d the crowning
of Louis le Debonnaire in 816 A. D. In 744 it was made an archbishop's
see, with suffragans at Amiens, Beauvais, Chalons, and Soissons. It is
to-day the ecclesiastical capital of France--the Archbishop of Reims
being the metropolitan prelate.

Clovis, son of Childeric, King of the Ripuarian Franks, in 496 A. D.
conquered the last Roman stronghold at Soissons, and, having married a
Burgundian princess, Clotilda, was induced to accept Christianity. He
was accordingly baptized here by St. Remi on Christmas Day, 496 A. D.

Leo III. met Charlemagne here; a council was held in 1119 A. D. by
Calixtus II. in an attempt to reconcile Henry I. and Louis le Gros; and,
later, another, to excommunicate another Henry.

Succeeding years saw a continuity of archbishops, who achieved by their
religious works a world-wide fame and glory. In these early days they
held the temporal as well as spiritual power of the cities, and in some
instances even coined their own specie.

In spite of the changes of the times and conditions of life, the
ancient capital of Belgica Secunda still remains the chief city of the
Departments of the Marne, Ardennes, and Aisne. Its ecclesiastical and
secular monuments, headed by the grand Cathedral of Notre Dame, form an
array which is well worthy of such extended consideration as the
traveller or student can give. The Benedictine Abbey, the Church of St.
Remi, is likewise notable in all of its dimensions and details. Its
construction dates from 1162-1506, though the remains of a former
tenth-century structure are made use of therein. Its chief treasure is
the tomb of St. Remi, a wonderful Renaissance funeral monument of
imposing proportions. Another monumental feature of more than unusual
note, is the magnificent Roman arch of the former fortress of Porte
Mars. This truly majestic specimen of the work of the Roman builder is
supposed to have been erected by Agrippa in 25 B. C., in honour of
Augustus, although another authority puts it as late as the period of
Julian, 361 A. D. At any rate, it has stood the rigours of a northern
clime as well as any Roman memorial extant; indeed, has seen fall all
its contemporaries of the city, for at one time Reims was possessed of
no less than three other gateways, bearing the pagan nomenclature of
Ceres, Mars, and Venus.

The various other memorials of the city are on a no less grand scale,
but the average person will hardly have eyes and ears for more than