Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/263

 England in the Middle Ages 227 their look and manner, warlike in their usages, heathens in their rites. After embracing the faith of Christ, by degrees and, in process of time, in consequence of the peace which they enjoyed, they relegated arms to a secondary place and gave their whole attention to religion. I am not speaking of the poor, the meanness of whose fortune often restrains them from overstepping the bounds of justice ; I omit, too, men of ecclesiastical rank, whom sometimes respect for their pro- fession and sometimes the fear of shame suffers not to devi- ate from the true path ; I speak of princes, who from the greatness of their power might have full liberty to indulge in pleasure. Some of these in their own country, and others at Rome, changing their habit, obtained a heavenly king- dom and a saintly intercourse. Many others during their whole lives devoted themselves in outward appearance to worldly affairs, but in order that they might exhaust their treasures on the poor or divide them amongst monasteries. What shall I say of the multitudes of bishops, hermits, and abbots ? Does not the whole island blaze with such numer- ous relics of its own people that you can scarcely pass a village of any consequence but you hear the name of some new saint? And of how many more has all remembrance perished through the want of records ? Nevertheless, the attention to literature and religion had General in- gradually decreased for several years before the arrival of the Normans. The clergy, contented with a little confused learning, could scarcely stammer out the words of the sac- before the raments; and a person who understood grammar was an ^onq^est object of wonder and astonishment. The monks mocked the rule of their order by fine vestments and the use of every kind of food. The nobility, given up to luxury and wantonness, went not to church in the morning after the manner of Christians, but merely, in a careless manner, heard matins and masses from a hurrying priest in their chambers, amid the blandishments of their wives. The com- monalty, left unprotected, became a prey to the most power- ful, who amassed fortunes, either by seizing on their property