agency that now comes on the scene. The institution of monachism was one
of considerable standing before the date at which we are now arrived,
but it had never yet found any function of systematic usefulness.
Benedict of Nursia is called the father of monks, not because he first
instituted them, but because he organised and regulated the monastic
life and converted it to a powerful agency for religion and
civilisation. Benedict was born in 480, and he died at Monte Cassino in
543. The Benedictine institution is the great historical fact which
demands our attention in the early part of the sixth century.

An eminent Benedictine was the Roman Pontiff Gregory, surnamed the
Great. He was born in 540, and died in 604. He designed the conversion
of the Saxons. He was a great author, though he was ignorant of Greek.
We will here notice three of his works--the "Commentary on Job," the
"Pastoral Care," and the "Dialogues."

The first of these is remarkable as a specimen of that mystical
interpretation of Scripture which characterised the exegesis of the
Middle Ages, and of which manifold examples occur in the Homilies of
Ælfric, who names Gregory as one of his sources.

The "Pastoral Care" is worthy of its name as a book of direction and
advice from the chief pastor to his subordinates. It is full of grave
practical wisdom, animated by the Christian spirit and the love of
souls. For prudence it is worthy of the pontiff who solved Augustine's
questions, as we read in Beda's history. In this book we discover the
true and legitimate source of the power of the clergy, and we verify the
words of Joseph Butler, who said that if conscience had power as it has
authority, it would govern the world. The power of the clergy is
sometimes explained as a stratagem; he who reads this book will see a