countries which groaned under the despotism of the state. Some monarchs, it is true, like Louis XIV., are said to have had their own projects unfavourable to the monastic orders in this respect, intending to control them and place limits different from what the Church and the ancient common law proposes *; and in recent times the Trappists could only receive such young men as had "satisfied the law of conscription." But in general the state, in consequence of these institutions, had not the unrestrained or exclusive right of marking men, like trees, indelibly for itself. In France, as soon as a tree is struck with the mallet of the Admiralty, its destination cannot be changed. Every attempt respecting it becomes a legal offence, and the agents of the Admiralty are sure to pursue before the tribunals the least infraction of this law †. The same right seems to have been claimed even in England; for we read of Lord Clarendon's indignation at the Navy Board having marked some trees for cutting in Clarendon Park without his leave. It was not so with men in the forest of life. The state could not go in every where with its brand, and mark out individuals for itself; for the monastic privileges constituted a mode of escape for some who were more strongly influenced by the love of peace; and no king or political body in the state had power to wrest for their own purposes those who had been previously marked out for the service of the pacific King. But it was not alone within their estates and sacred inclosures that the peace which emanated from monasteries could be traced. As fountains of peace they sent forth an influence which tended to diminish for the wide external world itself the evils which assailed it. To pray for the peace of Christendom was a primary object of the monastic profession. In the order of Grandmont a pater and an ave were daily said after matins pro pace conservanda‡. Every thing in these asylums denoted this intention. On the great bell of the monastery of St. George at Nuremburg was inscribed "O Rex gloriæ veni cum pace §." And it was not merely with prayers that the monks produced an impression favourable to peace. The Franciscans and Dominicans did signal service to the English nation in Henry III.'s time by making way for the beginning of peace between the king and his peers ||; and, speaking of a similar occasion, it is well to hear the remarks of a great historian. Monks," says Pierre Mathieu, "are deemed necessary for making peace. principale action de la vertu est de scavoir et de contempler. 66 La Le Duc de Noailles, Hist. de Mdme de Maintenon, ii. Appendice. Levesque, Annales, cent. iii. ad ann. 1289. § Thuringia Sacra, 693. Collect. Angl.-Min. 34. Les esprits separez du trouble et de la confusion du monde y sont plus propres que les autres qui se laissent emporter à ces violentes passions, qui comme furieux taureaux saultent tousjours sur la barrière de la raison *." That even the old poets were willing to give their testimony as to the effects, may be witnessed in the romancero beginning "Castellanos y Leoneses," where, speaking of the quarrel between the Count Fernan Gonzalez and the king of Leon, it says, " Amongst those of the court there was no one who could obtain a truce. But two blessed monks succeeded." An instinctive participation in the sentiments of the monastic world which he was about to join may not have been wholly unconnected with these words of Charles V. on his abdication: "Although I have been engaged in many wars, into none of them have I gone willingly." The effect of wars upon the interests that the monks had most at heart were feelingly deplored by the Benedictines of France in the reign of Louis XIV.; and in this respect the correspondence of Mabillon and of Montfaucon with Italy contains curious details. Thus the former, writing to Sergardi in 1690, says, "Oh, how many useful labours are interrupted by this tempest of war! What a destruction to learning and religion will result! I hear that the French wine has been poured out into the streets of London through rage, and that, vice versa, silk clothes of English fashion have been publicly thrown into the flames in Paris +." May God compose these differences; may our most holy Lord procure peace for all Europe, and put an end to this conflagration! for nothing would be more worthy of the pontificate of Alexander VIII. I wish I could write of more agreeable things. I wish you deliverance from this monster of war; sed quæ ferunt tempora, nobis ferenda sunt ." Again, writing to Magliabechi, he says, "I have an eighth volume of the acts of our saints ready for the press, but our booksellers put off the work till the peace comes; but when shall we have it §?” Similarly Dom Michel Germain, writing to Dom Gattula, says, The wars cause an interruption to all our literary undertakings. We can neither print nor send books. Our poor nuns, even, of Farenses are disappointed in their hopes respecting information from Sicily about their patron, for the Spaniards prevent all intercourse with Sicily ||." Nor was it only political dangers that were deplored, combated, and even averted by the monastic influence. There are innumerable examples of its success in putting an end to domestic discord, which threatened social peace and the harmony of families. 66 66 * Pierre Mathieu, Hist. de Hen. IV. lib. i. 7. + Let. celvi. § Let. cclxx. Let. cclviii. Let. cclxviii. "What a sweet being is an honest mind! Thus St. Peter of Alcantara appeased and terminated the quarrels which had so long reigned in Placentia between persons of the first quality *. Similarly, in 1454, the two brothers Frederick and William, dukes of Saxony, were reconciled to each other by John, the seventeenth abbot of Porta; for, being invited to a conference, the abbot reminding them facetiously of the verse of the psalm, "Non confundetur, cum loquetur inimicis suis in Porta," spoke with such success that they were made friends †. An amusing instance, somewhat similar, is thus related :St. Erminold was abbot of Prufeningen, at Ratisbon; it was he who closed his gates against the Emperor Henry. The people of the abbey of St. Emmeran used frequently to trouble those of his community. On one occasion the former sent workmen to dig a trench to mark the limits of the two properties, by means of which those of St. Prufeningen would have been much curtailed to the advantage of the others. The holy abbot hearing of this work, went to the spot as if to look on, and