of the great church filed a procession of bronzed
veterans of the Frankish army; the nobility and the leading people of
Rome; the nobles, generals, and courtiers who had followed Charlemagne
thither; warriors from all parts of the empire, with their corslets and
winged helmets of steel and their uniforms of divers colors; civic
functionaries in their gorgeous robes of office; dignitaries of the
church in their rich vestments; a long array of priests in their white
dalmatics, until all Christendom seemed present in its noblest and most
showy representatives. Heathendom may have been represented also, for it
may be that messengers from the great caliph of Bagdad, the renowned
Haroun al Raschid, the hero of the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments,"
were present in the church. Many members of the royal family of
Charlemagne were present to lend dignity to the scene, and towering
above them all was the great Charles himself, probably clad in Roman
costume, his garb as a patrician of the imperial city, which dignity had
been conferred upon him. Loud plaudits welcomed him as he rose into
view. There were many present who had seen him at the head of his army,
driving before him hosts of flying Saracens, Saxons, Lombards, and
Avars, and to them he was the embodiment of earthly power, the mighty
patron of the church, and the scourge of pagans and infidels; and as
they gazed on his noble form and dignified face it seemed to some of
them as if they looked with human eyes on the face and form of a
representative of the Deity.

A solemn mass was sung, with all the impressive ceremony suitable to the
occasion. As the king rose to his feet, or while he still kneeled before
the altar and the "confession,"--the tomb of St. Peter,--the pope, as if
moved by a sudden impulse, took up a splendid crown which lay upon the
altar, and placed it on his brow, saying, in a loud voice,--

"Long life and victory to Charles, the most pious Augustus, crowned by
God the great and pacific Emperor of the Romans!"

At once, as if this were a signal for the breaking of the constrained
silence, a mighty shout rose from the whole vast assembly. Again and
again it was repeated, and then broke out the solemn chant of the
litany, sung by hundreds of voices, while Charlemagne stood in dignified
and patient silence. Whether or not this act of the pope was a surprise
to him we have no assurance. Eginhard tells us that he declared that he
would not have entered the ch