rs did they pray before the shrine of the Queen Virgin and
Martyr, and also did they implore her to vouchsafe to grant them some
token of her favor; and, at length, one of her fingers suddenly
disjointed itself from the dead hand of the corpse.--"This gift," as the
legend tells, "they received devoutly, and with it they returned to
their monastery at Rouen."--Never was a miracle less miraculous; and it
is fortunately now of little consequence to inquire whether the
mouldering relic enriched an older monastery, or assisted in bestowing
sanctity on a rising community. According to the pseudo-hagiologists,
the corpse of Saint Catherine was borne through the air by angels, and
deposited on the summit of Mount Sinai, on the spot where her church is
yet standing. Conforming, as it were, to the example of the angels, it
was usual, in the middle ages, to erect her religious buildings on an
eminence. Various instances may be given of this practice in England, as
well as in France: such is the case near Winchester, near
Christ-Church, in the Isle of Wight, and in many other places. St.
Michael contested the honor with her; and he likewise has a chapel here,
whose walls are yet standing. Its antiquity was still greater than that
of the neighboring monastery; a charter from Duke Richard IInd, dated
996, speaking of it as having had existence before his time, and
confirming the donation of it to the Abbey of St. Ouen. But St.
Michael's never rivalled the opulence of Saint Catherine's
priory.--Gosselin himself, and Emmeline his wife, lay buried in the
church of the latter, which is said to have been large, and to have
resembled in its structure that of St. Georges de Bocherville: it is
also recorded, that it was ornamented with many beautiful paintings; and
loud praises are bestowed upon its fine peal of bells. The epitaph of
the founder speaks of him, as--

"Premier Autheur des mesures et poids
Selon raison en ce paeis Normand."

It is somewhat remarkable, that there appear to have been only two other
monumental inscriptions in the church, and both of them in memory of
cooks of the convent; a presumptive proof that the holy fathers were not
inattentive to the good things of this world, in the midst of their
concern for those of the next.--The first of them was for Stephen de
Saumere,--

"Qui en son vivant cuisinier
Fut de Reverend Pere en Dieu,
De la Barre, Abbe de ce lieu."

The other was for--

"