A fire, arising from the negligence of plumbers
employed to repair the lead-work, was the cause of its ruin.--To remedy
the misfortune, recourse was had to extraordinary efforts: the King
contributed twelve thousand francs; the chapter a portion of their
revenue and their plate; collections were made throughout the kingdom;
and Leo Xth authorised the sale of indulgences, a measure, which, at
nearly the same period, in its more extensive adoption for the building
of St. Peter's at Rome, shook the Papacy to its foundation. The spire
thus raised, the second of wood, but the third in chronological order,
is the one which is now in existence. It was, like its predecessor,
endangered by the carelessness of the plumbers, in 1713; but it does not
appear to have required any material reparations till ten years ago,
when a sum of thirty thousand francs was expended upon it.
From what has already been said, you will not have failed to observe
that this cathedral is the work of so many different periods, that it
almost contains within itself a history of pointed architecture.
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