the Pyrenean churches small doors now built up are shown, through which, according to tradition, the proscribed race were obliged to enter the sacred buildings. There however no uncharitable memories are kept alive by the peasants towards any portion of their fellow-countrymen; whereas in Brittany, according to native writers, considerable aversion continues to be entertained by the population generally against individuals practising the callings of cooper or rope-maker, who are still sometimes uncharitably called Kagous, and treated with hereditary contempt. Villemarqué states that the Kagous form the burden of several songs composed anterior to the fifteenth century, at which period leprosy disappeared in Brittany.

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VANNES. SKETCHING DIFFICULTIES.-THE CATHEDRAL. -CURIOUS ECCLESIASTICAL LAWS.-ST. VINCENT FERRIER. THE ROYAL BONE COLLECTOR.-SARDINES. THE COLLEGE.-INSURRECTION OF STUDENTS. THE MEN OF VANNES.-NAPOLEON'S OPINION OF THEM. -THEIR GREAT STRENGTH.-GAME OF SOULE.-MODE OF PLAYING. STORY OF FRANÇOIS THE SOULEUR.-LAWS OF SOULE.TERRIBLE REVENGE.

VANNES is a charming old town, thoroughly Breton, abounding in quaint houses, and girdled by crumbling walls, pierced here and there by picturesque gates, which form delightful subjects for sketching. But sketching at Vannes is a work of considerable difficulty; for although the town is on the skirts of civilization (the large city of Nantes, with its railway to Paris, being only seventy miles distant), the inhabi

tants appear to regard drawing as an occult art, and a sketcher as being in league with the powers of darkness; at least I found myself the object of intense curiosity while drawing, and was on more than one occasion surrounded by dense crowds of wondering gazers, who, to judge from their remarks, seemed never to have seen a sketcher before. It was Tréguier over again, only I am bound to say that my Vannes visitors were less odorous; but the weather was not quite so diaphoretic.

The cathedral of Vannes is of great antiquity, and possesses a handsome portal of Kersanton stone. The chapter-house contains some interesting documents, among the most remarkable being a manuscript volume containing the ecclesiastical laws enacted by a council of church dignitaries held at Vannes in 461. Some of the clauses are curious. All communication with Jews was expressly interdicted. These people, by the way, were constrained to live in one street in the town, and the stones are still shown to which iron bars were attached to prevent them leaving their quarters after nightfall. Priests were forbidden to practise the arts of divination, either by consulting holy books or by any other means. Virgins breaking their vows were condemned to undergo the severest ecclesiastical punishment. Monks were permitted to have only one monastery. Priests were enjoined to

THE CATHEDRAL OF VANNES.

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practise temperance, and to wean the people from all pagan rites and ceremonies.

The precept against divination leads to the inference that this art was practised by the priests, and we cannot therefore be surprised to find that all the Pagan altars had not been overthrown at that period. The patron of the cathedral and town of Vannes is St. Vincent Ferrier, in whose honour a fête is held annually in the first week in September.* On this occasion the Saint's bones are exhibited, and a procession, headed by the Bishop, passes through the streets with much solemnity. The particular veneration paid to the relics of this Saint arises from the circumstance that they were preserved to the town by what the citizens are pleased to regard as a special miracle.

The archives of the cathedral relate that Philip II. of Spain, who, we are told, was much fonder of relics than of observing the precepts of the Gospel, set his heart on adding the bones of St. Vincent Ferrier to his holy osteological collection in the Spanish cathedrals. Accordingly he preferred a request to the chapter of Vannes to be favoured with the precious

* The fêtes and Pardons in this part of Brittany are so curious and characteristic of the primitive nature of the country, that the tourist should be particularly careful to inquire at each town he visits when they are to be held, and to see them if possible.

relics; but the authorities, who had the bones in their charge, and who esteemed them as highly as they were valued by his Most Catholic Majesty of Spain, declined parting with their treasures.

But Philip, although for the present obliged to rest contented with the answer of the chapter, was nevertheless determined to make another attempt to gain possession of the mortal remains of St. Vincent.

During the great League war, it happened that Spanish troops, allies of the Duke de Mercœur, were quartered at Vannes, which town had declared for the League party. This seemed a highly favourable opportunity for carrying off the relics, and Philip accordingly gave the Spaniards instructions how to effect the desired object without causing his Majesty to be suspected. But a citizen of Vannes, who was at that time in Spain, was warned in a dream, or, as we should profanely say, received intelligence of the sacrilegious plot, and, like a good burgher, duly apprised his fellow-citizens of the impending evil.

On the day fixed for the abstraction of the relics, the conspirators had ordered a Play to be performed in the large square, to divert public attention from the cathedral; but, when search was made for the bones, the shrine in which they were kept was found empty, a canon having secreted them in his house. There they remained until the termination of the