§ 24. The monks, though in many places they lived more decently and circumspectly than formerly, yet for the most part neglected extremely the rules and regulations of the founders of their orders. In the beginning of the century, as good and learned monks themselves admit, the state of all the monasteries was still lamentable. But as the century advanced, some wise men, first among the Benedictines in France, and then also in other countries, endeavoured to reform certain monasteries; that is, to bring them back in some degree to the rules and laws of their order". Their example was afterwards followed by other religious houses of the Cluniacensians, Cistercians, Regular Canons, Dominicans, and Franciscans". At this time, therefore, the monks of the Romish church became divided into two classes; namely, the Reformed, who, abandoning their licentious and profligate manners, lived more decently, and more conformably to the rules of their order; and the Unreformed, who disregarded the precepts of their founders, and chose to live as they found it convenient and Le Bœuf, Mémoires sur l'Hist. d'Auxerre, tom. ii. p. 513, &c. where there is an account of the first Reforms of this century. Voyage Littéraire de Deux Bénédictins, pt. ii. p. 97, &c. There is an account of all the convents, both Benedictines and others, which submitted to a reform of any kind, in Hipp. Helyot's Histoire des Ordres, tom. v. vi. vii, &c. To whose account, however, numerous additions might be made. Of the Reformed congregation of Clugni, which commenced in the year 1621, the Benedictines have treated expressly, in their Gallia Christiana, tom. vii. p. 544, &c. They also treat of the Reformed Canons Regular of St. Augustine, in tom. vii. p. 778. 787. 790. For an account of the Reformed Cistercians, in France and Germany, see Jo. Mabillon, Annal. Benedictin. tom. vi. p. 121, &c. Voyage Littéraire de Deux Bénédictins, tom. i. p. 7, 8. tom. ii. p. 133. 229. 269. 303. The Reformed Cistercians, with great zeal, attempted a reformation of their whole sect, in this century; but in vain. See Meaupou, Vie de l'Abbé de la Trappe, tom. i. p. 192, &c. I omit other notices, as requiring too much room.-[I find no more suitable place, to notice some abolished orders, in this century. Clement XIV. in his Bull for suppressing the order of Jesuits, mentions the congregation of the Reformed Conventual Brethren, which Sixtus V. approved, but which Urban VIII. abolished, by his Bull of Feb. 6, 1626, "because the above named brethren did not yield spiritual fruits to the church of God; nay, very many disagreements had risen between those Reformed conventual Brethren, and the Unreformed conventual brethren:" and he allowed them to go over to the Capuchin brethren of St. Francis, or the Observant Franciscans. According to the same Bull, the order of Regulars of St. Ambrose and St. Barnabas ad Nemus, was suppressed by the same pontiff. And in the year 1668, Clement IX. abolished the three regular orders of Canons Regular of St. Gregory in Alga, of Hieronymists de Fesulis, and of Jesuates, established by St. Jo. Columbanus; "because they were of little or no use to the church, and had loaned their revenues to the Venetian republic, to be applied to war against the Turks." Schl.] pleasant, rather than austerely, and according to the laws by which they were bound. But the number of the Unreformed far exceeds that of the Reformed: and moreover, most of the Reformed not only depart widely from the mode of living prescribed by their rule, but are also, in one place and another, gradually relapsing into their former negligence. § 25. Among the Reformed monastic associations, certain Congregations of Benedictines surpass the others, partly in the beauty and excellence of their regulations, and partly in the constancy with which they observe their rules. The most famous of these is the French Congregation of St. Maur'; which was formed under the authority of Gregory XV. in 1621, and endowed with various privileges and rights by Urban VIII. in 1627. This association does not indeed consist of genuine followers of St. Benedict, nor is it free from every thing censurable yet it has many excellences which raise it above all others. Of these excellences the first and the most useful is, that it devotes a certain number of persons of superior genius to the cultivation of learning, both sacred and civil, and particularly to the study of history and antiquities; and that it furnishes them abundantly with all the helps they need to prosecute their business with advantage. Those who are 1 See the Gallia Christiana; not the old work of this name, but the new and elegant production of the Benedictines of this same Congregation of St. Maur; vol. vii. p. 474, &c. Hipp. Helyot's Histoire des Ordres, tom. vi. cap. xxxvii. p. 256. The Bull of Gregory XV. approving the society of St. Maur, is severely criticised in all its parts, by Jo. Launoi, that scourge of the monks, even the best of them, in his Examen Privilegii S. Germani; Opp. tom. iii. pt. i. p. 