bay of the Choir, between it and the North Aisle. There were three
inscriptions on his tomb, the first on the aisle side:

"Ecclesiæ quondam Præsul præsentis, in anno
M bis C quater X jacet hic Rogerus humatus:
Hujus erat manibus Domino locus iste dicatus:
Christe, suis precibus veniam des; tolle reatus."

Then we have a short biography in laudatory terms, and below that a
record which one may translate as it stands: "It came to pass while
this Bishop Roger stood mitred [infulatus] before the high altar,
ready to begin the Divine mysteries, there came on such a dense cloud
that men could scarcely discern one another; and presently a
fearful clap of thunder followed, and such a blaze of lightning and
intolerable smell, that all who stood by fled hastily, expecting
nothing less than death. The Bishop and one deacon only bravely
remained, and when the air was at length purified the Bishop completed
the service." We shall have more about this storm hereafter.

SIR JOHN MASON (1503-1566), the son of a cowherd at Abingdon, and
afterwards a great benefactor to that town. His mother was a sister to
the Abbot of Abingdon, and through this relationship he was educated
at Oxford, became a Fellow of All Souls', took orders, and, in
consequence of the skill which he displayed in diplomacy and
international law, received rich Church preferments, among them the
Deanery of Winchester. At the accession of Queen Mary he had to
relinquish this, but as he had been faithful to her, she showed him
much favour, and gave him some secular offices. On the accession of
Elizabeth, he returned to his Deanery, and was all his life one of
the most trusted of the Queen's councillors, especially in foreign