I was told that it was the last day but one of the pilgrimage to the holy relics, and that this was the grand eve of the procession, the most remarkable pageant that is ever to be seen in these parts of the world. Of course this led to further inquiries, and I found myself suddenly and accidentally participating in one of the most extraordinary spectacles that I had ever seen or heard of. It will be a long story, but you must read it. How the many precious relics came to be collected here I cannot learn; but the antiquity and wealth of the cathedral, and the vast power wielded for centuries by the Catholic emperors who were here crowned, would easily make this spot the nucleus around which superstition and faith would rally all their strength. So it came to pass in the lapse of time that the number and value of the offerings which popes and kings and others made to this shrine became immense, and no money would now be considered an equivalent for the priceless treasures. Here is a list of them, to be read with all the faith you can summon:— THE RELICS OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. _A. The superior relics_, known under the popular name of the “great” relics. 1. The white garment of the mother of our Lord. 2. The swathing-clothes of our Saviour. 3. The cloth in which was laid the body of St. John the Baptist after his decapitation. 4. The cloth which our Saviour wore around his loins in the dreadful hour of his death. These superior relics are shown every seventh year only, or exceptionally to crowned heads on their special demand. _B. The inferior relics_ are 5. The woven linen girdle of the Holy Virgin, in a reliquary (liburium). 6. The girdle (cingulum) of Jesus, made of leather, in a precious vessel. 7. Part of the rope with which our Saviour was tied in his passion. 8. Joined in a reliquary: a. A fragment of the sponge that served to refresh our dying Lord upon the cross. b. A particle of the holy cross. c. Some hair of the Apostle St. Bartholomew. d. Several bones of Zachary, father to St. John the Baptist. e. Two teeth of the Apostle St. Thomas. 9. In a reliquary: Part of an arm of old St. Simeon, and in a vial of agate some oil that once came forth from out the bones of St. Catherine. 10. In a gothic chapel: a. The point of a nail with which our Lord was nailed to the cross. b. A particle of the holy cross. c. A tooth of St. Catherine. d. Part of a leg (tibia) of the Emperor Charlemagne. 11. In a shrine representing a gothic church, richly enamelled and adorned with pearls and precious stones: a. A fragment of the reed that served to make a mock of our Saviour. b. A part of the linen cloth which was spread over his holy face in the grave. c. Some hair of St. John the Baptist. d. A rib of the first martyr, St. Stephen.