ttered in a loud voice his last summons to all
those who had the right to vote that they should forthwith enter. When
it had closed again--for there was no reply--the solemn oath was
administered to every canon that he would rightly and reverently
choose the candidate he honestly thought best. Any excommunicated
person was warned to retire, and Masselin the Dean began his
exhortation on the importance of their choice. When he had finished,
all save the electors themselves withdrew, and on the flagged floor of
the Chapterhouse the canons knelt to the singing of the "Veni
Creator," and prayed for inspiration. Suddenly all leapt to their feet
at once with one united shout of "Georges d'Amboise shall be
Archbishop!"

At once the great bells rang out to the town that the election had
been made, while within the Cathedral every wall re-echoed with the
shouts of "Noel, Noel!" as the people heard that Georges d'Amboise had
been elected. A few days afterwards a still larger throng assembled in
the Parvis to watch the great ecclesiastic of their choice advance on
bare feet from the Church of St. Herbland and receive the episcopal
ring from the Abbess of St. Amand, with the words, "Messire, je le
donne a vous vivant, vous me le rendrez mort." As he came nearer to
the western gates, Masselin, the "Grand Doyen," formally presented to
him the Cathedral, and received his promise of loyalty and honest
government, sworn on the books of the evangelists, and not till then
did Georges d'Amboise mount his episcopal chair and give his first
blessing to the people of Rouen as their Archbishop.

How well he fulfilled his vow, there are many things in Rouen to this
day to tell, and the blessing that he gave his congregation was not
limited to things spiritual and unseen. His splendid public
benefactions in regulating the water-supply of the town have been
already noticed, and may be better realised in Lelieur's careful
drawings. His Cathedral remembers him by her western facade, by the
rich balustrades around the choir, now vanished, by numerous costly
shrines and jewels in the Tresor, by that Tour de Beurre[59] which
held "Georges d'Amboise" the greatest bell outside of Russia, that
every outlying parish could hear, by the magnificent building which
future archbishops justly called their palace. And the Province of
which he became governor when Louis d'Orleans rose to be Louis XII.,
"avec le titre effrayant de reformateur-general," owed him