CHAPTER XIX.

ST. IVAN'S FUNERAL.

An interesting conversation was held in Freston Tower that evening between the three persons who wanted nothing to cement their affections, since love reigned in their hearts. Extraordinary circumstances had unexpectedly given birth to the warmest feelings for each other. Interested in the deepest sense had each become. Perhaps that of Ellen De Freston was the greatest, because she felt so much both for her father and Latimer. Again they rejoiced in being seated in their happy retreat, with their souls full of thought, as they surveyed the waves of that river which appeared by the setting sun more beautiful than ever.

'I must go with the sound of the matin bell, and ask John of Alneshborne to grant me leave to bury the body of Ivan De Linton within the precincts of the chapel,' said De Freston. 'I shall have a mournful duty, but I hope a satisfactory one, in committing to the ground the body of a man, who, with all his eccentricities, was a pure philanthropist. Our priesthood will grant no place of burial to an heretic; and from all I hear, St. Ivan was looked upon by them as something worse than a heretic, and only worthy of the burial of a dog. I must propitiate the priests of St. Peter on the morrow, and get through the preparations as well as I can. In the meantime, Latimer, I request your stay at my castle: at least until this funeral be over.'

Latimer had left Oxford with the full intention of being in Padua as soon as wind and weather would permit. Little did he think, when asking his friend Wolsey to give him permission to convey some love token to Ellen De Freston, on his account, that he should be made to feel that he himself had inspired an interest which he could not fail to appreciate. He had no compunctions in regard to Wolsey, for he had received no commission to declare his sentiments, and had no idea of their engagement to the lovely Ellen, for whom now, he could not fail to feel the most animating and grateful interest. In a few days, Latimer found more occasion to concentrate his affections upon the fair object that had excited them.

That evening passed away with many reflections of thankfulness, and on the morrow Lord De Freston ordered his barge, and visited the fraternity at Alneshborne Priory. All that he requested was immediately granted by that truly learned body. The night was fixed upon for the solemn funeral to take place, and De Freston made a vow, more in accordance with the superstition of his age than with true wisdom, to keep watch in the chapel of the priory, and to speak to no one, to answer no one, and to be moved by none, until the priory bell should give the sound of morning prayer.

His next care was to visit the monks of St. Peter's, and obtain their permission to let the body of St. Ivan lay in state within their walls. He had some difficulty in this, and it was only by promising to pay a handsome sum for watching the body, and for prayers against sorcerers, that he could prevail upon that bigotted body to grant him his request. The next thing was to look for the hermit. Bishop Goldwell had sanctioned the Mayor's search for various articles of value, and had given permission to remove the body of St. Ivan.

Lord De Freston and his men were the first to pass over the moat in boats to search the ruins, whilst hundreds collected on the banks to see the removal of the body, which was found erect, against the very pillar upon which he had leaned when he died. A cross-beam had fallen against the top of the pillar so as to form a shield over him. A mass of rubbish, of brick-work, broken tiles, glass, and furniture had to be removed before the corpse could be taken out There was a placid serenity, even in death, upon the face his form was stiff, and the silvery locks fluttered over his features as they moved him through the ruins.

His bearers were awe-struck with the downfall of that princely palace; and, not quite satisfied in their own minds that some of the standing portions of the building might not fall upon their heads, they made what haste they could to Lord De Freston's boat.

Curiosity excited some to pass over the broken walls; and a desire to possess relics of Wykes' Bishop's Palace instigated others. The occasional slip of some congregated mass terrified the pilferers and made them hasten from danger.

When the corpse of St. Ivan was removed to the boat, the Mayor gave orders that none but authorised workmen should be permitted to pass the bounds of the moat, and that a clerk should give an exact account of the articles found for the use of the Town Clerk and the Bishop's Secretary.

De Freston's care was now to convey the body to St. Peter's Priory, there to have it lay in state until all things should be ordered for the funeral.

