ich and Papal Nuncio,
and Langton the archbishop, with whom was the Archbishop of Rheims,
Primate of France. The great Hubert de Burgh, Lord High Justiciary,
together with four other barons, completed the company, which was selected
to bear the chest to its resting-place. When this had been duly deposited,
a solemn mass was celebrated by the French archbishop. The anniversary of
this great festival was commemorated as the Feast of the Translation of
the Blessed St. Thomas, until it was suppressed by a royal injunction of
Henry VIII. in 1536.

A picture of the shrine itself is preserved among the Cottonian MSS., and
a representation of it also exists in one of the stained windows of the
cathedral. At the end of it the altar of the Saint had its place; the
lower part of its walls were of stone, and against them the lame and
diseased pilgrims used to rub their bodies, hoping to be cured of their
afflictions. The shrine itself was supported on marble arches, and
remained concealed under a wooden covering, doubtless intended to enhance
the effect produced by the sudden revelation of the glories beneath it;
for when the pilgrims were duly assembled on their knees round the shrine,
the cover was suddenly raised at a given signal, and though such a device
may appear slightly theatrical in these days, it is easy to imagine how
the devotees of the middle ages must have been thrilled at the sight of
this hallowed tomb, and all the bravery of gold and precious stones which
the piety of that day had heaped upon it. The beauties of the shrine were
pointed out by the prior, who named the giver of the several jewels. Many
of these were of enormous value, especially a huge carbuncle, as large as
an egg, which had been offered to the memory of St. Thomas by Louis VII.
of France, who visited the shrine in A.D. 1179, after having thrice seen
the Saint in a vision. A curious legend, thoroughly in keeping with the
mystic halo of miraculous power which surrounds the martyred archbishop's
fame, relates that the French king could not make up his mind to part with
this invaluable gem, which was called the "Regale of France;" but when he
visited the tomb, the stone, so runs the story, leapt forth from the ring
in which it was set, and fixed itself of its own will firmly in the wall
of the shrine, thus baffling the unwilling monarch's half-heartedness.
Louis also presented a gold cup, and gave the monks a hundred measures,
medii, of wine, to be del