which the Lord Jesus, out of his undeserved mercy, has bestowed on us, sent some gifts to your metropolitan cities, and for your own beloved highness we have thought proper to send one belt, one Hungarian sword, and two silk robes. Farewell!" The same year, as is the opinion of many writers, Offa, the magnificent king of Mercia, having built a most truly noble monastery, after the discovery of the body of the blessed Alban, in the town which is called Offseleia, died, and his body was borne to the town of Bedford, and is said to have been buried with royal magnificence in a chapel outside the town, built on the banks of the river Usk. And to this day the report of nearly all the people of that district affirme, that the aforesaid chapel was destroyed by length of time and by the violence of the river, and was, together with the royal sepulchre, by the rapidity of the stream thrown down into the water ; and in consequence, even to the present day, that sepulchre is at times clearly seen in the deep water by men who bathe in the river there in the summer, while at other times, as if there were some fate about it, if you seek for it ever so carefully, you cannot find it. That most valiant king, Offa, was succeeded in his kingdom by Egfrid, his son, who in his father's life-time had reigned with him as his colleague for eight years ; therefore, as soon as Egfrid, who was an excellent youth, and endowed with great nobleness of disposition, was confirmed in his kingdom, he, treading in the pious footsteps of his father, devoutly gave to the church of the blessed Alban, the proto-martvr of the English, many estates and possessions, and by his special decree confirmed them, and all the other estates which his father had given to the aforesaid church, in the enjoyment of all the royal privileges which it now has, or which a king can confer on any church. And in order that his donation might have the force of perpetual duration, he, according to the custom of the Roman Church, added to the deed the subscription of all the bishops, and counts, and barons of his empire, and also the sign of the cross. And, moreover, avoiding in all things to imitate the covetousness of his father, he with ready devotion rescued all the different possessions of which he had stripped any monastery, with a view to the exaltation of his own kingdom, and he by a special decree confirmed their possessions to all who requested such a measure.