The benevolence of the church has been already noticed. In monasteries especially was this virtue displayed. If we are to believe what is said in the Chronicle of the Abbey of Centule, the brotherhood there actually impoverished themselves, and brought the establishment into a very critical position by their extreme liberality and simple-heartedness; but admitting, as perhaps the reader will be inclined to do, that it is quite possible the generosity of the brethren is a trifle overrated, and that, even when some deduction is made from the statement, the case of Centule was not a common one; yet it must be confessed that there is sufficient evidence extant to induce a belief that benevolence was not an uncommon virtue in these fraternities. Peculiar kindness was shown in monasteries to travellers who sought their hospitality; and it was the injunction of Benedict to his followers, that they should prefer to render service to the poor brethren of Christ rather than to pay attention to the wealthy sons of this world. The _xenodochium_, or guest-house, within the precincts of each monastery, stood open to receive all visitors who came, as well as to yield support to a certain number of paupers; and though such an institution was liable to great abuse, and this system of relief altogether was open to objection, yet, doubtless, it supplied desirable assistance to many of the aged, the sick, and the weary--offered a useful place of sojourn to the traveller, who found no inns to go to, as in modern times, and proceeded from a kind and generous spirit, which appears peculiarly beautiful in those days of violence and semi-barbarism. But, in seasons of famine, which were not uncommon, the monks often displayed more than usual liberality. It is related of an abbot of St. Albans, in the eleventh century, that, in a time of great scarcity, he not only emptied his granaries, but parted with many of the valuables of the church to supply food for his starving neighbours; and that, when expostulated with, by some of his brethren, for parting with possessions consecrated to the service of God, he replied, that living temples were more valuable than material edifices, and that to support the former was more important than to decorate the latter.[12] [1] D'Achery, Spic. tom. ii. 83. [2] Lingard's Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. p. 201. [3] Maitland's Dark Ages, p. 406. [4] Quoted in Maitland's Dark Ages, p. 453. [5] Maitland's Dark Ages, p. 403. Du Cange, Glossary, voce _Signum_. [6] "The volumes," says the chronicler, "amount to 256, but some of these volumes contains several manuscripts, so that if we were to number these separately they would exceed 500."--_D'Achery, Spic._ ii. 311. [7] Ovid. i. 29. [8] Benedict An., lib. lxi., No. 6. [9] D'Achery, Spic. tom. ii. p. 306. [10] D'Achery, Spic. vol. ii. [11] D'Achery, Spic., tom. ii. p. 392. [12] Matt. Paris, Lingard's Anglo-Saxon Antiq. vol. i. p. 214. SECTION IV.