which now with broken oars was drifting in search of a landing-place.
It was driven to that port where all this evil raged; it had escaped
Scylla, but it came to an Island more dangerous than Scylla. I landed,
and asked one of those whom I met, ‘What island is this, and why is
there so great a concourse of people here?’ He replied: ‘This is called
the Island of Brute, and the men who dwell here are of fair form but of
savage condition. This people lays law and justice low by violence;
strife and bloodshed reign here ever. Yet if they could love one
another, no better people would there be from the rising to the setting
of the sun.’
I was saddened and terrified by his answer, I knew not whether sea
or land were more to be feared. The heavenly voice which I had heard
before said to me, ‘Lament not, but take heed to thyself. Thou hast
come to a place where wars abound, but do thou seek peace within by
God’s assistance. Be cautious and silent; but when thou hast leisure,
record these dreams of thine, for dreams often give a presage of the
future.’ The voice was heard no more, and at that moment the cock crew
and I awoke from my sleep, scarce knowing whether what I had seen was
within me or without.
CAP. XXI. Then I returned thanks to God for having preserved me upon
the sea and from the jaws of Scylla. The rustic goes back to his
labours, but in his heart there remains hatred of his lords; therefore
let us be forewarned and provide against future evils. As for me, God
has set me free from the danger, and for this I thank him; and I would
that my country, preserved from destruction, might render due thanks to
God. While the memory of these things is fresh in me, I will write that
which I experienced in my sleep, that waking slumber which brought to
me no mere vision but a dream of reality.
PROLOGUS LIBRI SECUNDI.
Many things did I see and note, which my pen shall write, but first
I invoke, not the Muses, but the true Spirit of God, and I will let
down my nets in the name of Christ and for his glory. The style and
the verses are poor, but the meaning is good. I will give that which
my poor faculties can attain to; and may he be my helper who produced
speech from the mouth of an ass. I prefer to do a little good than none.
The words which follow are not spoken from myself; they are gathered
from various sources, as honey from various flowers or bright shells
from various shores. The name of the book is _Vox Clamantis_, because
it is the utterance of a fresh sorrow.
LIBER SECUNDUS.
CAP. I. Tears shall be the ink with which I write. All is vanity except
the love of God, and man has cause for lamentation from his birth.
Yet if any people in the world could be happy, God granted this boon to
us; we were blessed above all other nations. Now our former glory is
extinguished and our prosperity is destroyed.
Why is our condition thus changed? Nothing on earth happens without a
cause, yet all deny that they are the cause of this and find fault with
Fortune, who turns all things upside down.
CAP. II. O thou who art called Fortune, why dost thou thus depress
those whom thou didst once exalt? Once our country was everywhere
honoured, all desired to be at peace with it: now our glory has
departed and enemies attack us from all quarters. Reply, Fortune, and
say if thou art the cause of this change. I think not, for I believe
in God and not in Fortune; yet I will describe thee, as men think that
thou art.
CAP. III. Fortune, hear what men say of thee, that thou hast a double
face, and goest by double paths, that nothing in thee is stable or
secure. No gifts may keep thee faithful, thou art lighter than the dead
leaves which fly before the wind: now thou art bright and fair, now
dark and lowering; thy love is more treacherous than that of a harlot,
the prosperity which thou givest is very near to disaster.
CAP. IV. Fortune gives no honey without gall, she changes like the
sphere of the moon. Her wheel is ever turning, and no tears or prayers
will move her. Citizen and husbandman, king and rustic, rich and poor,
all are alike to her. Ah! why was so much power given to such a one as
she is?
Thus men say, believing that Fortune can overthrow the decrees of God,
but in fact she is nothing, fate is nothing, chance has nothing to do
with the affairs of men. Each one makes for himself his own lot: if the
will is good, good fortune follows, if evil, it makes the fortune bad.
Virtue will lead you to the summit of the wheel, and vice will bring
you and your fortune down to the bottom.
CAP. V. God has said that the man who obeys his commands shall prosper
in wealth and peace: the very elements are subject to the righteous
man. Joshua caused the sun to stand still, Gregory stayed the plague,
Moses divided the sea, Elisha caused iron to swim, the three children
were unhurt by the fire, the earth rose to give a seat to Hilarius.
