thousands had joined his order. "The Lord added, not so much a new order," says a contemporary (in the foundation of the "Begging Friars "), "as renewed the old, raised the fallen, and revived religion, now almost dead, in the evening of the world, hastening to its end, in the near time of the Son of Perdition; that He might prepare new athletes against the dangerous times of Antichrist, and might protect the Church by fortifying it beforehand. The Lord Pope confirmed their rule, and gave them authority to preach in any churches, the bishop of the diocese permitting. They are sent two by two to preach, as before the face of the Lord and before His second Advent. These paupers of Christ carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor bread, and have no shoes on their feet, for no brother of this order can own any thing. They have no monasteries or churches, no fields, or vines, or beasts, or houses, or lands, or even where they may lay their head. They do not wear furs or linen, but only woolen gowns with a hood: no head-coverings, or cloaks, or mantles, or any other garments have they. If any one invite them, they eat and drink what is set before them. If any one, in charity, give them any thing, they keep nothing of it to the morrow. Yet, not by preaching only, but also by the example of a holy life and blameless conversation, do they attract many, not of the poor alone, but of the rich and noble, to despise the world, forsaking their towns, and houses, and great possessions, and giving up earthly wealth, by a happy exchange, for spiritual-to put on the habit of the 'lesser brethren 'a tunic of no value-and to gird themselves with their cord. For, in a short time they have so increased that there is no Christian land in which some are not found, for they let all join them, if unmarried, and not already under a vow. All but these they welcome, committing themselves to the providence and love of God, and not fearing for support."

Beginning with professions so noble and, at first, so sincere, it was found desirable, in 1212, to found a Franciscan sister

hood as well, and to this was added, in 1221, a third orderthe Tertiaries of both sexes, who were not required to take the vows of the order or to live apart, but were rather Associates, carrying out, as far as might be, the spirit of the order without leaving their ordinary callings or their place in life. The order of Dominican Friars, founded at first for the conversion of the Albigenses (1205)—who were soon, however, to be given over to pitiless massacre, when found obstinate-grew, also, apace. A generation later came the Carmelite Friars (1245) and the Augustines (1256); and all these, like the Franciscans, had their sisterhoods and their countless associates, or tertiaries, of both sexes.

The friars were, in fact, the Methodists, or revivalists of six hundred years ago; but it would have been well for them if they had been as permanently faithful to their mission as Wesley's great communion. The people flocked every-where to their preaching. It was like a new Gospel. Seeing their power to work on the masses, the pope soon granted them privileges which speedily corrupted them. Bishops were ordered to secure them a hearty reception, to urge all to come to their preaching, and personally to help them in every way; nor were they to be hindered from confessing those who attended their services. They were to be independent of episcopal supervision, and had the right to bury any who desired it in their churches and inclosures. The door was thus opened for their gaining wealth, and wealth brought spiritual ruin.

Meanwhile they streamed into England-hailed by the people, hated and feared, in anticipation, by the clergy and monks. Foreigners, they had to beg their way, with only their rags and their mission to recommend them. But they soon learned English enough to begin their vocation actively, and, ere long, every parish priest found them unwelcome intruders on his bounds, for they set up their movable pulpit at any cross, without consulting him, and carried the multi

tude away by their enthusiasm and the novelty and nobility of their principles and mission. Self-sacrificing love, for the sake of Christ, was the sum of their lives, and the only reward they asked, food and shelter. For a time they kept nobly true to the spirit of their rule. The towns of the Middle Ages were wretched in the extreme; fever and pestilence were permanently established in them, as in modern cities of the East; leprosy had its special houses, and little care was taken of the wretched inmates. But the Gray Brothers at once betook themselves to the most miserable quarters of the boroughs and to the foul leper houses, to alleviate suffering, and, if possible, remove it. Barefooted by day, they lay without a pillow by night. Their houses were as mean as the wretched hovels around them. True work, honestly done, had its ample reward in enthusiastic admiration.

