of
Bermondsey Abbey and St. Mary Overy on the south side of the river has
also departed, but the church of the latter still stands, the most
beautiful church in London next to Westminster Abbey.

[Illustration: Christ's Hospital]

But besides all these religious Houses employing thousands of people,
there were in the City of London no fewer than 126 parish churches. Many
of the parishes were extremely small--a single street--or half a street:
many of the churches were insignificant: but many were rich and costly
structures, adorned and beautified by the piety of many generations: all
were endowed with funds for the saying of masses for the dead, so that
there were many priests to every parish. Consider these things and you
will understand that the City was filled with ecclesiastics--priests,
friars, servants of the Church: at every corner rose a church: to one
standing on the other bank of the river the City presented a forest of
spires and towers. The church then occupied a far larger part of the
daily life than is now the case even with Catholic countries. All were
expected to attend a daily service: the trade companies went to church
in state: young men belonged to a guild: the ringing of the bells was
never silent: no one could escape, if he desired, from the Church. No
one did desire to escape, because every one belonged to the Church. You
must understand, not only that the Church was so great and rich that it
owned and ruled a very large part of the country, but also that the
people all belonged to the Church: it was part of their life as much as
their daily work, their daily food, their daily rest.

27. MONKS, FRIARS, AND NUNS.

We must not speak of monks indiscriminately as if they were all the
same. There were as many varieties among the Orders as there are sects
among Protestants and as much rivalry and even hatred of one with the
other. Let us learn some of the distinctions among them.

Monks were first introduced into Western Europe in the year 529. There
had long been brotherhoods, hermits, and solitaries in the East, where
they existed before the Christian age. St. Benedict founded at Monte
Casino in Campania a monastery for twelve brethren in that year. The
Benedictines are the most ancient Order: they have also been always the
most learned. The Priory of the Holy Trinity in London was Benedictine.
Several branches sprang out of this Order, mostly founded with the view
of practising greater a