Wild animals, too, serve the just man, witness Daniel, Silvester, Moses
and Jonah.
CAP. VI. Again, the elements war against sinners: so it was in the case
of the plague caused by David’s sin, in the case of the Sodomites,
Korah, Dathan and Abiram, Lysias and others. The wicked man cannot
enjoy good fortune, nor can the good man be deprived of it. It was
guilt that caused the fall of Pharaoh and of Saul, the death of Ahab
and of Eli with his sons. The Jews always conquered while they were
obedient to God’s law, and were overcome when they transgressed it.
CAP. VII. It is God Omnipotent, the Three in One, who governs all
things here. As fire, heat and motion are three things combined in one,
so the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three persons but one Godhead.
CAP. VIII. Christ, the Son of the Father, became incarnate in man,
and yet remained what he was before, being less than the Father and
yet equal to him, perfect Man and perfect God. As the frailty of the
first Adam brought evil upon us all, so the strength of the second Adam
healed our wound and restored our fallen state.
CAP. IX. We must submit our mind to the faith, for man cannot
understand the things of God, and we must not examine too closely the
mystery which we cannot penetrate. This we know, that life is given to
all through the name of Jesus Christ.
CAP. X. The heathen bows down to figures of wood and stone, asking help
from that which his hands have made. Was not the world made for man and
all things placed in subjection to him? How then can these idols be of
any avail?
As for us, we use images differently, not giving to them the worship
that belongs to God, but by them assisting devotion; especially the
sign of the Cross is to be adored, by means of which we conquer the
powers of evil. Great is the virtue of the Cross, by which Christ
despoiled hell of its prey and ascended into heaven.
CAP. XI. God created the heaven and the earth, and all created things
ought to serve him. As he creates all things, so also he rules them
continually, and he gives his gifts according to men’s merit. Whatever
comes to pass in the world, whether it be good or evil, we are the
cause of it.
PROLOGUS LIBRI TERCII.
Since good and bad fortune are due to the merits and demerits of men,
I shall examine the various conditions of men and find out where the
fault lies. I shall utter not so much my own words as the common report
of others, and it must be remembered that he who finds fault with the
bad is in effect praising the good. May God assist me to carry out my
task! My abilities are small, and I do not affect high themes, but I
speak of the evils which the common voice of humanity bewails. Let no
envy or calumny attack my work; and do thou, O Christ, grant that I may
avoid falsehood and flattery. With this prayer I enter on my voyage.
LIBER TERCIUS.
CAP. I. The order of the world is in three degrees,--Clergy, Knighthood
and Peasantry. I shall deal first with the prelates of the Church,
whose practice is very far removed from the example of Christ. Riches
alone are valued by them, and the poor man is despised, whatever may be
his merits.
CAP. II. Prelates of the Church are now hirelings, whose desire is
to live in luxury and to indulge their appetites. Gluttony and lust
everywhere prevail.
CAP. III. The prelates of the Church aim at earthly honours instead
of heavenly: they desire rather to have the pre-eminence than to do
good. Powerful men escape without rebuke for their sins, and penance is
avoided by payment.
CAP. IV. As regards the ‘positive law,’ for breach of which
dispensations are granted, I ask first whether Christ gives indulgence
beforehand for sin, or prohibits that which is not sin. If these things
are sins, how can I be free to commit them on consideration of a money
payment; if not, why does the Church forbid them? This is merely a
device for bringing in money to the clergy.
CAP. V. The poison of temporal possessions is still working in the
Church. They no longer war on the pagan, but turn their swords against
their own brother Christians.
CAP. VI. Christ left peace with his disciples, but in our time avarice
and ambition cause prelates to take part in intestine strife, with
swords in their hands and the cross as their ensign. It is not the part
of a soldier to offer incense at the altar or of a priest to bear arms
in war.
CAP. VII. The priest should fight with other than material arms. David
was not permitted to build a house for the Lord, because he had been
a shedder of blood; and those who are stained with the slaughter of
their brethren cannot be the true servants of the altar. Brotherly love
should prevail, and this is opposed to strife and self-seeking ambition.
CAP. VIII. Worldly men may make wars, but the clergy should not take
part in them; their strength is in their words and prayers, and they
have no need of material arms. Too great prosperity and wealth is the
cause of these evils: they do not see what the end will be.
