Page:Historical Lectures and Addresses.djvu/115

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of them never ceased to be rebellious, and refused to submit to the fetters which it was sought to place upon them, because they felt that the very origin of their Order was a spirit of freedom.

I wish now to proceed to consider the influence of these two Orders upon Europe, and first I will speak of the mode of their influence. It is obvious that when a great wave of enthusiasm passes over a country, and still more when it spreads over the whole of Christendom, it is very difficult for any one to resist its influence. Doubtless when once the movement of the friars had really begun to spread, no one could altogether avoid being affected by it. Still, had the Franciscans alone arisen, it would have been impossible for the more cultured and educated people to be really impressed by the movement The dramatic side, we may almost call it the vulgar side, of the conduct of the Franciscans revolted many of the more educated people, and the only practical way they had of expressing their disgust was to try and create a certain amount of antagonism by favouring the Dominican Order. The Dominicans may be said to have flourished to some extent as being a reaction against the Franciscans. Both Orders associated to themselves a number of other Orders, or as it is ordinarily stated, both Orders created Tertiaries. This is not quite an accurate way of stating the matter. It seems more probable that these Tertiaries of the Orders were not creations either of Francis or Dominic. There had always been religious guilds and brotherhoods, composed of people who had bound themselves for their soul's health to perform certain duties, or