It was, no doubt, the
unselfish activities of the monks that caused them to be held in such
high esteem; the result was their coffers were filled with more gold
than they could easily give away. Thus abuses grew up. Bernard said:
"Piety gave birth to wealth, and the daughter devoured the mother."
Jacob of Vitry complained that money, "by various and deceptive tricks,"
was exacted from the people by the monks, most of which adhered "to
their unfaithful fingers." While Lecky eloquently praises the monks for
their beautiful deeds of charity, "following all the windings of the
poor man's grief," still he condones in the strongest terms the action
of Henry VIII. in transferring the monastic funds to his own treasury:
"No misapplication of this property by private persons could produce as
much evil as an unrestrained monasticism."
It would be unjust, however, to censure the monks for not recognizing
the evil social effects of indiscriminate alms-giving. While their
system was imperfect, it was the only one possible in an age when the
social sciences were unknown. It is difficult, even to-day, to restrain
that good-natured, but baneful, benevolence which takes no account of
circumstances and consequences, and often fosters the growth of
pauperism. The monks kept alive that sweet spirit of philanthropy which
is so essential to all the higher forms of civilization. It is easier to
discover the proper methods for the exercise of generous sentiments,
than to create those feelings or to arouse them when dormant.
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