To sum up, the cathedral at Cologne has had the good fortune to have been carried out in a pure and distinct German form of Gothic without the interpolation of any outré disfigurements. It is a sumptuous edifice, perhaps the grandest, in general effect, of any church in Europe, not even forgetting the splendid cathedrals at Reims, Amiens, or Chartres, all of which stand out from among their surroundings in much the same imposing manner as does Cologne.
One recognizes even to-day on the stones of Cologne's cathedral certain cryptogramic marks which are supposed to be merely the[{263}] identifying marks of some particular stonemason's labour, and are not, as has been doubtfully advanced from time to time, of any other significance whatever.
XXVI
THE CHURCHES OF COLOGNE
The popular interest in Cologne, the ancient Colonia Agrippina of the Romans, and the romantic incidents connected with it, are so great that one might devote a large volume to the city, and then the half of its legend and history would not have been told.
Cologne is one of the most ancient cities of Germany. It takes its place beside Trèves and Mayence as one of the earliest seats of Christianity; but the actual date of the establishment of the church in Cologne is lost in obscurity.
There were undoubtedly persons professing the Christian faith in the colony in the third century, and toward the year 312 the Emperor Constantine, having embraced the faith himself, gave his protection to its adherents throughout his colonies.
The church of St. Peter at Cologne contains a painting presented to it by Rubens in memory of the fact that he was baptized before[{265}] the altar of this church. Of this picture, a "Crucifixion of St. Peter," Sir Joshua Reynolds wrote: