The miracle had not ended there; for while these things were going on at the gates, the poor mayor, in great perturbation, had hurried to the church of Notre Dame la Grande, and throwing himself before the altar, recommended the town to the protection of God and the Mother of Mercy. "While he was praying, all on a sudden _he felt the keys in his arms_; at which he returned thanks to Heaven, as did many pious persons who were with him." Bouchet, who relates this _fact_, adds:--"In memory of this _fine miracle_, the inhabitants of the said Poitiers have ever since made, and continue, a grand and notable procession of all the colleges and convents, every year, all round the walls of the said town, within, the day before Easter: the which extends for more than a league and a half. And in memory of the said miracle, _I have made these four lines of rhythm_:-- "L'an mil deux cens deux comme on clame, Batailla pour ceux de Poietiers, Contre les Anglois nostre Dame, Et les garda de leurs dangiers." In commemoration of this event, statues of the three saviours of the town were erected above the gate, and in a little chapel near: chapels to the Virgin were placed in every possible nook, and a solemn procession was instituted to take place every year, on Easter Monday, when the mayor's lady had the privilege of presenting to the Virgin the magnificent velvet robe, which she wore on the occasion. This ceremony was continued as late as 1829, since when the _cortège_ no longer goes round the town as formerly, but a service is performed in the church. The belief of this miracle seems to form an article of faith; for the story was told me by three persons of different classes, all of whom spoke of it as a tradition in which they placed implicit credit. Sainte Radegonde seems to hold, however, the highest rank of the three defenders of Poitiers. "She is a great saint," said the exhibitor of the Museum to me, "and performs miracles every day." "Ste. Radegonde," said the bibliothécaire--"is a great protectress of this town, and has personally interfered to assist us in times of need--but, perhaps, you are not Catholic." "The great saint," said a votaress, who was selling _chapelets_ at her tomb, "does not let a month escape without showing her power; only six weeks ago a poor child, who was paralyzed, was brought here by its mother, having been given up by the doctors; and the moment it touched the marble where it was laid, all its limbs became as strong as ever, and it walked out of the church."