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The bed-ridden sick were enjoined to raise themselves, and say Matins in their bed; and for those who were still weaker, "let them rest in peace." During Lent and Advent, all the brethren were required to receive corporal discipline three days in the week, and the sisters in like manner.

From the rules of the Lazar House of SS. Mary and Erkemould, at Ilford in Essex, which accommodated 13 Lepers--we learn, in 1336, that the inmates were ordered "to preserve silence, and, if able, to hear Mass and Matins throughout, and whilst there, to be intent on prayer and devotion. In the hospital, every day, each shall say for morning duty a Pater-noster and Ave Maria thirteen times; and for the other hours of the day--1st, 3rd, and 6th of Vespers; and again, at the hour of concluding service, a Pater-noster and Ave Maria seven times; besides the aforesaid prayers each Leper shall say a Pater-noster and Ave Maria thirty times every day, for the founder of the Hospital--the Abbess of Barking, 1190--the Bishop of the place, all his benefactors, and all other true believers, living or dead; and on the day on which any one of their number departs from life, let each Leprous brother say in addition, fifty Paters and Aves three times, for the soul of the departed, and the souls of all diseased believers." Punishment was meted out to any who neglected or shirked these duties.

As soon as a man became a prey to the disease, his doom on earth was finally and irrevocably sealed. The laws, both civil and ecclesiastical, were awful in their severity to the poor Leper; not only was he cut off from the society of his fellow-men, and all family ties severed, but, he was dead to the law, he could not inherit property, or be a witness to any deed. According to English law Lepers were classed with idiots, madmen, outlaws, etc.

After the service he was again sprinkled with Holy Water, and led from thence to the Lazar House, destined for his future, and final abode, here on earth.

A pair of clappers, a stick, a barrel, and a distinctive dress were given to him. The costume comprised a russet tunic, and upper tunic with hood cut from it, so that the sleeves of the tunic were closed as far as the hand, but not laced with knots or thread after the secular fashion of the day. The upper tunic was to be closed down to the ankles, and a close cape of black cloth of the same length as the hood, for outside use.

A particular form of boot or shoe, laced high, was also enjoined, and if these orders were disobeyed the culprit was condemned to walk bare-footed, until the Master, considering his humility said to him "enough." An oath of obedience and a promise to lead a moral and abstemious life was required of every Leper on admission. The Bishops of Rome from time to time issued Bulls, with regard to the ecclesiastical separation and rights of the afflicted.

The Magistrates of Glasgow, in 1573, appeared to have exercised some right of searching for Lepers.ing so shall have arrivn, makes frequent allusions to "Lepers under the hedges."

It was customary in the mediaeval times to address the secular clergy as "Sir."

STATUS OF LEPERS.

First amongst our ancient and illustrious families, we find--if he may be so classed--the case of S. Finian, who died 675 or 695.

A nobleman of the South of England, whose name unfortunately is not recorded, is reputed to have been miraculously cured at the tomb of S. Cuthbert, at Durham, 1080.

In 1203 in the King's Court, a dispute was heard respecting a piece of land in Sudton, Kent, between two kinswomen--Mabel, daughter of William Fitz-Fulke, and Alicia, the widow of Warine Fitz-Fulke. Among the pleas, it was urged by Alicia, that Mabel had a brother, and that his right to the land must exclude her claim, whereupon Mabel answered that her brother was a Leper.

Richard Orange, a gentleman of noble parentage, and Mayor of Exeter in 1454, was a Leper. In spite of his great wealth he submitted himself to a residence in the Lazar House of S. Mary Magdalene in that city, where he died, and was buried in the chapel attached. A mutilated inscription still remains over the spot where he is interred.

Some of the Lazar Houses were specially endowed for persons above the lower ranks who happened to become affected with the disease. In 1491, Robert Pigot gave by will to the Leper House of Walsingham, in the Archdeaconry of Norwich, a house in, or near that town, for the use of two Leprous persons "of good families."

