ACCOUNT OF A TOUR IN NORMANDY Volume II by Dawson Turner

LETTERS FROM NORMANDY, ADDRESSEDTO THE REV. JAMES LAYTON, B. A. OFCATFIELD, NORFOLK. 

UNDERTAKEN CHIEFLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATING THE ARCHITECTURALANTIQUITIES OF THE DUCHY, WITH OBSERVATIONS ON ITS HISTORY, ON THECOUNTRY, AND ON ITS INHABITANTS. 

ILLUSTRATEDWITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS. 

CONTENTS. 

LETTER XIV. 

Ducler--St. Georges de Bocherville--M. Langlois

LETTER XV. 

Abbey of Jumieges--Its History--Architectural Details--Tombs of AgnesSorel and of the Enervez

LETTER XVI. 

Gournay--Castle of Neufmarché--Castle and Church of Gisors

LETTER XVII. 

Andelys--Fountain of Saint Clotilda--La Grande Maison--ChâteauGaillard--Ecouis

LETTER XVIII. 

Evreux--Cathedral--Abbey of St. Taurinus--Ancient History

LETTER XIX. 

Vicinity of Evreux--Château de Navarre--Cocherel--Pont-Audemer--Montfort-sur-Risle--Harfleur--Bourg-Achard--French Wedding

LETTER XX. 

Moulineaux--Castle of Robert the Devil--Bourg-Theroude--Abbey ofBec--Brionne

LETTER XXI. 

Bernay--Broglie--Orbec--Lisieux--Cathedral--Ecclesiastical History

LETTER XXII. 

Site and Ruins of the Capital of the Lexovii--History ofLisieux--Monasteries of the Diocese--Ordericus Vitalis--M. Dubois--Letter from the Princess Borghese

LETTER XXIII. 

French Police--Ride from Lisieux to Caen--Cider--General Appearanceand Trade of Caen--English resident there

LETTER XXIV. 

Historians of Caen--Towers and Fortifications--Château de laGendarmerie--Castle--Churches of St. Stephen, St. Nicholas, St. Peter, St. John, and St. Michel de Vaucelles

LETTER XXV. 

Royal Abbeys of the Holy Trinity and St. Stephen--Funeral of theConqueror, Exhumation of his Remains, and Destruction of his Monument

LETTER XXVI. 

Palace of the Conqueror--Heraldic Tiles--Portraits of William andMatilda--Museum--Public Library--University--Academy--EminentMen--History of Caen

LETTER XXVII. 

Vieux--La Maladerie--Chesnut Timber--Caen Stone--History ofBayeux--Tapestry

LETTER XXVIII. 

Cathedral of Bayeux--Canon of Cambremer--Cope of St. Regnobert--Odo

LETTER XXIX. 

Church and Castle of Creully--Falaise--Castle--Churches--Fair ofGuibray

LETTER XXX. 

Rock and Chapel of St. Adrien--Pont-de-l'Arche--Priory of the twoLovers--Abbey of Bonport--Louviers--Gaillon--Vernon

APPENDIX I. 

APPENDIX II. 

INDEX. 

LIST OF PLATES. 

Plate 26 Sculpture upon a capital in the Chapter-House at St. Georges

Plate 27 M. Langlois

Plate 28 Musicians, from the Chapter-House at St. Georges

Plate 29 Distant View of the Abbey of St. Jumieges

Plate 30 Ancient trefoil-headed Arches in ditto

Plate 31 Distant of the Castle of Gisors

Plate 32 Banded Pillar in the Church of ditto

Plate 33 Distant View of Château Gaillard

Plate 34 Gothic Puteal, at Evreux

Plate 35 Leaden Font at Bourg-Achard

Plate 36 Ancient Tomb in the Cathedral at Lisieux

Plate 37 Head-Dress of Females, as Caen

Plate 38 Tower in the _Château de Calix_, at ditto

Plate 39 Tower and Spire of St. Peter's Church, at ditto

Plate 40 Sculpture upon a Capital in ditto

Plate 41 Tower of St. John's Church, at Caen

Plate 42 Monastery of St. Stephen, at ditto

Plate 43 Fireplace in the Conqueror's Palace, at Ditto

Plate 44 Profile of M. Lamouroux

Plate 45 Figure from the Bayeux Tapestry

Plate 46 Sculpture at Bayeux

Plate 47 Ornaments in the Spandrils of the Arches in Bayeux Cathedral

Plate 48 Castle of Falaise

Plate 49 Elevation of the West Front of _La Délivrande_

Plate 50 Font at Magneville

LETTERS FROM NORMANDY. 

LETTER XIV. 

DUCLER--ST. GEORGES DE BOCHERVILLE--M. LANGLOIS. 

(_Ducler, July_, 1818. )

You will look in vain for Ducler in the _livre des postes_; yet thislittle town, which is out of the common road of the traveller, becomesan interesting station to the antiquary, it being situated nearlymid-way between two of the most important remains of ancientecclesiastical architecture in Normandy--the abbeys of St. Georges deBocherville and of Jumieges. --The accommodation afforded by the inns atBocherville and Jumieges, is but a poor substitute for the hospitalityof the suppressed abbeys; and, as even the antiquary must eat andperhaps sleep, he who visits either St. George or the holy Virgin, willdo well to take his _fricandeau_ and his bed, at the place whence I amwriting. 

At a period when the right bank of the Seine from Harfleur to Rouendisplayed an almost uninterrupted line or monastic buildings, Ducleralso boasted of a convent[1], which must have been of some importance, as early as the middle of the seventh century. --King Childeric IInd, granted the forest of Jumieges to the convent of the same name and thatof St. Vandrille; and St. Ouen was directed by the monarch to divide theendowment between the two foundations. His award did not givesatisfaction to St. Philibert, the abbot of Jumieges, who maintainedthat his house had not received a fair allotment. The proposition wasstoutly resisted by St. Lambert, abbot of St. Vandrille; and the disputewas at length settled by the saints withdrawing their claims, and cedingthe surplus land to the abbey of Ducler. St. Denys was the patron ofthis abbey; and to him also the present parochial church is dedicated:it is of Norman architecture; the tower is surrounded by a row offantastic corbels; and a considerable quantity of painted glass yetremains in the windows. The village itself (for it is nothing more thana village, though honored by French geographers with the name of a_bourg_), consists of a single row of houses, placed immediately underthe steep chalk cliff which borders the Seine. The face of the cliff isalso indented by excavations, in which the poorer inhabitants dwell, almost like the Troglodytes of old. The situation of Ducler, and that ofthe two neighboring abbeys, is delightful in summer and in fine weather. In winter it must be cold and cheerless; for, besides being close to ariver of so great breadth, it looks upon a flat marshy shore, whenceexhalations copiously arise. The view from our chamber window thismorning presented volumes of mist rolling on with the stream. The tidewas setting in fast downwards; and the water glided along in silentrapidity, involved in clouds. 

The village of Bocherville, or, as it is more commonly called, of St. Georges, the place borrowing its name from the patron saint of theabbey, lies, at the distance of about two leagues from Rouen. The roadis exceedingly pleasing. Every turning presents a fresh view of theriver; while, on looking back, the city itself is added to thelandscape; and, as we approach, the abbey-church is seen towering uponthe eminence which it commands. 

The church of St. Georges de Bocherville, called in old charters _deBaucherville_, and in Latin _de Balcheri_ or _Baucheri villa_, was builtby Ralph de Tancarville, the preceptor of the Conqueror in his youth, and his chamberlain in his maturer age. The descendants of the founderwere long the patrons and advocates of the monastery. The Tancarvilles, names illustrious in Norman, no less than in English, story, continuedduring many centuries to regard it as under their particular protection:they enriched it with their donations whilst alive, and they selected itas the spot to contain their remains when they should be no more. 

The following portion of the charter, which puts us in possession of theindisputable æra of the erection of the church, is preserved byMabillon[2]. It is the Conqueror who speaks. --"Radulfus, meus magister, aulæque et cameræ princeps, instinctu divino tactus, ecclesiamsupradicti martyris Georgii, quæ erat parva, re-edificare a fundamentisinchoavit, et ex proprio in modum crucis consummavit. "

The Monarch and his Queen condescended to gratify a faithful andfavorite servant, by endowing his establishment. The corpse of thesovereign himself was also brought hither from St. Gervais, by the monksand clergy, in solemn procession, before it was carried to Caen[3] forinterment. 

Ralph de Tancarville, however, was not fortunate in the selection ofthe inmates whom he planted in his monastery. His son, in the reign ofHenry Ist, dismissed the canons for whom it was first founded, andreplaced them by a colony of monks from St. Evroul. Ordericus Vitalis, himself of the fraternity of St. Evroul, commemorates and of coursepraises the fact. Such changes are of frequent occurrence inecclesiastical history; and the apprehension of being rejected from anopulent and well-endowed establishment, may occasionally havecontributed, by the warning example, to correct the irregularities ofother communities. A century later, the abbot of St. Georges wascompelled to appeal to the pope, in consequence of an attempt on thepart of his brethren at St. Evroul, to degrade his convent into a merecell, dependent upon theirs. --The chronicle of the abbey is barren ofevents of general interest; nor do its thirty-one abbots appear to havebeen men of whom there was much more to be said, than that they arrivedat their dignity on such a year, and quitted it on such another. Of themonks, we are told that, in the fifteenth century, though their numberwas only eight, the dignitaries included, the daily task allotted themwas greater than would in any of the most rigid establishments, inlatter days, have been imposed upon forty brethren in a week!

Inconsiderable as is the abbey, in an historical point of view, thechurch of St. Georges de Bocherville is of singular importance, inasmuchas it is one of the land-marks of Norman architecture. William, in hischarter, simply styles himself _Dux Normannorum_; it therefore wasgranted a few years before the conquest. The building has sufferedlittle, either from the hands of the destroyers, or of those who dostill more mischief, the repairers; and it is certainly at once the mostgenuine and the most magnificent specimen of the circular style, nowexisting in Upper Normandy. --The west front is wholly of the time of thefounder, with the exception of the upper portion of the towers thatflank it on either side. In these are windows of nearly the earliestpointed style; and they are probably of the same date as thechapter-house, which was built in the latter part of the twelfthcentury. The effect of the front is imposing: its general simplicitycontrasts well with the rich ornaments of the arched door-way, which isdivided into five systems of mouldings, all highly wrought, andpresenting almost every pattern commonly found in Norman buildings. Alabel encircles the whole, the inner edge of which is indented intoobtuse pyramids, erroneously called lozenges. The capitals of thecolumns supporting the arch are curiously sculptured: upon the second tothe left, on entering, are Adam and Eve, in the act of eating theforbidden fruit; upon the opposite one, is represented the Flight intoEgypt. Normandy does not contain, I believe, a richer arch; but verymany indeed are to be seen in England, even in our village churches, superior in decoration, though not, perhaps, in size; for this at St. Georges is on a very large scale: on each side of it is a smaller blankarch, with a single moulding and a single pillar. Two tiers ofcircular-headed windows of equal size fill up the front. --The rest ofthe exterior may be said to be precisely as it was left by the originalbuilders, excepting only the insertion of a pointed window near thecentral tower. 

The inside is at least equally free from modern alterations orimprovements. No other change whatever is to be traced in it than suchas were required to repair the injuries done it during the religiouswars; and these were wholly confined to a portion of the roof, and ofthe upper part of the wall on the south side of the nave. The groinedroof, though posterior to the original date of the building, is perhapsof the thirteenth century. The nave itself terminates towards the eastin a semi-circular apsis, according to the custom of the times; andthere, as well as at the opposite extremity of the building, it has adouble tier of windows, and has columns more massy than those in thebody of the church. The aisles end in straight lines; but, within, arecess is made in the thickness of the wall, for the purpose ofadmitting an altar. Both the transepts are divided within the church, ata short distance from their extremities, into two stories, by a vaultedroof of the same height as the triforium. --M. Le Prevost, who has verykindly communicated to me the principal part of these details, hasobserved the same to be the case in some other contemporary buildings inNormandy. On the eastern side of each transept is a small chapel, ending, like the choir, in a semi-circular apsis, which rises no higherthan the top of the basement story. A cable moulding runs round thewalls of the whole church within. --You and I, in our own country, haveoften joined in admiring the massy grandeur of Norman architecture, exemplified in the nave of Norwich cathedral: at St. Georges I was stillmore impressed by the noble effect of semi-circular arcades, seen asthey are here on a still larger scale, and in their primitive state, uninterrupted and undebased by subsequent additions. 

On closer examination, the barbarous style of the sculpture forcesitself upon the eye. Towards the western end of the building thecapitals are comparatively plain: they become more elaborate onapproaching the choir. Some of them are imitations or modifications (andit may even be said beautiful ones) of the Grecian model; but in generalthey are strangely grotesque. Many represent quadrupeds, or dragons, orbirds, and commonly with two bodies, and a single head attached to anypart rather than the neck. On others is seen "the human form divine, "here praying, there fighting; here devouring, there in the act of beingdevoured; not uncommonly too the men, if men they must be called, aredisfigured by enormous heads with great flapping ears, or loll out anendless length of tongue. --One is almost led to conceive that Schedel, the compiler of the _Nuremberg Chronicle_, had a set of Norman capitalsbefore his eyes, when he published his inimitable series of monsters. His "homines cynocephali, " and others with "aures tam magnas ut totumcorpus contegant, " and those again whose under lips serve them ascoverlids, may all find their prototypes, or nearly so, in the carvingsof St. Georges. 

The most curious sculptures, however, in the church, are two squarebas-reliefs, opposite to one another, upon the spandrils of the arches, in the walls that divide the extremities of the transepts into differentstories[4]. They are cut out of the solid stone, in the same manner asthe subjects on the block of a wood-engraving: one of these tabletsrepresents a prelate holding a crosier in his left hand, while the twofore-fingers of the right are elevated in the act of giving theblessing; the other contains two knights on horseback, jousting at atournament. They are armed with lance and buckler, and each of them hashis head covered with a pointed helmet, which terminates below in anasal, like the figures upon the Bayeux tapestry. --This coincidence isinteresting, as deciding a point of some moment towards establishing theantiquity of that celebrated relic, by setting it beyond a doubt thatsuch helmets were used anterior to the conquest; for it is certain thatthese basso-relievos are coeval with the building which contains them. 

This church affords admirable subjects for the pencil. It should bedrawn in every part: all is entire; all original; the corbel-stones thatsupport the cornice on the exterior are perfect, as well along the choirand nave, as upon the square central steeple: each of the sides of thislatter is ornamented with a double tier of circular arches. Thebuttresses to the church are, like those of the chapel of St. Julien, shallow and unbroken; and they are ranged, as there, between thewindows. At the east end alone they take the shape of smallsemi-cylindrical columns of disproportionate length. 

[Illustration: Sculpture upon a capital in the Chapter-House at St. Georges]

The monastic buildings, which were probably erected about the year1700, now serve as a manufactory. Between them and the church issituated the chapter-house, which was built towards the end of thetwelfth century, at a period when the pointed architecture had alreadybegun to take place of the circular style. Its date is supplied in the_Gallia Christiana_, where we read, that Victor, the second abbot, "obiit longævus dierum, idibus Martii, seu XVIII calendas Aprilis, anteannum 1211; sepultusque est sub tabulâ marmoreâ in capitulo quoderexerat. "

We found it in a most ruinous and dilapidated state, yet extremelycurious; indeed not less so than the church. Its front to the westexhibits a row of three semi-circular arches, with an ornament on thearchivolt altogether different from what I recollect to have seenelsewhere[5]. The inside corresponds in profuse decoration with thisentrance; but the arches in it are all pointed. An entablature ofbeautiful workmanship is carried round the whole building, which is nowused as a mill: it was crowded with dirty children belonging to themanufactory; and the confusion which prevailed, was far from beingfavorable to the quiet lucubrations of an antiquary. In no part of thechurch is the sculpture equally curious; and it is very interesting toobserve the progress which this branch of the art had made in so short atime. Two or three of the capitals to the arches in front, seem toinclude one continued action, taken apparently from the history ofJoshua. Another capital, of which I send you a sketch from the pencil ofM. Le Prevost, is a great curiosity. The group which it contains, isnearly a duplicate of the supposed statue of William the Conqueror atCaen. In all probability it represents some legendary story, though thesubject is not satisfactorily ascertained. Against the pillars thatsupport these arches, were affixed whole-length figures, or cariatides, in alto-relievo. Three of them still remain, though much mutilated; twowomen and a man. They hold in their hands labels, with inscriptions thatfall down to their feet in front. One of the females has her hairdisposed in long braided tresses, which reach on either side to hergirdle. In this respect, as well as in the style of the sculpture andcostume, there is a resemblance between these statues and those on theportals at St. Denys and at Chartres, as well as those formerly on thatof St. Germain des Prés, at Paris, all which are figured by Montfauconin his _Monumens de la Monarchie Française_, and are supposed by him tobe of the times of the Merovingian or Carlovingian dynasty; butsubsequent writers have referred them to the eleventh or twelfthcentury. 

[Illustration: M. Langlois]

It was in this chapter-house that M. Langlois[6] found, among a heap ofstones, a most interesting capital, that had formerly been attached to adouble column. By his kindness, I inclose you two drawings of it. One ofthem shews it in its entire form as a capital; the other exhibits thebas-relief carved upon it[7]. 

[Illustration: Bas-relief on capital]

The various injuries sustained by the building, render it impossible toascertain the spot which this capital originally occupied; but M. LePrevost supposes that it belonged to some gate of the cloister, which isnow destroyed. A more curious series of musical instruments is, perhaps, no where to be found; and it is a subject upon which authors in generalare peculiarly unsatisfactory. I am told that, in an old French romance, the names of upwards of twenty are enumerated, whose forms and natureare quite unknown at the present day; while, on the other hand, we areall of us aware that painting and sculpture supply figures of many, forwhich it would be extremely difficult or impossible to find names[8]. 

[Illustration: Musicians, from the Chapter-House at St. Georges]

The chapter-house, previously to the revolution, contained atomb-stone[9], uninscribed and exhibiting only a sculptured sword, underwhich it was supposed that either Ralph de Tancarville himself, thefounder of the abbey, or his grandson, William, lay interred. It is ofthe latter that the records of the monastery tell, how, on the fifth dayafter he girded himself with the military belt, he came to the church, and deposited his sword upon the altar, and subsequently redeemed it byvarious donations, and by confirming to the monks their right to theseveral benefices in his domain, which had been ceded to them by hisgrandfather. --Here then, I quit you: in a few days I shall have paid mydevotions at the shrine of Jumieges:--meanwhile, in the language of thewriters of the elder day, I close this sheet with. 

 EXPLICIT FELICITER Stus. GEORGIUS DE BOCHERVILLA; DEO GRATIAS. 

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: _Histoire de la Haute Normandie_, II. P. 266. VOL. II. ]

[Footnote 2: _Ann. Benedict. _ III. P. 674, 675. --This charter was notamong the archives of the monastery; but I am informed by M. Le Prevost, that several are still in existence, most of them granted by the familyof the founder, but some by Kings of England. One of the latter is byRichard Coeur de Lion, and his seal of red wax still remains appended toit, in fine preservation. The seal, on one side, represents the kingseated upon his throne, with a pointed beard, having his crown on hishead, and a sword in one hand, and sceptre in the other: on the otherside, he is on horseback, with his head covered with a cylindricalhelmet, surmounted with a very remarkable crest, in the form of a fan:on his shield are plainly distinguishable the three lions ofEngland. --From among the charters granted by the Tancarville family, M. Le Prevost has sent me copies of two which have never yet been printed;but which appear to deserve insertion here. One is from Lucy, daughterof William de Tancarville, and grand-daughter of Ralph, thechamberlain. --"Notum sit Ricardo de Vernon and Willelmo Camerario deTancarvilla, et veteribus et juvenibus, quòd Lucia, filia Willelmi, Camerarii de Tancarvilla, pro animâ suâ et pro animabus antecessorumsuorum, ad ecclesiam Sti. Georgii de Bauchervilla dedit molendinum deWaldinivilla, quod est subter aliud molendinum et molendinum deWaldinval, liberè et quietè, et insupèr ecclesiam de Seonvilla, salvâelemosinâ Roberti sacerdotis in vitâ suâ, si dignus est habendi eam. Etpost mortem Willelmi capellani sui de Sancto Flocello, ad ecclesiamsuprà dictam dedit decimam de vavassoribus de Seolvilla, quam dedit inelemosinâ habendam Willelmo capellano totâ vitâ bene et in pace etsecurè, et decimas de custodiis totius terre sue que est inConstantino. --Ego Lucia do hanc elemosinam pro animâ meâ et proantecessoribus ad ecclesiam Sanctii Georgii; et qui auferet ab eâ etauferetur ab eo regnum Dei. Amen. --Testibus, Ricardo de Haia et Matilleuxore suâ et Nigello de Chetilivilla et hominibus de SanctoFlocello. "--To this is added, in a smaller hand-writing, probably thelady's own autograph, the following sentence:--"Et precor vos quòdecclesia Sancti Georgii non decrescatur in tempore vestro pro Dei amoreet meo de elemosinis patris mei neque de meis. "--There is still farthersubjoined, in a different hand-writing, and in a much paler ink:--"Hæcomnia Ricardus de Vernon libenter concessit. "--The other charter wasgranted by William the Younger, and details a curious customoccasionally observed in the middle ages, in making donations:--

"Universis sancte ecclesie fidelibus. Willelmus junior camerarius indomino salutem. Notum sit presentibus et futuris, quod ego Willelmusjunior camerarius quinto die post susceptum militie cingulum veni apudSanctum Georgium, ibique cum honorificâ processione suscepérunt me AbbasLudovicus et monachi cum magno gaudio letantes; et ibi obtuli gladiummeum super altare Sti. Georgii, et tunc consilio et admonitione sociorummeorum nobilium virorum qui mecum venerant, scilicet Roberti des Is, dapiferi mei, et Rogerii de Calli, et Johannis de Lunda, et aliorumplurium, redemi gladium meum per dona et confirmationem pluriumecclesiarum, quas ipso die concessi eisdem meo dono, et, sicut avusmeus, fundator illius monasterii dederat, confirmavi; scilicet ecclesiamde Abetot et ecclesiam de Espretot cum decimâ, et ecclesiam SanctiRomani cum duabus partibus decime, et similitèr ecclesiam deTibermaisnil: confirmavi etiam dona militum meorum et amicorum quædederunt ipso die abbatie in perpetuam elemosynam, Rogerius de Callidedit XX Sot. Annuatìm; Robertus de Mortùomari X Sot. ; Robertus des Is Xsolidos; Johannes de Lunda, cognatus meus X Sot. ; Andreas de BosemuneelX solidos, vel decimam de una carrucatura terre . .. Humfridus deWillerio X solid. ; Willelmus de Bodevilla X acras terre; Garinus de MoisV solid. ; Adam de Mirevilla X solid. ; Robert. De Fuschennis X solid. ;Lesra de Drumara I acram terre. "]

[Footnote 3: The following are the words of Ordericus Vitalis, upon thesubject:

"Religiosi tandem viri, Clerici et Monachi, collectis viribus et intimissensibus, processionem ordinaverunt: honestè induti, crucibus etthuribus, ad Sanctum Georgium processerunt, et animam Regis, secundummorem sanctæ Christianitatis Deo commendaverunt. "--_Duchesne, ScriptoresNormanni_, p. 661. ]

[Footnote 4: See _Cotman's Architectural Antiquities of Normandy_, t. 10. F. A. And B. ]

[Footnote 5: See _Cotman's Architectural Antiquities of Normandy_, t. 11. Last figure. ]

[Footnote 6: My readers will join with me, I trust, in thanks to M. Langlois, for his drawings; and will not be sorry to see, accompanyinghis sketch of the bas-relief, a spirited one of himself. Normandy doesnot contain a more ardent admirer of her antiquities, or one to whom sheis more indebted for investigating, drawing, and publishing them. But, to the disgrace of Rouen, his labors are not rewarded. All theobstacles, however opposed by the "durum, pauperies, opprobium, " havenot been able to check his independent mind: he holds on his course inthe illustration of the true Norman remains; and to any antiquary whovisits this country, I can promise a great pleasure in the examinationof his port-folio. ]

[Footnote 7: Its size at top is fourteen inches and a half, by sixinches and two-thirds. ]

[Footnote 8: This difficulty, in the present instance, has yielded tothe extensive researches of Mr. Douce, who has afforded assistance tome, which, perhaps, no other antiquary could have bestowed. He hasunravelled all the mysteries of minstrelsy with his usual ability; and Igive the information in his own words, only observing that the numbersbegin from the left. --"No. 1 was called the _violl_, corresponding withour _Viol de Gamba_. As this was a larger violin, though the sculptorhas not duly expressed its comparative bulk, I conceive it was eitherused as a tenor or base, being perfectly satisfied, in spite of certaindoubts on the subject, that counterpoint was known in the middleages. --No. 2 is the largest instrument of the kind that I have everseen, and it seems correctly given, from one part of it resting on thefigure, No. 3, to support it. Twiss mentions one that he saw sculpturedon the cathedral, at Toro, five feet long. The proper name of it is the_rote_, so called from the internal wheel or cylinder, turned by awinch, which caused the _bourdon_, whilst the performer stopped thenotes on the strings with his fingers. This instrument has been veryignorantly termed a _vielle_, and yet continues to be so called inFrance. It is the modern Savoyard _hurdy-gurdy_, as we still moreimproperly term it; for the hurdy-gurdy is quite a different instrument. In later times, the _rote_ appears to have lost its rank in concert, andwas called the _beggar's lyre_. --No. 4 is evidently the _syrinx_, or_Pan's pipe_, which has been revived with so much success in the streetsof London. --Twiss shewed me one forty years ago, that he got in thesouth of France, where they were then very common. --No. 5 is aninstrument for which I can find no name, nor can I immediately call tomemory any other representation of it. It has some resemblance to theold Welsh fiddle or _crowth_; but, as a bow is wanting, it must havebeen played with the fingers; and I think the performer's left hand inthe sculpture does seem to be stopping the strings on the upper part, orneck, a portion of which has been probably broken off. --I suspect it tobe the old _mandore_, whence the more modern _mandolin_. The rotundityof the sounding-board may warrant this conjecture. --No. 6 was called the_psalterion_, and is of very great antiquity, (I mean as to the middleages). --Its form was very diversified, and frequently triangular. It wasplayed with a _plectrum_, which the performer holds in his righthand. --No. 7 is the _dulcimer_, which is very common in sculpture. Thisinstrument appears, as in the present case, to have been sometimesplayed with the fingers only, and sometimes with a _plectrum_. --No. 8 isthe real _vielle_, or _violin_, of very common occurrence, and veryancient. --No. 9 is a female tumbler, or _tomllesterre_, as Chaucer callsthem. This profession, so far as we can depend on ancientrepresentation, appears to have exclusively belonged to women. --No. 10. A _harp_ played with a _plectrum_, and, perhaps, also with the left handoccasionally. --No. 11. The figure before the suspended _bells_ has had ahammer in each hand with which to strike them, and the opposite, andlast, person, who plays in concert with him, has probably had a harp, asis the case in an ancient manuscript psalter illumination that I have, prefixed to the psalm _Exaltate Deo_. --I have seen these bells suspended(in illumination to the above psalm) to a very elegant Gothic frame, ascending like the upper part of a modern harp. "]

[Footnote 9: _Gallia Christiana_, XI. P. 270. ]

[Illustration: Distant View of the Abbey of St. Jumieges]

LETTER XV. 

ABBEY OF JUMIEGES--ITS HISTORY--ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS--TOMBS OF AGNESSOREL AND OF THE ENERVEZ. 

(_Ducler, July_, 1818)

The country between Ducler and Jumieges is of much the same characterwith that through which we had already travelled from Rouen; the roadsometimes coasting the Seine, and sometimes passing through awell-wooded country, pleasantly intermingled with corn-fields. In itsgeneral appearance, this district bears a near resemblance to an Englishlandscape; more so, indeed, than in any other part of Normandy, wherethe features of the scenery are upon a larger scale. 

The lofty towers of the abbey of Jumieges are conspicuous from afar: thestone of which they are built is peculiarly white; and at a distancescarcely any signs of decay or dilapidation are visible. On a nearerapproach, however, the Vandalism of the modern French appears in fullactivity. For the pitiful value of the materials, this noble edifice isdoomed to destruction. The arched roof is beaten in; and the choir isnearly levelled with the ground. Two cart-loads of wrought stones werecarried away, while we were there; and the workmen were busily employedin its demolition. The greater part, too, of the mischief, appearsrecent: the fractures of the walls are fresh and sharp; and thefresco-paintings are unchanged. --Had the proud, abbatial structure butbeen allowed to have existed as the parochial church of the village, the edifice might have stood for ages; but the French are miserablydeficient in proper feeling; and neither the historical recollectionsconnected with Jumieges, nor its importance as a monument ofarchitectural antiquity, could redeem it from their tastelessselfishness. In a few years, its very ruins will have perished; and nota wreck will remain of this ancient sanctuary of religion and oflearning. 

It was in the year 654 or 655, that St. Philibert, second abbot ofRebais, in the diocese of Meaux, founded this monastery. He selected thesite upon which the present building stands, a delightful situation, ina peninsula on the right bank of the Seine. This peninsula, and theterritory extending from Ducler to Caudebec, had been granted to him forthis purpose by Clovis IInd, or, more properly speaking, by Bathilda, his queen; for the whole administration of affairs was in reality underher guidance, though the reins of state were nominally held by herfeeble husband. The territory[10] had previously borne the name ofJumieges, or, in Latin, Gemeticum, a term whose origin has puzzledetymologists. Those who hold it disgraceful to be ever at a loss onpoints of this nature, and who prefer displaying a learned to anunlearned ignorance, derive Gemeticum, either from _gemitus_, because, "pro suis offensis illìc gemunt, qui in flammis ultricibus non eruntgemituri;" or from _gemma_, conformably to the following distich, --

 "Gemmeticum siquidem a gemmâ dixere priores; Quòd reliquis gemmæ, præcelleret instar Eoæ. "

The ground upon which the abbey was erected was previously occupied byan ancient encampment. The author of the Life of St. Philibert, whomentions this circumstance, has also preserved a description of theoriginal church. These authentic accounts of edifices of remote date, which frequently occur in hagiology, are of great value in the historyof the arts[11]. --The bounty of the queen was well employed by thesaint; and the cruciform church, with chapels, and altars, and shrines, and oratories, on either side, and with its high altar hallowed byrelics, and decked out with gold and silver and precious stones, shewshow faithfully the catholics, in their religious edifices of the presentday, have adhered to the models of the early, if not the primitive, agesof the church. 

Writers of the same period record two facts in relation to Jumieges, which are of some interest as points of natural history. --Vines werethen commonly cultivated in this place and neighborhood;--and fishes ofso great a size, that we cannot but suppose they must have been whales, frequently came up the Seine, and were caught under the walls of themonastery. --The growth of the vine is abundantly proved: it is not onlyrelated by various monkish historians, one of whom, an anonymous writer, quoted by Mabillon, in the _Acta Sanctorum ordinis Sancti Benedicti_, says, speaking of Jumieges, "hinc vinearum abundant botryones, qui inturgentibus gemmis lucentes rutilant in Falernis;" but even a charterof so late a date as the year 1472, expressly terms a large tract ofland belonging to the convent, the vineyard[12]. --The existence of theEnglish monastic vineyards has been much controverted, but notconclusively. Whether these instances of the northern growth of thevine, as a wine-making plant, do or do not bear upon the question of thesupposed refrigeration of our climate by the increase of the Polar ice, must be left to the determination of others. --The whale-fishery ofJumieges rests upon the single authority of the _Gesta SanctiPhiliberti_: the author admits, indeed, that it is a strange thing, "eta sæculo inauditum;" but still he speaks of it as a fact that has fallenunder his own knowledge, that the monks, by means of hooks, nets, andboats, catch sea-fish[13], fifty feet in length, which at once supplytheir table with food, and their lamps with oil. 

The number of holy men who originally accompanied St. Philibert to hisnew abbey, was only seventy; but they increased with surprisingrapidity; insomuch, that his successor, St. Aicadras, who received thepastoral staff, after a lapse of little more than thirty years from thefoundation of Jumieges, found himself at the head of nine hundred monks, besides fifteen hundred attendants and dependants of variousdenominations. 

During all these early ages, the monastery of Jumieges continued to beaccounted one of the most celebrated religious houses in France. Itsabbots are repeatedly mentioned in history, as enjoying the confidenceof sovereigns, and as charged with important missions. In their number, was Hugh, grandson of Pépin le Bref, or, according to other writers, ofCharlemagne. Here also, Tassilo, Duke of Bavaria, and his son, Theodo, were compelled to immure themselves, after the emperor had deposed them;whilst Anstruda, daughter of Tassilo, was doomed to share his imperialbed. 

An æra of misfortune began with the arrival of the Normans. It was inMay, in the year 841, that these dreadful invaders first penetrated asfar as Rouen, marking their track by devastation. On their retreat, which almost immediately succeeded, they set fire to Jumieges, as wellas to the capital. In their second invasion, under Ironside andHastings, the "fury of the Normans" was poured out upon Neustria; and, during their inroad, they levelled Jumieges with the ground[14]. But themonks saved themselves: they dispersed: one fled as far as St. Gall;others found shelter in the royal abbey of St. Denis; the greater partre-assembled in a domain of their own, called Haspres, in Flanders, whither they carried with them the bodies of St. Aicadrus and St. Hugh:there too they resided till the conversion of their enemies toChristianity. 

The victorious fleet of Rollo first sailed in triumph up the Seine, inthe year 876. According to three monkish historians, Dudo of St. Quintin, William of Jumieges, and Matthew of Westminster, the chieftainvenerated the sanctity of Jumieges, and deposited in the chapel of St. Vast, the corpse of the holy virgin, Hameltruda, whom he had broughtfrom Britain. They also tell us that, on the sixth day after hisbaptism, he made a donation of some lands to this monastery. --Thedetails, however, of the circumstances connected with the first, diminish its credibility; and Jumieges, then desolate, could scarcelycontain a community capable of accepting the donation. But under thereign of the son and successor of Rollo, the abbey of Jumieges once morerose from its ashes. Baldwin and Gundwin, two of the monks who had fledto Haspres, returned to explore the ruins of the abbey: they determinedto seclude themselves amidst its fire-scathed walls, and to devote theirlives to piety and toil. --In pursuing the deer, the Duke chanced towander to Jumieges, and he there beheld the monks employed in clearingthe ground. He listened with patience to their narration; but when theyinvited him to partake of their humble fare, barley-bread and water, heturned from them with disdain. It chanced, however, that immediatelyafterwards, he encountered in the forest a boar of enormous size. Thebeast unhorsed him, and he was in danger of death. The peril he regardedas a judgment from heaven; and, as an expiation for his folly, herebuilt the monastery. So thoroughly, however, had the Normans_demonachised_ Neustria, that William Longa Spatha was compelled topeople the abbey with a colony from Poitou; and thence came twelvemonks, headed by Abbot Martin, whom the duke installed in his office inthe year 930. William himself also desired to take refuge from thefatigues of government in the retirement of the monastery; and thoughdissuaded by Abbot Martin, who reminded him that Richard, his infant, son still needed his care, he did not renounce his intention:--but hislife and his reign were soon ended by treachery. 

This second æra of the prosperity of Jumieges was extremely short; forthe prefect, whom Louis d'Outremer, King of France, placed in command atRouen, when he seized upon the young Duke Richard, pulled down thewalls of this and of all the other monasteries on the banks of theSeine, to assist towards the reparation and embellishment of the seat ofhis government. But from that time forward the tide of monastic affairsflowed in one even course of prosperity; though the present abbatialchurch was not begun till the time of Abbot Robert, the second of thatname, who was elected in 1037. By him the first stone of the foundationwas laid, three years after his advancement to the dignity; but he heldhis office only till 1043, when Edward the Confessor invited him toEngland, and immediately afterwards promoted him to the Bishopric ofLondon. --Godfrey, his successor at Jumieges, was a man conversant witharchitecture, and earnest in the promotion of learning. In purchasingbooks and in causing them to be transcribed, he spared neither pains norexpence. The records of the monastery contain a curious precept, inwhich he directs that prayers should be offered up annually upon acertain day, "pro illis qui dederunt et fecerunt libros. "--The inmatesof Jumieges continued, however, to increase in number; and the revenuesof the abbey would not have been adequate to defray the expences of thenew building, had not Abbot Robert, who, in 1050, had been translated tothe see of Canterbury, supplied the deficiency by his munificence, and, as long as he continued to be an English prelate, remitted the surplusof his revenues to the Norman abbey. He held his archiepiscopal dignityonly one year, at the expiration of which he was banished from England:he then retired to Jumieges, where he died the following spring, and wasburied in the choir of the church which he had begun to raise. At hisdeath, the church had neither nave nor windows; and the whole edificewas not completed till November, in the year 1066. In the following Julythe dedication took place. Maurilius, Archbishop of Rouen, officiated, in great pomp, assisted by all the prelates of the duchy; and William, then just returned from the conquest of England, honored the ceremonywith his presence. 

I have dwelt upon the early history of this monastery, because Normandyscarcely furnishes another of greater interest. In the _Neustria Pia_, Jumieges fills nearly seventy closely-printed folio pages of thatcurious and entertaining, though credulous, work. --What remains to betold of its annals is little more than a series of dates touching theerection of different parts of the building: these, however, are worthpreserving, so long as any portion of the noble church is permitted tohave existence, and so long as drawings and engravings continue toperpetuate the remembrance of its details. 

The choir and extremities of the transept, all of pointed architecture, are supposed to have been rebuilt in 1278. --The Lady-Chapel was anaddition of the year 1326. --The abbey suffered materially during thewars between England and France, in the reigns of our Henry IVth andHenry Vth: its situation exposed it to be repeatedly pillaged by thecontending parties; and, were it not that the massy Norman architecturesufficiently indicates the true date, and that we know our neighbors'habit of applying large words to small matters, we might even infer thatit was then destroyed as effectually as it had been by Ironside: theexpression, "lamentabilitèr desolata, diffracta et annihilata, " couldscarcely convey any meaning short of utter ruin, except to the ears ofone who had been told that a religious edifice was actually _abimé_during the revolution, though he saw it at the same moment standingbefore him, and apparently uninjured. --The arched roof of the choirreceived a complete repair in 1535: that of the nave, which was also ina very bad state, underwent the same process in 1688; at the same time, the slender columns that support the cornice were replaced with newones, and the symbols of the Evangelists were inserted in the upper partof the walls. These reparations are managed with a singular perceptionof propriety; and though the manner of the sculpture in the symbolicfigures, is not that of a Gothic artist, yet they are most appropriate, and harmonize admirably with the building. 

[Illustration: Symbols of the Evangelists]

You must excuse me that, now I am upon this subject, I venture to"travel somewhat out of the record, " for the sake of proposing to you adifficulty which has long puzzled me:--the connection which Catholicdivines find between St. Luke's Bull and the word Zecharias;--for itappears, by the following distich from the Rhenish Testament, that somesuch cause leads them to regard this symbol as peculiarly appropriate tothe third Evangelist:--

 "Effigies vituli, Luca, tibi convenit; extat Zacariæ in scriptis mentio prima tuis. "--

[Illustration: Figures of effigies]

An antiquary might be perplexed by these figures, the drawings whereof Inow send you. He would find it impossible to suppose theexquisitely-sculptured images and the slender shafts with richly-wroughtcapitals, of the same date as the solid simple piers and arches allaround; and yet the stone is so entirely the same, and the workmanshipis so well united, that it would require an experienced eye to trace thejunction. In the middle of the sixteenth century, the central tower wasalso found to need reparation; and the church, upon this occasion, sustained a lasting injury, in the loss of its original spire, which wasof lead, and of great height and beauty. It was taken down, underpretence of its insecurity; but in reality the monks only wished to getthe metal. This happened in 1557, under Gabriel le Veneur, Bishop ofEvreux, the then abbot. Five years afterwards the ravages of theHuguenots succeeded: the injury done to Jumieges by these sectaries, wasestimated at eighty thousand francs; and the library and records of theconvent perished in the devastation. 

The western front of the church still remains almost perfect; and it ismost singular. It consists, of three distinct parts; the centraldivision being nearly of equal width to the other two conjointly, andprojecting considerably beyond them. The character of the whole issimplicity: the circular door-way is comparatively small, and entirelywithout ornament, except a pillar on each side; the six circular-headedwindows over the entrance, disposed in a double row, are equally plain. Immediately above the upper tier of windows, is a projecting chequeredcornice; and, still higher, where the gable assumes a triangular form, are three lancet-shaped apertures, so extremely narrow, that theyresemble the loop-holes of a dungeon rather than the windows of achurch. In each of the lateral compartments was likewise originally adoor-way, and above it a single window, all of the same Norman style, but all now blocked up. These compartments are surmounted with shorttowers, capped with conical spires. The towers appear from their styleand masonry to be nearly coeval with the lower part of the building, though not altogether so: the southern is somewhat the most modern. Theyare, however, so entirely dissimilar in plan from the rest of the front, that we cannot readily admit that they are a portion of the originaldesign. Nor are they even like to each other. Both of them are square attheir bases, and preserve this form to a sufficient height to admit oftwo tiers of narrow windows, separated from each other by little morethan a simple string-course. Above these windows both become octagon, and continue so to the top; but in a very different manner. The northernone has obtuse angles, imperfectly defined; the southern has fourprojecting buttresses and four windows, alternating with each other. Theform of the windows and their arrangement, afford farther marks ofdistinction. The octagon part is in both turrets longer than the square, but, like it, divided into two stories. 

The central tower of the church, which was large and square, is nowreduced to a fragment: three of its sides are gone; the western remainssufficiently perfect to shew what the whole was when entire. Itcontained a double tier of arches, the lower consisting of two, whichwere large and simple, the upper of three, divided by central shafts andmasonry, so that each formed a double window. All of them werecircular-headed, but so far differed from the architecture of the nave, that they had side-pillars with capitals. 

The church[15] was entered by a long narrow porch. --The nave is a finespecimen of Norman architecture, but is remarkable in that style for onestriking peculiarity, that the eight wide circular arches on eitherside, which separate it from the aisles, are alternately supported byround pillars and square piers; the latter having semi-cylindricalcolumns applied to each of their sides. The capitals are ornamented withrude volutes. The arches in the triforium are of nearly the same widthas those below, but considerably less in height. There is no archivoltor moulding or ornament. Above these there is only one row of windows, which, like all the rest, are semi-circular headed; but they haveneither angular pillars, nor mouldings, nor mullions. These windows arerather narrow externally, but within the opening enlarges considerably. The windows in the upper and lower tiers stand singly: in theintermediate row they are disposed by threes, the central one separatedfrom the other two by a single column. --The inside of the nave isstriking from its simplicity: it is wholly of the eleventh century, except the reparations already mentioned, which were made in 1688. --Thechoir and Lady-Chapel are nearly demolished; and only some fragments ofthem are now standing: they were of pointed architecture, and posteriorto the nave by at least two centuries. 

A smaller church, dedicated to St. Peter, stood near the principal one, with which it was connected by means of a corridor of pointed arches. There are other instances of two churches being erected within theprecincts of one abbey, as at Bury St. Edmund's. St. Peter's was abuilding at least of equal antiquity with the great church. But it hadundergone such alterations in the year 1334, during the prelacy of thetwenty-seventh abbot, William Gemblet, that little of the originalstructure remained. He demolished nearly the whole of the nave, for thesake of adding uniformity to the cloisters of the monastery. --M. LePrevost, however, is of opinion, that the ruins of Jumieges containnothing more interesting to an antiquary than the west end of theportion of building, which subsequently served as the nave. It is a massof flint-work; and he considers it as having belonged to the church thatexisted before the incursion of the Normans. 

The cloisters, which stood to the south-west of St. Peter's, are nowalmost wholly destroyed. --To the west of them is a large hall orgallery, known by the name of _la Salle des Chevaliers_. It is enteredby two porches, one towards the north-west, the other towards thesouth-west[16], both full of architectural beauty and curiosity. I knowof no authority for their date; but, from the great variety and richnessof their ornaments, and the elegant taste displayed in the arrangementof these, I should suppose them to have been erected during the latterhalf of the twelfth century: one of the arches is unquestionablypointed, though the cusp of the arch is very obtuse. The slight sketchwhich accompanies this letter, represents a fragment of the innerdoor-way of the south-west porch, and may enable you to form your ownjudgment upon the subject. 

