The very principles upon which these mendicant
orders were established seem to be elements of evil. That they might be
better than the monks, they had no cloisters and magnificent gardens, with
little to do but enjoy them. Like our Lord, they were generally without a
place to lay their heads; they had neither purse nor scrip. But instead of
sanctifying, the itinerary was their great temptation and final ruin.
Nothing can be conceived better calculated to harden the heart and to
destroy the fierce sensibilities of our nature than to be a beggar and a
wanderer. So that in our retrospective glance, we may pity while we
condemn "the friar of orders gray." With a delicate irony in Chaucer's
picture, is combined somewhat of a liking for this "worthy limitour."[17]
In the same category of contempt for the existing ecclesiastical system,
Chaucer places the sompnour, or summoner to the Church courts. Of his
fire-red face, scattered beard, and the bilious knobs on his cheeks,
"children were sore afraid." The friar, in his tale, represents him as in
league with the devil, who carries him away.
Pages:
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124