Their preaching, ready, fluent, and familiar, was no less a wonder. The ignorant mass-priest, who depended on his fees, had been almost the only ecclesiastic with whom the lower towns-people had hitherto come in contact. The services of the Church were in an unknown language, the ritual was unmeaning, and the pictures or statues on the church walls needed an explanation which they did not receive. In contrast with this the friar addressed the crowd with fervid appeals, rough wit, or telling anecdote, as best suited the moment, with no attempt at studied harangues. It was a religious revolution, and gave the Church another lease of popular favor.

But they did not long confine themselves to preaching or tending the sick; they soon aimed also at higher flights. The universities were in their first glory: humble enough compared with their state to-day, but immensely popular. Thirty thousand students are said to have attended Oxford at one

The revival of mental activity, however, was dangerous, and the friars resolved to check, or at least to direct, it. Their care of the sick had soon drawn them to study the

physical sciences, and their preaching led them to study theology. In 1230 the Dominicans had already gained a theological professorship in the University of Paris, and the Franciscans soon after secured another. The schools of both, at both the English universities, became famous. Theology resumed its old supremacy, and for a time such men as Roger Bacon, Duns Scotus, and Ockham gave a true glory to the new orders.

But the corruption of the rest of the Church ere long invaded the ranks of the Brethren, and speedily brought them to its own miserable level. Even so early as 1243 Matthew Paris writes of them: "It is only twenty-four years since they built their first houses in England, and now they raise buildings like palaces, and show their boundless wealth by making them daily more sumptuous, with great rooms and lofty ceilings, impudently transgressing the vows of poverty which are the very basis of their order. If a great or rich man is like to die, they take care to crowd in, to the injury and slight of the clergy, that they may hunt up money, extort confessions, and make secret wills, always seeking the good of their order as their one end. They have got it believed that no one can hope to be saved if he do not follow the Dominicans or Franciscans. They are restless in trying to get privileges, to get the ear of kings and princes, to be chamberlains, treasurers, bridesmen, match-makers, and agents of papal extortion. In their preaching they either flatter or abuse without bounds, or reveal confessions, or gabble nonsense." The monks and the clergy soon came to regard them as their mutual enemies, and the peace of the towns was often disturbed by riots caused by their mutual hatreds.

XIX.

DEATH OF DE MONTFORT.-GARDINER.

[The weakness and incapacity of Henry III., and his reliance upon foreign favorites, led gradually to the development of an opposition baronial party. The nobles were the natural leaders of the people; but they were disorganized, and powerless, without a leader, to withstand the wretched system of government that prevailed.

At length they found a leader in Earl Simon de Montfort, himself a foreigner. He became the head of the national party. Under his direction, the opposition culminated in the Mad Parliament (1258), which forced upon the king the constitution known as the "Provisions of Oxford." It practically substituted a baronial oligarchy for the royal power. De Montfort, however, was not content with this, for he had wider plans of popular government. His attempt to realize these led to a division of the national party itself; recourse was had to arms, and the combatants met on the field of Lewes in 1264. Here the royalist party was overthrown, the king and Prince Edward were taken prisoners, and all the power passed into De Montfort's hands. His triumph led to the famous Parliament of 1265, to which he summoned representatives from the towns as well as from the shires, and a new constitution was drawn up, which put the government into the hands of the commonalty of the realm. A reaction followed against De Montfort. Prince Edward escaped from captivity, gathered an army, destroyed a large force under De Montfort's son, and defeated the earl himself in the battle of Evesham.]

If the great barons were weary of Simon, he had full confidence in himself, and he determined to show that he could do without them. When the Parliament which contained for the first time representatives of the towns met, very few of the great men had been asked to attend. Simon seems to have felt that he could not trust many of them. He attempted to do everything himself, and to rule the kingdom as if all men in it were his subjects. His sons were more arrogant and more unwise than he was. Even while Parliament was sitting news was brought that the young men and their friends had arranged to engage in a tournament against the earl of