"They may have done some good; but that good could have been obtained in a far better way," said papa; "they were abominations from the first; and the life led by the monks was utterly at variance with that which Scripture teaches us is the right life to lead.  We might as well regret that Robin Hood and Dick Turpin do not now exist, because they occasionally behaved with generosity to the poor, and showed courtesy to the ladies they robbed.  The monasteries were the result of the knavery of one class and the ignorance and superstition of another.  Do not let the glamour of romance thrown over them ever deceive or mislead you as to their real character.  When we hear of the good they did, remember that the monks were their own chroniclers.  We have only to see what Chaucer says of them, and the utter detestation in which they were held by the great mass of the people, not only in Henry the Eighth's time, but long before, to judge them rightly.  There are weak and foolish people, at present, urged on by designing men, who wish for their restoration, and have actually established not a few of these abominable institutions in our free England, where girls are incarcerated and strictly kept from communicating with their friends, and where foolish youths play the part of the monks of the dark ages.  I am not afraid of your turning Romanists, my boys, but it is important to be guarded on all points.  Just bring the monastic system to the test of Scripture, and then you will see how utterly at variance it is from the lessons we learn therein."