Part 39

“ Also , it is to be remembred that the soyle nere the sayde haven yeldeth corn in such aboundance, as wolde suffice to maynteigne a greate armye: and the sea coasts nere about it yelde greate plenty of fishe. The harbour also standeth very commodiouslye to receave victualls from Ffrance, Brytaine, or Spayne, all wᶜʰ things maie be an occasion to move the enemye to affect that place beffore others.

“ Also , there are in Pembrockshire xviii. castles, of wᶜʰ tho’ there be but twoe or three in reparacon, yett are the rest places of greate strength, and easylie to be fortyfied by the enemye; some of wᶜʰ are so seated naturally for strength, as theye seeme ympregnable.

“ Also , there are in that shire dyvers sconces or forts of earth, raysed in greate height wᵗʰ greate rampiers and dytches to the number of vi. or vii., wᶜʰ in tymes past have been places of strength in tyme of war: All wᶜʰ castles and forts wolde yelde greate advantage to the enemyes to strengthen themselves in such sorte, that it wolde be an infynite charge to remove them from thence. Agayne, the same is situate within vii. hours sailing of Waterforde and Wexforde, in Yrelande; so as yf the enemye have an intencon to invade Yrelande, his harborough in this haven maie serve him to greate purpose.

“ Ffurthermore , being lorde, as it weare, of thease seas, by possessing this harbour, what spoile he maie make along Seaverne on both sides, even to Bristoll, maie be easelie conjectured. And if he--wᶜʰ God forbidd--shᵈ enjoye Brytanie withall, our Englishe marchants can have no trade, wᶜʰ will decrease her Highness’ customes and decaie the navy.

“ If it be thought that he may be kept from landinge, neyther the force of men, nor furniture here, will serve the turne; considering here be manie places where he may easelie land, and he maie com upon us within half a daie’s saylinge, we having no ships at sea to descry hym sooner--and how then our small forces may be in a readyness to withstande hym, wee referr to yʳ Honʳ’ˢ judgment. And if it be thought that her Maᵗⁱᵉ’ˢ Navy Royall be able to conquer them being once in this haven, and that by them fortyfied, yt woulde be founde very harde, by reason that, uppon every little storme, they shall be in greate danger of wrack, and no lande forces are able to expell them: Whereupon we humblie praie yʳ Lp. to consider whether it be not expedient for the withstanding of the enemye, that he obtayne not this harborough, to have a convenient number of ships of warr, and fortyficacons to defende the same, wᶜʰ preparacon, if the enemye might perceave, wee beleve verelie it woulde alter his mynde from adventuringe his navy uppon this coaste. And whereas, of late, Mr. Pawle Ivye was sent hither to survey yᵉ Haven, and to consider of fitt places for fortyficacon, what report he hath made of his opinyon wee know not: but sure wee are, that his abode about that service was verie short, and his survey verie speedilie dispatched; so that, because none of us were privye to his entennt or conceyte, wee do yet retayne some hope that, if some other man of experience were sentt downe hither, to consider of all the said circumstances, some such report woulde happlie be made unto yʳ Honʳ. and the reste, as some better event might ensue for the safetie of this poore countrey, and the whole realme, than as yett, for ought we knowe, hath beene determined uppon: especiallie yf the partie shall have instruccons to viewe the Towne and Castle of Tynby , being a place wᶜʰ may be easelie made of exceedinge strenth, and was not seene by Mr. Ivye nearer than two myles distance, for aught that we can learne....”

PEMBROKE CASTLE.--“Of William Earl of Pembroke,” says Clarendon, “a short story may be here not unfitly inserted:--It being very frequently mentioned by a person of known integrity, whose character is here undertaken to be set down, and who, at that time, being on his way to London, met, at Maidenhead, some persons of quality, of relation or dependence upon the Earl of Pembroke. These were Sir Charles Morgan, commonly called ‘General’ Morgan, who had commanded an army in Germany, and defended Stoad; Dr. Field, then Bishop of St. David’s; and Dr. Chafin, the Earl’s then chaplain in his house, and much in his favour. At supper, one of them drank a health to the Lord Steward;[412] upon which another of them said, that he believed his lord was at that time very merry, for he had now outlived the day which his tutor, Sandford, had prognosticated, upon his nativity, he ‘would not outlive.’ But he had done it now, for that was his birthday, which completed his age to fifty years. The next morning, however, by the time they came to Colebrook, they met with the news of his death!” [He died “exceedingly lamented by men of all qualities, and left many of his dependents and servants owners of good estates, raised out of his employments and bounty.”]

