Chapter V: The Position of Women (6)

22 It must not; however, be inferred from this that infanticide
increases in direct proportion to the unchastity of a nation.
Probably the condition of civilised society in which it is most
common, is where a large amount of actual unchastity coexists with
very strong social condemnation of the sinner, and where, in
consequence, there is an intense anxiety to conceal the fall. A
recent writer on Spain has noticed the almost complete absence of
infanticide in that country, and has ascribed it to the great
leniency of public opinion towards female frailty. Foundling
hospitals, also, greatly influence the history of infanticide; but
the mortality in them was long so great that it may be questioned
whether they have diminished the number of the deaths, though they
have, as I believe, greatly diminished the number of the murders of
children. Lord Kames, writing in the last half of the eighteenth
century, says: “In Wales, even at present, and in the Highlands of
Scotland, it is scarce a disgrace for a young woman to have a
bastard. In the country last mentioned, the first instance known of
a bastard child being destroyed by its mother through shame is a
late one. The virtue of chastity appears to be thus gaining ground,
as the only temptation a woman can have to destroy her child is to
conceal her frailty.”—_Sketches of the History of Man—On the
Progress of the Female Sex._ The last clause is clearly inaccurate,
but there seems reason for believing that maternal affection is
generally stronger than want, but weaker than shame.

23 See Warburton’s _Divine Legation_, vii. 2.

24 Ælian, _Varia Hist._ ii. 7. Passages from the Greek imaginative
writers, representing exposition as the avowed and habitual practice
of poor parents, are collected by Terme et Monfalcon, _Hist. des
Enfans trouvés_, pp. 39-45. Tacitus notices with praise (_Germania_,
xix.) that the Germans did not allow infanticide. He also notices
(_Hist._ v. 5) the prohibition of infanticide among the Jews, and
ascribes it to their desire to increase the population.

25 Dion. Halic. ii.

_ 26 Ad Nat._ i. 15.

27 The well-known jurisconsult Paulus had laid down the proposition,
“Necare videtur non tantum is qui partum perfocat sed et is qui
abjicit et qui alimonia denegat et qui publicis locis misericordiæ
causa exponit quam ipse non habet.” (_Dig._ lib. xxv. tit. iii. 1.
4.) These words have given rise to a famous controversy between two
Dutch professors, named Noodt and Bynkershoek, conducted on both
sides with great learning, and on the side of Noodt with great
passion. Noodt maintained that these words are simply the expression
of a moral truth, not a judicial decision, and that exposition was
never illegal in Rome till some time after the establishment of
Christianity. His opponent argued that exposition was legally
identical with infanticide, and became, therefore, illegal when the
power of life and death was withdrawn from the father. (See the
works of Noodt (Cologne, 1763) and of Bynkershoek (Cologne, 1761)).
It was at least certain that exposition was notorious and avowed,
and the law against it, if it existed, inoperative. Gibbon (_Decline
and Fall_, ch. xliv.) thinks the law censured but did not punish
exposition. See, too, Troplong, _Influence du Christianisme sur le
Droit_, p. 271.

28 Quintilian speaks in a tone of apology, if not justification, of the
exposition of the children of destitute parents (_Decl._ cccvi.),
and even Plutarch speaks of it without censure. (_De Amor. Prolis._)
There are several curious illustrations in Latin literature of the
different feelings of fathers and mothers on this matter. Terence
(_Heauton._ Act. iii. Scene 5) represents Chremes as having, as a
matter of course, charged his pregnant wife to have her child killed
provided it was a girl. The mother, overcome by pity, shrank from
doing so, and secretly gave it to an old woman to expose it, in
hopes that it might be preserved. Chremes, on hearing what had been
done, reproached his wife for her womanly pity, and told her she had
been not only disobedient but irrational, for she was only
consigning her daughter to the life of a prostitute. In Apuleius
(_Metam._ lib. x.) we have a similar picture of a father starting
for a journey, leaving his wife in childbirth, and giving her his
parting command to kill her child if it should be a girl, which she
could not bring herself to do. The girl was brought up secretly. In
the case of weak or deformed infants infanticide seems to have been
habitual. “Portentosos fœtus extinguimus, liberos quoque, si debiles
monstrosique editi sunt, mergimus. Non ira, sed ratio est, a sanis
inutilia secernere.”—Seneca, _De Ira_, i. 15. Terence has introduced
a picture of the exposition of an infant into his _Andria_, Act. iv.
Scene 5. See, too, Suet. _August._ lxv. According to Suetonius
(_Calig._ v.), on the death of Germanicus, women exposed their
new-born children in sign of grief. Ovid had dwelt with much feeling
on the barbarity of these practices. It is a very curious fact,
which has been noticed by Warburton, that Chremes, whose sentiments
about infants we have just seen, is the very personage into whose
mouth Terence has put the famous sentiment, “Homo sum, humani nihil
a me alienum puto.”

29 That these were the usual fates of exposed infants is noticed by
several writers. Some, too, both Pagan and Christian (Quintilian,
_Decl._ cccvi.; Lactantius, Div. Inst. vi. 20, &c.), speak of the
liability to incestuous marriages resulting from frequent
exposition. In the Greek poets there are several allusions to rich
childless men adopting foundlings, and Juvenal says it was common
for Roman wives to palm off foundlings on their husbands for their
sons. (_Sat._ vi. 603.) There is an extremely horrible declamation
in Seneca the Rhetorician (_Controvers._ lib. v. 33) about exposed
children who were said to have been maimed and mutilated, either to
prevent their recognition by their parents, or that they might gain
money as beggars for their masters.

30 See passages on this point cited by Godefroy in his _Commentary to
the Law __“__De Expositis,__”__ Codex Theod._ lib. v. tit. 7.

_ 31 Codex Theod._ lib. xi. tit. 27.

_ 32 Codex Theod._ lib. v. tit. 7, lex. 1.

_ 33 Ibid._ lib. v. tit. 8, lex 1.

34 See Godefroy’s _Commentary to the Law_.

35 In a letter to the younger Pliny. (_Ep._ x. 72.)

36 See on this point Muratori, _Antich. Ital._ Diss. xxxvii.

37 See on these laws, Wallon, _Hist. de l’Esclavage_, tome iii. pp. 52,
53.

38 See _Cod. Theod._ lib. iii. tit. 3, lex 1, and the Commentary.

39 On the very persistent denunciation of this practice by the Fathers,
see many examples in Terme et Monfalcon.

40 This is a mere question of definition, upon which lawyers have
expended much learning and discussion. Cujas thought the Romans
considered infanticide a crime, but a crime generically different
from homicide. Godefroy maintains that it was classified as
homicide, but that, being esteemed less heinous than the other forms
of homicide, it was only punished by exile. See the Commentary to
_Cod. Theod._ lib. ix. tit. 14, l. 1.

_ 41 Cod. Theod._ lib. ix. tit. 15.

_ 42 Ibid._ lib. ix. tit. 14, lex 1.

_ 43 Corp. Juris_, lib. viii. tit. 52, lex 2.

_ 44 Leges Wisigothorum_ (lib. vi. tit. 3, lex 7) and other laws (lib.
iv. tit. 4) condemned exposition.

