when its corruption had reached its height, and the better results it had once produced were neither felt nor needed, because a new state of things in the civilised world had come, it was smitten by the hand of Providence, and left to wither. In the control exerted over it for good, and in its destruction to such an extent, when it only produced evil, we see the wise and mighty hand of Providence, and are constrained to exclaim--"This also cometh from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working."

[1] Waddington's History of the Church, p. 398.

[2] Wellington's History of the Church, p. 400.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Bibliotheca Sacra, vol. i. p. 312.