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ever cautioned again ft the protended wiles of this dan¬ 
gerous fex, and therefore not only ftudioufly avoided 
their company, but were under perpetual apprehenfions 
of admitting them even into their thoughts; we cannot 
wonder that thefe ftruggles fhould produce a contrary 
effeft, and frequently recall to their troubled and dif- 
tempered minds the very reprefentations they ib much 
dreaded, or which they were I’o ftudious to obliterate. 
But, upon the whole, thefe were harmlefs and inoffen- 
live men, when compared to thofe who fucceeded them 
in after-ages; who, under one pretext or other, often 
committed the greateft outrages in fociety, and fpread a 
ipirit of univerfal difcord both in church and ftate. Their 
ambition, or unenlightened zeal, fometimes carried them 
to the greateft extremities. For the aufterities of re¬ 
ligious retirement infpire, at belt, but an inflexible 
haughty virtue ; and, .under the fanCtion of religion, 
every molt unwarrantable attempt has, at different pe¬ 
riods been deemed lawful and meritorious. So we fee 
that even the great and virtuous Chryfoftom was prompt¬ 
ed, by this intemperate Ipirit, to violate the molt lacred 
laws of lociety, when in his homilies he gave fcope to 
fuch outrageous invebtives againft his fovereign, whom, 
though ever fo blameable, it was his duty to have re- 
fpefted. The conduft of the emprefs Eudoxia has been 
greatly cenfured on this occafion : but what will ever be 
confidered by the unprejudiced as an extraordinary in¬ 
stance of moderation in this defpotic princefs, is, that 
Ihe treated this afiuming prelate with much indulgence, 
after he had laid in one of his declamations to the people 
of Antioch, ever ripe for fedition, “Yes, Jezabel ftill 
lives : Hie perfecutes Elias. Herodias again demands the 
head of John.” Thefe were the effects of the rigid max¬ 
ims imbided in folitude, even upon the greateft men. 
In others, who with the fame prejudices had ftronger 
paflions, or lefts virtue to counteract their influence, they 
were productive of far greater evils. During the religious 
difptites that for fo many years afflicted the Chriftiari 
Church, the Eutichian monks made Syria a fcene of de- 
ftolation and rapine. In the affairs of Athanafius, and 
Cyril, when the animofities which fubflfted amongll the 
Chriftians, and the tragic fcenes occafioned by dil'putes 
on fpeculative and metaphylical points, threw the whole 
world into confuflon, the monks alfo afted a very con- 
ftpicuous part. In after-ages, thofe of Italy, Spain, and 
Gaul, were as turbulent as their predeceiiors had been 
in Thebais and Syria. Dominic with two Francifcans, 
under pretext of zeal, headed an army of fanatics againft 
the inoffenfive Waldenfes, whom they inhumanly burnt 
or llaughtered to procure their eternal falvation : and the 
abbot of Citeaux, the pope’s legate, was named generalif- 
iimo of the army which mafl'acred fo many thoufands of 
the Albigenles; 
The abbot of Citeaux was, however, not the only 
blcod-thirfty zealot who took an aftive part in thefe in¬ 
human fcenes ; for the baneful influence of the doCtrines 
and example of fuch-like apoftles of fanaticifm quickly 
fpread through every rank of men. The archbifhops of 
Rheims, Bordeaux, Sens, and Rouen; the bilhops of 
Autun, Clermont, Nevers, Bayeux, Limoges, Lilieux, 
and Chartres, as w'ell as jnany other ecclefialtics, headed 
their refpedtive corps, to fight the battles of the Lord. 
At Carcafione they threw four hundred of thefe heretics 
into the flames ; and, when they had taken Beziers, into 
which many of thefe unfortunate men were fled, they 
cruelly mafl'acred above lixty thoufand inhabitants, with¬ 
out diftinftion of age or fex, and afterwards pillaged and 
let fire to the city. Seven thoufand perfons, fays pere 
Benoit, had taken refuge in the church of St. Magdalen : 
-as foon as this was perceived, they were fuddenly attacked 
by thefe Jaw 1 lefts cruftaders, who committed fuch a (laugh¬ 
ter amongft them, that not a tingle perfon efcaped. The 
famq fevern'es were every-where exercifed by thefe de¬ 
luded bigots, who not only condemned to the flames 
•every unfortunate wretch who was fo unhappy as to fall 
N K. 
into their hands; but-moreover ordered all the bodies of 
fuch of thefe heretics, who had been buried in confecrated 
ground, to be dug up and reduced to afhes. The Wal- 
denfes in France, Bohemia, Germany, Piedmont, &c. met 
nearly with the fame cruel fate. Louis XII. in his way 
to Italy, attacked them in one of their retreats called. 