45 “Si quis infantem necaverit ut homicida teneatur.”—_Capit._ vii.
168.

46 It appears, from a passage of St. Augustine, that Christian virgins
were accustomed to collect exposed children and to have them brought
into the church. See Terme et Monfalcon, _Hist. des Enfans trouvés_,
p. 74.

47 Compare Labourt, _Rech. sur les Enfans trouvés_, pp. 32, 33;
Muratori, _Antichità Italiane_, Dissert. xxxvii. Muratori has also
briefly noticed the history of these charities in his _Carità
Christiana_, cap. xxvii.

48 The first seems to have been the hospital of Sta. Maria in Sassia,
which had existed with various changes from the eighth century, but
was made a foundling hospital and confided to the care of Guy of
Montpellier in A.D. 1204. According to one tradition, Pope Innocent
III. had been shocked at hearing of infants drawn in the nets of
fishermen from the Tiber. According to another, he was inspired by
an angel. Compare Remacle, _Hospices d’Enfans trouvés_, pp. 36-37,
and Amydemus, _Pietas Romana_ (a book written A.D. 1624, and
translated in part into English in A.D. 1687), Eng. trans, pp. 2, 3.

49 For the little that is known about this missionary of charity,
compare Remacle, _Hospices d’Enfans trouvés_, pp. 34-44; and
Labourt, _Recherches historiques sur les Enfans trouvés_, pp. 38-41.

50 E.g. the amphitheatre of Verona was only built under Diocletian.

51 “Quid hoc triumpho pulchrius?... Tantam captivorum multitudinem
bestiis objicit ut ingrati et perfidi non minus doloris ex ludibrio
sui quam ex ipsa morte patiantur.”—Incerti, _Panegyricus Constant_.
“Puberes qui in manus venerunt, quorum nec perfidia erat apta
militiæ nec ferocia servituti ad pœnas spectaculo dati sævientes
bestias multitudine sua fatigarunt.”—Eumenius, _Paneg. Constant._
xi.

_ 52 Cod. Theod._ lib. xv. tit. 12, lex 1. Sozomen, i. 8.

53 This, at least, is the opinion of Godefroy, who has discussed the
subject very fully. (_Cod. Theod._ lib. xv. tit. 12.)

54 Libanius, _De Vita Sua_, 3.

_ 55 Cod. Theod._ lib. xv. tit. 12, l. 2.

56 Ibid. lib. ix. tit. 40, l. 8.

57 Ibid. lib. ix. tit. 40, l. 11.

58 Ibid. lib. xv. tit. 12, l. 3.

59 Symmach. _Ex._ x. 61.

60 M. Wallon has traced these last shows with much learning. (_Hist. de
l’Esclavage_, tome iii. pp. 421-429.)

61 He wavered, however, on the subject, and on one occasion condemned
them. See Wallon, tome iii. p. 423.

62 Theodoret, v. 26.

63 Muller, _De Genio Ævi Theodosiani_ (1797), vol. ii. p. 88; Milman,
_Hist. of Early Christianity_, vol. iii. pp. 343-347.

64 See on these fights Ozanam’s _Civilisation in the Fifth Century_
(Eng. trans.), vol. i. p. 130.

65 Nieupoort, _De Ritibus Romanorum_, p. 169.

66 See a very unequivocal passage, _Inst. Div._ vi. 20. Several earlier
testimonies on the subject are given by Barbeyrac, _Morale des
Pères_, and in many other books.

67 See two laws enacted in A.D. 380 (_Cod. Theod._ ix. tit. 35, l. 4)
and A.D. 389 (_Cod. Theod._ ix. tit. 35, l. 5). Theodosius the
Younger made a law (ix. tit. 35, l. 7) excepting the Isaurian
robbers from the privileges of these laws.

68 There are, of course, innumerable miracles punishing guilty men, but
I know none assisting the civil power in doing so. As an example of
the miracles in defence of the innocent, I may cite one by St.
Macarius. An innocent man, accused of a murder, fled to him. He
brought both the accused and accusers to the tomb of the murdered
man, and asked him whether the prisoner was the murderer. The corpse
answered in the negative; the bystanders implored St. Macarius to
ask it to reveal the real culprit; but St. Macarius refused to do
so. (_Vitæ Patrum_, lib. ii. cap. xxviii.)

69 “Ut quam clementissime et ultra sanguinis effusionem puniretur.”

_ 70 Quæstœ. Romanæ_, xcvi.

71 Tillemont, _Mém. d’Hist. ecclés_. tome vi. pp. 88-98. The Donatists
after a time, however, are said to have overcome their scruples, and
used swords.

72 Under the Christian kings, the barbarians multiplied the number of
capital offences, but this has usually been regarded as an
improvement. The Abbé Mably says: “Quoiqu’il nous reste peu
d’ordonnances faites sous les premiers Mérovingiens, nous voyons
qu’avant la fin du sixième siècle, les François avoient déjà adopté
la doctrine salutaire des Romains au sujet de la prescription; et
que renonçant à cette humanité cruelle qui les enhardissoit au mal,
ils infligèrent peine de mort contre l’inceste, le vol et le meurtre
qui jusques-là n’avoient été punis que par l’exil, ou dont on se
rachetoit par une composition. Les François, en réformant
quelques-unes de leurs lois civiles, portèrent la sévérité aussi
loin que leurs pères avoient poussé l’indulgence.”—Mably, _Observ.
sur l’Hist. des François_, liv. i. ch. iii. See, too, Gibbon’s
_Decline and Fall_, ch. xxxviii.

73 The whole of the sixth volume of Godefroy’s edition (folio) of the
Theodosian code is taken up with laws of these kinds.

74 Mme. de Staël, _Réflexions sur le Suicide_.

75 The following became the theological doctrine on the subject: “Est
vere homicida et reus homicidii qui se interficiendo innocentum
hominem interfecerit.”—Lisle, _Du Suicide_, p. 400. St. Augustine
has much in this strain. Lucretia, he says, either consented to the
act of Sextius, or she did not. In the first case she was an
adulteress, and should therefore not be admired. In the second case
she was a murderess, because in killing herself she killed an
innocent and virtuous woman. (_De Civ. Dei_, i. 19.)

76 Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Cyprian are especially ardent in this
respect; but their language is, I think, in their circumstances,
extremely excusable. Compare Barbeyrac, _Morale des Pères_, ch. ii.
§ 8; ch. viii. §§ 34-39. Donne’s _Biathanatos_ (ed. 1644), pp.
58-67. Cromaziano, _Istoria critica e filosofica del Suicidio
ragionato_ (Venezia, 1788), pp. 135-140.

77 Ambrose, _De Virginibus_, iii. 7.

78 Eusebius, _Eccles. Hist._ viii. 12.

79 Eusebius, _Eccles. Hist._ viii. 14. Bayle, in his article upon
Sophronia, appears to be greatly scandalised at this act, and it
seems that among the Catholics it is not considered right to admire
this poor lady as much as her sister suicides. Tillemont remarks:
“Comme on ne voit pas que l’église romaine l’ait jamais honorée,
nous n’avons pas le mesme droit de justifier son action.”—_Hist.
ecclés._ tome v. pp. 404, 405.

