the river, belonging to the abbey, were bound to pay their rents. On viewing the singularly beautiful eminence above, known as the cross-churchyard, the spectator cannot but regret that these ponds. are not so far preserved as to become-what they then immediately would be additional ornaments in a plot of ground so eligible as a breathing-place to the numerous inmates who possess not the advantage of an open garden near their residence in the town. We have thought much and often of the further capabilities' of this spot, in connection with the subject of planting. Whether at any future period the burgesses will desire to obtain a lease of the ground, as a place for recreation,—we must wait to know.

Among the fragments of the monastery, which we are bound to notice, is some delicately carved panelling of oak, preserved in a summer-house upon premises of the late Mr. Lavender in Highstreet, built early in the last century by Mr. Thomas Cookes. The panels are oblong and are seven in number, separated by mullions which include small effigies carrying shields, standing under spiral canopies. Tracery in unison with that employed in windows of the Tudor style occurs in the head of each panel, and also in the surbase. In the latter situation the central panel presents within an enriched quatrefoil the addition of a mitre and crosier in pale, with the monogram C. L. which at once identifies it with the additions made in abbot Lichfield's time to his church and monastery. The panels would seem to have formed part of a wainscot within one of the private apartments of the abbot, and the reader may judge of their appearance from the die which we have employed as a frame to the gilt title stamped upon the back of this volume.

The last subject that connects us with the internal arrangements of the conventual establishment is a chair of state, of dimensions suited to contain the lordly abbot in the plenitude of his array. It is of oak. The back arches above the head, the arm-pieces fall concavely, and the workmanship is nearly plain, excepting a rich band of vine-branches, interspersed with birds and quadrupeds, which forms a luxuriant border round the back and arms. On the latter two youthful figures emerge from out the foliage, like dryads "peeping forth from alleys green," and on the angles rise two chimera with ecclesiastical-looking heads. The height of this massy piece of furniture is 5 feet 6, and the width 3 feet 9 inches. The style

I

of decoration is precisely that of our collegiate stalls of the fourteenth century, with the exception of the shield bearing the arms of the abbey, within the back. Mr. Rudge, the proprietor, has reason to conclude that it originally occupied the chapter-room; and though the carving is so peculiarly bold it is gratifying to add that it re

mains uninjured. After the dissolution, we learn that it became a fixture in the almonry, and in 1664 passed with the abbey site into the hands of Edward Rudge, esquire, citizen and alderman of London. Mr. Cookes the steward of the estate, to secure it from injury, removed it in the following century to his own residence, where it was afterward sold with the effects of Dr. Baylis his son

in-law. Mr. Beaufoy the purchaser removed it to Lambeth, and from him it passed to Mr. Biddle of Wycomb, from whom it came to Sir Thomas Baring, bart. who in 1835 restored it to the original family by presenting it to Edward Rudge, esq. by whom it is now preserved in the hall of his mansion.

Thus brief are the existing vestiges of our once wide-spreading monastery. So limited, that as far as respects the edifice we may well regard the yet standing Entrance-Arch, which we have just delineated, as the most important of the whole. And as we gaze

once more upon that archway-while the soft light of morning breaks through its rounded contour, amid the foliage of the garden-we thank the hand that originally preserved to us this one memorial of the cloistered pile; and trust that in its present actual situation it will long remain-affected by no other agent than the gentle touch of Time.

CHAPTER IV.

BENEDICTINE USAGES-REGULATIONS OF THIS MONASTERYCONVENTUAL AND OTHER ANCIENT SEALS.

IN the preceding chapter we have traced the various divisions of that important structure which with its dependencies originally formed great portion of the town. There, after completing a circuit of the church and its cloistral communication with the residence of the community, we have passed from quadrangle to quadrangle, surrounded by monastic halls and corridors and chambers,-and now we naturally turn from those voiceless memorials of a bygone system, to some consideration of the devoted inmates whom those walls enclosed. To them their convent was the world, and every trivial incident within it was readily magnified into a memorable event. Various were doubtless the inducements that attracted candidates toward its seclusion. Some would be drawn hither by the prospect of leisure for study and meditation; some would be selected while youths, by the brethren, as evincing peculiar aptitude for the duties of the cloister; and others would repair hither when wearied with the world, and sated with the emptiness of its once anticipated, but wrongly sought after, gratifications.

In unison with the Benedictine rule-to which this monastery was subservient, and from the Regulations of which we shall chiefly deduce the ensuing observations-one who applied for admission, was not to be immediately received. After waiting at the gate for several days, he might then be admitted to the guest-chamber, whence he was removed to the apartment for novices, where he remained two months. The rule of the order was then read before