William de Colchester Part 2

THE ABBOT AT HOME

As before, if we want to know an Abbot's interests and his manner of life at home, we shall go to the accounts of his stewards or Seneschals.

His rent-roll is less than Abbot Litlington's, and there are heavier arrears. The country is greatly unsettled and it is not an easy time for landholders. We possess a clear "statement[68] of the lands and apportionments of the lord William by the grace of G.o.d Abbot of Westminster," as audited in the year 1388. The total revenue when fully paid has fallen to 617 16_s._ 1_d._, but there are arrears amounting to 104 12_s._ 7_d._ However, if his receipts are less, his stock is still plentiful; he possesses 58 horses and 19 foals; 351 heads of cattle; 2287 sheep and lambs; and 299 pigs. When he listened to his monks and lay clerks singing the 144th Psalm, he had every reason to join in the desire "that our garners may be full and plenteous with all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets: that our oxen may be strong to labour"; and he knew his times well enough to ask also that there may be "no complaining in our streets."

We have six rolls of his Seneschals between 1388 and 1403, and we may put together from these the facts that are to be gleaned about him.

At this time, at any rate, he was a man of good health. There is a slight reference to an indisposition in 1389, and once there is a fee of one shilling to a doctor for treating his "tibia," which seems to have been a peculiarly vulnerable part of monkish anatomy. On the other hand, he does not appear to have been as fond of field sports as his great predecessor; at least in 1402-3 his steward bought 359 rabbits, 41 woodc.o.c.k and a pheasant, which would hardly be necessary if his lordship were in the habit of inviting the neighbouring gentry to help him keep down his game. It is evident that his estates are being well managed.

We can tell, for instance, that in 1388-9, on his manors of Eybury, Denham, Laleham and Pyrford, he sold 215 stone of wool at 1_s._ 9_d._ a stone. He made red wine at Islip, and his price for it was 2 12_s._ 6_d._ a pipe. The needs of his own establishment were mainly supplied from Denham and Pyrford, especially the former; for his accounts are full of small payments to servants who had driven pigs from Denham to la Neyte. In other words, when he was in town he did not patronize the Westminster tradesmen, but he purchased supplies from himself as over-lord of Denham. For these he paid his factor at Denham the current price, so that the manor could give a good account of its takings at the end of the year.

And this careful accountancy went to quite practical lengths. For instance, the Abbot was wont to receive during each year a large number of "exennia," which, as we have seen, were complimentary presents mostly offered in kind. It happens that there is a complete list of these with the names of the donors for 1388-9. The clergy beneficed on the estate, such as the rector of Islip, the vicar of Hurley, where the Abbey had a daughter priory, the rectors of Oddington and Sutton on the Gloucestershire property, and the vicar of Brailes in Warwickshire; the heads of the affiliated convents, such as Hurley, Greater Malvern, Deerhurst, and Persh.o.r.e; the tenants, such as the miller at Pyrford; the man who rents the church farm at Longdon; various monks of the Abbey, such as John Stowe, who brings now a lamb as a peace-offering, now the results of his skill with the line, a pike or an eel, and now that which he has taken with his bow, a brace of bittern; and Peter Coumbe, the Sacrist and warden of the New Work, who offers a swan and a brace of pheasants. The gifts, in fact, are from all sorts and conditions of folk. There is the King's larderer with his modest present of fish; there is Master Thomas Southam, Cardinal Langham's lawyer, who now sends the Abbot a pipe of red wine, the most costly of all the gifts, in the hope, no doubt, of continuing to serve his present lordship in a similar capacity; and, most pathetic of all, there are two women, who claim to be of the Abbot's kin,[69] and who offer for his acceptance half a dozen capons. But the point for us is the careful management of his affairs, which appears in the fact that each of these eighty-three contributions is entered by the Seneschal at its market-price. The pipe of wine figures at 2 13_s._ 4_d._; the lamb at 8_d._; the six capons from the poor relations at 2_s._; and the brace of bittern at 2_s._ 6_d._ Altogether these tributes towards his maintenance save the expenses of the mansion by 14 11_s._ 6_d._, and a reference to his steward's balance-sheet under the head of "outside receipts" shows this exact sum entered as derived from the "exennia" of divers persons. Prudent housewifery could scarcely go further. On the other hand, he does not so treat the presents he receives from the great ones of the earth. When a stag arrives from Windsor, or a buck from the Baroness Despenser, the cash value of these compliments is not taken into the account; there is merely an acknowledgment that certain recognitions in money have been given to the bearers of the gifts.

