Page:Letters from Abroad to Kindred at Home (Volume 1).djvu/144

Rh inscribed "Carolo Magno;" and over our beads hung a massive chandelier, the gift of Frederic Barbarossa. How these material things conjured back from the dead these mighty chieftains!

The vault must have been a startling sight when Otho opened it and found the emperor, not in the usual supine posture, but seated on his throne in his imperial robes, with the crown on his fleshless brow, his sceptre in his hand, the good sword joyeusejoyful [sic] at his side, the Gospels on his knee, the pilgrim's pouch, which, living, he always wore, still at his girdle, and precious jewels sparkling amid decay and ashes. The sacristan showed us his scull—the palace of the soul!—enclosed in a silver case. His lofty soul has, I trust, now a fitter palace. There are shown also several relics found in his tomb which touch a chord of general sympathy: his hunting-horn, a relic of the true cross, and a locket containing the Virgin's hair, which he wore in death, as he had always worn in life.

This church is said to be the oldest in Germany. The choir, built in 1366, is more modern. Its painted windows are so exquisite in their form that they affect you like a living beauty.

There is a fête to-day. The "grandes reliquesgreat relics [sic]," which are shown once in seven years, are exhibiting, and the town is thronged with the peasantry. They were literally packed on the little place before the Cathedral. A priest was in a very high gall«y with attendants, displaying the relics. This church is rich in these apocryphal treasures. The priest