heard him speak in the strongest terms of the veneration in which he holds the house in which his family has lived for at the least six generations; however, I will have nothing to say in the matter, and the worthy man may accept it if he will. Richard Dobson, on the other hand is many years younger than old Maurice, and will, I daresay, have no objections to that pretty little house."

"BY THE bye, Prior," said the Nobleman, "I hope the glass for the windows will have arrived before the day of con secration."

"WHAT are the subjects?" enquired the Prior.

"I CAN Scarcely tell you, I am afraid; but Father Rodolph, who chose them, and drew the designs, will be able, I doubt not."

RODOLPH said that he should be very happy; and continued —“ the eastern triplet will contain, in the centre, our Blessed LORD, on His right hand, S. Peter, and on his left hand S. Anthony. In the two lancets on the north of the chancel, will be represented the Nativity and the Baptism; and in the three on the south, the Crucifixion, the Entombment, and the Resurrection. The subjects in the nave windows are the Blessing of Little Children; the Commission to S. Peter; the Anointing of our LORD by S. Mary Magdalene; the Entry into Jerusalem; and the Expulsion from the Temple."

"A VERY good selection, Father Rodolph," exclaimed the Nobleman, "I sincerely hope they will arive in time.”

"BUT I have not said all yet," interposed Rodolph, “painted glass windows need relief, and so we must decorate the interior of the walls; it is to be of a yellow-ochre ground all over the church, with arcades, and legends, pictures of saints, and Scripture subjects. There were a great many country people in this afternoon to see the church, and they were full of admiration at our work; we had just finished colouring and gilding the pillars; I don't know what they will say when the windows are in and the roof and walls finished."

"SUCH outward helps to devotion must be very beneficial,”

said the Nobleman, "they will learn to respect the House of GOD, and think that there is none other like it. I think, moreover, that the ceremony of consecration will have a good effect."

"AND PLASE, yer honor was so good as to send for me, and here I am come, and what would yer honor plase to want ?"

"WHY, Maurice," replied the nobleman, "it is to you and Richard Dobson that I owe my preservation; for, if you had not aroused the inmates of this Priory, there would have been no fires on the points, and our vessel would, in all probability, have been dashed to pieces against the rocks."

"AND what of that, yer honor?" cried Maurice, "every man ought to do his duty; and if it is not a man's duty to try and rescue his fellow creatures from a watery grave, I know not what is; it would have been a wicked sin if I had'n done every. thing in my power to save ye, and so I don't take any credit to myself for doing what it would have been wrong to leave undone: besides, as it is, if it had'na been for neighbor Dobson here, I should never have heard ought of ye, he first gave the alarm."

"I AM quite aware, replied the stranger, " of my great obligations to both of you; and as some little return I intend to make you, Maurice, the sacristan, and you, Richard Dobson, the grave-digger of the new church; and I have built a house apiece for you, close to the Lech-gate."

"OH ! many thanks, and plase yer honor," exclaimed old Maurice, “it will be a great delight to me, indeed, to attend upon the cleanliness of the LORD's House, and there's nothing I'd rather do; but about about the old house up on the hillI hope your Lordship wont be offended-but, yer honor-our family have a' lived in that old cot ever since the days of good S. Edward and longer for all I know it is too far from S. An thony's for me to come down every day, I would rather-"

"OH! I must have no excuse; Maurice, one of your sons can live there, and the cottage will always be yours; you are

to have a good salary for your duties as sacristan, and so are you, Richard, for your work."

"THANK ye, yer honor, " exclaimed Richard Dobson, who had hitherto been silent, so overpowered was he at the thought of his good fortune, "'twas well you came to this place."

AFTER Some little trouble, Maurice consented to leave his old abode, and in two or three days the worthy pair-Maurice and Richard—with their families, were comfortably housed in two snug little dwellings under the very shadow of the church.

