Wonders Of Operative Masonry.

when he visited Cologne in 1550 , remarked " The Three Kings be not so rich as was the Lady of Walsingham . " Among the numerous attractions at this Abbey was some of "the Virgin ' s milk . " The monks stated that all other portions of the Virgin ' s milk had fallen to the groundwhile this

, was taken directly from her breast ! All good pilgrims kissed the receptacle of the sacred milk . There were also here two Wishing Wells , and whoever drank of their waters , the monks asserted , might obtain under certain restrictions , whatever they desire . There are some fine architectural

remains of this Abbey , including the east end of the Church , in Decorated Gothic , with a beautiful arch , 50 feet high ; the walls , windows , and arches of the refectory ; and a Norman arch , with zig-zag mouldings . A part of the cloisters are incorporated into the modern mansion

known as Walsingham Abbey , the residence of the Rev . Mr . Warner . BKCTIVE ABBEY , on the river Boyne , in Meath , Ireland , was a great Cistercian Monastery , founded by Murchard , King of Meath , in A . D . 1150 , and endowed

with a rich demesne of 245 acres of land . The Lord Abbot of Bective , who , with his monks , came from Mellifont Abbey , was one of the fifteen Abbots in Ireland that sat as a spiritual peer in Parliament . The ruins , with their yellow battlemented walls , now present the appearance of a noble castellated mansion , rearing aloft its

turrets and gables , while the lichen and ivy-clad cloisters are extremely picturesque . The Earl of Bective has enclosed the Ahbey grounds with a wall , so that they are less wasted than most of the ecclesiastical remains in Ireland . The body of the murdered Hugh de Lacyin 1186 was

, , interred in Bective Abbey , while his head was buried in St . Thomas ' s Church , Dublin . A fierce controversy arose between these two Abbeys for the possession of the entire remains of that unfortunate man . The Pope was appealed to , and awarded the

corpse to the monks of St . Thomas , who accordingly have since possessed it , aud the saint now lies buried in peace , instead of in pieces . MELLIFONT ABBEY stands in the cup of a small valley near the Boyne , 5 miles from Drogheda , Ireland . This Abbey ( whose name signifiest he " Honey Fountain" ) , was

founded in A . D . H 42 , by O'Carrol , Prince of Orgiel , the great Church reformer of his day . It was the first in point of time , and also in beauty of design and finish , erected in Ireland by the Cistercians , the leading Church founders of the middle ages . Its

locality , once musical with the busy hum of bees , became resonant with the measured cadences of the matin and vesper bells . The relics of St . Malachy , the second Irishman canonized by the Pope , were interred in itand thenceforth it became

, the motlier-church of many of the Bishops of Ireland . It was intensely national . In 1322 it was determined that no person , should be admitted into the Abbey before he had taken an oath that he was not of

English descent . The present ruins consist of a fine portal , part of St . Bernard ' s Chapel ( Early English architecture ) , the Baptistry ( Saxon ) , and the crypts beneath the Abbey . At the Dissolution , when it contained 140 moiiks , the Abbey was iven to Sir Gerald Mooreancestor of the

g , Marquis of Drogheda , who has his residence here . B EAUOHIEF ABBEY , in Derbyshire , 135 miles north-west from London , was founded in A . D . 1183 , for PrEeinonstratensiau or White Canonsby B . obert ,

, Lord Alfretou , one of the four Kuights who assassinated Thomas it Becket , Archbishop of Canterbury , and who erected this Abbey by way of expiating his crime . It is situated near the borders of Yorkshire , amid the sweet scenery of Abbey dale ,

The west end of the chapel remains , and in it divine service is still performed . Although a considerable structure , Beauchief ( sometimes denominated Bello-Capite ) Abbey was never wealthy . At the Dissolution , when it was given to Sir William

Shelly , its revenue amounted to £ 157 . On a hill near by its ruins , Beauohief House , an Elizabethian mansion , was erected , out of materials furnished by the demolition of the Abbey . READING ABBEY , at Reading , in Berkshire ,

50 miles west from London , was a mitred Abbey , and one of the richest in Eng land . It was founded AD . 1121 , by King Heiivy I . for 200 Benedictine monks . Its Abbot took precedency in the House of Peei'S next after the Abbots of St . Alban's and Glastonbury . The body of King Henry was buried here , while , by a strange fancy ;