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Benedictine Rule. --The Abbot is presumed to represent Jesus Christ: he is authorised to summon all his monks to council in important affairs, and afterwards to adopt and carry into practice what he considers the best advice. He is entitled to obedience without delay; commands silence; permits no scurrility, idle or angry words, or such as tend to provoke unseemly mirth or laughter. The rule enjoins humility, patience, and forbearance, under all injuries and provocations; manifestation or confession of secret faults to be made to the Abbot; contentment with the meanest things in food, dress, and employments; not to speak unless when asked; to observe habitual gravity; to keep the head and eyes inclined downwards to the earth; to rise to church service two hours after midnight; the Psalter to be sung through once a week; to leave the church together, at a sign from the Superior; and in large abbeys every ten monks to be under the surveillance of a Dean.

Further : The Rule permits light in the dormitory; to sleep, young and old, in their clothes, with their girdles on, as servants ready to attend their Lord, come he at what hour he may. Upon cases of delinquency, where admonition has failed to produce reformation, public reprehension and excommunication are pronounced, and on failure of these also to effect a change, recourse is to be had to corporal chastisement.

For faults of a lighter nature, the offender is subjected to the smaller and temporary excommunication of eating alone, after the brotherhood have finished; but for graver offences, the delinquent is banished from the public table, excluded from prayer and society, neither himself nor his food to receive the benediction, and those who join or speak to him to be placed under the ban of excommunication. In the meantime the Abbot, with paternal solicitude for his penitence and restoration, deputes certain of the elder brethren to exhort him to humility, and to make such reparation and satisfaction as the infringement of the rule demands. The whole congregation meanwhile are to pray for him. If all these means should fail to attain the object in view, the last step to be taken is that of formal expulsion from the convent; and no person so expelled can be received back after the third expulsion. Children are to be punished by fasting or whipping.

The Cellarer is to do nothing without the Abbot’s order; and in large houses he is allowed to have assistants. Habits and goods of the house to be under the custody of proper officers, and the Abbot to have an account of them. There is to be no [private] property: distribution of things needful, to be made according to every one’s necessities. The monks are to serve weekly, and by turns, in the kitchen and at table. Upon having their weeks, both he that left it, and he that began it, to wash the feet of the others; on Saturdays, to clean all the plates, and the linen used in the washing of feet; to replace all the dishes clean and whole in the hands of the Cellarer, who is to give them to the new Hebdomadary. These officers are to have drink and food before the others, and above the common allowance, so that they may wait upon them with cheerfulness. On solemn days, both on entering and retiring from office, the Hebdomadaries are to continue till the masses . After matins on the Sunday, they are to kneel and beg the others to pray for them; those going out are then to say a certain prayer three times, and receive the benediction , whilst the one coming in does the same, and after benediction goes into office.

The Infirmary. --This department had its particular officer, who had the direction of the baths, and administration of the medicine and diet ordered for the sick. The rule was mitigated in favour of children and aged men, who had leave to anticipate the usual hours of eating. The refection, as already described, was conducted in silence--all listening to the Scripture- reader , whose voice alone was heard during the repast. Whatever was wanted, was asked for by sign. The reader was appointed weekly. The dinner consisted of two dishes only, with fruit; and to each monk, daily, one pound of bread was distributed, which was to suffice for both dinner and supper. No animal food was allowed, except to the sick and aged in the infirmary. The allowance of wine was three-quarters of a pint per day. From Holyrood-day to Lent, the dinner hour was at nones ; in Lent till Easter, at six o’clock; from Easter to Pentecost, at sext ; and all summer, except on Wednesdays and Fridays, at nones . The collation, or spiritual lecture, was given every night before complin --that is, after supper; and complin finished, they were enjoined strict silence.

Tardiness at church or table was punished with loss of rank, prohibition of wine, or their usual allowance, or sitting in the place of disgrace. The excommunicated were condemned to make prostration with the face toward the ground, and without the church gate, when the monks proceed to prayers. For any fault in the chant , he who made it was to ask immediate pardon; and in other places, breaking of any utensil, or neglect of duty, was to be spontaneously acknowledged before the Abbot and congregation. The signal for repairing to church was given by the Abbot ; and nobody was to sing or read there without his leave.

Daily work was to be done from prime till near ten o’clock, from Easter till the kalends of October, and from ten till twelve o’clock was to be spent in reading. After refection at noon, the monks were allowed to take their meridian or siesta; but those who preferred reading were allowed to do so. After nones, labour was recommenced and continued until the evening, from the kalends of October until Lent, reading till eight A.M., then Tierce , and afterwards labour until nones. After refection they had reading or psalmody. In Lent they had reading until tierce; doing what was ordered [in the Ritual] until ten--with the delivery of the books at their season.[413] It was the duty of the Senior to go round the house, and see that the monks were not idle. On Sunday, all spent their time in reading--except the officers, and the idle and infirm, who had work given them. During Lent, abstinence from meat, drink, and sleep, with a grave, pious, and solemn demeanour, are more strictly enjoined, and, if need be, enforced. If engaged in a journey, the monks are to halt wherever they may happen to be at the time, and there say the canonical hours. [An instance of this punctuality has been given in our account of Tinterne Abbey.] Monks staying out of convent beyond a day, are not to eat in secular society without leave of the Abbot. The church was never to be used but for the solemnity of prayer: any other use was to be considered desecration in its gravest sense.

