atified anew. Walter de Whittlesea gives a very
favourable account of the disposition of this abbot, and speaks very
highly of his benevolence to King Henry, who was reduced to the
necessity of seeking support from this and other monasteries. St.
Edmond entertained the king twice at _Peterburgh_, in company with the
queen and the young prince. He also "gave 60 marks towards the marriage
of Margaret, his daughter, with Alexander III., King of Scotland," and
increased the number of his monks to one hundred and ten. He made
likewise three several journeys to Rome upon civil and ecclesiastical
business. The cause of one of these journeys was this:--The Pope
(Gregory, 1241) sent messages to _Burgh_, demanding that the abbot
should give unto one of his favourites a certain yearly sum, or a
number of lands equal to that sum, and the abbot refused to do so
without the consent of the king who was patron of the monastery; and
going to Rome to know the cause of such an arbitrary demand, he was
reproved by the Pope in person, and treated with great indignity by the
cardinals, and expelled the court. The abbot was so much grieved, by
this cruel and ungenerous treatment that he never recovered, but died
in the same year [1245], after having ruled twelve years with the
greatest mildness, prudence, and benevolence. This story of the Pope's
arbitrary conduct calls forth a very pithy couplet from Gunton--

"Rome gnaweth hands as dainty cates,
And when it cannot gnaw--it hates."

Walter was a learned man, and increased the books of the library.
Gunton says "he was pious and merciful to all, exacted nothing unduly
of his tenants, whether rich or poor; but if any poor man or woman made
their necessities known to him, he would burst into tears, and take
compassion upon them."

The next abbot of whom we read is William de Hotot, who was elected on
the 6th of February, 1246. His rule was not favourable to the
monastery. He lavished the possessions of the church upon his friends
and kinsmen. His conduct was reprehended by the monks, and finally
represented to the Bishop of Lincoln, when William, fearing he should
be deposed, resigned his office, and retired upon an allowance from the
monastery in 1249, after governing three years.

Mr. Owen Davys, in his Guide to the Cathedral, remarks that "it is a
matter of great surprise that we have no record handed down to us of
the exact date when that magnificent appendage to the Cathedral, t