the boulders, and on one of its fingers was a golden ring. The girl put out her hand and took the ring. From that moment her power of speech was gone and she was perfectly dumb. She returned in terror to her home, and by signs explained to her father what had taken place. Her father took the ring from her, and, hastening to the spot where the hand had appeared, found it still there and replaced the ring. As he did so a voice said to him, “Here is the body of Santa Eufemia. See that it is removed and placed with honour in the Church of Santa Marina.” The command was carried out, and from the year 1090 till the time of Bishop Sequin (1164) the ashes of the saint rested in the little chapel on the Portuguese border. It was only with great difficulty that the bishop was able to translate them to the Cathedral of Orense. The coffin was placed upon a cart, but just as it was about to proceed to Orense the Portuguese of the neighbouring villages came in great crowds, and threatened to use force if the body was not carried back to their own Cathedral at Braga. Bishop Sequin and the Bishop of Braga were friends, having both been educated at the monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, and they did their best to bring the dispute to an amicable end, but the feelings of the Portuguese were so violent that the only resource open to the bishops was to harness a couple of untamed oxen to the cart and let the animals decide for themselves whether the saint should be carried to Orense or to Braga. The oxen at once started off in the direction of Orense, followed by a large concourse of the clergy, who chanted psalms and prayed at every halt upon the road. When the procession had reached Sejalvo, just outside Orense, the oxen stood still and refused to move another step, whereupon the priests, followed by all the dignitaries and aristocracy of the town, carried the coffin upon their shoulders to the Cathedral, where it was deposited to the sound of solemn music.
At the spot where the oxen stopped, Bishop Sequin erected a small chapel—right in the middle of the road—and placed beside it a stone cross with the effigy of Santa Eufemia, which was still standing in the eighteenth century. The pedestal of the cross and the inscription dating from the twelfth century are still there.
On the altar opposite the door of the sacristy we found three beautiful thirteenth-century pictures in silver relief, representing scenes in the history of Santa Eufemia.[275] To see these properly we were obliged to have a candle. In the first, the young martyr stands trembling before her pagan persecutors, while an angel appears in the clouds above to support her in her resistance to their evil designs. In the second picture—to the right—the victim is being tortured, and in the third—to the left—is the scene in which the little shepherdess indicates to her father by signs that she has seen the hand and been struck dumb. All the faces are beautifully done, and most lifelike, and the ornamentation round the pictures is very tasteful.
Another work of art is the marble sculpture above the recumbent effigy of Pedro Quevado y Quintano, who was Bishop of Orense from 1776 to 1818. He was one of the most beloved of all Orense’s prelates. When Napoleon summoned an illegal Assembly at Bayona, Quevado was one of those who refused to appear, and he protested strongly against the abdication of the Spanish Sovereign. Grandmaison has described how, when more than three hundred exiled French priests took refuge in the Peninsula, Quevado received them as a brother, and placed his bishop’s palace at their disposal. When Napoleon placed his brother Joseph (Pepe Botella) on the throne of Spain, Quevado was deprived of all his emoluments as a punishment for his patriotism. Pope Pius VII. made Quevado a cardinal in recognition of the noble generosity with which this bishop had helped the people of Orense from his own purse in their time of great need. Orense celebrated his investiture with five days of festivity, during which the town was illuminated and every kind of public amusement was indulged in.
The marble sculpture which decorates his tomb was executed in Italy: it consists of two medallions with two relief figures, one representing Strength—Hercules, who is wrapped in the skin of the lion Nemius, and has just torn from its place a massive pillar. The other represents Charity—an old woman—caring for two destitute children.
The most beautiful tomb in the Cathedral, however, is not that of Quevado, but that of some unknown person. It is richly decorated with statues, the central one representing King David with his harp and crown. All the statutes have pointed shoes showing beneath their long robes.
Besides the famous Christ of which we have spoken above, this Cathedral possesses another large crucifix, a figure of Christ, also life-size. It is of Byzantine workmanship, and the figure is nailed to the cross with four nails, as was customary between the seventh and twelfth centuries.[276] The head wears