Strangers are to be received by the monks to join them in prayers--with the salutation of peace, and prostration, and washing of feet, as of Christ , whom they represent. They are then led to prayers; the Scriptures are read to them; after which the Prior, except on very solemn occasions, is permitted to break his fast. The Abbot’s kitchen and that of the visitors, are to be kept separate; so that the brethren may not be disturbed by guests or pilgrims coming in at unseasonable hours. No letters or presents can be received without leave from the Abbot. When he has no strangers in the convent, the Abbot may invite to his table certain of the brotherhood in rotation.

Workmen or artisans in the house are to labour for the common profit. Novices are to be tried by austerities, denials, and hard essays, before admission: their term of probation to comprise twelve months; in the interim, the rule is to be read to them every fourth month. They are then to be admitted by a petition laid upon the Altar , and by prostration at the feet of all the monks. [See the forms already given in our notice of Tinterne Abbey.]

Parents are to dedicate their children to the service of God, by wrapping their hands in the pall of the altar; promising to leave _nothing_ to them that might serve as a temptation to their leaving the house or convent for the world; but if they bring anything with them, the use of it is to be reserved during their lives.

Priests requesting admission are to be tried by delays; to sit near the Abbot, and conform to the rule , but not to exercise sacerdotal functions without special leave. Stranger monks are to be received hospitably, and, if shown to be of good character and morals, invited to take up their abode. Monks who have been ordained priests, are to be subject to the rule and officers of the establishment, or to incur the pain of expulsion.

Precedence is to be taken in accordance with the time of profession: the elders are to address the juniors as _brothers_; and the latter to address the former as _nonnos_, or fathers; the Abbot to be styled Dominus, or father-abbot. When two monks meet, the junior is to ask the benediction of his senior; and when he passes by, the junior is respectfully to rise, offer him his seat, and not to sit down again until invited.

The Election of abbots was determined by the whole society, and a plurality of votes; the grand recommendation of the candidate for that sacred office, being the purity of his life and conduct. The prior was elected by the Abbot, who could depose him for disobedience, or any flagrant abuse of power or neglect of duty. Among the minor officials--

The Abbey Porter was required to be a shrewd old man--able to give and receive an answer; he was to have a cell near the gatehouse, and a junior porter for his companion. It was very desirable, in order to prevent the habit of straying beyond the abbey walls, to have a mill, well, bakehouse, and other domestic offices within the house, with a garden and orchard adjoining. Monks going on a journey are to have the prayers of the congregation beforehand; and on their return to the convent, they are to confess and solicit pardon for any excesses they may have committed whilst abroad.

Undertakings , which had subsequently appeared difficult or even impossible to carry out, agreeably to the orders of the Superior, were to be humbly represented to him; but if he persisted, then the assistance of God was to be implored, and relied upon, for their final accomplishment. No monk was permitted to defend or excuse the delinquency of a brother: no blow was to be inflicted--no excommunication carried into effect--without the knowledge and express sanction of the Abbot. In the correction of children and pupils, a discretionary power was allowed. The duty of mutual obedience was straitly enjoined; but no member was permitted, in obedience to orders, to give to any private person a preference over his monastic superiors. And the apology to be made and demanded in such cases, was prostration at the feet of the superiors, until their anger or displeasure was appeased, the rule of the institution vindicated, and the offender brought to a due sense of his degradation.[414]

Habit. --“As for the habits of the Benedictine monks,” says Stevens, “they were left to the discretion of the abbots, according to the nature and temperature of the country, as it was hotter or colder.” Nothing could be more sensible and considerate; for it cannot be doubted that a neglect of this must be attended with pernicious consequences to the general health of any society, that numbered amongst its members the natives of various climates, which, in point of dress, required a special regulation.

In temperate climates, a Cowl and a tunic were sufficient--the cowl of a thicker texture for winter, and a thinner for summer--with a scapular to work in. The scapular was the upper garment during the time of labour, which was thrown off at pleasure, and the cowl worn during the remainder of the day. Every monk had two tunics and two cowls, either to change at night or to have them washed. The stuff of which they were made, was to be the cheapest the country afforded. To the end that no man might have any property--that is, anything that he might call his own--the Abbot supplied them all with everything necessary in point of clothing. Besides the habit, each monk had a handkerchief, a knife, a needle, a steel pen, and tablets to write upon. Their beds were mats, with a straw paillasse, a piece of serge, a blanket, and a pillow.