[Illustration: Sketch of fragment of inner door-way]

The stones immediately over the entrance are joggled into each other, the key-stone having a joggle on either side. --I have not observed thispeculiarity in any other specimen of Norman masonry. --Between theseporches apartments, along the interior of which runs a cornice, supported by grotesque corbels, and under it a row of windows, nowprincipally blocked up, disposed in triplets, a trefoil-headed windowbeing placed between two that are semi-circular, as seen in theaccompanying drawing. The date of the origin of the trefoil-headed archhas been much disputed: these perhaps are some of the earliest, and theyare unquestionably coeval with the building. 

[Illustration: Ancient trefoil-headed Arches in Abbey of Jumieges]

The stupid and disgraceful barbarism, which is now employing itself inthe ruins of Jumieges, has long since annihilated the invaluablemonuments which it contained. --In the Lady-Chapel of the conventualchurch was buried the heart of the celebrated Agnes Sorel, mistress ofCharles VIIth, who died at Mesnil, about a league from this abbey, during the time when her royal lover was residing here. --Her death wasgenerally attributed to poison; nor did the people hesitate inwhispering that the fatal potion was administered by order of the Queen. Her son, the profligate tyrant Louis XIth, detested his father'sconcubine; and once, forgetting his dignity and his manhood, he struckthe _Dame de Beauté_. --The statue placed upon the mausoleum representedAgnes kneeling and offering her heart to the virgin; but this effigy hadbeen removed before the late troubles: a heart of white marble, whichwas at the foot of the tomb, had also disappeared. According to theannals of the abbey, they were destroyed by the Huguenots. The tombitself, with various brasses inlaid upon it, remained undisturbed tillthe period of the revolution, when the whole memorial was removed, andeven her remains were not suffered to rest in peace. The slab of blackmarble which covered them, and which bore upon its edges the Frenchinscription to her memory, is still in existence; though it has changedits place and destination. The barbarians who pillaged the convent soldit with the rest of the plunder; and it now serves as a threshold to ahouse near the Mont aux Malades, at Rouen[17]. The inscription, which iscut in very elegant Gothic characters, is as follows: a part of it is, however, at present hidden by its position:--"Cy gist Agnes Surelle, noble damoiselle, en son vivant Dame de Roqueferriere, de Beaulté, d'Yssouldun, et de Vernon sur Seine, piteuse entre toutes gens, qui deses biens donnoit largement aux gens d'église et aux pauvres; quitrespassa le neuvieme jour de Fevrier, l'an de grace 1449. --Priez Dieupour elle. "--It is justly to be regretted, that some pains are not takenfor the preservation of this relic, which even now would be an ornamentto the cathedral. --The manor-house at Mesnil, where the fair lady died, still retains its chimneys of the fifteenth century; and ancientpaintings are discernible on the walls. 

The monument in the church of St. Peter, generally known by the name of_le tombeau des énervez_, was of still greater singularity. It was analtar-tomb, raised about two feet above the pavement; and on the slabswere carved whole-length figures, in alto-relievo, of two boys, eachabout sixteen years of age, in rich attire, and ornamented with diadems, broaches, and girdles, all copiously studded with precious stones. Various traditions concerning this monument are recorded by authors, andparticularly at great length by Father du Plessis[18]. --The namelessprinces, for such the splendor of their garb denotes them to have been, were considered, according to a tradition which prevailed from veryearly times, as the sons of Clovis and Bathilda, who, in the absence oftheir father, were guilty of revolt, and were punished by beinghamstrung; for this is the meaning of the word _énervez_. --According tothis tradition, the monks, in the thirteenth century, caused themonument to be ornamented with golden fleurs-de-lys, and added thefollowing epitaph:--

 "Hic in honore Dei requiescit stirps Clodovei, Patris bellica gens, bella salutis agens. Ad votum matris Bathildis poenituere, Scelere pro proprio, proque labore patris. "--

Three other lines, preserved by Yepez, in his chronicle, refer to thesame tale, but accuse the princes of a crime of deeper die than mererebellion against parental authority:--

 "Conjugis est ultus probrum; nam in vincula tradit Crudeles natos, pius impietate, simulque Et duras pater, o Clodovee, piusque maritus. "

Mabillon supposed the tomb to have been erected for Tassilo and his son;but I do not know how this conjecture is to be reconciled to theappearance of the statues, both representing persons of equal age. Anexamination of the grave at the time of the destruction of the abbey, might have afforded some interesting results; though, had any discoverybeen made, it would have been but a poor reward for the desolation whichfacilitated the research. 

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 10: Immediately on the opposite side of the Seine, areextensive turf-bogs, which are of rare occurrence in this part ofFrance; and in them grows the _Andromeda polifolia_, a plant that seemshitherto to have been discovered no where else in the kingdom. ]

[Footnote 11: The following particulars relative to the territory ofJumieges, as well as the church, are curious: they are copied from anextract from the Life of St. Philibert, as given in the _Neustria Pia_, p. 262. --"Congruè sanè locus ille _Gemmeticus_ est dictus, quippe quiinstar gemmarum multivario sit decore conspicuus. Videas illic arborumcomas sylvestrium, multigenos arborum fructus, solum fertile, pratavirentia, hortorum flores suaveolentes, bortis gravidas vîtes, humumundique cinctam aquis, pascua pecorum uberrima, loca venationi apta, avium cantu circumsonantia. Sequana fluvius illic cernitur late ambiens:et deindè suo pergeus cursu, uno duntaxat commeantibus aditu relicto. Ibi mare increscens nunc eructat: nunc in sinum suum revolutum, naviumfert compendia, commercia plurimorum. Nihil illic deest; quicquidvehiculis pedestribus, et equestribus plaustris, et ratibussubministratur, abunde suppetit. Illic castrum condidere antiqui; ibistant, in acie, illustria castra Dei: ibi præ desiderio paradisisuspirantes gemunt, quibus postea opus non erit, in flammis ultricibus, nihil profuturos edere gemitus. Ibi denique almus sacerdos, Philibertus, multiplici est laude et prædicatione efferendus: qui instar PatriarchæJacob, in animabus septuaginta, demigravit in hanc eremum, addito gregeseptemplici, propter septiformem gratiam spiritus sancti. Ibi enim eiusprudentia construxit mÅ“nia quadrata, turrita mole surgentia; claustraexcipiendis adventantibus mirè opportuna. In his domus alma fulget;habitatoribus digna. Ab Euro surgit Ecclesia, crucis effigie, cujusverticem obtinet Beatissima Virgo Maria; Altare est ante faciem lectuli, cum Dente sanctiss, patris _Philiberti_, pictum gemmarum luminibus, auroargentoque comptum: ab utroque latere, _Joannis_ et _Columbani_ Aræ dantgloriam Deo; adherent verò a Boreâ, _Dyonisii_ Martyris, et _Germani_Confessoris, ædiculæ; in dextrâ domus parte, sacellum nobile extat _S. Petri_; a latere habens _S. Martini_ oratorium. Ad Austrum est S. Viricellula, et petris habens margines; saxis cinguntur claustra camerata:is decor cunctorum animos oblectans, eum inundantibus aquis, geminusvergit ad Austrum. Habet autem ipsa domus in longum pedes ducentosnonaginta, in latum quinquaginta: singulis legere volentibus lucemtransmittunt fenestræ vitreæ: subtus habet geminas ædes, alterascondendis vinis, alteras cibis apparandis accommodatas. "]

[Footnote 12: Allusions to the cultivation of the vine at Jumieges, asthen commonly practised, may be found in many other public documents ofthe fifteenth century: but we may come yet nearer our own time; for weknow that, in the year 1500, there was still a vineyard in the hamlet ofConihoult, a dependence upon Jumieges, and that the wine called _vin deConihoult_, is expressly mentioned among the articles of which thecharitable donations of the monastery consisted. --We are told, too, thatat least eighteen or twenty acres, belonging to the grounds of the abbeyitself, were used as a vineyard as late as 1561. --At present, I believe, vines are scarcely any where to be seen in Normandy, much north ofGaillon. ]

[Footnote 13: In a charter belonging to the monastery, granted by HenryIInd, in 1159, (see _Neustria Pia_, p. 323) he gives the convent, "integritatem aquæ ex parte terræ Monachorum, et _Graspais_, si fortècapiatur. "--The word _Graspais_ is explained by Ducange to be acorruption of _crassus piscis_. Noel (in his _Essais sur le Départementde la Seine Inférieure_, II, p. 168) supposes that it refersparticularly to porpoises, which he says are still found in suchabundance in the Seine, nearer its mouth, that the river sometimesappears quite black with them. ]

[Footnote 14: The following account of the destruction of the monasteryis extracted from William of Jumieges. (See _Duchesne's ScriptoresNormanni_, p. 219)--"Dehinc Sequanica ora aggrediuntur, et apud_Gemmeticum_ classica statione obsidionein componunt. .. . In quoquamplurima multitudo Episcoporum, seu Clericorum, vel nobiliumlaïcorum, spretis secularibus pompis, collecta, Christo Regi militatura, propria colla saluberrimo iugo subegit. Cuius loci Monachi, sive incolæ, Paganorum adventum comperientes, fugâ lapsi quædam suarum rerum subterra occulentes, quædam secum asportantes, Deo juvante evaserunt. Pagani locum vacuum reperientes, Monasterium sanctæ Mariæ sanctíquePetri, et cuncta ædificia igne iniecto adurunt, in solitudinem omniaredigentes. Hac itaque patrata eversione, locus, qui tauto honorissplendore diu viguerat, exturbatis omnibus ac subuersis domibus, cÅ“pitesse cubile ferarum et volucrum: maceriis in sua soliditate in sublimeporrectis, arbustisque densissimis; et arborum virgultis per trigintafermè annorum curricula ubique a terra productis. "]

[Footnote 15: The following are the proportions of the building, inFrench feet:--

 Length of the church. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 265 Ditto of the nave. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 134 Width of ditto. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 62 Length of choir. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 43-1/2 Width of ditto. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 31 Length of Lady-Chapel. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 63 Width of ditto. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 27 Height of central tower. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 124 Ditto of western towers. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 150

]

[Footnote 16: Mr. Cotman has figured this porch, (_ArchitecturalAntiquities of Normandy_, t. 4) but has, by mistake, called it "_An Archon the West Front of the Abbey Church_. "]

[Footnote 17: See a paper by M. Le Prevost in the _Précis Analitique desTravaux de l'Académie de Rouen_, 1815, p. 131. ]

[Footnote 18: _Histoire de la Haute Normandie_, II, p. 260. ]

LETTER XVI. 

GOURNAY--CASTLE OF NEUFMARCHÉ--CASTLE AND CHURCH OF GISORS. 

(_Gisors, July_, 1818)

We are now approaching the western frontiers. --Gournay, Gisors, andAndelys, the objects of our present excursion, are disposed nearly in aline between the capitals of France and Normandy; and whenever war brokeout between the two states, they experienced all the glory, and all theafflictions of warfare. This district was in fact a kind of debatableland; and hence arose the numerous strong holds, by which the countrywas once defended, and whose ruins now adorn the landscape. 

The tract known by modern topographers, under the names of the_arrondissemens_ of Gournay and of Andelys, constituted one of thegeneral divisions of ancient Normandy, the _Pays de Bray_. It was atract celebrated beyond every other in France, and, from timeimmemorial, for the excellence of the products of its dairies. Thebutter of Bray is an indispensable requisite at every fashionable tableat Paris; and the _fromage de Neufchâtel_ is one of the only two Frenchcheeses which are honored with a place in the bill of fare at Véry's atGrignon's, or at Beauvilliers'. 

The females of the district frequently passed us on the road, carryingtheir milk and eggs to the provincial metropolis. Accustomed as we areto the Norman costume, we still thought that the many-colored attireand long lappetted cap, of the good wife, of Bray, in conjunction withher steed and its trappings, was a most picturesque addition to thesurrounding scenery. The large pannier on either side of the saddleleaves little room for the lady, except on the hinder parts of the poorbeast; and there she sits, perfectly free and _dégagée_, without eitherpillion or stirrup, showing no small portion of her leg, andoccasionally waving a little whip, ornamented in the handle with tuftsof red worsted. --We had scarcely quitted the suburbs of Rouen before wefound ourselves in Darnétal, a place that has risen considerably inimportance, since the revolution, from the activity of its numerousmanufacturers. Its population is composed entirely of individuals ofthis description, to whose pursuits its situation upon the banks of theRobec and Aubette is peculiarly favorable: the greater part of the goodsmanufactured here are coarse cloths and flannels. Before the revolution, the town belonged to the family of Montmorenci. --The rest of the rideoffered no object of interest. The road, like all the main post-roads, is certainly wide and straight; but the French seem to think that, ifthese two points are but obtained, all the rest may be regarded asmatter of supererogation. Hence, very little attention is paid to thesurface of the highways: even on those that are most frequented, it isthought enough to keep the centre, which is paved, in decent repair: theruts by the side are frequently so deep as to be dangerous; and in mostcases the cross roads are absolutely impassable to carriages of everydescription, except the common carts of the country. --There is nothingin which England has a more decided superiority over France than in thefacility of communication between its different towns; and there is alsonothing which more decidedly marks a superiority of civilization. English travellers, who usually roll on the beaten track to and from thecapital, return home full of praises of the French roads; but were theyto attempt excursions among the country-towns and villages, theiropinion would be wofully altered. --The forest of Feuillée extends aboutfour leagues on each side of the road, between Rouen and Gournay. Itadds little to the pleasantness of the ride: the trees are planted withregularity, and the side-branches are trimmed away almost to the verytops. Those therefore who expect overhanging branches, or the green-woodshade, in a French forest, will be sadly disappointed. On the contrary, when the wind blows across the road, and the sun shines down it, such aforest only adds to the heat and closeness of the way. 

The country around Gournay is characterized by fertility and abundance;yet, in early times, the rich valley in which it is situated, was adreary morass, which separated the Caletes from the Bellovacences. Acauseway crossed the marshes, and formed the only road of communicationbetween these tribes; and Gournay arose as an intermediate station. Therefore, even prior to the Norman æra, the town was, from itssituation, a strong hold of note; and under the Norman dukes, Gournaynecessarily became of still greater consequence, as the principalfortress on the French frontier; but the annexation of the duchy to thecrown of France, destroyed this unlucky pre-eminence; and, at present, it is only known as a great staple mart for cheese and butter. Nor isit advantageously situated for trade; as there is no navigable river ormeans of water-carriage in its vicinity. The inhabitants therefore lookforward with some anxiety to the completion of the projected canal fromDieppe. 

Gournay is a small, clean, and airy place. The last two circumstancesare no trifling recommendation to those who have just escaped from thedirt and closeness of Rouen. Its streets are completely those of acountry town: the intermixture of wood and clay in the houses gives thema mean aspect, and there are scarcely two to be found alike, either insize, shape, color, or materials. --The records of Gournay begin in thereign of Rollo. That prince gave the town, together with the Normanportion of the Pays de Bray, to Eudes[19], a nobleman of his own nation, to be held as a fief of the duchy, under the usual military tenure. Inone of the earliest rolls of Norman chieftains[20], the Lord of Gournayis bound, in case of war, to supply the duke with twelve soldiers fromamong his vassals, and to arm his dependants for the defence of hisportion of the marches. Hugh, the son of Eudes de Gournay, erected acastle in the vicinity of the church of St. Hildebert, and the wholetown was surrounded with a triple wall and double fosse. The place wasinaccessible to an invading enemy, when these fosses were filled withthe waters of the Epte; but Philip Augustus caused the protectingelement to become his most powerful auxiliary. Willelmus Britorelates his siege with minuteness in his _Philippiad_, an heroic poem, devoted to the acts and deeds of the French monarch. --After advancingthrough Lions and Mortemer, Philip encamped before Gournay, thusdescribed by the historical bard;--

 "Non procul hinc vicum populosâ genta superbum, Divitiis plenum variis, famâque celebrem, Rure situm piano, munitum triplice muro, Deliciosa nimis speciosaque vallis habebat. Nomine GORNACUM, situ inexpugnabilis ipso, Etsi nullus ei defensor ab intus adesset; Cui multisque aliis præerat Gornacius HUGO. Fossæ cujus erant amplæ nimis atque profundae Quas sic Epta suo repleret flumine, posset Nullus ut ad muros per eas accessus haberi. Arte tamen sibi REX tali pessundedit ipsum. Haud procul a muris stagnum pergrande tumebat, Cujus aquam, pelagi stagnantis more, refusam Urget stare lacu sinuoso terreus agger, Quadris compactus saxis et cespite multo. Hunc REX obrumpi medium facit, effluit inde Diluvium immensum, subitâque voragine tota Vallis abit maris in speciem, ruit impete vasto Eluvies damnosa satis, damnosa colonis. * * * * * Municipes fugiunt ne submergantur, et omnis Se populus villâ viduat, vacuamque relinquit. * * * * * Armis villa potens, muris munita virisque, Arte capi nullâ metuens aut viribus ullis, Diluvio capitur inopino. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. * * * * * REX ubi GORNACUM sic in sua jura redegit, Indigenas omnes revocans ad propria, pacem Indicit populis libertatemque priorem; Deinde re-ædificat muros. .. .. .. .. .. .. 

In 1350, after the death of Philip of Valois, Gournay was againseparated from France, and given as a dower to Blanche of Navarre, thewidow of that prince, who held it forty-eight years, when, after herdeath, it reverted to the crown. At the commencement of the followingcentury, the town fell, with the rest of the kingdom, into thepossession of the English; and once more, upon the demise of oursovereign, Henry Vth, formed part of the dower of the widowed queen. Onher decease, it devolved upon her son; but a period of eleven years hadscarcely elapsed, when the laws of conquest united it for a third timeto the crown of France, in 1449. --From that period to the revolution, itwas constantly in the possession of different noble families of thekingdom. 

The name of Hugo de Gournay is enrolled amongst those who followed theconqueror into England, and who held lands _in capite_ from him in thiscountry[21]. Hugo was a man of eminent valor, and his services wererequited by the grant of many large possessions; but, after all hismilitary actions, he sought repose in the abbey of Bec, which had beenenriched by his piety. His son, Girald, who married the sister ofWilliam, Earl Warren, accompanied Robert, Duke of Normandy, into theHoly Land; and the grandson of Girald was in the number of those whofollowed Richard Coeur-de-Lion in a similar expedition, and wasappointed his commissioner, to receive the English share of the spoil, after the capture of Acre. He was also among the barons who rose againstKing John. Their descendants settled in very early times in our owncounty, where their possessions were extensive and valuable. 

It was in Gournay that the unfortunate Arthur, heir to the throne ofEngland, received the order of knighthood, together with the earldoms ofBrittany, Poitou, and Angers, from Philip Augustus, immediatelypreviously to entering upon the expedition, which ultimately ended withhis death; and, according to tradition, it was on this occasion that thetown adopted for its arms the sable shield, charged with a knight inarmor, argent[22]. 

Gournay has now no other remains of antiquity, except the collegiatechurch of St. Hildebert[23], which was founded towards the conclusion ofthe eleventh century, though it was scarcely completed at the end of thethirteenth. Hence the discrepancy of style observable in thearchitecture of its different parts. The west front, in which thewindows are all pointed, was probably one of the last portionscompleted. The interior is principally of semi-circular architecture, with piers unusually massy, and capitals no less fanciful andextraordinary than those already noticed at St. Georges. Here, however, we have fewer monsters. The ornaments consist chiefly of foliage, andwreaths, and knots, and chequered work, and imitations of members of theantique capital. Some of the pillars, instead of ending in regularcapitals, are surmounted by a narrow projecting rim, carved withundulating lines. It has been supposed that this ornament, which isquite peculiar to the church of St. Hildebert, is a kind ofhieroglyphical representation of water. --Perhaps, it is the chamber ofSagittarius; or, perhaps, it is a _fess wavy_, to which the samesignification has been assigned by heralds. --If this interpretation becorrect, the symbol is allusive to the ancient situation of the town, built in the midst of a marsh, intersected by two streams, the Epte andthe St. Aubin. 

While we were on the point of setting out from Gournay, we had thepleasure of meeting Mr. Cotman, who landed a few days since at Dieppe, and purposes remaining in Normandy, to complete a series of drawingswhich he began last year, towards the illustration of the architecturalantiquities of the duchy. He has joined our party, and we are likely tohave the advantage of his society for some little time. 

The village of Neufmarché, about a league from Gournay, on the rightbank of the Epte, still retains a small part of its castle, built byHenry Ist, to command the passage of the river, and to serve as abarrier against the incursions of the French. Its situation is good, upon an artificial hill, surrounded by a fosse; and the principalentrance is still tolerably entire. But the rest is merely a shapelessheap of ruins: the interior is wholly under the plough; and thefragments of denudated walls preserve small remains of the coating oflarge square stones, which formerly embellished and protected them. Neufmarché, in the days of Norman sovereignty, was one of the strongholds of the duchy. The chroniclers[24] speak of the village as beingdefended by a fortress, in the reign of William the Conqueror. Thechurch, too, with its semi-circular architecture, attests the antiquityof the station. 

Long before we reached Gisors, we had a view of the keep of the castle, rising majestically above the town, which is indeed at present "uneassez maussade petite ville, qui n'a guère qu'une rue. " From itsposition and general outline, the castle, at first view, resembles theremains of Launceston, in Cornwall. It recalled to my mind theimpressions of surprise, mixed with something approaching to awe, whichseized me, when the first object that met my eyes in the morning (for itwas late and dark when I reached Launceston) was the noble keep, towering immediately above my chamber windows, and so near, that itappeared as if I had only to open them and step into it. I do not meanto draw a parallel between the castles of Launceston and Gisors, andstill less am I about to inquire into the relationship between theNorman and the Cornish fortresses. The lapse of twenty years hasmaterially weakened my recollection of the latter, nor would this be aseasonable opportunity for such a disquisition: but the subject deservesinvestigation, the result of which may tend to establish the commonorigin of both, and to dissipate the day-dreams of Borlase, who longedto dignify the castellated ruins of the Cornish peninsula, by ascribingthem to the Roman conquerors of Britain. 

Gisors itself existed before the tenth century; but its chief celebritywas due to William Rufus, who, anxious to strengthen his frontiersagainst the power of the kings of France, caused Robert of Bellême toerect this castle, in 1097. Thus then we have a certain date; and thereis no reason to believe, but that the whole of what is left us is reallyof the same æra, or of the following reign, in which it is known thatthe works were greatly augmented; for Henry Ist was completely acastle-builder. He was a prince who spared no pains in strengthening anddefending the natural frontiers of his province, as the fortresses ofVerneuil, Tillières, Nonancourt, Anet, Ivry, Château-sur-Epte, Gisors, and many others, abundantly testify. All these were either actuallybuilt, or materially strengthened by him. --This at Gisors, importantfrom its strength and from its situation, was the source of frequentdissentions between the sovereigns of England and France, as well as thefrequent witness of their plighted faith, and the scene of theirfestivities. --In 1119, a well-known interview took place here, betweenHenry Ist and Pope Calixtus IInd, who had travelled to France for thepurpose of healing the schisms in the church, and who, after havingaccomplished that task, was desirous not to quit the kingdom till he hadcompleted the work of pacification, by reconciling Henry to Louis leGros, and to his brother, Robert. The speech of our sovereign upon thisoccasion, as recorded by Ordericus Vitalis[25], is a valuable documentto the English historian: it sets forth, at considerable length, hisvarious causes of grievance, whether real, imaginary, or invented, against the legal heir to our throne. --After a lapse of thirty-nineyears, Louis le Jeune succeeded in annexing Gisors to the crown ofFrance; but he resigned it to our Henry IInd, only three yearssubsequently, as a part of the marriage portion of his daughter, Margaret. It then remained with our countrymen till the conquest of theduchy by Philip Augustus; previously to which event, that sovereign andHenry met, in the year 1188, under an elm near Gisors, on the road toTrie, upon receiving the news of the capture of Jerusalem by the SultanSaladin[26]. The monarchs, actuated by religious zeal, took up thecross, and mutually pledged themselves to suspend for a while theirrespective differences, and direct their united efforts against thecommon foe of the christian faith, Legends also tell that, during theconference, a miraculous cross appeared in the air, as if inratification of the compact; and hence the inhabitants derive thearmoria bearing of the town; _gules_, a cross engrailed _or_[27]. In1197, Philip embellished Gisors with new buildings; and he retiredhither the following year, after the battle of Courcelles, a conflict, which began by his endeavor to surprise Richard Coeur-de-Lion, but whichended with his total defeat. He had well nigh lost his life during theflight, by his horse plunging with him, all armed as he was, into theEpte. --He took refuge in Gisors; and the _golden gate_ of the towncommemorated his gratitude. With eastern magnificence, he caused theentire portal to be covered with gold; and the statue of the Virgin, which surmounted it, received the same splendor. 

During the wars between France and England, in the fifteenth century, Gisors was repeatedly won and lost by the contending parties. In laterand more peaceable times, it has been only known as the provincialcapital of the bailiwick of Gisors, and of the Norman portion of theVexin. 

The castle consists of a double ballium, the inner occupying the top ofa high artificial mound, in whose centre stands the keep. The whole ofthe fortress is of the most solid masonry. Previously to the discoveryof cannon, it could scarcely be regarded otherwise than as impregnable, for the site which it occupies is admirably adapted for defence; and thewalls were as strong as art could make them. --The outer walls were ofgreat extent: they were defended by two covered ways, and flanked byseveral towers, of various shapes. --In the inclosed sketch, you willobserve a circular tower, which is perhaps more perfect than any of therest. The two entrances which led to the inner wards, were defended bymore massy towers, strengthened with portcullises and draw-bridges. 

[Illustration: Distant of the Castle of Gisors]

The conical mound is almost inaccessible, on account of its steepness. The summit is inclosed by a circular wall of considerable height, pierced with loop-holes, and strengthened at regular intervals withbuttresses, most of which are small and shallow, and resemble such asare found in the Norman churches. Those, however, which flank theentrance of the keep, are of a different character: they project soboldly, that they may rather be considered as bastions or solidturrets. --The dungeon rises high above all the rest, a lofty octagontower, with a turret on one side of the same shape, intended to receivethe winding staircase, which still remains, but in so shattered a state, that we could not venture to ascend it. The shell of the keep itself isnearly perfect, and is also varied in its outline with projectingpiers. --Within the inner ballium, we discovered the remains of thecastle-chapel. More than half, indeed, of the building is destroyed, butthe east end is standing, and is tolerably entire. The roof is vaultedand groined: the groins spring from short pillars, whose capitals arebeautifully sculptured with foliage; The architecture of the whole issemi-circular; but I should apprehend it to be posterior to any part ofthe fortress. --The inside of the castle serves at this time for amarket-hall: the fosse, now dry and planted with trees, forms adelightful walk round the whole. 

[Illustration: Banded Pillar in the Church of Gisors]

We were much disappointed by the church of Gisors; in the illustrationof the details of which, Millin is very diffuse. The building is ofconsiderable magnitude; its proportions are not unpleasing, and itcontains much elaborate sculpture; but the labor has been ill bestowed, having been lavished without any attention to consistency. It isthroughout a jumble of Roman and Gothic, except that the exterior of thenorth transept is wholly Gothic. Some of the little figures whichdecorate it are very gracefully carved, especially in the drapery. Apillar in the south aisle, entwined by spiral fillets, is of greatsingularity and beauty. The dolphin is introduced in each pannel, andthe heraldic form of this fish harmonizes with the gentle curve of thefield upon which it is sculptured. A crown of fleurs-de-lys surroundsthe columns at mid-height. These symbols, as I believe I observed on aformer occasion, are often employed as ornaments by the Frencharchitects. The church, which is dedicated to the twin saints, St. Gervais and St. Protais, is the work of different æras, but principallyof the latter half of the sixteenth century, a time when, as a Frenchmantold me, "l'on commença à bâtir dans le beau style Romain. "--The man whomade the observation was of the lower order of society, one of the_swinish multitude_, who, in England, never dream about styles inarchitecture. I mention the circumstance, for the sake of pointing outthe difference that exists in these matters between the two countries. 

Here, every man, gentle or simple, educated or uneducated, thinkshimself qualified and bound to deliver his opinion on objects connectedwith the fine arts; and though such opinions are of necessity commonlycrude, and sometimes absurd, they, on the other hand, frequently displaya degree of feeling, and occasionally of knowledge, that surprises you. It may be true indeed, as Dr. Johnson said, with some illiberality, ofour brethren across the Tweed, that though "every man may have amouthful, no one has a belly full;" but it still marks a degree ofnational refinement, that any attention whatever is bestowed upon suchsubjects. This smattering of knowledge, accompanied with the constantreadiness to communicate it, is also agreeable to a stranger. Except ina few instances at Rouen, I never failed to find civility and attentionamong the French. To the ladies of our nation they are uniformly politethough occasionally their compliments may appear of somewhat aquestionable complexion; as it happened to a female friend of mine to betold, while drawing the church of St, Ouen, "qu'elle avait de l'espritcomme quatre diables. "

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 19: _Histoire de la Haute Normandie_, I, p. 18. ]

[Footnote 20: _Duchesne, Scriptores Normanni_, p. 1046. ]

[Footnote 21: _Duchesne, Scriptores Normanni_, p. 1129. ]

[Footnote 22: _Histoire de la Haute Normandie_, I. P. 20. ]

[Footnote 23: See _Cotman's Architectural Antiquities of Normandy, plates_ 38-41. ]

[Footnote 24: _Ordericus Vitalis_, in _Duchesne's Scriptores Normanni_, p. 490, 491, 606. ]

[Footnote 25: _Duchesne, Scriptores Normanni_, p. 865. ]

[Footnote 26: Some writers say that the real cause of their meeting wasto settle a difference of long standing. --Hoveden, as quoted in the_Concilia Normannica_, I. P. 92, tells us, that Henry was upon the pointof sailing for England, when tidings were brought him that Philip hadcollected a great force, with which he threatened to lay Normandy waste, unless the British monarch surrendered to him Gisors with itsdependencies, or caused his son Richard, Count of Poitou, to marryAlice, sister of the French king;--"Quod cùm regi Angliæ constaret, reversus est in Normanniam; et, accepte colloquio inter ipsum et RegemFranciæ inter Gisortium et Trie, XII. Kalendas Februarii, die S. AgnetisV. Et Martyris, convenerunt illuc cum Archiepiscopis, et Episcopis etComitibus, et Baronibus regnoram suorum. Cui colloquio interfuitArchiepiscopus Tyri, qui repletus spiritu sapientiæ et intellectus, miromodo prædicavit verbum Domini coram regibus et principibus. Et convertitcorda eorum ad crucem capiendam; et qui priùs hostes erant, illoprædicante, et Deo co-operante, facti sunt amici in illa die, et de manuejus crucem receperunt: et in eadem hora apparuit super eos signumcrucis in cÅ“lo. Quo viso miraculo, plures catervatim ruebant adsusceptionem crucis. Prædicti verò reges in susceptionem crucis, adcognoscendum gentem suam, signum sibi et suis providerunt. Rex namqueFranciæ et gens sua receperunt cruces rubeas et Rex Angliæ cum gente suasuscepit cruces virides: et sic unusqnisque ad providendum sibi etitineri suo necessaria, reversus est in regionem suam. "]

[Footnote 27: In 1555, an addition was made to this coat of a chief_azure_, charged with three fleurs-de-lys, _or_, by the command of HenryIInd of France, to commemorate his public entry into Gisors. ]

LETTER XVII. 

ANDELYS--FOUNTAIN OF SAINT CLOTILDA--LA GRANDE MAISON--CHÂTEAUGAILLARD--ECOUIS. 

(_Ecouis, July_, 1818)

Our evening journey from Gisors to Andelys, was not without itsinconveniences. --The road, if road it may be called, was sometimesmerely a narrow ravine or trench, so closely bordered by trees andunderwood, that our vehicle could scarcely force its way; and sometimesour jaded horses labored along a waggon-way which wound amidst anexpanse of corn-fields. Our postilion had earnestly requested us topostpone our departure till the following morning; and he swore andcursed most valiantly during the whole of his ride. On our arrival, however, at Andelys, a few kind words from my companions served tomitigate his ire; and as their eloquence may have been assisted by a fewextra sous, presented to him at the same time, his nut-brown countenancebrightened up, and all was tranquillity. 

Andelys is a town, whose antiquity is not to be questioned: it hadexistence in the time of the venerable Bede, by whom it is expresslymentioned, under its Latin appellation, _Andilegum_[28]. The derivationof this name has afforded employment to etymologists. The syllable _and_enters, as it is said, into the composition of the names of sundryplaces, reported to be founded by Franks, and Saxons, and Germans; andtherefore it is agreed that a Teutonic origin must be assigned toAndelys. But, as to the import of this same syllable, they are all ofthem wholly at a loss. --The history of Andelys is brief and unimportant, considering its antiquity and situation. It was captured by Louis leGros in the war which he undertook against Henry Ist, in favour ofClito, heir of the unfortunate Duke Robert; and his son, Louis le Jeune, in 1166, burned Andelys to the ground, thus revenging the outragescommitted by the Anglo-Normans in France: in 1197, it was the subject ofthe exchange which I have already mentioned, between RichardCoeur-de-Lion and Walter, Archbishop of Rouen; and only a few yearsafterwards it passed by capitulation into the possession of PhilipAugustus, when the murder of Arthur of Brittany afforded the Frenchsovereign a plausible pretext for dispossessing our worthless monarch ofhis Norman territory. 

What Andelys wants, however, in secular interest, it makes up insanctity. Saint Clotilda founded a very celebrated monastery here, whichwas afterwards destroyed by the Normans. --If we now send our ripeningdaughters to France, to be schooled and accomplished, the practiceprevailed equally amongst our Anglo-Saxon ancestors; and we learn fromBede, that Andelys was then one of the most fashionableestablishments[29]. However, we must not forget that the fair Elfleda, and the rosy Ælfgiva, were so taught in the convent, as to be fittedonly for the embraces of a celestial husband--a mode of matrimony whichhas most fortunately become obsolete in our days of increasingknowledge and civilization. 

After the destruction of the monastery by the Normans, it was neverrebuilt; yet its sanctity is not wholly lost. At the behest of Clotilda, the waters of the fountain of Andelys were changed into wine for therelief of the weary labourer, and the tutelary saint is still worshippedby the faithful. 

It was our good fortune to arrive at Andelys on the vigil of thefestival of Saint Clotilda. The following morning, at early dawn, thetolling bell announced the returning holiday; and then we saw theprocession advance, priests and acolytes bearing crosses and consecratedbanners and burning tapers, followed by a joyous crowd of votaries andpilgrims. We had wished to approach the holy well; but the throngthickened around it, and we were forced to desist. We could not witnessthe rites, whatever they were, which were performed at the fountain; andlong after they had concluded, it was still surrounded by groups ofwomen, some idling and staring, some asking charity and whining, andsome conducting their little ones to the salutary-fountain. Many are theinfirmities and ailments which are relieved through the intercession ofSaint Clotilda, after the patient has been plunged in the gelid spring. A Parisian sceptic might incline to ascribe a portion of their cures tocold-bathing and ablution; but, at Andelys, no one ever thought ofdiminishing the veneration, inspired by the Christian queen of thefounder of the monarchy. Several children were pointed out to us, heretical strangers, as living proofs of the continuance of miracles inthe Catholic church. They had been cured on the preceding anniversary;for it is only on Saint Clotilda's day that her benign influence is shedupon the spring. 

Andelys possesses a valuable specimen of ancient domestic architecture. The _Great House_[30] is a most sumptuous mansion, evidently of the ageof Francis Ist; but I could gain no account of its former occupants orhistory. I must again borrow from my friend's vocabulary, and say, thatit is built in the "Burgundian style. " In its general outline andcharacter, it resembles the house in the _Place de la Pucelle_, atRouen. Its walls, indeed, are not covered with the same profusion ofsculpture; yet, perhaps, its simplicity is accompanied by greaterelegance. --The windows are disposed in three divisions, formed byslender buttresses, which run up to the roof. They are square-headed, and divided by a mullion and transom. --The portal is in the centre: itis formed by a Tudor arch, enriched with deep mouldings, and surmountedby a lofty ogee, ending with a crocketed pinnacle, which transfixes thecornice immediately above, as well as the sill of the window, and thenunites with the mullion of the latter. --The roof takes a very highpitch. --A figured cornice, upon which it rests, is boldly sculpturedwith foliage. --The chimneys are ornamented by angular buttresses. --Allthese portions of the building assimilate more or less to our Gothicarchitecture of the sixteenth century; but a most magnificent orielwindow, which fills the whole of the space between the centre andleft-hand divisions, is a specimen of pointed architecture in its bestand purest style. The arches are lofty and acute. Each angle is formedby a double buttress, and the tabernacles affixed to these are filledwith statues. The basement of the oriel, which projects from the flatwall of the house, after the fashion of a bartizan, is divided intocompartments, studded with medallions, and intermixed with tracery ofgreat variety and beauty. On either side of the bay, there are flyingbuttresses of elaborate sculpture, spreading along the wall. --As, comparatively speaking, good models of ancient domestic architecture arevery rare, I would particularly recommend this at Andelys to the noticeof every architect, whom chance may conduct to Normandy. --This building, like too many others of the same class in our own counties of Norfolkand Suffolk, is degraded from its station. The _great house_ is usedmerely as a granary, though, by a very small expence, it might be putinto habitable repair. The stone retains its clear and polished surface;and the massy timbers are undecayed. --The inside corresponds with theexterior, in decorations and grandeur: the chimney-pieces are large andelaborate, and there is abundance of sculpture on the ceilings and otherparts which admit of ornament. 

The French, in speaking of Andelys, commonly use the plural number, andsay, _les Andelys_, there being a smaller town of the same name, withinthe distance of a mile: hence, the larger, all inconsiderable as it is, and though it scarcely contains two thousand inhabitants, is dignifiedby the appellation of _le Grand Andelys_. 

As the French seldom neglect the memory of their eminent men, I wasrather disappointed at not finding any tribute to the glory of Poussin, nor any object which could recal his name. --The great master of theFrench school was born at Andelys, in 1594, of poor but noble parents. The talents of the painter of the _Deluge_ overcame all obstacles. YoungPoussin, with barely a sufficiency to buy his daily bread, found meansof making his abilities known in the metropolis to such advantage, asenabled him to proceed to Rome, where the patronage of the CavaliereMarino smoothed his way to that splendid career, which terminated onlywith his life. --And yet I doubt if the example of Poussin has, on thewhole, been favorable to the progress of French art. Horace Walpole, inhis summary of the excellencies and defects of great painters, observedwith much justice, that "Titian wanted to have seen the antique; Poussinto have seen Titian. " The observation referred principally to thedefective coloring, which is admitted to exist in the greater part ofthe works of the painter of Andelys. But Poussin, considered as a modelfor imitation, and especially as a model for the student, is liable to amore serious objection. --He was a total stranger to realnature:--classical taste, indeed, and knowledge, and grace, and beauty, pervade all his works; but it is a taste, and a knowledge, and a grace, and a beauty, formed solely upon the contemplation of the antique. Horace's adage, that "decipit exemplar vitiis imitabile, " has beenremarkably verified in the case of Poussin; and I am mistaken, if theexample set by him, which has been rigorously followed in the Frenchschool, even down to the present day, has not contributed more than anything else to that statuary style in forms, and that coldness incoloring, which every one, who is not born in France, regrets to see inthe works of the best of their artists. --The learned Adrian Turnebus wasalso a native of Andelys; and the church is distinguished as theburial-place of Corneille. 

[Illustration: Distant View of Château Gaillard]

I doubt, however, whether we should have travelled hither, had we notbeen attracted by the celebrity of the castle, called _ChâteauGaillard_, erected by Richard Coeur-de-Lion, in the immediate vicinityof Le Petit Andelys. --Our guide, a sturdy old dame, remonstratedstrongly against our walking so far to look at a mere heap of stones, nothing comparable to the fine statue of Clotilda, of which, if we wouldbut have a little patience, we might still procure a sight. --Ourexpectations respecting the castle were more than answered. Consideredas to its dimensions and its situation, it is by far the finestcastellated ruin I ever saw. Conway, indeed, has more beauty; butChâteau Gaillard is infinitely superior in dignity. Its ruins crown thesummit of a lofty rock, abruptly rising from the very edge of the Seine, whose sinuous course here shapes the adjoining land into a narrowpeninsula. The chalky cliffs on each side of the castle, are broken intohills of romantic shape, which add to the impressive wildness of thescene. The inclosed sketch will give you an idea, though a very faintone, of the general appearance of the castle at a distance. Towards theriver, the steepness of the cliff renders the fortress unassailable: adouble fosse of great depth, defended by a strong wall, originallyafforded almost equal protection on the opposite side. 

The circular keep is of extraordinary strength; and in its constructionit differs wholly from any of our English dungeon-towers. --It may bedescribed as a cylinder, placed upon a truncated cone. The massyperpendicular buttresses, which are ranged round the upper wall, fromwhich they project considerably, lose themselves at their bases in thecone from which they arise. The building, therefore, appears to bedivided into two stories. The wall of the second story is upwards oftwelve feet in thickness. The base of the conical portion is perhapstwice as thick. --It seldom happens that the military buildings of themiddle ages have such a _talus_ or slope, on the exterior face, agreeingwith the principles of modern fortification, and it is difficult toguess why the architect of Château Gaillard thought fit to vary from theestablished model of his age. The masonry is regular and good. Thepointed windows are evidently insertions of a period long subsequent tothe original erection. 

The inner, ballium is surrounded by a high circular wall, which consistsof an uninterrupted line of bastions, some semi-circular and otherssquare. --The whole of this part of the castle remains nearly perfect. There are also traces of extensive foundations in various, directions, and of great out-works. Château Gaillard was in fact a citadel, supported by numerous smaller fortresses, all of them communicating withthe strong central hold, and disposed so as to secure every defensiblepost in the neighborhood. The wall of the outer ballium, which was builtof a compact white and grey stone, is in most places standing, though inruins. The original facing only remains in those parts which are tooelevated to admit of its being removed with ease. --Beneath the castle, the cliff is excavated into a series of subterraneous caverns, notintended for mere passages or vaults, as at Arques and in most otherplaces, but forming spacious crypts, supported by pillars roughly hewnout of the living rock, and still retaining every mark of the workman'schisel. 

It will afford some satisfaction to the antiquary to find, that thepresent appearance of the castle corresponds in every importantparticular with the description given by Willelmus Brito, who beheld itwithin a few years after its erection, and in all its pride. Everyfeature which he enumerates yet exists, unaltered and unobliterated:--

 "Huic natura loco satis insuperabile per se Munimeu dederat, tamen insuperabiliorem Arte quidem multa Richardus fecerat illum. Duplicibus muris extrema clausit, et altas Circuitum docuit per totum surgere turres, A se distantes spatiis altrinsecus æquis; Eruderans utrumque latus, ne scandere quisquam Ad muros possit, vel ab ima repere valle. Hinc ex transverso medium per planitiei Erigitur murus, multoque labore cavari Cogitur ipse silex, fossaque patere profunda, Faucibus et latis aperiri vallis ad instar; Sic ut quam subito fiat munitio duplex Quæ fuit una modo muro geminata sequestro. Ut si forte pati partem contingeret istam Altera municipes, queat, et se tuta tueri. Inde rotundavit rupem, quæ celsior omni Planitie summum se tollit in aera sursum; Et muris sepsit, extremas desuper oras Castigansque jugi scrupulosa cacumina, totum Complanat medium, multæque capacia turbæ Plurima cum domibus habitacula fabricat intus. Umboni parcens soli, quo condidit arcem. Hic situs iste decor, munitio talis honorem Gaillardæ rupis per totum prædicat orbem. "

The keep cannot be ascended without difficulty. We ventured to scaleit; and we were fully repaid for our labor by the prospect which wegained. The Seine, full of green willowy islands, flows beneath the rockin large lazy windings: the peninsula below is flat, fertile, and wellwooded: on the opposite shores, the fantastic chalky cliffs rise boldly, crowned with dark forests. 

