--They were not
mistaken; for, after having ushered in the Sub-Prior, and being
themselves in the act of retiring, the Abbot made them a signal to
remain.
"My brethren," he said, "it is well known to you with what painful
zeal we have overseen the weighty affairs of this house committed to
our unworthy hand--your bread hath been given to you, and your water
hath been sure--I have not wasted the revenues of the Convent on vain
pleasures, as hunting or hawking, or in change of rich cope or alb, or
in feasting idle bards and jesters, saving those who, according to old
wont, were received in time of Christmas and Easter. Neither have I
enriched either mine own relations nor strange women, at the expense
of the Patrimony."
"There hath not been such a Lord Abbot," said Father Nicholas, "to
my knowledge, since the days of Abbot Ingelram, who----"
At that portentous word, which always preluded a long story, the Abbot
broke in.
"May God have mercy on his soul!--we talk not of him now.--What I
would know of ye, my brethren, is, whether I have, in your mind,
faithfully discharged the duties of mine office?"
"There has never been subject of complaint," answered the Sub-Prior.
The Sacristan, more diffuse, enumerated the various acts of indulgence
and kindness which the mild government of Abbot Boniface had conferred
on the brotherhood of Saint Mary's--the _indulgentiae_--the
_gratias_--the _biberes_-the weekly mess of boiled
almonds--the enlarged accommodation of the refectory--the better
arrangement of the cellarage--the improvement of the revenue of the
Monastery--the diminution of the privations of the brethren.
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