<g>And</g> it is hereby ordered, that the Prior of New <g>Lanthony</g> and his Convent, they and their successors, shall exhibit and defray their own and all expenses incurred in the maintenance of Old <g>Lanthony</g>, and the Prior and Canons there resident. That the latter office shall be in the gift of the former, removable at the will and pleasure of the Prior and Convent for the time being. That four Canons[334] shall there reside, for the celebration of masses and other divine offices; and for the administration of the sacraments, and sacramental duties, to the parishioners and rural population, so long as they are not impeded or interrupted therein by the rebellious disturbers of our peace. And to pray for the souls of the Founders of <g>Lanthony</g> _Prima_, and for the souls above-named; and to be removable at the word or sign of the Prior, for the time being, of New <g>Lanthony</g> aforesaid, etc. etc.--By the <g>King</g> at <g>Westminster</g>, the x day of May.[335] * * * * * <g>From</g> this date the Abbey of Old Llanthony, which had been grievously interrupted in its religious duties, and damaged by its own internal misgovernment, the reckless lives of its inmates, and the frequent imposts and exactions to which it was subjected by the rebels and marauders above alluded to, was suffered to fall into decay and disrepute. Its resources, in obedience to the above decree, were drawn off from their legitimate channel, and employed to augment the revenues and foster the pride of its undutiful and “rival Daughter” on the banks of the Severn. Thus--as the old historian has pathetically observed--“Filii Matris meæ pugnaverunt contra me; nam leviùs communia tangunt, sed quodammodo specialiori et tanto atrociori flere, clamando, Filii uteri mei pugnaverunt contra me, quia-- Non sua sunt summa leviter perstricta sagitta Pectora, descendit vulnus ad ossa suum.” Yet, after the lapse of centuries, the Abbey of Old Llanthony presents an imposing aspect. In that solitude, over which it was erected for the diffusion of spiritual life and light, it is still an object of venerable grandeur; while of the luxurious temple of “her Daughter,” built on one of the most fertile spots in the kingdom, elaborately ornamented and munificently endowed, the remains are few and insignificant. Thus, if the old monastic fathers could burst their cerements and look around them, they would perceive that Time, the avenger, has drawn a line of as marked distinction between the two monasteries, as between a greater and a lesser criminal; and, by a just and discriminating sentence, consigned one to the plough, and the other to pilgrims and archæologists.[336] [Illustration: _Llanthony Abbey._ N.W. View.]