Monastic life, abominable in its abuses, was, even in principle, contrary to the Gospel. But we must confess that there was a certain harmony between the wants of society in the Middle Ages and conventual establishments. Many and various motives drove into the cloisters the men that filled them; and if some were condemnable, there were others whose value deserves to be appreciated. It was these earnest monks who, even while defending the royalty of the pope, rejected most energetically the papacy of the king: this was enough to draw down upon them the royal vengeance. One day a messenger from the court brought to the Charter-House of London an order to reject the Roman authority. The monks, summoned by their prior, remained silent when they heard the message, and their features alone betrayed the trouble of their minds.[115] 'My heart is full of sorrow,' said Prior Haughton. 'What are we to do? If we resist the king, our house will be shut up, and you young men will be cast into the midst of the world, so that after commencing here in the spirit you will end there in the flesh. But, on the other hand, how can we obey? Alas! I am helpless to save those whom God has entrusted to my care!' At these words the Carthusians 'fell all a-weeping;'[116] and then taking courage from the presence of danger they said: 'We will perish together in our integrity; and heaven and earth shall cry out against the injustice that oppresses us.'—'Would to God it might be so,' exclaimed the Superior; 'but this is what they will do. They will put me to death—me and the oldest of us—and they will turn the younger ones into the world, which will teach them its wicked works. I am ready to give up my life to save you; but if one death does not satisfy the king, then let us all die!'—'Yes, we will all die,' answered the brethren.—'And now let us make preparation by a general confession,' said the prior, 'so that the Lord may find us ready.' Next morning the chapel-doors opened and all the monks marched in. Their serious looks, their pale countenances, their fixed eyes seemed to betoken men who were awaiting their last moments. The prior went into the pulpit and read the sixtieth Psalm: '_O God, thou hast cast us off._' On coming to the end, he said: 'My brethren, we must die in charity. Let us pardon another.' At these words Haughton came down from the pulpit, and knelt in succession before every brother, saying: 'O my brother, I beg your forgiveness of all my offences!' The other monks, each in his turn, made this last confession. Two days afterwards they celebrated the mass of the Holy Ghost. Immediately after the elevation, the monks fancied they heard 'a small hissing wind.'[117] Their hearts were filled with a tender affection: they believed that the Holy Ghost was descending upon them, and the prior, touched by this surprising grace, burst into tears. Enthusiasm mingled extraordinary fantasies with their pious emotions.