80 Especially Barbeyrac in his _Morale des Pères_. He was answered by
Ceillier, Cromaziano, and others. Matthew of Westminster relates of
Ebba, the abbess of a Yorkshire convent which was besieged by the
Danes, that she and all the other nuns, to save their chastity,
deformed themselves by cutting off their noses and upper lips. (A.D.
870.)

_ 81 De Civ. Dei_, i. 22-7.

82 This had been suggested by St. Augustine. In the case of Pelagia,
Tillemont finds a strong argument in support of this view in the
astounding, if not miraculous, fact that, having thrown herself from
the top of the house, she was actually killed by the fall! “Estant
montée tout au haut de sa maison, fortifiée par le mouvement que
J.-C. formoit dans son cœur et par le courage qu’il luy inspiroit,
elle se précipita de là du haut en bas, et échapa ainsi à tous les
piéges de ses ennemis. Son corps en tombant à terre frapa, dit S.
Chrysostome, les yeux du démon plus vivement qu’un éclair.... Ce qui
marque encore que Dieu agissoit en tout ceci c’est qu’au lieu que
ces chutes ne sont pas toujours mortelles, ou que souvent ne brisant
que quelques membres, elles n’ostent la vie que longtemps après, ni
l’un ni l’autre n’arriva en cette rencontre; mais Dieu retira
aussitost l’âme de la sainte, en sorte que sa mort parut autant
l’effet de la volonté divine que de sa chute.”—_Hist. ecclés._ tome
v. pp. 401-402.

83 “Et virginitatis coronam et nuptiarum perdidit voluptatem.”—_Ep._
xxii.

84 “Quis enim siccis oculis recordetur viginti annorum adolescentulam
tam ardenti fide crucis levasse vexillum ut magis amissam
virginitatem quam mariti doleret interitum?”—_Ep._ xxxix.

85 For a description of these penances, see _Ep._ xxxviii.

_ 86 Ep._ xxxix.

87 St. Jerome gave some sensible advice on this point to one of his
admirers. (_Ep._ cxxv.)

88 Hase, _St. François d’Assise_, pp. 137-138. St. Palæmon is said to
have died of his austerities. (_Vit. S. Pachomii._)

89 St. Augustine and St. Optatus have given accounts of these suicides
in their works against the Donatists.

90 See Todd’s _Life of St. Patrick_, p. 462.

91 The whole history of suicide in the dark ages has been most minutely
and carefully examined by M. Bourquelot, in a very interesting
series of memoirs in the third and fourth volumes of the
_Bibliothèque de l’École des Chartes_. I am much indebted to these
memoirs in the following pages. See, too, Lisle, _Du Suicide,
Statistique, Médecine, Histoire, et Législation_. (Paris, 1856.) The
ferocious laws here recounted contrast remarkably with a law in the
Capitularies (lib. vi. lex 70), which provides that though mass may
not be celebrated for a suicide, any private person may, through
charity, cause prayers to be offered up for his soul. “Quia
incomprehensibilia sunt judicia Dei, et profunditatem consilii ejus
nemo potest investigare.”

92 See the very interesting work of the Abbé Bourret, _l’École
chrétienne de Séville sous la monarchie des Visigoths_ (Paris,
1855), p. 196.

93 Roger of Wendover, A.D. 665.

94 Esquirol, _Maladies mentales_, tome i. p. 591.

95 Lea’s _History of Sacerdotal Celibacy_ (Philadelphia, 1867), p. 248.

96 “Per lo corso di molti secoli abbiamo questo solo suicidio donnesco,
e buona cosa è non averne più d’uno; perchè io non credo che la
impudicizia istessa sia peggiore di questa disperata
castità.”—Cromaziano, _Ist. del. Suicidio_, p. 126. Mariana, who,
under the frock of a Jesuit, bore the heart of an ancient Roman,
treats the case in a very different manner. “Ejus uxor Maria
Coronelia cum mariti absentiam non ferret, ne pravis cupiditatibus
cederet, vitam posuit, ardentem forte libidinem igne extinguens
adacto per muliebria titione; dignam meliori seculo fœminam, insigne
studium castitatis.”—_De Rebus Hispan._ xvi. 17.

97 A number of passages are cited by Bourquelot.

98 This is noticed by St. Gregory Nazianzen in a little poem which is
given in Migne’s edition of _The Greek Fathers_, tome xxxvii. p.
1459. St. Nilus and the biographer of St. Pachomius speak of these
suicides, and St. Chrysostom wrote a letter of consolation to a
young monk, named Stagirius, which is still extant, encouraging him
to resist the temptation. See Neander, _Ecclesiastical Hist._ vol.
iii. pp. 319, 320.

99 Bourquelot. Pinel notices (_Traité médico-philosophique sur
l’Aliénation mentale_ (2nd ed.), pp. 44-46) the numerous cases of
insanity still produced by strong religious feeling; and the history
of the movements called “revivals,” in the present century, supplies
much evidence to the same effect. Pinel says, religious insanity
tends peculiarly to suicide (p. 265).

100 Orosius notices (_Hist._ v. 14) that of all the Gauls conquered by
Q. Marcius, there were none who did not prefer death to slavery. The
Spaniards were famous for their suicides, to avoid old age as well
as slavery. Odin, who, under different names, was the supreme
divinity of most of the Northern tribes, is said to have ended his
earthly life by suicide. Boadicea, the grandest figure of early
British history, and Cordeilla, or Cordelia, the most pathetic
figure of early British romance, were both suicides. (See on the
first, Tacitus, _Ann._ xiv. 35-37, and on the second Geoffrey of
Monmouth, ii. 15—a version from which Shakspeare has considerably
diverged, but which is faithfully followed by Spenser. (_Faëry
Queen_, book ii. canto 10.))

101 “In our age, when the Spaniards extended that law which was made
only against the cannibals, that they who would not accept the
Christian religion should incur bondage, the Indians in infinite
numbers escaped this by killing themselves, and never ceased till
the Spaniards, by some counterfeitings, made them think that they
also would kill themselves, and follow them with the same severity
into the next life.”—Donne’s _Biathanatos_, p. 56 (ed. 1644). On the
evidence of the early travellers on this point, see the essay on
“England’s Forgotten Worthies,” in Mr. Froude’s _Short Studies_.

102 Lisle, pp. 427-434. Sprenger has noticed the same tendency among the
witches he tried. See Calmeil, _De la Folie_ (Paris, 1845), tome i.
pp. 161, 303-305.

103 On modern suicides the reader may consult Winslow’s _Anatomy of
Suicide_; as well as the work of M. Lisle, and also Esquirol,
_Maladies mentales_ (Paris, 1838), tome i. pp. 526-676.

104 Hecker’s _Epidemics of the Middle Ages_ (London, 1844), p. 121.
Hecker in his very curious essay on this mania, has preserved a
verse of their song:—

“Allu mari mi portati
Se voleti che mi sanati,
Allu mari, alla via,
Così m’ama la donna mia,
Allu mari, allu mari,
Mentre campo, t’aggio amari.”

