Fontevau and Frontevau, was founded by Robert d'Arbrissel, who was born near Rennes in the year 1047.

On account of his reputation for holiness he had been entrusted by Sylvestre de la Guerche, at that time Bishop of Rennes, with the difficult task of reforming the clergy of the diocese, whose corruption was great. Having this object in view, the chosen missioner traversed the whole region barefoot, preaching everywhere and exerting such an influence that hundreds of penitents became his disciples. Feeling the necessity of finding a retreat for these converts, he selected the forest of Fontevrault, situate about nine miles from Saumur. Here huts were built, and, soon after, an oratory. From the first, the women were cloistered. Of the men, some engaged in tillage and others sang psalms to them while they worked. The female community was divided into three parts. One was composed of virgins and widows, living in the Grand Martin' hostel; a second, of women who had sinned, living at the 'Magdalene' home; and the third, of those afflicted with disease and infirmity-leprosy included-living at Saint Lazare.' The men naturally resided in a separate building.

Robert d'Arbrissel, who, after creating the foundation, extended his preaching to other portions of France, at length died of exhaustion. The Fontevrault community then numbered some three thousand persons of both sexes, all of them being under the sole government of the Abbess. The women continued to follow the rules of the Benedictine nuns, and the men to employ themselves in various labours requisite for the prosperity of the establishment. The consecration of their Church in 1119 by Pope Calixtus II. himself gave fresh impetus to the growth of their foundation, which, in the days of Suger, sheltered no fewer than five thousand nuns; and a definite seal to its celebrity was added by the patronage of the Plantagenet monarchs, whose possessions in France rendered them more important than the French king. Six members of this family were laid to rest, between the years 1159 and 1254, underneath the nave of Fontevrault Abbey, which had been made one of the finest specimens of French architecture. The portion of the nave devoted to their sepulture bore the name of The Kings' Cemetery.'

A sarcophagus surmounted each of the vaults; and an effigy of the deceased in royal garments reposed full length on the

lid, a cushion of stone supporting the crowned head. Henry II., the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet and Matilda, opened the series. He is beardless, dressed as he was borne out to burial from Chinon, and lying on a sheet with all its folds curiously chiselled. In his hand he holds a sceptre. The body is robed, and has besides a coat of mail. His sword lies at his feet.

Next came his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Her effigy shows the crown under her widow's wimple; but carries no suggestion of the bad temper that caused King Louis VII. to repudiate her, nor yet of the freak that she played in deserting him at the Crusade and eloping with a Mussulman chief. Both her statue and that of her second husband, Henry, are admirably carved.

Beside them were buried their children, Richard Coeur-deLion and Jane, and subsequently a son of this same Jane by her second husband, Raymond VI., Count of Toulouse, the title descending to him as Raymond VII. But, before the interment of this grandson of Henry II. came that of Isabella or Elizabeth of Angoulême, wife of King John, and afterwards Countess de la Marche. Unfortunately, the statues of Raymond VII. of Toulouse and Isabella have disappeared from their tombs.

Its

The office of the Abbess of Fontevrault ultimately became one of the highest obtainable in the religious orders. possessor was exempt from taxation and superintendence of whatsoever kind. She had forty-four houses situate in various parts of France, and received 4000l. annual income. Every year a boat flying her flag sailed to Nantes to procure salt and other commodities.

The

The English wars left their mark upon Fontevrault. community began to grow poor, and it would have gone to ruin if it had not fallen into the hands of Marie de Bretagne and, afterwards, Renée de Bourbon, to whose care Francis I. and his mother Louise de Savoie came to confide Madeleine d'Orléans, natural daughter of the Duke of Orléans.

Marie Stuart, whilst staying near Saumur, also visited Fontevrault, adding thus her name to the list of royal visitors, which was continued by the King of Navarre and Mademoiselle de Montpensier, who came thither from Blois.

Fourteen princesses, five of royal blood, governed at Fontevrault in succession, and it was a custom amongst the French

aristocracy to send their daughters to be educated in this famous convent.

In 1738 King Louis XV. placed five of his daughters there, the eldest being only in her seventh year, and the youngest a babe in arms. His reason was an economical one, for the maintenance of the children had previously been costing him annually 800,000 French livres,' equal to 36,000l. sterling. An account of their journey to the convent has been preserved. They travelled with eight State coaches, two chaises,' and twenty luggage waggons. On arriving, the little princesses were solemnly received by all the Abbey nuns, dressed for the occasion in white, so that the newcomers might not be frightened. A formal presentation of each nun was then made, and festivities, accompanied with fireworks and illuminations, followed.

