— t\\ — 



" gressnni sno anno consignatum habeamus. Solius benedictîni ordinis 



n origitiem ante Aiigustîni sœcnlum non invenimus ; ipsius sseculo flo- 



- ruisse apeile reperimus. Unde exploralissimnm nobis esse profitemur , 



» non alteriiis ordinis fuisse- ipsum sociosque ejiis quam bencdictini; qui 



" ideo procul dubio (ara allas radiées in Atiglia egerit, quoiiiam prlmi illl 



'1 monachi a Gregorio in insiilamdeslinati rcgulœ beuedictinae professores 



« extitcrunt. 



n Robertus Cotton , Henricus Spelmxn , Joannes Seldenus, Gulielmus 



» Camdenos. 



Tho' this formai 'dicisionof thèse four learned men , bc siiffîcient to put 

 Ihe point in question above conlroversy; I shall add a few, out of the many 

 autorilies, wbich might be brought , to prove the Bénédictins to be as old 

 in England as S. Auslin.lt is truethat, in the charters and writings of that 

 time, the name of S.Bennet and Ihe word bcnediclin do not always oceur; nei- 

 Iher was it natural to dislinguish the monks by Iheir founders , till the 

 multiplicity of orders suggested it , as necessary to avoid confusion. Howe- 

 ver the name of S. Bennet is somelimes to be met witb , as you will see 

 herafter. 



M.*" Humeowns Dunstan tohave bcen abbot of (;iastonbury(l); wich is 

 the same as owning him to bave been a bénédictin ; for it is certain that 

 abby followed the rule of S. Bennet, as early as the year 725 ; that is , 

 above Iwo centuries before the time of Dunstan , who did not begin his re- 

 formation in the church,till after he was recalled from banishment in the 

 reign of king Edgar. That Glastonbury followed the rule of S. Bennet in the 

 year 125, appears from a charter of that date, granted to Glastonbury by 

 king Ina. It is coppied from a manuscript inscnbed Secrctum abbalis for- 

 merlydelongiiig to Glaslonbury, and afterwardsto the library of theEarlof 



Arundel. It begins v' Adjuva nos Deus ut habeant fratres ejusdem 



" loci potestatem eligendi et constituendi sibi rectorera juxta regulam 

 « sancti Benedicii , etc > It is printed at length in Ihe Apostolatus Bene- 

 dictinorum in Anglia. 



In the year 714, Egwin,bishopof Worcester, after erecling the great abby 

 of Evisham (2), in his letter of endowmentsays :. • « Ut fratres , secundum 

 » regulam sancti Benedicti inibi Deo servien tes, sine perturbatione vitam 

 • agerent, etc » This manuscript was comraunicated by Clarencieux. » 



(1) Glastonbury , dans le comté de Sommerset , offre encore des ruines fort 

 curieuses de son antique abbaye. 



(2) Evisham ou Evesham , au comté de Worcester , sur l'Avon. 