105 Cromaziano, _Ist. del Suicidio_ caps. viii, ix.

106 Cromaziano, pp. 92-93.

107 Montesquieu, and many Continental writers, have noticed this, and
most English writers of the eighteenth century seem to admit the
charge. There do not appear, however, to have been any accurate
statistics, and the general statements are very untrustworthy.
Suicides were supposed to be especially numerous under the
depressing influence of English winter fogs. The statistics made in
the present century prove beyond question that they are most
numerous in summer.

_ 108 Utopia_, book ii. ch. vi.

109 A sketch of his life, which was rather curious, is given by
Cromaziano, pp. 148-151. There is a long note on the early
literature in defence of suicide, in Dumas, _Traité du Suicide_
(Amsterdam, 1723), pp. 148-149. Dumas was a Protestant minister who
wrote against suicide. Among the English apologists for suicide
(which he himself committed) was Blount, the translator of the _Life
of Apollonius of Tyana_, and Creech, an editor of Lucretius.
Concerning the former there is a note in Bayle’s _Dict._ art.
“Apollonius.” The latter is noticed by Voltaire in his _Lettres
Philos._ He wrote as a memorandum on the margin of his “Lucretius,”
“N.B. When I have finished my Commentary I must kill myself;” which
he accordingly did—Voltaire says to imitate his favourite author.
(Voltaire, _Dict. phil._ art. “Caton.”)

_ 110 Essais_, liv. ii. ch. xiii.

_ 111 Lettres persanes_, lxxvi.

_ 112 Nouvelle Héloïse_, partie iii. let. 21-22. Esquirol gives a curious
illustration of the way the influence of Rousseau penetrated through
all classes. A little child of thirteen committed suicide, leaving a
writing beginning: “Je lègue mon âme a Rousseau, mon corps à la
terre.”—_Maladies mentales_, tome i. p. 588.

113 In general, however, Voltaire was extremely opposed to the
philosophy of despair, but he certainly approved of some forms of
suicide. See the articles “Caton” and “Suicide,” in his _Dict.
philos._

114 Lisle, _Du Suicide_, pp. 411, 412.

115 “Le monde est vide depuis les Romains.”—St.-Just, _Procés de
Danton_.

116 This fact has been often noticed. The reader may find many
statistics on the subject in Lisle, _Du Suicide_, and Winslow’s
_Anatomy of Suicide_.

117 “There seems good reason to believe, that with the progress of
mental development through the ages, there is, as in the case with
other forms of organic development, a correlative degeneration going
on, and that an increase of insanity is a penalty which an increase
of our present civilisation necessarily pays.”—Maudsley’s
_Physiology of Mind_, p. 201.

_ 118 Cod. Theod._ lib. ix. tit. 12.

119 Some commentators imagine (see Muratori, _Antich. Ital. Diss._ xiv.)
that among the Pagans the murder of a man’s own slave was only
assimilated to the crime of murdering the slave of another man,
while in the Christian law it was defined as homicide, equivalent to
the murder of a freeman. I confess, however, this point does not
appear to me at all clear.

120 See Godefroy’s _Commentary_ on these laws.

121 Exodus xxi. 21

122 “Quas vilitates vitæ dignas legum observatione non credidit.”—_Cod.
Theod._ lib. ix. tit. 7. See on this law, Wallon, tome iii. pp. 417,
418.

Dean Milman observes, “In the old Roman society in the Eastern
Empire this distinction between the marriage of the freeman and the
concubinage of the slave was long recognised by Christianity itself.
These unions were not blessed, as the marriages of their superiors
had soon begun to be, by the Church. Basil the Macedonian (A.D.
867-886) first enacted that the priestly benediction should hallow
the marriage of the slave; but the authority of the emperor was
counteracted by the deep-rooted prejudices of centuries.”—_Hist. of
Latin Christianity_, vol. ii. p. 15.

_ 123 Cod. Theod._ lib. ii. tit. 25.

124 Ibid. lib. iv. tit. 7.

125 Ibid. lib. ix. tit. 9.

_ 126 Corpus Juris_, vi. 1.

_ 127 Cod. Theod._ lib. vi. tit. 2.

128 See on all this legislation, Wallon, tome iii.; Champagny, _Charité
chrétienne_, pp. 214-224.

129 It is worthy of notice, too, that the justice of slavery was
frequently based by the Fathers, as by modern defenders of slavery,
on the curse of Ham. See a number of passages noticed by Moehler,
_Le Christianisme et l’Esclavage_ (trad. franç.), pp. 151-152.

130 The penalty, however, appears to have been reduced to two years’
exclusion from communion. Muratori says: “In più consili si truova
decretato, ‘excommunicatione vel pœnitentiæ biennii esse
subjiciendum qui servum proprium sine conscientia judicis
occiderit.’ ”—_Antich. Ital._ Diss. xiv.

Besides the works which treat generally of the penitential
discipline, the reader may consult with fruit Wright’s letter _On
the Political Condition of the English Peasantry_, and Moehler, p.
186.

131 On the great multitude of emancipated slaves who entered, and at one
time almost monopolised, the ecclesiastical offices, compare
Moehler, _Le Christianisme et l’Esclavage_, pp. 177-178. Leo the
Great tried to prevent slaves being raised to the priestly office,
because it would degrade the latter.

132 See a most admirable dissertation on this subject in Le Blant,
_Inscriptions chrétiennes de la Gaule_, tome ii. pp. 284-299;
Gibbon’s _Decline and Fall_, ch. xxxviii.

133 Champagny, _Charité chrétienne_, p. 210. These numbers are, no
doubt, exaggerated; see Wallon, _Hist. de l’Esclavage_, tome iii. p.
38.

134 See Schmidt, _La Société civile dans le Monde romain_, pp. 246-248.

135 Muratori has devoted two valuable dissertations (_Antich. Ital._
xiv. xv.) to mediæval slavery.

136 Ozanam’s _Hist. of Civilisation in the Fifth Century_ (Eng. trans.),
vol. ii. p. 43. St. Adelbert, Archbishop of Prague at the end of the
tenth century, was especially famous for his opposition to the slave
trade. In Sweden, the abolition of slavery in the thirteenth century
was avowedly accomplished in obedience to Christian principles.
(Moehler, _Le Christianisme et l’Esclavage_, pp. 194-196; Ryan’s
_History of the Effects of Religion upon Mankind_, pp. 142, 143.)

137 Salvian, in a famous passage (_De Gubernatione Dei_, lib. v.),
notices the multitudes of poor who voluntarily became “coloni” for
the sake of protection and a livelihood. The coloni, who were
attached to the soil, were much the same as the mediæval serfs. We
have already noticed them coming into being, apparently when the
Roman emperors settled barbarian prisoners to cultivate the desert
lands of Italy; and before the barbarian invasions their numbers
seem to have much increased. M. Guizot has devoted two chapters to
this subject. (_Hist. de la Civilisation en France_, vii. viii.)

