ftatut«» he reproves, them ; and threatens. theqi with ppmlhmejjt
fuitabje to their irregularities.
This •uifitajio is of confider?h!? lengthy apd cannot tje- introduced
into the body of this work; we (hall therefore refer the
reader tq the Appendix, where he tyill find evpry-p^rtitfulgjr, tyhile
tve lhall take fome notice, and nyakc lpiy.e remarks, on the mod
lingular items as they occur.
in the preamble the yifitor fey?— “ Considering the charge
“ lying upon ns, that your blood nyjy npt be. required at our
“ hands, we cafne down to vriiit you.r Priory, as our office re-
“ quired : and every time we repeated our yifiWio.n we found
“ fomething ftill not only contrary, to regular rules but alfo re-
| pugnant to religion syjd good reputation.”
In the firft article after the preamble— he commands them
“ on their obedience, and on pain of the. greater excommunication,
“ to fee that the canonical hours by night and by day he fungin
“ their choir, and the mafies of the- Bleffed Mary, and other
accuftomed mafles, be celebrated at the proper hours with devof-
F tion, and at moderate paufe?; and that is be not allowed to
“ any to abfent themfelves from the hours and mafies, or to
“ withdraw before they are finithed.”
Item 2d. He enjoins them to obferve that faience to, which they
are fo ftri&ly bound by the rule of Saint Augi$m a,t dated times’,
and wholly to abftain from frivolous convention.
Item_ 4th. “ Not to permit fu c h frequent: pa fling of fecular
“ people of both (exes through their cpnvent, as if a, thprough-
e( fare, from whence many disorders may and, have aiifen.”
Item 5 th. “ To take care that the doors of their church and
“ Priory be fo attended to that no fufpetfted and diforderly
“ females, c fufpedhe et alia inhoneft«,’ pafr through their choir
“ and
“ and eloiltfer in the dafk and to féfe that the doors of their
church between the nave and the choir, and the gâtés of their
doilier opening into the fields, bè confiantly kept fhut until
their firft ehoir-fervice is over in the morning, at dinner time, and
when they meet at their evening collationb.
It'em 6th mentions that feveral of the canons are found to be
very ignorant and illiterate, and enjoins the prior to fee that they
be better irrftru&ed by a proper maffiér.
Item 8th. The canons are hère accufed of refilling to accept of
their ftatutable clothing year by ÿéar, and of demanding a certain
fpecified fum of money, as if it were their annual rent and due.
This the bilhop forbids, and orders that the canons fliall be clothed
out of the revenue of' the Priory, and the old garments be laid by
in a chamber and given to the poor, according to the rule of
Saint Augtiftme.
In Item qth is: a complaint that fbme of the canons are given to
wander out of the précinfts of the convent without leave ; and
that others ride to their manors and farms, under pretence of fib'
fpedting the concerns of the fociety, when they pleafe, and ftay as
long as they pleafe. But they are enjoined never to ftir either
about their own private concerns or the bulinefs o f the convent
without leave from the prior : and no canon'is to go alone, but to
have a grave brother to accompany him.
The injunfïion in Item. 10th, at this di'fiance of time, appears
rather ludicrous ; but the vilitor feems to bé very ferious on the
occalion, and fays that it has been evidently proved to him that
fome of the canons, living diffohrtely after the fiefh, and not
after the fpifit, fleep naked in their beds without their breeches
b A collation was a meal or repall on a fall day in lieu of a fupper.
and