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rich beauties of the scene,-the meadows, the corn-fields, and the pastures through which the river wound its joyous course. His eyes glistened with delight as he thought of the day when, not as a hardworking and responsible prior, but as a luxurious abbot, he might call himself lord of such a domain.

Father Thomas was in a particularly happy state of mind; he had just received a letter from the abbot, pleading illness as an excuse for still absenting himself from Severnstoke, and as this was not the first time the same plea had been urged, it occurred to the prior that the authority he so constantly wielded in the name of another, might one day become his own. To attain this point, however, good deeds were necessary; the church was ever most generous to those who laid some offering at her feet, and it was to advance this holy cause that the prior now ambled forth upon his mule, and hurried the panting animal over pathway and field, till he reached the bottom of a hill, which compelled him to slacken his pace. Then Father Thomas looked round, and almost

smiled as he saw the efforts of his followers to cross a little brook which he had cleared at a bound; for a good horseman and keen lover of the chase was the Prior of Severnstoke. His light and active figure fitted him well for exercise and toil, and he sat his uncouth steed with a grace not the less remarkable that his great height made it a matter of some difficulty. His splendid and well-proportioned figure was not to be concealed by the long robe of brown cloth girded round his waist, while the hood, which constantly fell back, gave to view a countenance not only regularly handsome, but striking and picturesque. His forehead was singularly high and broad, with masses of rich black hair curling closely around it,-the crown of the head alone being shaven. His eyes were very long, large, and dark, but always seemed half-closed, perhaps from the constant habit of looking downwards. It was only in speaking that the velvet softness of their eastern hue could be perceived; but, when excited, they flashed with a brilliancy not to be surpassed. His nose was high and straight, and his mouth

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and chin well cut and defined, and expressive of great firmness. The foreign appearance of Father Thomas might in some degree be accounted for by the fact of his mother having been born in the East; but he himself was a native of England; and, except a short residence at Bologna, where he had been sent for his monastic training by his patron, the Archbishop Theobald, he had never quitted his own country.

Much care was was already written upon that brow, although the prior was still a young man; but ambition is a wearing passion, and no gown of serge, or shirt of hair, ever covered a breast more madly heaving with ambitious hope and desire than did that which now enveloped the tall and supple form of the Prior of Severnstoke. None could behold in him the mere ordinary mortal, nor could his holy garb thoroughly endue him with the meek and lowly air so befitted to his calling. There was in him more of the soldier than of the priest, more of the statesman than the bookworm, and, perhaps, yet more than either, of the gay

and chivalrous character of the Norman knight, though tempered down to strict outward decorum,-for very careful was the holy father of his earthly reputation. Through it, he had attained his present position, but he had still much to gain; and he had long since resolved that by his own fault no chance should ever be To rise to the highest

thrown away. honours is the natural wish of every aspiring nature, the dream of every ambitious mind; but with him it was more than a desire, more than a dream,-it was a determination. He felt that the destiny of man lies mainly in the will of man; and to work out the dictates of that resolute will he devoted every energy of his soul. His strong and comprehensive mind never wavered; he anticipated the success he was resolved to obtain; and the confidence this sentiment inspired was a first step towards his end.

As yet, from the position of affairs, no great opportunity had presented itself to Father Thomas of advancing his views. The routine of monastic life offered little

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