138 See Finlay’s _Hist. of Greece_, vol. i. p. 241.

139 Moehler, p. 181.

140 “Non v’era anticamente signor secolare, vescovo, abbate, capitolo di
canonici e monistero che non avesse al suo servigio molti servi.
Molto frequentemente solevano i secolari manometterli. Non cosi le
chiese, e i monisteri, non per altra cagione, a mio credere, se non
perchè la manumissione è una spezie di alienazione, ed era dai
canoni proibito l’alienare i beni delle chiese.”—Muratori,
_Dissert._ xv. Some Councils, however, recognised the right of
bishops to emancipate Church slaves. Moehler, _Le Christianisme et
l’Esclavage_, p. 187. Many peasants placed themselves under the
dominion of the monks, as being the best masters, and also to obtain
the benefit of their prayers.

141 Muratori; Hallam’s _Middle Ages_, ch. ii. part ii.

142 See on this subject, Ryan, pp. 151-152; Cibrario, _Economica
politica del Medio Evo_, lib. iii. cap. ii., and especially Le
Blant, _Inscriptions chrétiennes de la Gaule_, tome ii. pp. 284-299.

143 About 5/6ths of a bushel. See Hume’s _Essay on the Populousness of
Ancient Nations_.

144 The history of these distributions is traced with admirable learning
by M. Naudet in his _Mémoire sur les Secours publics dans
l’Antiquité_ (_Mém. de l’Académie des Inscrip. et Belles-lettres_,
tome xiii.), an essay to which I am much indebted. See, too,
Monnier, _Hist. de l’Assistance publique_; B. Dumas, _Des Secours
publics chez les Anciens_; and Schmidt, _Essai sur la Société civile
dans le Monde romain et sur sa Transformation par le Christianisme_.

145 Livy, ii. 9; Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ xxxi. 41.

146 Dion Cassius, xxxviii. 1-7.

147 Xiphilin, lxviii. 2; Pliny, _Ep._ vii. 31.

148 Spartian. _Sept. Severus_.

149 Suet. _August._ 41; Dion Cassius, li, 1.

150 “Afflictos civitatis relevavit; puellas puerosque natos parentibus
egestosis sumptu publico per Italiæ oppida ali jussit.”—Sext.
Aurelius Victor, _Epitome_, “Nerva.” This measure of Nerva, though
not mentioned by any other writer, is confirmed by the evidence of
medals. (Naudet, p. 75.)

151 Plin. _Panegyr._ xxvi. xxviii.

152 We know of this charity from an extant bronze tablet. See Schmidt,
_Essai historique sur la Société romaine_, p. 428.

153 Plin. _Ep._ i. 8; iv. 13.

154 Schmidt, p. 428.

155 Spartianus, _Hadrian_.

156 Capitolinus, _Antoninus_.

157 Capitolinus, _Anton._, _Marc. Aurel._

158 Lampridius, _A. Severus_.

159 See Friedlænder, _Hist. des Mœurs romaines_, iii. p. 157.

160 Seneca (_De Ira_, lib. i. cap. 16) speaks of institutions called
valetudinaria, which most writers think were private infirmaries in
rich men’s houses. The opinion that the Romans had public hospitals
is maintained in a very learned and valuable, but little-known work,
called _Collections relative to the Systematic Relief of the Poor_.
(London, 1815.)

161 See Tacit. _Annal._ xii. 58; Pliny, v. 7; x. 79.

162 Cornelius Nepos, _Epaminondas_, cap. iii.

163 Plutarch, _Cimon_.

164 Diog. Laërt. _Bias_.

165 Tac. _Annal._ iv. 63.

166 See Pliny, _Ep._ x. 94, and the remarks of Naudet, pp. 38, 39.

_ 167 De Offic._ i. 14, 15.

168 Lucian describes this in his famous picture of Peregrinus; and
Julian, much later, accused the Christians of drawing men into the
Church by their charities. Socrates (_Hist. Eccl._ vii. 17) tells a
story of a Jew who, pretending to be a convert to Christianity, had
been often baptised in different sects, and had amassed a
considerable fortune by the gifts he received on those occasions. He
was at last miraculously detected by the Novatian bishop Paul. There
are several instances in the _Lives of the Saints_ of judgments
falling on those who duped benevolent Christians.

169 See on this subject Chastel, _Études historiques sur la Charité_
(Paris, 1853); Martin Doisy, _Hist. de la Charité pendant les quatre
premiers Siècles_ (Paris, 1848); Champagny, _Charité chrétienne_;
Tollemer, _Origines de la Charité catholique_ (Paris, 1863); Ryan,
_History of the Effects of Religion upon Mankind_ (Dublin, 1820);
and the works of Bingham and of Cave. I am also indebted, in this
part of my subject, to Dean Milman’s histories, Neander’s
_Ecclesiastical History_, and _Private Life of the Early
Christians_, and to Migne’s _Encyclopédie_.

170 See the famous epistle of Julian to Arsacius, where he declares that
it is shameful that “the Galileans” should support not only their
own, but also the heathen poor; and also the comments of Sozomen,
_Hist. eccl._ v. 16.

171 The conduct of the Christians, on the first of these occasions, is
described by Pontius, _Vit. Cypriani_, ix. 19. St. Cyprian organised
their efforts. On the Alexandrian famines and pestilences, see
Eusebius, _H. E._ vii. 22; ix. 8.

172 The effects of this conquest have been well described by Sismondi,
_Hist. de la Chute de l’Empire Romain_, tome i. pp. 258-260.
Theodoric afterwards made some efforts to re-establish the
distribution, but it never regained its former proportions. The
pictures of the starvation and depopulation of Italy at this time
are appalling. Some fearful facts on the subject are collected by
Gibbon, _Decline and Fall_, ch. xxxvi.; Chateaubriand, vime _Disc._
2de partie.

_ 173 Cod. Theod._ ix. xl. 15-16. The first of these laws was made by
Theodosius, A.D. 392; the second by Honorius, A.D. 398.

174 Cibrario, _Economica politica del Medio Evo_, lib. ii. cap. iii. The
most remarkable of these saints was St. Julien l’Hospitalier, who
having under a mistake killed his father and mother, as a penance
became a ferryman of a great river, and having embarked on a very
stormy and dangerous night at the voice of a traveller in distress,
received Christ into his boat. His story is painted on a window of
the thirteenth century, in Rouen Cathedral. See Langlois, _Essai
historique sur la Peinture sur verre_, pp. 32-37.

175 The fact of leprosy being taken as the image of sin gave rise to
some curious notions of its supernatural character, and to many
legends of saints curing leprosy by baptism. See Maury, _Légendes
pieuses du Moyen-Age_, pp. 64-65.

176 See on these hospitals Cibrario, _Econ. Politica del Medio Evo_,
lib. iii. cap. ii.

177 Calmeil observes: “On a souvent constaté depuis un demi-siècle que
la folie est sujette à prendre la teinte des croyances religieuses,
des idées philosophiques ou superstitieuses, des préjugés sociaux
qui ont cours, qui sont actuellement en vogue parmi les peuples ou
les nations; que cette teinte varie dans un même pays suivant le
caractère des événements relatifs à la politique extérieure, le
caractère des événements civils, la nature des productions
littéraires, des représentations théâtrales, suivant la tournure, la
direction, le genre d’élan qu’y prennent l’industrie, les arts et
les sciences.”—_De la Folie_, tome i. pp. 122-123.

