dignitaries of the Cathedral, dispensed the benediction. Then advanced from the arch-diocese of Cologne a torch-procession, accompanied by instrumental music. The whole proceedings were closed by the chorus,—"Lord God! we praise thee," in the Cathedral. The chief streets of the city were illuminated in the evening, and the grand organ continued pealing. In the middle window of the Cathedral where, in former times, the exhibition of the relic had taken place, was a transparency of the Cross, with splendid emblematic devices.

While all this was going on within the Cathedral, outside there was everything to call the mind of the devotee from the scene in which he had taken part; for, in addition to the jostling and bustle of the crowded city, there was everything in the way of the ordinary and extraordinary sights of a fair, to make him forget the feelings and object of his pilgrimage. Menageries, panoramas, plays, &c, all solicited the attention and money of those assembled, equally with the music and services of the Cathedral.

The bishops who had officiated during the ceremonial from first to last, were those of Metz, Nancy, Verdun, Luxembourg, Spires, Limburg, Osnabrück, Münster, Cologne, with several from Holland. Each bishop entered the city amid the ringing of the church bells. The pilgrims from France did not enter the city in processional order, but their clergy were numerously represented. During the whole period, processions to the city were not uncommon. Controversies between several of the journals, as to many occurrences connected with the proceedings, have taken place. Charges have been advanced, and as flatly contradicted, so that we do not feel called on to detail either the nature of the charges or the defence. It is easy enough admitting exaggeration on both sides.

It only remains to notice the inseparable adjuncts of such proceedings—the miracles which are said to have been effected. To a Protestant, who has not spent some time in a Catholic country, it must seem in the highest degree strange to hear of solemn statements, by opposite newspapers in support of, or in opposition to, certain pretended miracles; nay, not only so, but to have counter-medical certificates pitted against each other on the issue. Yet all this has lately been done. It would be worse than useless to recite the floating stories which one hears in the neighbourhood, about Protestant clergymen dying suddenly in the full possession of health, for having denounced the whole thing as a piece of imposture to a body of passing pilgrims, or of the many miraculous cures of sight, lameness, and the like. Yet, that all this is fact, any intelligent and inquiring tourist of the Rhine can testify. One case, in particular, created great interest, that of the Countess Droste-Vischering, a relation of the Archbishop of Cologne, who has been for many years unable to walk without the use of crutches, but who, after beholding the Holy Coat, was enabled, to the wonderment of all, to walk home unassisted. The plain truth comes out from her medical adviser,—that she had been long suffering from a diseased knee-joint, that she resolved at all hazards to go to Treves, and that, while in a fit of ecstasy before the relic, she had excited a degree of energy, in stretching or bending the diseased limb, which had given the temporary relief, by relaxing the long rigid muscles. Since this period she has had relapses, and is, we believe, now using the crutches, which had been too hastily hung up in the Cathedral as a thank-offering for her marvellous restoration. Yet this simple story is paraded about and magnified into a miracle, to give still greater éclat to the Holy Coat and the church ceremonies connected with it. It would be useless to enter into other details, when all are equally barefaced. The above case may be selected as a rather better than average specimen of the popish miracles of the continent.

And now, in finishing this part of the subject, we may be allowed to quote the opinion of one of the great organs of German Catholicism:—"Who can deny that this exhibition of the Holy Coat has been an event for the Rhine provinces and the West of Europe, which, in its consequences, must be of the greatest moment, whilst, for its grandeur, in church history it is unprecedented? Proceeding from a small circle, it has already embraced a wide circumference in its influence." After enumerating the quarters from which the crowds of pilgrims flocked, he proceeds:—"Who shall name those, principally from the higher classes, who came as single pilgrims from distant cities and lands, and what language do all these bands speak? They proclaim the triumph of faith over a system of false enlightenment; the victory of the newly-awakened elements of the day over all overthrowing tendencies—in a word, they proclaim the power of the Church, which has brought together such vast bodies of men, separated among so many princes by language and habits, yet made to act as the members of one and the same body."

We now turn to the more pleasing part of the subject, the statement of the more striking particulars connected with the late re-action against this God-dishonouring spectacle. It was impossible that a movement so singular and extensive should escape being made the subject of general newspaper remark and criticism. And, as the fact has proved, it has been argued and re-argued in a hundred ways by Catholic and Protestant journals, so that the whole bearings of the case, and the positions of all the different political and religious parties in the country in relation to it, have been brought and kept steadily before the public mind. This, it is clear, can be but seldom realized where the State puts its imprimatur upon the full freedom of the press, and where, in consequence, public opinion is but struggling for existence and definite expression, instead of being, as in Britain, the one element which overrules and directs the movements of the whole social system. We can appreciate the effects of free inquiry;—and when we know that this is now being unsparingly applied to the workings of that system, which "loves the darkness rather than the light," we may, under God's guidance and blessing, be allowed to look for new and large results, in the way of the exposure of errors, which have the sanction of long centuries of ignorance, and of great preparatory movements at least, for the reception of the truth as it is in Jesus. This is one great point gained; and if the spirit of inquiry, which has now been excited, could be but well directed, we might already rejoice in the Protestant prospects of Germany. That men feel unsatisfied with what is, is manifest—that feelings long kept under, are now obtaining clear and full expression—that men are being undeceived in having so long believed a lie, and often in agony of spirit are seeking for the simple truth to bring peace to their souls—all this, and much more is evident, and calls loudly for our active sympathies and prayers.

A few points call for especial notice:—

Very many of the Catholic journals have taken their stand against the late scenes at Treves. It is true, that several of those Journals may have been actuated by secondary motives in so doing, or what is the notorious fact, that some, at least of such Journals, want almost entirely a religious character; and though Catholic in name, are infidel in fact. Still it is equally notorious, that several of the Catholic Journals, whose orthodoxy is above suspicion, have lifted up their voice against what has taken place, as scandalous to Christianity, and eminently perilous to the Church.

In addition to the discussions which have appeared in the public prints, a vast mass of pamphlets has been issued on both sides. The most remarkable of these is, one issued by two professors in Bonn, Gildermeister and Sybel (the latter a Catholic,) entering into a grave and learned historical inquiry as to the genuineness of the relic, exposing in the most triumphant manner