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Geoffrey, a worn-out old man. He was aghast at the novelty of the thing, and bade them give up the attempt at once. But all his exhortations and arguments were in vain; their resolve only gathered strength.

Now at that time Thurstan, of pious memory, was Archbishop of York, and Prior Richard, being his private friend, watched his opportunity to discover to him the holy purpose. The Archbishop at once signified his approval, promised to help the reformers, and proposed a visitation of the Abbey. But the venerable Geoffrey was not to be caught asleep. He collected learned men from many English monasteries, and a great concourse of monks came together. On the appointed day the holy prelate appeared in the spirit of gentleness and peace, having in his company, as became him, men of gravity and discretion, secular clergy, canons, and many other religious persons." The Abbot hastened to meet him at the door of the chapter-house with a mob of monks, and forbade hist entrance. He must not come with so large a following; and, besides, no secular ought to be let into the secrets of the chapter. Let him come alone, if come he must. The Archbishop declined to dismiss his supporters; and the natural hostility of monks and seculars soon produced an open quarrel, and a

disgraceful riot ensued in the cloister. At last the Archbishop commanded silence, and thundered out his interdict, and then he and his party withdrew into the church-" even," says the chronicler, "as the fat is separated from the flesh."

After this, thirteen monks, viz. twelve priests and one layman, left St. Mary's with the Archbishop, taking with them none of the goods of the monastery but the mere clothes they wore. At first Thurstan housed and fed them at York, and hearing that Abbot Geoffrey had sent messengers to complain to the King himself, as well as to many bishops and abbots, he wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was also Papal legate. Meanwhile, Geoffrey made strenuous efforts to induce the seceders to return; and two of them, Gervase and Radolph, or Ralph, yielded to temptation and returned to the comparative luxury of St. Mary's. Of these, Gervase once more repented and threw in his lot, at last, with his outcast brothers; but Ralph "made a covenant with his flesh, and his belly clave to the earth."

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Safety lies in a mean, be contented with your former mediocrity"—such, if we may trust our chronicler, was the devil's whisper to the apostates. "This is indeed the finger of God," wrote St. Bernard not long afterwards; "for it is more rare for the

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good to press on to perfection than for the bad to become good-would that I might come over and see this great sight.”1

Now Thurstan, the friend of St. Bernard and of Prior Richard, had an estate at Ripon, with a palace and park, and here, in this year, 1132, he determined to keep Christmas. By this time, Robert of Whitby must have replaced the backsliding Ralph, for on the 26th of December we find Thurstan taking with him towards the valley of the Skell the full complement of thirteen monks. Then and there did the Archbishop assign to these homeless fugitives a place not for rest but for labour. They had desired loneliness and hard living, and they were taken at their word.

The Temple of Piety, or even Anne Boleyn's Seat, would have been a luxurious dwelling to these wanderers; but, alas! they had arrived six hundred years too soon. We spend a summer day among Lord Ripon's terraces and well-kept walks, but these men faced the winter nights among the rocks. "It

1 "Digitus Dei est iste, subtiliter operans, salubriter immutans, non quidem ex malis bonos, sed ex bonis faciens meliores. Quis dabit mihi ut transeam et visionem videam hanc maximam ?—facilius reperies multos seculares converti ad bonum quam quempiam e religiosis transire ad melius."—Epistola Sancti Bernardi ad Abbatem Ricardum Fontanensem et socios ejus.

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