178 Milman’s _History of Latin Christianity_, vol. vii. pp. 353, 354.

“Venit de Anglia virgo decora valde, pariterque facunda, dicens,
Spiritum Sanctum incarnatum in redemptionem mulierum, et baptizavit
mulieres in nomine Patris, Filii et sui. Quæ mortua ducta fuit in
Mediolanum, ibi et cremata.”—_Annales Dominicanorum Colmariensium_
(in the “Rerum Germanic. Scriptores”).

179 “Martin Gonçalez, du diocèse de Cuenca, disoit qu’il etoit frère de
l’archange S. Michel, la première vérité et l’échelle du ciel; que
c’étoit pour lui que Dieu réservoit la place que Lucifer avoit
perdue; que tous les jours il s’élevoit au plus haut de l’Empirée et
descendoit ensuite au plus profond des enfers; qu’a la fin du monde,
qui étoit proche, il iroit au devant de l’Antichrist et qu’il le
terrasseroit, ayant á sa main la croix de Jésus-Christ et sa
couronne d’épines. L’archevêque de Tolède, n’ayant pu convertir ce
fanatique obstiné, ni l’empêcher de dogmatiser, l’avoit enfin livré
au bras séculier.”—Touron, _Hist. des Hommes illustres de l’ordre de
St. Dominique_, Paris, 1745 (_Vie d’Eyméricus_), tome ii. p. 635.

180 Calmeil, _De la Folie_, tome i. p. 134.

181 Ibid. tome i. pp. 242-247.

182 Calmeil, tome i. p. 247.

183 See Esquirol, _Maladies mentales_.

184 Gibbon, _Decline and Fall_, ch. xxxvii.

185 Purchas’s _Pilgrims_, ii. 1452.

186 Desmaisons’ _Asiles d’Aliénés en Espagne_, p. 53.

187 Leo Africanus, _Description of Africa_, book iii.

188 I have taken these facts from a very interesting little work,
Desmaisons, _Des Asiles d’Aliénés en Espagne; Recherches historiques
et médicales_ (Paris, 1859). Dr. Desmaisons conjectures that the
Spaniards took their asylums from the Mohammedans; but, as it seems
to me, he altogether fails to prove his point. His work, however,
contains some curious information on the history of lunatic asylums.

189 Amydemus, _Pietas Romana_ (Oxford, 1687), p. 21; Desmaisons, p. 108.

190 Pinel, _Traité médico-philosophique_, pp. 241, 242.

191 See the dreadful description in Pinel, pp. 200-202.

192 Malthus, who is sometimes, though most unjustly, described as an
enemy to all charity, has devoted an admirable chapter (_On
Population_, book iv. ch. ix.) to the “direction of our charity;”
but the fullest examination of this subject with which I am
acquainted is the very interesting work of Duchâtel, _Sur la
Charité_.

193 This is very tersely expressed by a great Protestant writer: “I give
no alms to satisfy the hunger of my brother, but to fulfil and
accomplish the will and command of my God.”—Sir T. Brown, _Religio
Medici_, part ii. § 2. A saying almost exactly similar is, if I
remember right, ascribed to St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

194 See Butler’s _Lives of the Saints_.

195 Campion’s _Historie of Ireland_, book ii. chap. x.

196 He wrote his _Perils of the Last Times_ in the interest of the
University of Paris, of which he was a Professor, and which was at
war with the mendicant orders. See Milman’s _Latin Christianity_,
vol. vi. pp. 348-356; Fleury, _Eccl. Hist._ lxxxiv. 57.

197 Henry de Knyghton, _De Eventibus Angliæ_.

198 There was some severe legislation in England on the subject after
the Black Death. Eden’s _History of the Working Classes_, vol. i. p.
34. In France, too, a royal ordinance of 1350 ordered men who had
been convicted of begging three times to be branded with a hot iron.
Monteil, _Hist. des Français_, tome i. p. 434.

199 Eden, vol. i. pp. 83-87.

200 Ibid. pp. 101-103.

201 Ibid. pp. 127-130.

202 Morighini, _Institutions pieuses de Rome_.

203 Eden, _History of the Labouring Classes_, i. 83.

204 Locke discussed the great increase of poverty, and a bill was
brought in suggesting some remedies, but did not pass. (Eden, vol.
i. pp. 243-248.)

205 In a very forcible letter addressed to the Irish Catholic clergy.

206 This tract, which is extremely valuable for the light it throws upon
the social condition of England at the time, was written in
opposition to a bill providing that the poor in the poor-houses
should do wool, hemp, iron, and other works. Defoe says that wages
in England were higher than anywhere on the Continent, though the
amount of mendicancy was enormous. “The reason why so many pretend
to want work is, that they can live so well with the pretence of
wanting work.... I affirm of my own knowledge, when I have wanted a
man for labouring work, and offered nine shillings per week to
strolling fellows at my door, they have frequently told me to my
face they could get more a-begging.”

_ 207 Reforma degl’ Instituti pii di Modena_ (published first anonymously
at Modena). It has been reprinted in the library of the Italian
economists.

_ 208 Essay on Charity Schools._

209 Magdalen asylums have been very vehemently assailed by M. Charles
Comte, in his _Traité de Législation_. On the subject of Foundling
Hospitals there is a whole literature. They were violently attacked
by, I believe, Lord Brougham, in the _Edinburgh Review_, in the
early part of this century. Writers of this stamp, and indeed most
political economists, greatly exaggerate the forethought of men and
women, especially in matters where the passions are concerned. It
may be questioned whether one woman in a hundred, who plunges into a
career of vice, is in the smallest degree influenced by a
consideration of whether or not charitable institutions are provided
for the support of aged penitents.

_ 210 Apol._ ch. xlii.

211 On these penances, see Bingham, _Antiq._ book vii. Bingham, I think,
justly divides the history of asceticism into three periods. During
the first, which extends from the foundation of the Church to A.D.
250, there were men and women who, with a view to spiritual
perfection, abstained from marriage, relinquished amusements,
accustomed themselves to severe fasts, and gave up their property to
works of charity; but did this in the middle of society and without
leading the life of either a hermit or a monk. During the second
period, which extended from the Decian persecution, anchorites were
numerous, but the custom of a common or cœnobitic life was unknown.
It was originated in the time of Constantine by Pachomius.

212 This is expressly stated by St. Jerome (_Vit. Pauli_).

213 See on this subject some curious evidence in Neander’s _Life of
Chrysostom_. St. Chrysostom wrote a long work to console fathers
whose sons were thus seduced to the desert.

214 On this tradition see Champagny, _Les Antonins_, tome i. p. 193.

_ 215 Ep._ cxxiii.

216 Euseb. _Eccl. Hist._ ii. 23.

217 Gibbon, _Decline and Fall_, ch. xxxvii.; a brief but masterly sketch
of the progress of the movement.

218 Palladius, _Hist. Laus._ xxxviii.

219 Jerome, Preface to the Rule of St. Pachomius, § 7.

220 Cassian, _De Cœnob. Inst._ iv. 1.

221 Rufinus, _Hist. Monach._ ch. v. Rufinus visited it himself.

222 Palladius, _Hist. Laus._ lxxvi.

223 Rufinus, _Hist. Mon._ vii.

224 There is a good deal of doubt and controversy about this. See a note
in Mosheim’s _Eccl. Hist._ (Soame’s edition), vol. i. p. 354.

