Friday, August 30, 2013

Hume on Monks

You gotta be alert to catch the good stuff here.  
The monks, who were the only annalists during those ages, lived remote from public affairs, considered the civil transactions as entirely subordinate the ecclesiastical, and, besides partaking of the ignorance and barbarity which were then universal, were strongly infected with credulity, with the love of wonder, and with a propensity to imposture; vices almost inseparable from their profession and manner of life.
I may go on with this for a while.

David Hume. The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part A. / From the Britons of Early Times to King John (Kindle Locations 644-647).

1 comment:

The New York Crank said...

"The monks ... lived remote from public affairs, considered the civil transactions as entirely subordinate the ecclesiastical, and, besides partaking of the ignorance and barbarity which were then universal, were strongly infected with credulity, with the love of wonder, and with a propensity to imposture..."

Feh! Today they'd all belong to the Tea Party.

Crankily,
The New York Crank