It was not without great bribes that it was admitted within the precincts of the Priory, but the monks were not insensible to the costly gifts of De Freston, and of Edmund Daundy; nor insensible to the use that might be made among the common people of the fame of St. Ivan. He was, therefore, admitted, embalmed with all due ceremony, and candles were dedicated to the altar for St. Ivan. Priests had to pray for his soul's release from purgatory. A solemn requiem was sung in the chapel, and during the six days' rest in the Priory costly dedications were made to the shrine of St. Peter, at the expense of the nobleman and his friends, who were only anxious that decent respect should be paid to his memory.

How different are the customs of different periods relative to the burial of the dead; how different, likewise, in different countries! That decency should be observed, every Christian will freely acknowledge and where society is formed upon true principles of piety, all these things will be done with propriety; but it is better to have the prayers of the poor destitute than to build the most splendid mausoleum in the world. The heart of one good man is of more real value than the whole fabric of St. Peter's at Rome.

Lord De Freston was not ashamed to show to the world that he considered the old man worthy of the customary Christian burial which, at that time, was bestowed upon the nobles of the land. Hence his preparations were made upon a corresponding scale.

The seventh evening was appointed for the funeral. It was agreed that he should be buried by torchlight at the Priory of Augustine Monks, beneath the shrine of St. Peter, at the altar of Alneshborne Chapel. Lord Ivan De Wykes, as the family were originally called when the estates were conveyed to the See of Norwich, had great possessions in Dorsetshire and Cambridgeshire, as well as in Essex and Suffolk; but retaining only certain estates at Linton and Ipswich, the name of Wykes was dropped and Ivan De Linton substituted. These things were known to De Freston when the old man first spoke to him concerning his titles and family. It might be on this account as well that he chose to pay him every mark of outward respect. He had learnt something of Ivan's private history in conversation with him, and found that much of his eccentricity arose from a disappointment of the heart in early life.

The long procession of boats with torches was collected at the quay of St. Peter's Priory. There were twelve belonging to the Mayor and burgesses; four to the Prior of St. Peter's; Daundy's, Sparrow's, and Wolsey's barge, and others among the common people who chose to accompany the procession with muffled oars, five miles down the river, to the vale of Alneshborne. At midnight, the procession, headed by De Freston's boat, with himself and his friend Latimer, started at the sound of the solemn bells, which, from the various religious houses, gave forth their mournful note. They were all muffled. Torches were seen in the towers; and along the river side the glare of one hundred and sixty torches upon the waters showed a long array of mourning pomp. The body lay exalted on a large flat-bottomed boat, and was towed by the sailors, who were appointed to bear the coffin from its deck. They were seated in another boat, belonging to the Priory. Four portmen, ten burgesses, and a numerous company of priests and choristers brought up the procession. Their lengthened notes came swelling over the waters as they chanted the requiem of the departed.

It was a dark night, the waters were gloomy, the banks of the river seemed in mourning, the clouds looked as if they were gathering to weep, and save the wild note of the curlew as the torch-light disturbed her upon the ooze, one mile down the river, all was profoundly mournful.

De Freston's men were well acquainted with the river, and as the lights from the town began to grow dim, and the sound of the tolling bells distant, and their oars were muffled, a solemn stillness made a feeling of awe creep over their frames, as they thought of the hermit whom they were escorting to his last cave. As they passed the long hanging wood which bent to the waters, then termed Long Island, since corrupted into Hog Island, the startled cormorants rose in succession from their roosting-places, and filled the air with their hoarse chaunt. Darker and darker grew the banks, and still darker spread the clouds above, as the train swept slowly along. The distant turrets of Alneshborne Priory became visible, and soon after torches were seen to glare upon the waters' edge; and the fraternity of monks were visible awaiting the arrival of the funeral.