I have already once had occasion to allude to the memorable strifeoccasioned by the erection of Château Gaillard, which its royal founderis reported to have so named by way of mockery. In possession of thisfortress, it seemed that he might laugh to scorn the attacks of hisfeudal liege lord. --The date of the commencement of the building issupposed to have been about the year 1196, immediately subsequent to thetreaty of Louviers, by which, Richard ceded to Philip Augustus themilitary line of the Epte, and nearly the whole of the Norman Vexin. Byan express article of the treaty, neither party was allowed to repairthe fortifications of Andelys; and Philip was in possession of Gisors, as well as of every other post that might have afforded security to theNormans. Thus the frontiers of the duchy became defenceless; butRichard, like other politicians, determined to evade the spirit of thetreaty, adhering nevertheless to its letter, by the erection of thismighty bulwark. --The building arose with the activity of fear. Richarddied in 1199, yet the castle must have been completely habitable in hislife-time, for not a few of his charters are dated from ChâteauGaillard, which he terms "his beautiful castle of the rock. "--Threeyears only had elapsed from the decease of this monarch, when PhilipAugustus, after having reduced another castle, erected at the same timeupon an island opposite the lesser Andelys, encamped before ChâteauGaillard, and commenced a siege, which from its length, its horrors, andthe valor shewn on either side, has ever since been memorable inhistory. --Its details are given at great length by Father Daniel; and DuMoulin briefly enumerates a few of the stratagems to which the FrenchKing was obliged to have recourse; for, as the reverend author observes, "to have attempted to carry the place by force, would have been to haveexposed the army to certain destruction; while to have tried to scalethe walls, would have required the aid of Dædalus, with the certainty ofa fall, as fatal as that of Icarus;" and without the poor consolation of

 ". .. . Vitreo daturus Nomina ponto. "--

The castle, commanded by Roger de Lacy, defied the utmost efforts ofPhilip for six successive months. --So great was its size; that more thantwo thousand two hundred persons, who did not form a part of thegarrison, were known to quit the fortress in the course of the siege, compelled to throw themselves upon the mercy of the besiegers. But theyfound none; and the greater part of these unfortunate wretches, alternately suppliants to either host, perished from hunger, or from theweapons of the contending parties. At length the fortress yielded to asudden assault. Of the warriors, to whose valor it had been entrusted, only thirty-six remained alive. John, ill requiting their fidelity, hadalready abandoned them to their fate. 

Margaret of Burgundy, the queen of Louis Xth, and Blanche, the consortof his brother, Charles le Bel, were both immured in Château Gaillard, in 1314. The scandalous chronicle of those times will explain the causesof their imprisonment. Margaret was strangled by order of her husband. Blanche, after seven years' captivity, was transferred to the convent ofMaubuisson, near Pontoise, where she continued a recluse till herdeath--In 1331, David Bruce, compelled to flee from the superior powerof the third Edward, found an asylum in Château Gaillard; and here, fora time, maintained the pageantry of a court. --Twenty-four yearssubsequently, when Charles the Bad, king of Navarre, was sent as acaptive from Rouen to Paris, he was confined here, during one night, byorder of the dauphin, who had made him his prisoner by treachery, whilstpartaking of a banquet. --In the following century Château Gaillardbraved the victorious arms of Henry Vth; nor was it taken till after asiege of sixteen months. The garrison only consisted of one hundred andtwenty men; yet this scanty troop would not have yielded, had not theropes, by which they drew up their water-buckets[31], been worn out anddestroyed. --During the same reign, it was again taken and lost by theFrench, into whose hands it finally fell in 1449, when Charles VIIthcommanded the siege in person. Even then, however it stood a long siege;and it was almost the last of the strong-holds of Normandy, which heldout for the successors of the ancient dukes. After the re-union of theduchy, it was not destroyed, or suffered to fall into decay, like thegreater number of the Norman fortresses: during the religious wars, itstill continued to be a formidable military post, as well as a royalpalace; and it was honored by the residence of Henry IVth, whose father, Anthony of Bourbon, died here in 1562. --Its importance ceased in thefollowing reign. --The inhabitants of the adjacent country requested theking to order that the castle should be dismantled. They dreaded, lestits towers should serve as an asylum to some of the numerous bands ofmarauders, by whom France was then infested. It was consequentlyundermined and reduced to its present state of ruin. 

We did not again attempt to pay our devotions at the shrine of SaintClotilda, and we found no interesting object in the church of Andelyswhich could detain us. We therefore proceeded without delay to Ecouis, where we were assured that the church would gratify our curiosity. --Thisbuilding has an air of grandeur as it is seen rising above the flatcountry; and it is of a singular shape, the ground-plan being that of aGreek cross. The exterior is plain and offers nothing remarkable: theinterior retains statues of various saints, which, though not veryancient or in very good taste, are still far from being inelegant. SaintMary, the Egyptian, who is among them, covered with her tresses, whichmay easily be mistaken for a long plaited robe, is a saint of unfrequentoccurrence in this part of France. In the choir are several tomb-stones, with figures engraved upon them, their faces and hands being inlaid withwhite marble. --In this part of the building also remains the tomb ofJohn Marigni, archbishop of Rouen, with his effigy of fine white marble, in perfect preservation. The face is marked with a strong expression ofthat determined character, which he unquestionably possessed. When hewas sent as an ambassador to Edward IIIrd, in 1342, he made hisappearance at the English court in the guise of a military man, and notas a minister of peace; and we may doubt whether his virtues qualifiedhim for the mitre. If even a Pope, however, in latter days, commanded asculptor to pourtray him with a sword in his hand, the martial tendencyof an archbishop may well be pardoned in more turbulent times. Thefollowing distich, from his epitaph, alludes to his achievements:--

 "Armis præcinctus, mentisque charactere cinctus, Dux fuit in bellis, Anglis virtute rebellis. "

The unfortunate Enguerrand de Marigni, brother of the archbishop, andlord treasurer under Philip the Fair, was the founder of this church. Atthe instigation of the king's uncle, Enguerrand was hanged withouttrial, and his family experienced the most bitter persecution. His body, which had at first been interred in the convent of the Chartreux, atParis, was removed hither in 1324; and his descendants obtainedpermission, in 1475, to erect a mausoleum to his memory. But the king, at the same time that he acceded to their petition, added the expresscondition[32], that no allusion should be made to Marigni's tragicalend. The monument was destroyed in the revolution; but the murder of thetreasurer is one of those "damned spots, " which will never be washed outof the history of France. --Charles de Valois soon felt the sting ofremorse; and within a year from the wreaking of his vengeance, he causedalms to be publicly distributed in the streets of Paris, with aninjunction to every one that received them, "to pray to God for thesouls of Enguerrand de Marigni, and Charles de Valois, taking care toput the subject first[33]. "--In the church at Ecouis, was formerly thefollowing epitaph, whose obscurity has given rise to a variety oftraditions:--

 "Ci gist le fils, ci gist la mere, Ci gist la soeur, ci gist le frère, Ci gist la femme, et le mari; Et ci ne sont que deux ici[34]. "

Other inscriptions of the same nature are said to have existed inEngland. Goube[35] supposes that this one is the record of an incestuousconnection; but we may doubt whether a less sinful solution may not begiven to the enigma. 

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 28: Andelys is also called in old deeds _Andeleium_ and_Andeliacum_. ]

[Footnote 29: "Seculo septimo, cum pauca essent in regione Anglorummonasteria, hunc morem in illâ gente fuisse, ut multi ex Britanniâ, monastiae conversationis gratiâ, Francorum monasteria adirent, sed etfilias suas eisdem erudiendas ac sponso coelesti copulandas mitterent, maximè in Brigensi seu S. Farae monasterio, et in Calensi et in_Andilegum_ monasterio. "--_Bede, Hist_. Lib. III. Cap. 8. ]

[Footnote 30: _Cotman's Architectural Antiquities of Normandy_, plate15. --In a future portion of his work, Mr. Cotman designs devoting asecond plate exclusively to the oriel in the east front of thisbuilding. ]

[Footnote 31: _Monstrelet, Johnes' Translation_, II. P. 242. ]

[Footnote 32: The letter of this stipulation appears to have beenattended to much more than its spirit for at the top of the monumentwere five figures:--Our Savior seated in the centre, as if in the act ofpronouncing sentence; on either side of him, an angel; and below, Charles de Valois and Enguerrand de Marigni; the former on the right ofChrist, crowned with the ducal coronet; the other, on the opposite side, in the guise and posture of a suppliant, imploring the divine vengeancefor his unjust fate. --_Histoire de la Haute Normandie_, II. P. 338. ]

[Footnote 33: _Montfaucon, Monumens de la Monarchie Française_, II. P. 220. ]

[Footnote 34: In a collection of epitaphs printed at Cologne, 1623, under the title of _Epitaphia Joco-seria_, I find the same monumentalinscription, with the observation, that it is at Tournay, and with thefollowing explanation. --"De pari conjugum, posteà ad religionemtranseuntium et in eâ præfectorum. Alter fuit Franciscanus; altera veròClarissa. "]

[Footnote 35: _Histoire du Duché de Normandie_, III. P. 15. ]

LETTER XVIII. 

EVREUX--CATHEDRAL--ABBEY OF ST. TAURINUS--ANCIENT HISTORY. 

(_Evreux, July_, 1818. )

Our journey to this city has not afforded the gratification which weanticipated. --You may recollect Ducarel's eulogium upon the cathedral, that it is one of the finest structures of the kind in France. --It isour fate to be continually at variance with the doctor, till I am halfinclined to fear you may be led to suspect that jealousy has somethingto do with the matter, and that I fall under the ban of the old Greekproverb, --

 "Και ϰε�αμευς ϰε�αμει Φϑονεει ϰαι τεϰτονι τεϰτων. "--

[English. Not in Original: The potter is jealous of the potter, as thebuilder is jealous of the builder. ]

As for myself, however, I do hope and trust that I am marvellously freefrom antiquarian spite. --And in this instance, our expectations werealso raised by the antiquity and sanctity of the cathedral, which wasentirely rebuilt by Henry Ist, who made a considerate bargain withBishop Audinus[36], by which he was allowed to burn the city and itsrebellious inhabitants, upon condition of bestowing his treasures forthe re-construction of the monasteries, after the impendingconflagration. The church, thus raised, is said by William ofJumieges[37], to have surpassed every other in Neustria; but it iscertain that only a very small portion of the original building nowremains. A second destruction awaited it. Philip Augustus, who desolatedthe county of Evreux with fire and sword, stormed the capital, sparingneither age nor sex; and all its buildings, whether sacred or profane, were burnt to the ground. Hoveden, his friend, and Brito, hisenemy, both bear witness to this fact--the latter in the followinglines:--

 ". .. Irarum stimulis agitatus, ad omne Excidium partis adversæ totus inardens, Ebroicas primò sic incineravit, ut omnes Cum domibus simul ecclesias consumpserit ignis. "--

The church, in its present state, is a medley of many different stylesand ages: the nave alone retains vestiges of early architecture, in itsmassy piers and semi-circular arches: these are evidently of Normanworkmanship, and are probably part of the church erected by Henry. --Allthe rest is comparatively modern. --The western front is of a debasedPalladian style, singularly ill adapted to a Gothic cathedral. It isflanked with two towers, one of which ends in a cupola, the other in ashort cone. --The central tower, which is comparatively plain andsurmounted by a high spire, was built about the middle of the fifteenthcentury, during the bishopric of the celebrated John de Balue, who wasin high favor with Louis XIth, and obtained from that monarch greatassistance towards repairing, enlarging, and beautifying his church. Theroof, the transept towards the palace, the sacristy, the library, and aportion of the cloisters, are all said to have been erected byhim[38]. --The northern transept is the only part that can now lay claimto beauty or uniformity in its architecture: it is of late and bastardGothic; yet the portal is not destitute of merit: it is evidently copiedfrom the western portal of the cathedral at Rouen, though far inferiorin every respect, and with a decided tendency towards the Italian style. Almost every part of it still appears full of elaborate ornaments, though all the saints and bishops have fled from the arched door-way, and the bas-relief which was over the entrance has equally disappeared. 

Ducarel[39] notices four statues of canons, attached to a couple ofpillars at the back of the chancel. --We were desirous of seeingauthentic specimens of sculpture of a period at least as remote as theconquest; and, as the garden belonging to the prefect, the Comte deGoyon, incloses this portion of the church, we requested to be allowedto enter his grounds. Leave was most obligingly granted, and we receivedevery attention from the prefect and his lady; but we could find notraces of the objects of our search. They were probably destroyed duringthe revolution; at which time, the count told us that the statues at thenorth portal were also broken to pieces. At Evreux, the democrats hadfull scope for the exercise of their iconoclastic fury. Little or noprevious injury had been done by the Calvinists, who appear to have beenunable to gain any ascendency in this town or diocese, at the same timethat they lorded it over the rest of Normandy. Evreux had been fortifiedagainst heresy, by the piety and good sense of two of her bishops: theyforesaw the coming storm, and they took steps to redress the grievanceswhich were objects of complaint, as well as to reform thechurch-establishment, and to revise the breviary and themass-book. --Conduct like this seldom fails in its effect; and thetranquil by-stander may regret that it is not more frequently adopted bycontending parties. 

The interior of the cathedral is handsome, though not peculiar. Somegood specimens of painted glass remain in the windows; and, in variousparts of the church, there are elegant tabernacles and detached piecesof sculpture, as well in stone as in wood. The pulpit, in particular, isdeserving of this praise: it is supported on cherubs' heads, and is welldesigned and executed. 

The building is dedicated to the Virgin: it claims for its first bishop, Taurinus, a saint of the third century, memorable in legendary tale fora desperate battle which he fought against the devil. Satan was sadlydrubbed and the bishop wrenched off one of his horns[40]. The trophy wasdeposited in the crypt of his church, where it long remained, to amusethe curious, and stand the nurses of Evreux in good stead, as the meansof quieting noisy children. --The learned Cardinal Du Perron succeeded toSt. Taurinus, though at an immense distance of time. He was appointed byHenry IVth, towards whose conversion he appears to have been greatlyinstrumental, as he was afterwards the principal mediator, by whoseintercession the Pope was induced to grant absolution to the monarch. The task was one of some difficulty: for the court of Spain, thenpowerful at the Vatican, used all their efforts to prevent areconciliation, with a view of fomenting the troubles in France. --Mostof the bishops of this see appear to have possessed great piety andtalent. 

I have already mentioned to you, that the fraternity of the Conards wasestablished at Evreux, as well as at Rouen. Another institution, ofequal absurdity, was peculiar, I believe, to this cathedral[41]. It borethe name of the Feast of St. Vital, as it united with the anniversary ofthat saint, which is celebrated on the first of May: the origin of thecustom may be derived from the heathen Floralia, a ceremony begun ininnocence, continued to abomination. At its first institution, the feastof St. Vital was a simple and a natural rite: the statues of the saintswere crowned with garlands of foliage, perhaps as an offering of thefirst-fruits of the opening year. In process of time, branches weresubstituted for leaves, and they were cut from the growing trees, by alengthened train of rabble pilgrims. --The clergy themselves headed themob, who committed such devastation in the neighboring woods, that theowners of them were glad to compromise for the safety of their timber, by stationing persons to supply the physical, as well as the religious, wants of the populace. The excesses consequent upon such a practice mayeasily be imagined: the duration of the feast was gradually extended toten days; and, during this time, licentiousness of all kinds prevailedunder the plea of religion. To use the words of a manuscript, preservedin the archives of the cathedral, they played at skittles on the roof ofthe church, and the bells were kept continually ringing. These orgies, at length, were quelled; but not till two prebendaries belonging to thechapter, had nearly lost their lives in the attempt. --Hitherto, indeed, the clergy had enjoyed the merriment full as well as the laity. Onejolly canon, appropriately named Jean Bouteille, made a will, in whichhe declared himself the protector of the feast; and he directed that, onits anniversary, a pall should be spread in the midst of the church, with a gigantic _bottle_ in its centre, and four smaller ones at thecorners; and he took care to provide funds for the perpetuation of this_rebus_. 

The cathedral offers few subjects for the pencil. --As a species ofmonument, of which we have no specimens in England, I add a sketch of aGothic _puteal_, which stands near the north portal. It is apparently ofthe same æra as that part of the church. 

[Illustration: Gothic Puteal, at Evreux]

From the cathedral we went to the church of St. Taurinus. The proudabbey of the apostle and first bishop of the diocese retains few or notraces of its former dignity. So long as monachism flourished, a contestexisted between the chapter of the cathedral and the brethren of thismonastery, each advocating the precedency of their respectiveestablishment. --The monks of St. Taurinus contended, that their abbeywas expressly mentioned by William of Jumieges[42] among the mostancient in Neustria, as well as among those which were destroyed by theNormans, and rebuilt by the zeal of good princes. They also alleged thedispute that prevailed under the Norman dukes for more than two hundredyears, between this convent and that of Fécamp, respecting the right ofnominating one of their own brethren to the head of their community, aright which was claimed by Fécamp; and they displayed the series oftheir prelates, continued in an uninterrupted line from the time oftheir founder. Whatever may have been the justice of these claims, theantiquity of the monastery is admitted by all parties. --Its monks, likethose of the abbey of St. Ouen, had the privilege of receiving every newbishop of the see, on the first day of his arrival at Evreux; and hiscorpse was deposited in their church, where the funeral obsequies wereperformed. This privilege, originally intended only as a mark ofdistinction to the abbey, was on two occasions perverted to a purposethat might scarcely have been expected. Upon the death of Bishop Johnd'Aubergenville in 1256, the monks resented the reformation which he hadendeavoured to introduce into their order, by refusing to admit his bodywithin their precinct; and though fined for their obstinacy, they didnot learn wisdom by experience, but forty-three years afterwards shewedtheir hostility decidedly towards the remains of Geoffrey of Bar, astill more determined reformer of monastic abuses. Extreme was thelicentiousness which prevailed in those days among the monks of St. Taurinus, and unceasing were the endeavors of the bishop to correctthem. The contest continued during his life, at the close of which theynot only shut their doors against his corpse, but dragged it from thecoffin and gave it a public flagellation. So gross an act of indecencywould in all probability be classed among the many scandalous talesinvented of ecclesiastics, but that the judicial proceedings whichensued leave no doubt of its truth; and it was even recorded in theburial register of the cathedral. 

The church of St. Taurinus offers some valuable specimens of ancientarchitecture. --The southern transept still preserves a row of Normanarches, running along the lower part of its west side, as well as alongits front; but those above them are pointed. To the south are sixcircular arches, divided into two compartments, in each of which thecentral arch has formerly served for a window. Both the lateral ones arefilled with coeval stone-work, whose face is carved into lozenges, whichwere alternately coated with blue and red mortar or stucco: distincttraces of the coloring are still left in the cavities[43]. To theeastern side of this transept is attached, as at St. Georges, a smallchapel, of semi-circular architecture, now greatly in ruins. Theinterior of the church is all comparatively modern, with the exceptionof some of the lower arches on the north side. --A strange and whimsicalvessel for holy water attracted our attention. I cannot venture to guessat its date, but I do not think it is more recent than the fourteenthcentury. 

[Illustration: Vessel for holy water]

The principal curiosity of the church, and indeed of the town, is theshrine, which contained, or perhaps, contains, a portion of the bones ofthe patron saint, whose body, after having continued for more than threehundred years a hidden treasure, was at last revealed in a miraculousmanner to the prayers of Landulphus, one of his successors in theepiscopacy. --The cathedral of Chartres, in early ages, set up a rivalclaim for the possession of this precious relic; but its existence herewas formally verified at the end of the seventeenth century, by theopening of the _châsse_, in which a small quantity of bones was foundtied up in a leather bag, with a certificate of their authenticity, signed by an early bishop. --The shrine is of silver-gilt, about one anda half foot in height and two feet in length: it is a fine specimen ofancient art. In shape it resembles the nave of a church, with the sidesrichly enchased with figures of saints and bishops. Our curious eyeswould fain have pried within; but it was closed with the impression ofthe archbishop's signet. --A crypt, the original burial place of St. Taurinus, is still shewn in the church, and it continues to be theobject of great veneration. It is immediately in front of the highaltar, and is entered by two staircases, one at the head, the other atthe foot of the coffin. The vault is very small, only admitting of thecoffin and of a narrow passage by its side. The sarcophagus, which isextremely shallow, and neither wide nor long, is partly imbedded in thewall, so that the head and foot and one side alone are visible. --Aportion of the monastic buildings of St. Taurinus now serves as aseminary for the catholic priesthood. 

The west front of the church of St. Giles is not devoid of interest. Many other churches here have been desecrated; and this ancient buildinghas been converted into a stable. The door-way is formed by a finesemi-circular arch, ornamented with the chevron-moulding, disposed in atriple row, and with a line of quatrefoils along the archivolt. Boththese decorations are singular: I recollect no other instance of thequatrefoil being employed in an early Norman building, thoughimmediately upon the adoption of the pointed style it became exceedinglycommon; nor can I point out another example of the chevron-moulding thusdisposed. It produces a better effect than when arranged in detachedbands. The capitals to the pillars of the arch are sculptured withwinged dragons and other animals, in bold relief. 

These are the only worthy objects of architectural inquiry now existingin the city. Many must have been destroyed by the ravages of war, and bythe excesses of the revolution. --Evreux therefore does not abound withmemorials of its antiquity. But its existence as a town, during theperiod of the domination of the Romans, rests upon authority that isscarcely questionable. It has been doubted whether the present city, ora village about three miles distant, known by the name of _Old Evreux_, is the _Mediolanum Aulercorum_ of Ptolemy. His description is given withsufficient accuracy to exclude the pretensions of any other town, thoughnot with such a degree of precision as will enable us, after a lapse ofsixteen centuries, to decide between the claims of the two sites. Cæsar, in his _Commentaries_, speaks in general terms of the _AulerciEburovices_, who are admitted to have been the ancient inhabitants ofthis district, and whose name, especially as modified to _Ebroici_ and_Ebroi_, is clearly to be recognized in that of the county. Thefoundations of ancient buildings are still to be seen at Old Evreux; andvarious coins and medals of the upper empire, have at different timesbeen dug up within its precincts. Hence it has been concluded, that the_Mediolanum Aulercorum_ was situated there. The supporters of thecontrary opinion admit that Old Evreux was a Roman station; but they saythat, considering its size, it can have been no more than an encampment:they also maintain, that a castle was subsequently built upon the siteof this encampment, by Richard, Count of Evreux, and that thedestruction of this castle, during the Norman wars, gave rise to theruins now visible, which in their turn were the cause of the name of thevillage[44]. 

It is certain that, in the reign of William the Conqueror, the townstood in its present situation: Ordericus Vitalis speaks in terms thatadmit of no hesitation, when he states that, in the year 1080, "fidesChristi Evanticorum, id est Evroas, urbem, _super Ittonum fluvium sitam_possidebat et salubritèr illuminabat[45]. "

In the times of Norman sovereignty, Evreux attained an unfortunateindependence: Duke Richard Ist severed it from the duchy, and erected itinto a distinct earldom in favor of Robert, his second son. From him theinheritance descended to Richard and William, his son and grandson;after whose death, it fell into the female line, and passed into thehouse of Montfort d'Amaury, by the marriage of Agnes, sister of Richardof Evreux. --Nominally independent, but really held only at the pleasureof the Dukes of Normandy, the rank of the earldom occasioned the miseryof the inhabitants, who were continually involved in warfare, andplundered by conflicting parties. The annals of Evreux containthe relation of a series of events, full of interest and amusement to uswho peruse them; but those, who lived at the time when these events werereally acted, might exclaim, like the frogs in the fable, "that what isentertainment to us, was death to them. "--At length, the treaty ofLouviers, in 1195, altered the aspect of affairs. The King of Francegained the right of placing a garrison in Evreux; and, five yearsafterwards, he obtained a formal cession of the earldom. Philip Augustustook possession of the city, to the great joy of the inhabitants, who, six years before, had seen their town pillaged, and their housesdestroyed, by the orders of this monarch. The severity exercised uponthat occasion had been excessive; but Philip's indignation had beenroused by one of the basest acts of treachery recorded inhistory. --John, faithless at every period of his life, had entered intoa treaty with the French monarch, during the captivity of his brother, Coeur-de-Lion, to deliver up Normandy; and Philip, conformably with thisplan, was engaged in reducing the strong holds upon the frontiers, whilst his colleague resided at Evreux. The unexpected release of theEnglish king disconcerted these intrigues; and John, alarmed at thecourse which he had been pursuing, thought only how to avert the angerof his offended sovereign. Under pretence, therefore, of shewinghospitality to the French, he invited the principal officers to a feast, where he caused them all to be murdered; and he afterwards put the restof the garrison to the sword. --Brito records the transaction in thefollowing lines, which I quote, not only as an historical document, illustrative of the moral character of one of the worst sovereigns thatever swayed the British sceptre, but as an honorable testimony to thememory of his unfortunate brother:--

 "Attamen Ebroïcam studio majore reformans Armis et rebus et bellatoribus urbem, Pluribus instructam donavit amore Johanni, Ut sibi servet eam: tamen arcem non dedit illi. Ille dolo plenus, qui patrem, qui modo fratrem Prodiderat, ne non et Regis proditor esset, Excedens siculos animi impietate Tyrannos, Francigenas omnes vocat ad convivia quotquot Ebroïcis reperit, equites simul atque clientes, Paucis exceptis quos sors servavit in arce. Quos cum dispositis armis fecisset ut una Discubuisse domo, tanquam prandere putantes, Evocat e latebris armatos protinus Anglos, Interimitque viros sub eadem clade trecentos, Et palis capita ambustis affixit, et urbem Circuit affixis, visu mirabile, tali Regem portento quærens magis angere luctu: Talibus obsequiis, tali mercede rependens Millia marcharum, quas Rex donaverat illi. Tam detestanda pollutus cæde Johannes Ad fratrem properat; sed Rex tam flagitiosus Non placuit fratri: quis enim, nisi dæmone plenus, Omninoque Deo vacuus, virtute redemptus A vitiis nulla, tam dira fraude placere Appetat, aut tanto venetur crimine pacem? Sed quia frater erat, licet illius oderit actus Omnibus odibiles, fraternæ foedera pacis Non negat indigno, nec eum privavit amore, Ipsum qui nuper Regno privare volebat. "

The vicissitudes to which the county of Evreux was doomed to be subject, did not wholly cease upon its annexation to the crown of France. Itpassed, in the fourteenth century, into the hands of the Kings ofNavarre, so as to form a portion of their foreign territory; and earlyin the fifteenth, it fell by right of conquest under Englishsovereignty. --Philip the Bold conferred it, in 1276, upon Louis, hisyoungest son; and from him descended the line of Counts of Evreux, who, originating in the royal family of France, became Kings of Navarre. Thekingdom was brought into the family by the marriage of Philip Count ofEvreux with Jane daughter of Louis Hutin, King of France and Navarre, towhom she succeeded as heir general. Charles IIIrd, of Navarre, cededEvreux by treaty to his namesake, Charles VIth of France, in 1404; andhe shortly after bestowed it upon John Stuart, Lord of Aubigni, andConstable of Scotland. --Under Henry Vth, our countrymen took the city in1417, but we were not long allowed to hold undisturbed possession of it;for, in 1424, it was recaptured by the French. Their success, however, was only ephemeral: the battle of Verneuil replaced Evreux in the powerof the English before the expiration of the same year; and we kept ittill 1441, when the garrison was surprised, and the town lost, thoughnot without a vigorous resistance. --Towards the close of the followingcentury, the earldom was raised into a _Duché pairie_, by Charles IXth, who, having taken the lordship of Gisors from his brother, the Ducd'Alençon, better known by his subsequent title of Duc d'Anjou, recompenced him by a grant of Evreux. Upon the death of this princewithout issue, in 1584, Evreux reverted to the crown, and the title laydormant till 1652, when Louis XIVth exchanged the earldom with the Ducde Bouillon, in return for the principality of Sedan. In his family itremained till the revolution, which, amalgamating the whole of Franceinto one common mass of equal rights and laws, put an end to all localprivileges and other feudal tenures. 

Evreux, at present, is a town containing about eight thousandinhabitants, a great proportion of whom are persons of independentproperty, or _rentiers_, as the French call them. Hence it has an air ofelegance, seldom to be found in a commercial, and never in amanufacturing town; and to us this appearance was the more striking, asbeing the first instance of the kind we had seen in Normandy. Thestreets are broad and beautifully neat. The city stands in the midst ofgardens and orchards, in a fertile valley, watered by the Iton, andinclosed towards the north and south by ranges of hills. The riverdivides into two branches before it reaches the town, both which flow onthe outside of the walls. But, besides these, a portion of its watershas been conducted through the centre of the city, by means of a canaldug by the order of Jane of Navarre. This Iton, like the Mole, in Kent, suddenly loses itself in the ground, near the little town of Damville, about twenty miles south of Evreux, and holds its subterranean coursefor nearly two miles. A similar phenomenon is observable with aneighboring stream, the Risle, between Ferrière and Grammont[46]: inboth cases it is attributed, I know not with what justice, to an abruptchange in the stratification of the soil. 

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 36: This curious transaction, which took place in the year1119, is related with considerable _näiveté_ by Ordericus Vitalis, p. 852, as follows:--"Henricus Rex rebellibus ultrà parcere nolens, pagumEbroicensem adiit, et Ebroas cum valida manu impugnare coepit. Sedoppidanis, qui intrinsecus erant, cum civibus viriliter repugnantibus, introire nequivit. Erant cum illo Ricardus filius ejus, et StephanusComes nepos ejus, Radulfus de Guader, et maxima vis Normannorum. Quibusante Regem convocatis in unnm, Rex dixit ad Audinum Episcopum. "Videsne, domine Præsul, quòd repellimur ab hostibus, nec eos nisi per ignemsubjugare poterimus? Verùm, si ignis immittitur, Ecclesiæ comburentur, et insontibus ingens damnum inferetur. Nunc ergo, Pastor Ecclesiæ, diligentèr considera, et quod utilius prospexeris providè nobis insinua. Si victoria nobis per incendium divinitùs conceditur, opitulante Deo, Ecclesiæ detrimenta restaurabuntur: quia de thesauris nostris commodossumptus gratantèr largiemur. Unde domus Dei, ut reor, in meliusreædificabuntur. " Hæsitat in tanto discrimine Præsul auxius, ignoratquid jubeat divinæ dispositioni competentius: nescit quid debeat magisvelle vel eligere salubrius. Tandem prudentum consultu præcepit ignemimmitti, et civitatem concremari, ut ab anathematizatis proditoribusliberaretur, et legitimis habitatoribus restitueretur. Radulfus igiturde Guader a parte Aquilonali primus ignem injecit, et effrenis flammaper urbem statim volavit, et omnia (tempos enim autumni siccum erat)corripuit. Tunc combusta est basilica sancti Salvatoris, quamSanctimoniales incolebant, et celebris aula gloriosæ virginis et matrisMariæ, cui Præsul et Clerus serviebant, ubi Pontificalem Curiamparochiani frequentabant. Rex, et cuncti Optimales sui Episcopo proEcclesiarum combustione vadimonium supplicitèr dederunt, et uberesimpensas de opibus suis ad restaurationem earum palam spoponderunt. "]

[Footnote 37: _Duchesne, Scriptores Normanni_, p. 309. ]

[Footnote 38: _Gallia Christiana_, XI. P. 606. ]

[Footnote 39: From the manner in, which Ducarel speaks of these statues, (_Anglo-Norman Antiquities_, p. 85. ) he leaves it to be understood, thatthey were in existence in his time; but it is far from certain that thiswas the case; for the whole of his account of them is no more than atranslation from the following passage in Le Brasseur's _Histoire duComté d'Evreux_, p. 11. --"Le Diocèse d'Evreux a été si favorisé desgrâces de Dieu, qu'on ne voit presqu'aucun temps où l'Hérésie y aitpénétré, même lorsque les Protestans inondoient et corrompoient toute laFrance, et particulierement la Normandie. On ne peut pas cependantdesavoüer qu'il y a eu de temps en temps, quelques personnes qui se sontlivrées à l'erreur; et l'on peut remarquer quatre Statuës attachées àdeux piliers au dehors du chancel de l'Eglise Cathédrale du côté duCimetiere, dont trois représentent trois Chanoines, la tête couverte deleurs Aumuces selon la coûtume de ce temps-là, et une quatrième quireprésente un Chanoine à un pilier plus éloigné, la tête nuë, tenant samain sur le coeur comme un signe de son repentir; parce que la traditiondit, qu'aïant été atteint et convaincu du crime d'hérésie, le Chapitrel'avoit interdit des fonctions de son Bénéfice; mais qu'aïant ensuiteabjuré son erreur, le même Chapitre le rétablit dans tous ses droits, honneurs, et privileges: cependant il fut ordonné qu'en mémoire del'égarement et de la pénitence de ce Chanoine, ces Statuës demeureroientattachées aux piliers de leur Eglise, lorsqu'elle fût rébâtie desdeniers de Henry I. Roy d'Angleterre, par les soins d'Audoenus Evêqued'Evreux. "]

[Footnote 40: This was not the first, nor the only, contest, which wasfought by Taurinus with Satan. Their struggles began at the moment ofthe saint's coming to Evreux, and did not even terminate when his lifewas ended. But the devil was, by the power of his adversary, brought tosuch a helpless state, that, though he continued to haunt the city, where the people knew him by the name of _Gobelinus_, he was unable toinjure any one. --All this is seriously related by Ordericus Vitalis, (p. 555. ) from whom I extract the following passage, in illustration of whatEvreux was supposed to owe to its first bishop. --"Grassante secundâpersecutione, quæ sub Domitiano in Christianos furuit, DionysiusParisiensis Episcopus Taurinum filiolum suum jam quadragenarium, Præsulem ordinavit; et (vaticinatis pluribus quæ passurus erat)Ebroicensibus in nomine Domini direxit. Viro Dei ad portas civitatisappropinquanti, dæmon in tribus figmentis se opposuit: scilicet inspecie ursi, et leonis, et bubali terrere athletam Christi voluit. Sedille fortiter, ut inexpugnabilis murus, in fide perstitit, et coeptumiter peregit, hospitiumque in domo Lucii suscepit. Tertia die, dumTaurinus ibidem populo prædicaret, et dulcedo fidei novis auditoribusmultùm placeret, dolens diabolus Eufrasiam Lucii filiam vexare coepit, et in ignem jecit. Quæ statim mortua est; sed paulò pòst, orante Taurinoac jubente ut resurgeret, in nomine Domini resuscitata est. Nullum in eaadustionis signum apparuit. Omnes igitur hoc miraculum videntes subitòterriti sunt, et obstupescentes in Dominum Jesum Christum crediderunt. In illa die cxx. Homines baptizati sunt. Octo cæci illuminati, etquatuor multi sanati, aliique plures ex diversis infirmitatibus innomine Domini sunt curati. "]

[Footnote 41: _Masson de St. Amand, Essais Historiques sur Evreux_, I. P. 77. ]

[Footnote 42: _Duchesne, Scriptores Normanni_, p. 279. ]

[Footnote 43: For this observation, as well as for several otherstouching Evreux and Pont-Audemer, I have to express my acknowledgmentsto Mr. Cotman's memoranda. ]

[Footnote 44: _Le Brasseur, Histoire du Comté d'Evreux_, p. 4. ]

[Footnote 45: _Duchesne, Scriptores Normanni_, p. 555. ]

[Footnote 46: _Goube, Histoire du Duché de Normandie_, III. P. 223. ]

LETTER XIX. 

VICINITY OF EVREUX--CHÂTEAU DE NAVARRE--COCHEREL--PONT-AUDEMER--MONTFORT-SUR-RISLE--HARFLEUR--BOURG-ACHARD--FRENCH WEDDING. 

(_Bourg-Achard, July_, 1818. )

Evreux is seldom visited by the English; and none of our numerousabsentees have thought fit to settle here, though the other parts ofNormandy are filled with families who are suffering under the sentenceof self-banishment. It is rather surprising, that this town has notobtained its share of English settlers: the air is good, provisions arecheap, and society is agreeable. Those, too, if such there be, who areattracted by historical reminiscences, will find themselves onhistorical ground. 

The premier viscount of the British parliament derives his name fromEvreux; though, owing to a slight alteration in spelling and to ourpeculiar pronunciation, it has now become so completely anglicised, thatfew persons, without reflection, would recognize a descendant of theComtes d'Evreux, in Henry Devereux, Viscount of Hereford. The Normanorigin of this family is admitted by the genealogists and heralds, bothof France and of England; and the fate of the Earl of Essex isinvariably introduced in the works of those authors, who have writtenupon Evreux or its honors. 

It would have been unpardonable to have quitted Evreux, without ramblingto the Château de Navarre, which is not more than a mile and halfdistant from the town. --This Château, whose name recals an interestingperiod in the history of the earldom, was originally a royal residence. It was erected in the middle of the fourteenth century by Jane ofFrance, who, with a very pardonable vanity, directed her new palace tobe called Navarre, that her Norman subjects might never forget that shewas herself a queen, and that she had brought a kingdom as a marriageportion to her husband. Her son, Charles the Bad, a prince whoseturbulent and evil disposition caused so much misfortune to France, wasborn here. Happy too had it been for him, had he here closed his eyesbefore he entered upon the wider theatre of the world! During his earlydays passed at Navarre, he is said to have shewn an ingenuousness ofdisposition and some traits of generosity, which gave rise to hopes thatwere miserably falsified by his future life. --The present edifice, however, a modern French Château, retains nothing more than the name ofthe structure which was built by the queen, and which was levelled withthe ground, in the year 1686, by the Duc de Bouillon, the lord of thecountry, who erected the present mansion. His descendants resided heretill the revolution, at which time they emigrated, and the estate becamenational property. It remained for a considerable period unoccupied, andwas at last granted to Joséphine, by her imperial husband. At present, the domain belongs to her son, Prince Eugene, by whom the house haslately been stripped of its furniture. Many of the fine trees in thepark have also been cut down, and the whole appears neglected anddesolate. His mother did not like Navarre: he himself never saw it: thequeen of Holland alone used occasionally to reside here. --The principalbeauty of the place lies in its woods; and these we saw to the greatestadvantage. It was impossible for earth or sky to look more lovely. --Thehouse is of stone, with large windows; and an ill-shaped dome rises inthe centre. The height of the building is somewhat greater than itswidth, which makes it appear top-heavy; and every thing about it isformal; but the noble avenue, the terrace-steps, great lanthorns, irongates, and sheets of water on either side of the approach, are upon anextensive scale, and in a fine baronial style. --Yet, still they areinferior to the accompaniments of the same nature which are found aboutmany noblemen's residences in England. --The hall, which is spacious, hasa striking effect, being open to the dome. Its sides are painted withmilitary trophies, and with the warlike instruments of the four quartersof the globe. We saw nothing else in the house worthy of notice. It ismerely a collection of apartments of moderate size; and, empty and dirtyas they were, they appeared to great disadvantage. In the midst of thesolitude of desolation, some ordinary portraits of the Bouillon familystill remain upon the walls, as if in mockery of departed greatness. 

We were unable to direct our course to Cocherel, a village about sixteenmiles distant, on the road to Vernon, celebrated as the spot where abattle was fought, in the fourteenth century, between the troops ofNavarre, and those of France, commanded by Du Guesclin. --I notice thisplace, because it is possible that, if excavations were made there, those antiquaries who delight in relics of the remotest age of Europeanhistory, might win many prizes. A tomb of great curiosity was discoveredin the year 1685; and celts, and stone hatchets, and other implements, belonging, as it is presumed, to the original inhabitants of thecountry, have been found beneath the soil. Many of these are describedand figured by the Abbé de Cocherel, in a paper full of curiouserudition, subjoined to Le Brasseur's _History of Evreux_. The hatchetsresembled those frequently dug up in England; but they were moreperfect, inasmuch as some of them were fastened in deers' horns, and hadhandles attached to them; thus clearly indicating the manner in whichthey were used. --The place of burial differed, I believe, in itsinternal arrangement from any sepulchral monument, whether Cromlech, Carnedd, or Barrow, that has been opened in our own country. Three sidesof it were rudely faced with large stones: within were contained abouttwenty skeletons, lying in a row, close to each other, north and south, their arms pressed to their sides. The head of each individual rested ona stone, fashioned with care, but to no certain pattern. Some werefusiform, others wedge-shaped, and others irregularly oblong. Ingeneral, the stones did not appear to be the production of the country. One was oriental jade, another German agate. In the tomb were also a fewcinerary urns; whence it appears that the people, by whom it wasconstructed, were of a nation that was at once in the habit of burning, and of interring, their dead. From these facts, the Abbé finds room formuch ingenious conjecture; and, after discussing the relativeprobabilities of the sepulchre having been a burying-place of the Gauls, the Jews, the Druids, the Normans, or the Huns, he decides, though withsome hesitation, in favor of the last of these opinions. 

From Evreux we went by Brionne to Pont-Audemer: at first the road isdirected through an open country, without beauty or interest; but theprospect improved upon us when we joined the rapid sparkling _Risle_, which waters a valley of great richness, bounded on either side bywooded hills. --Of Brionne itself I shall soon have a better opportunityof speaking; as we purpose stopping there on our way to Caen. 

A few miles before Brionne, we passed Harcourt, the ancient barony ofthe noble family still flourishing in England, and existing in France. It is a small country town, remarkable only for some remains of acastle[47], built by Robert de Harcourt, fifth in descent from Bernardthe Dane, chief counsellor, and second in command to Rollo. The blood ofthe Dane is in the present earl of Harcourt: he traces his lineage in adirect line from Robert, the builder of the castle, who accompanied theConqueror into England, and fell in battle by his side. 

Pont-Audemer is a small, neat, country town, situated upon the Risle, which here, within ten miles of its junction with the Seine, is enlargedinto a river of considerable magnitude. But its channel, in theimmediate vicinity of the town, divides into several small streams; andthus it loses much of its dignity, though the change is highlyadvantageous to picturesque beauty, and to the conveniences of trade. Mills stand on some of these streams, but most of them are applied tothe purposes of tanning; for leather is the staple manufacture of theplace, and the hides prepared at Pont-Audemer are thought to be the bestin France. 

From Brionne the valley of the Risle preserves a width of about a mile, or a mile and half: at Pont-Audemer it becomes somewhat narrower, andthe town stretches immediately across it, instead of being built alongthe banks of the river. --The inhabitants are thus enabled to availthemselves of the different streams which intersect it. 

Tradition refers the origin, as well as the name of Pont-Audemer, to achief, called Aldemar or Odomar, who ruled over a portion of Gaul in thefifth century, and who built a bridge here. --These legendary heroesabound in topography, but it is scarcely worth while to discuss theirexistence. In Norman times Pont-Audemer was a military station. Thenobility of the province, always turbulent, but never more so thanduring the reign of Henry Ist, had availed themselves of the opportunityafforded by the absence of the monarch, and by his domestic misfortunes, to take up arms in the cause of the son of Robert. Henry landed at themouth of the Seine, and it was at Pont-Audemer that the first conflicttook place between him and his rebellious subjects. The latter weredefeated, and the fortress immediately surrendered; but, in the earlypart of the fourteenth century, it appears to have been of greaterstrength: it had been ceded by King John of France to the Count ofEvreux, and it resisted all the efforts of its former lord during asiege of six weeks, at the end of which time his generals were obligedto retire, with the loss of their military engines and artillery. Thissiege is memorable in history, as the first in which it is known thatcannon were employed in France. --Pont-Audemer, still in possession ofthe kings of Navarre, withstood a second siege, towards the conclusionof the same century, but with less good fortune than before. It wastaken by the constable Du Guesclin, and, according to Froissart[48], "the castle was razed to the ground, though it had cost large sums toerect; and the walls and towers of the town were destroyed. "

St. Ouen, the principal church in the place, is a poor edifice. Itbears, however, some tokens of remote age: such are the circular archesin the choir, and a curious capital, on which are represented twofigures in combat, of rude sculpture. --A second church, that of NotreDame des Prés, now turned into a tan-house, exhibits an architecturalfeature which is altogether novel. Over the great entrance, it has astring-course, apparently intended to represent a corbel-table, thoughit does not support any superior member; and the intermediate spacesbetween the corbels, instead of being left blank, as usual, are filledwith sculptured stones, which project considerably, though less than thecorbels with which they alternate. There is something of the same kind, but by no means equally remarkable, over the arcades above the westdoor-way of Castle-Acre Priory[49]. Neither Mr. Cotman's memory, nor myown, will furnish another example. --The church of Notre Dame des Prés isof the period when the pointed style was beginning to be employed. Theexterior is considerably injured: to the interior we could not obtainadmission. 

