serting that the owners of the meadows abounded sufficiently in temporal wealth. And when, at last, those nobles to whom the lands belonged had been brought into the king's presence, he spoke to them of selling the fields. And as he heard that they abounded in every kind of riches, " You do not abound," said the king, " so greatly, but that you may be made to abound still more. We will become purchasers of your lands, not according to their valuation, but at the price at which you are willing to sell them. Nor will there be any difficulty about the price, though there is no option about the sale." When they heard these words, they all yielded to covetousneas, and •received from the king a price for their meadows, according to their will. And when the purchase had been completed, the king consecrated those meadows, and with royal munificence confirmed the enjoyment of them to all strangers who should pass by, that all foreigners who were in that place for a time, should have grass and hay sufficient for the food of their beasts, without any payment, for ever, in consequence of the royal beneficence. Then when the money for the purchase of the fields had been paid, the king set out from that place, and proceeded to Rome, where he reached the wished-for threshold of the Apostles, and traversed the places consecrated to the different Saints with pious devotion. Then he explained to the Supreme Pontiff Adrian the object of his visit, and in a spirit of devotion addressing to him his entreaties respecting àie canonization of the place, and of the blessed Alban, and respecting the building of a monastery, he easily inclined the Roman court to grant his petition, especially on the ground that the discovery of the martyr's body had been brought about by Divine revelation. Then he consulted the court on the subject of the foundation of the monastery, and its emancipation from all subjection to bishops ; and the Roman Pontiff gave him the following answer : " My most beloved son, Offa, most mighty king of the English, we exceedingly commend your devotion about the proto-martyr of your kingdom, and we gladly give assent to your request and proposal of building a monastery and endowing it with privileges, enjoining you, for the remission of your sins, that when you return to your own land, you shall, by the advice of your bishops and nobles, confer on the monastery of the blessed Alban whatever possessions or privileges you choose ; and when you have