It happened that the Bishop of Cathedral
number three was then in the city, officiating
at an ordination, and to him Mr. William
Wallace determined to apply for relief from
this extortion. He enclosed to his Lordship
his letters from other prelates and stated
his case. The answer he received was
the Bishop's unqualified authority to search
wherever and for whatever he wanted in the
Registers of his Lordship's diocese.

Although this letter was addressed by the
Bishop to the servant or deputy of his servant,
the Registrar, yet Mr. Wallace's dear-bought
sagacity had taught him to place very little
faith in a Bishop's power over his inferiors.
As it turned out, he found himself one of
those who are blessed, because, expecting
nothing, they are not disappointed. The
Deputy-Registrar received his superior's
mandate with supercilious sang-froid. The old
story–––"The Bishop had no jurisdiction
whatever over him," but this once, &c. &c.

Mr. William Wallace had met in Cathedrals
numbers one and two, repulses and rudeness.
But each Cerberus who pretended to guard
the documentary treasures of those dioceses,
honestly showed his teeth. They had not
been guilty of deceit. Deputy-Registrar
number three was wiser in his generation.
He gave a cold assent to the Bishop's
mandate in Mr. Wallace's behalf; but with it
such wily instructions to his clerks, as
rendered it as nugatory as if he had put it in
his waste basket or had lighted his cigar.
During the two days that half-crowns rained
in silver showers from the Antiquary's purse,
nearly every Will he asked for was produced;
but now, on the third day, when the Bishop's
letter had closed his purse-strings, Mr. Wallace
demanded document after document, and was
told by the "Conservators" of this important
kind of public property, that they had "been
lost," "could not be found," "mislaid." But
the most frequent return was, "destroyed at
the siege of the City, in the year 1643 "–––stolen
away with the Tomb of Marmion when

                                 "Fanatic Brooke
     The fair Cathedral storm'd and took."

The result of the three days' investigations
stood thus: "During the two paying days,
out of a hundred Wills asked for, eighty were
produced. Throughout the non-paying day,
out of ninety Wills asked for, only one was
produced!"

When half-crowns were rife, not one word
was said about "the siege of the City, in the
year 1643,"although nearly all the Wills
Mr. Wallace was obliged with a sight of,
were dated anterior to that destructive
event.

For some explanation Mr. Wallace repaired
to the Deputy-Registrar's abode. It was too
late. The clever sub. knew what was coming
–––and retreated from the field. The servant's
answer to Mr. Wallace was,

"Out of town, sir!"

But Mr. William Wallace was foiled even
more completely in another point: he had a
great desire to see where and how the Wills
were kept. He knew their condition in 1832,
from what Ulster King-at-Arms said before
the Ecclesiastical Commission, "I consider
the records very dirty; they have not,
apparently, been dusted for many years." The
remarkable result of Mr. Wallace's urgent
inquiries was that not a soul he asked could,
or would, tell in what place the ecclesiastical
records of Cathedral number three were
deposited. It was vouchsafed to him that
modern Wills were preserved in the Registrar's
splendid edifice; but whether the ancient
Wills lay interred in cellars, or were hoisted
into lofts, or shared the mangers and corn-bins
of race-horses, no amount of inquiry, no
watching the clerks when they went out of
one door of the searching office to procure the
documents demanded, and then came in at
another, could discover. An old, stout, surly
clerk, declared, in as staid a tone as if he were
telling the truth, "that he did not know
where the records were kept."

Mr. Wallace gave up this investigation in
despair and left the city. The locus of the
documents was to him a mystery and a
wonder!

The habits of the antiquary do not, however,
dispose him to indulge in listless despair.
To find out the secret masses of the records of
Cathedral number three was a task Mr.
William Wallace had so earnestly set himself,
that next to his domestic relations and his
literary labours, it grew into one of the duties
of his existence; therefore, on his way to
Cathedral number four, he paid another visit
to the city of Cathedral number three,
fortified with letters to some of its clergy. To
be sure they could clear up the mystery.

His first application was to one of the
Canons. Did he know where the
ecclesiastical records were kept? Well, it was odd,
but it never entered his head to inquire. He
really did not know. Perhaps Some of the
Chapter officials could tell.

To one of these hies Mr. Wallace. Even
that functionary—whose courteousness,
together with that of his colleague, was pleasant
to the applicant by the force of mere contrast
–––was equally unable to reveal the secret.
"But surely," he added, "such a place cannot,
when one sets about it, be so impenetrable a
mystery. I have an idea that the Miller could
enlighten you."

"The Miller?"

"Yes. He knows everything about the
town. Try him."

Mr. Wallace had business at the searching
office, and having transacted it, determined to
make another effort in this legitimate quarter.
The following short dialogue occurred between
him and the clerk:–––"Pray," said Mr.
Wallace, "where are the Wills kept?"

"That's not your business! " was the
answer. Mr. Wallace returned to the charge