The suburbs of Pont-Audemer furnish another church dedicated to St. Germain, which would have been an excellent subject for both pen andpencil, had it undergone less alteration. The short, thick, square, central tower has, on each side, a row of four windows, of nearly theearliest pointed style; many of the windows of the body of the churchhave semi-circular heads; the corbels which extend in a line round thenave and transepts are strangely grotesque; and, on the north side ofthe eastern extremity, is a semi-circular chapel, as at St. Georges. --The inside is dark and gloomy, the floor unpaved, and everything in and about it in a state of utter neglect, except some dozensaints, all in the gayest attire, and covered with artificial flowers. The capitals of the columns are in the true Norman style. Those at St. Georges are scarcely more fantastic, or more monstrous. --Between two ofthe arches of the choir, on the south side of this church, is the effigyof a man in his robes, coifed with a close cap, lying on an altar-tomb. The figure is much mutilated; but the style of the canopy-work over thehead indicates that it is not of great antiquity. The feet of the statuerest upon a dog, who is busily occupied in gnawing a marrow-bone. --Dogsat the base of monumental effigies are common, and they have beenconsidered as symbols of fidelity and honor; but surely the same is notintended to be typified by a dog thus employed; and it is not likelythat his being so is a mere caprice of the sculptor's. --There is noinscription upon the monument; nor could we learn whom it is intended tocommemorate. 

At but a short distance from Pont-Audemer, higher up the Risle, lies theyet smaller town of Montfort, near which are still to be traced, theruins of a castle, [50] memorable for the thirty days' siege, which itsupported from the army of Henry Ist, in 1122; and dismantled by CharlesVth, at the same time that he razed the fortifications of Pont-Audemer. The Baron of Montfort yet ranks in our peerage; though I am not awarethat the nobleman, who at present bears the title, boasts a descent fromany part of the family of _Hugh with a beard_, the owner of Montfort atthe time of the conquest, and one of the Conqueror's attendants at thebattle of Hastings. 

From Pont-Audemer we proceeded to Honfleur: it was market-day at theplace which we had quitted, and the throng of persons who passed us onthe road, gave great life and variety to the scene. There was scarcelyan individual from whom we did not receive a friendly smile or nod, accompanied by a _bon jour_; for the practice obtains commonly inFrance, among the peasants, of saluting those whom they consider theirsuperiors. Almost all that were going to market, whether male or female, were mounted on horses or asses; and their fruit, vegetables, butchers'meat, live fowls, and live sheep, were indiscriminately carried in thesame way. 

About a league before we arrived at Honfleur, a distant view of theeastern banks of the river opened upon us from the summit of a hill, andwe felt, or fancied that we felt, "the air freshened from the wave. " Aswe descended, the ample Seine, here not less than nine miles in width, suddenly displayed itself, and we had not gone far before we came insight of Honfleur. The mist occasioned by the intense heat, prevented usfrom seeing distinctly the opposite towns of Havre and Harfleur: wecould only just discern the spire of the latter, and the long projectingline of the piers and fortifications of Havre. The great river rollsmajestically into the British Channel between these two points, andforms the bay of Honfleur. About four miles higher up the stream whereit narrows, the promontories of Quilleboeuf and of Tancarville close theprospect. --Honfleur itself is finely situated: valleys, full of meadowsof the liveliest green, open to the Seine in the immediate vicinity ofthe town; and the hills with which it is backed are beautifully clothedwith foliage to the very edge of the water. The trees, far from beingstunted and leafless, as on the eastern coast of England, appear as ifthey were indebted to their situation for a verdure of unusualluxuriancy. A similar line of hills borders the Seine on either side, asfar as the eye can reach. 

It was unfortunate for us, that we entered the town at low water, whenthe empty harbor and slimy river could scarcely fail to prepossess usunfavorably. The quays are faced with stone, and the two basins are fineworks, and well adapted for commerce. This part of Honfleur reminded usof Dieppe; but the houses, though equally varied in form and materials, are not equally handsome. --Still less so are the churches; and apicturesque castle is wholly wanting. --In the principal object of myjourney to Honfleur, my expectations were completely frustrated. I hadbeen told at Rouen, that I should here find a very ancient woodenchurch, and our imagination had pictured to us one equally remarkableas that of Greensted, in Essex, and probably constructed in the samemanner, of massy trunks of trees. With the usual anticipation of anantiquary, I imagined that I should discover a parallel to that mostsingular building; which, as every body knows, is one of the greatestarchitectural curiosities in England. But, alas! I was sadlydisappointed. The wooden church of Honfleur, so old in the report of myinformant, is merely a thing of yesterday, certainly not above twohundred and fifty years of age; and, though it is undeniably of wood, within and without, the walls are made, as in most of the houses in thetown, of a timber frame filled with clay. There is another church inHonfleur, but it was equally without interest. Thus baffled, we walkedto the heights above the town: at the top of the cliff was a crowd ofpeople, some of them engaged in devotion near a large wooden crucifix, others enjoying themselves at different games, or sitting upon the neatstone benches, which are scattered plentifully about the walks in thischarming situation. The neighboring little chapel of Notre Dame de Graceis regarded as a building of great sanctity, and is especially resortedto by sailors, a class of people who are superstitious, all the worldover. It abounds with their votive tablets. From the roof and walls

 "Pendono intorno in lungo ordine i voti, Che vi portaro i creduli divoti. "

Among the pictures, we counted nineteen, commemorative of escape fromshipwreck, all of them painted after precisely the same pattern: astormy sea, a vessel in distress, and the Virgin holding the infantSavior in her arms, appearing through a black cloud in the corner, --Inthe Catholic ritual, the holy Virgin, is termed _Maris Stella_, and sheis κατ' εξοχην [English. Not in Original: pre-eminently, especially, above all] the protectress of Normandy. 

Honfleur is still a fortified town; but it does not appear a place ofmuch strength, nor is it important in any point of view. Its trade isinconsiderable, and its population does not amount to nine thousandinhabitants. But in the year 1450, while in the hands of our countrymen, it sustained a siege of a month's duration from the king of France; and, in the following century, it had the distinction, attended with butlittle honor, of being the last place in the kingdom that held out forthe league. 

From Honfleur we would fain have returned by Sanson-sur-Risle andFoullebec, at both which villages M. Le Prevost had led us to expectcurious churches; but our postillion assured us that the roads werewholly impassable. We were therefore compelled to allow Mr. Cotman tovisit them alone, while we retraced a portion of our steps through thevalley of the Risle, and then took an eastern direction to Bourg-Achardin our way to Rouen. 

Bourg-Achard was the seat of an abbey, built by the monks of Falaise, in1143: it was originally dedicated to St. Lô; but St. Eustatius, thefavorite saint of this part of the country, afterwards became itspatron. Before the revolution, his skull was preserved in the sacristyof the convent, enchased in a bust of silver gilt[51]; and even now, when the relic has been consigned to its kindred dust, and the shrine tothe furnace, and the abbey has been levelled with the ground, thereremains in the parochial church a fragment of sculpture, which evidentlyrepresented the miracle that led to Eustatius' conversion. --The knight, indeed, is gone, and the cross has disappeared from between the horns ofthe stag; but the horse and the deer, are left, and their positionindicates the legend. --The church of Bourg-Achard has been materiallyinjured. The whole of the building, from the transept westward, has beentaken down; but it deserves a visit, if only as retaining a _bénitier_of ancient form and workmanship, and a leaden font. Of the latter, Isend you a drawing. Leaden fonts are of very rare occurrence inEngland[52], and I never saw or heard of another such in France: indeed, a baptismal font of any kind is seldom to be seen in a French church, and the vessels used for containing the holy water, are in most casesnothing more than small basins in the form of escalop shells, affixed tothe wall, or to some pillar near the entrance. --It is possible thatthe fonts were removed and sold during the revolution, as they were inour own country, by the ordinance of the houses of parliament, after thedeposition of Charles Ist; but this is a mere conjecture on my own part. It is also possible that they may be kept in the sacristy, where I havecertainly seen them in some cases. In earlier times, they not onlyexisted in every church, but were looked upon with superstitiousreverence. They are frequently mentioned in the decrees ofecclesiastical councils; some of which provide for keeping them cleanand locked; others for consigning the keys of them to proper officers;others direct that they should never be without water; and others thatnothing profane should be laid upon them[53]. 

[Illustration: Leaden Font at Bourg-Achard]

As we were at breakfast this morning, a procession, attended by a greatthrong, passed our windows, and we were invited by our landlady to go tothe church and see the wedding of two of the principal persons of theparish, We accepted the proposal; and, though the same ceremony has beenwitnessed by thousands of Englishmen, yet I doubt whether it has beendescribed by any one. --The bride was a girl of very interestingappearance, dressed wholly in white: even her shoes were white, and abouquet of white roses, jessamine, and orange-flowers, was placed in herbosom. --The mayor of the town conducted her to the altar. Previously tothe commencement of the service, the priest stated aloud that the formsrequired by law, for what is termed the civil marriage, had beencompleted. It was highly necessary that he should do so; for, accordingto the present code, a minister of any persuasion, who proceeds to thereligious ceremonies of marriage before the parties have been married bythe magistrate, is subject to very heavy penalties, to imprisonment, andto transportation. Indeed, going to church at all for the purpose ofmarriage, is quite a work of supererogation, and may be omitted or not, just as the parties please; the law requiring no other proof of amarriage, beyond the certificate recorded in the municipal registry. After this most important preliminary, the priest exhorted every onepresent, under pain of excommunication, to declare if they knew of anyimpediment: this, however, was merely done for the purpose of keeping upthe dignity of the church, for the knot was already tied as fast as itever could be. He then read a discourse upon the sanctity of themarriage compact, and the excellence of the wedded state among theCatholics, compared to what prevailed formerly among the Jews andHeathens, who degraded it by frequent divorces and licentiousness. Theparties now declared their mutual consent, and his reverence enjoinedeach to be to the other "comme un époux fidèle et de lui tenir fidélitéen toutes choses. "--The ring was presented to the minister by one of theacolytes, upon a gold plate; and, before he directed the bridegroom toplace it upon the finger of the lady, he desired him to observe that itwas a symbol of marriage. --During the whole of the service two otheracolytes were stationed in front of the bride and bridegroom, eachholding in his hands a lighted taper; and near the conclusion, whilethey knelt before the altar, a pall of flowered brocade was stretchedbehind them, as emblematic of their union. Holy water was not forgotten;for, in almost every rite of the Catholic church, the mysticsanctification by water and by fire continually occurs. --The ceremonyended by the priest's receiving the sacrament himself, but withoutadministering it to any other individual present. Having taken it, hekissed the paten which had contained the holy elements, and all theparty did the same: each, too, in succession, put a piece of money intoa cup, to which we also were invited to contribute, for the love of theHoly Virgin. --They entered by the south door, but the great westernportal was thrown open as they left the church; and by that theydeparted. 

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 47: _Masson de St. Amand, Essais Historiques sur Evreux_, I. P. 39. ]

[Footnote 48: _Johnes' Translation_, 8vo, IV. P. 292. ]

[Footnote 49: See _Britten's Architectural Antiquities_, III. T. 2. ]

[Footnote 50: _Goube, Histoire de Normandie_, III. 249. ]

[Footnote 51: _Histoire de la Haute Normandie_, II. P. 319. ]

[Footnote 52: Mr. Gough, (See _Archæologia_, X. P. 187. ) whose attentionhad been much directed to this subject, seems to have known only fourfonts made of lead, in the kingdom;--at Brookland in Kent, Dorchester inOxfordshire, Wareham in Dorsetshire, and Walmsford in Northamptonshire;but there are in all probability many more. We have at least four inNorfolk. He says, "they are supposed to be of high antiquity; and thatat Brookland may have relation to the time of Birinus himself. To whatcircumstance the others are to be referred, or from what other churchbrought, does not appear. "--The leaden fonts which I have seen, have allbeen raised upon a basis of brick or stone, like this at Bourg-Achard, and are all of nearly the same pattern. ]

[Footnote 53: See _Concilia Normannica_, II. Pp. 56, 117, 403, 491, 508, &c]

LETTER XX. 

MOULINEAUX--CASTLE OF ROBERT THE DEVIL--BOURG-THEROUDE--ABBEY OFBEC--BRIONNE. 

(_Brionne, July_, 1818. )

Having accomplished the objects which we had proposed to ourselves inRouen and its vicinity, we set out this morning upon our excursion tothe western parts of the province. Our first stage, to Moulineaux, wasby the same road by which we returned a few days ago from Bourg-Achard. It is a delightful ride, through the valley of the Seine, here of greatwidth, stretching to our left in an uninterrupted course of flat opencountry, but, on our right hand, bordered at no great distance by theridge of steep chalky cliffs which line the bank of the river. The roadappears to have been a work of considerable labor: it is every whereraised, and in some places as high as fifteen feet above the level ofthe fields on either side. --Agriculture in this district is conducted, as about Paris, upon the plan called by the French _la petite culture_:the fields are all divided into narrow strips; so that a piece of notmore than two or three acres, frequently produces eight or ten differentcrops, some of grain, others of culinary vegetables, at the same timethat many of these portions are planted with apple and cherry trees. Theland is all open and uninclosed: not a fence is to be seen; nor do thereeven appear to be any balks or head-marks. Strangers therefore who come, like us, from a country entirely inclosed, cannot refrain from frequentexpressions of surprise how it is that every person here is enabled totell the limits of his own property. 

Moulineaux is a poor village, a mere assemblage of cottages, with mudwalls and thatched roofs. But the church is interesting, thoughdesecrated and verging to ruin. Even now the outside alone is entire. The interior is gutted and in a state of absolute neglect. --The buildingis of the earliest pointed style: its lancet-windows are of the plainestkind, being destitute of side pillars: in some of the windows are stillremains of handsome painted glass. --Either the antiquaries in France aremore honest than in England, or they want taste, or objects of this kinddo not find a ready market. We know too well how many an English church, albeit well guarded by the churchwardens and the parson, has seen itswindows despoiled of every shield, and saint, and motto; and we alsoknow full well, by whom, and for whom, such ravages are committed. InFrance, on the contrary, where painted glass still fills the windows ofsacred buildings, now employed for the meanest purposes, or whollydeserted, no one will even take the trouble of carrying it away; and thestoried panes are left, as derelicts utterly without value. --The eastend of the church at Moulineaux is semi-circular; the roof is of stone, handsomely groined, and the groinings spring from fanciful corbels. Oneither side of the nave, near the choir, is a recess in the wall, carvedwith tabernacle-work, and serving for a piscina. Recesses of this kind, though of frequent occurrence in English churches, do not often appearin France. Still less common are those elaborate screens of carvedtimber, often richly gilt or gorgeously painted, which separate the navefrom the chancel in the churches of many of our smaller villages athome. The only one I ever recollect to have seen in France was atMoulineaux. --I also observed a mutilated pillar, which originallysupported the altar, ornamented with escalop shells and fleurs-de-lys inbold relief. It reminded me of one figured in the _AntiquarianRepertory_, from Harold's chapel, in Battle Abbey[54]. 

Immediately after leaving Moulineaux, the road winds along the base of asteep chalk hill, whose brow is crowned by the remains of the famouscastle of Robert the Devil, the father of Richard Fearnought. Robert theDevil is a mighty hero of romance; but there is some difficulty indiscovering his historical prototype. Could we point out his _gestes_ inthe chronicle, they would hardly outvalue his adventures, as they arerecorded in the nursery tale. Robert haunts this castle, which appearsto have been of great extent, though its ruins are very indistinct. Thewalls on the southern side are rents, and covered with brush-wood; andno architectural feature is discernible. Wide and deep fosses encirclethe site, which is undermined by spacious crypts and subterraneouscaverns. --The fortress is evidently of remote, but uncertain, antiquity:it was dismantled by King John when he abandoned the duchy. Thehistorians of Normandy say that it was re-fortified during the civilwars; and the fact is not destitute of probability, as its position isbold and commanding. 

Bourg-Theroude, our next stage, is one of those places which areindebted to their names alone for the little importance they possess. Atpresent, it is a small assemblage of mean houses, most of them inns; butits Latin appellation, _Burgus Thuroldi_, commemorates no less apersonage than one of the preceptors of William the Conqueror, and hisgrand constable at the time when he effected the conquest ofEngland. --The name of Turold occurs upon the Bayeux tapestry, designating one of the ambassadors dispatched by the Norman Duke to Guy, Earl of Ponthieu; and it is supposed that the Turold there representedwas the grand constable[55]. --The church of Bourg-Theroude, which wascollegiate before the revolution, is at present uninteresting in everypoint of view. 

About half way from this place to Brionne, we came in sight of theremains of the celebrated abbey of Bec, situated a mile and half or twomiles distant to our right, at the extremity of a beautiful valley. Wehad been repeatedly assured that scarcely one stone of this formerlymagnificent building was left upon another; but it would have shewn anunpardonable want of curiosity to have passed so near without visitingit: even to stand upon the spot which such a monastery originallycovered is a privilege not lightly to be foregone:--

 "The pilgrim who journeys all day, To visit some far distant shrine; If he bear but a relic away, Is happy, nor heard to repine. "--

And _happiness_ of this kind would on such an occasion infallibly fallto your lot and to mine. A love for botany or for antiquities wouldequally furnish _relics_ on a similar _pilgrimage_. 

As usual, the accounts which we had received proved incorrect. Thegreater part of the conventual edifice still exists, but it has no kindof architectural value. Some detached portions, whose original use itwould be difficult now to conjecture, appear, from their wide pointedwindows, to be of the fifteenth century. The other buildings wereprobably erected within the last fifty years. --The part inhabited by themonks is at this time principally employed as a cotton-mill; and, wereit in England, nobody would suspect that it ever had any otherdestination. Of the church, the tower[56] only is in existence. I findno account of its date; though authors have been unusually profuse intheir details of all particulars relating to this monastery. I aminclined to refer it to the beginning of the seventeenth century, inwhich case it was built shortly after the destruction of the nave. Itscharacter is simple, solid elegance. Its ornaments are few, but they areselected and disposed with judgment. Each corner is flanked by twobuttresses, which unite at top, and there terminate in a crocketedpinnacle. The buttresses are also ornamented with tabernacles of saintsat different heights; and one of the tabernacles upon each buttress, about mid-way up the tower, still retains a statue as large as life, ofapparently good workmanship. They were fortunately too high for thedemocrats to destroy with ease. The height of the tower is one hundredand fifty feet, as I found by the staircase of two hundred steps, whichremains uninjured, in a circular turret attached to the south side. Thetermination of this turret is the most singular part of the structure:it is surmounted by a cap, considerably higher than the pinnacles, andcomposed, like a bee-hive, of a number of circles, each smaller than theone below it. A few ruined arches of the east end of the church, and ofone of the side chapels are also existing. The rest is levelled with theground, and has probably been in a great measure destroyed lately; forpiles of wrought stones are heaped up on all sides. 

If historical recollections or architectural beauty could have proved aprotection in the days of revolution, the church of Bec had undoubtedlystood. Ducarel, who saw it in its perfection, says it was one of thefinest gothic structures in France; and his account of it, though onlyan abridgement of that given by Du Plessis, in his _History of UpperNormandy_, is curious and valuable. --Mr. Gough states the annual incomeof the abbey at the period of the revolution, to have exceeded twentythousand crowns. Its patronage was most extensive: the monks presentedto one hundred and sixty advowsons, two of them in the metropolis; andthirty other ecclesiastical benefices, as well priories as chapels, werein their gift[57]. --Its possessions, as we may collect from the variouscharters and donations, might have led us to expect a larger revenue. The estates belonging to the monastery in England, prior to thereformation, were both numerous and valuable. 

Sammarthanus, author of the _Gallia Christiana_, says, in speaking ofBec, that, whether considered as to religion or literature, there wasnot, in the eleventh century, a more celebrated convent throughout thewhole of Neustria. The founder of the abbey was Hellouin, sometimescalled Herluin, a nobleman, descended by the mother's side from theCounts of Flanders, but he himself was a native of the territory ofBrionne, and educated in the castle of Gislebert, earl of that district. Hellouin determined, at an early age, to withdraw himself from the courtand from the world: it seems he was displeased or affronted by theconduct of the earl; and we may collect from the chroniclers, that itwas not a very easy task in those times for an individual of rank, intent upon monastic seclusion, to carry his purpose into effect, andthat still greater difficulties were to be encountered if he wished toput his property into mortmain. Hellouin was obliged to counterfeitmadness, and at last to come to a very painful explanation with hisliege lord; and, when he finally succeeded in obtaining the permissionhe craved, his establishment was so poor, that he was compelled to takeupon himself the office of abbot, from an inability to find any otherperson who would accept it. --The monkish historians lavish their praisesupon Hellouin. They assign to him every virtue under heaven; but theyparticularly laud him for his humility and industry: all day long heworked as a laborer in the building of his convent, whilst the night waspassed in committing the psalter to memory. At this period of his life, a curious anecdote is recorded of him: curious in itself, asillustrative of the character of the man; and particularly curious, inbeing quoted as matter of commendation, and thus serving to illustratethe feelings of a great body of the community. --His mother, who sharedin the pious disposition of her son, had attached herself to the conventto assist in the menial offices; and one day, while she was thusengaged, the building caught fire, and she perished in the flames; uponwhich, Hellouin, though bathed in tears, lifted up his hands to heaven, and gave thanks to God that his parent had been burned to death in themidst of an occupation of humility and piety!

During the life of Hellouin, the abbey was twice levelled with theground: on each occasion it rose more splendid from its ruins, and oneach the site was changed, till at length it was fixed upon the spotfrom which its ruins are now vanishing. The whole of Normandy wouldscarcely furnish a more desirable situation. Under the prelacy ofHellouin, Bec increased rapidly in celebrity, and consequently in thenumber of its inmates: it was principally indebted for this increase toan accidental circumstance. Lanfranc, a native of Pavia, a lawyer inItaly, but a monk in France, after having visited various monasteries, and distinguished himself by defending the doctrine of the realpresence, then impugned by Berengarius, established himself here in theyear 1042, and immediately opened a school, which, to judge from thelanguage of Ordericus Vitalis[58], seems to have been the first everknown in Normandy. Scholars from France, from England, and fromFlanders, hastened to place themselves under his care; his fame, according to William of Malmesbury, went forth into the outer parts ofthe earth; and Bec, under his auspices, became a most celebrated resortof literature. To borrow the more copious account given by William ofJumieges--"report quickly spread the glory of Bec, and of its abbot, Hellouin, through every land. The clergy, the sons of dukes, the mosteminent schoolmasters, the most powerful of the laity, and the nobility, all hastened hither. Many, actuated by love for Lanfranc, gave theirlands to the convent. The abbey was enriched with ornaments, withpossessions, and with noble inmates. Religion and learning increased;property of all kinds abounded; and the monks, who but a few yearsbefore, could scarcely command sufficient ground for the site of theirown building, now saw their estates extend for many miles in alengthening line. "--Promotion followed the fame of Lanfranc, who soonbecame abbot of the royal monastery of St. Stephen, at Caen, and thencewas translated to the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury. 

It was the rare good fortune of Bec, that the abbey furnished twosuccessive metropolitans to the English church, both of them selectedfor their erudition, Lanfranc and Anselm. It is not a little remarkable, too, that both were Italians. Lanfranc, whilst archbishop of Canterbury, presided in the year 1077, at the dedication of the third church builtat Bec. We may judge how far the abbey had at that time increased inconsequence; for five bishops, one of them brother to the Conqueror, honored the ceremony with their presence; and the nobles and ladies ofFrance, Normandy, and England crowded to the spot, to refresh theirbodies by the pleasures of the festival, and their souls by endowmentsto the convent. 

In the fifteenth century, when our Henry Vth brought his victoriousarmies into France, the monks of Bec were reduced to a painfulalternative. It was apprehended by the French monarch, that themonastery might be converted into a dépôt by the English; and they werecommanded either to demolish the church, or to fortify it against theinvaders. They naturally regarded the latter as the lesser evil; and theconsequence was, that the abbey was scarcely put into a state ofdefence, when it was attacked by the enemy, and, after sustaining asiege for a month, was obliged to surrender. A great part of themonastic buildings were levelled to the ground; and the fortificationswhich had been so strangely affixed to them were also razed: meanwhilethe monks suffered grievously from the contending parties: theirsacristy was plundered; their treasury emptied; and they were themselvesexposed to a variety of personal hardships. At the same time, also, thetomb of the Empress Maud[59], which faced the high altar, was destroyed, after having been stripped of its silver ornaments. 

Considering the number of illustrious persons who were abbots orpatrons of Bec, and who had been elected from it to the superintendanceof other monasteries, the church does not appear to have been rich inmonuments. We read indeed of many individuals who were interred herebelonging to the house of Neubourg, a family distinguished among thebenefactors of the convent; and the records of the abbey speak also ofthe tomb of Richard of St. Leger, Bishop of Evreux; but the Empress wasthe only royal personage who selected this convent as the resting-placefor her remains; and she likewise appears to have been the only eminentone, except Hellouin, the founder, who lay in the chapter-house, under aslab of black marble, with various figures of rude workmanship[60]carved upon it. His epitaph has more merit than the general class ofmonumental inscriptions:--

 "Hunc spectans tumulum, titulo cognosce sepultum; Est via virtutis nôsse quis ipse fuit. Dum quater hic denos ævi venisset ad annos, Quæ fuerant secli sprevit amore Dei. Mutans ergò vices, mundi de milite miles Fit Christi subito, Monachus ex laïco. Hinc sibi, more patrum, socians collegia fratrum, Curâ, quâ decuit, rexit eos, aluit. Quot quantasque vides, hic solus condidit ædes, Non tàm divitiis quàm fidei meritis. Quas puer haud didicit scripturas postea scivit, Doctus ut indoctum vix sequeretur eum. Flentibus hunc nobis tulit inclementia mortis Sextilis quinâ bisque die decimâ. Herluine pater, sic cÅ“lica scandis ovantèr; Credere namque tuis hoc licet ex meritis. "

In number of inmates, extent of possessions, and possibly, inmagnificence of buildings, other Norman monasteries may have excelledBec: none equalled it in the prouder honor of being a seminary foreminent men and especially for those destined to the highest stations inthe church. Lanfranc and Anselm were not the only two of its monks whowere seated on the archiepiscopal throne at Canterbury. Two others, Theobald and Hubert obtained the same dignity in the following century;and Roger, the seventh abbot of Bec, enjoyed the still more enviabledistinction of having been unanimously elected to fill the office ofmetropolitan, but of possessing sufficient firmness of mind to resistthe attractions of wealth, and rank, and power. The sees of Rochester, Beauvais, and Evreux were likewise filled by monks from Bec; and it washere that many monastic establishments, both Norman and foreign, foundtheir pastors. Three of our own most celebrated convents, those ofChester, Ely, and St. Edmund's Bury, received at different epochs theirabbots from Bec; and during the prelacy of Anselm, the supreme pontiffhimself selected a monk of this house as the prior of the distantconvent of the holy Savior at Capua. --The village of Bec, which adjoinsthe abbey, is small and unimportant. 

I was returning to our carriage, when a soldier invited me to walk to apart of the monastic grounds (for they are very extensive) which isappropriated to the purpose of keeping up the true breed of Normanhorses. The French government have several similar establishments: theyconsider the matter as one of national importance; and, as France hasnot yet produced a Duke of Bedford or a Mr. Coke, the state is obligedto undertake what would be much better effected by the energy ofindividuals. --A Norman horse is an excellent draft horse: he is strong, bony, and well proportioned. But the natives are not content with thisqualified praise: they contend that he is equally unrivalled as asaddle-horse, as a hunter, and as a charger. In this part of the countrythe present average price of a hussar's horse is nineteen pounds; of adragoon's thirty-four pounds; and of an officer's eighty pounds. --Theseprices are considered high, but not extravagant. France abounds at thistime in fine horses. The losses occasioned by the revolutionary wars, and more especially by the disastrous Russian campaign, have been morethan compensated by five years of peace, and by the horses that wereleft by the allied troops. An annual supply is also drawn fromMecklenburg and the adjacent countries. Importations of this kind areregarded as indispensable, to prevent a degeneration in the stock. AFrenchman can scarcely be brought to believe it possible; that we inEngland can preserve our fine breed of horses without having recourse tosimilar expedients; and if at last, by dint of repeated asseverations, you succeed in obtaining a reluctant assent, the conversation is almostsure to end in a shrug of the shoulders, accompanied with theremark--"Ah, vous autres Anglais, vous voulez toujours voler de vospropres ailes. "

As we approached Brionne, the face of the country became more uneven;and we passed an extensive tract of uncultivated chalk hills, resemblingthe downs of Wiltshire. --Brionne itself lies in a valley watered by theRisle: the situation is agreeable, and advantageous for trade. Thepresent number of its inhabitants does not amount to two thousand; andthere is no reason to apprehend that the population has materiallydecreased of late years. But in the times of Norman rule, Brionne was atown of more importance: it had then three churches, besides an abbeyand a lazar-house. At present a single church only remains; and this isneither large, nor handsome, nor ancient, nor remarkable in any point ofview. We found in it a monument of the revolution, which I never sawelsewhere, and which I never expected to see at all. The age of reasonwas a sadly irrational age. --The tablet containing the rights and dutiesof man, disposed in two columns, like the tables of the Mosaic law, isstill suffered to exist in the church, though shorn of all itsrepublican dignity, and degraded into the front of a pew. 

On the summit of a hill that overhangs the town, stood formerly thecastle of the Earls of Brionne; and a portion of the building, though itbe but an insignificant fragment, is still left. The part now standingconsists of little more than two sides of the square dungeon, The walls, which are about fifty feet in height, appear crumbling and ragged, asthey have lost the greater part of their original facing. Yet theirthickness, which even now exceeds twelve feet, may enable them to biddefiance for many a century, to "the heat of the sun, and the furiouswinter's rages. "--Nearly the half of one of the sides, which is seventyfeet long, is occupied by three flat Norman buttresses, of very smallprojection. No arched door-way, no window remains; nor any thing, exceptthese buttresses, to give a distinct character to the architecture: thehill is so overgrown with brush-wood, that though traces of foundationare discernible in almost every part of it, no clear idea can be formedof the dimensions or plan of the building. Its importance issufficiently established by its having been the residence of a son orbrother of Richard IInd, Duke of Normandy, on whose account, the town ofBrionne, with the adjacent territory, was raised into an earldom. Historians speak unequivocally of its strength. During the reign ofWilliam the Conqueror, it was regarded as impregnable. This king waslittle accustomed to meet with disappointment or even with resistance;but the castle of Brionne defied his utmost efforts for three successiveyears. Under his less energetic successor, it was taken in a day. Itspossessor, Robert, Earl of Brionne, felt himself so secure within histowers, that he ventured, with only six attendants, to oppose the wholearmy of the Norman Duke; but the besiegers observed that the fortresswas roofed with wood; and a shower of burning missiles compelled thegarrison to surrender at discretion. --The castle was finally dismantledby the orders of Charles Vth. 

Brionne is known in ecclesiastical history as the place where thecouncil of the church was held, by which the tenets of Berengarius werefinally condemned. It appears that the archdeacon of Angers, after somefruitless attempts to make converts among the Norman monks, took thebold resolution of stating his doctrines to the duke in person; and thatthe prince, though scarcely arrived at years of manhood, acted with somuch prudence on the occasion, as to withhold any decisive answer, tillhe had collected the clergy of the duchy. They assembled at Brionne, asa central spot; and here the question was argued at great length, tillBerengarius himself, and a convert, whom he had brought with him, trusting in his eloquence, were so overpowered by the arguments of theiradversaries, that they were obliged to renounce their errors. Thedoctrine of the real presence in the sacrament, was thusincontrovertibly established; and it has from that time remained anundisputed article of faith in the Roman Catholic church. 

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 54: Vol. III. P. 187. --The engraving in the _AntiquarianRepertory_ was made from a drawing in the possession of the late SirWilliam Burrell, Bart. ]

[Footnote 55: The word _Turold_, in the tapestry, stands immediatelyover the head of a dwarf, who is holding a couple of horses; and it hastherefore been inferred by Montfaucon, (_Monumens de la MonarchieFrançaise_, I. P. 378. ) that he is the person thus denominated. But M. Lancelot, in the _Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions_, VI. P. 753, supposes Turold to be the ambassador who is in the act of speaking; andthis seems the more probable conjecture. The same opinion is still moredecidedly maintained by Father Du Plessis, in his _Histoire de la HauteNormandie_, II. P. 342. --"Sur une ancienne tapisserie de l'Eglise deBaieux, que l'on croit avoir été faite par ordre de la Reine Mathildefemme du Conquérant, pour représenter les circonstances principales decette mémorable expédition, on lit distinctement le mot _Turold_ à côtéd'un des Ambassadeurs, que Guillaume avoit envoiez au Comte de Ponthieu;et je ne doute nullement que ce Turold ne soit le même que leConnétable. Le sçavant Auteur des Antiquitez de notre Monarchie croitcependant que ce mot doit se rapporter à un Nain qui tient deux chevauxen bride derriere les Ambassadeurs; et il ajoute que ce Nain devoit êtrefort connu à la Conr du Duc de Normandie. On avoue que si c'est lui eneffet qui doit s'appeller Turold, il devoit tenir aussi à la Cour de sonPrince un rang distingué; sans quoi on n'auroit pas pris la peine de ledésigner par son nom dans la tapisserie. On avoue encore que le nom deTurold est placé là de maniere qu'on peut à la rigueur le donner au Nainaussi bien qu'à l'un des deux Ambassadeurs; et comme le Nain estappliqué à tenir deux chevaux en bride, on pourrait croire enfin quec'est le Connétable, dont les titres de l'Abbaïe de Facan nous ontappris le nom: _Signum Turoldi Constabularii_. Mais le Nain est très-malhabillé, il a son bonnet sur la tête, et tourne le dos au Comte dePonthieu, pendant que les deux Ambassadeurs noblement vêtus regardent cePrince en face, et lui parlent découverts: trois circonstances qui nepeuvent convenir, ni au Connétable du Duc, ni à toute autre personne dedistinction qui auroit tenu compagnie, ou fait cortege auxAmbassadeurs. "]

[Footnote 56: This tower is figured, but very inaccurately, by Gough, inhis _Alien Priories_, I. P. 22. --The cupola which then surmounted it isnow gone; and the cap to the turret, which served as the staircase, hasstrangely changed its shape. ]

[Footnote 57: _Alien Priories_, I. P. 24. ]

[Footnote 58: "Nam antea, sub tempore sex ducum vix ullus Normannorumliberalibus studiis adhæsit; nec doctor inveniebatur, donec provisoromnium, Deus, Normannicis oris Lanfrancum appulit. Fama peritiæ illiusin totâ ubertim innotuit Europâ, unde ad magisterium ejus multiconvenerunt de Franciâ, de Wasconiâ, de Britanniâ, necneFlandriâ. "--_Duchesne, Scriptores Normanni_, p. 519. ]

[Footnote 59: A question always existed, whether the Empress was reallyburied here, or at the abbey of Ste Marie des Prés, at Rouen. Hovedenexpressly says, that she was interred at Rouen: the chronicle of Bec, onthe other hand, is equally positive in the assertion that her body wasbrought to Bec, and entombed with honor before the altar of the Virgin. The same chronicle adds that, in the year 1273, her remains werediscovered before the high altar, sewed up in an ox's hide. --Stillfarther to substantiate their claim, the monks of Bec maintained that, in 1684, upon the occasion of some repairs being done to this altar, thebones of the empress were again found immediately under the lamp (which, in Catholic churches, is kept constantly burning before the holysacrament, ) and that they were deposited once more in the ground in awooden chest, covered with lead. --The Empress was a munificent endowerof monasteries, and was at all times most liberal towards Bec. Williamof Jumieges says, that it would be tedious to enumerate the presents shemade to the abbey, but that the sight of them gave pleasure to thosestrangers who have seen the treasures of the most noble churches. Hisremarks on this matter, and his account of her arguments with herfather, on the subject of her choice of Bec, as a place of herinterment, deserve to be transcribed. --"Transiret illac hospes Græcusaut Arabs, voluptate traheretur eadem. Credimus autem, et credere fasest, æquissimum judicem omnium non solùm in futuro, verumetiam inpræsenti seculo, illi centuplum redditurum, quod seruis suis manu sicutlarga, ita devota gratantèr impendit. Ad remunerationem verò instantistemporis pertinere non dubium est, quòd, miserante Deo, sopita adversavaletudine, sanctitatem refouit, et Monachos suos, Monachos Beccenses, qui præ omnibus, et super omnes pro ipsius sospitate, jugi laboresupplicandi decertando pene defecerant, aura prosperæ valetudinis ejusafflatos omninò redintegravit. --Nec supprimendum illud est silentio, imò, ut ita dicatur, uncialibus literis exaratum, seculo venturotransmittendum; quòd antequam convalesceret postulaverat patrem suum, utpermitteret eam in CÅ“nobio Beccensi humari. Quod Rex primo abnuerat, dicens non esse dignum, ut filia sua, Imperatrix Augusta, quæ semel etiterùm in urbe Romulea, quæ caput est mundi, per manus summi PontificisImperiali diademate processerat insignita, in aliquo Monasterio, licètpercelebri et religione et fama, sepeliretur; sed ad civitatemRotomagensium, quæ metropolis est Normannorum, saltem delata, inEcclesia principali, in qua et majores ejus, Rollonem loquor etWillelmum Longamspatam filium ipsius, qui Neustriam armis subegerunt, positi sunt, ipsa et poneretur. Qua deliberatione Regis percepta, illiper nuncium remandavit, animam suam nunquam fore lætam, nisi composvoluntatis suæ in hac duntaxat parte efficeretur. --O femina mactevirtutis et consilii sanioris, paruipendens pompam secularem in corporisdepositione! Noverat enim salubrius esse animabus defunctorum ibicorpora sua tumulari, ubi frequentiùs et devotiùs supplicationes proipsis Deo offeruntur. Victus itaque pater ipsius Augustæ pietate etprudentia filiæ, qui ceteros et virtute et pietate vincere solitus erat, cessit, et voluntatem, et petitionem ipsius de se sepelienda Becci fiericoncessit. Sed volente Deo ut præfixum est, sanitati integerrimærestituta convaluit. "--_Duchesne, Scriptores Normanni_, p. 305. ]

[Footnote 60: _Histoire de la Haute Normandie_, II. P, 281. ]

LETTER XXI. 

BERNAT--BROGLIE--ORBEC--LISIEUX--CATHEDRAL--ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

(_Lisieux, July_, 1818. )

Instead of pursuing the straight road from Brionne to this city, wedeviated somewhat to the south, by the advice of M. Le Prevost; and wehave not regretted the deviation. 

Bernay was once celebrated for its abbey, founded in the beginning ofthe eleventh century, by Judith, wife of Richard IInd, Duke of Normandy. Some of the monastic buildings are standing, and are now inhabited: theyappear to have been erected but a short time before the revolution, andto have suffered little injury. --But the abbey church, which belonged tothe original structure, is all desolate within, and all defaced without. The interior is divided into two stories, the lower of which is used asa corn market, the upper as a cloth hall. Thus blocked up andencumbered, we may yet discern that it is a noble building: itsdimensions are grand, and in most parts it is a perfect specimen of thesemi-circular style, except the windows and the apsis, which are oflater dates. The pillars in the nave and choir are lofty, but massy: thecapitals of some of them are curiously sculptured. On the lower memberof the entablature of one capital there are still traces of aninscription; but it is so injured by neglect and violence, that we wereunable to decipher a single word. The capital itself is fanciful and notdevoid of elegance. 

[Illustration: Capital]

The convent was placed under the immediate protection of the sovereign, by virtue of an ordinance issued by Philip Augustus[61], in 1280, atwhich time Peter, Count of Alençon, attempted to establish a claim tosome rights affecting the monastery. He alleged a grant from a formermonarch to one of his predecessors, by whom he asserted that the conventhad been founded; and, in support of his claim, he urged its positionwithin the limits of his territory. The abbot and monks resisted: theygave proof that the abbey of Bernay was really founded by the duchess;and therefore the king, after a full and impartial hearing, decidedagainst the count, and declared that the advocation of the monastery wasthenceforth to belong to himself and his successors in the dukedom forever. --Judith died before the convent was entirely built, and the taskof completing it devolved upon her widowed husband, whose charter, confirming the foundation, is still in existence. It begins by a recitalof the pious motives[62] which urged the duchess to the undertaking; itexpressly mentions her death while the building was yet unfinished; and, after detailing the various lands and grants bestowed on the abbey, itconcludes by denouncing the anger of God, and a fine of two hundredpounds weight of gold upon those who disturb the establishment, "thatthey may learn to their confusion that the good deeds of theirancestors, undertaken for the love of God, are not to be undone withimpunity. "

The parochial church at Bernay is uninteresting. The sculptures, however, which adorn the high altar, are relics saved from thedestruction of the abbey of Bec. The Virgin Mary and Joseph arerepresented, contemplating the infant Jesus, who is asleep. The statuesare all of the natural size. We saw many grave-stones from the sameabbey, nine or ten feet long, and covered with monumental figures of theusual description, indented in the stone. These memorials were standingby the side of the church door, not for preservation, but for sale! Andat a small chapel in the burial-ground near the town, we were shewntwelve statues of saints, which likewise came from Bec. They are ofcomparatively modern workmanship, larger than life, and carved in agood, though not a fine, style. In the same chapel is kept the commoncoffin for the interment of all the poor at Bernay. 

The custom of merely putting the bodies of persons of the lower classinto coffins, when they are brought to the burial-ground, and thendepositing them naked in their graves, prevails at present in this partof France as it did formerly in England. --In a place which must be thereceptacle for many that were in easy, and for not a few that were inaffluent, circumstances, it was remarkable that all lay indiscriminatelyside by side, unmarked by any monumental stone, or any sepulchralrecord. --Republican France proscribed distinctions of every description, and those memorials which tended to perpetuate distinctions beyond thelimits of mortal existence, were naturally most unpardonable in the eyesof the apostles of equality. But doctrines of this nature have falleninto disrepute for more than twenty years; and yet the countrychurch-yard remains as naked as when the guillotine would have been thereward of opposition to the tenets of the day. There are few morecomfortless sights, than such a cemetery: it looks as if those by whomit is occupied regarded death as eternal sleep, and thought that thememory of man should terminate with the close of his life. Howeverunlettered the muse, however hackneyed the rhyme, however misappliedthe text, it is consolatory to see them employed. Man dwells with amelancholy satisfaction upon the tomb-stones of his relations andfriends, and not of them alone, but of all whom he has known or of whomhe has heard. --A mere _hic jacet_, with the name and years of him thatsleeps beneath, frequently recals the most lively impressions; and hewho would destroy epitaphs would destroy a great incitement tovirtue. --In other parts of France tomb-stones, or crosses charged withmonumental inscriptions, have re-appeared: at Bernay we saw only two;one of them commemorated a priest of the town; the other was erected atthe public expence, to the memory of three gendarmes, who were killed atthe beginning of the revolution, and before religion was proscribed, inthe suppression of some tumult. 

At less than a mile from Bernay, in the opposite direction, is anotherchurch, called Notre Dame de la Couture, a name borrowed from theproperty on which it stands. We were induced to visit it, by therepresentation of different persons in the town, who had noticed ourarchitectural propensities. Some assured us that "C'est une bellepièce;" others that "C'est une pièce qui n'est pas vilaine;" and allconcurred in praising it, though some only for the reason that "lesprocessions vont tout autour du choeur. "--We found nothing to repay thetrouble of the walk. 

Bernay contains upwards of six thousand inhabitants, the greater part ofwhom are engaged in manufacturing coarse woollen and cotton cloths; andthe manufactures flourish, the goods made being principally for homeconsumption. It is the chief place of the _arrondissement_, and theresidence of a sub-prefect. --Most of the houses are like those at Rouen, merely wooden frames filled with mortar, which, in several instances, isfaced with small bricks and flints, disposed in fanciful patterns: hereand there the beams are carved with a variety of grotesque figures. Thelower story of all those in the high street retires, leaving room for awooden colonnade, which shelters the passenger, though it is entirelydestitute of all architectural beauty. The head-dress of the females atBernay is peculiar, and so very archaic, that our chamber-maid at theinn appeared to deserve a sketch, full as much as any monumental effigy. 