CAP. IX. The ring and the pastoral staff belong to the Pope, the
sceptre to the Emperor; the one must not usurp the rights of the other.
The Emperor should not claim spiritual power, nor the Pope temporal.
Christ is a lover of peace and his ministers must not appeal to the
sword, but must keep the command, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ Let Christ
himself lay claim to what is his. Pride is the root of all evil.
The apostles conquered by prayers and by patience; Peter had neither
silver nor gold, but he healed the lame man; our clergy abound in
wealth, but do no works of healing, either spiritual or bodily. O thou
who art head of the Church, remember that forgiveness should be until
seventy times seven, and that Peter was commanded by Christ to put up
his sword.
CAP. X. The teaching and the writings of the clergy are in favour of
peace and love, and when I wondered why they waged wars, one answered
me in the person of the supreme pontiff and said: ‘Rule on earth is
given to us by divine decree and it pleases us to enjoy all the good
things of this world. Our way is different from that of Christ and his
apostles; we set up the cross as a sign of hatred and vengeance, we put
to death those who will not acknowledge our rule; the pastoral staff
is turned into a spear and the mitre into a helmet, we can slay with
sword as well as with word, and whereas Peter cut off the ears, we cut
off the head.’
CAP. XI. These claim the worship and honour which belong to God alone,
and the goods which they unjustly seize are never restored. The
shepherd preys like a wolf upon his own sheep.
CAP. XII. He who is promoted to dignity in the Church by simony is like
the thief who enters not by the door into the sheepfold. The Church is
a congregation of faithful men, and the clergy are no better than the
laity, except so far as they lead better lives. Yet they lay burdens
upon us which they will not bear themselves, and do not follow their
own precepts. They bear the keys of heaven, but they neither enter
themselves nor allow us to enter: they set no good example to their
flocks.
CAP. XIII. A prelate should be a light to guide his people by example,
and he should encourage them by his voice, and also reprove and
restrain. The oil with which he is anointed is a type of the qualities
that he ought to display.
CAP. XIV. At the Court of Rome nothing can be done without gifts: the
poor man is everywhere rejected. The spirit of Antichrist is opposite
to that of Christ, and there are many signs that he has already come.
CAP. XV. Our prelates aim at the mere outward show of sanctity and
refuse to bear the burden of Christ. O God, in thy mercy restore them
to the state which they have lost!
CAP. XVI. Rectors of parishes, too, err after the example of the
prelates. They are luxurious in their lives, and many desert their
spiritual cures, in order to frequent courts and great households, with
a view to promotion.
CAP. XVII. Another gets leave from the bishop to leave his parish on
the plea of study at the universities; but there he learns and teaches
only lessons of unchastity. The Church, which is his true bride, is
neglected, and harlots receive the tithe which belongs to God.
CAP. XVIII. A third rector resides in his parish, but spends his time
in sports, keeps well-fed horses and dogs, while the poor are not
relieved or the sick visited, makes his voice heard more in the fields
and woods than in the church. He lays snares too for the women of his
parish, and if their bodies be fair, he cares not how their souls are
defiled.
CAP. XIX. Another neglects his cure of souls and makes money by buying
and selling. He is liberal of his wealth to none but women; and if
benefices were inherited by the children of those who hold them, the
succession would seldom fail.
CAP. XX. The priests without benefices, who get their living by
‘annuals,’ are equally bad: the harlot and the tavern consume their
gains. Let none admit these to his house, who desires to keep his wife
chaste, anymore than he would admit pigeons to his bed-chamber, if he
wished to keep it clean.
CAP. XXI. These infect the laity by their bad example. The bishop ought
not to ordain such men; and he who might prevent an evil and does not,
is equally guilty with him who causes it.
CAP. XXII. The clergy deny the right of laymen to judge and punish
them; yet the sins of the clergy deeply affect the laity. We are all
brethren in Christ and we are bidden to rebuke our brethren, if they do
wrong, and to cast them out of the Church, if they will not amend.
CAP. XXIII. Priests say that in committing fornication they do not
sin more than other men who are guilty of this vice. But their sacred
condition and their vow of chastity makes the evil worse in them than
in a cobbler or a shepherd.
