mantic elements, of
which there is not a little; the sordid and baneful, of which we may
wish there were less; and the splendid ceremonials of Church and State;
all go to make up a chronicle which no account, of even a special
nature, could afford to neglect.

The picturesque elements of the conversion and baptism of Clovis by St.
Remi at Reims in 496, where, on the site of the present cathedral, he
was adjured to "revere that which thou didst burn and burn that which
thou didst revere," and the crowning on the same spot of Charles VII. in
1429 through the efforts of the Maid, well represent these phases. The
meanness and the unjustness of her later trial and condemnation in the
Abbey Church of St. Ouen at Rouen is another. The affairs of state
consist chiefly of the coronation ceremonies which mostly took place at
Reims, and present a splendid record. Of the monarchs from 1173 onwards
who were not here crowned, Henry IV. was crowned at Chartres; Napoleon
I., at Paris; Louis Philippe, Louis XVIII., and Napoleon III. were not
crowned at all.

Throughout this continuity of state events these great churches were
performing their natural functions of the dissemination of the Word.
Jealousies and bickerings took place, to be sure, but in the main there
was harmony, if rivalry did exist; else it were not possible that so
many of these splendid monuments would have endured to remind us of
their past as well as present existence.

Certain of the sees were merged into greater ones, and others were
abandoned altogether. In this connection there is a curious circumstance
with regard to the one-time Bishop of Bethleem, who, driven from the
Holy Land, was given a see at Clamecy, which see comprehended only the
village in which he resided. What remains of the former cathedral is now
an adjunct to a hotel. The rearrangement of political divisions of
France after the Revolution was the further excuse for establishing but
one diocese to a department, until to-day there are but eighty-four
sees, administered by sixty-seven bishops and seventeen archbishops.

The itinerary of the conventional tour of the Continent usually keeps
well to the beaten track, and so does the conventional traveller. He
does not always get over to Reims, and often does not stop _en route_ at
Amiens; seldom visits Beauvais, and, unless he specially sets out to
"tour" Brittany, a popular enough amusement of the lean of purse in
these days, knows little of the u