the presence of God, and that to His divine honour and glory they must dedicate every action, thought, and word, and every moment of their lives; that without this interior consecration of themselves, all their outward actions, however holy and praiseworthy, will avail them nothing.

"As has been already said, the Cistercian Abbey of St. Bernard, in Charnwood Forest, was founded in the year 1835-a tract of wild desert land having been purchased for that purpose from Thomas Gisborne, Esq., M.P. for the county of Derby, of which not more than from thirty to forty acres were in a state of cultivation when the Monks entered upon it. This house is an affiliation from the Abbey of Melleraye in Brittany, in France, and is at present subject to the jurisdiction of the Very Rev. Vincent Ryan, Abbot of the Cistercian Abbey of Mount Melleraye, in Ireland, which is also an affiliation of that same house.

"The Monks who commenced this foundation were the Reverend Father Odilo Woolfrey, Presbyter; Father Bernard Palmer, Presbyter; Brother Luke, Brother Xavier, and Brother Augustine, Lay Brethren. They lived for more than a year in a miserable cottage, the roof of which was in a most ruinous condition, so that they were exposed to all the inclemency of the weather. But after this, by the charitable gifts of the Faithful, they built a humble Monastery and Chapel, together with some farm buildings; these buildings are intended to form the Abbey Grange.

"In the year 1839 the Earl of Shrewsbury made a most munificent gift to the Monks of St. Bernard's, which enabled them to build a very beautiful Monastery at the foot of the large rock on their land, which is now termed the Calvary; this Monastery is built in the early Lancet Gothic style, under the directions of Augustus Welby Pugin, Esq., the most celebrated Gothic Architect since the middle ages. It is situated in a picturesque valley, surrounded on all sides by great rocks, and perfectly secluded from the world.

"The Monks are well skilled in agriculture, and they have succeeded in bringing a large tract of desert land into good cultivation. They are very charitable to the poor, many hundreds of whom, from the neighbouring villages, receive daily relief at the Convent gate. It is a part of the Cistercian rule to give hospitality to strangers, for whom comfortable apartments are provided in the Abbey."

To add much to this "simple narrative" would be superfluous; but it is right to say that Mount St. Bernard, whether as offering a fair picture of Monastic life, or as embellishing scenery of singular wildness and beauty, or as presenting the somewhat unusual occurrence of a partial re-possession of a district in which, three centuries ago, there were four similar Institutions, has of late been an object of great and increasing curiosity-strangers from all parts of the kingdom have visited it during the last and present summer-it has this year been honoured with a Royal visit. And, however differing in creed, it must be owned that few leave the spot without finding their prejudices somewhat softened by the bland and courteous welcome of the lowly Cistercians.

High Cademan, of which a view is given, the Sharpley rocks, and the whole of the range from that point to Timberwood, afford a picture of rugged wildness rarely to be met with in the neighbourhood of a highly cultivated district.

* So states "An Appeal to the Catholics of England.”—Dolman, 1842.

BARDON.

BARDON PARK, situated on the south-west side of Charnwood, is one of the fifteen ancient Parks which, as has before been stated, formerly encircled the whole Forest. In the Inclosure Survey the Forest boundary is made to exclude the whole of this Park, but it has already been shown, under Whitwick, that a considerable part of it was originally within the Forest-[" infra Forestam."]

This domain contains 1225 acres, and was imparked previously to 1300, as is proved by an Inquisition on the death of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan (see page 144, under Whitwick), to whose mother, Elizabeth, daughter of Roger de Quincy, it appears to have come as part of her share in the partition of the inheritance. From this it may be concluded that it was a part of the possessions of Grentemaisnell. In 1312 Master William Comyn, the Earl's youngest brother, obtained inter alia a grant of Whytwyke, with the Park of Bardon in fee.* It then passed by marriage of William Comyn's niece to Henry Lord Beaumont, and probably continued in that family till the attainder of Viscount Beaumont, in 1461. In 1528 King Henry VIII. granted it to Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset. It again reverted to the Crown in 1552, on the attainder of Henry Duke of Suffolk.

In 1569 Queen Elizabeth granted to Sir Henry Hastings, Knt., and Henry Cutler, Gent. (with the manor of Whitwick), "Bardon Park, in Charnwood Forest and without;" by whom it was alienated to the family of Hood, originally seated at Wilford, near Nottingham, but resident at Bardon in the time of Henry VIII., though not seised thereof till the reign of Elizabeth. In the male line of this family Bardon Park remained till the death of the last possessor, William Hood, Esq., Barrister at Law, by whom it was bequeathed to his nephew Robert Jacomb, Esq., who has since assumed by Royal License the name and arms of Hood. This gentleman, the present justly-esteemed proprietor of the estate, has lately pulled down the ancient Hall, and erected (from the beautiful designs of Robert Lugar, Esq.) a new mansion, on a more elevated situation, about half a mile from the seat of his ancestors. The character and style of the new house may be considered Elizabethan, formed on a limited scale of accommodation, and of simple decoration, in accordance with the wishes of the owner. Backed by the far-famed hill, and looking over the gentle slopes of the Park-like grounds in front, Bardon Hall, when viewed from the Ashby road, has an imposing effect. STANTON-UNDER-BARDON (called in a Grant of Ernald de Bois [West Goscote, p. 815] "Stantona de sub Monte Bardonâ") is a small township belonging to Thornton, lying south of the hill from which it takes its name. The Queen is Lady of the Manor, and Charles March Phillipps, Esq., and the Earl of Stamford, are the principal proprietors. The whole of the lordship was conferred by William Harcourt, in 1148, on Garendon Abbey: and the large part of it, now in the possession of Mr. March Phillipps, passed to his ancestor, Sir Ambrose, from the Duke of Buckingham, with the other estates connected with Garendon, at the Dissolution.

BATTLE FLAT, a manor of 180 acres, of which the Marquis of Hastings is Lord, and Thomas Roby Burgin, Esq., chief proprietor, is in this township. It is said a battle took place here between the Royalists and Parliamentarians, in 1645.

Pat 6 Edward II., pars 2, m. 5.