[Illustration: Head-dress of females of Bernay]

On our road between Bernay and Orbec, we stopped at the village ofChambrais, more commonly called Broglie. Before the revolution, itbelonged to the noble family of that name, and it thence derived itsfamiliar appellation. The former residence of the Seigneurs of Broglie, which is still standing, apparently uninjured, upon an adjoiningeminence, has lately been restored to the present Maréchal Duc deBroglie. It looks like an extensive parish work-house, or like any thingrather than a nobleman's seat. --The village church is very ancient andstill curious, though in parts considerably modernized. Unlike mostchurches of great antiquity, it is not built in the form of a cross, butconsists only of a nave and choir, with side-aisles and an apsis, all ona small scale[63]. Towards the north, the nave is separated from theaisle by some of the largest and rudest piers I ever saw. They occupyfull two-thirds of the width of the intervening arches, which are fivefeet wide, elliptic rather than semi-circular, and altogether withoutornament of any kind. Above each of these arches is a narrow, circular-headed window, banded with a cylindrical pilaster; and, in mostinstances, a row of quatrefoils runs between the pillar and the window. The bases of the windows rest upon a string-course that extends roundthe whole building; and on this also, alternating with the windows, restcorbels, from which spring very short, clustered columns, intended tosupport the groinings of the roof. On the south side, the massy piershave been pared into comparatively slender pillars; and the arches arepointed, as are all the lower windows in the church. --The font is ofstone, and ancient: it consists of a round basin, on a quadrangularpedestal, like many in England. --The west front of the church ispeculiar. It is entered by a very wide, low, semi-circular door-way, ofrude architecture, and quite unornamented. Above is a windowcorresponding with those in the clerestory; and, still higher, a row ofinterlaced arches, also semi-circular. A pointed arch, the receptaclefor the statue of a saint, surmounts the whole; but this is, mostprobably, of a later æra, as evidently are the two lateralcompartments, which terminate in slender spires of slate, and areseparated from the central division by Norman buttresses. 

We stopped to dine at Orbec, a small and insignificant country town, formerly an appendage of the houses of Orléans and Navarre, with thetitle of a barony; but, more immediately before the revolution, thedomain of the family of Chaumont. Its church is a most uncouth edifice:the plan is unusual; the entrance is in the north transept, which endsin a square high tower. 

Bernay, Orbec, and Lisieux, communicate only by cross roads, scarcelypassable by a carriage, even at this season of the year. From Orbec toLisieux the road runs by the side of the Touques, which, at Orbec, is nomore than a rivulet. The beautiful green meadows in the valley, appearto repay the great care which is taken in the draining and irrigating ofthem. They are every where intersected by small trenches, in which thewater is confined by means of sluices. --In this part of the country, wepassed several flocks of sheep, the true _moutons du pays_, a largebreed, with red legs and red spotted faces. Their coarse wool serves tomake the ordinary cloth of the country, but is inapplicable to any of afiner texture. To remedy this deficiency, and, if possible, improve thelocal manufactures, some large flocks of Merino sheep were imported atthe time when the French occupied Spain; and they are said to thrive. But it is only of late years that any attempts, have been made of thekind. --The Norman farmer, however careful about the breed of his horses, has altogether neglected his sheep; and this is the more extraordinary, considering that the prosperity of the province is inseparably connectedwith that of the manufactures, and that much of the value of the producemust of necessity depend upon the excellence of the material. His pigsare the very perfection of ugliness: it is no hyperbole to say, that, intheir form, they partake as much of a greyhound as of an Englishpig. --These animals are sure to attract the gaze of our countrymen; andpoor Trotter, in his narrative of the journey of Mr. Fox, expressed hismarvel so often, as to call down upon himself the witty vengeance of oneof our ablest periodical writers. 

Melons are cultivated on a great scale in the country about Lisieux. They grow here in the natural soil, occupying whole fields ofconsiderable size, and apparently without requiring any extraordinarypains. --As we approached the city, the meadows, through which we passed, were mostly occupied as extensive bleaching-grounds. Lisieux is anindustrious manufacturing town. Its ten thousand inhabitants find theirchief employment in the making of the ordinary woollen cloths, worn bythe peasantry of Normandy and of Lower Brittany. Linen and flannels arealso manufactured here, though on a comparatively trifling scale. Fortrade of this description, Lisieux is well situated upon the banks ofthe Touques, a small river, which, almost immediately under the walls ofthe town, receives the waters of a yet smaller stream, the Orbec. Aproject is in agitation, and it is said that it may be carried intoeffect at an inconsiderable expence, of making the Touques navigable toLisieux. At present, it is so no farther than the the little town of thesame name as the river; and even this derives no great advantage fromthe navigation; for, however near its situation is to the mouth of thestream, it is approachable only by vessels of less than one hundred tonsburthen. --It was at Touques that Henry Vth landed in France, in thespring of 1417, when the monarch, flushed with a degree of success asextraordinary as it was unexpected, quitted England with thedetermination of returning no more till the whole kingdom of Franceshould be subjugated. 

The greater part of the houses in Lisieux are built of wood; and many ofthem are old, and most of them are mean; yet, on the whole, it ispicturesque and handsome. Its streets are spacious, and contain severallarge buildings: it is surrounded with pleasant _boulevards_; and itssituation, like that of most other Norman towns, is delightful. --Inconsequence of the revolution, the city has lost the privilege of beingan episcopal see. Even when Napoléon, by virtue of the concordat of1801, restored the Gallican church to its obedience to the the supremePontiff, the see of Lisieux was suppressed. The six suffragan bishops ofancient Normandy were at that time reduced to four, conformably to thenumber of the departments of the province; and Lisieux and Avranchesmerged in the more important dioceses of Bayeux and Coutances. 

The cathedral, now the parish church of St. Peter, derived, however, oneadvantage from the revolution. Another church, dedicated to St. Germain, which had previously stood immediately before it, so as almost to blockup the approach, was taken down, and the west front of the cathedral wasmade to open upon a spacious square. --Solid, simple grandeur are thecharacters of this front, which, notwithstanding some slight anomalies, is, upon the whole, a noble specimen of early pointed architecture. --Itis divided into three equal compartments, the lateral ones rising intoshort square towers of similar height. The southern tower is surmountedby a lofty stone spire, probably of a date posterior to the part below. The spire of the opposite tower fell in 1553, at which time much injurywas done to the building, and particularly to the central door-way, which, even to the present day, has never been repaired. --Contrary tothe usual elevation of French cathedrals, the great window over theprincipal entrance is not circular, but pointed: it is divided intothree compartments by broad mullions, enriched with many mouldings. Thecompartments end in acute pointed arches. --In the north tower, the wholeof the space from the basement story is occupied by only two tiers ofwindows. Each tier contains two windows, extremely narrow, consideringtheir height; and yet, narrow as they are, each of them is parted by acircular mullion or central pillar. You will better understand how highthey must be, when told that, in the southern tower, the space of theupper row is divided into three distinct tiers; and still the windows donot appear disproportionately short. They also are double, and theinterior arches are pointed; but the arches, within which they areplaced, are circular. In this circumstance lies the principal anomaly inthe front of the cathedral; but there is no appearance of any disparityin point of dates; for the circular arches are supported on the sameslender mullions, with rude foliaged capitals, of great projection, which are the most distinguishing characteristics of this style ofarchitecture. 

The date of the building establishes the fact of the pointed arch beingin use, not only as an occasional variation, but in the entireconstruction of churches upon a grand scale, as early as the eleventhcentury. --Sammarthanus tells us that Bishop Herbert, who died in 1049, began to build this church, but did not live to see it completed; andOrdericus Vitalis expressly adds, that Hugh, the successor to Herbert, upon his death-bed, in 1077, while retracing his past life, made use ofthese words:--"Ecclesiam Sancti Petri, principis apostolorum, quamvenerabilis Herbertus, praedecessor meus, coepit, perfeci, studiosèadornavi, honorificè dedicavi, et cultoribus necessariisque divinoservitio vasis aliisque apparatibus copiosè ditavi. "--Language of thiskind appears too explicit to leave room for ambiguity, but an opinionhas still prevailed, founded probably upon the style of thearchitecture, that the cathedral was not finished till near theexpiration of the thirteenth century. Admitting, however, such to be thefact, I do not see how it will materially help those who favor theopinion; for the building is far from being, as commonly happens ingreat churches, a medley of incongruous parts; but it is upon one fixedplan; and, as it was begun, so it was ended. --The exterior of theextremity of the south transept is a still more complete example of theearly pointed style than the west front: this style, which was the mostchaste, and, if I may be allowed to use the expression, the most severeof all, scarcely any where displays itself to greater advantage. Thecentral window is composed of five lancet divisions, supported uponslender pillars: massy buttresses of several splays bound it on eitherside. 

The same character of uniformity extends over the interior of thebuilding. On each side of the nave is a side-aisle; and, beyond theaisles, chapels. The pillars of the nave are cylindrical, solid, andplain. Their bases end with foliage at each corner, and foliage is alsosculptured upon the capitals. The arches which they support areacute. --The triforium is similar in plan to the part below; but thecapitals of the columns are considerably more enriched, with an obviousimitation of the antique model, and every arch encircles two smallerones. In the clerestory the windows are modern. --The transepts appearthe oldest parts of the cathedral, as is not unfrequently the case;whether they were really built before the rest, or that, from being lessused in the services of the church, they were less commonly the objectsof subsequent alterations. They are large; and each of them has an aisleon the eastern side. The architecture of the choir resembles that of thenave, except that the five pillars, which form the apsis, are slenderand the intervening arches more narrow and more acute. --The Lady-Chapel, which is long and narrow, was built towards the middle of the fifteenthcentury, by Peter Cauchon, thirty-sixth bishop of Lisieux, who, for hissteady attachment to the Anglo-Norman cause, was translated to this see, in 1429, when Beauvais, of which he had previously been bishop, fellinto the hands of the French. He was selected, in 1431, for theinvidious office of presiding at the trial of the Maid of Orléans. Repentance followed; and, as an atonement for his unrighteous conduct, according to Ducarel, he erected this chapel, and therein founded a highmass to the Holy Virgin, which was duly sung by the choristers, inorder, as is expressed in his endowment-charter, to expiate the falsejudgment which he pronounced[64]. --The two windows by the side of thealtar in this chapel have been painted of a crimson color, to add to theeffect produced upon entering the church; and, seen as they are, throughthe long perspective of the nave and the distant arches of the choir, the glowing tint is by no means unpleasing. --The central tower is openwithin the church to a considerable height: it is supported by fourarches of unusual boldness, above which runs a row of small arches, ofthe same character as the rest of the building; and, still higher, oneach side, are two lancet-windows. --The vaulting of the roof is veryplain, with bosses slightly pendant and carved. 

[Illustration: Ancient Tomb in the Cathedral at Lisieux]

At the extremity of the north transept is an ancient stone sarcophagus, so built into the wall, that it appears to have been incorporated withthe edifice, at the period when it was raised. The style of themedallions which adorn it will be best understood by consulting theannexed sketch, which is very faithful, though taken under everypossible disadvantage. The transept is now used as a school; and thelittle filthy imps, who are there taught to drawl out their catechisms, continued swarming round the feverish artist, during the progress of thedrawing. The character of the heads, the crowns, and the disposition ofthe foliage, may be considered as indicating that it is a production, atleast of the Carlovingian period, if it be not indeed of earlier date. Ibelieve it is traditionally supposed to have been the tomb of a saint, perhaps St. Candidus; but I am not quite certain whether I am accuratein the recollection of the name. --Above are two armed statues, probablyof the twelfth or thirteenth centuries. These have been engraved byWillemin, in his useful work, _Les Monumens Français_, under the titleof _Two Armed Warriors, in the Nave of the Cathedral at Lisieux_; andboth are there figured as if in all respects perfect, and with a greatmany details which do not exist, and never could have existed, though atthe same time the draftsman has omitted the animals at the feet of thestatues, one of which is yet nearly entire. --This may be reckoned amongthe innumerable proofs of the disregard of accuracy which pervades theworks of French antiquaries. A French designer never scruples tosacrifice accuracy to what he considers effect. --Willemin describes themonuments as being in the nave of the church. I suspect that he hasavailed himself of the unpublished collection of Gaignat, in this andmany other instances. It is evident that originally the statues wererecumbent; but I cannot ascertain when they changed their position. --Noother tombs now exist in the cathedral: the brazen monument raised toHannuier, an Englishman, the marble that commemorated the bishop, William d'Estouteville, founder of the _Collège de Lisieux_ at Paris, that of Peter Cauchon in the Lady-Chapel, and all the rest, weredestroyed during the revolution. 

The diocese of Lisieux was a more modern establishment than any other inNormandy. Even those who are most desirous to honor it by antiquity, donot venture to date its foundation higher than the middle of the sixthcentury. Ordericus Vitalis, a monk of the province, suggests with somereason that we ought not to be hasty in forming our judgment upon thesesubjects; for that, owing to the destruction caused by the Normanpirates and the abominable negligence (_damnabilis negligentia_) ofthose to whom the care of the records of religious houses hadsubsequently been intrusted, many documents had been irretrievablylost. --The see of Lisieux was also peculiarly unfortunate, in havingtwice been in a state of anarchy, and on each occasion for a period ofmore than a century. The series of its prelates is interrupted from theyear 670 to 853, and again from 876 to 990. 

It is rather extraordinary, that no one of the Lexovian bishops was everadmitted by the church into the catalogue of her saints. Many of themwere prelates of unquestionable merit. Freculfus, in the ninth century, was a patron of literature, and himself an author; Hugh of Eu, grandsonof Richard, Duke of Normandy, was one of the most illustriousecclesiastics of his day; Gilbert is described by Ordericus Vitalis ashaving been a man of exemplary charity, and deeply versed in allsciences, though it is admitted that he was somewhat too much addictedto worldly pleasures, and not averse from gambling; and Arnulf, whoseletters and epigrams are preserved among the manuscripts of the Vatican, was a prelate who would have done honor to St. Peter's chair. --All thesewere bishops of Lisieux, during the ages when canonization was notaltogether so unfrequent as in our days. Arnulf particularlydistinguished himself by taking a leading part in the principaltransactions of the times. He accompanied the crusaders to the holy landin 1147; five years subsequently he officiated at the marriage of HenryPlantagenet with Eleanor of Guyenne, the repudiated wife of Louis leJeune, which was performed in his cathedral; he assisted at thecoronation of the same king, by whom he was shortly afterwards employedin a mission of great importance at Rome; and he interposed to settlethe differences between that sovereign and Thomas à Becket; and thoughhe espoused the part of the prelate, he had the good fortune to retainthe favor of the monarch. A life thus eventful ended with the convictionthat all was vanity!--Arnulf, disgusted with sublunary honors, abdicatedhis see and retired to a monastery at Paris, where he died. --One of theimmediate successors of this prelate, William of Rupierre, was theambassador of Richard Coeur-de-Lion to the Pope; and he pleaded thecause of his sovereign against Walter, Archbishop of Rouen, on theoccasion of the differences that originated from the building of ChâteauGaillard. He also resisted the power usurped by King John within thecity and liberties of Lisieux, and finally obtained a sentence from theNorman court of exchequer, whereby the privileges of the dukes of theprovince were restricted to what was called the _Placitum Spathæ_, consisting of the right of billetting soldiers, of coining money, and ofhearing and determining in cases of appeal. The decision is honorableboth to the independence of the court, and the vigor of the prelate. --Intimes nearer to our own, a bishop of Lisieux, Jean Hennuyer, obtained avery different distinction. Authors are strangely at variance whetherthis prelate is to be regarded as the protector or the persecutor of theprotestants. All agree that his church suffered materially from theexcesses of the Huguenots, in 1562, and that, on the following year, hereceived public thanks from the Cardinal of Bourbon, for the firmnesswith which he had opposed them; but the point at issue is, whether, after the massacre of St. Bartholomew, ten years subsequently, hewithstood the sanguinary orders from the court to put the Huguenots tothe sword, or whether he endeavored, as far as lay in his power, toforward the pious labor of extirpating the heretics, but was himselfeffectually resisted by the king's own lieutenant. --Sammarthanus tellsus that the first of these traditions rests solely upon the authorityof Anthony Mallet[65] but it obtained general credence till within thelast three years, when a very well-informed writer, in the _Mercure deFrance_, and subsequently in the article _Hennuyer_ in the_Bibliographie Universelle_, espoused, and has apparently established, the opposite opinion. 

We visited only one other of the churches in Lisieux, that of St. Jacques, a large edifice, in a bad style of pointed architecture, andfull of gaudy altars and ordinary pictures. On the outside of the stallsof the choir towards the north is some curious carving; but I shouldscarcely have been induced to have spoken of the building, were it notfor one of the paintings, which, however uninteresting as a piece ofart, appears to possess some historical value. It represents how thebones of St. Ursinus were miraculously translated to Lisieux, under theauspices of Hugh the Bishop, in 1055; and it professes, and apparentlywith truth, to be a copy, made in the seventeenth century, from anoriginal of great antiquity. The legend relating to the relics of thissaint, is noticed by no author with whom I am acquainted, nor do I findhim mentioned any where in conjunction with the church of Lisieux, orwith any other Norman diocese. --But the extraordinary privilege grantedto the canons of the cathedral, of being Earls of Lisieux, and ofexercising all civil and criminal jurisdiction within the earldom, uponthe vigil and feast-day of St. Ursinus, in every year, is most probablyconnected with the tradition commemorated by the picture. The actualexistence of the privilege, in modern times, we learn from Ducarel; whoalso details at length the curious ceremonies with which the claim of itwas accompanied. The exercise of these rights was confirmed by a compactbetween the canons and the bishop, who, prior to the revolution, unitedthe secular coronet of an earl with the episcopal mitre, and boresupreme sway in all civil and ecclesiastical polity, during theremaining three hundred and sixty-three days in the year. 

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 61: This ordinance is preserved by Du Monstier in the_Neustria Pia_, p. 400. ]

[Footnote 62: The preamble of the charter is as follows:--"Nulli dubiumvideri debet futuros esse haeredes Regni coelestis, et cohaeredes Dei, qui Christum haeredem sui facientes, eorum, quæ in hujus vitaeperegrinatione, quasi a quadam paterna haereditate possident, locis eaDivino cultui deditis mancipare non dubitant. Ad quam rem, nostramfirmat fidem calix aquæ frigidae, qui, juxta Evangelicum verbum, suopollet munere. Non ergò divini muneris gratia privari credendi sunt, quiEcclesiasticis obsequiis, etsi officio non intersunt, rerum tamen suarumadmistratione, Divini officii sustentant ministros: ea spe temporalemsubministrantes alimoniam, ut sic solummodò coelestibus reddantintentos, qui coelestis Regis assiduo constituuntur invigilare obsequio, participes fiant ejusmodi beneficii omnimodò. "--_Neustria Pia_, p. 398. ]

[Footnote 63: The following are the dimensions of the building, inEnglish feet:--

 LENGTH. WIDTH. Nave 54 15 Choir 45 15 North aisle 7 South ditto 15

]

[Footnote 64: _Anglo-Norman Antiquities_, p. 47. ]

[Footnote 65: "Sed ne quid omittam eorum etiam quæ unum Antonium_Mallet_ habent auctorem, anno 1572, cum prorex urbis LexoviensisLivarotus a Carolo rege literas accepisset, quibus qui Lexovii infectierant hæresi occidi omnes jubebantur per eos dies quibus princepscivitas cruore ejus insaniæ hominum commaduerat, easque communicassetepiscopo: Neque sum passurus, inquit præsul, oves meas, et quamquamevagatas Christi caula, meas tamen adhuc, necdum desperatas, gladiotrucidari. Referente contra prorege imperio se mandatoque urgeriprincipis; quod si posthabeatur, omnem esse periculi aleam in caput suummoriendique necessitatem redituram: Et polliceor, inquit episcopus, illate eximendum, postulantique cautionem, præsul consignatum manu suascriptum tradidit, fidem datam confirmans. Qua illico publicataclementia, et ad errantes oves perlata, sollicitudine præsulisvigilantis circa gregis commissi sibi salutem et conservationem, redieresensim in ecclesiæ sinum omnes quotquot Lexovii per ea tempora novumistud fataleque delirium dementarat, nec ultra ibidem diu visi qui arecta fide aberrarent. "--_Gallia Christiana_, p. 802. ]

LETTER XXII. 

SITE AND RUINS OF THE CAPITAL OF THE LEXOVII--HISTORY OFLISIEUX--MONASTERIES OF THE DIOCESE--ORDERICUS VITALIS--M. DUBOIS--LETTER FROM THE PRINCESS BORGHESE. 

(_Lisieux, July_, 1818. )

Lisieux represents one of the most ancient capitals of the primitivetribes of Gaul. The Lexovii, noticed by Julius Cæsar, in his_Commentaries_, and by other authors, who were almost contemporary withthe Roman conqueror, are supposed by modern geographers to have occupieda territory nearly co-extensive with the bishopric of Lisieux; and itmay be remarked, that the bounds of the ancient bishoprics of Francewere usually conterminal with the Roman provinces and prefectures. 

The capital of the Lexovii was called the _Neomagus_ or _NoviomagusLexoviorum_; and no doubt ever was entertained but that the present cityoccupied the same site, till an accidental discovery, in the year 1770, proved the contrary to be the fact. --About that time a _chaussée_ wasformed between Lisieux and Caen; and, in the course of some excavations, which were made under the direction of M. Hubert, the superintendingengineer, for the purpose of procuring stone, the laborers opened thefoundations of some ruined buildings scattered over a field, called _lesTourettes_, about three-quarters of a mile from the former town. Thecharacter of these foundations was of a nature to excite curiosity: theywere clearly the work of a remote age, and various specimens of ancientart were dug up amongst the ruins. The extent of the foundations, whichspread over a space four times as large as the plot occupied by modernLisieux left no doubt but that Danville, and all other geographers, musthave been mistaken with respect to the position assigned by them to theancient Neomagus. M. Hubert drew a plan of the ruins, and accompanied itwith an historical memoir; but unfortunately he was a man little capableof prosecuting such researches; and though M. Mongez, in his report tothe National Institute[66], eulogized the map as exact, and the memoiras excellent, they were both of them extremely faulty. It was reservedfor M. Louis Dubois, of whom I shall have occasion to speak again beforeI close this letter, to repair the omissions and rectify the mistakes ofM. Hubert, and he has done it with unremitting zeal and extraordinarysuccess. The researches of this gentleman, among the remains of NeomagusLexoviorum, have already brought to light a large number of valuablemedals, both in silver and bronze, as well as a considerable quantity offragments of foreign marble, granite, and porphyry, some of themcuriously wrought. The most important of his discoveries has beenrecently made: it is that of a Roman amphitheatre, in a state of greatperfection, the grades being covered only by a thin layer of soil, whicha trifling expence of time and labor will effectually remove. 

Such vestiges prove that Neomagus must have been a place of importance;and, like the other Gallo-Roman cities, it would probably havemaintained its honors under the Franks; but about the middle of thefourth century, the Saxons, swarming from the mouths of the Elbe andWeser, laid waste the coasts of Belgium and of Neustria, and finallyestablished themselves in that portion of northern Gaul called the_Secunda Lugdunensis_, which thence obtained, in the _Notitia Imperii_, the title of the _Littus Saxonicum_. --In the course of these incursions, it is supposed that Neomagus was utterly destroyed by the invaders. Noneof the medals dug up within the precincts of the town, or in itsneighborhood, bear a later date than the reign of Constantine; and, though the city is recorded in the _Itinerary of Antoninus_, no mentionof it is to be found in the curious chart, known by the name of the_Tabula Peutingeriana_, formed under the reign of Theodosius the Great;so that it then appears to have been completely swept away andforgotten. 

The new town of Lisieux and the bishopric most probably arose together, towards the close of the sixth century; and the city, like otherprovincial capitals in Gaul, took the name of the tribe by whom thedistrict had been peopled. It first appears in history under theappellation of _Lexovium_ or _Lexobium_: in the eleventh century, whenOrdericus Vitalis composed his history, it was called _Luxovium_; andsoon after it became _Lixovium_, and _Lizovium_, which, gallicised, naturally passed into _Lyzieulx_, or, as it is now written, _Lisieux_. The city was ravaged by the Normans about the year 877, in the course ofone of their predatory excursions from Bayeux: it again felt theirvengeance early in the following century, when Rollo, after takingBayeux by storm, sacked Lisieux at the head of his army on his way toRouen. The conqueror was not put in possession of the Lexovian territoryby Charles the Simple till 923, eleven years after the rest of Neustriahad been ceded to him. 

United to the duchy, Lisieux enjoyed a short respite from the calamitiesof war; nor does it appear to have borne any prominent part in thetransactions of the times. The name, indeed, of the city occurs as theseat of the council held for the purpose of degrading Malgerius from theprimacy of Normandy; but, except on this occasion, Lisieux is scarcelymentioned till the first year of the twelfth century, when it was theseat of rebellion. Ralph Flambart, bishop of Durham, a prelate ofunbounded arrogance, had fled from England, and joined Duke Robert, thenin arms against his brother. Raising the standard of insurrection, hefixed himself at Lisieux, took forcible possession of the town, andinvested his son, only twelve years old, with the mitre[67], while hehimself exercised despotic authority over the inhabitants. At length, hepurchased peace and forgiveness, by opening the gates to his lawfulsovereign, after the battle of Tinchbray. --In the middle of October, inthe same year, Henry returned to Lisieux, and there held an assembly ofthe Norman nobility and prelates, who proclaimed peace throughout theduchy, enacted sundry strict regulations to prevent any infringement ofthe laws, and decreed that Robert, the captive duke, should be consignedto an English prison. --Two years subsequently, another council was alsoassembled at Lisieux, by the same sovereign, and for nearly the sameobjects; and again, in 1119, Henry convened his nobles a third time atLisieux, when this parliament ratified the peace concluded at Gisors, six years previously, and witnessed the marriage[68] of the king's son, William Adelin, with Matilda, daughter of Fulk, earl of Anjou. 

Historical distinction is seldom enviable:--in the wars occasioned bythe usurpation of Stephen, Lisieux once more obtained an unfortunatecelebrity. The town was attacked in 1136, by the forces of Anjou, underthe command of Geoffrey Plantagenet, husband of the Empress Maud, joinedby those of William, Duke of Poitiers; and the garrison, consisting ofBretons, seeing no hope of effectual resistance or of rescue, set fireto the place to the extreme mortification of the invaders, who, in thelanguage of the chronicles of the times, "when they beheld the city andall its wealth a prey to the flames, waxed exceedingly wroth, at beingdeprived of the spoil; and grieved sorely for the loss of the bootywhich perished in the conflagration. "--The town, however, was not soeffectually ruined, but that, during the following year, it served KingStephen as a rallying point, at which to collect his army to marchagainst his antagonist. --In 1169, it was distinguished by being selectedby Thomas à Becket, as the place of his retirement during his temporarydisgrace. 

History from this time forward relates but little concerning Lisieux. Though surrounded with walls during the bishopric of John, who waspromoted to the see early in the twelfth century, the situation of thetown, far from the coast or from the frontiers of the province, renderedthe inhabitants naturally unwarlike, and caused them in general tosubmit quietly to the stronger party. --Brito, in his _Philippiad_, saysthat, when Philip Augustus took Lisieux, in 1213, the Lexovians, destitute of fountains, disputed with the toads for the water of themuddy ditches. His mentioning such a fact is curious, as shewing thatpublic fountains were at that early period of frequent occurrence inNormandy. --Our countrymen, in the fifteenth century, acted with greatrigor, to use the mildest terms, towards Lisieux. Henry, after landingat Touques, in 1417, entered the town, in the character of an enragedenemy, not as the sovereign of his people: he gave it up to plunder; andeven the public archives were not spared. The cruelty of our Englishking is strongly contrasted by the conduct of the Count de Danois, general of the army of Charles VIIth, to whom the town capitulated in1449. Thomas Basin, then bishop, negociated with such ability, that, according to Monstrelet, "not the slightest damage was done to anyindividual, but each peaceably enjoyed his property as before thesurrender. "

The most celebrated monasteries within the diocese of Lisieux were theBenedictine abbeys of Bernay, St. Evroul, Preaux, andCormeilles. --Cormeilles was founded by William Fitz-Osborne, a relationto William the Conqueror, at whose court he held the office of sewer, and by whom he was promoted to the earldom of Hereford. Its church andmonastic buildings had so far gone to ruin, in the last century, as tocall forth a strong remonstrance from Mabillon[69]: they were afterwardsrepaired by Charles of Orléans, who was appointed abbot in 1726. --Theabbey of Preaux is said to have existed prior to the invasion of theNormans; but its earliest records go no farther back than the middle ofthe eleventh century, when it was restored by Humphrey de Vetulis, whobuilt and inclosed the monastery about the year 1035, at which time DukeRobert undertook his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This abbey, accordingto the account given by Gough, in his _Alien Priories_, presented tothirty benefices, and enjoyed an annual revenue of twenty thousandlivres. --Among its English lands which were considerable, was the prioryof Toft-Monks in our own immediate vicinity: the name, as you know, remains, though no traces of the building are now in existence. 

The third abbey, that of St. Evrau or St. Evroul, called in Latin, _Monasterium Uticense_, was one of the most renowned throughoutNormandy. The abbey dates its origin from St. Evroul himself, anobleman, who lived in the reign of Childebert, and was attached to thepalace of that monarch, "from which, " to use the words of thechronicles, "he made his escape, as from shipwreck, and fled to thewoods, and entered upon the monastic life. "--The legend of St. Ebrulfusprobably savors of romance, the almost inseparable companion oftraditional, and particularly of monastic, history: it is safer, therefore, to be contented with referring the foundation of themonastery to the tenth century, when William Gerouis, after having beentreacherously deprived of his sight and otherwise maimed, renounced theworld; and, uniting with his nephews, Hugh and Robert de Grentemaisnil, brought considerable possessions to the endowment of this abbey. Theabbey was at all times protected by the especial favor of the kings ofFrance. No payment or service could be demanded from its monks; theyacknowledged no master without their own walls, besides the sovereignhimself; they were entitled to exemption from every kind of burthen; andthey had the privilege of being empowered to castellate the convent, andto compel the people of the surrounding district to contribute theirassistance for the purpose. 

St. Evroul, however, principally claims our attention, as the sanctuarywhere Ordericus Vitalis, to use his own expressions, "delighted inobedience and poverty. "--This most valuable writer was an Englishman;his native town being Attingesham, on the Severn, where he was born inthe year 1075. He was sent to school at Shrewsbury, and there receivedthe first rudiments, both of the _humanities_ and of ecclesiasticaleducation. In the tenth year of his age, his father, Odelerius, delivered the boy to the care of the monk Rainaldus. The weeping fatherparted from the weeping son, and they never saw each other more. Ordericus crossed the sea, and arrived in Normandy, an exile, as hedescribes himself, and "hearing, like Joseph in Egypt, a language whichhe understood not. " In the eleventh year of his age, he received thetonsure from the hands of Mainerius, the abbot of St. Evroul. In thethirty-third year of his age, he was ordained a priest; andthenceforward his life wore away in study and tranquillity. Aged andinfirm, he completed his _Ecclesiastical History_, in the sixty-seventhyear of his age; and this great and valuable work ends with hisauto-biography, which is written in an affecting strain of simplicityand piety. --The Ecclesiastical History of Ordericus is divided intoparts: the first portion contains an epitome of the sacred and profanehistory of the world, beginning with the incarnation, and ending withPope Innocent IInd. The second, and more important division, containsthe history of Normandy, from the first invasion of the country, downto the year 1141. --Though professedly an ecclesiastical historian, yetOrdericus Vitalis is exceedingly copious in his details of secularevents; and it is from these that his chronicle derives its importanceand curiosity. It was first published by Duchesne, in his collection ofNorman historians, a work which is now of rare occurrence, and it hasnever been reprinted. 

Valuable materials for a new edition were, however, collected early inthe eighteenth century, by William Bessin, a monk of St. Ouen; andthese, before the revolution, were preserved in the library of thatabbey. Bessin had been assisted in the task by Francis Charles Dujardin, prior of St. Evroul, who had collated the text, as published in thecollection of Norman historians, with the original manuscript in his ownmonastery, to which latter Duchesne unfortunately had not access, buthad been obliged to content himself with a copy, now in the RoyalLibrary at Paris. It is to be hoped, that the joint labors of Bessin andDujardin may still be in existence, and may come to light, when M. Liquet shall have completed the task of arranging the manuscripts in thepublic library at Rouen. The manuscript which belonged to St. Evroul, and was always supposed to be an autograph from the hands of OrdericusVitalis himself, was discovered during the revolution among a heap ofparchments, thrown aside as of no account, in some buildings belongingto the former district of Laigle. It is now deposited in the publiclibrary of the department of the Orne, but unfortunately, nearly halfthe leaves of the volume are lost. The earliest part of what remains istowards the close of the seventh book, and of this only a fragment, consisting of eight pages, is left. The termination of the seventh book, and the whole of the eighth are wanting. From the ninth to thethirteenth, both of these inclusive, the manuscript is perfect. A pageor two, however, at the end of the work, which contained the author'slife, has been torn out. --At the beginning of the sixteenth century, themanuscript was complete; for it is known that, at that time, a monk ofSt. Evroul made a transcript of it, which extended through four volumesin folio. These volumes were soon dispersed. Two of them found their wayto Rouen, where they were kept in the library of St. Ouen: the other twowere in that of the abbey of St. Maur de Glandefeuille, on the Loire. Athird, though incomplete, copy of the original manuscript was also knownto exist in France before the revolution. It formerly belonged toCoaslin de Camboret, Bishop of Metz, by whom it was presented, togetherwith four thousand manuscripts, to the monks of St. Germain des Prés atParis. But the greater part of the literary treasures of this abbey fella prey to the flames in July, 1793, and it is feared that the copy ofOrdericus perished at that time. 

The original code from St. Evroul, was discovered by M. Louis Dubois, whom I have already mentioned in connection with the ruins of Neomagus. He is an antiquary of extensive knowledge and extraordinary zeal. His_History of Lisieux_, which he has long been preparing for the press, will be a work of great curiosity and interest. The publication of it isfor the present suspended, whilst he superintends an edition of the_Vaux-de-Vires_, or _Vaux de villes_, of Olivier Basselin, an earlyNorman poet. Meanwhile, M. Dubois still continues his researches amongthe foundations of the ancient city, from which he has collected anumber of valuable relics. Some of the most pleasant and instructivehours of my tour have been spent in his society; and, whilst it wasunder his guidance that I visited the antiquities of Lisieux, hislearning assisted me in illustrating them. M. Dubois likewise possessesa large collection of original autograph letters, which I found muchpleasure in perusing. 

During the reign of Napoléon, he held the office of librarian ofAlençon, a situation that afforded him the opportunity of meeting withmany literary curiosities of this nature. Among others, which thus fellinto his hands, was the following letter, written by the PrincessBorghese, sister to the Emperor, and addressed to the EmpressMarie-Louise, by whom it was received, while on a tour through thewestern departments. I annex a transcript of this epistle; for, althoughit has no immediate connection with the main subject of ourcorrespondence, it yet is a very singular contribution towards theprivate history of the dynasty of Napoléon. --The odd mixture ofcaudle-cup compliment and courtly flattery, is sufficiently amusing. Ihave copied it, word for word, letter for letter, and point for point;for, as we have no other specimen of the epistles of her imperialhighness, I think it right to preserve all the peculiarities of theoriginal; and, by, way of a treat for the collectors of autographs, Ihave added a fac-simile of her signature. 

Madame et tres chere SÅ“ur, je recois par le Prince Aldobrandini la lettre de V. M. Et la belle tassedont elle a daigné, le charger pour moi au nom de L'empereur, jeremercie mille fois votre aimable bonté, et j'ose vous prier ma treschere sÅ“ur d'être aupres de L'empereur l'interprete de ma reconnaissancepour cette marque de souvenir. --je fais parler beaucoup le Prince et laPrincesse Aldobrandini sur votre santé, sur votre belle grossesse, je neme lasse pas de les interroger, et je suis heureuse d'apprendre que vousvous portés tres bien, que rien ne vous fatigue, et que vous avés laplus belle grossesse qu'il soit possible de desirer, combien je desirechere sÅ“ur que tous nos vÅ“ux soient exaucés, ne croyés cependant pasque si vous nous donnés une petite Princesse je ne l'aimerais pas. Non, elle nous serait chere, elle resemblerait a V. M. Elle aurait sa douceur, son amabilité, et ce joli caractere qui la fait cherir de ceux qui outle bonheur de la Conaitre--mais ma chère sÅ“ur j'ai tort de m'apesantirsur les qualités dont serait douée cette auguste princesse, vous nousdonnerés d'abord un prince un petit Roi de Rome, jugés combien je ledesire nos bons toscans prient pour vous, ils vous aiment et je n'ai pasde peine a leur inspirer ce que je sens si vivement. 

je vous remercie ma tres chere sÅ“ur de l'interest que vous prenez a monfils, tout le monde dit qu'il ressemble a L'empereur. Cela me Charme ilest bien portant a present, et j'espere qu'il sera digne de servir sousles drapeaux de son auguste oncle. --adieu ma chere sÅ“ur soyés assésbonne pour Conserver un souvenir a une sÅ“ur qui vous est tendrementattachée. Napoléon ne cesse de lire la lettre pleine de bonté que V. M. Adaigné lui ecrire, cela lui a fait sentir le plaisir qu'il y avait asavoir lire, et l'encourage dans ses etudes--je vous embrasse et suis, Madame et tres chere SÅ“ur

de V. M. 

La plus attachée

[Illustration: Autograph of the Princess Borghese]

Pitti le 18 janvier 1811

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FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 66: See _Magazin Encyclopédique, for_ 1802, III. P. 504. ]

[Footnote 67: This transaction appears to have been peculiarly flagrant:a long detail of the circumstances, accompanied by several letters, verycharacteristic of the feeling and church-government of the times, ispreserved in the _Concilia Normannica_, p. 520. --The account concludesin the following words:--"Exhorruit ad facinus, non Normannia solum etAnglia, quibus maledicta progenies notissima erat, sed et universaGallia, et a singulis ad Apostolicum Paschalem delatum est. Nec tamenutrique simul ante quinquienniuin sordes de domo Dei propulsareprævaluerunt. Ceteris ferventiùs institit Yvo Carnotensis Antistes, conculcatæ disciplinæ ecclesiasticæ zelo succensus; in tantum utNeustriacos Præsules quasi desides ac pusillanimes coarguere veritus nonsit: sed ea erat Ecclesiæ sub ignavo Principe sors per omnialamentabilis, ut ipsemet postmodum cum laude non invitus agnovit. "]

[Footnote 68: Sandford, in his _Genealogical History of the Kings ofEngland_, says, that this marriage was solemnized at Luxseul, in thecounty of Burgundy; but he refers for his authority to OrdericusVitalis, by whom it is stated to have been at Luxovium, the name bywhich he always calls Lisieux; and he, in the same page, mentions theassembly of the nobles also held there. ]

[Footnote 69: _Annal_, IV. P. 599. ]

LETTER XXIII. 

FRENCH POLICE--RIDE FROM LISIEUX TO CAEN--CIDER--GENERAL APPEARANCE ANDTRADE OF CAEN--ENGLISH RESIDENT THERE. 

(_Caen, August_, 1818. )

Our reception at Caen has been somewhat inauspicious: we had scarcelymade the few necessary arrangements at the hôtel, and seated ourselvesquietly before the _caffé au lait_, when two gens-d'armes, in militarycostume, stalked without ceremony into the room, and, taking chairs atthe table, began the conversation rather abruptly, with "Monsieur, vousêtes sous arrêt. "--My companions were appalled by such a salutation, andapprehended some mistake; but the fact turned out to be, that ourpassport did not bear the signature of the mayor of Rouen, and that thisignorance of the regulations of the French police had subjected us to sounexpected a visit. It was too late in the day for the deficiency to bethen supplied; and therefore, after a few expostulations, accompaniedwith observations, on their part, that we had the good fortune to havefixed ourselves at an _honnête hôtel_, and did not wear the appearanceof suspicious persons, the soldiers took their leave, first exactingfrom me a promise, that I would present myself the next morning beforethe proper officer, and would in the meanwhile consider myself aprisoner upon my parole. 

The impression which this occurrence could not fail to make upon ourminds, was, that the object of the gens-d'armes had been either toextort from us money, or to shew their consequence; but I have sincebeen led to believe that they did no more than their duty. --We haveseveral acquaintance among the English who reside here, and we find fromthe whole of them, that the utmost strictness is practised in allmatters relating to passports, and not less towards natives thanforeigners. No Frenchman can quit his _arrondissement_ unprovided with apassport; and the route he intends to take, and the distance he designsto travel, must also be specified. A week or two ago the prefect of thepolice himself was escorted back to Caen, between a couple ofgens-d'armes, because he inadvertently paid a visit to a neighboringbathing-place without his passport in his pocket. This is a currentstory here: I cannot vouch for its authenticity; however it is certain, that since the discovery of the late plot contrived by the ultras, aplot whose existence is generally disbelieved, the French police is morethan usually upon the alert. 

When I presented myself at the Hôtel de Ville, to redeem my promise, arecent decree was pointed out to me, containing a variety of regulationswhich shew extraordinary uneasiness on the part of the government, andwhich would seem to indicate that they are in possession of intelligencerespecting projects, that threaten the public tranquillity[70]. To judgefrom all official proceedings, it seems as if we were walking upon asmothered volcano, and yet we are told by every body that there is notthe slightest room for apprehension of any kind. 

This interruption has thrown me out of the regular course of mynarration. --My last letter left me still at Lisieux, from which city toCaen the road lies through a tract of country altogether withoutinterest, and in most places without beauty. During the first half ofthe ride, we could almost have fancied ourselves at home inNorfolk. --About this part of the way, the road descends through a hollowor dale, which bore the ominous name of "_Coupe Gorge_. " When Napoléonwas last in Normandy, he inquired into the origin of theappellation. --The diligences, he was answered, "had often been stoppedand robbed in this solitary pass. "--Napoléon then said, "If one personcan be made to settle here, more will follow, for it is convenientlysituated between two good towns. Let the prefect buy a little plot ofground and build a house upon it, and give it to an old soldier, uponcondition that he shall constantly reside in it with his family. " Theorders of Napoléon were obeyed. The old soldier opened an inn, otherhouses arose round it, and the cut-throat pass is now thoroughly secure. The conductor and the post-boy tell the tale with glee whilst they drivethrough the hamlet; and its humble dwellings will perhaps recal thememory and fame of Napoléon Buonaparte when the brazen column of thegrand army, and the marble arch of the Thuilleries, shall have been longlevelled with the ground. --As to the character of the landscape, I mustadd, that though it makes a bad picture, there are great appearances ofcare in the agriculture, and of comfort in the population. The country, too, is sufficiently well wooded; and apple and pear trees every wheretake the place of the pollard oaks and elms of our hedge-rows. 

Norman cider is famous throughout France: it is principally, however, the western part of the province that produces it. Throughout the wholeof that district, the lower classes of the inhabitants scarcely use anyother beverage. Vines, as I have already had occasion to mention, werecertainly cultivated, in early times, farther to the north than they areat present. The same proofs exist of vineyards in the vicinity of Caenand Lisieux, as at Jumieges. Indeed, towards the close of the lastcentury, there was still a vineyard at Argence, only four milessouth-east of Caen; and a kind of white wine was made there, which wasknown by the name of _Vin Huet_. But the liquor was meagre; and Iunderstand that the vineyard is destroyed. --Upon the subject of theearly use of beer in Normandy, tradition is somewhat indistinct. Theancient name of one of the streets in Caen, _rue de la Cervoisiere_, distinctly proves the habit of beer-drinking; and, when Tacitus speaksof the beverage of the Germans, in his time, as "humor ex hordeo velfrumento in quandam similitudinem vini corruptus, " it seems highlyimprobable but that the same liquor should have been in use among thecognate tribes of Gaul. Brito, however, expressly says of Flanders, thatit is a place where, "Raris sylva locis facit umbram, vinea nusquam: Indigenis potus Thetidi miscetur avena, Ut vice sit vini multo confecta labore. "

And the same author likewise tells us, that the Normans of his time werecider-drinkers--

 ". .. _Siceræque_ potatrix Algia tumentis . .. Non tot in autumni rubet Algia tempore _pomis_ Unde liquare solet _siceram_ sibi _Neustria_ gratam. "

Huet is of opinion, that the use of cider was first introduced intoNeustria by the Normans, who had learned it of the Biscayans, as theselatter had done from the inhabitants of the northern coast of Africa. 

