"The clergy successfully preached the doctrines of patience and pusillanimity; the active virtues of society were discouraged; and the last remains of military spirit were buried in the cloister: a large portion of public and private wealth was consecrated to the specious demands of charity and devotion; and the soldiers' pay was lavished on the useless multitudes of both sexes who could only plead the merits of abstinence and chastity."
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General Observations On The Fall Of The Roman Empire In The West
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_History_of_the_Decline_and_Fall_of_the_Roman_Empire
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The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
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