that very lovely piece which you have in the case there, and which has been in your chapel for the last hundred and fifty odd years, is what might be called a “mock chalice”. You see,’ he continued, warming up to his subject, ‘most ancient ideas were simple, obvious notions; uncomplicated methods of preserving the safety of a treasure. Now in my opinion that “mock chalice”, as we’ll call it, is the last of many such — probably all different in design. The real Chalice has always been kept in the background — hidden out of sight — while the show-piece took its place to appease sightseers and
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