We did not find the Norman cider at all palatable: it is extremely sour, hard, and austere. The inhabitants, however, say that this is not itsnatural character, but is attributable to the late unfavorable seasons, which have prevented the fruit from ripening properly. --The apple-treeand pear-tree in Normandy, far from being ugly, and distorted, andstunted in their growth, as is commonly seen in England, are trees ofgreat beauty, and of extreme luxuriance, both in foliage andramification. The _Coccus_, too, which has caused so much destructionamong our orchards at home, is fortunately still unknown here. 

The only place at which we stopped between Lisieux and Caen, wasCroissanville, a poor village, but one that possesses a degree ofhistorical interest, as the spot where the battle was fought betweenAigrold, King of Denmark, and Louis d'Outremer, King of France; a battlewhich seated Richard Fearnought upon the throne of Normandy. --Thecountry about Croissanville is an immense tract of meadow-land; and fromit the Parisian market draws a considerable proportion of its suppliesof beef. The cattle that graze in these pastures are of a large size, and red, and all horned; very unlike those about Caen, which latter areof small and delicate proportions, with heads approaching to those ofdeer, and commonly with black faces and legs. 

From Croissanville to Caen the road passes through a dead flat, almostwholly consisting of uninclosed corn-fields, extending in alldirections, with unvaried dull monotony, as far as the eye can reach. Buck-wheat is cultivated in a large proportion of them: the inhabitantsprepare a kind of cake from this grain, of which they are very fond, andwhich is said to be wholesome. Tradition, founded principally upon theFrench name of this plant, _sarrazin_, has given rise to a generalbelief, that buck-wheat was introduced into France by the Moors; butthis opinion has, of late, been ably combated. The plant is not to befound in Arabia, Spain, or Sicily; the countries more particularlyinhabited by Mahometans; and in Brittany, it still passes by the Celticappellation, _had-razin_, signifying _red-corn_, of which words_sarrazin_ may fairly be regarded a corruption, as _buck-wheat_, in ourown tongue, ought unquestionably to be written _beech-wheat_; a termsynonymous to what it is called in Latin and German. The present namemay well appear inexplicable, to those who are unacquainted with theAnglo-Saxon and its cognate dialects. 

In the midst of this level country, in which even apple-trees arescarce, stands the ancient capital of Lower Normandy, extending fromeast to west in so long a line, that on our approach it appeared tocover as much ground as Rouen, which is in fact double its size. --From adistance, the view of Caen is grand; not only from the apparentmagnitude of the town, but from the numerous spires and towers, that, rising from every part of it, give it an air of great importance. Thoseof the abbeys of St. Stephen and the Trinity, at opposite extremities, constitute the principal features in the view. --The same favorableimpressions continue when you enter the town. The streets are wide, andthe houses of stone; and a stone city is a pleasing sight to eyes longaccustomed to the wooden buildings of Rouen, Bernay, andLisieux. --Besides, there is a certain degree of regularity in theconstruction of the buildings, and some care is taken in keeping themclean. --Lace-making is the principal occupation of females of the lowerclass in Caen and the neighborhood; the streets, as we passed along, were lined almost uninterruptedly on either side, with a row oflace-makers; and boys were not uncommonly working among the women. It iscalculated that not fewer than twenty thousand individuals, of all ages, from ten or twelve years old and upwards, are thus employed; and theannual produce of their labor is estimated at one hundred and seventythousand pounds sterling. Caen lace is in high estimation for its beautyand quality, and is exported in considerable quantities. 

The present population of Caen amounts to about thirty-one thousandindividuals. The town, no longer the capital of Lower Normandy, is stillequally distinguished as the capital of the department of the Calvados. The prefect resides here; and the royal court of Caen comprises in itsjurisdiction, not only the department more especially appertaining toit, but also those of the Manche and the Orne. --The situation of thetown, though at the confluence of the Orne and the Odon, is not such ascan be regarded favorable to extensive trade. The united rivers form astream, which, though navigable at very high tides for vessels of twohundred tons burthen, will, on other occasions, admit only of muchsmaller ones; while the channel, nearer to its mouth, is obstructed byrocks that render the navigation difficult and dangerous. Many planshave been projected and attempted for the purpose of improving andenlarging the harbor, but little or no progress has yet been made. Vauban long since pointed out the mouth of the Orne as singularly welladapted for a naval station; and Napoléon, in pursuance of this idea, actually commenced the excavation of a basin under the walls of thetown, and intended to deepen the bed of the river, thinking it best tomake a beginning in this direction. All idea, however, of prosecutingsuch a plan is for the present abandoned. --Other engineers have proposedthe junction of the Orne with the Loire by means of a canal, which wouldbe of the greatest importance to France, not only by facilitatinginternal commerce, but by saving her vessels the necessity of coastingCapes Finisterre, and la Hogue, and thus enabling them to avoid anavigation, which is at all times dangerous, and in case of warpeculiarly exposed. 

For minor purposes, however, for mills and manufactories of differentkinds, Caen is certainly well situated; being in almost every directionintersected with streams, owing to the repeated ramifications of theOdon, some of which are artificial, and of as early a date as theeleventh century. The same circumstance contributes materially to thepleasantness of the town; for the banks of the river are in many placesformed into walks, and crowned by avenues of noble trees. 

[Illustration: Head-Dress of Females, at Caen]

The _grand cours_ at Caen is almost as fine a promenade as that atRouen. On Sunday evening it was completely crowded. The scene was fullof life and gaiety, and very varied. All the females of the lower rank, and many of the higher orders, were dressed in the costume of thecountry, which commonly consists of a scarlet gown and deep-blue apron, or _vice versâ_. Their hair, which is usually powdered, is combedentirely back from every part of their faces, and tucked up behind. Thesnow-white cap which covers it is beautifully plaited, and has longerlappets than in the Pays de Caux. Mr. Cotman sketched the _coiffure_ ofthe chamber-maid, at the Hôtel d'Espagne, in grand costume, and I sendhis drawing to you. --The men dress like the English; but do nottherefore fancy that you or I should have any chance of being mistakenfor natives, even if we did not betray ourselves by our accent. Here, asevery where else, our countrymen are infallibly known: their carelessslouching gait is sure to mark them; and the police keep a watchful eyeupon them. Caen is at present frequented by the English: those indeed, who, like the Virgilian steeds, "stare loco nesciunt, " seldom shewthemselves in Lower Normandy; but above thirty British families havetaken up their residence in this town: they have been induced to do soprincipally by the cheapness of living, and by the advantages held outfor the education of their children. A friend of mine, who is of thenumber of temporary inhabitants, occupies the best house in the place, formerly the residence of the Duc d'Aumale; and for this, with thegarden, and offices, and furniture of all kinds, except linen and plate, he pays only nine pounds a month. For a still larger house in thecountry, including an orchard and garden, containing three acres, wellstocked with fruit-trees, he is asked sixty pounds from this time toChristmas. But, cheap as this appears, the expence of living atCoutances, or at Bayeux, or Valognes, is very much less. 

Were I obliged to seek myself a residence beyond the limits of our owncountry, I never saw a place which I should prefer to Caen. I should notbe tempted to look much farther before I said, "Sis meæ sedes utinam senectæ:"--

The historical recollections that are called forth at almost every turn, would probably have some influence in determining my choice; the noblespecimens of ancient architecture which happily remain, unscathed bywars and Calvinists and revolutions, might possibly have more; but theliterary resources which the town affords, the pleasant society withwhich it abounds, and, above all, the amiable character of itsinhabitants, would be my great attraction. --At present, indeed, we havenot been here sufficiently long to say much upon the subject of societyfrom our own experience; but the testimony we receive from all quartersis uniform in this point, and the civilities already shewn us, are of anature to cause the most agreeable prepossessions. It is not ourintention to be hurried at Caen; and I shall therefore reserve to myfuture letters any remarks upon its history and its antiquities. To atraveller who is desirous of information, the town is calculated tofurnish abundant materials. 

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 70: The following were among the articles of the decree:--"Noindividual to leave his _arrondissement_ without a passport. --No personto receive a stranger in his house, or suffer one to quit it, withoutapprising the police. --The inhabitants to carry their arms of all kindsto the Hôtel de Ville. --No plays to be performed, except first approvedby the officers of the police. --The manager of the theatre to givenotice every Friday to the mayor, of the pieces intended to be acted thefollowing week. --The actors to read nothing, and say nothing, which isnot in the play. --The performance to begin precisely at six, and closeat ten. --Only a certain interval to be allowed between the differentpieces, or between the acts of each. --Every person to be uncovered, except the soldiers on duty. --No weapons of any kind, nor even sticks orumbrellas, to be taken into the theatre. "]

LETTER XXIV. 

HISTORIANS OF CAEN--TOWERS AND FORTIFICATIONS--CHÂTEAU DE LAGENDARMERIE--CASTLE--CHURCHES OF ST. STEPHEN, ST. NICHOLAS, ST. PETER, ST. JOHN, AND ST. MICHEL DE VAUCELLES. 

(_Caen, August, _ 1818. )

France does not abound in topographical writers; but the history andantiquities of Caen have been illustrated with singular ability, by mento whom the town gave birth, and who have treated their subject withequal research and fidelity--these are Charles de Bourgueville, commonlycalled the Seigneur de Bras, and the learned Huet, Bishop of Avranches. 

De Bourgueville was a magistrate of Caen, where he resided during almostthe whole of the sixteenth century. The religious wars were then raging;and he relates, in a most entertaining and artless manner, the historyof the events of which he was an eye-witness. His work, as is justlyobserved by Huet, is a treasure, that has preserved the recollection ofa great variety of the most curious details, which would otherwise havebeen neglected and forgotten. Every page of it is stamped with thecharacter of the author--frankness, simplicity, and uprightness. Itabounds in sound morality, sage maxims, and proofs of excellentprinciples in religion and politics; and, if the writer occasionallycarries his _naïveté_ to excess, it is to be recollected that the bookwas published when he was in his eighty-fifth year, a period of lifewhen indulgence may reasonably be claimed. He died four yearssubsequently, in 1593. --In Huet's work, the materials are selected withmore skill, and are digested with more talent. The author brought to histask a mind well stored with the learning requisite for the purpose, andemployed it with judgment. But he has confined himself, almost wholly, to the description of the town; and the consequence is, that while thebishop's is the work most commonly referred to, the magistrate's is thatwhich is most generally read. The dedication of the former to the townof Caen, does honor to the feelings of the writer: the portrait of thelatter, prefixed to his volume, and encircled with his quaint motto, _"L'heur de grace use l'oubli, "_ itself an anagram upon his name, bespeaks and insures the good will of the reader. 

The origin of Caen is uncertain. --Its foundation has been alternatelyascribed to Phoenicians, Romans, Gauls, Saxons, and Normans. Theearliest historical fact connected with the town, is recorded in an oldchronicle of Normandy[71], written in 1487, by William de Talleur, ofRouen. The author, in speaking of the meeting between Louis d'Outremer, King of France, and Richard Ist, Duke of Normandy, about the year 945, enumerates Caen among the good towns of the province. Upon this, Huetobserves that, supposing Caen to have been at that time only recentlyfounded, it must have acquired importance with much rapidity; for, inthe charter, by which Richard IIIrd, Duke of Normandy, granted a doweryto Adela, daughter of Robert, King of France, whom he married in 1026, Caen is not only stated as one of the portions of the dower, but itschurches, its market, its custom-house, its quay, and its variousappurtenances are expressly mentioned; and two hundred years afterwards, Brito in his _Philippiad_, puts Caen in competition with Paris, "Villa potens, opulenta situ, spatiosa, decora, Fluminibus, pratis, et agrorum fertilitate, Merciferasque rates portu capiente marino, Seque tot ecclesiis, domibus et civibus ornans, Ut se Parisio vix annuat esse minorem. "--

Caen is designated in Duke Richard's charter, by the appellation of "inBajocensi comitatu villa quæ dicitur _Cathim_, super fluviumOlnæ. "--From _Cathim_, came _Cahem_; and _Cahem_, in process of time, was gradually softened into _Caen_. The elision that took place in thefirst instance, is of a similar nature to that by which the Italianwords _padre_ and _madre_, have been converted into _père_ and _mère_;and the alteration in the latter case continued to be indicated by thediæresis, which, till lately, separated the two adjoiningvowels. --Towards the latter part of the eleventh century, Caen isfrequently mentioned by the monkish historians, in whose Latin, the townis styled _Cadomus_ or _Cadomum_. --And here ingenious etymologists havefound a wide field for conjecture: Cadomus, says one, was undoubtedlyfounded by Cadmus; another, who hesitates at a Phoenician antiquity, grasps with greater eagerness at a Roman etymon, and maintains that_Cadomus_ is a corruption from _Caii domus_, fully and sufficientlyproving that the town was built by Julius Cæsar. 

Robert Wace states, in his _Roman de Rou_, that, at the timeimmediately previous to the conquest of England, Caen was an opentown. --

 "Encore ert Caen sans Châtel, N'y avoit mur, ny quesnel. "--

And Wace is a competent witness; for he lived during the reign of HenryIst, to whom he dedicated his poem. Philip de Valois, in 1346, allowedthe citizens to surround the town with ditches, walls, and gates. Thispermission was granted by the king, on the application of theinhabitants, Caen, as they then complained, being still open andunfortified. Hence, the fortifications have been considered to be thework of the fourteenth century, and, generally speaking, they wereunquestionably, of that time; but it is equally certain, that a portionwas erected long before. 

A proof of the antiquity of the fortifications may perhaps be found inthe name of the tower called _la Tour Guillaume le Roi_, which standsimmediately behind St. Peter's, and was intended to protect the river atthe extremity of the walls, dividing the town from the suburb ofVaugeux. This tower is generally supposed to be the oldest in thefortifications. Its masonry is similar to that of the wall with which itis connected, and which is known to have been built about the same timeas the abbey of St. Stephen. The appearance of it is plain, massy, andrugged; and it forms a picturesque object. Such also is the _Tour auMassacre_, which is situated at the confluence of the Orne and Odon. Thetower in question is said to have received its gloomy title from amassacre, of which our countrymen were guilty, at the time when the townwas taken in 1346. There is, however, reason to believe that this taleis a mere fiction. Huet, at the same time that he does not venture sofar to oppose popular belief, as altogether to deny the truth of thestory of the massacre, adds, that the original name of the tower was _laTour Machart_, and suspects its present appellation to be no more than acorruption of the former one. Renauld Machart was bailiff of Caen twoyears prior to the capture of the place by Edward IIIrd; and theprobability is, that the tower was erected by him in those times ofalarm, and thus took his name. It has been supposed that the figuresculptured upon it, may also be intended for a representation of Macharthimself. 

Caen contains another castellated building, which might easily misleadthe studious antiquarian. The _Château de Calix_, as it is sometimescalled, is situated at the extremity of the suburb known by that name;and the curious inhabitants of Caen usually suppose that it was erectedfor the purpose of commanding the river, whilst it flowed in itsancient, but now deserted, bed; or, at least, that it replaces such afortification. According to the learned Abbé de la Rue, however, and heis a most competent authority, no real fortification ever existed here;but the castle was raised in conformity to the caprice of Girard deNollent, the wealthy owner of the property, who flourished towards thebeginning of the sixteenth century. --Girard de Nollent's mansion is nowoccupied by a farmer. It has four fronts. The windows aresquare-headed, and surrounded by elegant mouldings; but the mullionshave been destroyed. One medallion yet remains over the entrance; and itis probable that the walls were originally covered with ornaments ofthis kind. Such, at least, is the case with the towers and walls, which, surrounding the dwelling, have given it a castellated aspect. Thecircular tower nearest the gate forms the subject of the accompanyingsketch: it is dotted on all sides with busts in basso-relievo, enclosedin medallions, and of great diversity of character. One is a frowningwarrior, arrayed in the helmet of an emperor of the lower empire;another, is a damsel attired in a ruff; a third, is a turbaned turk. Theborders of the medallions are equally diversified: the _cordelière_, well known in French heraldry, the vine-leaf, the oak-leaf, all appearas ornaments. The battlements are surmounted with two statues, apparently Neptune, or a sea-god, and Hercules. These heathen deitiesnot being very familiar to the good people of Caen, they have convertedthem, in imagination, into two gens-d'armes, mounting guard on thecastle; and hence it is frequently called the _Château de laGendarmerie_. Some of the busts are accompanied by inscriptions--"Vincitpudicitiam mors;" "Vincit amor pudicitiam;" "Amor vincit mortem;" andall seem to be either historical or allegorical. The battlements of thecurtain-wall are ornamented in the same manner. The farther tower hasless decoration, and is verging to decay. I have given these details, because the castle of Calix is a specimen of a style of which we have nofair parallel in England, and the workmanship is far from beingcontemptible. 

[Illustration: Tower in the _Château de Calix_, at Caen]

In the Rue St. Jean is a house with decorations, in the same style, butmore sumptuous, or, perhaps I ought rather to say, more perfect. Both ofthem are most probably of nearly the same date: for it was principallyduring the reigns of Charles VIIIth and Louis XIIth, that the practiceprevailed in France, of ornamenting the fronts of houses withmedallions. The custom died away under Francis Ist. 

I must now return to more genuine fortifications. --When the walls ofCaen were perfect, they afforded an agreeable and convenient promenadecompletely round the town, their width being so great, that threepersons might with ease walk abreast upon them. De Bourgueville tells usthat, in his time, they were as much frequented as the streets; and heexpatiates with great pleasure upon the gay and busy prospect which theycommanded, The castle at Caen, degraded as it is in its character by moderninnovation, is more deserving of notice as an historical, than as anarchitectural, relic. It still claims to be ranked as a place ofdefence, though it retains but few of its original features. Thespacious, lofty, circular towers, known by the names of the black, thewhite, the red, and the grey horse, which flanked its ramparts, havebeen brought down to the level of the platform. The dungeon tower isdestroyed. All the grandeur of the Norman castle is lost; though thewidth of its ditches, and the thickness of its walls, still testify itsancient strength. I doubt whether any castle in France covers an equalextent of ground. Monstrelet and other writers have observed, that thissingle fortress exceeded in size the towns of Corbeil or of Montferrand;and, indeed, there are reasons for supposing that Caen, when firstfounded, only occupied the site of the present castle; and that, when itbecame advisable to convert the old town into a fortress, theinhabitants migrated into the valley below. Six thousand infantry couldbe drawn up in battle-array within the outer ballium; and so great wasthe number of houses and of inhabitants enclosed within its area, thatit was thought expedient to build in it a parochial church, dedicated toSt. George, besides two chapels. 

One of the chapels is still in existence, though now converted to astore-house; and the Abbé de la Rue considers it as an erection anteriorto the conquest, and, belonging to the old town of Caen. Its choir isturned towards the west, and its front to the east. --The religiousedifices upon the continent do not preserve the same uniformity as ourEnglish ones, in having their altars placed in the direction of therising sun; but this at Caen is a very remarkable instance of theposition of the entrance and the altar being completely reversed[72]. The door-way is a fine semi-circular arch: the side pillars supportingit are very small, but the decorations of the archivolt are rich: theyconsist principally of three rows of the chevron moulding, enclosedwithin a narrow fillet of smaller ornaments, approaching in shape toquatrefoils. Collectively, they form a wide band, which springs fromflat piers level with the wall, and does not immediately unite with thehead of the inner arch. The intermediate space is covered by areticulated pattern indented in the stone. Above the entrance is awindow of the same form, its top encircled by a broad chequered band, avery unusual accompaniment to this style of architecture. The front ofthe chapel presents in other respects, a flat uniform surface, unvaried, except by four Norman buttresses, and a string-course of the simplestform, running round the whole building, at somewhat less thanmid-height. The sides of the chapel are lighted by a row ofcircular-headed windows, with columns in the angles; and between thesewindows are buttresses, as in the chapel of the lazar-house of St. Julien, at Rouen. 

Huet endeavours to prove that the first fortress which was built atCaen, was erected by William the Conqueror, who frequently resided herewith his Queen Matilda, and who was likely to find some protection ofthis nature desirable, as well to guard his royal residence against themutinous disposition of the lords of the Bessin, as to command thenavigation of the Orne. The castle was enlarged and strengthened by hisson Henry; but it is believed that the four towers, just mentioned, andthe walls surrounding the keep, were added by our countrymen, duringthat short period when the Norman sceptre was again wielded by thedescendants of the Norman dukes. Under Louis XIIth and Francis Ist, thewhole of the castle, but particularly the dungeon, underwent greatrepairs, by which the original form of the structure was entirelychanged. --From that period history is silent respecting the fortress. Icannot, however, take leave of it without reminding you, that Sir JohnFastolf, whilom our neighbour at Castor, was for some time placed incommand here, as Lieutenant to the Regent Duke of Bedford. You, who areacquainted with the true character of the knight, need scarcely be told, that even his enemies concur in bearing testimony to his ability, hisvigilance, and his valor: it is to be regretted that he has not met withequal justice at home. Not one individual troubles himself abouthistory, whilst a thousand read the drama; and the stains whichShakspeare's pen has affixed to the name of Fastolf, are of a naturenever to be wiped away; thus disproving the distich of the satyrist, whoindeed, by his own works, has effectually falsified his own maxim, that--

 "Truth will survive when merry jokes are past; For rising merit must buoy up at last. "

As usual, the buildings dedicated to religion are far more numerous andvaluable than the relics of military architecture. Of these, the firstwhich salutes the stranger who enters by the great high road, is theHôtel Dieu, which is almost intact and unaltered. The basement storycontains large and deep pointed arches, ornamented with the chevronmoulding, disposed in a very peculiar manner. --From the style of thebuilding, there is every reason to believe that it is of the beginningof the thirteenth century, at which time William, Count of Magneville, appropriated to charitable purposes the ground now occupied by thishospital, and caused his donation to be confirmed by a bull from PopeInnocent IIIrd, dated in April, 1210. 

The abbeys, the glories of Caen, will require more leisure: at presentlet us pass on to the parochial churches. Of these, the most ancientfoundation is _St. Etienne le Vieil_; and tradition relates that thischurch was dedicated by St. Renobert, bishop of Bayeux, in the year350. --But, though the present edifice may stand upon the site of anancient one, there would be little risk in affirming, that not one stoneof it was laid upon another till after the year 1400. The building isspacious, and its tower is not devoid of beauty. The architecture is amedley of debased gothic and corrupted Roman; but the large pointedwindows, decorated by fanciful mouldings and scroll-work, have an air ofrichness, though the component parts are so inharmonious. 

Attached to the wall of the choir of this church is still to be seen anequestrian statue[73], part of the celebrated group supposed torepresent William the Conqueror making his triumphal entry into Caen. Aheadless horse, mounted by a headless rider, and a figure, which haslost all shape and form, beneath the feet of the steed, are all that nowremain; but De Bourgueville, who knew the group when perfect, says, thatthere likewise belonged to it a man and woman upon their knees, as ifseeking some explanation for the death of their child, orrather, perhaps, in the act of imploring mercy. --I have already pointedout the resemblance between these statues and the bas-relief, of which Ihave sent you a sketch from St. Georges. One of the most learnedantiquaries of the present time has found a prototype for the supposedfigure of the Duke, among the sculptures of the Trajan column. But this, with all due deference, is far from a decisive proof that the statue inquestion was not intended for William. Similar adaptations of theantique model, "mutato nomine, " frequently occur among the works of theartists of the middle ages; and there is at least a possibility that, had the face been left us, we might have traced some attempt at aportrait of the Norman Duke. Upon the date of the sculpture, or thestyle of the workmanship, I dare not venture an opinion. There areantiquaries, I know, (and men well qualified to judge, ) who believe itRoman: I have heard it pronounced from high authority, that it is of theeleventh century, others suspect that it is Italian, of the thirteenthor fourteenth centuries; whilst M. Le Prevost and M. De Gervillemaintain most strenuously that it is not anterior to the fifteenth. DeBourgueville certainly calls it "une antiquité de grand remarque;" butwe all know that any object which is above an hundred years old, becomesa piece of antiquity in the eye of an uncritical observer; and such wasthe good magistrate. 

The church of St. Nicholas, now used as a stable, was built by Williamthe Conqueror, in the year 1060, or thereabouts. Desecrated as it is, itremains entire; and its interior is remarkable for the uniformity of theplan, the symmetry of the proportions. All the capitals of the pillarsattached to the walls are alike; and those of the arches, which verynearly resemble the others, are also all of one pattern. In theside-aisles there is no groining, but only cross vaulting. The vaultingof the nave is pointed, and of late introduction. Round the choir andtransepts runs a row of small arches, as in the triforium. --The west endwas formerly flanked by two towers, the southern of which only remains. This is square, and well proportioned: each side contains two lancetwindows. The lower part is quite plain, excepting two Norman buttresses. The whole of the width of the central compartment, which is more thanquadruple that of either of the others, is occupied below by threecircular portals, now blocked up. --Above them are five windows, disposedin three tiers. In the lowest are two not wider than loop-holes: overthese two others, larger; another small one is at the top. All thesewindows are of the simplest construction, without side pillars ormouldings. --The choir of the church ends in a semi-circular apsis, divided into compartments by a row of pillars, rising as high as thecornice: in the intercolumniation are windows, and under the windowssmall arches, each of which has its head hewn out of a singlestone. --The roof of the choir is of stone, and the pitch of it is veryhigh. 

Here, then, we have the exact counterpart of the Irish stone-roofedchapels, the most celebrated of which, that of Cormac, in CashelCathedral, appears, from all the drawings and descriptions I have seenof it, to be altogether a Norman building. Ledwich asserts that "thischapel is truly Saxon, and was erected prior to the introduction of theNorman, and gothic styles[74]. " If, we agree with him, we only obtain aproof that there is no essential difference between Norman and Saxonarchitecture; and this proposition, I believe, will soon be universallyadmitted. We now know what is really Norman; and a little attention tothe buildings in the north of Germany, may terminate the long-debatedquestions, relative to Saxon architecture and the origin of thestone-roofed chapels in the sister isle. 

In the burial-ground that surrounds the church of St. Nicholas, areseveral monumental inscriptions, all of them posterior to thecommencement of the reign of Napoléon, and all, with one singleexception, commemorative of females. The epitaphs are much in the sametone as would be found in an English church-yard. The greater part, however, of the tomb-stones, are uninscribed. They are stone coffinsabove-ground, sculptured with plain crosses, or, where they have beenraised to ecclesiastics, with an addition of some portion of thesacerdotal dress. 

[Illustration: Tower and Spire of St. Peter's Church, at Caen]

Among the churches of comparatively modern erection, St. Peter deservesmost attention. From every part of the town and neighborhood, its loftyspire, towering above the surrounding buildings, forces itself upon yourview. It is not easy to carry accurate ideas of height in the memory;but, as far as recollection will serve me, I should say that itselevation is hardly inferior to that of the spire of Salisburycathedral. I have no hesitation in adding, that the proportions of thetower and spire of the church at Caen, are more pleasing. Elegance, lightness, and symmetry, are the general characters of the whole, thoughthe spire has peculiar characters of its own. --The tower, though built acentury later than that of Salisbury, is so much less ornamented, thatit might be mistaken for an earlier example of the pointed style. Thelowest story is occupied wholly by a portal: the second division issurrounded by pointed arches, beneath crocketed gables: the third isfilled by four lancet arches, supported by reeded pillars, so lofty, that they occupy nearly two-thirds of the entire height of the tower. The flanking arches are blanks: the two middle ones are pierced intowindows, divided by a central mullion. The balustrade at the top of thetower is of a varied pattern, each side exhibiting a different tracery. Eight crocketed pinnacles are added to the spire, which is octangular, and has a row of crockets at each angle. From the base to the summit itis encircled, at regular distances, with broad bands of stone-work, disposed like scales; and, alternating with the bands, are perforationsin the form of cinquefoils, quatrefoils, and trefoils, diminishing asthe spire rises, but so disposed, that the light is seen distinctlythrough them. The effect of these perforations was novel and verypleasing. 

[Illustration: Sculpture upon a Capital in St. Peter's Church at Caen]

This tower and spire were built in the year 1308, under the directionsof Nicolle L'Anglois, a burgher of Caen, and treasurer of thechurch. --How far we are at liberty to infer from his name, as Ducareldoes, that he was an Englishman, may admit of some doubt. He was buriedhere; and De Bourgueville has preserved his epitaph, which recountsamong his other merits, that

 "Et par luy, et par sa devise Fut la tour en sa voye mise D'estre faicte si noblement. "--

But the name of the architect who was employed is unrecorded. --The restof the church was erected at different periods: the northern aisle in1410; the opposite one some time afterwards; and the eastern extremity, with the vaulted roof of the choir and aisles, in 1021. --With thisknowledge, it is not difficult to account for the diversity of stylesthat prevails in the building. --The western front contains much goodtracery, and well disposed, apparently as old as the tower. --Theexterior of the east end, with its side-chapels, is rather Italian thangothic. --The interior is of a purer style: the five arches forming theapsis are perhaps amongst the finest specimens of the luxuriant Frenchgothic: roses are introduced with great effect amongst the tracery andfriezes, with which the walls are covered. The decorations of thechapels round the choir, although they display a tendency towardsItalian architecture, are of the most elaborate arabesque. The nichesare formed by escalop shells, swelling cylinders of foliage, andscrolls: some of the pendants from the roofs are of wonderfully variedand beautiful workmanship. --The nave has nothing remarkable, saving thecapital of one of the side pillars. Its sculptures, with the exceptionof one mutilated group, have been drawn by Mr. Cotman. --The subjects arestrangely inappropriate, as the ornaments of a sacred edifice. All areborrowed from romance. --Aristotle bridled and saddled by the mistressof Alexander. Virgilius, or, as some say, Hippocrates, hanging in thebasket. Lancelot crossing the raging flood. --The fourth, which is notshewn in the sketch, is much defaced, but seems to have been taken fromthe _Chevalier et la Charette_. According to the usual fate of ancientsculpture, the _marguilliers_ of the parish have so sadly encumbered itwith white-wash, that it is not easy to make out the details; and afriend of mine was not quite certain whether the bearded figure ridingon the lion, was not a youthful Cupid. No other of the capitals has atpresent any basso-relievo of this kind; but I suspect they have beenchopped off. The church suffered much from the Calvinists; andafterwards, during the revolution, when most of the bas-reliefs of theportal were destroyed. 

[Illustration: Tower of St. John's Church, at Caen]

The neighboring church of St. John appears likewise to be the work ofthe fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This building and St. Peter'sagree in general character: their towers are nearly the counterparts ofeach other. But, in St. John's, the great tower is placed at the westend of the edifice, the principal portal being beneath it. This is notvery usual in the Norman-gothic churches, though common in England. Thetower wants a spire; and, at present, it leans considerably out of theperpendicular line, so that some apprehensions are entertained for itssafety. It was originally intended that the church should also besurmounted by a central tower; and, as De Bourgueville says, thebeginning was made in his time; but it remains to the present dayincomplete, and has not been raised sufficiently high to enable us toform a clear idea of the design of the architect, though enough remainsto shew that it would have been built in the Romanizing-gothicstyle. --The inside is comparatively plain, excepting only the arches inthe lower open part of the tower. These are richly ornamented; and ahighly-wrought balustrade runs round the triforium, uniform in itspattern in the nave and choir, but varying in the transepts. --In theother ecclesiastical buildings at Caen, we saw nothing to interestus. --The chapel of St. Thomas l'Abattu, which, according to Huet, "hadexisted from time immemorial, " and which, to judge from Ducarel'sdescription and figure, must have been curious, has now entirelydisappeared. 

In the suburb of Vaucelles, the church of St. Michael contains somearchitectural features of great curiosity[75]. The circular-headedarches in the short square tower, and in a small round turret that isattached to it, are unquestionably early Norman, and are remarkable fortheir proportions, being as long and as narrow as the lancet windows ofthe following æra. It would not be equally safe to pronounce upon thedate of the stone-roofed pyramid which covers this tower. The northporch is entered by a pointed arch, which, though much less ornamented, approaches in style to the southern porch of St. Ouen, and, like that, has its inner archivolt fringed with pendant trefoils. The wall abovethe arch rises into a triangular gable, entirely covered with wavingtracery, the only instance of the kind which I have seen at Caen. 

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 71: _Huet, Origines de Caen_, p. 12. ]

[Footnote 72: Upon this subject, Huet has an extraordinary observation, (_Origines de Caen_, p. 186. ) "that, in the early times of Christianity, it was customary for all churches to front the east or north, or someintermediate point of the compass. "--So learned and careful a writerwould scarcely have made such a remark without some plausible grounds;but I am at a loss where to find them. Bingham, in his _OriginesEccleslasticæ_, I. P. 288, says, "that churches were so placed, thatthe front, or chief entrances, were towards the west, and the sanctuaryor altar placed towards the east;" and though he adduces instances of adifferent position, as in the church of Antioch, which faced the east, and that of St. Patrick, at Sabul, near Down in Ulster, which stood fromnorth to south, he cites them only as deviations from an establishedpractice. ]

[Footnote 73: _Cotman's Architectural Antiquities of Normandy_, t. 20. ]

[Footnote 74: _Antiquities of Ireland_, p. 151. ]

[Footnote 75: See _Cotman's Architectural Antiquities of Normandy_, t. 18, 19. ]

LETTER XXV. 

ROYAL ABBEYS OF THE HOLY TRINITY AND ST. STEPHEN--FUNERAL OF THECONQUEROR, EXHUMATION OF HIS REMAINS, AND DESTRUCTION OF HIS MONUMENT. 

(_Caen, August_, 1818. )

The two royal abbeys of Caen have fortunately escaped the storms of therevolution. These buildings are still standing, an ornament to the town, and an honor to the sovereign who caused them to be erected, as well asto the artist who planned, and to the age which produced them. As modelsof architecture they are the same land-marks to the history of the artin Lower Normandy, as the church of St. Georges is in the upper divisionof the province. Their dates are equally authenticated; and thecharacteristic features in each are equally perfect. 

Both these noble edifices rose at the same time, and from the samemotive. William the Conqueror, by his marriage with Matilda, daughter ofBaldwin, Earl of Flanders, had contracted an alliance proscribed by thedegrees of consanguinity. The clergy inveighed against the union; andthey were supported in their complaints by Lanfranc, then resident atBec, whose remonstrances were so uncourtly and strenuous, that the dukebanished him from the province. It chanced that the churchman, while inthe act of obedience to this command, met the sovereign. Their interviewbegan with recriminations: it ended with reconciliation; and Lanfrancfinally engaged to undertake a mission to the supreme Pontiff, who, considering the turbulent disposition of the Normans, and that a betterend was likely to be answered by peaceable than by hostile measures, consented to grant the necessary dispensation. At the same time, by wayof penance, he issued an injunction that the royal pair should erect twomonasteries, the one for monks, the other for nuns. And in obedience tothis command, William founded the abbey of St. Stephen, and Matilda, theabbey of the Holy Trinity; or, as they are usually called at Caen, _l'abbaye aux hommes_, and _l'abbaye aux dames_. 

The approach to the monastery of the Trinity is through a spaciousgate-tower, part of the original structure. Over the rent and shapelessdoor-way are three semi-circular arches, upon the capitals of which isdistinctly observable the cable-moulding, and along the top of the towerruns a line of the same toothed ornament, remarked by Ducarel atBourg-Achard, and stated by him to have been considered peculiar toSaxon architecture[76]. The park that formerly environed the abbeyretains its character, though abandoned to utter neglect. It is of greatextent, and is well wooded. The monastic buildings, which are, as usual, modern, are mostly perfect. --A ruined wall nearly in front of thechurch, with a chimney-piece, perhaps of Norman workmanship, belonged tothe old structure. Such part of the chimney wall as was exposed to theflame is built of large tiles, placed diagonally. All other vestiges ofthe ancient apartments have been removed. 

The noble church[77] is now used as a work-house for the department. Atthe revolution it became national property, and it remainedunappropriated, till, upon the institution of the Legion of Honor, Napoléon applied it to some purpose connected with that body, by whom itwas lately ceded for it present object. But, if common report may becredited, it is likely soon to revert to its original destination. Therestoration may be easily effected, as the building has sustained butlittle injury. A floor has been thrown across the nave and transept, dividing them into two stories; but in other respects they areunaltered, and divine service is still performed in the choir. 

A finer specimen of the solid grandeur of Norman architecture isscarcely to be found any where than in the west front of this church. The corresponding part of the rival abbey of St. Stephen is poor whencompared to it; and Jumieges and St. Georges equally fail in thecomparison. In all of these, there is some architectural anomaly: in theTrinity none, excepting, indeed, the balustrade at the top of thetowers; and this is so obviously an addition of modern times, that noone can be misled by it. This balustrade was erected towards thebeginning of the seventeenth century, when the oval apertures andscrolls seen in Ducarel's print were introduced. Anciently the towerswere ornamented with very lofty spires. According to some accounts, these were demolished, because they served as land-marks to the Englishcruizers, being seen far out at sea; but other accounts state, that thespires were pulled down by Charles, King of Navarre, who was at war withhis namesake, Charles Vth, then Dauphin and Regent. The abbey at thattime bore the two-fold character of nunnery and fortress. --Strangelyinconsistent as this union may appear, the fact is undoubted. Even now aportion of the fosses remains; and the gate-way indicates an approachto a fortified place. Ancient charters likewise expressly recognize thebuilding in both capacities: they endow the abbey for the service ofGod; and they enjoin the inhabitants of the adjacent parishes to keepthe fortifications in repair against any assaults of men. Nay, letterspatent, granted by Charles Vth, which fix the salary of the captain ofthe _Fort of the Trinity, at Caen_, at one hundred francs per annum, areyet extant. 

I shall attempt no description of the west front of this monastery, fewcontinental buildings being better known in England. The whole remainsas it was in the time of Ducarel, except that the arches of entrance areblocked up, and modern windows have been inserted in the door-ways. --Thenorth side of the church is quite concealed by the cloisters andconventual buildings. The southern aisle has been plastered and patched, and converted into a range of work-shops, so that its original elevationis wholly obliterated. But the nave, which rises above, is untouched byinnovation. The clerestory range is filled by a row of semi-circularheaded windows, separated by intervening flat buttresses, which reach tothe cornice. Each buttress is edged with two slender cylindricalpilasters; and each window flanked by two smaller arches, whose surfacesare covered with chequer-work. The arch of every window has a key-stone, formed by a grotesque head. --Above the whole is a corbel-table thatdisplays monsters of all kinds, in the form of beasts, and men scarcelyless monstrous. --The semi-circular east end is divided in its elevationinto three compartments. The lower contains a row of small blank arches:in each of the other two is a window, of a size unusually large for aNorman building, but still without mullions or tracery; its sidesornamented with columns, and its top encircled with a broad band ofvarious mouldings. The windows are separated by cylindrical pillars, instead of buttresses. --In the upper part of the low central tower aresome pointed arches, the only deviations of style that are to be foundin the building. To the extremity of the southern transept has beenattached a Grecian portico, which masks the ancient portal. Above is arow of round arches, some of which are pierced into windows. 

Of the effect of the nave and transept within, it is difficult now toobtain a correct idea, the floor intervening to obstruct a generalview. --High arches, encircled with the embattled moulding below; abovethese, a wide billeted string-course, forming a basis for a row ofsmaller arches, without side-pillars or decoration of any kind; thenanother string-course of different and richer patterns; and over this, the triforium, consisting also of a row of small arches, supported bythick pillars;--such is the elevation of the sides of the nave; and thesame system is continued with but small variation in the transepts. But, notwithstanding the general uniformity of the whole, no two compartmentsare precisely alike; and the capitals are infinitely varied. It issingular to see such a playfulness of ornament in a building, whosearchitect appears, at first view, to have contemplated only grandeur andsolidity. --The four arches which support the central tower are on amagnificent scale. The archivolts are encircled by two rows of lozengedsquares, indented in the stone. The rams, or rams' heads, upon thecapitals of these piers, are peculiar. The eastern arch rises higherthan the rest, and is obtusely pointed; yet it seems to be of the samedate with its circular companions. --So exquisite, however, is thequality of the Caen stone, that no opinion drawn from the appearance ofthe material, ought to be hazarded with confidence. Seven centuries haveelapsed since this church was erected, and there is yet no difference tobe discovered in the color of the stone, or the sharpness of the work;the whole is as clean and sharp as if it were but yesterday fresh fromthe chisel. The interior of the choir has not been divided by theflooring; and the eastern extremity, which remains perfect, shews theoriginal design. It consists of large arches, disposed in a double tier, so as to correspond with the windows of the apsis, and placed at a shortdistance from the wall; but without any Lady-Chapel beyond. The pillarsthat support these arches are well proportioned: the sculptures on theircapitals are scarcely less grotesque than those at St. Georges; but, barbarous as they are, the corners of almost every capital are finishedwith imitations, more or less obvious, of the classical Ionicvolute. --Among the sculptures is a head resting upon two lions, whichhas been fancied to be a representation of the Conqueror himself; whilsta faded painting of a female, attired as a nun, on the north side of thealtar, is also commonly entitled a portrait of the foundress. --Were anyplausible reason alleged for regarding the picture as intended to beareven an imaginary resemblance to Matilda, I would have sent you a copyof it; but there appear no grounds to consider it asauthentic. --Willing, however, to contribute a mark of respect to afemale, styled by William of Malmesbury, "fæminam prudentiæ speculum, pudoris culmen, " and, by way of a companion to the rough sketch of herillustrious consort, in the initial letter in the library at Rouen, Iadd the fac-simile of a seal, which, by the kindness of a friend hasfallen into my hands. It has been engraved before, but only for privatedistribution; and, if a suspicion should cross your mind, that it mayhave belonged to the Empress Maud, or to Matilda, wife to Stephen, I canonly bespeak your thanks to me, for furnishing you with a likeness ofany one of these ladies. 

[Illustration: Fac-simile of seal]

Matilda was interred in the middle of this choir; and, according toOrdericus Vitalis, a monument of exquisite workmanship, richlyornamented with gold and precious stones, and bearing a long inscriptionin letters of gold, was raised to her memory. Her effigy was afterwardsadded to the monument; the whole of which was destroyed in 1652, by theCalvinists, who tore open the Queen's coffin, and dispersed her remains. After a lapse of an hundred and forty years, the royal bones were againcollected, and deposited in this church. At the same time, the splendidmonument was replaced by a plain altar-tomb, which existed till therevolution, when all was once more swept away. The marble slab, inscribed with the original epitaph, alone remained entire, and wascarried to the abbey church of St. Stephen's, where it still forms apart of the pavement in a chapel. The letters are finely sculptured andperfectly sharp. However, it is not likely to continue there long; forCount de Montlivault, the prefect of the department, has already causeda search to be made for Matilda's remains, and he intends to erect athird monument to her memory. The excavations for this purpose havehitherto been unsuccessful: the Count met with many monumental stones, and many coffins of various kinds, but none that could be mistaken forthe desired object; for one of the inscriptions on the late monumentexpressly states, that the Queen's bones had been wrapped in a linencloth, and enclosed in a leaden box. 

The inquiry, however, will not be discontinued[78]: there are stillhopes of success, especially in the crypt, which corresponds in itsarchitecture with the church above. It is filled with columns placed infour ranges, each standing only four feet from the other, all of elegantproportions, with diversified capitals, as those in the choir. --Roundit runs a stone bench, as in the subterraneous chapel in St. Gervais, atRouen. 

Founded by a queen, the abbey of the Trinity preserved at all times aconstitution thoroughly aristocratical. No individual, except of noblebirth, was allowed to take the veil here, or could be received into thecommunity. You will see in the series of the abbesses the names ofBourbon, Valois, Albret, Montmorenci, and others of the most illustriousfamilies in France. Cecily, the Conqueror's eldest daughter, stands atthe head of the list. According to the _Gallia Christiana_, she wasdevoted by her parents to this holy office, upon the very day of thededication of the convent, in July 1066. 

The black marble slab which covered her remains, was lately discoveredin the chapter-house. A crozier is sculptured upon it. It is delineatedin a very curious volume now in the possession of the Abbé de la Rue, which contains drawings of all the tombs and inscriptions that formerlyexisted in the abbey. 

