of the
_British Bibliographer_. And to supply the deficiency of any
extract from them, in this place, take, kind-hearted reader,
the following--which I have gleaned from Eadmer's account of
St. Dunstan, as incorporated in Wharton's
_Anglia-Sacra_--and which would not have been inserted could
I have discovered any thing in the same relating to
book-presents to Canterbury cathedral.--"Once on a time, the
king went a hunting early on Sunday morning; and requested
the Archbishop to postpone the celebration of the mass till
he returned. About three hours afterwards, Dunstan went into
the cathedral, put on his robes, and waited at the altar in
expectation of the king--where, reclining with his arms in a
devotional posture, he was absorbed in tears and prayers. A
gentle sleep suddenly possessed him; he was snatched up into
heaven; and in a vision associated with a company of angels,
whose harmonious voices, chaunting _Kyrie eleyson, Kyrie
eleyson, Kyrie eleyson_, burst upon his ravished ears! He
afterwards came to himself, and demanded whether or not the
king had arrived? Upon being answered in the negative, he
betook himself again to his prayers, and, after a short
interval, was once more absorbed in celestial extasies, and
heard a loud voice from heaven saying--_Ite, missa est_. He
had no sooner returned thanks to God for the same, when the
king's clerical attendants cried out that his majesty had
arrived, and entreated Dunstan to dispatch the mass. But he,
turning from the altar, declared that the mass had been
already celebrated; and that no other mass should be
performed during that day. Having put off his robes, he
enquired of his attendants into the truth of the
transaction; who told him what had happened. Then, assuming
a magisterial power, he prohibited the king, in future, from
hunting on a Sunday; and taught his disciples the _Kyrie
eleyson_, which he had heard in heaven: hence this
ejaculation, in many places, now obtains as a part of the
mass service." Tom. ii., p. 217. What shall we say to "the
amiable and elegant Eadmer" for this valuable piece of
biographical information?--"The face of things was so
changed by the endeavours of Dunstan, and his master,
Ethelwald, that in a short time learning was generally
resto