In entering the cathedral the Class seemed to be in a new world. The rose-colored windows flooded the edifice with a soft light; and beyond it was a blaze of candles amid clouds of incense, for the priests in their gorgeous vestments were administering at the altar.
THE GODDESS OF REASON CARRIED THROUGH THE STREETS OF PARIS.
The boys passed through the waves of light reverently, and stood near the altar. A choir of altar boys suddenly rose amid the smoke and lights and glitter of priestly robes, and sang most melodiously. It seemed very solemn and grand, but the thought of the associations of [!-- original location of 'The Goddess of Reason' --] [!-- blank page --] the place was even more awe-inspiring. The scene was one that had been enacted for more than a thousand years, under the groined roof of the same stately edifice, and the past seemed to hang, a weight of gloom, in the very air.
On each one’s paying half a franc, the Class was admitted into the sacristy, where the sacred relics, purchased in the East by St. Louis himself, are kept. Among them is a supposed piece of the true cross and a pretended part of the Crown of Thorns which was put upon the Saviour’s head before the Crucifixion.
The second day that the Class spent in Paris was the most delightful of the whole tour.
“I shall go with you to-day,” said Master Lewis, “to the most beautiful place in Europe, the most beautiful garden in Europe, and one of the most beautiful picture-galleries in the world.”
“The Tuileries?” asked Frank.
“The Louvre?” asked Ernest.