EXTINCTION OF LEARNING 



fessed; they confined themselves to the clothing 

 absolutely necessary, and to a diet of the simplest and 

 poorest kind, barely sufficient to nourish life. This 

 regimen was well fitted to stimulate their visionary 

 fancies, while it reduced their minds and bodies to a 

 condition that was under their better self-control. 

 Their daily labor in cultivating the land, or in servile 

 work, provided them with food, and other wants they 

 had none. 



The practice of an ascetic life has in all countries, 

 Pagan and Christian, generally been considered the 

 evidence of superior virtue, and has conferred sanc- 

 tity upon its votaries. Upon this account as time 

 passed on and the monasteries increased, they re- 

 ceived many donations from those entering their orders, 

 and rich bequests from those who had died in the 

 faith. The orders having perpetual succession seldom 

 lost that which they had once received. They 

 rapidly increased in wealth, so that their inmates 

 were relieved from the necessity of menial work. 

 With their increasing wealth the natural consequences 

 followed. Their humility and asceticism were re- 

 placed by pride, arrogance and luxurious living. The 

 other and worse scandals of later monastic life need 

 not be dwelt on here. 



The ample leisure thus afforded in their secluded 

 lives might have properly been devoted to study; 



7 



