2i0 THE DOVER ROAD 



into the Crypt, which had its own priests in charge 

 of the martyr's perforated skull, which was shown, 

 with four of his bones, on a kind of altar. The fore- 

 head was left bare to be kissed, while the rest was 

 covered with silver. Here hung in the dark the 

 hair-shirts, the girdles and bandages, and the cat-o'- 

 nine-tails or more with which Becket had subdued 

 the flesh ; striking horror with their very appearance, 

 reproaching the pilgrims for their luxuries and self- 

 indulgence, and perhaps, as Erasmus remarks, even 

 reproaching the monks. From the Crypt they 

 returned to the Choir, where the vast stores of rehcs 

 were unlocked for their admiration and worship. 



To read of the rehcs shown by the monks of 

 Canterbury Cathedral fiUs one with amazement, both 

 at the impertinence of those disgusting humbugs, 

 and at the illimitable credulity that accepted the 

 exhibition as genuine. Besides the pre-eminently 

 holy (and really genuine) relics of the Blessed Thomas 

 were heaps of bones, hair, teeth, and dust of a vast 

 concourse of miscellaneous saints, with portions of 

 their attire and articles connected with their domestic 

 history. How genuine they were likely to be may 

 be judged from a short list of the most venerated 

 among them. The bed of the Virgin, with the wool 

 she wove, and a garment of her making, occupied 

 the foremost place, and the rock on which the Cross 

 of Christ stood ; His sepulchre ; the manger ; the 

 table used at the Last Supper ; the column to which 

 He was bound when He was flagellated by the cursed 

 Jews ; and the rock whereon He had stood on 

 ascending into Heaven, were prime favourites. More 

 wonderful still, the monks possessed Aaron's Rod ; 

 a portion of the oak on which Abraham mounted 

 that he might see the Lord ; and — more stupendously 

 blasphemous than anything else — a specimen of the 

 clay with which God moulded Adam ! 



Colet was wearied with all this, and when an arm 

 was brought forward to be kissed which had still the 



