On the same day, that is to say, on the ninth day before the calends of December, the body of Hugh, bishop of Lincoln, -was carried to Lincoln, for the purpose of being buried there ; on •which, John, king of England, and the above-named three archbishops, and thirteen bishops, together -with the said earls and barons, went forth to meet it, and received the body ; and the king himself, with the earls and barons, carried the body on their shoulders to the porch of the cathedral church, rejoicing in thus showing obedience to God and to his blessed minister. At the door of the church the above-named archbishops and bishops received the body, and then it was carried on the shoulders of the priests into the choir, where it remained for the night. AVbile the service of the dead was being performed around it, a certain woman, who for seven years had been blind of one eye, recovered her [perfect] sight. There too a certain cut-purse cut away the purse belonging to a woman, immediately upon which both his hands became contracted, and he stood motionless, crying aloud, and saying,7 0 "I repent, alas! if belief is ever accorded to any of the wretched, 1 repent, and am tortured by my deeds. I, who confess that torments still more severe are by me deserved, though hardly can I endure them more severe. And yet, although this punishment is merited by my deeds ; still, great hopes have I in the mercy"of God. Hope it is that makes even thedelver,7 1 chained with the fetter, to live on, and to fancy that from even the iron his legs will be released. Hope it is that, when on every side no land he sees, makes the shipwrecked sailor still strike out in the midst of the waves. Full oft has the skilful care of the physicians abandoned him, whom, as the pulse died away, hope did not forsake. Those in prison fast enclosed are said to look for the day of safety, and many a one as he hangs on the cross, still breathes forth his vows. Lo, hope ! how many, when around the neck they have W This extempore confession of the Cut-purse, consists of nine Pentameter couplets, beginning " Pcenitet, O, si quid miserorum creditur nlli, Pœnitet, et facto torqueor ipse meo." Roger of Wendover is content to leave him to speak in plain prose only, and to the following effect. " Pity me, pity me, ye friends of God ; for I renounce Satan and his works, to whom I have till now been a slave ; and pray to the Lord for me, that He may not confound me in my penitence, but may rather deal compassionately with me." " " — ut vivat fossor quoque compede vinctus." This poetical thief must have been a reader of Ovid ; there is an allusion in these words to the Tristia, B. iv. El. i. 1.1.