CAP. XXIV. If we consider the office of the priesthood, we shall find
that the vestments and ornaments of priests are all symbolical of the
virtues which they ought to possess.
CAP. XXV. The ceremonies of sacrifices under the old law were symbols
of the virtues required in priests under the new, and as under the old
dispensation the ministers of the altar ought to be without defect and
deformity of body, so the priests of the new law should be spiritually
free from blemish. Uzzah touched the ark with unclean hands and was
punished with death: so he who comes polluted to the service of the
altar is worthy of punishment.
CAP. XXVI. A man must be of mature age before he assumes the
priesthood; for youth is apt to yield to the temptations of the flesh.
The evil impulses cannot be wholly expelled, but they may be kept in
check, as is symbolized by the tonsure of the priest. Let the priest
avoid idleness, whence so many vices spring.
CAP. XXVII. The honour of priests is great, if they live worthily. They
administer to us the sacraments during our lives, they give us burial
when we are dead, they are the salt of the earth and the light of the
world. So much the worse is it when they are ignorant and bad; the
distinction between the good and the bad priest is like that between
the dove and the raven sent out of the ark.
CAP. XXVIII. The young scholars who are being trained for the
priesthood are in these days too often indolent and vicious. If they
are so in youth, they will hardly be good in their later age.
CAP. XXIX. They are induced to undertake the priesthood by desire to
escape from the control of the ordinary law, by dislike of labour,
and by love of good living, seldom by the higher motive, which once
prevailed, of contempt for worldly things and longing after the highest
good. Thus, since the clergy is without the light of virtue, we laymen
wander in the dark.
LIBER QUARTUS.
CAP. I. Men of Religious Orders are also of various conditions, some
good and others bad. Let each bear his own burden of blame: I write
only what common report tells me.
There are first those who hold temporal possessions, and some of these
live in gluttony and luxury.
CAP. II. Those who leave the world should give up worldly things; but
in these days the monk is known only by his garb. He indulges himself
with the richest food and the choicest drink, he makes haste when the
bell rings for a meal, but he rises very slowly and reluctantly for
midnight prayer. The monks of old were different; they dwelt in caves
and had no luxurious halls or kitchens, they were clothed in skins, fed
on herbs and drank water, and abstained from fleshly lusts. These men
truly renounced the world, but that blessed state has now perished.
CAP. III. The old monastic rule has given place to gluttony and
drunkenness, and those who live so can hardly be chaste. Pride, anger
and envy prevail among these men, in spite of the restrictions of their
rule.
CAP. IV. There is no brotherly love among them, and the vow of
individual poverty is also broken. They make money in various ways and
spend it on their pleasures and in enriching their children, whom they
call their nephews.
CAP. V. A monk wandering abroad from his cloister is like a fish out of
water; nor are those much better who stay within the walls and allow
their minds to dwell on worldly things.
CAP. VI. Some seek honour and dignity under the cover of the monastic
profession, even though they be of poor and low birth.
CAP. VII. Patience, Chastity and the rest who were once brothers of
religious orders, are now dead or departed, and their contrary vices
have taken their places.
CAP. VIII. So also the regular Canons for the most part neglect their
monastic rule and have only a show of sanctity.
CAP. IX. Monks who are untrue to their profession are of all men the
most unhappy. They have no real enjoyment of this world and they lose
also the joys of heaven.
CAP. X. Let all members of religious orders perform their vows and
repent of their past sins, of their pride, luxury, avarice, ambition,
gluttony, wrath, envy and strife.
CAP. XI. Above all let them avoid intercourse with women, who bring
death to their souls. Let them labour and study; for idleness is the
great incentive to evil.
CAP. XII. The monk who sets himself to observe his rule will live
hardly and fast often, praying continually and doing penance for sin.
He will submit himself humbly to his prior, and he will not grudge to
perform duties that are irksome. The prior should be gentle with his
younger brethren and not make the yoke too heavy for them.
CAP. XIII. As regards nuns, they too are under the rule of chastity;
but as women are more frail by nature than men, they must not be so
severely punished if they break it. They require meat often on Fridays
for their stomachs’ sake, and this is prepared for them by Genius the
priest of Venus.
