BENEDICTINES, an order of monks, insti tuted A. D. 529, by Benedict of Nursia, from whom they had their name. The object of the founder was to establish an order which should be distinguish ed by the mildness of its discipline, and the regulari ty of its members ; and which should afford greater opportunities of piety, and of usefulness, than any of the existing orders. His rule of discipline was not ill calculated to produce these advantages, had not the inherent defects of monachism counteracted its operation, and defeated its salutary tendency. So convinced was he of the efficacy of his plan, that those who were admitted into the order were so lemnly bound to preserve its rules inviolate, and not to alter them by any kind of modification. As the ex isting orders in the west had been degraded by ma nifold corruptions, the rule of Benedict soon came into great celebrity. In France, Italy, England, and Germany, it soon arrived at the highest pitch of glory : the other orders continued to maintain a lan guishing existence, till about the ninth century, when the Benedictine absorbed all the other religi ous societies, and held unrivalled the reigns of mo nastic empire. The monks considered the predo minating influence of their order, as an attestation from heaven in favour of its sanctity and usefulness. This was all fair ; but it was not thought suffi cient : and they must have their miracles to support the credit of their order. In one sense, perhaps, they were right ; for the prevalence of any of the monastic orders could only arise from the mira culous ignorance and stupidity which had overwhelm ed Europe.
But this celebrated order had scarcely reached the zenith of its glory, when it began to exhibit the symptoms of decline. Wealth has truly been the root of all evil, in all the monastic institutions. In spite of the vows of poverty and mortification, which the initiated had solemnly made, they began to think that it was but reasonable to appropriate to their own convenience, some of that superstitious wealth.
which the mistaken liberality of the public had con ferred, and as soon as this rule was adopted, the rule of St Benedict was but little heard of. To use the words of Mosheim, " they sunk into luxury, intem perance, and sloth, abandoned themselves to all sorts of vices, extended their zeal and attention to worldly affairs, insinuated themselves into the cabinets of prin ces, took part in political cabals, made a vast aug mentation of superstitious rites and ceremonies in their order, to blind the multitude, and supply the place of their expiring virtue ; and, among other me ritorious enterprises, laboured most anxiously to swell the arrogance, by enlarging the power and au thority of the Roman pontiff." Vol. ii. p. 118.
In short, it appears that they fell from the high rank which they had so long held in the estimation of the world, by the same means which afterwards hurled their patron, the Pope, from the seat of his authority and power ; by presuming a little to much on the indulgence and simplicity of mankind. But whatever might be the cause of their decline, it appears, that about the middle of the tenth century, they stood in vehement need of reformation. This regeneration was attempted with considerable success by Odo, Abbot of Clugni, who, in endeavouring to reform the order, in a great measure superseded it by one of his own, and the order of Clugni soon be came almost as famous over Europe as had been that of Benedict.
We would refer such as wish for farther informa tion on this subject, to Milner's History of Win chester. (p)