This man appropriated the revenues of the place
to the tune of fourteen hundred pounds a year, and when at last
the scandal was exposed, it was discovered that between 1818 and 1838
he had taken not less than fifty-three thousand pounds in fines on
renewing leases, a manifest and probably wilful breach of trust, that
ought, one may think, to have brought him to the Old Bailey. The
exposure of this rascal led to a reformation of the administration,
which is now in the hands of trustees who elect thirteen brethren
provided for by Bishop Henry of Blois. These wear a black gown with a
silver cross. St Cross also still maintains certain brethren of Noble
Poverty, and these wear a red gown, and not less than fifty poor folk,
who do not live within its walls, while a very meagre wayfarer's dole
is still distributed to all who pass by so far as a horn of beer and
two loaves of bread will go. Each of the Brethren of St Cross beside a
little house and maintenance receives five shillings a week.
All this sounds, if you be poor, too good to be true. It is too good to
owe its origin to the modern world, but not extraordinary for the
Middle Age, which was eagerly and even violently Christian.
Pages:
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420