CAP. XIV. Where Genius is the confessor of a convent, the laws of the
flesh prevail. The priest who visits nuns too often corrupts them, and
the woman very easily yields to temptation. A wife may deceive her
husband, but the bride of Christ cannot conceal her unfaithfulness from
him: therefore she above all others should be chaste.
CAP. XV. True virginity is above all praise, and this surpasses every
other condition, as a rose surpasses the thorns from which it springs.
The best kind of virginity is that which is vowed to God.
CAP. XVI. Not all whom Christ chose were faithful, and everywhere bad
and good are mingled together; but the fault of the bad is not a reason
for condemning the good. So when I speak of the evil deeds of Friars, I
condemn the bad only and absolve the good.
The number of mendicant friars is too great and their primitive rule
has been forgotten. They pretend to be poor, but in fact they possess
all things, and have power over the pope himself. Both life and death
bring in gains to them.
CAP. XVII. They preach hypocritically against sin in public, but in
private they encourage it by flattery and indulgence. They know that
their gains depend upon the sins which their penitents commit. Friars
do not often visit places where gain is not to be got. They have an
outward appearance of poverty and sanctity, without the reality. I do
not desire that they should be altogether suppressed, but that they
should be kept under due discipline.
CAP. XVIII. Some friars aim at dignity as masters in the schools, and
then they are exempted from their rule and obtain entry into great
houses. The influence of the friar is everywhere felt, and often he
supplies the place of the absent husband and is the father of his
children. Bees, when they wound, lose their stings and are afterwards
helpless: would it were so with the adulterous friar!
CAP. XIX. The order of friars is not necessary to the Church. Friars
appropriate spiritual rights which belong to others; and though this
may be by dispensation of the pope, yet we know that the pope does not
grant such dispensations of his own motion, and he may be deceived.
They ask for the cure of souls, but in fact they are demanding worldly
wealth: not so did Francis make petition, but he left all and endured
poverty.
CAP. XX. This multitude of friars is not necessary for the good of
society. David says of them that they neither take part in the labours
of men nor endure the rule of the law: they toil not, neither do they
spin, and yet the world feeds them. It is vain for them to plead the
merits of Francis, when they do not follow his example. All honour to
those who do as he did.
CAP. XXI. They draw into their order not grown men but mere boys.
Francis was not a boy when he assumed his work; but in these days mere
children are enrolled, caught like birds in a snare: and as they are
deceived themselves, so afterwards they deceive others.
CAP. XXII. The friar who transgresses the rule of his order is an
apostate and a follower of the apostate fiend. He finds entrance
everywhere, and everywhere he lays snares, encourages hatred, and
fosters impurity. Under a veil of virtuous simplicity he conceals a
treacherous heart. These are ministers of the Synagogue rather than of
the Church, children of Hagar, not of Sara.
CAP. XXIII. They are dispersed over the world like the Jews, and
everywhere they find ease and abundance. Their churches and their
houses are built in the most costly style and adorned with the richest
ornaments. No king has chambers more magnificent than theirs, and their
buildings are a mark of their worldly pride. Unless their souls are
fair within, this outward pomp of religion is of no avail.
CAP. XXIV. Friars differ from one another in the garb of their order,
but all equally neglect their rule. Only the order founded by brother
Burnel still maintains its former state. Two rules of this order I will
set forth, which are almost everywhere received. The first is that what
the flesh desires, that you may have; and the second that whatever the
flesh shrinks from, that you should avoid. So the new order of Burnel
is thought better than those of Benedict or Bernard.
Thus, if bad times come, I shall hold that the error of the Clergy is
the cause. The body is nothing without the spirit: we have darkness
instead of light, death instead of life, and the flock is scattered
abroad without a shepherd.
LIBER QUINTUS.
CAP. I. I will speak in the second place of the order of Knighthood.
This was established first to defend the Church, then for the good
of the community, and thirdly to support the cause of the widow and
orphan. If a knight performs these duties, he should have praise, but
not if he makes war merely for the sake of glory.
If a knight overcomes his enemies, but is overcome by the love of a
woman, he has no true glory, for he makes himself a slave instead of
free.
CAP. II. If the knight would reflect on the variety and uncertainty of
love, he would not allow himself so easily to be made captive.