The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-11-05
THE TOMB OF CHARLEMAGNE::
Grace Greenwood Visits il and Tells What
She Saw There, and Something of ats
History.

| The IOMB UE CHARLEMAUNE.
Grace Greenwood visits it and Tells What
| She Saw There, and Something of ATS
We clip the following from a Cologne
| letter of Grace Greenwood to the New
York Times:
1 also made a solitary pilgrimage to
the tomb of CharleiI1agne, leaving the
train at Aix-la- Chappelle, on our way
from Brussels to Cologne. 1t was the
first German town had been in for many
years; knew no German, and had little
French at my command; it seemed an
adventurous thing to do, but accOutered
as | was, plunged in" AS the Don, or
Munster, seemed near, | thought | had
better walk it than try my lonely luck
with German cab-driver but soon got
involved in a labyrinth of narrow streets,
Overhung with quaint, sOmbre cd houses,
curious mis-shapen edifices, which seemed
to come upon me round every corner, out
of the middle ages, and | was obliged to
call in the aid of both church and state
priest and policeman-before could
find the entrance of the old, old chapel
designed and erected by Charlemagne for
his own grand burial place nearly a
UI1OuSdlu 1OdAb d2O. AIOullu IltC CIldpSl
later additions have been built and there
is a lofty modern choir, made almost en-
tirely of beautiful stained glass, but these
things had little interest for me. | only
felt that that monarch of monarchs had
stood where l was standing, planning
royalty for his own sepulture. l only
saw on the marble slab at my feet the
brief great inscription, "Caro MagnO."
| knew Re was not resting beneath that
slab-that it only marked the spot where
once stood his tomb, which "dread
abode" was broken into by Otto Ill,
and the great emperor was found. not
repOsing i'll Il coffin, butts seated IN a throne
like chair of white marble, arrayed in
royal robes, crowned, sceptered, and with
his familiar pilgrims pouch at his side.
On his knees rested a copy of the gospels,
and at hand, as though ready to defend
it, was his favOrite sword JOyeuse.
There is something awfully grand in
such an entombment. He had sat there
in silence and in night for nearly two
hundred years, waiting for the resurrec-
ton, which came all too soon. The fra
GRANGE of rare gums and spices used in
his partial embalmment must have tainted
in the mold, and colOrs of rich silk and
the sheen of gold died out in the dark
ness: but it seems to me that the sleeping
light of those crown jewels must have
dreamed of the sun and the east soft
tremulous CLEANS down on the open pages
of the word. He should have been left
there in state, while at least his grand
chapel should endure, but the stone was
rolled away from the sepulchre, not by
angels, but by hungry relic-hunters and
saint-mongers, and they laid Decorating
and dissecting hands upon him-parted
not only his raiment, but his skeleton
took him to pieces bone by bone, and
have distributed him about MINISTERS and
mOnasteries. A dead emperor of that
quality was too much for a chapel of this
size to have all to itself 1t preserves,
however, his skull, the darkened shell of
an extinct star of Sovereignty gigantic
tabia-the real chair in which he sat,
and which was afterward used at the cor
onation of emperors, and the parian sar-
cophagus in which rested his tired feet
all through that two hundred years sit
ting. This church is marvelously richin
plate, Jewels, chalices, shrines and reliq
uariesof rare and exquisite workmanship,
and in relics, the bare list of which appalls
one as an exhibition Of human credulity,
superstition and imposition. What an
idea of Christ they have who actually
believe he can be pleased at seeing his
people redeemed from Olden idOlatry,
Frustrating themselves before the rod
which once smote him, the cord that
bound him, the nail that pierced him,
and even the blaekened and shriveled
arm of poor old SimOh-that arm which
bore the smiling infant Jesus in the
temple.
A very interesting building is the
Rathhaus, which dates back to 1865, and
was then built on the site of the old
palace in which Charlenagne was born.
In the Kaiser Saal, a sonbre, low-arched
hall, the coronation of the emperOrs
used to take place No lest than thirty
seven, they told me, had there received
the crown, seated on the mortuary chair
of Charlemagne, and swearing upon the
sacred relics, a curious and CHASTITY col
lection-Christ' lea.hern girdle, the
sponge once wet with vinegar for his dy-
ing lips, some blood and bones of ST.
Stephen, some MANN from the wilder
ness, that arm of ole Simon, and a bit
of Aaron's rod. ThTe is a grand new
staircase to this hal, and the old one
has fallen into decay and desuetude.
The stone steps of this seemed to me
worn out by the tranping of many en-
perors and their mailed retainers. In
spite of some bright modern frescoes,
giving the glorious incidents in Charlie
magne's life, the air of this old saloon
was melancholy and oppressive to me,
filled with shifting pictures of history
more gloomy than grand-Of those me-
dievals monarchs, coming and going,
with a mighty clang of steel and surg
ing of banners, and stormy bursts of
music, and taking holy names and awful
oaths upon their lips, now and then one
resolved on the reign of justice, burning
to do them great, good work for God and
the people, but for the most part robbers,