[51] The whole substance of the Abbé Boileau’s arguments (so far as
it has been possible to make them out) is contained in the three
first Chapters of this Work, and in those two which precede this:
the Author is now to continue the text part of the Book, without
any farther prospect of assistance from the Abbé’s observations and
directions; except in the last Chapter, in which they are once more
to meet, and to lay again their wise heads together.
[52] “_Noli perdere paternam diligentiam quam in ipsâ inquisitione
servasti, quando tantorum scelerum confessionem cruisti, non
extendente equuleo, non sulcantibus ungulis, non urentibus flammis,
sed virgarum verberibus. Qui modus coercionis & à magistris artium
liberalium, & ab ipsis parentibus, & sæpè etiam in judiciis solet
ab Episcopis adhiberi._”--This Letter of St. Augustin, addressed to
a Man invested both with military and civil power, as the Tribune
Marcellinus was, in order to exhort him to employ violence and
whipping against those who differed from him in their opinions, is an
additional proof of a melancholy truth that has often been noticed;
which is, that those who exclaim most bitterly against persecution,
when exercised against them, and are the most ready to claim
toleration in their own favour, are not always the most willing to
grant the same favour to others.
[53] Cap. XVI. De mendace, fure, & percussore Monacho.... _Si nec sic
se emendaverit, flagelletur acerrimè._
[54] “_Furti scilicet conscium, si adhuc vocare possumus Monachum,
quasi adulterum secundum, flagello subdi & magnâ coërceri afflictione
jubemus; dantes illi unam cum fornicante sententiam, quia & ipse
furatus est ut luxuriaretur._”
It is a little surprising that repeated adultery is, in the above
Rule, expressly placed on a level with simple fornication. Whether
the Framer of this Rule has done so purposely, and thought that
adultery ought to be treated with indulgence, on account of the
uncommon temptation he supposed Men were under to commit it, or has
only been very careless in his manner of expressing himself, I shall
not attempt to discuss. Yet, lest the Reader should thence be led
to entertain too bad an opinion of the tenets and morals of Monks
in general, I shall observe, that all are not in the same way of
thinking with respect to adultery, as the Framer of the above Rule
seems to have been. As a proof of this, the instance, I think, may
be produced of that Monk, mentioned in one of the Epigrams of the
Poet Rousseau, who was a great enemy to that sin: one day preaching
against it, he grew so warm in his arguments, and took so much pains
to convince his Congregation of his own abhorrence of it, that at
last he broke out into the following solemn declaration: ‘Yea, my
Brethren, I had rather, for the good of my soul, to have to do with
ten Maidens every month, than in ten years touch one married Woman.’
The following is the Epigram of Rousseau, which is written in
_Marotic_ verses; a kind of jocular style among the French, which
admits of old words and turns of phrase.
_Un Cordelier prêchoit sur l’adultère,
Et s’échauffoit le Moine en son harnois
A démontrer par maint beau commentaire
Que ce péché blessoit toutes les loix.
Oui, mes Enfans, dit il, haussant la voix,
J’aimerois mieux, pour le bien de mon ame,
Avoir à faire à dix filles par mois
Que de toucher en dix ans, une femme._
[55] “_Monachus parvulorum & adolescentulorum consectator, vel qui
osculo vel de quâlibet occasione turpi deprehensus fuerit inhiare,
comprobatâ patenter, per accusatores verissimos, sive testes, causâ,
publice verberetur._”
[56] ... _Hic ego durare non possum, sed accipiam casulam, & eam ubi
voluerit Dominus._
[57] Cap. XV. _De lascivis & clamosis_.
[58] “_Qui solus cum solâ fœminâ sine personis certis loquitur
familiariter, maneat sine cibo, duobus diebus, in pane & aquâ, vel
ducentis plagis afficiatur._”
This Article, in which the Founder of a religious Order expressly
rates the hardship of living upon bread and water for one day, at
that of receiving an hundred lashes, is somewhat surprising. And
supposing the generality of Readers should agree that the loss of
a good dinner has really been over-rated by the good Father, his
decision on that head, may then serve as one proof of that remarkable
love of good eating and drinking which prevails among Monks; a
disposition with which, to say the truth, they have long ago been
charged. On this occasion, I shall quote the two following lines in
Monkish style, recited by Du Cange in his Glossary, in which the love
of good cheer is said to be one of the three things that prove the
ruin of Monks: these lines only mention the _black_ Monks; but this
has been done, we may suppose, for the sake of the measure, and their
meaning was, no doubt, also intended to be applied to the _Grey_ and
_White_.
