The passion for books, merely because of their antique rarity, and not for
their intrinsic value, is not less dangerous, for the pursuer, than that,
for collecting rare animals, and forming a private menagerie, at vast
expense. Even the entomologist has been known to diminish the comforts of
his family, by investing his ready money in rare and valuable bugs. It has
been pleasantly said of him,
"He leaves his children, when he dies,
The richest cabinet of flies."
There is no doubt, that, in those superstitious days, the traffic in
relics must have been a source of very great profit to the priests; equal,
at least, to the traffic in _ancient terra cottas_, in the days of
Nollekens. The sleeves of those crafty friars could not have been large
enough, to hold their laughter, at the expense of the faithful. The heir
apparent, whose grief, for the death of his ancestor, was sufficiently
subdued, by his refreshing anticipations of some thousands of marks in
ready money, must have been somewhat startled, upon the reading of the
will, to find himself residuary legatee, _for life_, of the testator's
"reliques, remainder over to the Carthusian Friars!"
Such, and similar, things were of actual occurrence. William Haute,
Esquire, made his will, May 9, 1462, of course, in the reign of Edward the
Fourth. This worthy gentleman ordains--"My body to be buried, in the
Church of the Augustine Friars, before the image of St. Catherine, between
my wives. * * * * I bequeath one piece of that stone, on which the
Archangel Gabriel descended, when he saluted the Blessed Virgin Mary, to
the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Church of Bourne, the same to
stand under the foot of the said image. I bequeath one piece of the bone
of St. Bartholomew to the Church of Waltham. One piece of the hair cloth
of St. Catherine, the Virgin, and a piece of the bone of St. Nicholas, to
the Church of the Augustine Friars aforesaid. I bequeath all the remainder
of my relicks to my son William, _for life_, with remainder to the
Augustine Friars forever."
Humphrey, Earl of Devon, 1463--"I will, that Mr. Nicholas Goss and Mr.
Watts, Warden of the Grey Friars, at Exeter, shall, for the salvation of
my soul, go to every Parish Church, in the Counties of Dorset, Somerset,
Wilts, Devon, and Cornwall, and say a sermon, in every Church, town, or
other; and as I cannot recompense such as I have offended, I desire them
to forgive my poor soul, that it be not endangered."
William, Earl of Pembroke, 1469--"In nomine Jesu, &c. And wyfe, that ye
remember your promise to me, that ye take the ordre of widowhood, as ye
may the better mayster your owne * * * * Wyfe pray for me, and take the
said ordre, that ye promised me, as ye had, in my lyfe, my hert and love."
This lady, who was the daughter of Sir Walter Devereux, observed her vow,
and died the widow of the Earl; which is the more remarkable, as these
injunctions have often produced an opposite effect, and abbreviated the
term of continency.
Sir Harry Stafford, Kt., 1471--"To my son-in-law, the Earl of Richmond, a
trappur, four new horse harness of velvet; to my brother, John, Earl of
Wiltshire, my bay courser; to Reynold Bray, my Receiver General, my
grizzled horse."
Cecilia Lady Kirriel, 1472--"In my pure widowhood, &c. To John Kirriel,
bastard, &c."
It is not unusual for the consciences of men, in a dying hour, to clutch,
for security, at the veriest straws. It is instructive to consider the
evidences, exhibited in these ancient testaments, of superfluous
compunction. Sir Walter Moyle, Knt., 1479, directs his feoffees "to make
an estate, in two acres of land, more or less, lying in the parish of
Estwell, in a field called Calinglond, and deliver the same, in fee
simple, to three or four honest men, to the use and behoof of the Church
of Estwell aforesaid, in recompense of a certain annual rent of L2 of wax,
by me wrested and detained from the said Church, against my conscience."
It was not unusual, to appoint overseers, to have an eye upon executors; a
provision, which may not be without its advantages, occasionally, even in
these days of more perfect morality, and higher law. Sir Ralph Verney,
Knt., 1478, appoints four executors, and "my trewe lover, John Browne,
Alderman of London, to be one of the _overseers_ of this my present
testament, and to have a remembrance upon my soul, one of my cups,
covered with silver gilt."
Monks and Friars were pleasant fellows in the olden time, and Nuns are not
supposed to have been without their holy comforts. Landseer's fine picture
of Bolton Abbey is a faithful illustration. The fat of the land, when
offered to idols, has commonly been eaten up by deputy. However shadowy
and attenuated the souls of their humble and confiding tributaries, the
carcasses of abbots are commonly represented as superlatively fat and
rubicund.
Bequests and devises to Lights and Altars were very common. Eustace
Greville, Esquire, 1479, bequeaths "to the Light of the Blessed Mary, in
the said Church of Wolton, three pounds of wax in candles and two torches;
to the Altar of the Blessed Mary in the said church, one bushel of wheat
and as much of barley; and to the Lights of the Holy Cross there one
bushel of barley and as much of beans; and the same to the Light of St.
Katherine there."