Vaipulta, where he made fo horrible a daughter of them, 
that, in memory of this glorious achievement, he ordered 
the place afterwards to be called Vcd-LouiJ'e. It is im- 
pofiible to read without fhuddering the barbarous feve- 
rities exercifed in the time of Paul III. by the baron of 
Opede, firft prefident of the parliament of Aix, and the 
advocate-general Guerin. They fet fire to the towns of 
Cabrieres and Merindol, and deftroyed their inhabitants 
with every thing they pofiefl'ed. There remained in Ca¬ 
brieres but fixty men and thirty women, who furrendered 
themfelves under promife that their lives fhould be fpared ; 
but, as foon as they were in the power of thefe fanatics, 
they were all put to the fword. Several women who had 
retreated to a church, were forcibly taken from their 
fandtuary, fhut up in a barn, and conlumed by fire. In 
fine, in their religious progrefs they utterly deftroyed 
forty-four villages, befides three hundred feats of private 
gentlemen, and purfued the unhappy fugitives with fuch 
unrelenting animofity, that the whole face of that flou- 
rifhing and populous country was ftrewed with carcafes, 
and reduced to an hideous folitude, a fcene of horror and 
defolation. Tantum religio potuit fuadere malorum! 
Such were the difmal effefts of fanatic zeal, which, when, 
once efcaped from the cloifter, where it had been f» 
deeply imbibed, fet the whole world in flames. How¬ 
ever, for the happinefs of mankind, this fpirit did not 
univerfally prevail. In the fifth age, when the Roman 
empire was diftrafted by internal diviflons, and over-run 
by the incurfions of barbarous nations, Benedidf, a young 
man of good family in the duchy of Spoleto, opened an 
afylum to fuch as were defirous to flee from thefe fcenes- 
of tumult, and retire to a life of tranquillity and peace. 
To thefe he prefcribed a rule remarkable for its huma¬ 
nity and moderation. Their table was frugal; but their 
food was wholefome, and in fufficient quantity. He even, 
indulged them a certain portion of wine, and fruit in its 
proper feafon. Their habit was decent and cleanly. The 
nofturnal prayers which he appointed had nothing un-. 
reafonably levere in the hot climate of Italy, where it 
was ufual for all to take a portion of their daily repofe 
during the meridian heats. Obedience he recommended, 
becaufe it is the balls of all fociety, without which no 
fubordination can be preferved : but poverty and chaftity 
are rather propofed as virtues to be acquired, than as 
vows which were irrevocable, fuch as they have fince 
been introduced in many religious orders. If his dil- 
ciples abandoned his inftitute, and again petitioned to 
be admitted, he commands them to be received; and 
the only punifliment to which he makes them fubjeft, 
is to place them in the loweft rank of the community. 
He forbids them to pofl'efs any thing in private, becaufe 
this would naturally have been productive of diflenfions. 
He would have them conftantly employed in manual 
labour, to withdraw them, from the idle fpeculations 
which occupied the Afiatic folitaries : nor was their work 
fuch as that of the Egyptian monks, light and ealy ; but 
fuch as was to prove oFefi'ential ufe to fociety, the cut¬ 
ting down of forefts, cleanling uncultivated lands, and 
the like exertions of toil and induftry. In fltort, the 
rule of this worthy patriarch breathes throughout a 
fpirit of meeknefs, dilcretion, and philanthropy : and 
his ftatutes form a moft excellent code of laws, which are 
always necefiary where a multitude of men are aftembled 
into a fociety, to prevent the diforders which would 
otherwife foon be occafioned by ambition, felf-love, or 
other more deftruCtive paflions. 
But every human inftitution is fubjeCt to decline: and 
in every aifociation where the ientiments of nature are 
counteracted by the l'everity of the difcipline enjoined, 
3 and 
