This view seems to rest chiefly on a statement by J. B. F. Géruzez in his "Description of the City of Rheims" (1817), to the effect that the labyrinth which formerly lay in the cathedral was in origin an object of devotion, being the emblem of the interior of the Temple of Jerusalem, but Géruzez quotes no authority for his assertion. Another explanation, based upon the occurrence of the figures of the architects or founders in certain of the designs, is that the labyrinth was a sort of masonic seal, signifying that the pious aim of the builder had been to raise to the glory of God a structure to vie with the splendours of the traditional Labyrinth. It is also said that in some cases the "Chemins" were used for processional purposes. Some writers have held that the labyrinth was inserted in the church as typifying the Christian's life or the devious course of those who yield to temptation. Some have thought that it represented the path from the house of Pilate to Calvary, pointing out that Chateaubriand, in his "Itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem," mentioned two hours as the period which he took to repeat Christ's journey, and that the same time would be taken in traversing the average pavement labyrinth on the knees. The use of the labyrinth as a simile for the Christian's life is shown in a stone inscription in the Museum at Lyons: HOC SPECVLO · SPECVLARE LEGENS · QVOD SIS MORITVRVS: QVOD CINIS IMMOLVTVM QVOD VERMIBVS ESCA FVTVRVS: SED TAMEN VT SEMPER VIVAS · MALE VIVERE VITA: XPM QVESO ROGA · SIT VT IN XPO MEA VITA: ME CAPVT APRIL' · EX HOC RAPVIT LABERINTO: PREBITVM · DOCEO VERSV MÃ FVNERA QÑTO: STEPHANVS · FECIT OC. Whether this inscription was ever attached to a labyrinthine design is not known. It is strange if, amongst all the great mass of mediaeval ecclesiastical literature, there is actually no indication of the use or significance of these monuments in the service of the Church; but no light appears to be forthcoming from this source, and certainly the writings of the chief authorities of these times give no support to any of the theories mentioned above. [Illustration: FIG. 58.--Labyrinth in Church at Bourn, Cambs. (W. H. M.)] It is noteworthy that in none of the known examples do any distinctively Christian emblems occur, and that, amongst all the myriad inscriptions, paintings, and carvings of the early Christians, in the catacombs of Rome and elsewhere, the labyrinth never once figures. So far as these islands are concerned the practice of placing labyrinths in churches does not seem to have become common. In the "Architectural Dictionary" (1867) mention is made of one formerly existing in Canterbury Cathedral, but no particulars are given.