Book Two - Chapter 17

[The Middle English version of the manuscript heads this Chapter XVIII, thus slipping a number in error.]

Of a certain merchant.

At the time when Henry the Second, King of England, was besieging Wales with a mighty hand [ie. AD1157], there happened a remarkable miracle and one worthy to be related. A certain man of Colchester, having obtained an opportunity of carrying out what he had set his heart upon, was eager to bring such of his goods as would be required by the army for the siege, and by offering them for sale at his own price he gained much money in a short time and he carefully disposed of it on his person. This same man also had a few pence which, according to a vow, he owed to the church of the blessed Bartholomew, yet he kept these by him for the purpose of multiplying them by frequent dealings and at an opportune time of bringing to the church what he had vowed and all that should have accrued thereto. So when he was disposed to return to his friends and the requirements of his journey compelled him to cross by water, suspecting no evil, he embarked on a ship with others, and when they set sail he set his money beneath his head and fell asleep. Meanwhile, one of the passengers noticed the money and overcome with covetousness he secretly and thievishly purloined it, and when they came to port hid it under a stone not far from the harbour. The man, when aroused, sought his property and, not finding it, questioned his fellows whether anyone in jest or in earnest had taken it. They repaid his questioning with reproaches, indignant that he should accuse of theft those whom he held in faithful friendship. So when he found that human aid was altogether refused him, he betook himself wholeheartedly to divine help, and, groaning in spirit and shedding tears for grief, he ceased not to implore the mercy of the most blessed apostle Bartholomew. And, lo, in the silence of the dark night the glorious apostle of God appeared to him in a vision as he slept and conversed with him at length in this manner --

"Oh, man," (said he) "why callest thou unceasingly to me and ceasest not to disturb me with thy troublesome cries?"

To this he said --

"Thou knowest, and knowest well, lord, the cause of my crying and there is no need for me to disclose the manner of my loss which I have so often repeated with frequent sighs and weeping and wailing before thy face. For it is not hid from thy pity how from what joy to what grief, from what great riches to what poverty, I am come by this sudden misfortune, and, lo, there remains no relief in my great trouble; no further device is open to me; from thee alone I was hoping that consolation should come to me. Do thou then, if thou canst -- as indeed thou canst -- pity me and help me."

And the saint --

"The money, the loss of which thou lamentest, thou didst gain wrongfully, and in claiming to have it restored by my assistance thou art wishing to make me a partner of thy crime. By how just a sentence of God hast thou lost it, in that enriching thyself thou fearedst not to plunder others. Now mayest thou begin to be in want and let others hold and spend thy riches. For ye merchants, men of faithless heart, forsakers of equity and truth, and who neither reverence God nor have compassion on your neighbours, ye defraud all men with your guile [Ecclesiasticus xxvi, 29] and by your oaths calling on God and His saints ye make them witnesses to your infamy; ye empty the purses of others that ye may fill your own. Who, then, ought to have mercy on you, who are found to be wretched through your evil dealing yet not worthy of pity?"

"My lord," -- said he -- "even if I gained the money wrongfully, yet I had determined to devote some part of it to good objects, and had purposed with that part to visit thy church and to repay those who serve thee."

"Herein" -- said he -- is your foolish madness and your mad folly in that after ye have robbed the poor with your manifold wiles ye set apart for the honour of God some of the plunder of the poor, that thereby ye may abide the more safely in your sin, and ye think that in that manner ye are pleasing God. But the Lord holds in hatred plunder for a burnt offering, nor do the gifts of such as ye are please Him better than the hire of a whore or the price of a dog [Deut. xxiii 18], or as if one were to sacrifice a son to his father. Howsoever, wherein boastest thou, and when didst thou visit my church?"

"I wished and often purposed to do so" -- said he -- "but I was cumbered by divers different matters of business and was unable to go thither."

And the saint answered --

"When all things abounded for thee, thou hadst not time to go to church, to pray to God to redeem thy sins. Now that thou are unencumbered, having no hindrance and fearing no danger, thou wilt be able to go safely whithersoever thou shalt desire."

"And now, lord" -- he answered -- "shall I have the boldness to seek thy glorious temple and to appear empty-handed in the sight of God and of thee?"

"Man," -- said he -- "I need not thy gifts, the grace of God supplies me with sufficient to provide for the necessities of my clerks and I am not powerless to give food to my servants."

"Shall, then, my iniquity, good my lord," -- said he -- "prevail over thy plenteous gentleness? Behold, before thee I repent of my sins, I promise amendment, I vow that I will bring to thy church what I formerly promised and more."

To this the apostle replied --

"And I, on this condition, will not indeed betray the guilty one by name, but I will advise thee from whom thy money is to be recovered. He of thy fellows who lately yielded vanquished in trial of battle [duellio: the duelliuum was the legal ordeal by battle] secretly took thy money and hitherto has kept it undiminished, for I prevented it from being lessened at all because I had known beforehand that thou wouldst call upon me and by me recover thy loss."

At these words the conversation and the vision had an end. The man, aroused, anxiously turned over and over in his mind what he had seen and heard and carefully examined the life and deeds of his fellows, but could not come to any sure conclusion by himself. At length he settled in his wavering mind to seek out a priest learned through the scriptures in visions of this kind and to take his advice as to what should be done in the matter. On being consulted the priest bade him lay aside all doubt and believe what he had heard, saying that it was impossible that it should turn out otherwise than the apostle had said. So they both decided to meet one of the king's officers, seeing that to such men are well known things that happen in divers places and that they are frequently concerned with pleas, quarrels, challenges, and trials [the king's officer might reasonably be expected to know of the above trial and challenge]. Therefore they together approached the provost of that place and induced him by promises to be favourable to them and explained to him privately the whole dark tale of the matter. By his diligent search the man was found and brought to a secret place and was accused by the priest, in the presence only of the provost and the plaintiff. The priest asked and urged him to restore the money which he had taken from beneath the sleeper's head, asserting that he had been informed by a witness who was so truthful that by common consent he could not lie. If he would listen to their advice he should depart unharmed, but, if he should refuse, the king's officer would arrest him as a thief and deliver him to the judges to be sentenced. He straightway, full of fear, led the priest aside and, confessing his fault, restored the money with the number of the coins complete, and departed without having suffered any harm. In this manner the aforesaid man, through the blessed Bartholomew, recovered what had been taken from him, and afterwards coming to his church offered that which he had vowed and declared openly in order to the brethren what things had been done concerning him.

 

The Book of the Foundation of St. Bartholomew's, Smithfield Rendered into Modern English from the original Latin version preserved in the British Museum, numbered Vespasian B. IX, by Mr. Humphrey H. King and Mr. William Barnard for use in the Records of St. Bartholomew's Priory by E.A. Webb.

Rahere's Garden Home tbird's home page Photographs and text copyright Tina Bird, 2003-2008 Last modified 12 December 2008