For, happily, this volume is no history of obsolete institutions. The heritage of the past is to a certain extent ours to-day, and we can rejoice in the uninterrupted beneficence of St. Bartholomew’s which receives in the twentieth century as in the twelfth, “languishing men grieved with various sores.” Words spoken by the Prince Consort in reference to another foundation at once ancient and modern, are equally true of St. Bartholomew’s and of the sister-hospital of St. Thomas:— “It holds to this day the same honourable position in the estimation of the country which it did in the time of its first formation, exemplifying the possibility, in this happy country, of combining the general progress of mankind with a due reverence for the institutions, and even forms, which have been bequeathed to us by the piety and wisdom of our forefathers.”[156] More has come down to us than perhaps we realize. Canterbury retains three venerable houses of alms. St. Mary’s, Chichester; St. Nicholas’, Salisbury; and St. Giles’, Norwich, are still peaceful retreats in old age. In the city of Winchester—St. Cross is not merely a monument of unchangeable usefulness, but increased funds [p241] enable it to give pensions in various parts of England to the value of £1200; the site of St. Mary Magdalene’s is occupied by an isolation hospital, a portion of the original endowment maintaining a small almshouse; while St. John’s has been greatly enlarged. [Illustration: 31. GATEWAY OF ST. JOHN’S, CANTERBURY]