152 THE FAMILY AND THE NATION 



and conflict of the earlier anarchy. On this settlement 

 followed the stimulus of the Crusades, the contact at 

 Constantinople, in Spain, and in the East with civiliza- 

 tions which still preserved the traditions of Hellenic 

 culture and philosophy. All went well, and the result 

 was perhaps the greatest development in the intellec- 

 tual history of Europe. 



Now let us turn to the domestic annals of England 

 for the sequel. The first Dominican friars landed in 

 England in 1220 ; the Franciscans followed in 1224. 

 " Within five years," we read, " they had established 

 themselves in every important city in England " ; and 

 in little more than thirty years the Franciscans alone 

 " had settled in forty-nine different localities, and had 

 covered the country with a network of organization, 

 directed to the furtherance of their founder's prin- 

 ciples." ^ And what were those principles .? " To 

 teach men that religion was as compatible with a life 

 of activity as with one of contemplation." Excellent 

 principles indeed, and therefore to be bred out of 

 the race as quickly as possible. The earlier monastic 

 orders withdrew from parenthood those who were 

 inclined to a life of study and contemplation ; the 

 friars set to work to prevent the transmission of 

 the qualities of all who wished to combine active 

 life and social ardour — in fact, the philanthropists, 

 the reformers, the philosophers of the day. We 

 read with dismay that with few exceptions every 

 really great man of learning, who belonged to the 

 Franciscan order, came from the British Isles ; and 

 repeated applications were made from Denmark, 



^ Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, by F. S. Stevenson. 



