a young gentleman, who was keeper of this treasure
of relics, smiled, and by his motions ridiculed the miracle. The prince
indignantly took our young keeper of the relics to task; who, on promise
of pardon, gave the following _secret intelligence_ concerning them. In
travelling from Rome he had lost the box of relics; and not daring to
mention it, he had procured a similar one, which he had filled with the
small bones of dogs and cats, and other trifles similar to what were
lost. He hoped he might be forgiven for smiling, when he found that such
a collection of rubbish was idolized with such pomp, and had even the
virtue of expelling demons. It was by the assistance of this box that
the prince discovered the gross impositions of the monks and the
demoniacs, and Radzivil afterwards became a zealous Lutheran.

The elector Frederic, surnamed _the Wise_, was an indefatigable
collector of relics. After his death, one of the monks employed by him
solicited payment for several parcels he had purchased for our _wise_
elector; but the times had changed! He was advised to give over this
business; the relics for which he desired payment they were willing _to
return_; that the price had fallen considerably since the reformation of
Luther; and that they would find a _better market_ in Italy than in
Germany!

Our Henry III., who was deeply tainted with the superstition of the age,
summoned all the great in the kingdom to meet in London. This summons
excited the most general curiosity, and multitudes appeared. The king
then acquainted them that the great master of the Knights Templars had
sent him a phial containing _a small portion of the precious blood of
Christ_ which he had shed upon the _cross_; and _attested to be genuine_
by the seals of the patriarch of Jerusalem and others! He commanded a
procession the following day; and the historian adds, that though the
road between St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey was very deep and miry,
the king kept his eyes constantly fixed on the phial. Two monks received
it, and deposited the phial in the abbey, "which made all England shine
with glory, dedicating it to God and St. Edward."

Lord Herbert, in his Life of Henry VIII., notices the _great fall of the
price of relics_ at the dissolution of the monasteries. "The respect
given to relics, and some pretended miracles, fell; insomuch, as I find
by our records, that _a piece of St. Andrew's finger_ (covered only with
an ounce of silver), be