The annual income of the monastery of the Trinity is stated by Gough, inhis _Alien Priories_, at thirty thousand livres, and that of themonastery of St. Stephen, at sixty thousand; but Ducarel estimates therevenue of the former at seventy thousand, and of the latter at twohundred thousand; and I should not doubt but that the larger sums arenearest the truth; indeed, the grants and charters still in existence, or noticed by historians, would rather lead to the supposition that therevenues must have been even greater. Parsimony in the endowment ofreligious buildings, was not a prevailing vice in the eleventh andtwelfth centuries. Least of all was it likely that it should bepractised in the case of establishments, thus founded in expiation ofthe transgressions of wealthy and powerful sinners. Page after page, inthe charters, is filled with the list of those, who, with

 "Lands and livings, many a rood, Had gifted the shrine for their soul's repose. "

The privileges and immunities enjoyed by these abbeys were veryextensive. Both of them were from their origin exempted by PopeAlexander IInd, with the consent of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, from allepiscopal jurisdiction; and both had full power, as well spiritual asecclesiastical, over the members of their own communities, and over theparishes dependent upon them; with no other appeal than to thearchbishop of Rouen, or to the Pope. Express permission was likewisegiven to the abbot of St. Stephen's, by virtue of a bull from PopeClement VIIth, to wear a gold mitre studded with precious stones, and aring and sandals, and other episcopal ornaments. 

Many of the monuments and deeds of the greater abbey are now in theprefecture of the department. The original chartulary or register wassaved by the Abbé de la Rue, and is at this time preserved in hisvaluable collection. The charters of the Trinity were hid, during therevolution, by the nuns, who secreted them beneath the tiling of a barn. They were discovered there not long since; but damp and vermin hadrendered them wholly illegible. 

Lanfranc, whose services at Rome well deserved every distinction thathis sovereign could bestow, was the first abbot of St. Stephen's. Uponhis translation to the see of Canterbury, he was succeeded by William, who was likewise subsequently honored with an archiepiscopal mitre. Thethird abbot, Gislebert, was bishop of Evreux; and, though the series wasnot continued through an uninterrupted line of equal dignity, the officeof abbot of this convent was seldom conferred, except upon an individualof exalted birth. Eight cardinals, two of them of the noble houses ofMedici and Farnese, and three others, still more illustrious, thecardinals Richelieu, Mazarine, and Fleury, are included in the list, though in later times the abbacy was held _in commendam_ by thesepowerful prelates, whilst all the internal management of the housedevolved upon a prior. Amongst the abbots will also be found Hugh deCoilly, grandson of King Stephen, Anthony of Bourbon, a natural son ofHenry IVth of France, and Charles of Orléans, who was likewise of royalextraction. --St. Stephen was selected as the patron of the abbey, inconsequence of the founder having bestowed upon it the head of theprotomartyr, together with one of his arms, and a phial of his blood, and the stone with which he was killed. 

[Illustration: Monastery of St. Stephen, at Caen]

The monastic buildings now serve for what, in the language ofrevolutionary and imperial France, was called a _Lycée_, but which hassince assumed the less heathen appellation of a college. They constitutea fine edifice, and, seen from a short distance, in conjunction with theeast end of the church, they form a grand _tout-ensemble_. The abbeychurch, from this point of view, has somewhat of an oriental character:the wide sweep of the semi-circular apsis, and the slender turrets andpyramids that rise from every part of the building, recal the idea ofa Mahometan mosque. But the west end is still more striking than theeast; and if, in the interior of the church of the Trinity, we hadoccasion to admire the beautiful quality of the Caen stone, ouradmiration of it was more forcibly excited here: notwithstanding thecontinual exposure to wind and weather, no part appears corroded, ordiscolored, or injured. A character of magnificence, arising in a greatmeasure from the grand scale upon which it is built, pervades thisfront. But, to be regarded with advantage, it must be viewed as a whole:the parts, taken separately, are unequal and ill assorted. Thesimplicity of the main division approaches to meanness. Its threedoor-ways and double tier of windows appear disproportionally small, when contrasted with the expanse of blank wall; and their returns areremarkably shallow. The windows have no mouldings whatever, and thepillars and archivolts of the doors are very meagre. The front consistsof three compartments, separated by flat buttresses; the lateraldivisions rising into lofty towers, capped with octagon spires. Thetowers are much ornamented: three tiers of semi-circular arches surroundthe upper divisions; the arches of the first tier have no mouldings orpillars; the upper vary in pattern, and are enriched with pillars andbands, and some are pierced into windows. --Twelve pinnacles equally fullof arches, some pointed, others semi-circular, surround each spire. Similar pinnacles rise from the ends of the transepts and thechoir. --The central tower, which is short and terminates in a conicalroof, was ruined by the Huguenots, who undermined it, thinking that itsfall would destroy the whole building. Fortunately, however, it onlydamaged a portion of the eastern end; the reparations done to which haveoccasioned a discrepancy of style, that is injurious to the generaleffect. But the choir and apsis were previously of a different æra fromthe rest of the edifice. They were raised by the Abbot Simon deTrevieres, in the beginning of the fourteenth century. --I am greatlymistaken, if a real Norman church ever extended farther eastward thanthe choir. 

The building is now undergoing a thorough repair, at the expence of thetown. No other revenues, at present, belong to it, except the _sous_which are paid for chairs during mass. 

A friend, who is travelling through Normandy, describes the interior inthe following manner; and, as I agree with him in his ideas, I shallborrow his description:--"Without doubt, the architect was conversantwith Roman buildings, though he has Normanized their features, andadopted the lines of the basilica to a _barbaric_ temple. The Coliseumfurnished the elevation of the nave;--semi-circular arches surmounted byanother tier of equal span, and springing at nearly an equal height fromthe basis of the supporting pillars. The architraves connecting thelower rows of pillars are distinctly enounced. The arches which risefrom them have plain bold mouldings. The piers between each arch are ofconsiderable width. In the centre of each pier is a column, whichascends as usual to the vault. These columns are alternately simple andcompound. The latter are square pilasters, each fronted by acylindrical column, which of course projects farther into the nave thanthe simple columns; and thus the nave is divided into bays. This systemis imitated in the gothic cathedral, at Sens. The square pilaster ceasesat about four-fifths of its height: then two cylindrical pillars risefrom it, so that, from that point, the column becomes clustered. Angularbrackets, sculptured with knots, grotesque heads, and foliage, areaffixed to the base of these derivative pillars. A bold double-billetedmoulding is continued below the clerestory, whose windows adaptthemselves to the binary arrangement of the bays. A taller arch isflanked by a smaller one on the right or the left side, as its situationrequires. These are supported by short massy pillars: an embattledmoulding runs round the windows. 

"In the choir the arches become pointed, but with Norman mouldings: theapsis is a re-construction. In that portion of the choir, which seemsoriginal, there are pointed windows formed by the interlacing ofcircular arches: these light the gallery. 

"The effect produced by the perspective of the interior is lofty andpalatial. The ancient masonry of the exterior is worthy of notice. Thestones are all small, perhaps not exceeding nine or twelve inches: thejoints are about three-quarters of an inch. "

At the north-west angle of the nave has been built a large chapel, comparatively a modern erection; and in the centre of this liesMatilda's gravestone. --There is no other chapel to the nave, and, asusual, no monument in any portion of the church; but in front of thehigh altar is still to be seen the flat stone, placed there in 1742, inmemory of the Conqueror, and bearing the epitaph--

[Illustration: Epitaph in memory of the Conqueror]

 QUI REXIT RIGIDOS NORMANNOS ATQUE BRITANNOS AVDACTER VICIT FORTITER OBTINVIT ET CENOMANENSES VIRTVTE COERCVIT ENSES IMPERIIQVE SVI LEGIBUS APPLICVIT REX MAGNVS PARVA JACET HIC VILLELMVS IN VRNA SVFFICIT HÆC MAGNO PARVA DOMVS DOMINO TER SEPTEM GRADIBVS SE VOLVERAT ATQUE DVOBVS VIRGINIS IN GREMIO PHOEBVS ET HIC OBIIT ANNO MLXXXVII REQVIESCEBAT IN SPE CORPVS BENEFICIENTISSIMI FVNDATORIS QVVM A CALVINIANIS ANNO MDLXII DISSIPATA SVNT EIVS OSSA VNVM EX EIS A VIRO NOBILI QVI TVM ADERAT RESERVATVM ET A POSTERIS ILLIVS ANNO MDCXLII RESTITVTVM IN MEDIO CHORO DEPOSITVM FVERAT MOLE SEPVLCHRALI DESVPER EXTRVCTA HANC CEREMONIARVM SOLEMNITATE MINVS ACCOMMODAM AMOVERVNT MONACHI ANNO MDCCXLII REGIO FVLTI DIPLOMATE ET OS QVOD VNVM SVPERERAT REPOSVERVNT IN CRYPTA PROPE ALTARE IN QVO IVGITER DE BENEDICTIONIBVS METET QVI SEMINAVIT IN BENEDICTIONIBVS FIAT FIAT

The poetical part of this epitaph was composed by Thomas, archbishop ofYork, and was engraved upon the original monument, as well as upon aplate of gilt copper, which was found within the sepulchre when it wasfirst opened. Many other poets, we are told by Ordericus Vitalis, exercised their talents upon the occasion; but none of their productionswere deemed worthy to be inscribed upon the tomb. The account of theopening of the vault is related by De Bourgueville, from whom it hasbeen already copied by Ducarel; but the circumstances are so curious, that I shall offer no apology for telling a twice-told tale. FromOrdericus Vitalis also we may borrow some details respecting the funeralof the Conqueror, which, though strictly appertaining to Englishhistory, have never yet, I believe, appeared in an English dress. 

In speaking of the church of St. Gervais at Rouen, I have alreadybriefly alluded to the melancholy circumstances by which the death ofthis monarch was attended. The sequel of the story is not lessmemorable. 

The king's decease was the signal for general consternation throughoutthe metropolis of Normandy. The citizens, panic struck, ran to and fro, as if intoxicated, or as if the town were upon the point of being takenby assault. Each asked counsel of his neighbor, and each anxiouslyturned his thoughts to the concealing of his property. When the alarmhad in some measure subsided the monks and clergy made a solemnprocession to the abbey of St. Georges, where they offered their prayersfor the repose of the soul of the departed Duke; and archbishop Williamcommanded that the body should be carried to Caen, to be interred in thechurch of St. Stephen, which William had founded. But the lifeless kingwas now deserted by all who had participated in his munificence andbounty. Every one of his brethren and relations had left him; nor wasthere even a servant to be found to perform the last offices to hisdeparted lord. The care of the obsequies was finally undertaken byHerluin, a knight of that district, who, moved by the love of God andthe honor of his nation, provided at his own expence, embalmers, andbearers, and a hearse, and conveyed the corpse to the Seine, whence itwas carried by land and water to the place of its destination. 

Upon the arrival of the funeral train at Caen, it was met by Gislebert, bishop of Evreux, then abbot of St. Stephen's, at the head of his monks, attended with a numerous throng of clergy and laity; but scarcely hadthe bier been brought within the gates, when the report was spread thata dreadful fire had broken out in another part of the town, and theDuke's remains were a second time deserted. The monks alone remained;and, fearful and irresolute, they bore their founder "with candle, withbook, and with knell, " to his last home. Ordericus Vitalis enumeratesthe principal prelates and barons assembled upon this occasion; but hemakes no mention of the Conqueror's son, Henry, who, according toWilliam of Jumieges, was the only one of the family that attended, andwas also the only one worthy of succeeding to such a father. --Mass hadnow been performed, and the body was about to be committed to theground, "ashes to ashes, dust to dust, " when, previously to this closingpart of the ceremony, Gislebert mounted the pulpit, and delivered anoration in honor of the deceased. --He praised his valor, which had sowidely extended the limits of the Norman dominion; his ability, whichhad elevated the nation to the highest pitch of glory; his equity inthe administration of justice; his firmness in correcting abuses; andhis liberality towards the monks and clergy; then, finally, addressingthe people, he besought them to intercede with the Almighty for the soulof their prince, and to pardon whatsoever transgression he might havebeen guilty of towards any of them. --At this moment, one Asselin, anobscure individual, starting from the crowd, exclaimed with a loudvoice, "the ground upon which you are standing, was the site of myfather's dwelling. This man, for whom you ask our prayers, took it byforce from my parent; by violence he seized, by violence he retained it;and, contrary to all law and justice, he built upon it this church, where we are assembled. Publicly, therefore, in the sight of God andman, do I claim my inheritance, and protest against the body of theplunderer being covered with my turf. "--The appeal was attended withinstant effect; bishops and nobles united in their entreaties toAsselin; they admitted the justice of his claim; they pacified him; theypaid him sixty shillings on the spot by way of recompence for the placeof sepulture; and, finally, they satisfied him for the rest of the land. 

But the remarkable incidents doomed to attend upon this burial, were notyet at an end; for at the time when they were laying the corpse in thesarcophagus, and were bending it with some force, which they werecompelled to do, in consequence of the coffin having been made tooshort, the body, which was extremely corpulent, burst, and sointolerable a stench issued from the grave, that all the perfumes whicharose from all the censers of the priests and acolytes were of no avail;and the rites were concluded in haste, and the assembly, struck withhorror, returned to their homes. 

The latter part of this story accords but ill with what De Bourguevillerelates. We learn from this author, that four hundred and thirty yearssubsequent to the death of the Conqueror, a Roman cardinal, attended byan archbishop and bishop, visited the town of Caen, and that hiseminence having expressed a wish to see the body of the duke, the monksyielded to his curiosity, and the tomb was opened, and the corpsediscovered in so perfect a state, that the cardinal caused a portrait tobe taken from the lifeless features. --It is not worth while now toinquire into the truth of this story, or the fidelity of theresemblance. The painting has disappeared in the course of time: it hungfor a while against the walls of the church, opposite to the monument;but it was stolen during the tumults caused by the Huguenots, and wasbroken into two pieces, in which state De Bourgueville saw it a fewyears afterwards, in the hands of a Calvinist, one Peter Hodé, thegaoler at Caen, who used it in the double capacity of a table and adoor. --The worthy magistrate states, that he kept the picture, "becausethe abbey-church was demolished. "

He was himself present at the second violation of the royal tomb, in1572; and he gives a piteous account of the transaction. The monumentraised to the memory of the Conqueror, by his son, William Rufus, underthe superintendance of Lanfranc, was a production of much costly andelaborate workmanship: the shrine, which was placed upon the mausoleum, glittered with gold and silver and precious stones. To complete thewhole, the effigy of the king had been added to the tomb, at someperiod subsequent to its original erection. --A monument like thisnaturally excited the rapacity of a lawless banditti, unrestrained bycivil or military force, and inveterate against every thing that mightbe regarded as connected with the Catholic worship. --The Calvinists weremasters of Caen, and, incited by the information of what had taken placeat Rouen, they resolved to repeat the same outrages. Under the speciouspretext of abolishing idolatrous worship, they pillaged and ransackedevery church and monastery: they broke the painted windows and organs, destroyed the images, stole the ecclesiastical ornaments, sold theshrines, committed pulpits, chests, books, and whatever was combustible, to the fire; and finally, after having wreaked their vengeance uponeyery thing that could be made the object of it, they went boldly to thetown-hall to demand the wages for their labors. --In the course of theseoutrages the tomb of the Conqueror at one abbey, and that of Matilda atthe other, were demolished. And this was not enough; but a few daysafterwards, the same band returned, allured by the hopes of fartherplunder. It was customary in ancient times to deposit treasures ofvarious kinds in the tombs of sovereigns, as if the feelings of theliving passed into the next stage of existence;--

 ". .. Quæ gratia currûm Armorumque fuit vivis, quæ cura nitentes Pascere equos, eadem sequitur tellure repostos. "

The bees that adorned the imperial mantle of Napoléon were found in thetomb of Childeric. A similar expectation excited the Huguenots, at Caen. They dug up the coffin: the hollow stone rung to the strokes of theirdaggers: the vibration proved that it was not filled by the corpse; andnothing more was wanted to seal its destruction. 

De Bourgueville, who went to the spot and exerted his eloquence to checkthis last act of violence, witnessed the opening of the coffin. Itcontained the bones of the king, wrapped up in red taffety, and still intolerable preservation; but nothing else. He collected them, with care, and consigned them to one of the monks of the abbeys who kept them inhis chamber, till the Admiral de Châtillon entered Caen at the head ofhis mercenaries, on which occasion the whole abbey was plundered, andthe monks put to flight, and the bones lost. "Sad doings, these, " saysDe Bourgueville, "_et bien peu réformez!_"--He adds, that one of thethigh-bones was preserved by the Viscount of Falaise, who was there withhim, and begged it from the rioters, and that this bone was longer byfour fingers' breadth than that of a tall man. The bone thus preserved, was re-interred, after the cessation of the troubles: it is the samethat is alluded to in the inscription, which also informs us that amonument was raised over it in 1642, but was removed in 1742, it beingthen considered as an incumbrance in the choir. 

With this detail I close my letter. The melancholy end of the Conqueror, the strange occurrences at his interment, the violation of his grave, the dispersion of his remains, and the demolition and final removal ofhis monument, are circumstances calculated to excite melancholy emotionsin the mind of every one, whatever his condition in life. In all theseevents, the religious man traces the hand of retributive justice; thephilosopher regards the nullity of sublunary grandeur; the historianfinds matter for serious reflection; the poet for affecting narrative;the moralist for his tale; and the school-boy for his theme. --OrdericusVitalis sums the whole up admirably. I should spoil his language were Ito attempt to translate it; I give it you, therefore, in his ownwords:--"Non fictilem tragoediam venundo, non loquaci comoediacachinnantibus parasitis faveo: sed studiosis lectoribus varios eventusveraciter intimo. Inter prospera patuerunt adversa, ut terrerenturterrigenarum corda. Rex quondam potens et bellicosus, multisque populisper plures Provincias metuendus, in area jacuit nudus, et a suis, quosgenuerat vel aluerat, destitutus. Aere alieno in funebri cultu indiguit, ope gregarii pro sandapila et vespilionibus conducendis eguit, qui tothactenus et superfluis opibus nimis abundavit. Secus incendium aformidolosis vectus est ad Basilicam, liberoque solo, qui tot urbibus etoppidis et vicis principatus est, caruit ad sepulturam. Arvina ventrisejus tot delectamentis enutrita cum dedecore patuit, et prudentes acinfrunitos, qualis sit gloria carnis, edocuit[79]. "

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 76: _Anglo-Norman Antiquities_, p. 45. ]

[Footnote 77: See _Cotman's Architectural Antiquities of Normandy_, t. 24-33. ]

[Footnote 78: A detailed account of the proceedings on this occasion, isgiven in the _Journal Politique du Département du Calvados_, for March21, and May 6, 1819. --The first attempt at the discovery of Matilda'scoffin, was made in March, 1818, and was confined to the chapter-house:the matter then slept till the following March, when Count deMontlivault, attended by the Bishop of Bayeux, Mr. Spencer Smythe, andother gentlemen, prosecuted his inquiries within the church itself, and, immediately under the spot where her monument stood, discovered a stonecoffin, five feet four inches long, by eleven inches deep, and varyingin width from twenty inches to eleven. Within this coffin was a leadenbox, soldered down; and, in addition to the box, the head of an effigyof a monk, in stone, and a portion of a skull-bone filled with aromaticherbs, and covered with a yellowish-white membrane, which proved, uponexamination, to be the remains of a linen cloth. The box containedvarious bones, that had belonged to a person of nearly the same heightas Matilda is described to have been. No doubt seemed to remain but thatthe desideratum was discovered. The whole was therefore carefullyreplaced; and the prefect ordered that a new tomb should be raised, similar to that which was destroyed at the revolution; and that theslab, with the original epitaph, should be laid on the top; that copiesof the former inscription, stating how the queen's remains had beenre-interred by the abbess, in 1707, should be added to two of the sides;that to the third should be affixed the ducal arms of Normandy; and thatthe fourth should bear the following inscription:--

 "Ce tombeau renfermant les dépouilles mortelles de l'illustre Fondatrice de cette Abbaye, renversé pendant les discordes civiles, et déplacé depuis une longue série d'années, a été restauré, conformément au voeu des amis de la religion, de l'antiquité et des arts, 1819. Casimir, comte de Montlivault, conseiller d'état, préfet. Léchaudé d'Anisy, directeur de l'Hospice. "

The ceremony of the re-interment was performed with great pomp on thefifth of May; and the Bishop of Bayeux pronounced a speech on theoccasion, that does him credit for its good sense and affectingeloquence. ]

[Footnote 79: _Hist. Normannorum Scriptores_, p. 662. ]

LETTER XXVI. 

PALACE OF THE CONQUEROR--HERALDIC TILES--PORTRAITS OF WILLIAM ANDMATILDA--MUSEUM--PUBLIC LIBRARY--UNIVERSITY--ACADEMY--EMINENTMEN--HISTORY OF CAEN. 

(_Caen, August_, 1818. )

Within the precincts of the abbey of St. Stephen are some buildings, which do not appear to have been used for monastic purposes. It issupposed that they were erected by William the Conqueror, and they areyet called his palace. Only sixty years ago, when Ducarel visited Caen, these remains still preserved their original character. 

He describes the great guard-chamber and the barons' hall, as making anoble appearance, and as being perhaps equally worth the notice of anEnglish antiquary as any object within the province of Normandy. Thewalls of these rooms are standing, but dilapidated and degraded; andthey have lost their architectural character, which, supposing Ducarel'splate to be a faithful representation, must have been very decisive. Itis scarcely possible to conceive how any man, with such a specimen ofthe palace before his eyes, could dream of its being coeval with theNorman conquest: every portion is of the pointed style, and even of aperiod when that style was no longer in its purity. Possibly, indeed, other parts of the edifice may have been more ancient; such certainlywas the "Conqueror's kitchen, " a singular octagon building, with fourtall slender chimneys capped with perforated cones. This was destroyedmany years ago; but Ducarel obtained an original drawing of it, which hehas engraved. Amongst the ruins there is a chimney which perhapsbelonged to this building. --The guard-chamber and barons' hall are noblerooms: the former is one hundred and ninety feet in length and ninety inbreadth. You remember how admirably the _Lay of the Last Minstrel_ openswith a description of such a hall, filled with knights, and squires, andpages, and all the accompaniments of feudal state. I tried, whilestanding by these walls, to conjure up the same pictures to myimagination, but it was impossible; so desolate and altered was everything around, and so effectually was the place of baronial assemblageconverted into a granary. The ample fire-place still remains; but, coldand cheerless, it looks as if had been left in mockery of departedsplendor and hospitality. I annex a sketch of it, in which you will alsosee a few scattered tiles, relics of the magnificent pavement that oncecovered the floor. 

[Illustration: Fireplace in the Conqueror's Palace, at Caen]

This pavement has been the subject of much learned discussion; because, if the antiquity of the emblazoned tiles could be established, (which itcertainly cannot) we should then have a decisive proof of the use ofarmorial bearings in the eleventh century. Nearly the whole of thesetiles are now removed. After the abbey was sold, the workmen entirelydestroyed the tiles, breaking them with their pick-axes. The Abbé de laRue, however, collected an entire set of them; and others have beenpreserved by M. Lair, an antiquary of Caen. --Ducarel thus describes thepavement when perfect: "The floor is laid with tiles, each near fiveinches square, baked almost to vitrification. Eight rows of thesetiles, running from east to west, are charged with different coats ofarms, said to be those of the families who attended Duke William in hisinvasion of England. The intervals between each of these rows are filledup with a kind of tessellated pavement, the middle whereof represents amaze or labyrinth, about ten feet in diameter, and so artfully contrivedthat were we to suppose a man following all the intricate meanders ofits volutes, he could not travel less than a mile before he got from oneend to the other. The remainder of the floor is inlaid with smallsquares of different colors, placed alternately, and formed into draughtor chess-boards, for the amusement of the soldiers while on guard. "

Such is the general description of the floors of this apartment: withregard to the date of the tiles, Ducarel proceeds to state that "it ismost probable the pavement was laid down in the latter part of the reignof King John, when he was loitering away his life at Caen, with thebeautiful Isabel of Angoulême, his queen; during which period, thecustom of wearing coats of arms was introduced. "--Common traditionassigns the tiles to higher date, making them coeval with the conquest;and this opinion has not been without supporters. It was strenuouslydefended by Mr. Henniker Major, who, in the year 1794, printed forprivate distribution, two letters upon the subject, addressed to LordLeicester, in which he maintained this opinion with zeal and laboriousresearch. To the letters were annexed engravings of twenty coats ofarms, the whole, as he observes, that were represented on the pavement;for though the number of emblazoned tiles was considerable, the restwere all repetitions[80]. The same observation was found in theinscription attached to a number of the tiles, which the monks keptframed for public inspection, in a conspicuous part of the monastery;and yet some of the armorial bearings in this very selection, differfrom any of those figured by Mr. Henniker Major. The Abbé de la Rue hasalso many which are not included in Mr. Henniker Major's engravings. Inone of the coats the arms are quartered, a practice that was notintroduced till the reign of Edward IIIrd. The same quarterings are alsofound upon an escutcheon, placed over the door that leads to theapartment. This door is a flattened arch, with an ogee canopy, theworkmanship probably of the fourteenth century. 

To the same date I should also refer the tiles; and possibly the wholepalace was built at that period. There are no records of its erection;no document connects its existence with the history of the duchy; noauthor relates its having been suffered to fall into decay. So strikingan absence of all proof, and this upon a point where evidence ofdifferent kinds might naturally have been expected, may warrant asuspicion how far the building was ever a royal palace, according to thestrict import of the town. A friend of mine supposes that thesebuildings may have been the king's lodgings. During the middle ages itwas usual for monarchs in their progresses, to put up at the greatabbeys; and this portion of the convent of St. Stephen may have beenintended for the accommodation of the royal guests. 

The assigning of a comparatively modern date to the pavement, does notnecessarily interfere with the question as to the antiquity of heraldicbearings. The coats of arms which are painted upon the tiles may havebeen designed to represent those of the nobility who attended DukeWilliam on his expedition to England: it is equally possible that theyembraced a more general object, and were those of the principal familiesof the duchy--De Thou gives his suffrage in favor of the former opinion, but Huet of the latter; and the testimony of the bishop must be allowed, in this case, to outweigh that of the president. --Huet also says, thatit is matter of notoriety that the tiles were laid down towards theclose of the fourteenth century. He mentions, however, no authority forthe assertion; and less credit perhaps will be given to it than itdeserves, from his having stated just before, that the abbey and palacewere contemporary structures. 

Upon the outside wall of a chapel that is supposed to have belonged tothe same palace, were ancient fresco paintings of William and Matilda, and of their sons, Robert and William Rufus. They are engraved byMontfaucon[81], and are supposed by him, probably with reason, to becoeval with the personages they represent. The figures are standing uponanimals, the distribution of which is the most remarkable circumstanceconnected with the portraits. To the king is assigned a dog; to thequeen a lion: the eldest son has the same symbol as his father; theyounger rests upon a two-bodied beast, half swine, half bird, the bodiesuniting in a female head. --Upon the same plate, Montfaucon has given asecond whole-length picture of the conqueror, which represents him withthe crown upon his head, and the sceptre in his hand. Considering thecostume, he observes with justice that it cannot have been paintedearlier than the latter part of the fourteenth century. Ducarel, who, asusual, has copied the Benedictine's engravings, says that, in his time, the same portrait existed in fresco over a chimney-piece in the porter'slodge. --We saw two copies of it; the one in the sacristy of the abbeychurch, the other in the museum, an establishment which may, withoutinjustice to the honors of Caen, be dismissed with the briefobservation, that, though three rooms are appropriated to the purpose, there is a very scanty assortment of pictures, and their quality isaltogether ordinary. 

The public library is a handsome apartment, one hundred and thirty feetin length, and it contains about twenty thousand volumes, mostly in goodcondition; but a great proportion of the books are of a descriptionlittle read, being old divinity. To the students of the university, thisestablishment is of essential service; and on this account it is to beregretted, that the very scanty revenue with which it is endowed, amounting only to twelve hundred francs per annum, prevents thepossibility of any material increase to the collection, except in thecase of such books as the liberality of the state contributes. And theseare principally works of luxury and great expence, which mightadvantageously be exchanged for the less costly productions of moreextensive utility. We inquired in vain after manuscripts and specimensof early typography. None were to be found; and yet they might surelyhave been expected here; for a public library has existed in Caen froman early part of the last century, and, previous to the revolution, itwas enriched with various donations. M. De Colleville presented to itthe whole of the collection of the celebrated Bochart; Cavelier, printerto the university, a man known by several treatises on Romanantiquities, added a donation of two thousand volumes; and Cardinal deFleury, who considered it under his especial protection, gave varioussums of money for the purchase of books, and likewise provided a salaryfor the librarian. I suspect that no small proportion of the morevaluable volumes, have been dispersed or stolen. Round the apartmenthang portraits of the most eminent men of Caen: tablets are alsosuspended, for the purpose of commemorating those who have beenbenefactors to the library; but the tablets at present are blank. 

For its university Caen is indebted to Henry VIth, who, anxious to giveéclat and popularity to British rule, founded a college by letterspatent, dated from Rouen, in January, 1431. The original charterrestricted the objects of the university to education in the canon andcivil law; but, five years subsequently, the same king issued a freshpatent, adding the faculties of theology and the arts; and, in thefollowing year, he still farther added the faculty of medicine. --Togive permanency to the work thus happily begun, the states of Normandypreferred their petition to Pope Eugene IVth, who issued two bulls, dated the thirtieth of May, 1437, and the nineteenth of May, 1439, bywhich the new university received the sanction of the holy see, and wasplaced upon the same footing as the other universities of the kingdom. The Bishop of Bayeux was at the same time appointed chancellor; andsundry apostolical privileges were conceded, which have been confirmedby subsequent pontiffs. --Thus Normandy, as is admitted by DeBourgueville, owed good as well as evil to her English sovereigns; butCharles VIIth had no sooner succeeded in expelling our countrymen fromthe province, than jealousy arose in his breast, at finding them inpossession of such a title to the gratitude of the people, and heresolved to run the risk of destroying what had been done, rather thanlose the opportunity of gratifying his personal feeling. The universitywas therefore dissolved in 1450, that a new one might hereafter befounded by the new sovereign. The king thought it necessary to vary insome degree from the example of his predecessor; and for this purpose hehad recourse to the extraordinary expedient of abolishing the faculty oflaw. A petition, however, from the states, induced him to replace thewhole upon its original footing in 1452, and it continued till the timeof the revolution to have all the five faculties, and to be the only onein France that retained them. Two years only intervened between thedates of the patents issued by Charles VIIth, upon the subject of thisuniversity; yet there is a remarkable difference in their language. Thefirst of them, which is obviously intended to disparage Caen, styles ita large town, scantily inhabited, without manufactures or commerce, anddestitute of any great river to afford facilities towards the transportof the produce of the country. The second was designed to have anopposite tendency; and in this, the people of Caen are praised for theiracuteness, and the town for its excellent harbor and great rivers. Thepatent also adds, that the nearest university, that of Paris, is fiftyleagues distant. 

In the estimation, at least, of the inhabitants, the university of Caenranks at present the third in France; Paris and Strasbourg being aloneentitled to stand before it. The faculty of law retains its oldreputation, and the legal students are quite the pride of theuniversity. Since the peace, many young jurisprudents from Jersey andGuernsey have resorted to it. Medical students generally complete theireducation at Paris, where it is commonly considered in France, that, both in theory and practice, the various branches of this faculty havenearly attained the acmè of perfection. The students, who amount to justfive hundred, are under the care of twenty-six professors, many of themmen of distinguished talents. The Abbé de la Rue fills the chair ofhistory; M. Lamouroux, that of the natural sciences. They receive theirsalaries wholly from the government; their emoluments continue the same, whether the students crowd to hear their courses, or whether theylecture to empty benches. It is strictly forbidden to a student toattempt to make any remuneration to a professor, or even to offer him apresent of any kind. The whole of the dues paid by the scholars go tothe state; and the state in its turn, defrays the expences of theestablishment. 

There is likewise at Caen an Academy of Sciences, Arts and BellesLettres, which has published two volumes; not, strictly speaking, of itsTransactions, but exhibiting a brief outline of the principal papersthat have been read at the meetings. The antiquarian dissertations ofthe Abbé de la Rue, which they contain, are of great merit; and it ismuch to be regretted, that they have not appeared in a more extendedform. A chartered academy was first founded here in the year 1705; andit continued to exist, till it was suppressed, like all othersthroughout France, at the revolution. The present establishment arose in1800, under the auspices of General Dugua, then prefect of thedepartment, who had been urged to the task by the celebrated Chaptal, Minister of the Interior. --Some interesting, letters are annexed to thesecond part of the poems of Mosant de Brieux, in which, among muchcurious information relative to Caen, he describes the literary meetingsthat led to the foundation of the first academy. The town at that timecould boast an unusual proportion of men of talents. Bochart, author of_Sacred Geography_; Graindorge, who had published _De PrincipiisGenerationîs_; Huet, a man seldom mentioned, without the epithet_learned_ being attached to his name; and Halley and Ménage, authorsalmost equally distinguished, were amongst those who were associated forthe purposes of acquiring and communicating information. 

Indeed, Caen appears at all times to have been fruitful in literarycharacters. Huet enumerates no fewer than one hundred and thirty-seven, whom he considers worthy of being recorded among the eminent men ofFrance. The greater part of them are necessarily unknown to us inEngland; and allowance must be made for a man who is writing upon asubject, in which self-love may be considered as in some degreeinvolved; the glory of our townsmen shining by reflection uponourselves. A portion, however, of the number, are men whose claims tocelebrity will not be denied. --Such, in the fifteenth century, were thepoets John and Clement Marot; such was the celebrated physician, Dalechamps, to whom naturalists are indebted for the _HistoriaPlantarum_; such the laborious lexicographer, Constantin; and, not toextend the catalogue needlessly, such above all was Malherbe. The medalthat has been struck at Caen in honor of this great man, at the expenceof Monsieur de Lair, bears for its epigraph, the three first words ofBoileau's eulogium--"Enfin Malherbe vint. "--The same inscription is alsoto be seen upon the walls of the library. So expressive a beginningprepares the reader for a corresponding sequel; and I should be guiltyof injustice towards this eminent writer, were I not to quote to you thepassage at length. --

 "Enfin, Malherbe vint, et le premier en France Fit sentir dans les vers une juste cadence: D'un mot mis en sa place enseigna le pouvoir, Et reduisit la muse aux règles du devoir. Par ce sage écrivain, la langue repareé, N'offrit plus rien de rude à l'oreille épureé. Les stances avec grâce apprirent à tomber, Et le Vers sur le Vers n'osa plus enjamber. "

Wace and Baudius, though not born at Caen, have contributed to itshonor, by their residence here. Baudius was appointed to theprofessorship of law in the university, by the President de Thou; but hedisagreed with his colleagues, and soon removed to Leyden, where hefilled the chair of history till his death. Some of his earlier letters, in the collection published by Elzevir, are dated from Caen. His Iambi, directed against his brethren of this university, are scarcely to beexceeded for severity, by the bitterest specimens of a styleproverbially bitter. Their excessive virulence defeated the writer'saim; but there is an elegance in the Latinity of Baudius, and a degreeof feeling in his sentiments, which will ensure a permanent existence tohis compositions, and especially to his poems. --He it was who calledforth the severe saying of Bayle, that "many men of learning renderthemselves contemptible in the places where they live, while they areadmired where they are known only by their writings. "--Wace was a nativeof Jersey, but an author only at Caen. The most celebrated of his worksis _Le Roman de Rou et des Normans_, written in French verse. Hededicated this romance to our Henry IInd, who rewarded him with a stallin the cathedral at Bayeux. 

[Illustration: Profile of M. Lamouroux]

Quitting the departed for the living, I send you a profile of M. Lamouroux, the professor of natural history at this university, to whomwe have been personally indebted for the kindest attention. His name iswell known to you, as that of a man who has, perhaps, deserved more thanany other individual at the hands of every student of marine Botany. Histreatises upon the _Classification of the Submersed Algæ_, have beenhonored with admission in the _Mémoires du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle_, and have procured him the distinction of being elected into the NationalInstitute: his subsequent publication on the _Corallines_, is anadmirable manual, in a very difficult branch of natural history; and heis now preparing for the press, a work of still greater labor and moreextensive utility, an arrangement of the organized fossils found in thevicinity of Caen. 

The whole of this neighborhood abounds in remains of the antediluvianworld: they are found not only in considerable quantity, but in greatperfection. In the course of last year; a fossil crocodile was dug up atAllemagne, a village about a mile distant, imbedded in blue lias. Otherspecimens of the same genus, comprising, as it appears, two species, both of them distinct from any that are known in a living state, hadpreviously been discovered in a bed of similar hard blue limestone, nearHavre and Honfleur, as well as upon the opposite shores of England. Butthe Caen specimen is the most interesting of any, as the first that hasbeen seen with its scales perfect; and the naturalists here have availedthemselves of the opportunity thus afforded them, to determine it by aspecific character, and give it the name of _Crocodilus Cadomensis_. 

The civil and ecclesiastical history of Caen will be amply illustratedin the forthcoming volumes of the Abbé de la Rue, as he is preparing awork on the subject, _à l'instar_ of the Essays of St. Foix. In theleading events of the duchy, we find the town of Caen had but littleshare. It is only upon the occasion of two sieges from our countrymen, the one in 1346, the other in 1417, that it appears to have acted aprominent part. The details of the first siege are given at some lengthby Froissart. --Edward IIIrd, accompanied by the Black Prince, had landedat La Hogue; and, meeting with no effectual resistance, had pillaged thetowns of Barfleur, Cherbourg, Carentan, and St. Lô, after which he ledhis army hither. Caen, as Froissait tells us, was at that time "large, strong, and full of drapery and all other sorts of merchandize, richcitizens, noble dames and damsels, and fine churches. " In its defencewere assembled the Constable of France, with the Counts of Eu, Guignes, and Tancarville. But the wisdom of the generals was defeated by theimpetuosity of the citizens. They saw themselves equal in number to theinvaders, and, without reflecting how little numerical superiorityavails in war against experience and tactics, they required to be ledagainst the foe. They were so, and were defeated. The conquerors andconquered entered the city pell-mell; and Edward, enraged at thecitizens for shooting upon his troops from the windows, issued ordersthat the inhabitants should be put to the sword, and the town burned. The mandate, however, was not executed: Sir Godfrey de Harcourt, withwise remonstrances, assuaged the anger of the sovereign, and divertedhim from his purpose. --Immense were the riches taken on the occasion. The English fleet returned home loaded with cloth, and jewels, and gold, and silver plate, together with sixty knights, and upwards of threehundred able men, prisoners. This gallant exploit was shortly afterwardsfollowed by the decisive battle of Crécy. 

Caen suffered still more severely upon the occasion of its secondcapture; when Henry IVth marched upon the town immediately after landingat Touques. The siege was longer, and the place, taken by assault, wasgiven up to indiscriminate plunder. Even the churches were not spared:that of the Holy Sepulchre was demolished, and, among its othertreasures, a crucifix was carried away, containing a portion of the realcross, which, as we are told, testified by so many miracles itsdispleasure at being taken to England, that the conquerors were glad torestore it to its original destination. 

From this time to the year 1450, our countrymen kept undisturbedpossession of Caen. In the latter year they capitulated to the Count deDunois, after a gallant resistance. But though the town hasthenceforward remained, without interruption, subject to the crown ofFrance, it has not therefore been always free from the miseries ofwarfare. A dreadful riot took place here in 1512, occasioned by thedisorderly conduct of a body of six thousand German mercenaries, whomLouis XIIth introduced, by way of garrison, to guard against any suddenattack from Henry VIIIth. The character given by De Bourgueville ofthese _Lansquenets_ is, that they were "drunkards who guzzle wine, cider, and beer, out of earthen pots, and then fall asleep upon thetable. " Three hundred lives were lost upon this occasion, on the part ofthe Germans alone. --In the middle of the same century, happened thecivil wars, originating in the reformation: and in the course of these, Caen suffered dreadfully from the contending parties. Friend and foeconspired alike to its ruin: what was saved from the violence of theHuguenots, was taken by the treachery of the Catholics, under theplausible pretext of its being placed in security. Thus, after theCalvinists had already seized on every thing precious that fell in theirway, the Duke de Bouillon, the governor of the town, commanded all thereliquaries, shrines, church-plate, and ecclesiastical ornaments, to becarried to him at the castle; and he had no sooner got them into hispossession, than "all holy, rich, and precious, as they were, he causedthem to be melted down, and converted into coin to pay his soldiers; andhe scattered the relics, so that they have never been seenmore. "--Loosen but the bands of society, and you will find that, in allages of the world, the case has been nearly the same; and, as upon thebanks of the Simoeis, so upon the plains of Normandy, --

 "Seditione, dolis, scelere, atque libidine, et irâ, _Iliacos_ extra muros peccatur et intra. "

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 80: Engravings of the same tiles, and of some others, chieflywith fanciful patterns, are to be found in the _Gentleman's Magazine_for March 1789, LIX. P. 211, plates 2, 3. The subjects of the latterplate are those tiles which were hung in a gilt frame, on the walls ofthe cloister of the abbey, with an inscription, denoting whence theywere taken. ]

[Footnote 81: _Monumens de la Monarchie Française_, I. P. 402, t. 55. ]

LETTER XXVII. 

VIEUX--LA MALADERIE--CHESNUT TIMBER--CAEN STONE--HISTORY OFBAYEUX--TAPESTRY. 

(_Bayeux, August_, 1818. )

Letters just received from England oblige us to change our courseentirely: their contents are of such a nature, that we could not prolongour journey with comfort or satisfaction. We must return to England;and, instead of regretting the objects which we have lost, we mustrejoice that we have seen so much, and especially that we have been ableto visit the cathedral and tapestry of Bayeux. 

At the same time, I will not deny that we certainly could have wished tohave explored the vicinity of Caen, where an ample harvest of subjects, both for the pen and pencil, is to be gathered; but the circumstancesthat control us would not even allow of a pilgrimage to the shrine ofour Lady of la Délivrande, on the border of the English Channel, or ofan excursion to the village of Vieux, in the oppositedirection. --Antiquaries have been divided in opinion, concerning thenature and character of the buildings which anciently occupied the siteof this village. --The remains of a Roman aqueduct are still to be seenthere, and the foundations of ancient edifices are distinctly to betraced. In the course of the last century, a gymnasium was likewisediscovered, of great size, constructed according to the rules laid downby Vitruvius, and a hypocaust, connected with a fine stone basin, twelvefeet in diameter, surrounded by three rows of seats. Abundance ofmedals of the upper empire, among others, of Crispina, wife to Commodus, and Latin inscriptions and sarcophagi, are frequently dug up among itsruins[82]. Hence, a belief has commonly prevailed that during the Romandominion in Gaul, Vieux was a city, and that Caen, which is only sixmiles distant, arose from its ruins. This opinion was strenuouslycombated by Huet; yet it subsequently found a new advocate in the AbbéLe Beuf[83]. The bishop contends that the extent of the buildings ratherdenotes the ruins of a fortified camp, than of a city; and he thereforeconsiders it most probable, that Vieux was the site of an encampment, raised near the Orne, for the purpose of defending the passage of theriver, at the point where it was crossed by the military road that ledfrom the district of the Bessin, to that of the Hiesmois. --Portions ofthe causeway, may still be traced, constructed of the same kind of brickas the aqueduct; and the name of the village so far tends to corroboratethe conjecture, that _Vieux_ originally denoted a ford; and the word_Vé_, which is most probably a corruption from it, retains thissignification in Norman French. --The Abbé, at the same time that he doesnot pretend to contradict the argument deduced from etymology, maintainsthat a careful comparison of the position of Vieux, with the distancesmarked on the _Tabula Peutingeriana_, and with what Ptolemy relates ofcertain towns adjoining the Viducassian territory, will support him inthe assertion, that Vieux was the ancient _Augustodurum_ the Viducassiancapital; and that Bayeux was probably the site of _Arigenus_ another ofthe towns of that tribe. --The red, veined marble of Vieux is muchesteemed in France; as are also the other marbles of this department, which vary in color from a dull white, through grey, to blue. Thequarries, as is generally believed, were first opened and worked by theRomans. Vieux marble is to be seen at Paris, where it was employed byCardinal Richelieu, in the construction of the chapel of the Sorbonne. 

