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I
TRUTIL IS POWERFUL,
ce Tone rset tn tah MANNA SOR PNI 6
EET Satara aaa ne
VOL.
COBLBETY ON THUD ROFORMATION,.
History of the Protestant “ Reformation,” in England and Ire-
~ Tand; in a series of Letters, addressed to all sensible and just
; Englishmen. By Wiitram Copserr.
.{ Continued from our last.)
* - LETTER IV.
°180. I question whether monk ever wrote senten-
-ees'containing worse grammar than these contain:
dut, as to the facts; ‘these “very credible,” these
_* certain,” these “unquestionable,” facts, are, almost
' “upon the face of them, a tissue of malignant lies,
What should there be “ factions” and quarrels about,
amongst men living so “idle” and unambitious” a
life? How much harder are the hearts of unmarried
than those of married ecclesiastics we have seen above,
‘in the contrast between the charitics of Catholic and
Protestant bishops, It is quite “ credible,” that men,
Jost in “ supine idleness,” should practice frauds to
get money, which their very state prevented them
from cither keeping or bequcathing, and who were
totally destitute of all “cmulation.” "The malignity
. .of this liar exceeded his cunning, and made him not
.+ ‘perceive, that he was, in ono sentence, furnishing
strong presumptive proof against the truth of another
sentence. Yet, as his histosy has been, and is much
read, and as it has deceived me along with so many
thousands of others, ¥ shall, upon this subject, ap-
“peal to several authorities, all Protestants, mind, in
contradiction to these his false and base assertions,
just remarking, by the way, that he himself never had
a family or a wife, and that he was a great, fat fel-
low, fed, in considerable part, out of public money,
without having merited it by any real public, ser-
vices, : :
131. In his History of England he refers, not Jess
than two hundred times, to Bisnor Tanner, who was
Bishop of St. Asaph in the reign of George the Se-
* cond.’ Let us hear, then, what Brsor TAxner3 let
us hear, what this Protestant Bishop says of the char-
acter and effects of the monasteries which the savages
ander Henry VIIL. destroyed. Let us see how this
high authority of Hume agrees with him on this, one
of the most interesting and important points in our
history, We’are about to witness a greater act of
\ .plander, @ more daring contempt of law and justice
and humanity, than ever was, in any other case, wit-
nessed in the whole world. We are going to sce
thousand upon thousands of persons stripped in an in-
,stant, of all their property 5 torn from their dwell-
ings, and turned out into the wide world to beg or
starve 3 and all this, too, in violation, not only of na-
, | tural justice, but of every law of the country, written
or unwritten. Let us, then, sce what was the charac-
ter of the persons thus treated, and what wero the
effects of the institutions to which they belonged. And
- ~ tet us see this, not in the description given by an
avowed encmy, not only of the Catholic but of the
Christian religion; but, in that description which has
been given us by a Protestant Bishop, and in a book
’ < qwritten expressly to give “an account of all the ab-
hies, priories, and faiaries, formerly existing tn Engs
‘
NEW-YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 30, 1825.
land and Wales 3” bearing in: mind, as we go along,
that Hume ‘has in his History of England, referred
to this very work upwards of two hundred times, tak-
ing care, however, not to refer to a word of it rela-
ting to the important question now before us.
_ 132. Brsnor Taner, before entcring on his labo-
rious account of the several monastic institutions,
gives us, in pages 19, 20 and 21 of his preface, the
following general description of the character and
pursuits of the monasteries, and of the effects of their
establishments. I beg you, my fricads,: to keep, as
you read Bisnop Tasxens’s, description, the descrip-
tion of Huste constantly in your minds. Remember,
and Jook, now-and-then, back.at his charges of “ su-
pine idleness,” “ profound, ignorance,” want of all
“emulation and all manly and elegant knowledge ;”
and, above all things remember his charge of selfish-
ness, his charge of “ frauds” to get money from the
people. The Bishop speaks, thus, upon the subject.
