p. 14

Amongst others, the cincture of Xt [Christ]: with the impression of Con-
-stantine's [[Constantine]] seal; _ the girdle of our Lady, the Virgin, _ a mor-
-cel of Aaron's rod, & a little bit of the Manna from the deserts -
the [winding?] sheet of our blessed Lord - & the sheet upon which
the head of [[John the Baptist was decapitated]] -. All these va-
-luables are kept carefully from the [polluting?] eyes of the vuglar,
in a chest, adorned with a profusion of ornament. They are ex-
-hibited every seven years. Their exposition, which continues for
15 days, drew once to Aix la Chapelle [[Aachen]], an innumerable crowd
of pilgrims from all parts of [[Europe]]. In 1492. one day reckoned
142,000, votaries, & at the conclusion of the Farce, so dear to the poor
pilgrims, the chief actors behind the scenes found in their
priestly chests 80,000, florins in gold. The pulpit presented
by H: IV of France [[Henry IV of France]] is truly superb. It is covered with rich plates
of pure gold, with some exquisite figures, carved in ivory,
some precious stones, & an enormous agate in the centre. It
is kept covered, & used only on Sundays. During the Revolutionary
war it was sent off for Safety into [[Westphalia]]. In the Church of
the Franciscans, whose walls are adorned with paintings of the chief
circumstances of his life & death, I found over the great Altar
a painting of the incarnate Deity, the "Fiat Lux", wh: [which] brought
[[Leonardo]]'s famous picture to my recollection. On the Right of
the Church, as you enter, over a side altar, which forms one wing,
as it were, of the great, is a superb painting of [[Rubens]], "the descent
from the Cross," full of expression, & finely colored. The French robbed
the Church of this picture too, & exhibited it amid their spoils
in the [[Paris]] Museum. Blucher [[Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher]] demanded it back for his country-
-men, & it now occupies it's original situation. Over the folding
doors to protect the picture is inscribed, & to his honor,

"[Gubente?] Generalissimo Principe de Blucher"
"Spolium Ecclesiae Aquisgrani [[Aachen]]"
"redit" -

And above this painting is another, by [[Rubens]], in an oval frame
of the Virgin Mourning over the dead Xt [Christ], given by the K. [King] of [[Prussia]],

"Frederico Wilhelmo [[Frederick William III]] Parochiani."

The ancient [foss?] of the town has been turned into a garden planted
with trees. The amusements of the place contain saloons for for dan-
-cing, & a theatre; but I am again unlucky, for the actors have
gone away to [[Amsterdam]] at present. The three best Hotels are