about midday, when the labourers were fatigued, he invited them to take refreshment at his table. They complied, and so fascinated were they with his benignity and charity, that on rising from table they declared they would not continue the work, but, on the contrary, put an end to it; and thus, the rustics execrating the avarice of their employers, proceeded to fill up the trench which they had made. The result was the conversion of the monks of St. Emmeran, who never afterwards molested their holy neighbours. To the very last hour of their existence the monasteries sent forth peace-makers. Thus when the rustic inhabitants of Sachsenhausen rose up in tumult against their parish priest, John Lindemann, who began to insinuate Lutheran opinions, Peter, the abbot of Porta, made peace between them, laying down a certain number of most wise articles §. over, by their example all members of the monastic family may be said to give lessons daily on the advantages of peace. Men could read them in that sweet tameness dwelling on their brows. Hence, say the rules of the Dominicans, "Gravis culpa est, si quis inhoneste in audientia secularium cum aliquo contenderit― si frater cum fratre intus vel extra lites habuerit ||." In common families, in spite of those happy tempers that would make "all serene," if they could have their way, no one need be told for what a slight cause the peace of a whole house is often trou Marchese, i. 16. Bavaria Sancta, i. 726. || Constitutiones Frat. Ord. Præd. Chronic. Portensis. § Chronic. Portensis. More bled. There are persons in the world, like the man in the old play, who would quarrel with a boy for cracking nuts because his own eyes were hazel. I know not one house," says the Princess to Rasselas, "that is not haunted by some fury that destroys their quiet." There are even whole nations, that need not be named, in which the spirit of contradiction in trifles seems to be the prevailing passion. Few contrasts can be greater than that which a monastery presents in this respect. "No, there are throned seats unscalable but by a patient wing, a constant spell;" and here are those who have attained them. Who has not heard some trait of the patience of the monks and holy sisters, and what comfort they did find in being so calm? As Candido says, Patience, my lord! why, 'tis the soul of peace: 66 Of all the virtues, 'tis nearest kin to heaven." This soft, meek, patient, humble, tranquil spirit reared these men aloft, made them and angels kiss, and sweetened by its influence many injuries sustained by others living in the world who only heard of it; for who could be unmoved to forgiveness when he had seen these men bear all injuries, as the ocean suffers the angry bark to plough through her bosom, and yet is presently so smooth that the eye cannot perceive where the wide wound was made? As Julio says, in the tragedy of " The Duke of Milan," "I have read strange stories of the passive fortitude of men in former ages, which I thought impossible and not to be believed; but now I look on you my wonder ceases." Oh, a soul like theirs, constant in patience! it is not danger can make this cheek grow pale, nor injury call blood into it. From all these observations it is evident that each religious house must contribute more or less to the tranquillity and union of the world. St. Bridget declares that on receiving the rule for her order she had a divine assurance that it would conduce to peace on earth. "In omni regno seu terra aut civitate," she heard, " in quibus monasteria hujus regulæ cum vicarii mei licentia, constructa fuerint, augebitur ibi pax et concordia *." But if monasteries serve the purpose of promoting external tranquillity, what shall be said of the internal peace which reigns within them, and emanates from them, since the mere thought of what is there enjoyed is found to shed a calm happiness on others? "When we think," says St. Augustin, "of our brethren who enjoy rest and peace, we in the midst of our anxieties find refreshment, as if we ourselves were living with them +." And again, writing to Eudoxius, abbot of the monks of the island of Capraria, he says, "When we think of the quiet which you enjoy * Regula Salvatoris, c. 31, Rev. S. Brigit. 711. VOL. VII. P in Christ, we also, though amidst various and painful labours, find repose in your charity, for we are one body under one head; so that you are occupied in us, and we have rest in you*." Antonio de Guevara cites Marcus Aurelius, saying, "What does it profit a man to have studied much, read and heard much, travelled and seen much, if, after all his labours, he cannot retire to some place where he can find rest?" The best remedy for human minds, say the lovers of peace, the surest way to harmonize our moral powers, is to have recourse to the supreme peace to take refuge in God. Hence men offered themselves and their treasures to places set apart for his more especial service. St. Peter of Alcantara used to say to his monks, My children, peace and love are the arms of the soul, with which it embraces all virtues. Peace renders the soul capable of possessing God, whose place is in peace, so that all depends on our retaining peace. Charity will never suffer you to believe evil of others: you must turn away your eyes from it, and be as if you saw it not. When any one is clearly guilty, think of his good qualities and believe them of him, and never judge him. Discover good in evil, and be not like the world, which finds evil in the best things +." 66 A religious house seems to realize the wish of the poet, "Pax secura locis, et desidis otia vitæ, Et nunquam turbata quies, somnique peracti. Nulla foro rabies, aut strictæ jurgia legis, Morum jura viris; solum, et sine fascibus æquum‡.” To those who view it from the troubled sea of the worldly life, it is like a lighthouse to the mariners, Trepidis ubi dulcia nautis Lumina noctivaga tollit Pharus æmula Lunæ §.” Or we may say that it resembles a harbour of refuge to those who have been in danger of perishing; and each may hear on coming to it, "Be thankful thou; for, if unholy deeds Ravage the world, tranquillity is here!" "What a happy asylum," says the Baron de Prelle, “is furnished for some old persons in the monasteries! We have seen," he continues, "Monsieur Sublet, maistre des comptes, father of the secretary of state, becoming a widower in his sixtieth year, leave the bosom of his family and enter the Carthusian order, as Madame de Marillac and Madame Poncet, at the same |