Edward the Black Prince, used to bathe in the Holy Well at Harbledon, near Canterbury, for his Leprosy, and Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, had a licence at one time from the King of England to bathe in the waters of S. Lazarus' Well on Muswell Hill, near where now stands the Alexandra Palace. The well belonged to the Order of S. John, Clerkenwell, a hospital order for Lepers. Three years before his death, he was unable to undertake the command of the army in its descent upon the northern counties of England, by reason of his Leprosy, of which he died in 1329, at the age of 55.

SUMMARY.

It is trusted that the fact has been established that the Leprosy of the Bible, and of the Middle Ages, were entirely different diseases. The only essential characteristics in common being that both were cutaneous and neither was contagious, excepting by innoculation by a wound or a cut. Both were possibly hereditary, though this is denied by some.

The Biblical Leprosy never ended in death, whereas that of the Middle Ages always did. In one case there was little suffering, in the other usually a great deal.

In one the isolation was temporary only, in the other permanent.

The origin of the Mediaeval Scourge is enshrouded in impenetrable mystery. The cure is as enigmatical.

The late Father Damian, who gave his life to ministration and alleviation of the sufferings of the 2,000 Lepers of Hawaii, in the island of Molakai, no doubt caught the disease of which he died, owing to the fact, that Lepers only handled and cooked the food, kneaded and baked the bread, washed the clothes, etc. The whole surroundings being Leprous, it is difficult to see how the good Father could well have avoided contamination. Still, the disease is not contagious if reasonable precautions are taken.

Two remarkable meetings were held in London in 1889, under the presidency of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. At the first one, held in Marlborough House, June 17th, the Prince of Wales made the startling and unwelcome announcement of the case of Edward Yoxall, aged 64, who was carrying on his trade as butcher, in the Metropolitan Meat Market, from whence he was subsequently removed.

At the second meeting held in the rooms of the Medical Society, Chandos Street, Cavendish Square, two Lepers were exhibited. The verdict of the medical men present was, "There is no curative treatment of Leprosy." Dr. Thornton, of the Leper Hospital of Madras, said:--That his experience showed him that Leprosy was contagious, and that it was likely to spread to this country; that the disease, however, could rarely, if ever, be communicated, except in the case of a healthy person by an abraded skin, coming in contact with a Leper. "The sufferings of the afflicted can be alleviated by a liberal diet; oleaginous anointings, by which the loss of sleep, one of the most distressing symptoms of the disease, can be prevented."

"Many writers have told me, he goes on to observe, but especially a Franciscan Father of the Holy Land and two Franciscan Sisters from a hospital at Vialas par G?nalhac, that--

"1. They use elm bark for cutaneous eruptions, herpes, and lepra. Four ounces of the bark boiled in decoction in two quarts of water down to one quart. That half a pint given twice a day has made inveterate eruptions of lepra, both dry and humid, to disappear.

"3. They have used also the root of the mulberry-tree. Half a dram of the powder to a dose.

"The following is the list of simples which I obtained from the Lazar-house still existing in Provence, les Alpes Maritimes, and from that in Cyprus, and especially Nicosia, as also from the well-known Leper hospital in Provence:

"Food, baths, and oleaginous applications stand first. Then some preparation of the following ordinary simples, which were most known among our own common people, and which are still used in various parts of England by simple folk for skin diseases and sores. You will see how they entered into the monastic pharmacopoeia of the middle ages, how they were at their doors, and especially cultivated in monastery gardens.

"6. Lily roots. This ancient remedy is in all the books to which the Franciscan Fathers of the Holy Land have access, and comes down from Pliny and Dioscorides. "Effugant lepras lilium radices."

Isolation is the only known effectual way of stamping out the disease, by its means was the great diminution in the numbers of victims affected here, by the end of the 14th century, and the almost total and complete extinction of it in the middle of the 16th century, 1560.

