Past and Present by Thomas Carlyle
page 103 of 398 (25%)
page 103 of 398 (25%)
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he can bear nothing ruinous. He has gathered 'heaps of lime and
sand;' has masons, slaters working, he and _Warinus monachus noster,_ who are joint keepers of the Shrine; paying out the money duly,--furnished by charitable burghers of St. Edmundsbury, they say. Charitable burghers of St. Edmundsbury? To me Jocelin it seems rather, Samson and Warinus, whom he leads, have privily hoarded the oblations at the Shrine itself, in these late years of indolent dilapidation, while Abbot Hugo sat wrapt inaccessible; and are struggling, in this prudent way, to have the rain kept out!--Under what conditions, sometimes, has Wisdom to struggle with Folly; get Folly persuaded to so much as thatch out the rain from itself! For, indeed, if the Infant govern the Nurse, what dexterous practice on the Nurse's part will not be necessary! It is regret to us that, in these circumstances, our Lord the King's Custodiars, interfering, prohibited all building or thatching from whatever source; and no Choir shall be completed, and Rain and Time, for the present, shall have their way. Willelmus Sacrista, he of 'the frequent bibations and some things not to be spoken of;' he, with his red nose, I am of opinion, had made complaint to the Custodiars; wishing to do Samson an ill turn:--Samson his _Sub_-sacristan, with those clear eyes, could not be a prime favourite of his! Samson again obeys in silence. Chapter VII |
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