ich he had been
entrusted, and returned in safety into England. After his return, he was
promoted to the bishoprick of Sherburn, or Shireburn, in Dorsetshire; and
it is recorded, that he left at his decease, in the treasury of that
church, sundry spices and jewels, which he had brought with him from the
Indies."

Of this voyage, William of Malmsbury makes twice mention; once in the
fourth chapter of his second book, De Gestis Regum Anglorum; and secondly,
in the second book of his work; entitled, De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum;
and in the chapter devoted to the Bishops of Shireburn, Salisbury, and
Winchester, both of which are here added, although the only authority for
the story is contained in what has been already given from the Saxon
Chronicle[3].

"King Alfred being addicted to giving of alms, confirmed the privileges
which his father had granted to the churches, and sent many gifts beyond
seas, to Rome, and to St Thomas in India. His messenger in this business
was Sighelm, bishop of Sherburn, who, with great prosperity, which is much
to be wondered at in this age, penetrated into India; whence he brought on
his return, splendid exotic gems, and aromatic liquors, of which the soil
of that region is prolific."

"Sighelm having gone beyond seas, charged with alms from the king, even
penetrated, with wonderful prosperity, to Saint Thomas in India, a thing
much to be admired in this age; and brought thence, on his return, certain
foreign kinds of precious stones which abound in that region; some of which
are yet to be seen in the monuments of his church."

In the foregoing accounts of the voyage of Sighelm, from the first notice
in the Saxon Chronicle, through the additions of Malmsbury, and the
amplified paraphrase by Harris, we have an instance of the manner in which
ingenious men permit themselves to blend their own imaginations with
original record, superadding utterly groundless circumstances, and fancied
conceptions, to the plain historical facts. Thus a motely rhetorical tissue
of real incident and downright fable is imposed upon the world, which each
successive author continually improves into deeper falsehood. We have here
likewise an instance of the way in which ancient manuscripts, first
illustrated by commentaries, became interpolated, by successive
transcribers adopting those illustrations into the text; and how many
fabricators of story, first misled by these additaments, and afterwards
misleading the