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was commanded by the Pope to summon the bishops and other religious persons from all parts of England, together with their sovereigns and nobles, and to declare before them that Egwin, the bishop, had authority to found a monastery of Benedictines at Eoves-hatn; and ultimately the bishop resigned his episcopal office, and became the first abbot. Chiefly through its alleged miraculous origin and the address of its founder, the institution flourished, and became one of the most famous in England, possessing at one time immense revenues derived from no less than twenty-two towns, or 33,000 acres of land. The monastery experienced the usual vicissitudes: those unfeeling vagabonds the Danes spoiled it—lands and revenues were seized and recovered - seculars were introduced and rejected - contests were fought successfully with the bishop to free the monastery from episcopal jurisdiction, and with the priors of Worcester to set aside their assumed right of visitation—and the abbatial church and buildings were several times reconstructed, when civil wars, fires, decays, or the violence of hostile neighbours, had rendered it necessary. The lordly old abbots - proud of the ring, the mitre, and the gloves, which the Pope permitted them to wear - seem to have always had the best of the contests with the bishops and priors of Worcester, and succeeded in freeing not only the monastery but all then: churches in "The Vale" (except Abbot's Morton) from any jurisdiction save that of his Holiness himself. At the Norman Conquest, likewise, the abbot managed things so well with the king that the latter committed to his care a large proportion of the midland counties. The monks were then increased from twelve to thirty-six, a number afterwards nearly doubled, and their records tell us there were about sixty servants attached to the establishment. Their church was most magnificent, having 164 marble pillars, gilt, and sixteen altars. How sad to think of the destruction of this splendid pile, which was no doubt attributable to the fact that two parish churches stood within the monastic precincts, and