report ; and not only that, but any of the brethren 

 mi^ht accuse anyone else of an offence which he 

 had heard or seen. They could, he said, thus see 

 how strict the supervision was and the manner in 

 which it was enforced. Even at night the mcnks 

 were not exempt from the perpetual watchfulness 

 which pervaded monastic life, for when the 

 brethreo had got into bed a special officer went 

 the rounds. A man named the Circator took a 

 dark lantern and carefully examined all parts of 

 the house. If he found any of the brethren 

 talking out of the usual hour.-, one of the 

 speakers had at oncy to stind up and say if they 

 had leave to be talking. Sometimes for offences 

 the offender was flogged on the spot with a large rod 

 or birch. Everyone was liable to be accused, even 

 the highest officers if their faults weienotorious.and 

 it was judged useful to deal with them in theChapter. 

 The Prior, when accused, stood in his place and 

 bowed, but if it was a serious offence he ret^oested 

 two of the seniors to g:t into the middle of the 

 Chapter House, and there they were flogged in his 

 stead. Other punishments for the monks was 

 separation from the common meal ; to take a 

 lower place in the Church and Chapter ; nut to 

 take any part in any service ; perpetual silence 

 for time ordered ; bread and water twice a week, 

 and even imprisonment. Novices who desired to 

 be admitted into the Monastery were first of all 

 warned of the hard and stern things they would 

 have to undergo. If the novice persisted, the 

 rule of the Order was read to him — " Here is the 

 law under which you desire to serve ; if you can 

 keep it, enter in ; but if you cannot, freely depart." 

 For certain days he was kept apart, but if he still 

 persisted he was again warned of what he must 

 endure, and at last, on his promising to bear all, 

 he was received and made his profession in writing, 

 and after other ceremonies was made a full brother. 

 It was inteiesting to ask how many novices would 

 be admitted in a year ? And in the case of their 

 Monastery of Christ Church they were able to 

 answer with some certainty, at any rate with 

 regard to the yeard from the 13th century down- 



wards (because the list is still preserved in the 

 Cathedral). "The number of novices admitted," 

 said Mr. Leach, " never exceeded eight in a year, 

 and were generally only three or four. Therefore, 

 as the boys who were taught in the cloister were 

 in nearly every ca=;e being trained to be monks, 

 there could never hive been more than a dozen " 

 in what they might call the monastic school. 

 With regard to the total number of monks, 

 Lanfranc intended that there should be from 120 

 to 150, but from the i:ith century onwards there 

 were never more than 75 monk?, and at the disso- 

 lution in 15-il there were only oS. 



THE CLOISTER. 



The lecturer then passed on to the last portion of 

 his discourse. Canterbury Cloister, he said, as 

 they saw it now was built about 1390, when the 

 Nave of the Cathedral was re-built. In this 

 cloister each of the monks had his fixed place ; no 

 one was allowed to go outside without leave, and 

 silence was always observed except at certain time.=? 

 of the day, when conversation was allowed. 

 There, in those cloisters, with infinite patience 

 and toil, the remains of the classical learning 

 were copied — the text corrected — sometimes cor- 

 rupted. Here, and almost only here, were the 

 chronicles and events of the age kept year by 

 year — so scanty, often so imperfect, so untrust- 

 worthy, yet on the whole so precious — giving us 

 some sort of picture of the man v/ho were shaping- 

 the course of European history. In concluding, 

 the lecturer spoke of the terrible hardships which 

 the monks had to endure in tiiose Cloisters by 

 reason of the cold, and remarked that although 

 perhaps it might be difficult for them of the 

 present day to understand all that these men did, 

 yet they could not measure the debt which they 

 owed to those patient, silent workmen in the 

 Cloisters. 



The lecture, in certain parts, was bfantifuUy 

 illustrated by means of lantern slides, etc. 



The proceedings were br-mght to a close by a 

 hearty vote of thanks being accorded the lecturer, 

 on the proposition of the Chairman. 



SEVENTH WINTER MEETING.- FEBRUARY 23rd, 1904. 



"A HOLIDAY WITH A CAMERA IN DEVON AND CORNWALL." 



By Mr. W. SURRY. 



The seventh meeting was held in the Beaney Iq- The lecture was illustrated by means cf a larc^e 



stitute on Tuesday, February 23, Mr. Harvey in the number of excellent lantern slides. Several places 



chair, when Mr. W, Surry gave a very interesting were described and illustratei, including Boscastle 



deBcriptioD of his holiday in Devon and Cornwall. Tintagel, Ilfracombe, iJlovelly, etc. 



-<DXKS)^ 



