" The Cathedral of Soissons boasted of the
possession of the same relic; and of having also procured it from
Constantinople.--"Too much confidence," it is prudently observed by a
catholic writer on this subject, "must not be placed in the authenticity
of those relics, which cannot be traced to the date of St. Gregory of
Tours, the sixth century!"

[35] Lanfranc, after having for some time directed at Bec the first
school ever established in Normandy, upon his translation to Caen,
opened another in that town. In the _Lives of the Abbots of Bec_,
written in latin verse, in the twelfth century, by Peter, a monk of the
convent of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives, particular honor is given to Lanfranc
on the subject of his school at Caen, which had produced many men
eminent for their proficiency in sacred and secular literature, and was
at that time flourishing. The Abbe De la Rue gives a long list of them.
_Essais Historiques_, II. p. 70.

[36] _Ordericus Vitalis_, in _Duchesne's Scriptores Normanni_, p. 549.

[37] _Essais Historiques_, II. p. 64.

[38] _Duchesne, Scriptores Normanni_, p. 663.

[39] _Neustria Pia_, p. 640.

[40] _Gallia Christiana_, II. p. 425.

[41] His name is not to be found in the list of abbots given in the
_Neustria Pia_; but the authors of the _Gallia Christiana_ say, (XI. p.
480,) "that he was nominated to the prelacy upon the resignation of the
thirty-fourth abbot, Charles d'O, and was confirmed in it by the States
of Blois. It is admitted, however, that, notwithstanding his appointment
in 1596, his predecessor continued to receive the emoluments of the
office, till 1624, and enjoyed a large pension arising from them, till
his death, in 1627."

[42] In speaking of these, the Abbe De la Rue takes occasion to lay down
a general rule, (_Essais Historiques_, II. p. 61) that "on ne trouve
ordinairement en Normandie, que des arcades semi-circulaires dans les
Xe. XIe. et XIIe. siecles; au contraire, les arcades en pointes des
nefs, des fenetres et des portes des eglises, autrement les arcades en
ogive, n'ont eu lieu chez nous que dans le XIIIe. siecle et les suivans.
On trouve egalement ces deux styles en Angleterre et aux memes epoques,
et leur difference est une des principales regles qui servent aux
antiquaires Anglois, pour discerner les constructions Normandes et
Anglo-Normandes, des constructions d'un autre genre."--But Mr. Turner,
in his inquiries respecting the former cathedral of Lisieux, (_Tour i