THE DAY of Consecration had arrived, and the Bishop was expected hourly. The bells were ringing merrily, and crowds of peasants and clergy from the neighbouring Parishes had assembled. Presently a young man on horseback rode up to the Priory with the news that the Bishop was about half a mile from S. Anthony and would shortly arrive. A magnificent feast had been laid out in the refectory for the refreshment of the Bishop and clergy; and long tables, covered with dishes, and a cold repast, were stretched across the quadrangle, for the use of the whole congregation. At last his Lordship's beautiful carriage appeared, and drew up at the tower gateway of the Priory.

AFTER the consecration of the church, which was very well managed and productive of satisfaction to all parties, the congregation, with the Bishop at their head, sat down in the quadrangle,and partook of the good cheer which was there provided for them. The nobleman related to the Bishop the full account of his adventure; and, after he had finished, introduced old Maurice and Dobson to his Lordship, who expressed himself much gratified with their conduct. After dinner the Bishop rose, and, addressing those present, said, that he never remembered a more interesting occasion than the present,- -a church ungrudgingly built and endowed as a Thank-offering to ALMIGHTY GOD for His great goodness---and trusted that the example would be followed elsewhere. After some other remarks, he gave the people his apostolic blessing, and departed.

THE nobleman drove away with him in his carriage, declaring

that it was with regret that he left S. Anthony, It is not known who he was; he revealed his name, it is said to the Prior, on condition of secrecy, but not to any one else there. He was one of those who strive not to let their left hand know, what their right hand doeth; and, as the Prior was faithful to his trust, his name is unknown, even to this day. Yet be would often visit S. Anthony, for he had always a hearty welcome at the Priory. The country-people used to think that he was a relation to Bishop Warlewast, because they both came from Normandy, and because they left S. Anthony's together; but whether there was any truth in these surmises I cannot say.

OLD MAURICE lived to be nearly a hundred years old, and took delight in his happy employment unto the last. Old Molly survived him about a year, and they were both buried beside the chancel in S. Anthony's church-yard. The Prior died a year before old Maurice, and was succeeded in his of fice by Father Rodolph. Richard Dobson and his wife lived to a good old age; and it was one of his greatest pleasures, when he was too decrepit to work, to tell his son's little children the story of the shipwreck, as he rocked them on his knee. And when his sons were at sea, and it was a stormy night, he used to comfort his aged wife, and derive consolation himself by telling her of the Norman stranger, and his miraculous preservation; and, often as he told that tale, he wearied not of it, and always finished it with a few words on the mercy of God to His creatures. "Truly," he used to say, in the words of the Psalmist, "they that go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in great waters, these men see the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep. For at His word the stormy wind ariseth, which lifeth up the waves thereof. They are carried up to heaven, and down again to the deep; their soul melteth for very trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits end. So when they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, He delivereth them ont of their distress. For HE maketh the storm to cease, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because

they are at rest, and so He bringeth them unto the haven where they would be. O that men would therefore praise the LORD for His goodness, and declare the wonders that He doeth for the children of men !"-Ps. cvii. 23-31.

F. C. H.

DIARY OF A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER.

[Continued from page 155.]

ON Tuesday, I awoke about five o'clock; the morning was hazy, I went to the window and found the river Medway drowsily yawning its way along, like an herd-boy, when sent into the fields at early dawn, to bring up the milch cows, as though he had not yet thought of casting aside his night-cap. to prepare for the coming day. At six, the sun, as if afraid of intruding upon our slumbers, timidly made its appearance; before it the lazy mist seemed most reluctantly to withdraw the ships went sullenly along, like an unwashed self-willed child skulking. away from the cold water, while the sailors were washing down their decks; and a little further on; the watermen were swinging their boats from side to side to cleanse and prepare them for duty.

WHILST dressing, my attention was arrested by far-off music, which broke gradually upon the ear; it proceeded from the barracks on the heights: it was music indeed; softened by the distance, and wafted along by the gentle breeze down the Medway, it produced upon the ear a most harmonious effect.

"SOFT went the music the soft air along," such as may be imagined as described by Sir Walter Scott, in his scenes on the lakes; or as a lark on a beautiful summer's morning, rising heavenward,

"Seems the first that does for pardon sue,"

filling the air with sweet sound, diminishing, as the bird becomes veiled in the silvery-tipped clouds; or as a nightingale