The following entries are found in the Patent and Close Rolls Calendar, Henry VIII., pp. 59, 60: "Pension of £40 Ir. to Richard Contour, late Abbot of Mellyfount, payable out of the parishes of Knockmohan, Donowre, and Monkenewton, with clause of distress."--Sept. 10, 1539. And at p. 60, _ibid._, "Pension to John Byrrell, late parson of Mellifount, £3 6s. 8d.; to Thomas Bagot, £4; to Peter Rewe, 40/-; to Thomas Alen, 53/4; to William Norreis, 40/-; to Robert Nangle, 40/-; to Patrick Contour, 53/4; to William Veldon, £3 6s. 8d.; to Patrick Lawles, 40/-; to John Ball, 40/-; to Clement Bartholomewe, 20/-; to Phelim O'Neil, 20/-; payable out of the rents and lands of the parishes of Knockamowan, Donower, and Montnewton" (Monknewtown), 26 July, 1539. Thus, then, were these fourteen provided for, but, of the others, not one received a single shilling, except, as has been said, a mere pittance that sufficed to procure them a few nights' shelter. This is no picture drawn from fancy; it is a well-authenticated fact, that where a peaceful surrender was not given or signed, no provision whatsoever was made for those who so refused. They were given a trifle at their expulsion, and turned adrift to swell the army of beggars, or to perish, as they did in hundreds, of hardships to which they were unaccustomed. The imagination cannot now well conceive the heartless, wanton cruelty then practised on the expelled Religious; who, if they had betrayed their consciences and taken the oath of Supremacy, might have staved off, at least for a time, the calamities that befell them. But only for a time; for in some instances where the monks, through mistaken notions, obeyed the Royal mandate, they shared the fate of their more steadfast brethren, owing to the insatiable rapacity of the King and his advisers. To those of the expelled who were priests, the hope was held out to them, in case of "free surrender," that they should be promoted to the first vacant benefices. As not one of the Religious expelled from Mellifont is enrolled on the list of those promoted to vacancies during that or the subsequent reigns, it is obvious that they held fast to their principles, and denied the King's Supremacy, an acknowledgment of which was indispensable before promotion. All honour to them for their generous sacrifices, which made them worthy to be the last who saw the venerable institution reel and fall beneath the despot's blows. Their noble attitude was befitting the close of a work which was inaugurated with such splendour amid a nation's rejoicing. Like the setting sun, Mellifont disappeared in a halo of glory. CHAPTER VIII. MELLIFONT BECOMES THE HOME OF A NOBLE FAMILY--IS SOLD, AND IS DELIVERED UP TO RUIN AND DECAY. "Mute is the matin bell, whose early call Warn'd the grey fathers from their humble beds; No midnight taper gleams along the wall, Or, round the sculptur'd saint its radiance sheds." (_Keats._)