his deportment and language, with the high
tone which he exerted in setting forth the authority of the church and of the
priesthood, impressed them no less with an opinion of his sanctity. Even the
common people, the severest critics of the conduct of their betters, had
commiseration with the follies of Prior Aymer. He was generous; and charity, as
it is well known, covereth a multitude of sins, in another sense than that in
which it is said to do so in Scripture. The revenues of the monastery, of which
a large part was at his disposal, while they gave him the means of supplying his
own very considerable expenses, afforded also those largesses which he bestowed
among the peasantry, and with which he frequently relieved the distresses of the
oppressed. If Prior Aymer rode hard in the chase, or remained long at the
banquet, - if Prior Aymer was seen, at the early peep of dawn, to enter the
postern of the abbey, as he glided home from some rendezvous which had occupied
the hours of darkness, men only shrugged up their shoulders, and reconciled
themselves to his irregularities by recollecting that the same were practised by
many of his brethren who had no redeeming qualities whatsoever to atone for
them. Prior Aymer, therefore, and his character, were well known to our Saxon
serfs, who made their rude obeisance, and received his »benedicite, mez filz,«
in return.
    But the singular appearance of his companion and his attendants arrested
their attention and excited their wonder, and they could scarcely attend to the
Prior of Jorvaulx' question, when he demanded if they knew of any place of
harbourage in the vicinity; so much were they surprised at the half monastic,
half military appearance of the swarthy stranger, and at the uncouth dress and
arms of his Eastern attendants. It is probable, too, that the language in which
the benediction was conferred, and the information asked, sounded ungracious,
though not probably unintelligible, in the ears of the Saxon peasants.
    »I asked you, my children,« said the Prior, raising his voice, and using the
lingua Franca, or mixed language, in which the Norman and Saxon races conversed
with each other, »if there be in this neighbourhood any good man, who, for the
love of God, and devotion to Mother Church, will give two of her humblest
servants, with their train, a night's hospitality and refreshment?«
    This he spoke with a tone of conscious importance, which formed a strong
contrast to the modest terms which he thought it proper to employ.
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