36 



Malmesbury Abbey in its Best Days. 



those who voluntarily submitted to a life of austerity and self-denial 

 were the special favourites of Heaven. The first enthusiasts of this 

 description were the Egyptians in the third century, who from living 

 apart in solitary places, obtained the names of eremites (or hermits), 

 and anchorites ; both words of Greek origin, signifying dwellers in 

 deserts or in separation : they had, in the next century, a number of 

 imitators, though a considerable time elapsed before the followers of 

 monastic habits were associated into a body. The first Order was 

 that of the Coenobites or brethren of the u life in common " (as the 

 word implies). They dwelt together in fixed habitations. In process 

 of time, they grew into societies under protection of certain saints. 

 In the fifth century they began to be considered as ecclesiastics and 

 to call for the erection of appropriate buildings. During the dark 

 ages their importance gradually increased, and in the eleventh cen- 

 tury the Pope declared them exempt from the jurisdiction of the 

 Sovereign of the country in which they lived. 



St. Benedict, the founder of the Order called by that name, was a 

 native of South Italy, born about A.D. 480. By living in an in- 

 accessible cavern and having his provisions drawn up by a rope, he 

 arrived at such a degree of sanctity and perfection that he was 

 chosen by a neighbouring convent to be their abbot, and before his 

 death he had founded twelve monasteries. 



The Benedictine Order of Black monks, was the first that came 

 into England with Augustine. Having settled at Canterbury, they 

 were afterwards dispersed all over the country. In course of years 

 they occupied all the largest and most famous houses, Canterbury, 

 St. Albans, Durham, Ely, Gloucester, Glastonbury and a host of 

 others : among them Malmesbury. At first, so long as the monks 

 were comparatively poor, the original rules were strictly adhered to ; 

 but as wealth flowed in, and with it, increased power and importance, 

 the founder's intentions were apt to be forgotten. Now and then 

 reformers would arise in the body, who themselves became founders 

 of fresh Orders as Cistercians, Cluniacs, Carthusians, &c. These were 

 substantially and in general outline the same as the Benedictines ; 

 only a new edition, corrected and revised. These new editions in 

 their turn became old; and so were succeeded or re-placed by further 



