So when Ascension Day arrived, the little ones came very early as usual, but they brought not their loaf, nor the tin of milk. And they assisted at mass as usual; they vested the priest, they lighted the tapers, they chanted the responds, they rang the bell. But when the Pax vobiscum had been said they remained on their knees, kneeling behind the priest. And so they gently fell asleep in Christ, and they with their dear master sat down at the marriage supper of the Lamb. This story reminds me of another, to be found in one or two mediæval sermons. A little boy once made an agreement with an aged priest that they should say Prime together. So, on the first morning after the arrangement, the child rose, and descended to the church, where he lighted the candles. He waited long for the priest, and pulled the bell; but the old man turned in his bed and would not rise. Then the lad looked from the window, and the land was dumb with snow. He thought, I will run forth, and sport in the snow, for the father comes not to Prime. But he resisted the temptation, and he recited the office by himself in choir. On the second morning he descended again, and rang the bell, and lighted the tapers; but the priest came not. Then the boy thought, I will go forth and slide on the frozen pond. But he overcame the temptation, and recited the office by himself in choir. On the third morning he turned in his bed, and thought, It is so cold, I will not rise; the father will not leave his bed, nor will I. But he resisted the temptation to lie in bed, he dressed and came down to the church, he pulled the bell, he lighted the tapers; but the priest came not, so he sang the office by himself in choir. And this continued for six mornings; each morning was the child tempted, each morning did he overcome the temptation. Each morning the priest lay in bed, and the little boy sang the office by himself in choir. On the seventh morning the priest was roused by the bell, but he turned in bed and fell asleep again. Then he had a dream. He beheld in his dream the Lord Jesus standing by the treasury in Heaven; and in His hand He bare seven crowns of pure gold. “Oh, my Lord, are these for me?” exclaimed the sleeper. “Nay!” replied the Blessed One, “not for thee, but for thy little acolyte. Seven times has he been tried, and seven times has he overcome; therefore have I prepared for him seven crowns. _Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life._” But leaving these stories, let us turn to a sermon of Coster’s, and analyze it thoroughly. It will be seen how pregnant it is with thought, how exhaustive it is as a commentary on a passage of Scripture, how suggestive it is of matter for a modern preacher.