lawful for the clergy to fight; and the defendant and plaintiff, according to custom, were put in prison; both ordered to fast and pray, every method being previously used to induce both to a confession of the truth. After a month's imprisonment, the hair of each was cut, the bodies anointed with oil, the field of battle appointed and guarded by soldiers, while his majesty presided over the whole in person. Both the champions were sworn not to seek victory either by fraud or magic. They prayed and confessed upon their knees; and after these ceremonies the rest was left to the courage and conduct of the combatants. As the champion whom the prior had pitched upon had fought six or eight times upon similar occasions, it was no way extraordinary to find him victorious in the present combat. In short, the husband was discomfited; he was taken from the field of battle, stripped to his shirt, and after one of his legs had been cut off, as justice ordained in such cases, he was hanged as a terror to future offenders :

These, these were the times, Mr. Rigmarole; you see how much more just, and wise, and valiant, our ancestors were than

us:

"I rather fancy, madam, that the times then were pretty much like our own; where a multiplicity of laws gives a judge as much power as a want of law; since he is ever sure to find among the number some to countenance his partiality."

Our convent, victorious over their enemies, now gave a loose to every demonstration of joy. The lady became a nun, the prior was made a bishop, and three Wickliffites were burned in the illuminations and fireworks, that were made on the present occasion. King Henry V., who was one of the best princes that ever sat on the throne, was fond of burning those Wickliffites. There were few feasts or entertainments, in which the people were not delighted with two or three roasted Wickliffites. 'Tis certain, if

what was alleged against them be true they deserved no mercy; they were magicians or witches every one of them; they were sometimes seen eating dead bodies torn from the grave. Sir John Oldcastle,* one of the chief of the sect, was particularly fond of human flesh. I need not mention their promiscuous copulations, their cursings, and their treasons; these are written in all the books that were written by the priests of those times the laws took every method to extirpate them, promised them life in order to make them repent; and then burned them to prevent a relapse. Acton, Brown, and Beverly, men of distinction, and who, till they were detected of heresy, were famed for having lived virtuous and pious lives, were the three that were tied to the stake, to give solemnity to the present rejoicing.† The flames, as if willing to assist the cause of heaven, burned upon this occasion with more than ordinary fierceness; the mob looked on and huzza'd with great devotion; and the ladies that came to see the show were greatly edified and improved :—

These, these were the times, Mr. Rigmarole, when men were found zealous as well to burn others for religion, as to suffer for it themselves !—

"Equally faulty they were with ourselves: they loved religion more than their fellow-creatures; and we regard neither the one nor the other."

Our convent now began to enjoy a very high degree of reputation. There was not one in London that had the character of hating heretics so much as ours. Ladies of the first distinction chose from our convent their confessors. In short, it flourished and might have flourished to this hour, but for a fatal accident which terminated in its overthrow. The lady, whom the prior

* [Sir John Oldcastle, being condemned as a heretic, was hung up in chains alive, and burnt to death, in 1417. See Fuller.]

[They suffered in June, 1414.]

had placed in the nunnery, and whom he continued to visit for some time with great punctuality, began at last to perceive that she was quite forsaken. Secluded from conversation, as usual, she now entertained the visions of a devotee; found herself strangely disturbed, but hesitated in determining whether she was possessed by an angel or a demon. She was not long in suspense; for upon vomiting a large quantity of crooked pins, and finding the palms of her hands turned outwards, she quickly concluded that she was possessed by the devil. She soon lost entirely the use of speech; and when she seemed to speak, every body that was present perceived that her voice was not her own, but that of the devil within her. In short, she was bewitched; and all the difficulty lay in determining who it could be that bewitched her. The nuns and the monks all demanded the magician's name, but the devil made no reply; for he knew they had no authority to ask questions. By the rules of witchcraft, when an evil spirit has taken possession, he may refuse to answer any questions asked him, unless they are put by a bishop, and to these he is obliged to reply. A bishop therefore was sent for, and now the whole secret came out: the devil reluctantly owned that he was a servant of the prior; that by his command he resided in his present habitation, and that without his command he was resolved to keep in possession. The bishop was an able exorcist; he drove the devil out by force of mystical arms; the prior was ar raigned for witchcraft; the witnesses were strong and numerous against him, not less than fourteen persons being by, who heard the devil talk Latin. There was no resisting such a cloud of witnesses; the prior was condemned; and he who had assisted at so many burnings, was burned himself in turn :—

These were times, Mr. Rigmarole; the people of those times. were not infidels, as now, but sincere believers !

Equally faulty with ourselves; they believed what the devil

was pleased to tell them, and we seem resolved at last to believe neither God nor devil."

After such a stain upon the convent, it was not to be sup posed it could subsist any longer; the fathers were ordered to decamp, and the house was once again converted into a tavern. The king conferred it on one of his cast mistresses: she was contituted landlady by royal authority; and as the tavern was in the neighborhood of the court, and the mistress a very polite woman, it began to have more business than ever, and sometimes took not less than four shillings a day.

But perhaps you are desirous of knowing what were the peculiar qualifications of a woman of fashion at that period; and in a description of the present landlady, you will have a tolerable idea of all the rest. This lady was the daughter of a nobleman, and received such an education in the country as became her quality, beauty, and great expectations. She could make shifts. and hose for herself and all the servants of the family, when she was twelve years old. She knew the names of four and twenty letters, so that it was impossible to bewitch her; and this was a greater piece of learning than any lady in the whole country could pretend to. She was always up early, and saw breakfast served in the great hall by six o'clock. At this scene of festivity she generally improved good humor, by telling her dreams, relating stories of spirits, several of which she herself had seen, and one of which she was reported to have killed with a black-hafted knife. Hence she usually went to make pastry in the larder, and here she was followed by her sweethearts, who were much helped on in conversation by struggling with her for kisses. About ten, miss generally went to play at hot-cockles and blind man's buff in the parlor, and when the young folks (for they seldom played at hot-cockles when grown old) were tired of such amusements, the gentlemen entertained miss with a history of their grey

hounds, bear-baitings, and victories at cudgel playing. If the weather was fine, they ran at the ring, shot at butts; while miss held in her hands a ribbon, with which she adorned the conqueror. Her mental qualifications were exactly fitted to her external accomplishments. Before she was fifteen she could tell the story of Jack the Giant Killer, could name every mountain that was inhabited by fairies, knew a witch at first sight, and could repeat four Latin prayers without a prompter. Her dress was perfectly fashionable; her arms and her hair were completely covered; a monstrous ruff was put round her neck, so that her head seemed like that of John the Baptist placed in a charger. In short, when completely equipped, her appearance was so very modest, that she discovered little more than her nose:

These were the times, Mr. Rigmarole; when every lady that had a good nose might set up for a beauty; when every woman that could tell stories might be cried up for a wit !-

"I am as much displeased at those dresses which conceal too much, as at those which discover too much: I am equally an enemy to a female dunce or a female pedant."

You may be sure that miss chose a husband with qualifications resembling her own; she pitched upon a courtier, equally remarkable for hunting and drinking, who had given several proofs of his great virility among the daughters of his tenants and domestics. They fell in love at first sight (for.such was the gallantry of the times), were married, came to court, and madam appeared with superior qualifications. The king was struck with her beauty. All property was at the king's command; the husband was obliged to resign all pretensions in his wife to the sovereign, whom God had anointed to commit adultery where he thought proper. The king loved her for some time; but at length repenting of his misdeeds, and instigated by his fatherconfessor, from a principle of conscience removed her from his