St. Benedict did not decide of what colour the habit should be; but it appears, from the inspection of ancient pictures, that the garment worn by the first Benedictines was white, and the scapular black--that the scapular then worn was not of the same shape as that used by the Order in the present day. It was more like the jerkins or jackets worn by sailors, except that it was not open in front, but only a little in the sides. That description of garment had been long in use before the common garment, worn by the peasantry and poor people, was introduced. This will be understood by referring to the woodcut.

A black woollen robe covers the whole body and feet; the hood is loose, obtuse, oval, and broad; the scapulary is plain, of the breadth of the abdomen; the girdle is broad, with a black cowl descending to the ancles. The inner tunics, in general, are black, and the shirt is narrow at the wrist; but in the house, the monk lays aside the hood, girds his scapulary, and wears a crested or twofold cap on his head. Owing to the sombre hue that prevailed in their habit, they were called Black Friars .[415]

The Nuns of this Order wear a black robe, with a scapular of the same colour and texture; and under this black robe they wear a tunic of wool that has not been dyed; others wear the tunic quite white. In the choir, or upon solemn occasions, they wear over all a black cowl, like that of the monks; but in the engravings of Benedictine Sisters, a black veil and white wimple are introduced.

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AUTHORITIES quoted or referred to in the preceding articles:--History of Monmouth--Pembroke--Glamorgan--English Baronage--Monasticon--Memoir of Owen Glendower--Welsh Genealogical History--King’s Munimenta Antiq.--Carlisle and Lewis’ Wales--Roscoe’s South Wales--Illustrations of Magna Charta--Life of Charles I.--Mem. of Cromwell and the Parliament--Puritanism in Wales--the English Historians and Chroniclers--with most of the Authorities, local and national, already enumerated in the preceding sections of the work.

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CHEPSTOW.--The reference to the Appendix, in the note at the bottom of page 32, is explained in the account of NEATH ABBEY.

[In the course of this work, it has been our pleasing duty to refer to numerous authors, ancient and modern, on whose authority, in the various branches of Archæology, our observations have been frequently based; and now that we are closing another volume, it would be injustice to the memory of departed worth to pass over in comparative silence the author of “Tinterne Abbey and its Vicinity.” MR. W. HEARDE THOMAS, by whose premature death the republic of letters has lost a zealous and valuable contributor, was many years a medical practitioner in the retired village of Tinterne-Parva; where, in the exercise of his profession among a widely-scattered population, he had daily opportunities of visiting those classic and time-hallowed remains with which the county of Monmouth is so greatly enriched, and thus collected materials for the local guide-book which associates his name so favourably with Tinterne Abbey and other historical sites, which have recently passed under our notice.

The merits of his little work--far above the ordinary hand-books of the day--were speedily noticed by the press in terms of approbation and encouragement. To the various objects which he undertook to illustrate, he brought the united tastes and acquirements of historian, antiquary, and poet--the result of much reading, close observation, and a delicate perception of those natural beauties which are so profusely scattered along the banks of the Wye. To these were added an early taste for Natural history,[416] which was assiduously and successfully cultivated during his residence at Tinterne. To him the embroidery of flowers, the “garniture of fields”--mountain, forest, and “minnowy brook,” were objects of never-failing interest and contemplation, the results of which he had purposed in due time to lay before the public.

For the prosecution of these studies, a visit to Canada, and personal examination of its natural history, had given him various facilities not to be acquired on this side of the Atlantic. But his constitution, naturally delicate, had slowly given way under the combined influence of mental and bodily fatigue; and when overtaken at last by the heaviest of domestic calamities--the death of his wife--such was the prostration of his health and spirits, that, as a last resource, he made preparation to emigrate to one of our colonies, where the effects of a genial climate were held out as the only means of re-establishing his health, and opening a wider and safer field for the exercise of professional talent and industry.

This cheering prospect, however, was but a glimpse of sunshine, that soon disappeared in disappointment and darkness. A rapid journey to London, at an inclement season, induced a train of symptoms which, assuming a more and more decided character, continued their fatal progress until arrested by the hand of death, which took place in December, 1848.

He died in the prime of life, having survived his wife one brief twelvemonth, and left behind him an infant family, with “a father’s blessing for their patrimony,” for whom no better wish can be expressed by his friends than that they may inherit their father’s virtues, without his sorrows. These orphans were immediately transferred to the care of a near relative, under whose affectionate guardianship and devoted care they have already shown evidence of an intellectual capacity that expands by cultivation, and promises to bring forth good fruit in its season.