It is natural to ask whether the accounts show signs of luxurious habits. Certainly not in his furnishing. Thus, in 1401 he was adding to the accommodation of his London mansion of la Neyte. For his new parlour he obtained a cupboard for 10_s._, two chairs for 4_s._ 6_d._, six stools for 4_s._ 4_d._, and a deal table for the same sum. I think (the word is not quite clear) that he had a curtain provided for his study-window at a cost of 1_s._ 8_d._; and there was a fireplace in his parlour, for which his Seneschal laid out 7_d._ upon coal. Certainly not, again, in wine and strong drink; for his outlay under this head was about a sixth part of the sum which he spent upon corn and meat. Nor is there any evidence that he used his position for the enrichment of poor relations. It may be that we can detect a needy kinsman in one John Colchester who was granted 3_s._ 4_d._ by my lord's command at la Neyte in March, 1389, and it was quite possibly for a sister-in-law--the wife of Thomas Colchester--that he ordered a diamond ring[70] at a cost of 40_s._ on May 31 of that year, perhaps because it was her birthday. When one of his servants was sent to Colchester on some personal business of the Abbot, the man was evidently not expected to comport himself as if his master's resources were unlimited, for his total expenses were 2_s._ 4_d._

The Abbot liked to have one or two of the younger monks around him, such as John Sandon and Thomas Merke, whom we have met, as Shakespeare also met him, in the events that gather mysteriously round the end of Richard II.'s reign. No doubt, they joined him at table in the new parlour of la Neyte, but the only sign of further bounty towards them was a gift of 6_s._ 8_d._ to them jointly for a treat--pro gaudiis--a term which survives in the custom of applying the word "gaudy" to those College entertainments to which at the moment Oxford is patriotically a stranger.

When the great man moved about, it was seemingly not with any great train; otherwise it would hardly be necessary for the Seneschal to give 1_s._ 8_d._ to a certain man for guiding my lord out of the forest of Rockingham, as if the Abbot were too lonely to face the possible appearance of Robin Hood with equanimity. But, of course, there were exceptional circ.u.mstances when he would travel in the dignity of his position. There was a formal visitation of the manors of Denham, Laleham, Staines, and Pyrford in 1402-3, which cost over 6, and visits to Henry IV. in the same year at Ware and Windsor and Berkhamstead, at an expense of about 4. A short time after, the Abbot had to face a continental journey, but 4 12_s._ is no great sum to enter as "the expenses of my lord and his household in setting out for Calais with porterage and the hire of a boat to take him to the ship, and also the expenses of John Sandon and John Stowe [two monks] and part of the household on their way back to London."

Not a little of his petty expenses arose from the frequency with which he was officially visited by persons of position who were not too proud to receive a present of money, and would have resented its absence. They were mostly content with much less than the 20_s._ imparted to the Remembrancer of the King's Exchequer, but the gifts of 3_s._ 4_d._ mounted up when the Abbot must receive now a Herald and his boy, now the Sheriff of Middles.e.x and his valet and his boy, now a messenger with a summons to Parliament, now two criers from the King's Bench, and all within a brief s.p.a.ce of time.

But Abbot Colchester did indulge one luxury, whether out of a taste for it or because it was the fashion of the time, I cannot say. He was fond of being entertained, particularly by musicians; and his Seneschal's accounts during these six or seven years are full of small payments to such persons, from a boy who danced before my lord at Walsingham for 6_d._ to Henry the piper--fistulator--who was retained at Pyrford all Christmas time for 14_s._ He could provide some of this enjoyment from the resources of the Abbey, as when he made two clerks bring a pair of organs from Westminster to Pyrford. His chief delight was to have Master Percyvale and other of the King's minstrels, especially on great festivals such as St. Peter ad Vincula, and he could listen to Percyvale for the modest consideration of 2_s._ Evidently it came to be known that he had tastes of this kind, for William of Wykeham's pipers journeyed to Pyrford to strut their little hour before the Abbot; Henry Despenser, the fighting Bishop of Norwich and doughty champion of Richard II., sent his minstrels to entertain my lord when he was at Birlingham; the Duke of Gloucester, Thomas of Woodstock, kept a blind harper who gave a performance at Denham; and the other visitors included the Abbot of Eynsham's player--lusor--and the musicians of the ill-fated Earl of Arundel. Even when he was resident for a s.p.a.ce in Northampton for the General Chapter of the Benedictine Order, he was sometimes entertained by mummers.[71]