The instruction given at the convent was not very extensive or thorough, though less defective than some censors affirmed. In spite of the strict confinement to which the royal pupils were subjected in common with their fellows, a sort of Court etiquette was observed in their entourage, any infringement of it being strongly resented. One day, as we are told, Madame Louise, the King's youngest daughter, was about to put a drinking-glass to her lips when she noticed that her women had not risen from their seats as etiquette dictated. To your feet,' she cried angrily, Madame Louise is about to drink.' Neither parent nor relative visited the young princesses during the long years of their education. Now and again, however, a letter arrived from either the King or Queen to show that the children were not quite forgotten. One epistle addressed by Louis XV. to a nun at the Abbey announced that he was sending the artist Nattier for the purpose of painting his daughters' portraits. I should be very glad,' he said, 'to hear particulars concerning Sophie's health. I fear she is delicate; and, although I hardly know her, I should be sorry to lose her.' From another letter written by the Queen to the Duchess de Ventadour we learn that Princess Louise was once seriously ill. Dysentery has broken out,' the Queen explained. 'One has nothing but sorrows in this world,' she added; yet thanks be to God, we are not in it for ever.' Madame Louise recovered; but one of her sisters-Madame Sixième she was called-was less fortunate. She succumbed to an attack of

malignant fever, after baptism on her death-bed, the name of Felicity being given to her. Without pomp her body was interred in the Abbey, and no Court mourning appears to have been ordered.

In 1670 Marie Madeleine Gabrielle de Rochechouart, sister of Madame de Montespan, was named Abbess of Fontevrault, and with her—a literary woman and a friend of Racine, Boileau, and Madame de Maintenon-the ideas within the walls of the Abbey became more worldly; so much so that the last Abbess, Julie Sophie, daughter of the Duc d'Antin, arrived on September 3, 1767, with a suite and in a blaze of splendour. She was escorted by fifty carabineers, followed by a joyous band of hautbois, flutes, and trumpets, and in the evening there were fireworks. A few years after the revolutionary edicts swept away the inhabitants of Fontevrault, and this last Abbess died upon a straw bed in a Paris hospital.

The Great Revolution, which destroyed so much good architecture in France, did not spare Fontevrault. Of the five churches belonging to the famous Abbey, four were ruined. Happily the largest and finest remains, having survived the Abbey's transformation into a State prison in 1804. Of the four Plantagenet statues still to be found there, those of Henry II., Richard Coeur-de-Lion, and Queen Eleanor are in tufa, elegantly carved; that of Isabella is in wood. The two missing ones must have been removed in the sixteenth or seventeenth century at the latest, probably during the alterations made in the Abbey by the Abbess Jeanne-Baptiste de Bourbon, and no one knows their fate!

When I had finished the reading of my Fontevrault relation. Mme. de Chassaing encouraged me to publish it, and asked me to remain with her a day or two in order to complete it. But my fidgety friend Marsan would not hear of staying any longer out of town, and after lunch I had to motor him back. We met on the way with a terrible storm, and it was nine o'clock when we passed the Paris octroi. Marsan declared, rubbing his hands, that, notwithstanding the bad weather which had delayed us on our way home, he was most satisfied with his motor-trip; I, on my side, thanked him most sincerely for giving me the opportunity of visiting Fontevrault Abbey and looking into its past history and splendour.

THE CONVersion oF THE MASTER.

AMONG the smaller Colleges of Oxbridge no foundation held a more definite and more assured position than St. Cuthbert's. Its reputation stood high in the Public Schools, and it secured a good type of undergraduate. The Fellows were men of learning, and some of them were doing valuable work in the advancement of knowledge. The Lecturers were good teachers; the Dean conscientious and tactful; the Tutor efficient and popular with the men. Above all, the Master was a worthy head of such a College; a man of European reputation in his subject, and, withal, a character known and loved throughout the University and beyond for sterling honesty and simple kindliness of heart.

When Thomas Bishop was elected to the Mastership some years before our story opens, it is true that certain old-fashioned members of the University shook their heads at the appointment of the first layman who had followed the long line of clerical heads that four centuries had seen presiding over St. Cuthbert's. But it was generally agreed that their alarm was needless. Such a sound Churchman as the new Master might safely be trusted with the destinies of the College, though he had not seen fit to take Holy Orders. And hitherto time had justified this optimism. The College had prospered exceedingly. Its numbers rose steadily, till the authorities felt able to fix a limit, and make the entrance examination a real obstacle to the weaker applicants.

Though the Master could not preach, like old Dr. Forbes who preceded him, he attended the Chapel services with regularity, and presided with dignity over the annual meeting of the College Mission.

But, after some years of calm, a cloud rose in the sky.

'Look at this,' said the Dean of St. Cuthbert's to the Tutor one morning. Here's a letter from the Master. Says he can't take the chair at the Freshmen's Christian Union-something about reconsidering his position. I never can read his writing-what does he mean?'

'Ah,' said the Tutor, with a grim smile (the Tutor had a