“I was placed in the hands of a village dame to nurse, and she, kind creature, had care of me till I was six years of age, when I was received into the monastery, and under my father’s guidance instructed in the various ecclesiastic accomplishments then in vogue. “Wood-carving, missal-painting, and finally glass-painting were taught me, and in them I soon became proficient. These things filled my time when not studying the usual routine of religious education. As a child I was a plaything for the monks, who delighted to hear me sing, some of my efforts, I am sorry to say, being far from a religious nature, and more fitted for an amorous cavalier than a budding monk. “As I grew to man’s estate, my fondness for glass-painting asserted itself; a fondness which enabled me, more than any other of my accomplishments, to beautify the old Abbey, although some of my wood-carving, for stall ends and misereres, was considered exceptionally fine. “As the years rolled on I filled the small aisle windows with stained glass, and this so pleased the good Abbot, that he requested me to paint the large east window of the Abbey church. I undertook the task, but it took me several years to accomplish. “Just before the window was completed, I had the sorrow of parting with my dear father for ever. After a few days’ illness he succumbed to an attack of fever, and was laid to rest in the burying-ground by the Abbey wall. My grief was so poignant that for a long time I had not the heart to finish the great east window, which now wanted but the figure of another saint to complete it. “One night, as I lay in my little cell, the thought came into my head suddenly, ‘Why not paint a figure of my dear dead father to complete the window?’ “I turned the idea over in my mind and could see no reason why it should not be so, as for many years my father had been Prior of the Abbey, second only to the great Abbot himself, and since my birth had lead a truly pious life, an example to all those who received religious instruction from his erudite brain. “Full of love for my parent’s memory, I painted the figure of a monk robed in the dress of our order, and from drawings I had made during my father’s lifetime, I reproduced the features of his dear face as far as possible. “In due time the panel was fixed in its place and the great east window was at last finished. A grand supper was given in honour of the event, at which I was complimented upon my untiring energy and skill in having enriched the Abbey church with such a splendid work of art. The Abbot avowed it was second to none in the realm, but I was always a modest man, and took his kind words as complimentary, but nothing more; I knew he flattered me, and blushed accordingly. “That night, when I retired to rest in my cell, I felt peculiarly heavy and depressed; I ascribed the feeling, however, to reaction after the excitement of the evening.