y, upholding all creation:
Who ever dost Thyself unmoved abide,
Yet, day by day, the light, in due gradation,
From hour to hour, through all its changes guide.

"Grant to life's day a calm unclouded ending,
An eve untouched by shadow of decay,
The brightness of a holy death bed, blending
With dawning glories of the eternal day {xxxi}."

His thoughts full of the ideas suggested by the solemn strain,
Wilfred followed Etienne into the south transept.

There, upon a plain altar tomb of stone lay the effigy of an aged
matron, her hands clasped in prayer, and beneath were the words:

HILDA
IN PACE
BEATI PACIFICI {xxxii}.

The "rival heirs" stood by the tomb, their hands clasped, while the
tears streamed down their cheeks. It was she indeed, who by her
simple obedience to the Divine law of love, which is the central
idea of the Gospel, had reconciled jarring hearts, and brought
about, in Aescendune, the reign of peace and love.

"I strove," said Etienne, at last breaking the long silence, "to be
a son to her, in place of the ill-fated boy whom I so cruelly slew;
nor were my efforts in vain, or my repentance unaccepted. We built
her a house, on the site of her ancient cottage, and when strife
arose, we often submitted the matter to her judgment, and she, who
had been the foster mother of one lord, and the preserver from
death of the other, reconciled the followers of both.

"When at last the hour came for her to commit her sweet soul to
God, I stood by her dying bed.

"'Mother,' said I, 'what can I do when thou art gone to show my
love for thy memory?'

"'Only go on as thou hast begun,' she replied, 'be a father to all
thy people, Englishman and Norman alike, and their prayers will
succour thee at the judgment seat of God--I go into peace.'

"And she left peace behind her--"

Here Etienne could say no more, and the two "rival heirs" stood a
long time gazing upon the "cold marble and the sculptured stone,"
while tears which were no disgrace to their manhood fell like
gentle rain from heaven.

Soon after this Wilfred had a long conference with Prior Kenelm.
The result was, that he announced his intention of retiring from
the world and ending his days in the cloister. His years had been
years of strife and tumult--he would give the residue to God.

So he entered the famous order of St. Benedict, and after the death
of Father Kenelm became the prior of the monastery dedicated to his
patron saint--founded by his