Costa to a poor, persecuted, and much
worthier, company of brethren. At length,
everything connected with the Abbey of Saint
Costa-di-Monga was forgotten, except some
ghastly ruins, and some very indistinct
parchments.

But, land is land, and the lands of the
Scampiers estate were more productive than
ever, though no one knew what claim half
the present possessors had to them. A
celebrated king, however, rewarded one of his
nobles—who had been engaged in some
negotiations with the Papal See, relative to a
"delicate affair" in which his royal master
was concerned—with the lion's share of this
noble domain.

The whole system of things was changed.
"Sir Nicholas Garter, and Dorothy, his wife,"
(as they are called in a dirty white inscription
on two by no means complimentary portraits
which hang in the Chapter-House), were as
good people as you would desire to see.
Mythology has placed the date of the Golden
Age in the earliest years of the world. It
was otherwise with the quondam Scampiers
estates, for they had never known such good
times as the present. Superstition was fast
yielding to the enlightenment of a religion
purged from its effects; the tenantry were
prosperous and unmolested, and felt their own
interest and affections bound up with that of
their noble master.

Meanwhile, ecclesiastical affairs had been
gradually restored to a better footing. The
ruined Abbey of Saint Costa was partly
repaired, partly rebuilt, and abundantly endowed
with lands in various parts of the kingdom.
Sir Nicholas Garter had taken a prominent
part in the work of restoration, and the now
Cathedral church was provided with a
complete "foundation."

Although learning was at a low ebb, as far
as general improvement was concerned, the
barbarous systems of the trivium and quadrivium
had given way, and some notion of
an useful education paved the way to the
endowment of schools. In the present instance,
provision was made for the instruction of a
certain number of clerks in "all manner of
good and profitable learning," as well as for
the maintenance and education of several
poor boys on a humbler footing. We need
not trouble our readers with an account of
the precise items left for each purpose,
whether ecclesiastical or scholastic. Suffice
it to say, that, compared with the modern
standard, it seemed ludicrously low, and
highly suggestive of the times when a large
pig was sold for fourpence, a goose for
threehalfpence, and an ox for six and threepence.

But the growth of population, the
consequent growth of houses, and the
proportionate increase in the value of property,
gradually produced great and pleasant effects
on the pockets of the Reverend the Dean
and Chapter of St. Rochford de Tamesis, (such
was the name which had displaced St.
Costa-di-Monga). Fields and swamps became
parishes; profitable leases were granted where
turnips had grown; rich ready-money fines
and compensations, occasional bequests, and
an unremitting attention to the improvement
of the property, united in rendering the
Cathedral foundation of St. Rochford de
Tamesis one of the richest throughout the
kingdom.

The Dean and Canons of this ecclesiastical
golden egg had certainly no reason to find
fault with its hatching. Most of them were
men of family, either possessing private
property, or holding some rich living or livings
jointly with their stalls. People wondered
how it was that the Cathedral itself was in
bad repair, that scarcely half its space was
available for purposes of worship, and that the
surrounding neighbourhood was neglected,
dirty, and unhealthy.

Nor was this the only matter of wonder. The
service within the Cathedral was negligently
performed. One or two of the canons might
be there, it is true; but the service was read
by the chaplain, who had unaccountably
supplanted the "minor canons" mentioned in
the original statutes. The choir had been
clumsily partitioned off, and was ill-adapted
for hearing. The organist, whose salary was
absurdly low, wisely left the weekly duty
to an indifferent deputy, and paid attention
to the more lucrative office of giving lessons
at fashionable ladies' schools.

Grievance upon grievance began to develop
itself. Augustus Fresco, Esq., R.A., rashly
ventured to attempt sketching a picturesque
portion of the Cathedral, and was ushered
out of the place by the verger. On making
inquiries at the Deanery, he was patronised
by the footman, and treated rudely by the
butler. Forgetting that a private introduction
would have smoothed all difficulties, or
perhaps thinking that public buildings ought to
be open to the professors of Art without any
such interest, Mr. Augustus Fresco wrote a
spirited and sarcastic letter to the "Times"
on the subject; the "Times" followed up the
matter with a leading article; and the Rev.
Mildred Hamperchurch, Canon and Sub-
Dean of St. Rochford, who had purchased
Mr. Fresco's last masterpiece of "St. George
and the Dragon," felt really vexed, and wrote
a polite note to the artist, begging him to
consider the Sub-Deanery as his own residence
should he again favour the antiquities of
St. Rochford with a visit. Mr. Augustus
Fresco replied in an equal spirit of
complaisance, and dedicated a treatise on
"Mediæval Perspective" to the Very Rev. the
Sub-Dean of St. Rochford, M.R.S.A., F.R.S.,
F.S.A., D.D. (by Royal Letters Patent),
Corresponding Member of the Cologne Cathedral
Finishing Society, &c., &c.

All the dissatisfactions arising from the
mismanagement of the affairs of St. Rochford
were not adjusted in so amicable a manner.
Disputes about church-rates, in which the