Catharine; it had never been published; they did not know whether the venerable abbot had such intent or not.  Stephen declares the spies themselves brought the book into the library.  However, the abbot was chained to a cart and taken to London.  The abbey had immense wealth; every Wednesday and Friday it fed and lodged three hundred boys; it was esteemed very highly in the neighborhood and received large donations from the knights in the vicinity.  The abbot was accused of treason for concealing the sacred vessels; he was old, deaf, and sick, but was allowed no counsel.  He asked permission to take leave of his monks, and many little orphans; Russell and Layton only laughed.  The people heard of his captivity and determined “to deliver or avenge” their favorite, but Russell hanged half a dozen of them and declared that “law, order and loyalty were vindicated.”  Whiting’s body was quartered, and the pieces sent to Wells, Bath, Chester and Bridgewater, while his head, adorned with his gray hairs clotted by blood, was hung over the abbey gate.

The Report of the Commissioners

The original report of the commissioners does not exist.  Burnet declares that he saw an extract from it, concerning one hundred and forty-four houses, which contained the most revolting revelations.  Many of the commissioners’ letters and various documents touching the suppression have been collected and published by the Camden Society.  Waiving, for the present, the inquiry into the truth of the report, it was in substance as follows: 

The commissioners reported about one-third of the houses to be fairly well conducted, some of them models of excellent management and pure living; but the other two-thirds were charged with looseness beyond description.  The number of inmates in some cloisters was kept below the required number, that there might be more money to divide among the monks.  The number of servants sometimes exceeded that of the monks.  Abbots bought and sold land in a fraudulent manner; gifts for hospitality were misapplied; licentiousness, gaming and drinking prevailed extensively.  Crime and absolution for gold went hand in hand.  One friar was said to have been the proud father of an illegitimate family of children, but he had in his possession a forged license from the pope, who permitted his wandering, “considering his frailty.”  Froude, in commenting upon the report, says:  “If I were to tell the truth, I should have first to warn all modest eyes to close the book and read no farther.”

All sorts of pious frauds were revealed.  At Hales the monks claimed to have the blood of Christ brought from Jerusalem, and not visible to anyone in mortal sin until he had performed good works, or, in other words, paid enough for his absolution.  Two monks took the blood of a duck, which they renewed every week; this they put into a phial, one side of which consisted of a thin, transparent crystal; the other thick and opaque; the dark side was shown until the