303. He also treats of the dissensions and commotions in this order, soon after its institution, (though with considerable prejudice, as is usual for him when speaking of monks,) in his Assertio Inquisit. in Privileg. S. Medardi, pt. i. cap. lxxvi. in his Opp. tom. iii. pt. ii. p. 227. [This Congregation consists of more than 180 Abbeys and Conventual Priories, which are divided into six provinces; (extending over the greatest part of France ;) and it is governed by a general, two assistants, and six visitors, who are elected, as are the superiors of the several cloisters, every three years, in a general chapter of the order. As it is the object of this Congregation to revive the spirit of St. Benedict, in the observance of his rule; so special care is taken to train up the young religious according to it. Hence, in each province, one or two houses for novices are erected, from which, those to be admitted to profession are removed to other cloisters, where they are trained for two years, to virtue and to acts and exercises of worship. After this, they study human learning and theology five years and then spend one year in colleeting their thoughts, and thus prepare themselves for orders, and for more assiduity in their spiritual offices. In some cloisters there are also seminaries for the education of youth. Schl.] 2 The Benedictines talk largely of the great services done by this Congregation in various ways; and among acquainted with the history of learning need not be informed how much this institution has benefited the literary world, or what a multitude of excellent and immortal works it has produced, illustrative of every branch of learning except philosophy'. § 26. But the best and most sacred of these changes were other difficult enterprises, they mention numerous cloisters of monks, which had collapsed and become corrupt, recovered and restored to order and respectability. See Voyage de Deux Religieux Bénédictins de la Congrég. de St. Maur. tom. i. p. 16. tom. ii. p. 47. and nearly throughout that work. And a person must be much prejudiced, who can look upon all these statements as fictions. There are, however, in the Romish community, persons who, for various reasons, dislike this society. First, some of the bishops are unfriendly to these learned Benedictines. For after these monks had thrown great light upon ancient history, and upon diplomatics, by their learned works, they were able to defend their possessions, property, and rights, more learnedly and successfully in the courts, against the bishops who coveted them, than when they were destitute of this literature and erudition. In the next place, the Jesuits, whose merits and glory were greatly obscured by the splendid works undertaken and accomplished by these Benedictines, endeavour, to the utmost of their power, to run down both them and their pursuits. See Rich. Simon's Lettres Choisies, tom. iv. p. 36. 45. Others are led by superstition to indulge hatred of them; but it is, perhaps, a superstition tinctured with envy. For these Benedictines have substituted the pursuit of learning, in place of that manual labour, which the rule of St. Benedict prescribes for his monks. The more robust are required to labour with their hands during certain hours of the day but the more feeble, or such as possess superior genius, are taxed with intellectual or mental labour, or the pursuit of sacred and secular learning. This is censured by certain austere persons, who are very fond of the ancient monastic discipline, and who think that literary pursuits are disreputable for monks; because they divert the mind from the contemplation of divine things. As this sentiment was advanced with excessive ardour, especially by Armand John Bouthillier de Rance, abbot of La Trappe, in his book des Devoirs Monastiques (on the duties of monks); the most learned of the Benedictines, John Mabillon, was directed to defend the cause of his fraternity; which he did, in his well known work, de Studiis Monasticis, which was first published, Paris, 1691. 8vo. and often afterwards, and translated also into the Latin and "How other languages. Hence arose that 3 A list of the writings and works, with which the congregation of St. Maur have favoured the learned world, is given by Philip le Cerf, Bibliothèque Historique et Critique des Auteurs de la Congrégation de S. Maur; Hague, 1726. 8vo. and by Bernh. Pez, Bibliotheca Benedictino-Mauriana: Augsburg, 1716. 8vo. These monks are going on, with great perseverance, to benefit both sacred and profane learning, with their elaborate and excellent productions. [A more complete catalogue of their works is in the Histoire Littéraire de la Congrégation de S. Maur, ordre de St. Benoit, où l'on trouve la vie et les travaux des auteurs, qu'elle a produits depuis son origène en 1618, jusqu'à present, avec les titres, énumération, l'analyse, des différentes éditions des livres, qu'ils ont donnés au public, et le jugement, que les Savans en ont porté ; ensemble la notice de beaucoup d'ouvrages manuscrits, composés par des Bénédictins du même corpe. Brussels and Paris, 1770. 