The Sun.
London, England, 1827-07-28 00:00:00

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MONKS, NUNS/ . ' • 0,-. ft.i%
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The numbers of 4widiood ,-, .. ~ ,". ~,., 4 ,r
their wealth, lultu:ii`',,),' , ..r-.._ .t` , :,
''' t
-4,111
much exaggerated. V ,
j. -- r -1-; -;
,;,, - - , . •
tugal amount in all to 'aclrilt-PA .4'
•t ' * e
following are the chief :--45iuguSiines- al Arra-
bidans ; Benedictines, Bernardines, Brunines,
and Bridgets ; Carmelites, Claristas, and Capu-
chins ; Dominicans, Theatins, and Franciscans;
Paulistas, Pietists, Trinitarians, Solitarians, and
a number of other —arians. In Lisbon there

are thirty-nine convents and fourteen nunneries ;
in Oporto, eleven convents and six nunneries ;
in Coimbra, two convents, eighteen colleges, and
six nunneries ; and in Portugal altogether there
are about 418 convents and 108 nunneries,
which contain at' an average, twenty a piece,
making the number of monks and nuns in the
kingdom amount to 10,520. In several books
published not many years ago the number of
priests, monks, and nuns has been calculated at
300,000, whereas, the fact is, there are little'
more than the tenth part of that—viz. 25,000
prieits, 8,000 monks, and 2,000 nuns in round .
numbers. Ido not mean to defend monastic •
vows, but as all allow that even the devil de-
serves his due, the same cannot be refused to
those who profess to drive him away by fasting,
and prayer, and mortifying the flesh. The evils
that exist in many of these institutions, prOceed
rather from an abuse of the system than from
any great defect in their original construction.
No one can deny that during the dark ages the
monks were the guardians of literature, and spent
large, sumo of money in aupplfaig the wants of
the poor end relieving the distressed. In the
times of the Goths and Vandals, when Europe
was buried in ignorance, they copied useful
books, which otherwise would have been lost for
ever, they acted as mediators between the feudal
lord and his vassals, and administered to the
afflicted and dying the consolation of religion.
No doubt they have departed, in some instances,
from the rules by which they were at first esta-
blished, and there is not the same want for them
now that there was seven or eight centuries ago,
but even now many of them lead pious lives, and
perform many acts of 'charity which the Protes-
tant clergy would do well to imitate. They have
been charged as a body with wallowing inluxury
and vice secretly, while outwardly they professed
humiliation, and poverty, and want. As a ge-
neral rule, nothing can be farther from the truth.
With the exception of the rich monasteries of
Alcobaca, Thomar, and Santa Crui, there are
very few above mediocrity, and many so poor
that the incomes are hardly sufficient to maintain
the present number. I have conversed with
many of the monks, dined with some of them,
and visited their cells, and no one who knows any
thing of human life would say, on seeing such
want of comfort, and such mortification • and se-
clusion, that their lot is at all enviable. It is
hardly possible to conceive any place more
gloomy than a convent, even of the richest class.
—Three or four times a-day they are obliged to
attend chapel, and go through the different re-
ligious ceremonies imposed on them by their
vows ; they have little intercourse' with the rest
of the world ; no female is allowed to enter their
convent, and their apartments are in general des- •
titute of that comfort, and cleanliness, and order
which the society of the other sex seldom failsto
produce. Many of them, no doubt,. break
the rules, and occasionally children are the con-
sequence ; but even instances of this are much
less frequent than is commonly imagined. The
prejudice against them has, within these 20 or
30 years, become so general, and the public
are so apt to magnify what is done in'secret,
that they are - not only loaded withal] their own
sins, but with a great many more of which they
are entirely innocent. Some of them are re-
spectable, intelligent men, there are others of a
different description, who appear to possess some
of those qualities for which the whole class are
stigmatised. The provision they'make for the
poor in their immediate neighbourhood, consti-
tutes, perhaps, their greatest merit. Some of
the convents are very liberal iii this respect, and
distribute food daily to a great number of men-
dicants. The following is an account which was
published some years ago, of the income of one
of the Orders, and the mode in which it was
spent :-4, It consisted at that time of 23 con-
vents, containing 320 monks, though the number
now is reduced to 270. The rental was
250,000 new crowns (28,0001.) which, besides
providing for the monks, maintained 300 servants,
one-half of whom were employed in agriculture,
furnished daily or weekly alms to a great number
of poor, and in bread alone, 10,000 alqueires
(4,000 English bushels) of wheat ; and besides
having troops billetted on them in their march,
and thereby relieving the country people of the
burden, the monks paid to Government, for the
expences of the State, 30,000 new crowns
(3,400/.) annually." Land in Portugal is ill
cultivated, but that belonging to convents is in ge-
neral much better managed than that in the hands
of laymen. It is natural that it should be so. The
monks always reside on their estates, whereas the
areat landed proprietors, like those of Ireland,
'flock to the capital, and seldom know in what man-
ner affairs are conducted. There is no accumula-
tion of wealth, as the number of monks is regula-
ted according to the amount of the funds, and some
of them, particularly those of Alcobaca and
Thomar, have incurred considerable debts. The
number, of monks is certainly on the decrease.
The present state of the convents proves this,
beyond doubt. Many parts of some of them
are in ruins ; others are not half inhabited ; and
there seems to be such a general prejudice against
the order, that a young man has little encourage-
ment to,enter it. The funds too, from which
some of them derived revenue, are either much
diminished, or diverted to other purposes. For-
merly they possessed all the tithes, most of which
are now allotted for the support of the Secular
Clergy. They derived large revenues from alms,
grants of land, and donations of other kinds,
which are everyday becoming less and less ; and it
is not at all improbable that, with the exception
of those rich convents which possess lands and
houses, in no long period, whether the Consti-
tution succeeds or not, most of them will go to
decay. In many respects, no doubt, this would
be an advantage; in others, the disadvantage would
be most manifest, and either the poor would die
the landed proprietors - would be
obliged to
said. against these institutions,
e for them as in England,
ofNith gcale: want,;
ta
has
or
been
and in no country have they been more abused
than in England, yet no country has less right-
What revenues are annually paid.,to clergymen,
both in England and Ireland, who neither preach
nor perform any official duty, nor give any of
their funds to the poor, nor even reside in the
parishes from which they draw their incomes !
The nunneries are, not, so well peopled as the
convents', This mode of living, too, evidently
has had its day and appears to be growing into
disrepute. I have not heard of any one taking