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One side of the square is occupied by the customhouse, 

 which is an elegant building It is three stories high, 

 and has an avant corps of four Doric columns, support- 

 ing a sculptured pediment. It has twelve windows in 

 front. Those in the lowest story have- circular heads, 

 and between each of the upper ones is a Doric pilaster. 

 A balustrade terminates the front above. 



The cathedra], which is one of the finest specimens 

 of Gothic architecture in France, is a work of the 12th 

 century, and is in every respect a grand and imposing 

 edifice. It is also famous in history as the place where 

 the ceremony of anointing or consecrating the kings of 

 France took place. At the west end of it, which has 

 a general likeness to that of Notre Dame in Paris, there 

 are three noble entrances loaded with full length statues 

 below, and smaller ones above, inclined according to 

 the curvature of the pointed arches which compose each 

 entrance. The middle portal had, before 1814, under- 

 gone some repairs, which gave it the appearance of be- 

 ing new. Above the middle door there is a large cir- 

 cular window, with another of the same form above it. 

 At the west end there are two lofty and highly orna- 

 mented turrets, which are mutilated above, having the 

 appearance of being unfinished. There are seven -fly- 

 ing buttresses between the transept and the end of the 

 nave, and in each buttress there is a niche, or rather a 

 recess with columns, containing a full length statue. 

 Above the buttresses, on the top of the principal wall, 

 there is a singularly light balustrade of pointed arches, 

 which appear projected against the roof. At the east 

 aid of the cathedral, which is circular, there are quad- 

 ruple flying buttresses, and above them an aiguille or 

 small spire. The two gates on the north side of the 

 transept have their fine sculptures in great preserva- 

 tion. The third gate has the appearance of having been 

 built up. 



The interior of the cathedral corresponds in magni- 

 ficence with its external architecture. There are ten 

 noble Gothic columns in the nave on each side, one 

 window being between each two pillars. The places 

 in the roof where the groins meet are all gilt. The 

 upper windows in the nave are most beautifully co- 

 loured, and the lower part is adorned with twelve 

 pieces of fine tapestry. A large and finely sculptured 

 marble tomb, representing the killing of a lion, was, in 

 1814, standing upon stones in a temporary position. 



In the choir there are ten columns having their capi- 

 tals beautifully wrought. Six of these are circular. 

 The aisles are all very grand, particularly five of them 

 behind the choir, which are each adorned with temples 

 of four fine marble columns. In the north end of the 

 transept there is a fine organ. There is a grand circu- 

 lar window of coloured glass above it, and another on 

 the opposite side. 



The archbishop's palace, which is a large building, 

 is situated close to the cathedral. It bears the date of 

 1690, and seems to have been used as a caserne. 



The church of St. Remi, situated in the higher part 

 of the town, is seen at a great distance, with its three 

 lofty spires, in approaching the town from Chalons. 

 The spire at the east end is the largest and finest. It 

 has a small pyramid at each angle, joined by flying 

 buttresses to the principal pyramid. The two spires 

 at the west end are similar, but without buttresses. 

 There is a large circular iron window at the west por- 

 tal, with fluted columns all the way up the front. The 

 south portal is grand, but a little defaced. In the north 

 end of the transept is a circular window, and in the 

 south end a large window, in both of which there is 

 very little coloured glass. The outside of this church 



is not remarkable for ornament or fine architecture. Rheims 

 It has a fine chime of music-bells. The interior of the l| 

 church is very fine. There are side aisles all around. 

 In the choir there are ten large massy columns, and 

 the upper windows of it consist of beautifully painted 

 glass. Between each column in the choir are'two mar- 

 ble columns and two pilasters, and in one of them three 

 marble columns. There is an altar-piece behind with 

 two black marble columns, and the nave is ornament- 

 ed with six pieces of tapestry. Across the transept, on 

 each side, there are eighteen little marble columns of 

 black and red marble, alternately supporting an archi- 

 trave. In the choir a grand circular mausoleum is 

 erected over the tomb of St. Remi. It consists of eight 

 large marble columns, with segments of arches spring- 

 ing from each to an apex above. It contains within it 

 no fewer than fifteen full length marble statues of the 

 Bishops of Noyon, Chalons, Beauvais, Langres, Laon, 

 Rheims, Burgundy, Normandy, the Duke of Aquitaine, 

 the Counts of Champagne, Flandre, and Thoulouse, 

 besides other three figures without names. All these 

 figures surround the tomb of St. Remi. This mauso- 

 leum was erected in 1803 by M. Remi-Roland Ladinard 

 of Vauxcelles. There was standing in the nave in 

 1814 a huge gilt ball, surmounted with an eagle, with 

 the inscription of Protegsnle Napoleone Magno. It is 

 now reversed, and seems to have been one of the orna- 

 ments of the church. 



The Maison de Ville is a large'and handsome building, 

 but only one half of the middle, and one of the wings 

 were finished in 1814. There are eight windows m 

 the half front, two stories and an attic in the body, and 

 three stories and an attic in the wing. It is ornament- 

 ed with fine Doric pillars below, there being six in the 

 portal, six in the body, and four in the wing. It has 

 a low eight-sided spire, covered with slate. The front 

 of the building was in 1814 undergoing a repair with 

 the chissel. There are three hospitals in Rheims, and 

 some antiquities. The remains of a triumphal arch, 

 and some vestiges of an amphitheatre are to be seen 

 without the gate of Mars. 



A royal college or high school has been established 

 in place of the university, which was founded here in 

 1547. 



The principal manufactures of Rheims are cotton 

 and woollen, and silken goods, hats and stockings, 

 candles and spiced bread. The Archbishop of Rheims 

 is primate of all France. Population 31,356. East 

 Long. 4 6'. North Lat. 49 H)'. 



RHEINFELDEN, a small town in the north of 

 Switzerland, situated on the Rhine, about nine miles 

 above Basle. It is surrounded with very lofty 

 but miserable looking walls. The bridge over 

 the Rhine at this town consists of a small covered 

 wooden bridge of four arches, which reach to an island 

 covered with the remains of an old building, and ano- 

 ther of three arches with stone piers. The Rhine is 

 navigable in boats from this to Basle, and the passage 

 is performed in an hour and a quarter. The number 

 of houses is about 200, and the population about 1200. 

 RHEINTHAL, or the valley of the Rhine, is the 

 name of a district of the Swiss canton of St. Gall, ex- 

 tending along the Rhine from the Lake of Constance 

 to the lordship of Sax. It is divided into the Upper 

 and the Lower Rhtinthal. It is about eight leagues 

 long, and varies from, one, two, to three leagues in 

 breadth. It is separated from Germany and the Rhine.. 

 The country, which is very fertile, produces good wine. 

 It possesses very fine quarries, and there are mineral 

 springs at Rebstein, Balgach, Koeblweiss and Thai. 

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