But it would not be fair to think of him as having no desires that went down to the realities of things. For he lived in troublous times, and he knew how Christian men should face the serious issues that then emerged. His duty to the country and to the various properties for which he stood in trust called him away from Westminster often, and sometimes for prolonged periods. It is possible by means of the accounts of his various bailiffs to follow his comings and goings; for the receipts from the properties must be delivered to the Abbot in person, and there is thus an entry of the cost of journeying to such and such a place, wherever he happened to be, and generally of the cost of one or two hors.e.m.e.n for safety's sake. But the Abbey and the welfare of his Brethren were in his mind, and he kept a guiding hand upon their spiritual concerns, particularly in times of trial. There is an instance of this in a doc.u.ment,[72] which bears no date except August 31, but which may be a.s.signed with reasonable certainty to Richard II.'s troubled reign. It is headed in another hand, "W. Abbot of Westminster to the Prior of the same place"; but this is an error. The Abbot in a quite exceptional way addresses himself to the officers or obedientiaries without mentioning the Prior, and I incline to attributing the doc.u.ment to the latest years of Richard II., because the Prior, John de Wratting,[73]

was then becoming unequal to his duties. It is true that our evidence for this is dated 1405,[74] but, as Wratting was then over eighty, it may hold almost as well for seven or eight years earlier. The Abbot's message is as follows:--

"My beloved sons in Christ,

"The most serene Prince our lord the King has urgently required of us that in this present time of dire necessity we should be instant in prayer to the most High with all our hearts for the good estate of King and country. For enemies without and rebels within are confederate in their malicious plots to shatter the peace of the realm. You therefore to whom (under us) belongs the administration of government in our monastery we hereby urge and enjoin that, considering what we say above, you should put a limit upon the Brethren's walks abroad and upon their ridings into distant parts--except of course in the case of the Monk Bailiff--until G.o.d grants us more peaceful times. Call all and singular your Brethren to Chapter and bid them from me to be content with their usual recreation within the house and to give themselves so much the more earnestly to meditation and prayer as the distress and wickedness of the times become more pressing.

Go in solemn procession every fourth day round the bounds of the monastery, and every sixth day through the vill of Westminster, praying for a successful issue and for the common weal of the King and the realm--pet.i.tions which are already earnestly commended to the private prayers of all the Brethren. Summon all the chaplains and clerks dwelling within St. Margaret's parish to join you, and specially the clerks of our Almonry, according to custom. Fare you well in Christ now and for ever."

The Abbot wrote from Denham; but his heart was with his Brethren in a time of trouble.

There are also signs that in normal times he was exercising an effect on the organization of conventual activity. In his roll for 1393-4 the officer called the Warden of the Churches made entry that he had paid to Peter Coumbe, as Sacrist, the sum of 32_s._, at the rate of 4_s._ for each of the Abbey's eight princ.i.p.al feasts, "in accordance with the recent ordinance of the lord William now Abbot."[75] It is an intimation that the Abbot was already making his influence felt, and was encouraging his Brethren to regard the solemnities of divine worship[76] as the chief care of their monastic life.

VIII

THE ABBOT ABROAD

But though we may realize that Abbot Colchester loved his Convent and cherished it, we still have to think of him as being often compelled to wander far from it. True, he had spent so much time in Rome before his election, that he was able to escape in 1390 the triennial visit _ad limina_ which was normally expected of an Abbot. He was represented on that occasion by John Borewell, an active and efficient monk, who had succeeded him in the Archdeaconry in 1387; he was also represented by the gifts of himself and his Brethren on the occasion of the year of Jubilee, which are carefully recorded in the _Liber Niger_ (f. 92). But that exemption did not avail to keep him at home, for we are told that on December 14, 1391, he set out for the Continent on the King's business, the King being responsible for his travelling charges and his safe conduct.[77]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ABBOT COLCHESTER'S SEAL.]

