HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

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G H a p. advancement had been owing to the opinion ofII. his austerity , he professed himself a partizan ofthe rigid monastic rules; and after introducingthat reformation into the convents of Glastenburyand Abingdon, he endeavoured to render ituniversal in the kingdom.

The minds of men were already well preparedfor this innovation. The praises of an inviolablechastity had been carried to the highest extrava-gance by some of the first preachers of Christianityamong the Saxons : The pleasures of love hadbeen represented as incompatible with Christianperfection: And a total abstinence from all com-merce with the sex was deemed such a meritori-ous penance, as was sufficient to atone for thegreatest enormities. The consequence seemednatural, that those at least who officiated at thealtar should be clear of this pollution; and whenthe doctrine of transubstantiation , which wasnow creeping in , was once fully established,the reverence to the real body of Christ in theeucharist bestowed on this argument an additionalforce and influence. The monks knew how toavail themselves of all these popular topics, andto set off their own character to the best advantage.They affected the greatest austerity of life andmanners: They indulged themselves in the higheststrains of devotion : They inveighed bitterlyagainst the vices and pretended luxury of the age:They were particularly vehement against the

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Spell. Cone. vol. 1. p. 452.