here
are still the courts and cloisters and the chapel of the monks, and the
stateroom of the great noble; the boys' playground (picture 2 shows us
a little bit of it,) is the square round which once stood the monks'
quiet cells; in the chapel we may see the tomb of the Founder, Sir
Thomas Sutton; indeed, both the Founders, Sir Thomas Sutton and Sir
Walter Manny, lie buried there.

{29}

IV.

TWO FAMOUS CHARITIES

Turn to picture 8; this is the ancient church of St. Bartholomew the
Great. In it, on the north side of the altar, is an old old tomb on
which lies a stone figure in a quaint dress; it is the tomb of Rahere,
said to be the founder of the church and of the great Hospital of St.
Bartholomew near-by.

This is the story of Rahere:--He was born in France in the reign of
William the Conqueror. Early in the twelfth century he was in England,
and he was often at the Courts of the Red King and of Henry I. We are
told that he was "a pleasant-witted gentleman, and therefore in his
time called the Kinge's Minstrell"; indeed, the old chronicler seems to
think he led an idle foolish life. If this is true, he certainly
repented before long, for he became a pilgrim and made the long and
difficult journey to Rome to visit there the places where the Apostles
St. Peter and St. Paul were martyred. In Rome he fell ill, and when he
was getting better he vowed he would make a hospital "yn re-creacion
(that is, re-creation or healing) of poure men."

And now wonderful things happened. In a dream or vision Rahere saw the
Apostle Bartholomew, who said to him such words as these:--"Build not
only a {30} hospital but also a church, and build them in Smithfield by
the City of London." So Rahere went home, called together the citizens
of London, and told them what he meant to do. And they answered, "This
is a hard thing to compass for Smithfield lieth within the King's
market."

Rahere then went to King Henry I. and told him his story, and the King
gave him the land he needed,--such land! wet and marshy, "moorish
land," an old writer says, "heretofore a common," where the Londoners
used to fling out the rubbish and dirt of their city. On this land, in
the year 1123, Rahere began to build his hospital, which he called
after the Apostle who had appeared to him; and later, as that Apostle
had bidden him, he built a Priory; the church you see in picture 8 is
part of its church.

Who helped Rahere to do all this? The