In 1393 he was commissioned by the Pope to join the Bishop of Salisbury and the Abbot of Waltham in an inquiry into the statutes and customs of the Collegiate Chapter of the Chapel in Windsor Castle, and to correct and reform these, where they seemed to need it.[78] John de Waltham, Bishop of Salisbury, and our Abbot were there a.s.sociated not for the first time or the last. Two years later the Bishop died, and was buried by Richard's desire in the Confessor's Chapel. Waltham was a successful favourite, without claim to royal sepulture, and we may a.s.sume that Colchester and the Convent were among the many who protested. It is, perhaps, not unfair to a.s.sert that "the Abbey was well considered for this," or that the monks' "scruples were overborne by gifts of money and vestments."[79] Yet it is a fact that, whereas the Bishop was buried in 1395, the indenture tripart.i.te,[80] which dealt with the use to be made of the gifts, was not drawn up till July 15, 1412. It recites that the Bishop, who had served the Kings of England from his boyhood in their Chancery and in other and higher offices, was buried among the tombs of the Kings;[81] that at the sight of his bier--we must, no doubt, think of Abbot Colchester as standing by--Richard II. had given to the Abbey a rich "Jesse" vestment valued at 1000 marks, and that the executors had added another vestment valued at 40 and 500 marks in money. Colchester and the Convent covenanted to observe the Bishop's obit--September 18--which we know they did to the last. They also admitted into their company one of the Bishop's executors, Ralph Selby, Archdeacon of Buckingham, giving him precedence next to the Prior with corresponding privileges, and granting him, in 1402-3, a yearly pension of 4. This does not support the notion of the Convent's hostility to John de Waltham; at the same time it occurs too late to be reckoned as a bargain entered into for the purpose of securing to the Bishop a posthumous honour which they were unwilling to accord, even when Richard II. asked for it.

I pa.s.s by Colchester's part, if he took any, in Richard's journey to Ireland in 1399;[82] for our records throw no light on what did not concern the Convent. There appears to be no doubt that he was confederate with the Earls of Rutland, Huntingdon, Kent, and Salisbury, who were at first confided to his safe-keeping by Henry IV.; that he took part on December 17, 1399, in a secret gathering of the conspirators within the Abbey; that he was arrested, and sent first to Reigate and then, January 25, 1400, to the Tower; and that he was released, after a trial there held on February 4.[83] He had, of course, received Henry IV. when he made his progress to Westminster on October 12, 1399, and had taken part in the coronation on the following day.[84]

But inside the Convent there was an evident desire to eschew partisanships, as any one can realize who reads Roger Cretton's bare and impartial record in the _Liber Niger_.[85] I therefore pa.s.s from public questions and take up an otherwise undated letter[86] of the Abbot, written from Cologne on October 10, to two important Westminster monks whom we have already had before us, Peter Coumbe and John Borewell.

It reveals Colchester's close interest in Abbey affairs, however far away he might be, and it is even somewhat peremptory in tone. For he had referred to them some detail of monastic business, and says that he is daily awaiting their answer, in order that he may take action accordingly. The Convent, he adds, is to receive with due honour a relation of the Bishop of Lincoln, remembering that his lordship has always been gracious to them in matters of conventual concern.

We must try to fix the date of this journey through Cologne, and some things can be soon settled. It must be before 1409-10, when John Borewell died.[87] He was in office as Granger, Kitchener, Cellarer, and Gardener almost till his death, and he had been in partnership with Peter Coumbe, as manager of the funds provided for Queen Anne's anniversary,[88]

from 1394 to 1399. But who is the Bishop of Lincoln? It is tempting to think of the princely Henry Beaufort, the most potent holder of the see at this period; if so, the journey would fall at some time before 1404, when Beaufort was translated to Winchester, and thus it might even be got just within the limits of the partnership above-mentioned, for he was appointed to Lincoln in 1398. But we have evidence pointing to 1407 and 1408 as the time with which the visit to Cologne must be connected, and bringing Henry Beaufort's help and Abbot Colchester's travels into further a.s.sociation. It is a tattered paper doc.u.ment[89] which states that when Colchester was in foreign parts in 1407,[90] the collector of Romescot for the county of Surrey doubled his demand upon the chapels of Pyrford and Horsell from 12-1/2_d._ each to 25_d._ each, and laid them under interdict when payment was refused. But the Bishop of Winchester issued a special mandate to the collector to desist from the exaction. Beaufort was therefore not abroad at the time with Colchester, but was defending his interests at home. But both Colchester and Philip Repingdon, Bishop of Lincoln, were in Italy in 1408. Colchester was at Lucca and Pisa in May, supporting the Cardinals who were struggling with Gregory XII.,[91] and his old friend, Bishop Merke, was with him. At Siena, on September 18, Gregory created ten new Cardinals, and one of these was Philip Repingdon.[92] It would be natural that he and Colchester should then meet, possibly travelling homeward together, and being in Cologne on October 10.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CORONATION OF HENRY V.]