As the boats approached the sandy strand against the creek of Alneshborne, the whole brotherhood assembled to receive the monks of St. Peter's and Lord De Freston; and along the shore a solemn chaunt arose from the choristers as the men eased down the coffin of St. Ivan from the deck of the barge.

Chaunt.

Holy brethren, we are come Here to bring St. Ivan home; Take him, take him, holy men, As St. Peter's denizen. Alma Mater! Sancte Pater! En et ecce! Ecce en!

Holy brethren! now we mourn, Hear us, monks of Alneshborne! Take St. Ivan, take him then, For St. Peter's denizen. Alma Mater! Sancte Pater! En et ecce! Ecce en!

Holy brethren! pity take, For the Great St. Peter's sake; Lay St. Ivan in your glen, As St. Peter's denizen. Alma Mater! Sancte Pater! En et ecce! Ecce en!

The venerable brethren received Lord De Freston and the mourners with due solemnity, and made the following response to the chaunt of St. Peter's priests.

The Response.

Welcome, welcome, to our shrine, Here St. Ivan may recline; Bring him onward, on his way, Holy friars of orders gray. Ora! ora! Sine Morâ! For St. Ivan, brothers, pray.

Here the saint shall taste repose, Here the tomb shall o'er him close. Whilst we sing his resting lay, Holy friar of orders gray! Ora! ora! Sine Morâ! For St. Ivan we will pray.

Welcome he who comes in peace, Here his honours shall not cease; We will chaunt them night and day, Bear him, brothers, on his way. Ora! ora! Sine Morâ! Thus we chaunt St. Ivan's lay.

The procession was then formed, headed by the monks of the place, and by the whole body of the fraternity of St. Peter's. Then came the bier, on each side of which walked six burgesses, Lord De Freston following as chief mourner. Then Latimer, and the various friends, townsmen, and acquaintances, who, as much out of respect for the living Lord De Freston as for the dead St. Ivan, attended the costly funeral. There was Robert Wulsey, as it was then written. He was an old man, and certainly would have been much better at rest in his own house in St. Nicholas, than braving the midnight air to gratify his friend, De Freston. So grateful did he feel to him for the interest he had taken in his son Thomas, that as soon as Daundy mentioned the subject to him, and told him that it would be a compliment which De Freston would feel, he actually resolved, let the cost be what it might, to attend the funeral of St. Ivan. The cost, as the sequel will prove, was as much an any man could pay.

The corpse was borne to the chapel, which then stood beyond the walls of the Priory, in a small secluded glen, near the bright stream which flowed into the moat, and thence down to the waves of the Orwell. The torches illumined the glen, and when they all entered the little chapel, a person outside might have supposed that the building was on fire, so glaring was the accumulated light of so many torches. In front of the altar was the family vault of De Freston. Amidst the chaunts of the assembled priests, the body was lowered into the vault, the ceremony was concluded, and De Freston alone, with only the candles burning upon the altar, was left to watch, according to his vow, till the morning matin-bell should permit him to open the chapel door.

It may seem singular that a person like Lord De Freston should submit to such unnecessary devotion, but he had made a vow to do it himself, and he was not a man to turn aside from any purpose he had once resolved to put in practice. It was in vain that the elder brother of the monastery offered himself to exonerate him from his vow, and to supply his place. He was determined: consequently the whole body of attendants had to leave him in the chapel. He charged Latimer to return to the castle, and not to think of coming over the waters again until the morning-bell should be heard from the Tower of Alneshborne Priory. The mourners, therefore, retraced their way, the burgesses and townsmen up the waves of the Orwell, and the last to leave his friend was William Latimer, who promised to return at the time appointed. Taking leave of the friendly Augustines, he ordered his rowers to unmuffle their oars and make the best of their way across the tide. A light was to burn all night in the fifth story of Freston Tower. The mourners separated, and their torches were seen quickly ascending the waves of the Orwell, and Lord De Freston was alone in the chapel of Alneshborne.