In 1350 at S. Julian's Lazar House, S. Alban's it is recorded that "the number of Lepers had so diminished, their maintenance was below the revenue of the institution; there are not now above three, sometimes only two, occasionally only one."

In 1553 at the Lazar House of SS. Mary and Erkemould, Ilford, Essex, founded by the Abbess of Barking, c. 1190, it is recorded that "instead of 13 pore men beying Lepers, two pryest, and one clerke thereof there is at this day but one pryest and two pore men."

In Scotland the disease lingered till the middle of last century. A day for public thanksgiving for the supposed total deliverance of that country from the scourge of Leprosy, was enjoined, in 1742. The disease however was not quite extinct there; it may be now.

We are told at the present day, there are 123,924 Lepers in Hawaii; and in India not less than 250,000, or a quarter of a million. There are also large numbers in Barbadoes, and in the Sandwich Islands.

A striking and recent proof of the efficacy of isolation is seen in the fact, that in Norway there were 2,000 Lepers in 1867. That number has now been reduced to 700.

There are probably not more than 20 Lepers in England at the present day.

There is just one other subject to mention, namely the common error that the low narrow windows often seen in our older parish churches, were to enable the Leper to hear the service, and to receive the Eucharist, said to have been handed out to him. In support of this we have but guess-work; of proof, there is none.

The efforts being made by the "Missions to Lepers in India" cannot be too strongly commended to the benevolently inclined. The Asylums or Lazar Houses at Almora, Dara, and elsewhere, in India, are entirely supported by this society, which has under its care above 100 Lepers, at the cost of only about ?6 per annum for each adult.

If I have awakened an interest in this remarkable and unique subject, and at the same time, above all, excited a stronger feeling of sympathy for our brothers and sisters suffering at the present time from the disease--a living death--in various portions of the globe, my humble efforts will not have been in vain.

NOTES.

Bolted Corn was so-called from it being "boulted" or sifted in a bulter or bolter; this was a special cloth for the purpose of separating the fine flour from the bran, after the manner of a modern sieve. Bread made from un-bolted flour was known as "Tourte bread," bakers of such were not permitted by law to have a bolter, nor were they allowed to make white bread; nor were bakers of white bread to make "Tourte." The best kind of white bread was called Simnel, manchet, Pain demaign or payman, so-called from having an impress of our Lord upon it, the next best was the Wastell or Puff, the third and inferior sort was called Cocket or Light bread.

Black bread was known as "All Sorts."

Bakers might only make certain kinds of bread. A table called the Assize of Bread was set up in every city and town, showing the weight of each kind of loaf according to the law, according as the price of wheat varied from one shilling to twenty shillings per quarter. The weight of the loaves was 'set' each year by the Mayors or Bailiffs.

The weight of bread is given as five marks, that is ?3 6s. 8d., at one time pounds, shillings, and pence, took the place of our weights--pounds, ounces, and pennyweights, hence these loaves would weigh 3 pounds 6 ounces and 8 pennyweights. The price of bread never varied, but the weight did; contrary to the modern custom.

Mess--a particular number or set who eat together. At the Inns of Court at the present day, a mess consists of four persons.

This rather upsets the theory as to the origin of eating a goose at Michaelmas, connected with Queen Elizabeth and the news of the English victory over the Spanish Armada.

Furmenty or Frumenty was made of new wheat boiled in milk and seasoned with sugar and spices.

Ale, anciently was made of wheat, barley, and honey, the term was then applied exclusively to malt liquor. Hops are supposed to have been introduced into this country in 1524 from Flanders, and the term "Beer" was used to describe liquors brewed with an infusion of hops. The two terms are now generally used synonymously.

The seven Canonical hours of the Church were:--

{ Mattins or Nocturns, usually sung between midnight and daybreak. { Lauds, a service at daybreak following closely on and sometimes { joined to mattins.

Prime, a later morning service, about six o'clock.

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