five days after, they were executed at Tyburn. "Other Carthusians were starved to death in prison. "Maurice Chauncey, one of their order, fled be

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yond the seas, and published an account of the "sufferings of his brethren, under the title of "Historia aliquot nostri sæculi Martyrum. Mentz, "4to. 1550." "It is not denied, by any knowing, or moderate protestant," says Mr. Wood*, "but "that his name is worthy to be kept in everlasting "remembrance."

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When the three priors were led to execution, sir Thomas More beheld them from a window in his own apartment in the Tower. He called to Margery, his favourite daughter, to observe "the "blessed fathers, going," said he, "as cheerfully to "their deaths, as bridegrooms to their marriage;" "-the reward," he called it, "of their days spent "in strait, penitential, and painful life.”

It is remarkable, that the denial of the king's spiritual supremacy was first made a capital offence by an act passed in the 28th year of his reign. The acts in force, when the individuals mentioned were executed, were those of the 25th and 26th of "here to bear me record that I die in the catholic faith, not "doubting in any article of my faith; no, nor doubting of "any sacrament of the church. Many have slandered me, * and have reported that I have been a hearer of such as "have maintained evil opinions, which is untrue; but I confess "that, like as God, by his holy spirit, does instruct us in the "truth, so the devil is ready to seduce us, and I have been "seduced: but, bear me witness I die in the faith of the "catholic church." Stowe's Chronicle, p. 580.

* Athenæ Oxon. p. 202.

his majesty, which carried the punishment for the denial of the supremacy no higher than præmunire and misprision of treason. Thus, even in those cases, where the offence was proved by legal evidence,-(and such cases were, certainly, very few,)-the offenders were sentenced to a punishment, which the law did not inflict.

CHAP. XVI.

MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS.

THE dissolution of monastic establishments, within the realm, is one of the most important events in the history of the reformation of England. An attempt will be made in this chapter, to present the reader with some account, I. Of the origin of the monastic institution, and its principal orders;1st, the Benedictines; 2d, the Canons Regular of St. Augustine; 3d, the Mendicant orders; 4th, the corresponding orders of Nuns; and 5th, of the military order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem: II. Some observations will then be offered on the advantages derived from the monastic institution; 1st, by the state; 2d, by the persons from whom they received their lands and possessions; 3d, by the general body of the public, in consequence of their hospitality; 4th, from their support of the poor; 5th, their being general seminaries for the education of the youth of both sexes; 6th, their agricultural labours; 7th, their encouragement of

architecture, sculpture, and other arts; 8th, their cultivation of sacred and profane literature; 9th, their care in preserving and transmitting to us the sacred word of God.

XVI. 1.

Origin of the Monastic Institution, and its principal
Orders.

THE monastic state originated in the east. Towards the middle of the fourth century, St. Anthony, after having spent many years in perfect solitude, in a desert, in Upper Egypt, permitted a numerous body of men to live in community with him, and lead, under his direction, a life of piety and manual labour, sanctified by prayer. St. Pachomius was the first, who composed a written rule for the conduct of the monks.

1. About two hundred years after this time, St. Benedict, an Italian monk, framed his religious rule for the government of a convent at Mount Casino, between Rome and Naples, over which he presided. He adopted the whole of the spirit, and most of the observances, of the rule of St. Pachomius. In consequence of the general devastation and confusion, occasioned in Italy, by the Lombards, in Spain, by the Saracens, in France, by the wars among the descendants of Charlemagne, and, in England, by the irruption of the Danes,-the Benedictine monks fell from their original fervour into great disorder: but, towards the middle of the eleventh century, several emi

nent members of the order arose, and endeavoured to restore it to its ancient purity. While each added some new statute or custom to the original rule, each became the founder of a congregation or secondary order, adhering, in essentials, to the order of St. Benedict, but differing from it in particular observances. Such were the Carthusians, Celestines and Premonstratenses. In every age and country, the Benedictine monks have rendered the greatest services to religion: few nations can read the history of the first introduction of christianity among them, without being sensible of their obligations to the disciples of St. Benedict: their benefits to literature have been equally great: the shelves of libraries, to use the strong expression of Mr. Gibbon, groan under the weight of Benedictine folios.

2. The Canons Regular of St. Augustine derive their origin from certain respectable ecclesiastics, who, in the eighth century, formed themselves into a kind of middle order, between the monks and the secular clergy. They adopted so much of the monastic discipline, as to have, in common, the church, and the table, and to assemble at stated hours for the divine service: but they made no vows; and often discharged the functions of the ministry in public churches, committed to their care. Thus, they rendered essential service to religion. By degrees, they too degenerated: but, in the twelfth century, a considerable reformation was introduced among them, under the auspices of pope Nicholas the second. Some, carrying the

reformation further, renounced their worldly possessions, and all private property; and lived in a manner, resembling the austerity and discipline of a monastic life. This gave rise to the distinction between the secular and regular canons.

3. For many centuries, the Benedictines, the congregations which emanated from them, and the canons of St. Augustine, constituted the only monastic orders of the west. In the thirteenth century, the Mendicant orders arose. These were the Franciscan and Dominican friars, the Carmelites and the Hermits of St. Augustine.

The Franciscan friars were founded by St. Francis, the son of a shopkeeper of Assisium, in the province of Umbria: they were divided into Conventuals, who admitted some mitigations into their practice of the rule; and Observantines, who professed a stricter observance of it.

The Dominican friars were founded by St. Dominic. He adopted the rule of St. Francis for the groundwork of his institute, but introduced into it so many alterations, as made it, almost, a new order.

The Carmelites professed to derive their origin from hermits, who, from the time of Elias to the time of Christ and the apostles, and thence, by a regular succession, till the irruptions of the Saracens, inhabited Mount Carmel.

The Hermits of St. Augustine derived their institute from a bull of Alexander the fourth. This pontiff collected several hermits into one order, to which he gave this appellation, and prescribed a rule for their government.