4to. Schl.] esteemed trivial and imperfect by those whose eye was fixed on the ancient discipline, and who wished to see the lives of monks strictly conformed to their first rules. The number of these in the Romish church was not inconsiderable; though they had little influence, and were odious to most persons on account of their severity. These thought that a monk should spend his whole life in prayers, tears, contemplation, sacred reading, and manual labour; and that whatever else might occupy him, however useful and excellent in itself, was inconsistent with his vocation, and therefore vain, and not acceptable to God. Besides others, who had not the fortune to become so celebrated, the Jansenists proposed this rigid reformation of the monks; and they exhibited some examples of it in France*, the most perfect and best known of which, was that which took place in the convent of sacred virgins, bearing the name of Port Royal, and which has flourished from the year 1618 down to the present time, [A. D. 1753.] Several emulated this example but the most successful and zealous of all these, was, in the year 1664, Armand John Bouthillier de Rance, abbot of La Trappe, a man of noble birth; who was so happy as to prevent the accusation of extravagant superstition, which the Jansenists had incurred, from being brought against his associates, notwithstanding they lived in the most austere manner of the old Cistercians ;-nay, carried their austerity beyond the ancient discipline of the Cistercians. The fraternity established by this noted man still flourishes under the name of the Reformed Bernardines of La Trappe, and has been propagated among the Italians and the Spaniards: though, if credit is to be given to the testimony of many, it has gradually departed much from the very painful discipline of its founder". 4 See Mémoires de Portroyal, tom. ii. p. 601, 602. In particular, that most celebrated Jansenist, Martin de Barcos, introduced the austere discipline of ancient monks into the monastery of St. Cyran, of which he was abbot. See Gallia Christiana, tom. ii. p. 132. Moleon, Voyages Liturgiques, p. 135, &c. But after his death, the monks of St. Cyran, like those of other places, relapsed into their old habits. See Voyage de Deux Bénédictins, tom. i. pt. i. p. 18, &c. 5 Helyot, Histoire des Ordres, tom. v. cap. xliv. p. 455. See Marsollier, Vie de l'Abbé de la Trappe, Paris, 1702. 4to. 1703. 2 vols. 12mo. Meaupou, (a doctor of the Sorbonne,) Vie de M. l'Abbé de la Trappe, 1702. 2 vols. 8vo. Felibien, Description de l'Abbaye de la Trappe, Paris, 1671. 12mo. Heylot, Histoire des Ordres, tom. vi. cap. 1, &c. [The author of this reformation lived, as the § 27. Of the new orders of monks which arose in this century, for that fruitful mother, the church, has never ceased to produce such fraternities,—we shall notice only those which have acquired some celebrity. We mention first, the French society of Fathers of the Oratory of the holy Jesus, instituted in 1613 by John Berulle [Peter de Berulle], a man of various talents, who served the commonwealth and religion, the court and the church, with equal ability, and was at last a cardinal. This institution was, in reality, intended to oppose the Jesuits. It has trained up, and is still training, many persons eminent for piety, eloquence, and erudition. But through the influence of the Jesuits, who were its enemies, it fell under a suspicion of broaching new doctrines in certain of its publications. The priests who enter this fraternity do not divest themselves of private property; but, so long as they continue in the society, (and they are at liberty to retire from it when they please,) they relinquish all prospects of admission greater part of the French Abbés now do, in a thoughtless unprincipled manner, and kept up an illicit intercourse with a French lady, Madame de Montbazon. Her sudden death by the small pox, and the unexpected sight of her mutilated corpse, brought him to the resolution of becoming a Carthusian. The common statement is this. The abbot had received no notice of the lady's sickness, and after an absence of six weeks, returned from the country, to visit her. He went directly to her chamber, by a secret stair-way, with which he was acquainted, and there found her dead, and her corpse mutilated. For the leaden coffin which had been made for her was too short, and it was found necessary to cut off her head. The sight of her corpse in the coffin, and her head on the table, so affected him, that he resolved to forsake the world, and to embrace the severest monastic order. VigneulMarville, (Mélanges d'Hist. et de Littérature, Roterd. 1700. 8vo. tom. iii. p. 126.) contradicts this statement. He says thus much only was true: the abbot had been a particular friend of this lady; and once, on waiting on her, he learned from a gentleman in her antechamber, that she had the small Be pox, and was then wishing the atten- |