artist or photographer sorely, though not a detracting element in
churches which would often appear cold and unconvincing were such an
attribute lacking. There are also three magnificent rose windows of
great size (thirty to forty feet), containing equally good glass.

A double ambulatory surrounds the seven-chapeled choir, which is further
enclosed by a magnificent sculptured stone screen begun in the sixteenth
century by Texier, who designed the marvellous north spire. The _Vierge
du Pilier_ of the north choir aisle, a fifteenth-century shrine, is the
subject of great local veneration. The treasury contains a _relique_ in
the form of the veil of the Virgin, supposed to have been presented by
Charlemagne to Princess Irene.

Other interior details of note are an eleventh-century font; the large
crypt beneath the choir; the unequal level of the pavement of nave and
choir; and the maze, which still exists in the nave. This last feature
is a winding circular path some forty odd feet in diameter, and, in all,
perhaps a thousand feet long. As a penance in place of a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem, "the journey of the maze" was performed by the penitent on
his knees--taking perhaps an hour or more, according to the size and
length of the path, which varied with different churches where they
formerly existed. The other most notable example in France is at St.
Quentin, northeast of Paris.

IX

NOTRE DAME DE REIMS

The very ancient city of Reims, now the capital of the Department of the
Marne, was a large centre of population when it first fell under the
sway of the Romans. During Caesar's occupation it was known as
Duroctorum, in the Praefecture of the Gauls.

A powerful metropolis and a faithful adherent of the Romans, the city
early attained prominence as a centre of Christianity. St. Sixte
preached the word here shortly after the first bishopric was founded,
after capture by the Vandals in 406 A. D. The city was practically razed
by Attila, who afterward met defeat at Chalons. During the Roman Empire
it was the most important town of the Province of Belgica Secunda, later
becoming known as the capital of the Remi, the name given to the people
inhabiting the country round about.

[Illustration: NOTRE DAME _de REIMS_ ...]

In 508 A. D. the Franks under Childeric captured the city, and in 720 A.
D. Charles Martel captured it from Bishop Rigobert. Here, too, Pope
Stephen had his famous interview with Pepin, and attende