The matter of the augmented Romescot was brought to an end at Guildford, says the doc.u.ment, after the Abbot's return to England, July 22, 1412. This must not be interpreted to mean a continuous absence of five years, 1407-12, for we have seen the Abbot on his homeward way in 1408, and know that in July, 1411, he presided alone over the General Chapter of Benedictines at Northampton.[93] His absence in 1412, which is also substantiated by his bailiffs' payments to a subst.i.tute, was due to one more journey to Rome; for the account of the "Novum Opus" for 1412-3 enters payment, by consent of the Prior and the Seniors, of the large sum of 33 to the Abbot for the acceleration of certain concerns of the church in the Roman Court. It is possible that this journey took place in the autumn; for great events at home, in which the Abbot had some share, marked the months which followed. Early in 1413[94] Henry IV. had a seizure while at his devotions in the Abbey, and we should like to know whether the Abbot was in town and gave his instructions for the King's removal to the n.o.blest apartment in the abbatial residence, Jerusalem Chamber, where he died on March 20. It does not appear that Colchester took any part in the royal obsequies, but there is no doubt that he a.s.sisted at the coronation of Henry V. in the Abbey church on that snowy Pa.s.sion Sunday, April 9, 1413. For when the King's chantry was built, about twenty years after Colchester's death, its famous sculptures included two Coronation groups--perhaps, the acclamation and the homage[95]--in each of which the Abbot is represented as standing, in cope and mitre, on the King's left hand, Thomas Arundel, the Archbishop of Canterbury, being on the King's right hand. We may also a.s.sume that Colchester was at Westminster to receive Henry, when he attended divine service in the church on Ascension Day and Whitsunday of that year.[96]

The new King's devotion to the Abbey was beyond question, and his zeal for the immediate resumption of the New Work in the nave would tend to keep the Abbot at hand. Operations began on July 7, one thousand marks a year being granted by the Crown;[97] and Colchester would see things well in train under the hands of Richard Whitington and Brother Richard Harwden, before he left the precincts once more.

Possibly he had a rest from travel in the year 1413-4; at least we have nothing more serious to notice than his Receiver's payment of 8_d._ for boat hire "when my lord dined with the Archbishop at Lambhyth." But the autumn of 1414 saw him once more setting out for foreign parts; for Henry chose him as one of the English delegates to the great Council of Constance.[98] People spoke of the greatness of his train as he journeyed. Dr. Wylie remarks that he "was looked upon by the foreigners as a prince."[99] Perhaps he himself thought sometimes of the very different circ.u.mstances in which he and his man Gerard had crossed the Channel in fear and trembling, seven and thirty years earlier. He had been already engaged, as collector of the triennial contribution of 1/2_d._ in the mark imposed on English Benedictine houses, in paying out loans for their journey to the Abbot of St. Edmundsbury and the Prior of Worcester, who were the delegates from the Order to the same Council, and in sending fees to the various counsel who were retained by the Order at Constance. We have his triennial accounts as collector for 1417 and 1420,[100] which show that the business of the Council hung about him for the rest of his days; even in the latter, made up long after Constance had seen the last of its visitors, he was still reckoning the cost of a monk of Worcester's journey to Constance and back.

How long he remained at Constance, and what part he took in the tortuous proceedings, we do not know. The spring and summer of 1415 were anxious times in England, and Henry V. would be glad to have so shrewd an adviser within reach. The Abbot was now about seventy-seven years of age, and the l.u.s.t of travel must have long since ceased. The King's writ went forth in May for the "Array and Munitioning of the Clergy" by July 16,[101]

and the head of our House would be concerned to see that Westminster did its duty, _per alios_ if not _per se_. Our Treasurers' roll for 1414-5 shows how Abbot and Convent performed their several parts:--

"For one new chariot with six horses in the same, over and above one [chariot] provided by the lord Abbot, and with a complete set of harness for the said chariot and for the horses pertaining thereto--the whole being bought and given to our lord the King on the occasion of his expedition to France, together with the wages of a valet, a groom, and a page for the said chariot, and cloth bought for their livery, besides the maintenance of the men and the horses aforesaid for three weeks, pending the King's departure for France this year. x.x.xiii. li. xii. d."