133, “ In every great abbey there was a large room
“ called the Scriptorium, where several writers made
“ it their whole business to transcribe books. for the
“use of the library, They somctimes, indced, wrote
“ the leiger books of the house, and the missals, and
« other books used in divine'scrvice, but they were
“ generally upon other works, viz: the Fathers, Clas-
« sics. Histories, &c. &c. Jouy Wueritanstep, ab-
“ bat of St, Alban’s, caused above cighty books to be
“thus transcribed (there was then no printing) dur-
“inghis abbacy, ifty-cight were transcribed by the
“ care of one Abbat at Glastonbury ; and so zcalous
“ were the Monks in general. fcr this work, that they
often got lands given and churches appropriated for
“the carrying of iton. In all’ the greater abbies,
“ there were also persons appolated to take notice of
“ the principal occurrences of the kingdom, and at
“the end of evey year to digest them into annals,
“In these records they particularly preserved the
® memoirs of their founders and benefactors, the years
“ and days of their births and deaths, their marriages,
children and successors; so that recourse was some-
“ times had to them for proving persons ages and ge-
nealogies; though it is to be feared that some of
“ those pedigrees were drawn up from tradition only;
“ and that in most of their accounts they were favour-
“ able to their frionds,and severe upon their enemies,
“ The constitutions of the clerg} ia their national and
b provincial synods, and (aftey tho Conquest) even
“ Acts of Parliament, were, sent -to the abbics to be
“ recorded ; which leads me'to fnention the use and
“ advantage of thesc religious houscs. For, FIRST,
“the choicest records and treasures in the kingdom
“were preserved in them, An exemplification of
“ the charter of liberties granted by King Henry I.
“ (Maowa Ciara) was sent to some abbey in every
“ county to be preserved. Charters and Inquisitions
“ relating to the county of Cornwall were deposited
“ jn the Priory of Bodmin; a great many rolls were
“Jodged inthe Abbey of Leicester and Priory of
« Kenilworth, till taken from “thence by King Henry
«WI. King Edward 1. sent to the religious houses
“€ to search for his title to the Aingdom of Scotland,
‘
-NO.IS
“ in their leigers and chronicles, as the most authentic
“ records for proof of his right to that Crown, When
« his sovereignty was acknowledged in Scotland, he
« sent letters to have it inserted in the chronicles of
“the Abbey of Winchomb, and the Priory of Nor-
“ wich and probably of many other such-like places.
“ And when’ he decided the controversy relating to
“ the crown of Scotland, between Robert Bruce and
“ John Boliol, he wrote to the Dean and Chapter of
“ St. Paul’s, London, requiring them to enter into
« their chronicles the exemplifications therewith sent
“ of that decision. The learned Mr. Sexpes hath
“ his greatest evidences for the dominion of the nar-
“ row seascbclonging to the King of Great Britain, from
“ Monastic records. The evidences and moncy of
« private families were oftentimes sent to these houses
« to be preserved. ‘The seals of Noblemen were de-
“ posited there upon their deaths, And even the
“ King’s moncy was sometimes lodged in them.—
« SECONDLY, they were schools of learning and
“ education; for every convent had one person or
“ more appointed for this purpose; and all the nigh
“ bours, that desired it, might fate their children
“ taught. grammer and church music without any ex
“« pense to them. Inthe Nunneries also young women
“ were taught to work and read English, and some-
« times Latin also. So that not only the lower rank:
“ of people who could not pay for their Icarning, but
% most of the noblemen’s and gentlemen’s daughters
“ were educated in those placcs.—THIRDLY, all the
“ Monasteries were, in effect, great hospitals, And
“were most of them obliged to relieve many poor
© people every day. There were likewise houses of
“ entertainment for almost all travellers, Eventhe +
“ nobility and gentry, when they were upon the road,
“ lodged at one religious house, and dined at another
“and scldem or never went to inns, In short their
& hospitality was such, that in the Priory of Norwich,
“one thousand fire hundered quarters of malt, and .
“above cight huadred quarters of wheat, and all
“ other things -in proportion, were geacrally spemt
“every year —FOURTHLY, the nobility and gene
“try provided not only for their old servants ig *
these houses by corrodies, but for their younger
® ohildren, and impoverished fricnds, by making them
“ first monks and nuns,and in time priors and priores-
« ses, abbats and” abbesses.—FIFTIILY, they were
“ of considerable advantage to the Crown? 1, By the
« profits ‘received from the death of one Abbat or .
“ Prior to the cleetion, or rather confirmation of
“another. 2. By great fines paid for the confirma~
« tion of their liberties. 3. By many corrodies granted ,
« to old servants of the crown, and pensions to the
“« King’s clerks and chaplains, till thdy get preferment,
« —SIXTHLY, they were likewise of considerable
“ advantage to the places where they had their sites
« and estates: 1. By causing great resort to them, and ©
“ getting grants for fairs and markets for them, 2. *
« By frecing them from the forest laws. 3, By luting
« their lands at easy rates,—LASTLY, ‘they were
“ great ornaments to the country 5 many of them were
* really neble buildings; and though not actually so