Calvin has to defend Luther in the same way, and after
speaking of Anabaptists and others who were no disciples
of his, he says :

" The Eeformers are no more bound to bear the odium
of their impiety than Paul was to bear that of Hermo-
genes and Philetus. We must not be frightened out of
good things because of a few abuses which the common
sense of men will presently rectify."

Most likely a good many lies were told about the evil
doings in the monasteries, but it is significant that the

17



258 THE BIBLE OF THE REFORMATION

" black book " containing the record is said to have been
destroyed in Queen Mary's reign. And no one need
pore over the " Comperta " preserved in the Eecord Office^
for the Bishops' Eegisters are above suspicion, and sub-
stantiate some of the worst accusations. The facts about
St. Ehadegund's Nunnery at Cambridge, suppressed as
early as 1497 by the Bishop of Ely, and about St. Albans,
are indisputable, if not illustrative, for those who wish
to examine more fully an unpleasant subject. Creighton
says, in his Historical Essays :

" The monks, as a body, were above the ordinary
standard of morality, but they were. not so far above it as
to be a moral force in the community. They were lazy,
ignorant, self-indulgent, and a hindrance to economic
progress and ecclesiastical reform."

. And probably their charities have been exaggerated.
The houses were mostly apart from the centres of popula-
tion, and their annals show but few traces of any thought-
ful gifts.* Often this was not their fault, but it took
twenty-six carts to convey away the treasures from Becket's
shrine.
No doubt the spoil should have been put to better use.
