242 HENRY HILL GOODELL 



no grounds for tillage; that enclose all into pasture, and 

 throw down houses; that pluck down towns and leave no- 

 thing standing, but only the church to be made a sheep- 

 house. 



In a word, then, the monks were the scientific farmers of 

 the day. They had access to all the knowledge of the an- 

 cients, and the constant intercourse with their brethren in 

 other countries kept them acquainted with methods of agri- 

 culture and products other than their own; and when their 

 great religious houses were suppressed, agriculture, of which 

 they had been the pioneers, came for a time to a standstill. 



There were four great periods in which these disciples of 

 civilization were steadily pushing their way into the dark- 

 ness of an unregenerate world; and in like manner there 

 were four great periods in which, in one way or another, 

 vast estates were added to their jurisdiction and came under 

 their kindly influence. The first, covering the first five 

 centuries of the Christian era, may not inappropriately be 

 termed that of the Apostles and early fathers. And I can- 

 not help quoting here the vivid words of Hillis, descriptive 

 of that era: "With matchless enthusiasm these young 

 knights of the new chivalry leaped into the arena. Begin- 

 ning at Jerusalem they scattered in every direction, march- 

 ing forth like columns of light. When twenty years had 

 passed Matthew was two thousand miles to the southwest. 

 At the same time Jude was two thousand miles to the 

 northeast. James the Less journeyed east into Judea. Paul 

 journeyed to the west. When twoscore years had passed 

 all the disciples save one had achieved a violent death and 

 blazed out paths in the dark, tangled forests. And when 

 the torch fell from the hands of these heroes, their disciples 



