One of the most famous of these institutions, in England, was St. Mary’s Abbey, York. It was situated near the walls of York, and during nearly five centuries maintained a very high rank among the religious establishments of the North. Its origin, as given by its first Abbot, is as follows:—Not long after the Norman conquest, Runifried, a pious monk, fixed his cell at Whitby, with the hope of being there wholly secluded from the world. His fame attracted round him a great number of devout persons, among whom was Stephen, afterwards the Abbot. From the Earl of Northumbria the monks obtained a grant of land; but when, by their labours, they had cultivated and improved it, the Earl became their persecutor, to induce them to relinquish what they had made trebly valuable. They were also harassed by the frequent attacks of pirates by sea, and robbers by land. Driven from their first place of sojourn by these distresses, they obtained from the King permission to repair for themselves the Monastery of Lashingham, then lying in ruins, about twenty miles to the north-west of Whitby. Nevertheless, in this solitude they found no rest; they were constantly subjected to the assaults of robbers and the enmity of their former persecutors, and also of the Archbishop of York, who claimed part of their domain. The case was carried at last before the tribunal of the King in person, who promised to see the monks righted; but the King dying, the claim of the Archbishop was renewed, till William Rufus interfered and gave to the Archbishop, in lieu of the disputed ground, a Church in York, dedicated to St Stephen. Soon afterwards, this monarch visiting York, laid with his own hand the first stone of a new and larger establishment than that which the monks had hitherto possessed, and calling it after St. Mary, made to it liberal grants and privileges. This religious fraternity were Black Monks, of the Order of St. Benedict. Their Abbot was little inferior to the Bishop of the province, being mitred, and having a seat in Parliament, which entitled him to the dignified appellation of “my lord.” His retinue was sumptous whenever he travelled abroad, and he possessed two country seats in the neighbourhood of York, and a house in London, near Paul’s Wharf. He had also a spacious park well stocked with game. This sumptousness engendered jealousy among the people of the City of York, who on several occasions burned parts of the abbey, and slew the monks. Simon, the Abbot, could not appease the tumult, except upon paying a hundred pounds as a peace offering to the enraged party. Afterwards, an enormous wall was built to defend the abbey from these depredations, which effctually prevented such disasters, till the time of the dissolution of monasteries, of which I have spoken. [Illustration]