_Sunt tria nigr_orum, _quæ vastant res Monach_orum, _Renes &
vent_er, _& pocula sumpta frequen_ter.
Other modern Latin Writers have also exerted their wit at the expence
of the Clergy: some have pretended that the word _Sorbona_ (the
Sorbonne) comes from _sorbendo_[59]; and others have derived the word
_Præsbiter_ (a Priest), from _præ aliis bibens ter_[60], &c. &c.
As an instance of the love of Monks for entertainments, I shall
relate the following story, which is extracted from a Monkish Book,
and may serve to give the reader some insight into the manner in
which Monks live among themselves, and the internal polity of their
Convents.
A certain Friar, in a Convent of the Benedictine Order, found means
to procure, besides plenty of good wine, a certain number of dishes
extremely nice and well seasoned, several of which were expressly
forbidden by the Institutes of the Order; and he invited a select
party of Brothers to partake of his fare. As they could not, with
any degree of safety, carry on the entertainment in the cell of
any of them, they thought of repairing to one of the cellars of the
House; where they hid themselves in one of those wide and shallow
tuns (about eight or nine feet in diameter, and three or four deep)
which serve in the making of wines. The Abbot, in the meanwhile,
missing so many of the Monks from the Convent, went in search of them
through all the different apartments: being unable to find them, he
at last went down into the cellars, and soon perceived whereabout
they lay: he stepped up to the place, and, on a sudden, made his
appearance over the edge of the tun. The Monks were prodigiously
alarmed at this unexpected appearance of the Abbot; and there was
none among them but who would have gladly compromised the affair, by
giving up his remaining share of the entertainment, and submitting
to instant dismission. But the Abbot, contrary to all hope, put on
a mild and chearful look: he kindly expostulated with the Monks on
their having made a secret of the affair to him; expressed to them
the great pleasure it would have been for him to be one of their
party; and added, that he should still be very glad to be admitted
to partake of the entertainment. The Monks answered, by all means:
the Abbot thereupon leaped into the tun; sat down among them; partook
of their excellent wine and well-seasoned dishes with the greatest
freedom, in just the same manner as it is said the late Sir James
Lowther would of the dinner of his servants in his own kitchen; and,
in short, spent an hour or two with them in the tun, in the most
agreeable and convivial manner.
At last, the Abbot thought proper to withdraw; and as soon as he had
taken his leave, some of the Monks began to admire his extraordinary
condescension; while the others were not without fears that it
foreboded some misfortune. Indeed, the latter were in the right; for
the Reader must not think that the Abbot had acted in the manner
above-described, out of any sudden temptation he had felt at the
sight of the jollity of the Friars, or of the dainties that composed
their entertainment: by no means; his design had only been, by thus
making himself guilty along with them, to be the better able to shew
them afterwards the way to repentance, and thereby derive good from
evil. In fact, the next day, a chapter having been summoned, the
Abbot desired the Prior to fill his place, while himself took his
feat among the rest of the Monks. Soon after the Chapter was met,
he stepped forward into the middle of the Assembly, accused himself
of the sin he had committed the day before, and requested that
discipline might be inflicted upon him. The Prior objected much to
a discipline being inflicted on the Abbot; but the latter having
insisted, his request was complied with. The other Monks were at
first greatly astonished; but seeing no possibility of keeping back
on that occasion, they stepped into the middle of the Chapter, and
likewise confessed their sin; when the Abbot, by means of a proper
person he had selected for that purpose, got a lusty discipline to be
inflicted upon every one of his late fellow-banqueters.
[59] Which signifies, to _sip_, or to _swallow_.
[60] He who drinks three times before the others.