For Father John there was plenty to do; he could gather the children of the tenants into one of the barns, and teach them to read. He could also carry on the service in the church, which stood on the edge of the monastery grounds. It had been built for the village by one of his ancestors, so that Sir Miles considered that he had a perfect right to use this still, without waiting for the decree of the commissioners concerning the rest of the land.
However, he did not have to wait very long for this, and it was altogether more favourable than he expected. The Vicar-General would send an agent to examine the documents upon which Sir Miles Paton based his claim; and if he found them to be as they were represented, the land would be handed over to Sir Miles, upon such terms as the commissioners should deem equitable. Nor did he have to wait very long for the arrival of this agent, for in the course of the following week he came from Oxford, to test the validity and genuineness of the original parchments contained in the casket.
To his great astonishment, Sir Miles found that this man knew all about his past life, and what was going on at Paton Hall,—how he had received and treated the monks when they were expelled.
It simply amazed Sir Miles to hear how all his movements were known, until he reflected that this of espionage that was doubtless part of the system was now carried to such lengths, that no man and no home was safe from its inquisition. Fortunately for him, the Reformation, which he had helped to bring about through his help to Master Tyndale, was no longer a barrier to the favour of the King and his council; and the Vicar-General so far approved of his system of making men work wherever it was possible, that, by the advice of the council, he was ready to hand over all the land belonging to the monastery, providing he was willing to undertake that those who could work he would employ in some way or other, and that the aged, who were no longer capable of working, he would feed and nourish so long as they should live. He was also to provide a stipend for the priest of the parish, and that the said priest should also teach the children of the village the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments in English, and also to teach the reading of the English tongue where it was possible.
"Why, it is just what I should desire to do!" exclaimed Sir Miles, when his visitor read over the conditions, which he understood had been drawn up by Cromwell himself. "You may assure the Vicar-General that the monastery lands shall be let out at a low rental among the monks themselves, and that they shall have all the help needful to establish themselves as yeomen among the other tenants."
"My lord knows that his will in that particular will be carried out," said his visitor; "and if we can only dispose of the other monasteries in a like fashion, it will be good for all who are concerned in the matter." He stayed for a day to see how Sir Miles had disposed of the land that had descended to him at his father's death; and the look of the thriving little homesteads, and the village itself, was an assurance to the agent that this monastery land would be well used under Sir Miles Paton.
[CHAPTER XXVIII.]
CONCLUSION.
IF the disposal of the monastery lands in general had only been conducted with the fairness and consideration observed at St. Margaret's, the social condition of England in those days would not have sunk to the depth of misery it did, nor would there have been the bitter opposition to the new faith, which was aroused by the scandalous way in which the lands and revenues were either seized by the King himself, or portioned out among his favourites and courtiers.
It must be borne in mind, too, that it was all done in the name of the Reformation, whereas true reformers, like Cranmer and Latimer, advocated that when the disinherited monks and nuns had been provided for, the wealth remaining should be used in the founding of schools, and the promotion of learning at the different universities.