bishop.^ Martin of Tours thought his miraculous power deserted him on his transition from the cloister to the bishopric. Others, on the contrary, were ambitious for the episcopal chair, or were promoted to it against their will, as early as the fourth century. The abbots of monasteries were usually ordained priests, and administered the sacraments among the brethren, but were subject to the bishop of the diocese. Subsequently the cloisters managed, through special papal grants, to make themselves independent of the episcopal jurisdiction. From the tenth century the cler- ical character was attached to the monks. In a certain sense, ' Omnino monachum fugere debere mulieres et episcopos. * Sozom. iv. 30. 1Y4 THIKD PERIOD. A.D. 311-590. they stood, from the beginning, even above tlie clergy ; consid- ered themselves preeminently conversi and religiosi,, and their life vita religiosa ^ looked down with contempt upon the secu- lar clergy ; and often encroached on their province in trouble- some ways. On the other hand, the cloisters began, as early as the fourth century, to be most fruitful seminaries of. clergy, and furnished, esjjecially in the East, by far the greater num- ber of bishops. The sixth novel of Justinian provides that the bishops shall be chosen from the clergy, or from the mon- astery. In dress, the monks at first adhered to the costume of the country, but chose the simplest and coarsest material. • Subse- quently, they adopted the tonsure and a distinctive uniform. § 31. Influence and Effect of Monasticism. The influence of monasticism upon the world, from Antho- ny and Benedict to Luther and Loyola, is deeply marked in all branches of the history of the church. Here, too, we must distinguish light and shade. The operation of the monas- tic institution has been to some extent of diametrically op- posite kinds, and has accordingly elicited the most diverse judgments. "It is impossible," says Dean Milman,' "to survey monachism in its general influence, from the earliest period of its inworking into Christianity, without being aston- ished and perplexed with its diametrically opposite efiects. Here it is the undoubted parent of the blindest ignorance and the most ferocious bigotry, sometimes of the most debasing li- centiousness ; there the guardian of learning, the author of civilization, the propagator of humble and peaceful religion." The apparent contradiction is easily solved. It is not monas- ticism, as such, which has ]3roved a blessing to the church and the world ; for the monasticism of India, which for three thousand years has pushed the practice of mortification to all the excesses of delirium, never saved a single soul, nor pro duced a single benefit to the race. It was Christianity in mo- nasticism which has done all the good, and used this abnormal ' Uist. of (aucicnt) Christianity, Am. ed., p. 432. § 34. INFLUENCE AND EFFECT OF MONASTICISM. 17o mode of life as a means for carrying forward its mission of love and peace. In proportion as monasticism was animated