“Here we were shown—
“A part of the rod with which the Saviour was scourged.
“A thorn from the crown of thorns,—the Spicula.
“The pitcher in which Jesus turned water into wine.
“‘The Mediæval Church,’ said our English-speaking guide, who had little faith in the genuineness of the relics, ‘has exhibited some relics from time to time that would repay a long and arduous pilgrimage if they were what they purported to be; as, for instance, a feather of the angel Gabriel, the snout of a seraph, a ray from the star of Bethlehem, two skulls of the same saint,—one taken when the departed saint was somewhat younger, as flippantly explained to an astonished tourist, who found in two cities the same consecrated cranium.
“‘But of all the relics of which we ever read, some Germans who visited Italy in search of these precious mementos received the most remarkable.
“‘One of these gentlemen, having applied to an ecclesiastic for some memento of Scripture history which he could take back to Germany, was both astonished and delighted by receiving a carefully prepared package, which he was assured contained a veritable leg of the ass on which was made the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the people strewed palm branches in the way and shouted hosannas.
“‘He was enjoined to keep the treasure a secret until he reached home, which injunction he scrupulously obeyed.
“‘Arriving in Germany, he disclosed to his four companions the wonderful relic. They were much surprised, for each had been secretly intrusted with the same remarkable treasure. So it appeared that the ass had five legs, which, of itself, would have been something of a miracle.
“‘Whether these wiseacres ever visited the Latin kingdom in search of relics again I am not apprised.’