Note 029 A vial (the Sainte Ampoulle) of holy or rather celestial oil was brought down by a white dove, for the baptism of Clovis; and it is still used and renewed in the coronation of the kings of France. Hincmar (he aspired to the primacy of Gaul) is the first author of this fable (in tom. iii. p. 377) whose slight foundations the Abbe de Vertot (Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. ii. p. 619-633) has undermined with profound respect and consummate dexterity.

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The History Of The Decline and Fall Of The Roman Empire—Volume 1— Chapter 38