If we may take it that the Abbot's expenditure on his chariot was of the same extent, we have a total outlay of 66, or about 1000 of our money.

Colchester's generally good health began to fail in 1416, and his apothecary was called in to apply various remedies at a fee of 16_s._ 8_d._[102] At home he could still find interest in watching the progress of the New Work, for the north aisle of the nave was being proceeded with and the pillars of the triforium above it were being put in their place.[103] If Henry's gifts for the purpose failed to reach Henry's expectations and the Convent's, that is only another way of saying that Colchester's aged thoughts were often occupied with the expedition to France and the scenes that he knew so familiarly. He may have taken part in the rejoicings over the victory of Agincourt; he certainly received a special message about the capture of Rouen in 1418.[104]

He died in 1420 at a good old age, probably fourscore and two, and in the 34th year of his Abbacy. The exact day is not recorded. We know that there was much mortality in the Convent during 1419-20. When the Wardens of Queen Alianore's Manors made up their accounts to Michaelmas (they did so generally about November), they wrote at the end a sorrowful list of twelve names with a note that "all these died this year together with the lord Abbot and Brother Thomas Peuerel." Thus in strictness we might put his death before September 29. But the rolls were by no means precise in the matter, and often included those who died at any time before the day on which the accounts were balanced. Moreover, we have the royal licence to the Convent to elect a successor,[105] which is dated November 12, 1420. We may therefore suppose that Colchester died late in October or early in November. He was buried in the Chapel of St. John Baptist, where his much battered free-stone image lies on an altar-tomb. His initials still remain, but the heraldry has long since perished, and his mitre and gloves have lost the jewels that once adorned them. It adds insult to this injury that his countenance should be described as "stern and ill-favoured."[106]

But the character behind the countenance is not difficult to sum up.

In his own day he was reckoned to be a man of shrewd judgment and wide experience; we have noted the far-travelled uses that were made of him by the Convent and by the Crown, and we can conclude that his judgment increased in shrewdness as his experience extended in width. Indeed, he retained this quality to the last. We have seen that there is still extant an account of his official disburs.e.m.e.nts in behalf of the General Chapter of the Benedictines at Northampton for the last year of his life, 1420.[107] It includes payments made, for special services rendered, to two Westminster monks, who had been bidden to attend the conference.

They were Richard Harwden and Edmund Kirton, and each was appointed Abbot of Westminster in his turn. It is not every man of eighty-two who is shrewd enough to pick out his successors for the next forty years, and at the same time large-hearted enough to give them every encouragement to fit themselves for the office which he holds. Indeed, his was the kind of character to which justice can only be done after a lapse of time. It is necessary to look back at the men who, noting his shrewdness, came to a conviction that he was also just and trustworthy--Richard II., who opposed his election as Abbot, but lived to prove his friendship; Henry IV., who knew his friendship for Richard, and at first treated him accordingly, but afterwards found no reason to regret the clemency shown to him; Henry V., who appreciated his devotion to Richard, and did not honour him the less because of Henry IV.'s early suspicions; and the Cardinals and others who met him in the tortuous paths by which ecclesiastical diplomacy was trying to make its way towards the peace of the distracted Church. We may leave on William Colchester's memorial an inscription taken from a letter addressed to him by Thomas Merke, Bishop of Carlisle, who was conveying to the Abbot a request that he would use his influence at the Roman Court on behalf of Merton Hall, Oxford. We shall admit that Merke was his intimate friend, and shall remember that Colchester showed his own affection for Merke by arranging that the Bishop should be commemorated at Hurley Priory along with the Abbot's parents.[108] Merke's witness, however, may still be true.

"Men like," he wrote, "to know your Paternity's views on these matters, for they observe your solidity, which is a rare virtue in these days, and they give you their confidence all the more."[109] No other Abbot ruled our House as long as he; nor could any man of his line desire a more satisfying verdict on his character.