225 Most of the passages remaining on the subject of the foundation of
monachism are given by Thomassin, _Discipline de l’Église_, part i.
livre iii. ch. xii. This work contains also much general information
about monachism. A curious collection of statistics of the numbers
of the monks in different localities, additional to those I have
given and gleaned from the _Lives of the Saints_, may be found in
Pitra (_Vie de St. Léger_, Introd. p. lix.); 2,100, or, according to
another account, 3,000 monks, lived in the monastery of Banchor.

226 The three principal are the _Historia Monachorum_ of Rufinus, who
visited Egypt A.D. 373, about seventeen years after the death of St.
Antony; the _Institutiones_ of Cassian, who, having visited the
Eastern monks about A.D. 394, founded vast monasteries containing,
it is said, 5,000 monks, at Marseilles, and died at a great age
about A.D. 448; and the _Historia Lausiaca_ (so called from Lausus,
Governor of Cappadocia) of Palladius, who was himself a hermit on
Mount Nitria, in A.D. 388. The first and last, as well as many minor
works of the same period, are given in Rosweyde’s invaluable
collection of the lives of the Fathers, one of the most fascinating
volumes in the whole range of literature.

The hospitality of the monks was not without drawbacks. In a church
on Mount Nitria three whips were hung on a palm-tree—one for
chastising monks, another for chastising thieves, and a third for
chastising guests. (Palladius, _Hist. Laus._ vii.)

_ 227 Vita Pauli._ St. Jerome adds, that some will not believe this,
because they have no faith, but that all things are possible for
those that believe.

_ 228 Vita St. Hilarion._

229 See a long list of these penances in Tillemont, _Mém. pour servir à
l’Hist. ecclés._ tome viii.

_ 230 Vitæ Patrum_ (Pachomius). He used to lean against a wall when
overcome by drowsiness.

_ 231 Vitæ Patrum_, ix. 3.

232 Sozomen, vi. 29.

233 E.g. St. Antony, according to his biographer St. Athanasius.

234 “Il y eut dans le désert de Scété des solitaires d’une éminente
perfection.... On prétend que pour l’ordinaire ils passoient des
semaines entières sans manger, mais apparemment cela ne se faisoit
que dans des occasions particulières.”—Tillemont, _Mém. pour servir
à l’Hist. eccl._ tome viii. p. 580. Even this, however, was
admirable!

235 Palladius, _Hist. Laus._ cap. xx.

236 “Primum cum accessisset ad eremum tribus continuis annis sub
cujusdam saxi rupe stans, semper oravit, ita ut nunquam omnino
resederit neque Jacuerit. Somni autem tantum caperet, quantum stans
capere potuit; cibum vero nunquam sumpserat nisi die Dominica.
Presbyter enim tunc veniebat ad eum et offerebat pro eo sacrificium
idque ei solum sacramentum erat et victus.”—Rufinus, _Hist. Monach._
cap. xv.

237 Thus St. Antony used to live in a tomb, where he was beaten by the
devil. (St. Athanasius, _Life of Antony._)

238 βοσκοί. See on these monks Sozomen, vi. 33; Evagrius, i. 21. It is
mentioned of a certain St. Marc of Athens, that, having lived for
thirty years naked in the desert, his body was covered with hair
like that of a wild beast. (Bollandists, March 29.) St. Mary of
Egypt, during part of her period of penance, lived upon grass.
(_Vitæ Patrum._)

_ 239 Life of Antony._

240 “II ne faisoit pas aussi difficulté dans sa vieillesse de se laver
quelquefois les piez. Et comme on témoignoit s’en étonner et trouver
que cela ne répondoit pas à la vie austère des anciens, il se
justifioit par ces paroles: Nous avons appris à tuer, non pas notre
corps mais nos passions.”—Tillemont, _Mém. Hist. eccl._ tome xv. p.
148. This saint was so very virtuous, that he sometimes remained
without eating for whole weeks.

241 “Non appropinquavit oleum corpusculo ejus. Facies vel etiam pedes a
die conversionis suæ nunquam diluti sunt.”—_Vitæ Patrum_, c. xvii.

242 “In facie ejus puritas animi noscebatur.”—Ibid. c. xviii.

243 Socrates, iv. 23.

244 Heraclidis Paradisus (Rosweyde), c. xlii.

245 “Nulla earum pedes suos abluebat; aliquantæ vero audientes de balneo
loqui, irridentes, confusionem et magnam abominationem se audire
judicabant, quæ neque audi tum suum hoc audire patiebantur.”—_Vit.
S. Euphrax._ c. vi. (Rosweyde.)

246 See her acts, Bollandists, April 2, and in the _Vitæ Patrum_.

247 “Patres nostri nunquam facies suas lavabant, nos autem lavacra
publica balneaque frequentamus.”—Moschus, _Pratum Spirituale_,
clxviii.

_ 248 Pratum Spirituale_, lxxx.

An Irish saint, named Coemgenus, is said to have shown his devotion
in a way which was directly opposite to that of the other saints I
have mentioned—by his special use of cold water—but the principle in
each case was the same—to mortify nature. St. Coemgenus was
accustomed to pray for an hour every night in a pool of cold water,
while the devil sent a horrible beast to swim round him. An angel,
however, was sent to him for three purposes. “Tribus de causis à
Domino missus est angelus ibi ad S. Coemgenum. Prima ut a diversis
suis gravibus laboribus levius viveret paulisper; secunda ut
horridam bestiam sancto infestam repelleret; tertia _ut frigiditatem
aquæ calefaceret_.”—Bollandists, June 3. The editors say these acts
are of doubtful authenticity.

249 See his Life by his disciple Antony, in the _Vitæ Patrum_, Evagrius,
i. 13, 14. Theodoret, _Philotheos_, cap. xxvi.

250 Palladius, _Hist. Laus._ lxxvi.

251 Rufinus, Hist. _Monach._ xxxiii.

252 We have a striking illustration of this in St. Arsenius. His
eyelashes are said to have fallen off through continual weeping, and
he had always, when at work, to put a cloth on his breast to receive
his tears. As he felt his death approaching, his terror rose to the
point of agony. The monks who were about him said, “ ‘Quid fles,
pater? numquid et tu times?’ Ille respondit, ‘In veritate timeo et
iste timor qui nunc mecum est, semper in me fuit, ex quo factus sum
monachus.’ ”—_Verba Seniorum_, Prol. § 163. It was said of St.
Abraham that no day passed after his conversion without his shedding
tears. (_Vit. Patrum._) St. John the dwarf once saw a monk laughing
immoderately at dinner, and was so horrified that he at once began
to cry. (Tillemont, _Mém. de l’Hist. ecclés._ tome x. p. 430.) St.
Basil (_Regulæ_, interrog. xvii.) gives a remarkable disquisition on
the wickedness of laughing, and he observes that this was the one
bodily affection which Christ does not seem to have known. Mr.
Buckle has collected a series of passages to precisely the same
effect from the writings of the Scotch divines. (_Hist. of
Civilisation_, vol. ii. pp. 385-386.)

