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THE GOLDEN LEGEND. -No. I.

A LAY OF ST. NICHOLAS.

"Statim sacerdoti apparuit diabolus in specie puellæ pulchritudinis miræ, et ecce Divus, fide catholica et cruce et aqua benedicta armatus, venit, et aspersit aquam in nomine sanctæ et individuæ Trinitatis, quam, quasi ardentem, diabolus, nequaquam sustinere valens, mugitibus fugit."

"LORD ABBOT! Lord Abbot! I'd fain confess;
I am a-weary, and worn with woe;

Many a grief doth my heart oppress,
And haunt me whithersoever I go!"

ROGER HOVEDEN.

On bended knee spake the beautiful Maid;
"Now lithe and listen, Lord Abbot, to me!"-
"Now naye, Fair Daughter," the Lord Abbot said,
"Now naye, in sooth may hardly be ;

"There is Mess Michael, and Holy Mess John,
Sage Penitauncers I ween be they!

And hard by doth dwell, in St. Catherine's cell,
Ambrose, the anchorite old and grey!"

"-Oh, I will have none of Ambrose or John,
Though sage Penitauncers I trow they be;
Shrive me may none save the Abbot alone.
Now listen, Lord Abbot, I speak to thee;
"Nor think foul scorn, though mitre adorn
Thy brow, to listen to shrift of mine.
I am a Maiden royally born,

And I come of old Plantaganet's line.
"Though hither I stray in lowly array,

I am a Damsel of high degree;

And the Compte of Eu, and the Lord of Ponthieu,
They serve my father on bended knee!

"Counts a many, and Dukes a few,

A suitoring came to my father's Hall;
But the Duke of Lorraine, with his large domain,
He pleas'd my father beyond them all.

"Dukes a many, and Counts a few,

I would have wedded right cheerfulie;
But the Duke of Lorraine was uncommonly plain,
And I vow'd that he ne'er should my bridegroom be!

"So hither I fly, in lowly guise,

From their gilded domes and their princely halls;
Fain would I dwell in some holy cell,

Or within some Convent's peaceful walls!"
-Then out and spake that proud Lord Abbot,
"Now rest thee, Fair Daughter, withouten fear;
Nor Count nor Duke but shall meet the rebuke
Of Holy Church an he seek thee here;

"Holy Church denieth all search

'Midst her sanctified ewes and her saintly rams;
And the wolves doth mock who would scathe her flock,
Or, especially, worry her little pet lambs,

"Then lay, Fair Daughter, thy fears aside,

For here this day shalt thou dine with me!""Now naye, now naye," the fair maiden cried; "In sooth, Lord Abbot, that scarce may be !

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