253 “Monachus autem non doctoris habet sed plangentis officium.”—_Contr.
Vigilant._ xv.

254 As Tillemont puts it: “Il se trouva très-peu de saints en qui Dieu
ait joint les talens extérieurs de l’éloquence et de la science avec
la grâce de la prophétie et des miracles. Ce sont des dons que sa
Providence a presque toujours séparés.”—_Mém. Hist. ecclés._ tome
iv. p. 315.

255 St. Athanasius, _Vit. Anton._

_ 256 Ep._ xxii. He says his shoulders were bruised when he awoke.

_ 257 Ep._ lxx.; _Adv. Rufinum_, lib. i. ch. xxx. He there speaks of his
vision as a mere dream, not binding. He elsewhere (_Ep._ cxxv.)
speaks very sensibly of the advantage of hermits occupying
themselves, and says he learnt Hebrew to keep away unholy thoughts.

258 Sozomen, vi. 28; Rufinus, _Hist. Monach._ ch. vi. Socrates tells
rather a touching story of one of these illiterate saints, named
Pambos. Being unable to read, he came to some one to be taught a
psalm. Having learnt the single verse, “I said I will take heed to
my ways, that I offend not with my tongue,” he went away, saying
that was enough if it were practically acquired. When asked, six
months, and again many years, after, why he did not come to learn
another verse, he answered that he had never been able truly to
master this. (_H. E._ iv. 23.)

259 Tillemont, x. p. 61.

260 Ibid. viii. 490; Socrates, _H. E._ iv. 23.

261 I have combined in this passage incidents from three distinct lives.
St. Jerome, in a very famous and very beautiful passage of his
letter to Eustochium (_Ep._ xxii.) describes the manner in which the
forms of dancing-girls appeared to surround him as he knelt upon the
desert sands. St. Mary of Egypt (_Vitæ Patrum_, ch. xix.) was
especially tortured by the recollection of the songs she had sung
when young, which continually haunted her mind. St. Hilarion (see
his _Life_ by St. Jerome) thought he saw a gladiatorial show while
he was repeating the psalms. The manner in which the different
visions faded into one another like dissolving views is repeatedly
described in the biographies.

262 Rufinus, _Hist. Monach._, ch. xi. This saint was St. Helenus.

263 Life of St. Pachomius (_Vit. Patrum_), cap. ix.

264 Rufinus, _Hist. Monach._ cap. i. This story was told to Rufinus by
St. John the hermit. The same saint described his own visions very
graphically. “Denique etiam me frequenter dæmones noctibus
seduxerunt, et neque orare neque requiescere permiserunt, phantasias
quasdam per noctem totam sensibus meis et cogitationes suggerentes.
Mane vero velut cum quadam illusione prosternebant se ante me
dicentes, Indulge nobis, abbas, quia laborem tibi incussimus tota
nocte.”—Ibid. St. Benedict in the desert is said to have been
tortured by the recollection of a beautiful girl he had once seen,
and only regained his composure by rolling in thorns. (St. Greg.
_Dial._ ii. 2.)

265 She lived also for some time in a convent at Jerusalem, which she
had founded. Melania (who was one of St. Jerome’s friends) was a
lady of rank and fortune, who devoted her property to the monks. See
her journey in Rosweyde, lib. ii.

266 See his _Life_ in Tillemont.

267 Ibid. x. p. 14. A certain Didymus lived entirely alone till his
death, which took place when he was ninety. (Socrates, _H. E._ iv.
23.)

268 Rufinus, _Hist. Monachorum_, cap. i.

_ 269 Verba Seniorum_, § 65.

270 Pelagia was very pretty, and, according to her own account, “her
sins were heavier than the sand.” The people of Antioch, who were
very fond of her, called her Margarita, or the pearl. “Il arriva un
jour que divers évesques, appelez par celui d’Antioche pour quelques
affaires, estant ensemble à la porte de l’eglise de S.-Julien,
Pélagie passa devant eux dans tout l’éclat des pompes du diable,
n’ayant pas seulement une coeffe sur sa teste ni un mouchoir sur ses
épaules, ce qu’on remarqua comme le comble de son impudence. Tous
les évesques baissèrent les yeux en gémissant pour ne pas voir ce
dangereux objet de péché, hors Nonne, très-saint évesque d’Héliople,
qui la regarda avec une attention qui fit peine aux autres.”
However, this bishop immediately began crying a great deal, and
reassured his brethren, and a sermon which he preached led to the
conversion of the actress. (Tillemont, _Mém. d’Hist. ecclés._ tome
xii. pp. 378-380. See, too, on women, “under pretence of religion,
attiring themselves as men,” Sozomen, iii. 14.)

271 Tillemont, tome x. pp. 376, 377. Apart from family affections, there
are some curious instances recorded of the anxiety of the saints to
avoid distractions. One monk used to cover his face when he went
into his garden, lest the sight of the trees should disturb his
mind. (_Verb. Seniorum._) St. Arsenius could not bear the rustling
of the reeds (ibid.); and a saint named Boniface struck dead a man
who went about with an ape and a cymbal, because he had (apparently
quite unintentionally) disturbed him at his prayers. (St. Greg.
_Dial._ i. 9.)

272 “Quemadmodum se jam divitem non esse sciebat, ita etiam patrem se
esse nesciret.”—Cassian, _De Cœnobiorum Institutis_, iv. 27.

273 “Cumque taliter infans sub oculis ejus per dies singulos ageretur,
pro amore nihilominus Christi et obedientiæ virtute, rigida semper
atque immobilia patris viscera permanserunt ... parum cogitans de
lacrymis ejus, sed de propria humilitate ac perfectione
sollicitus.”—Ibid.

274 Ibid.

275 Bollandists, July 6; _Verba Seniorum_, xiv.

_ 276 Verba Seniorum_, xiv.

277 TARTUFFE (_tirant un mouchoir_
_ de sa poche_).

“Ah, mon Dieu, je vous prie,
Avant que de parler, prenez-moi ce mouchoir.

DORINE.

Comment!

TARTUFFE.

Couvrez ce sein que je ne saurois voir;
Par de pareils objets des âmes sont blessées,
Et cela fait venir de coupables pensées.”

_Tartuffe_, Acte iii. scène 2.

278 Bollandists, July 6.

_ 279 Verba Seniorum_, iv. The poor woman, being startled and perplexed
at the proceedings of her son, said, “Quid sic operuisti manus tuas,
fili? Ille autem dixit: Quia corpus mulieris ignis est, et ex eo
ipso quo te contingebam veniebat mihi commemoratio aliarum feminarum
in animo.”

280 Tillemont, _Mém. de l’Hist. ecclés._ tome x. pp. 444, 445.

_ 281 Vit. S. Pachomius_, ch. xxxi.; _Verba Seniorum_.

_ 282 Verba Senorium_, xiv.

283 Palladius, _Hist. Laus._ cap. lxxxvii.