At about a mile from Caen, on the road to Bayeux, stands the village ofSt. Germain de Blancherbe, more commonly called in the neighborhood _laMaladerie_, a name derived from the lazar-house in it, the _Léproseriede Beaulieu_, founded by Henry IInd, in 1161. --Robert Du Mont terms thebuilding a wonderful work. It was a princely establishment, designed forthe reception of lepers from all the parishes of Caen, except four, whose patients had an especial right to be admitted into a smallerhospital in the same place. The great hospital is now used as a house ofcorrection. Seen from the road, it appears to be principally of modernarchitecture though still retaining a portion of the ancient structure;the same, probably, as is mentioned by Ducarel, who says, that "part ofthe magnificent chapel, which was considered as the parish church forthe lepers, and ruined by the English, is turned into a large commonhall for the prisoners, and separated from the other part, which is madeinto a chapel, by means of an iron gate, through which they may have anopportunity of hearing mass celebrated every morning. "--Within thevillage street stands a desecrated church of the earliest Norman style, with a very perfect door-way. The present parish church, though chieflymodern, deserves attention on account of the west front, which is whollyof the semi-circular style, and is somewhat curious, from having twoNorman buttresses, that rise from a string-course at the top of thebasement story, (in which the arched door-way is contained, ) and arethence continued upwards till they unite with the roof. The decorationsround its southern entrance are also remarkable: they principallyconsist of a very sharp chevron moulding, interspersed with foliage andvarious figures. 

The quarries in this village, and in that of Allemagne, on the oppositeside of the Orne, supply most of the free-stone, for which Caen has, during many centuries, been celebrated. Stone of the finest quality isfound in strata of different thickness, at the depth of about sixty feetbelow the surface of the ground. If worked much lower, it ceases to begood. It is brought up in square blocks, about nine feet wide, and twofeet thick, by means of vertical wheels, placed at the mouths of thepits. When first dug from the quarry, its color is a pure and glossywhite, and its texture very soft; but as it hardens it takes a brownerhue, and loses its lustre. 

In former days this stone was exported in great quantity to our owncountry. Stow, in his _Survey of London_, states that London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, and several others of our public edifices were builtwith it. Extracts from sundry charters relative to the quarries arequoted by Ducarel, who adds that, in his time, though many cargoes ofthe stone were annually conveyed by water to the different provinces ofthe kingdom, the exportation of it out of France was strictlyprohibited, insomuch that, when it was to be sent by sea, the owner ofthe stone, as well as the master of the vessel on board of which it wasshipped, was obliged to give security that it should not be sold toforeigners. --We omitted to inquire how far the same prohibitions stillcontinue in force. 

At but a short distance from St. Germain de Blancherbe, stands theruined abbey of Ardennes, now the residence of a farmer; but stillpreserving the features of a monastic building. The convent was foundedin 1138, for canons of the Præmonstratensian order. Its Celtic namedenotes its antiquity, as it also tends to prove that this part of thecountry was covered with timber. The word, _arden_, signified a forest, and was thence applied, with a slight variation in orthography, to thelargest forest in England, and to the more celebrated forest in thevicinity of Liege. According to tradition, the Norman ardennesconsisted: of chesnut-trees. De Bourgueville tells us that timber ofthis description is the principal material of most of the houses in thetown. John Evelyn relates the same of those in London; and in our owncounties wherever a village church has been so fortunate as to preserveits ancient timber cieling, the clerk is almost sure to state that thewood is chesnut. Either this tree therefore must formerly have aboundedin places where it has now almost ceased to exist, or oak timber musthave been commonly mistaken for it: and we may equally adopt both theseconjectures. The yew and the service, as well as the chesnut, areoccasionally mentioned in old charters, and are admitted by botanists tobe indigenous in England. I should doubt, however, if any one of themcould now be found in a wild state; and there is a fashion in plantingas well as in every thing else, which renders peculiar trees more orless abundant at different times. 

About half way between Caen and Bayeux, is the village of Brettevillel'Orgueilleuse, the lofty tower of whose church, perforated with longlancet windows, and surmounted by a high spire, excites curiosity. Churches are numerous in this neighborhood, and there is no other partof Normandy, in which, architecturally considered, they are equallydeserving of notice. Scarcely one is to be seen that is not marked bysome peculiarity. I know not why Bretteville acquired the epithetattached to its name; and I am equally at a loss for the derivation ofthe word _Bretteville_ itself; but the term must have somesignification in Normandy, at least eleven villages in the duchy beingso called. 

The first part of the road to Bayeux passes through a flat and opendistrict, resembling that on the other side of Caen; in the remaininghalf, the country is enclosed, with a more varied surface. Apple-treesagain abound; and the old custom of suspending a bush over the door ofan inn is commonly practised here. For this purpose misletoe is almostalways selected. Throughout the whole of this district and theneighboring province of Brittany, the ancient attachment of the Druidsto misletoe continues to a certain degree to prevail. The commencementof the new year is hailed by shouts of "au gui; l'an neuf;" and thegathering of the misletoe for the occasion is still the pretext for amerry-making, if not for a religious ceremony. 

Bayeux was the seat of an academy of the Druids. Ausonius expresslyaddresses Attius Patera Pather, one of the professors at Bordeaux, asbeing of the family of the priesthood of this district:--

 "Doctor potentum rhetorum, Tu Bajocassis stirpe Druidarum satus;"

And tradition to this hour preserves the remembrance of the spot thatwas hallowed by the celebration of their mystic rites. This spot, aneminence adjoining the city, has subsequently served for the site of apriory dedicated to St. Nicholas _de la chesnaye_, thus commemorating bythe epithet, the oaks that formed the holy grove. Near it stood thefamous temple of Mount Phaunus, which was flourishing in the beginningof the fourth century, and, according to Rivet, was considered one ofthe three most celebrated in Gaul. Belenus was the divinity principallyworshipped in it; but, according to popular superstition, adoration wasalso paid to a golden calf, which was buried in the hill, and stillremains entombed there. Even within the last fifty years, two laborershave lost their lives in a fruitless attempt to find this hiddentreasure. Tombs, and urns, and human bones, are constantly discovered;yet neither Druidic temples, nor pillars of stone, nor cromlechs orCeltic remains of any description exist, at least, at present, in theneighborhood of Bayeux. 

Roman relics, however, abound. The vases and statues dug up near thiscity, have afforded employment to the pen and the pencil of CountCaylus, who, judging from the style of art, refers the greater part ofthem to the times of Julius and Augustus Cæsar. Medals of the earliestemperors have likewise frequently been detected among the foundations ofthe houses of the city; and even so recently as in the beginning of thepresent century, mutilated cippi, covered with Latin inscriptions, havebeen brought to light. These discoveries all tend to shew the Romanorigin of Bayeux, and two Roman causeways also join here; so that, notwithstanding the arguments of the Abbé le Beuf, most antiquariesstill believe that Bayeux was the city called by Ptolemy the _NæomagusViducassium_. --The term _Viducasses_ or _Biducasses_ was in early ageschanged to _Bajocasses_; and the city, following the custom thatprevailed in Gaul, took the appellation of _Bajocæ_, or, as it wasoccasionally written, of _Baiæ_ or _Bagicæ_. Its name in French haslikewise been subject to alterations. --During the twelfth and thirteenthcenturies, it was _Baex_ and _Bajeves_; in the fourteenth _Bajex_; inthe sixteenth _Baieux_; and soon afterwards it settled info the presentorthography. 

Pursuing the history of Bayeux somewhat farther, we find this city inthe _Notitia Galileæ_ holding the first rank among the towns of the_Secunda Lugdunensis_. During the Merovingian and Carlovingiandynasties, its importance is proved by the mint which was establishedhere. Golden coins, struck under the first race of French sovereigns, inscribed _HBAJOCAS_, and silver pieces, coined by Charles the Bald, with the legend _HBAJOCAS-CIVITAS_, are mentioned by Le Blanc. Bayeuxwas also in those times, one of the head-quarters of the highfunctionaries, entitled _Missi Dominici_, who were annually deputed bythe monarchy for the promulgation of their decrees and theadministration of justice. Two other cities only in Neustria, Rouen andLisieux, were distinguished with the same privilege. --Nor did Bayeuxsuffer any diminution of its honors, under the Norman Dukes: theyregarded it as the second town of the duchy, and had a palace here, andfrequently made it the seat of their _Aula Regio_. 

The destruction of the Roman Bayeux is commonly ascribed, like that ofthe Roman Lisieux, to the Saxon invasion. No traces of the Viducassiancapital are to be found in history, subsequently to the reign ofConstantine; no medals, no inscriptions of a later period, have been dugup within its precincts. During the earliest incursions of the Saxonsin Gaul, they seem to have made this immediate neighborhood the seat ofa permanent settlement. The Abbé Le Beuf places the district, known bythe name of the _Otlingua Saxonia_, between Bayeux and Isigny; andGregory of Tours, in his relation of the events that occurred towardsthe close of the sixth century, makes repeated mention of the _SaxonesBajocassini_, whom the early Norman historians style _Saisnes deBayeux_. Under the reign of Charlemagne, a fresh establishment of Saxonstook place here. That emperor, after the bloody defeat of this valiantpeople, about the year 804, caused ten thousand men, with their wivesand children, to be delivered up to him as prisoners, and dispersed themin different parts of France. Some of the captives were colonized inNeustria; and, among the rest, Witikind, son of the brave chief of thesame name, who had fought so nobly in defence of the liberty of hiscountry, had lands assigned to him in the Bessin. Hence, names of Saxonorigin commonly occur throughout the diocese of Bayeux; sometimes aloneand undisguised, but more frequently in composition. Thus, in _Estelan_, you will have little difficulty in recognizing _East-land: Cape laHogue_ will readily suggest the idea of a lofty promontory; itsappellation being derived from the German adjective, _hoch_, stillwritten _hoog_, in Flemish: the Saxon word for the Almighty enters intothe family names of _Argot_, _Turgot_, _Bagot_, _Bigot_, &c. ; and, notto multiply examples, the quaking sands upon the sea-shore are to thepresent hour called _bougues_, an evident corruption of our own word_bogs_. 

When, towards the middle of the same century, the Saxons were succeededby the Normans, the country about Bayeux was one of the districts thatsuffered most from the new invaders. Two bishops of the see, Sulpitiusand Baltfridus, were murdered by the barbarians; and Bayeux itself waspillaged and burned, notwithstanding the valiant resistance made by thegovernor, Berenger. This nobleman, who was count of the Bessin, waspersonally obnoxious to Rollo, for having refused him his daughter, thebeautiful Poppea, in marriage. But, on the capture of the town, Poppeawas taken prisoner, and compelled to share the conqueror's bed. Bayeuxarose from its ruins under the auspices of Botho, a Norman chieftain, towhom Rollo was greatly attached, and who succeeded to the honors ofBerenger. By him the town was rebuilt, and filled with a Normanpopulation, the consequence of which was, according to Dudo of St. Quintin, that William Longa-Spatha, the successor of Rollo, who hatedthe French language, sent his son, Duke Richard, to be educated atBayeux, where Danish alone was spoken. And the example of the Dukecontinued for some time to be imitated by his successors upon thethrone; so that Bayeux became the academy for the children of the royalfamily, till they arrived at a sufficient age to be removed to themetropolis, there to be instructed in the art of government. 

The dignity of Count of the Bessin ceased in the reign of William theConqueror, in consequence of a rebellion on the part of the barons, which had well nigh cost that sovereign his life. From that time, tillthe conquest of Normandy by the French, the nobleman, who presided overthe Bessin, bore the title of the king's viscount; and, under thisname, you will find him the first cited among the four viscounts ofLower Normandy, in the famous parliament of all the barons of this partof the duchy, convened at Caen by Henry IInd, in 1152. --When PhilipAugustus gained possession of Normandy, all similar appointments werere-modelled, and viscounts placed in every town; but their power wasrestricted to the mere administration of justice, the rest of theirprivileges being transferred to a new description of officers, who werethen created, with the name of bailiffs. The bailiwicks assigned tothese bore no reference to the ancient divisions of the duchy; but theterritorial partition made at that time, has ever since been preserved, and Caen, which was honored by Philip with a preference over Bayeux, continues to the present day to retain the pre-eminence. 

After these troubles, Bayeux enjoyed a temporary tranquillity; and, according to the celebrated historical tapestry and to the _Roman deRou_, this city was selected for the place at which William theConqueror, upon being nominated by Edward, as his successor to the crownof England, caused Harold to attend, and to do homage to him in the nameof the nation. The oath was taken upon a missal covered with cloth ofgold, in the presence of the prelates and grandees of the duchy; and thereliques of the saints were collected from all quarters to bear witnessto the ceremony. Bayeux was also the spot in which Henry Ist wasdetained prisoner by his eldest brother, and it suffered for thisunfortunate distinction; for Henry had scarcely ascended the Englishthrone, when, upon a shallow pretext, he advanced against the city, laidsiege to it, and burned it to the ground; whether moved to this act ofvengeance from hatred towards the seat of his sufferings, or to satisfythe foreigners in his pay, whom the length of the siege had muchirritated. He had promised these men the pillage of the city, and hekept his word; but the soldiers were not content with the plunder: theyset fire to the town, and what had escaped their ravages, perished inthe flames. [84] In 1356, under the reign of Edward IIIrd, Bayeuxexperienced nearly the same fate from our countrymen; and in thefollowing century it again suffered severely from their arms, till thedecisive battle of Formigny, fought within ten miles of the city, compelled Henry VIth to withdraw from Normandy, carrying with himscarcely any other trophies of his former conquests, than a greatcollection of Norman charters, and, among the rest, those of Bayeux, which are to this hour preserved in the tower of London. 

During the subsequent wars occasioned by the reformation, this town boreits share in the common sufferings of the north of France. The horrorsexperienced by other places on the occasion were even surpassed by theoutrages that were committed at Bayeux; but it is impossible to enterinto details which are equally revolting to decency and to humanity. 

Of late years, Bayeux has been altogether an open town. The old castle, the last relic of its military character, a spacious fortress flanked byten square towers, was demolished in 1773; and, as the poet of Bayeuxhas sung[85], --

 ". .. Gaulois, Romains, Saxons, Oppresseurs, opprimés, colliers, faisceaux, blasons, Tout dort. Du vieux château la taciturne enceinte Expire. Par degrés j'ai vu sa gloire éteinte. J'ai marché sur ses tours, erré dans ses fossés: Tels qu'un songe bientôt ils vont être effacés. "

And in truth, they are so effectually _effaced_, that not a singlevestige of the walls and towers can now be discovered. 

Bayeux is situated in the midst of a fertile country, particularly richin pasturage. The Aure, which washes its walls, is a small andinsignificant streamlet, and though the city is within five miles of thesea, yet the river is quite useless for the purposes of commerce, as nota vessel can float in it. The present population of the town consists ofabout ten thousand inhabitants, and these have little other employmentthan lace-making. --Bayeux wears the appearance of decay: most of thehouses are ordinary; and, though some of them are built of stone, by farthe greater part are only of wood and plaster. In the midst, however, ofthese, rises the noble cathedral; but this I shall reserve for thesubject of my next letter, concluding the present with a few remarksupon that matchless relic, which, ". .. Des siècles respecté, En peignant des héros honore la beauté. "

The very curious piece of historical needle-work, now generally known bythe name of the _Bayeux tapestry_, was first brought into public noticein the early part of the last century, by Father Montfaucon and M. Lancelot, both of whom, in their respective publications, the _Monumensde la Monarchie Française_[86], and a paper inserted in the _Mémoires del'Académie des Inscriptions_[87], have figured and described thiscelebrated specimen of ancient art. Montfaucon's plates were afterwardsrepublished by Ducarel[88], with the addition of a short dissertationand explanation, by an able antiquary of our own country, SmartLethieuilier. 

These plates, however, in the original, and still more in the copies, were miserably incorrect, and calculated not to inform, but to misleadthe inquirer. When therefore the late war was concluded and Francebecame again accessible to an Englishman, our Society of Antiquaries, justly considering the tapestry as being at least equally connected withEnglish as with French history, and regarding it as a matter of nationalimportance, that so curious a document should be made known by the mostfaithful representation, employed an artist, fitted above all others forthe purpose, by his knowledge of history and his abilities as adraughtsman, to prepare an exact fac-simile of the whole. Under theauspices of the Society, Mr. C. A. Stothard undertook the task; and hehas executed it in the course of two successive visits with the greatestaccuracy and skill. The engravings from his drawings we may hope shortlyto see: meanwhile, to give you some idea of the original, Ienclose a sketch, which has no other merit than that of being a faithfultranscript. It is reduced one half from a tracing made from the tapestryitself. By referring to Montfaucon, you will find the figure itrepresents under the fifty-ninth inscription in the original, where "aknight, with a _private_ banner, issues to mount a led horse. " Hisbeardless countenance denotes him a Norman; and the mail covering to hislegs equally proves him to be one of the most distinguished characters. 

[Illustration: Figure from the Bayeux Tapestry]

Within the few last years this tapestry has been the subject of threeinteresting papers, read before the Society of Antiquaries. The firstand most important, from the pen of the Abbé de la Rue[89], has for itsobject the refutation of the opinions of Montfaucon and Lancelot, who, following the commonly received tradition, refer the tapestry to thetime of the conquest, and represent it as the work of Queen Matilda andher attendant damsels. The Abbé's principal arguments are derived fromthe silence of contemporary authors, and especially of Wace, who washimself a canon of Bayeux;--from its being unnoticed in any charters ordeeds of gift connected with the cathedral;--from the improbability thatso large a roll of such perishable materials would have escapeddestruction when the cathedral was burned in 1106;--from the unfinishedstate of the story;--from its containing some Saxon names unknown to theNormans;--and from representations taken from the fables of Æsop beingworked on the borders, whereas the northern parts of Europe were notmade acquainted with these fables, till the translation of a portion ofthem by Henry Ist, who thence obtained his surname of_Beauclerk_. --These and other considerations, have led the learned Abbéto coincide in opinion with Lord Littleton and Mr. Hume, that thetapestry is the production of the Empress Maud, and that it was inreality wrought by natives of our own island, whose inhabitants were atthat time so famous for labors of this description, that the common modeof expressing a piece of embroidery, was by calling it _an Englishwork_. 

The Abbé shortly afterwards found an opponent in another member of thesociety, Mr. Hudson Gurney, who, without following his predecessorthrough the line of his arguments, contented himself with brieflystating the three following reasons for ascribing the tapestry toMatilda, wife to the Conqueror[90]. --_First_, that in the many buildingstherein pourtrayed, there is not the least appearance of a pointed arch, though much pointed work is found in the ornaments of the runningborder; whilst, on the contrary, the features of Norman architecture, the square buttress, flat to the walls, and the square tower surmountedby, or rather ending in, a low pinnacle, are therein frequentlyrepeated. --_Secondly_, that all the knights are in ring armour, many oftheir shields charged with a species of cross and five dots, and somewith dragons, but none with any thing of the nature of armorialbearings, which, in a lower age, there would have been; and that allwear a triangular sort of conical helmet, with a nasal, when representedarmed. --And, _Thirdly_, that the Norman banner is, invariably, _Argent_, a Cross, _Or_, in a Bordure _Azure_; and that this is repeated over andover again, as it is in the war against Conan, as well as at Pevenseyand at Hastings; but there is neither hint nor trace of the laterinvention of the Norman leopards. --Mr. Gurney's arguments are ingenious, but they are not, I fear, likely to be considered conclusive: hehowever, has been particularly successful in another observation, thatall writers, who had previously treated of the Bayeux tapestry, hadcalled it a _Monument of the Conquest of England_; following, therein, M. Lancelot, and speaking of it as an unfinished work, whereas, it is infact an _apologetical history of the claims of William to the crown ofEngland, and of the breach of faith and fall of Harold_, in a perfectand finished action. --With this explanation before us, aided by theshort indication that is given of the subjects of the seventy-twocompartments of the tapestry, a new light is thrown upon the story. 

The third memoir is from the pen of Mr. Amyot, and concludes with anable metrical translation from Wace. It is confined almost exclusivelyto the discussion of the single historical fact, how far Harold wasreally sent by the Confessor to offer the succession to William; butthis point, however interesting, in itself, is unconnected with mypresent object: it is sufficient for me to shew you the various sourcesfrom which you may derive information upon the subject. 

Supposing the Bayeux tapestry to be really from the hands of the Queen, or the Empress, (and that it was so appears to me proved by internalevidence, ) it is rather extraordinary that the earliest notice which isto be found of a piece of workmanship, so interesting from its authorand its subjects, should be contained in an inventory of the preciouseffects deposited in the treasury of the church, dated 1476. It is alsoremarkable that this inventory, in mentioning such an article, shouldcall it simply _a very long piece of cloth, embroidered with figures andwriting, representing the conquest of England_, without any reference tothe royal artist or the donor. 

Observations of this nature will suggest themselves to every one, andthe arguments urged by the Abbé de la Rue are very strong; and yet Iconfess that my own feelings always inclined to the side of those whoassign the highest antiquity to the tapestry. I think so the more sinceI have seen it. No one appears so likely to have undertaken such a taskas the female most nearly connected with the principal personageconcerned in it, and especially if we consider what the character ofthis female was: the details which it contains are so minute, that theycould scarcely have been known, except at the time when they took place:the letters agree in form with those upon Matilda's tomb; and themanners and customs of the age are also preserved. --Mr. Stothard, who isof the same opinion as to the date of the tapestry, very justlyobserves, that the last of these circumstances can scarcely besufficiently insisted upon; for that "it was the invariable practicewith artists in every country, excepting Italy, during the middle ages, whatever subject they took in hand, to represent it according to thecostume of their own times. "

Till the revolution, the tapestry was always kept in the cathedral, in achapel on the south side, dedicated to Thomas à Becket, and was onlyexposed to public view once a year, during the octave of the feast ofSt. John on which occasion it was hung up in the nave of the church, which it completely surrounded. From the time thus selected for thedisplay of it, the tapestry acquired the name of _le toile de SaintJean_; and it is to the present day commonly so called in the city. During the most stormy part of the revolution, it was secreted; but itwas brought to Paris when the fury of vandalism had subsided. And, whenthe first Consul was preparing for the invasion of England, this ancienttrophy of the subjugation of the British nation was proudly exhibited tothe gaze of the Parisians, who saw another _Conqueror_ in NapoléonBonaparté; and many well-sounding effusions, in prose and verse, appeared, in which the laurels of Duke William were transferred, byanticipation, to the brows of the child and champion of jacobinism. After this display, Bonaparté returned the tapestry to the municipality, accompanied by a letter, in which he thanked them for the care they hadtaken of so precious a relic. From that period to the present, it hasremained in the residence appropriated to the mayor, the formerepiscopal palace; and here we saw it. 

It is a piece of brownish linen cloth, about two hundred and twelve feetlong, and eighteen inches wide, French measure. The figures are workedwith worsted of different colors, but principally light red, blue, andyellow. The historical series is included between borders composed ofanimals, &c. The colors are faded, but not so much so as might have beenexpected. The figures exhibit a regular line of events, commencing withEdward the Confessor seated upon his throne, in the act of dispatchingHarold to the court of the Norman Duke, and continued through Harold'sjourney, his capture by the Comte de Ponthieu, his interview withWilliam, the death of Edward, the usurpation of the British throne byHarold, the Norman invasion, the battle of Hastings, and Harold's death. These various events are distributed into seventy-two compartments, eachof them designated by an inscription in Latin. Ducarel justly comparesthe style of the execution to that of a girl's sampler. The figures arecovered with work, except on their faces, which are merely in outline. In point of drawing, they are superior to the contemporary sculpture atSt. Georges and elsewhere; and the performance is not deficient inenergy. The colors are distributed rather fancifully: thus the fore andoff legs of the horses are varied. It is hardly necessary to observethat perspective is wholly disregarded, and that no attempt is made toexpress light and shadow. 

Great attention, however, is paid to costume; and more individuality ofcharacter has been preserved than could have been expected, consideringthe rude style of the workmanship. The Saxons are represented with longmustachios: the Normans have their upper lip shaven, and retain littlemore hair upon their heads than a single lock in front. --Historiansrelate how the English spies reported the invading army to be whollycomposed of ecclesiastics; and this tapestry affords a graphicalillustration of the chroniclers' text. Not the least remarkable featureof the tapestry, in point of costume, lies in the armor, which, in someinstances, is formed of interlaced rings; in others, of squarecompartments; and in others, of lozenges. Those who contend for theantiquity of Duke William's equestrian statue at Caen, may find aconfirmation of their opinions in the shape of the saddles assigned tothe figures of the Bayeux tapestry; and equally so in their cloaks, andtheir pendant braided tresses. 

The tapestry is coiled round a cylinder, which is turned by a winch andwheel; and it is rolled and unrolled with so little attention, that ifit continues under such management as the present, it will be whollyruined in the course of half a century. It is injured at the beginning:towards the end it becomes very ragged, and several of the figures havecompletely disappeared. The worsted is unravelling too in many of theintermediate portions. As yet, however, it is still in goodpreservation, considering its great age, though, as I have justobserved, it will not long continue so. The bishop and chapter havelately applied to government, requesting that the tapestry may berestored to the church. I hope their application will be successful. 

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 82: The most interesting relic of Roman times yet found atVieux, is a cippus of variegated marble, about five feet high by twofeet wide, and bearing inscriptions upon three of its sides. Itgenerally passes in France by the name of the _Torigny marble_, beingpreserved at the small town of the latter name, whither it was carriedin 1580, the very year when it was dug up. The Abbé Le Beuf has made itthe subject of a distinct paper in the _Mémoires de l'Académie desInscriptions_. This cippus supported a statue raised in honor of TitusSennius Sollemnis, a Viducassian by birth, and one of the high priestsof the town. The statue was erected to him after his death, in theViducassian capital, upon a piece of ground granted by the senate forthe purpose, in pursuance of a general decree passed by the province ofGaul. The inscriptions set forth the motives that induced the nation tobestow so marked a distinction upon a simple individual; and, in theforemost rank of his merits, they place the games which he had given tohis fellow-citizens, during four successive days. ]

[Footnote 83: _Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions_, XXI. P. 489. ]

[Footnote 84: _Archæologia_, XVII. P. 911. ]

[Footnote 85: _Bayeux et ses Environs, par M. Delauney_, p. 12. ]

[Footnote 86: I. P. 371-379; pl. 35-49, and II. P. 1-29; pl. 1-9. ]

[Footnote 87: VI. P. 739, and VIII. P. 602. ]

[Footnote 88: _Anglo-Norman Antiquities_, Appendix, No. 1. ]

[Footnote 89: _Archæologia_, XVII. P. 85. ]

[Footnote 90: _Archæologia_, XVIII. P. 359. ]

[Illustration: Sculpture at Bayeux]

LETTER XXVIII. 

CATHEDRAL OF BAYEUX--CANON OF CAMBREMER--COPE OF ST. REGNOBERT--ODO. 

(_Bayeux, August_, 1818. )

Excepting the tapestry and the cathedral, Bayeux, at this time, offersno objects of interest to the curious traveller. Its convents are eitherdemolished, or so dilapidated or altered, that they have lost theircharacteristic features; and its eighteen parish churches are nowreduced to four. We wandered awhile about the town, vainly looking aftersome relic of ancient art, to send you by way of a memento of Bayeux. Atlength, two presented themselves--the entrance of the corn-market, formerly the chapel of St. Margaret, a Norman arch, remarkable for thelamb and banner, an emblem of the saint, sculptured on the transomstone; and a small stone tablet, attached to an old house near thecathedral. The whimsical singularity of the latter, induced us to giveit the preference. It may possibly be of the workmanship of thefourteenth century, and possibly much later. In all probability, it owesits existence merely to a caprice on the part of the owner of theresidence, whose crest may be indicated by the tortoises which surmountthe columns by way of capitals. Still there is merit in the performance, though perhaps for nothing so much as for the accurate resemblance ofpeeled wood; and this I never saw imitated with equal fidelity in stone. 

But, however unattractive Bayeux may be in other respects, so long asthe cathedral is suffered to stand, the city will never want interest. It is supposed that the first church erected here was built by St. Exuperius otherwise called St. Suspirius, or St. Spirius, who, accordingto the distich subjoined to his portrait, formerly painted on one of thewindows of the nave, was not only the earliest bishop of the diocese, but claimed the merit of having introduced the Christian faith intoNormandy, --

 "Primitùs hic pastor templi fuit hujus et auctor, Catholicamque fidem Normannis attulit idem. "

St. Exuperius lived in the third century, and his efforts towards thepropagation of the gospel were attended with so great success, that hissuccessor, St. Regnobert, was obliged to take down the edifice thusrecently raised, and to re-construct it on a more enlarged scale, forthe purpose of accommodating the increasing congregation. Regnobert islikewise reported to have built the celebrated chapel on the sea-coast, dedicated to our Lady de la Délivrande; and the people believe that aportion at least, of both the one and the other of these originaledifices, exists to the present day. The Abbé Béziers, however, in his_History of Bayeux_, maintains, and with truth, that St. Regnobert'scathedral was destroyed by the Normans; and he adds that, immediatelyafter the conversion of Rollo, another was raised in its stead on thesame spot, and that this latter was one of those which the chieftainmost enriched by his endowments at the period of his baptism. 

A dreadful fire, in the year 1046, reduced the Norman cathedral toashes; but the episcopal throne was then filled by a prelate who wantedneither disposition nor abilities to repair the damage. Hugh, the thirdbishop of that name, son to Ralph, Count of the Bessin, who, by themother's side, was brother to Duke Richard Ist, presided at that timeover the see of Bayeux. Jealous for the honor of his diocese, theprelate instantly applied himself to rebuild the cathedral; but he livedto see only a small progress made in his work. It was finished by aprelate of still greater, though evil celebrity, the unruly Odo, brotherto the Conqueror, who, for more than fifty years, continued bishop ofthis see, and by his unbounded liberality and munificence in thedischarge of his high office, proved himself worthy of his princelydescent. The Conqueror and his queen, attended by their sons, Robert andWilliam, and by the archbishops of Canterbury and York, as well as bythe various bishops and barons of the province, were present at thededication of the church, which was performed in 1077, by John, Archbishop of Rouen. Odo, on the occasion, enriched his church withvarious gifts, one of which has been particularly recorded. It was acrown of wood and copper, sixteen feet high and thirty-eight feet indiameter, covered with silver plates, and diversified with other crownsin the shape of towers; the whole made to support an immense number oftapers, that were lighted on high festivals. This crown was suspended inthe nave, opposite the great crucifix; and it continued to hang theretill it was destroyed by the Huguenots, in 1562. 

It is doubtful how much, or indeed if any portion, of the church erectedby Odo be now in existence. Thirty years had scarcely elapsed from thedate of its dedication, when, as I have already mentioned to you, thetroops of Henry Ist destroyed Bayeux with fire. The ruin was socomplete, that for more than fifty years, no attempt was made tore-construct the cathedral; but it remained in ashes until the year1157, when bishop, Philip of Harcourt, determined to restore it. Aquestion has arisen whether the oldest part of what is now standing, bethe work of Philip or of Odo. The lapse of eighty years in those earlytimes, would perhaps occasion no very sensible difference in style; andchroniclers do not afford the means of determining, if, at the time whenBayeux suffered so dreadfully in 1106, the church was actually burned tothe ground, or only materially damaged. In the _History of the Diocese_we are merely told that Philip, having, by means of papal bulls, happilysucceeded in regaining possession of all the privileges, honors, andproperty of the see, began to rebuild his cathedral in 1159, andcompleted it with great glory and expence. --From that time forward, wehear no more of demolition or of re-edification; but the injuries done bythe silent lapse of ages, and the continued desire on the part of theprelates to beautify and to enlarge their church, have produced nearlythe same effect as fire or warfare. The building, as it now stands, is amedley of various ages; and, in the absence of historical record, itwould be extremely difficult to define the several portions that are tobe assigned to each. 

The west front is flanked by two Norman towers, bold and massy, withsemi-circular arches in the highest stories. The spires likewise appearancient, though these and the surrounding pinnacles are all gothic. Thenorthern one, according to tradition, was built with the church; thesouthern, in 1424. They both greatly resemble those of the abbey-churchof St. Stephen at Caen. But the whole centre of this front, and indeedboth the sides also, as high as the roof, is faced by a screen dividedinto five compartments. In the middle is a large, wide, pointed arch, with a square-headed entrance beneath. North and south of this are deeparches, evidently older, but likewise pointed, having their sides abovethe pillars, and the flat arched part of the door-way, filled with smallfigures. The door-ways themselves are arches that occupy only one halfof the width of those which enclose them. In the two exteriorcompartments the arches are unpierced, and are flanked by a profusion ofclustered pillars. Over each of the four lateral arches, rises acrocketed pyramid: the central one is surmounted by a flat balustrade, above which, behind the screen, is a large pointed window, and over it arow of saints, standing under trefoil-headed arches, arranged in pairs, the pediment terminating above each pair of arches in a pyramidalcanopy. 

The outside of the nave is of florid gothic, but it is not of a purestyle; nor is the southern portal, which, nevertheless, considered as awhole, is bold and appropriate. On each side of the door-way wereoriginally three statues, whose tabernacles remain, though the saintshave been torn out of the niches. Over the door is a bas-relief, containing numerous figures disposed in three compartments, andrepresenting some legendary tale, which our knowledge of that kind oflore would not enable us to decipher. --The exterior of the choir islikewise of pointed architecture: it is considerably more simple, andexcels, in this respect, the rest of the church. But even here there isa great want of uniformity: some of the windows are deeply imbedded inthe walls; others are nearly on a level with their surface. --The cupola, which caps the low central tower, is wretchedly at variance with theother parts of the building. It was erected in the year 1714, at theexpence of the bishop, Francis de Nesmond; and it is, as might beexpected from a performance of that period, rather Grecian than gothic. Whichever style it may be termed, it is a bad specimen of either. Andyet, such as it is, we are assured by Béziers, that it was built afterthe designs of a celebrated architect of the name of Moussard, and thatit excited particular attention, and called forth loud praises, on thepart of the Maréchal de Vauban, who was, probably, a better judge of amodern fortification, than of a gothic cathedral. 

The interior of the church consists of a wide nave, with side-aisles, and chapels beyond them. The first six piers of the nave are very massy, and faced with semi-circular pillars supporting an entablature. Thearches above them are Norman, encircled with rich bands, composedchiefly of the chevron moulding and diamonds. On one of them is acurious border of heads, as upon the celebrated door-way at Oxford; butthe heads at Bayeux are of much more regular workmanship and moredistinctly defined. Had circumstances allowed, I would have sent you anaccurate drawing of them; but our time did not permit such a one to bemade, and I must beg of you to be contented with the annexed slightsketch. 

[Illustration: Border of heads]

The wall above the arches is incrusted with a species of tessellatedwork of free-stone, of varied patterns, some interwoven, othersreticulated, as seen in the sketches: the lines indented in the stones, as well as the joints which form the patterns, are filled with a blackcement or mastich, so as to form a kind of _niello_. 

[Illustration: Tessellated work of free stone]

With the sixth arch of the nave begins the pointed style. The capitalsof the pillars are complicated, and the carving upon them is an evidentattempt at an imitation of the Grecian orders. In this part of thechurch there is no triforium; but a row of small quartrefoils runsimmediately above the ornaments of the spandrils; and above thequatrefoils is a cornice of an antique pattern, which is surmounted by alight gallery in front of the windows of the clerestory, the largestwindows I remember to have seen in a similar situation. They extendalmost from the roof to the line of the old Norman basement. Theirmagnitude is rendered still more remarkable by their being arranged inpairs, each separate pair inclosed within a pointed arch, and itswindows parted only by a clustered pillar. The very lofty arches thatsupport the central tower, are likewise pointed; as are those of thetransepts, the choir, the side-aisles, and the chapels. In short, excepting the arches immediately beneath the northern and southerntowers, which are most probably relics of Odo's cathedral, the part ofthe nave, which I first described, is all that is left above-ground ofthe semi-circular style; and this is of a very different character fromwhatever else I have seen of Norman architecture. The circular ornamentsinserted in the spandrils of the arches of the choir, possess, as afriend of mine observes, somewhat of the Moorish, or, perhaps, Tartariancharacter; being nearly in the style of the ornaments which are found inthe same situation in the Mogul mosques and tombs, though here they havemuch more flow and harmony in the curves. Some are merely in bas-relief:in others the central circles are deeply perforated, whilst the ribs arecomposed of delicate tracery. --There are so many peculiarities both inthe arrangement and in the details of this cathedral[91], that it isquite impossible to convey an adequate idea of them by a verbaldescription; and I can only hope that they will be hereafter madefamiliar to the English antiquarian by the pencil of Mr. Cotman or Mr. Stothard. 

[Illustration: Ornaments in the Spandrils of the Arches in BayeuxCathedral]

The screen that separates the nave from the choir is Grecian, and is asmuch at variance with the inside of such a church, as the cupola, whichis nearly over it, is with the exterior. --Upon the roof of the choir, are still to be seen the portraits of the first twenty-one bishops ofBayeux, each with his name inscribed by his side. The execution of theportraits is very rude, particularly that of the twelve earliest, whosebusts are represented. The artist has contented himself with exhibitingthe heads only, of the remaining nine. Common tradition refers the wholeof these portraits to the time of Odo; but it is hardly necessary toobserve, that the groined and pointed vaulting is subsequent to hisdate. --Bayeux cathedral abounded in works of this description of art:the walls of the chapels of the choir were covered with largefresco-paintings, now nearly obliterated. --It is believed, and withevery appearance of probability, that the Lady-Chapel was erected at atime posterior to the rest of the building; but there is no certainaccount of its date. Before the revolution, it served as a burial-placefor some of the bishops of the see, and for a duke of the noble familyof Montemart. Their tombs ornamented the chapel, which now appearsdesolate and naked, retaining no other of its original decorations, thana series of small paintings, which represent the life of the HolyVirgin, and are deserving of some attention from the character ofexpression in the faces, though the drawing in general is bad. Over thealtar is a picture, in which an angel is pointing out our Savior and theVirgin to a dying man, whose countenance is admirable. --The stalls ofthe choir display a profusion of beautiful oak carving; and beneath themare sculptured _misereres_, the first which we have observed inNormandy. --Very little painted glass is to be found in any part of thechurch; but the glazing of the windows is composed of complicatedpatterns. This species of ornament was introduced about the time ofLouis XIVth; and Felibien, who has given several pattern plates in histreatise on architecture, observes, that it was intended to supply theplace of painted glass, which, as it was then thought, excluded thelight. 

Beneath the choir is a subterraneous chapel dedicated to St. Maimertus, otherwise called St. Manvieu. Its character is so similar to that of thecrypt at the abbey of the Holy Trinity at Caen, that there would belittle risk in pronouncing it to be part of Odo's church. It issupported on twelve pillars, disposed in two rows, the last pillar ofeach row being imbedded in the wall. The capitals of the pillars arecarved, each with a different design from the rest. Their sculpturebears a strong resemblance to some of what is seen in similar situationsin the Egyptian temples; indeed, so strong, that a very able judge tellsme he has been led to suspect that the model might have been introducedby an anchorite from the desert. Take the following as a specimen. 

[Illustration: Capital of pillar]

The walls of the crypt are covered with paintings, probably of thefifteenth century; but those upon the springing of the arches above thepillars, appear considerably older. Each spandril contains an angel, holding a trumpet or other musical instrument. The outlines of thesefigures are strongly drawn in black. --Upon the right-hand side, onentering the chapel, is the altar-tomb of John de Boissy, who was bishopat the beginning of the fifteenth century; and, on the opposite side, stands that of his immediate predecessor, Nicolas de Bosc. Theirmonuments were originally ornamented with bas-reliefs and paintings, allwhich were mutilated and effaced during the religious wars. De Boissy'seffigy, however, remains, though greatly injured; and the followingepitaph to his memory is preserved in a perfect state, over the onlywindow that gives light to this crypt. The inscription is curious, asrecording the discovery of the chapel, which had been forgotten andunknown for centuries. 

 "En l'an mil quatre cens et douze Tiers jour d'Avril que pluye arrouse Les biens de la terre, la journée Que la Pasques fut célébrée Noble homme et révérend père Jehan de Boissy, de la mère Eglise de Bayeux Pasteur Rendi l'âme à Son Créateur Et lors en foillant la place Devant le grant autel de grâce Trova l'on la basse chapelle Dont il n'avoit esté nouvelle Ou il est mis en sépulture Dieu veuille avoir son âme en cure, --Amen. "

This inscription is engraved as prose: verse is very frequently writtenin this manner in ancient manuscripts, which custom, as Joseph Ritsonconjectured, arose "from a desire of promoting the salvation ofparchment. " I must also add, that the initial letters are colored redand blue, so that the whole bears a near resemblance to a manuscriptpage. 

There is another epitaph, engraved in large letters, upon the exteriorof the southern tower, which is an odd specimen of the spirit of themiddle ages. It is supposed to have been placed there in the twelfthcentury. 

 "Quarta dies Pasche fuerat cum Clerus ad hujus Que jacet hic vetule venimus exequias: Letitieque diem magis amisisse dolemus Quam centum tales si caderent vetule. "

Some authors contend, that the old lady alluded to was the mistress ofone of the Dukes of Normandy: others believe her to have been the _chèreamie_ of Robert, Earl of Gloucester, illegitimate son to Henry Ist. 

Till lately, there was an epitaph within the church, which, withoutcontaining in itself any thing remarkable, strange, or mysterious, had alegend connected: with it, that supplied the verger with aninexhaustible fund of entertainment for the curious and the credulous. The epitaph simply commemorated John Patye, canon of the prebend ofCambremer, who died in 1540; but upon the same plate of copper with theinscription, was also engraved the Virgin, with John Patye at her feet, kneeling, and apparently in the act of reading from a book placed on afald-stool. Behind the priest stood St. John the Baptist, the patronsaint of the prebend, having one hand upon his votary's neck, while withthe other he pointed to a lamb. --In all this, there was still nothingremarkable: unfortunately, however, the artist, wishing perhaps to addimportance to the saint, had represented him of gigantic stature; andhence originated the story, which continues to the present day, tofrighten the old women, and to amuse the children of Bayeux. --

 Once upon a time, the wicked canons of the cathedral murdered their bishop; in consequence of which foul deed, they and their successors for ever, were enjoined, by way of penance, annually to send one of their number to Rome, there to chaunt the epistle at the midnight mass. In the course of revolving centuries, this vexatious duty fell to the turn of the canon of Cambremer, who, to the surprise of the community, testified neither anxiety nor haste on the occasion. --Christmas-eve arrived, and the canon was still in his cell: Christmas-night came, and still he did not stir. At length, when the mass was actually begun, his brethren, more uneasy than himself, reproached him with his delay; upon which he muttered his spell, called up a spirit, mounted him, reached Rome in the twinkling of an eye, performed his task, and, the service being ended, he stormed the archives of the Vatican, where he burned the compulsory act, and then returned by the same conveyance to Bayeux, which he reached before the mass was completed, and, to the unspeakable joy of the chapter, announced the happy tidings of their deliverance. 

So idle and unmeaning is the tale, that I should scarcely have thoughtit worth while to have repeated it, but for the Latin distich, which, asthe story goes, was extemporized by the demon, at the moment when theywere flying over the Tuscan sea, and by which he sought to mislead hisrider, and to cause him to end his journey beneath the deep. --The senseof the verses is not very perspicuous, but they are remarkable forreading forwards and backwards the same; and though to you they mayappear a childish waste of intellect, you will, I am sure, admit them tobe ingenious, and they may amuse some of the younger members of yourfamily:--

 "Signa te, signa, temerè me tangis et angis; Roma tibi subito motibus ibit amor. "--

I must dismiss the canon of Cambremer, by stating, that I am informed bya friend, that the same story is also found in the lives of sundry otherwizards and sorcerers of the good old times. 

Bayeux cathedral, like the other Neustrian churches, has been deprivedof its sainted relics, and its most precious treasures, in consequenceof the successive spoliations which have been inflicted upon it byheathen Normans, heretical Calvinists, and philosophical jacobins. Thebody of St. Exuperius was carried, in the ninth century, for safety toCorbeil, and the chapter have never been able to recover it: that of St. Regnobert was in after times stolen by the Huguenots. Many are theattempts that have been made to regain the relics of the first bishop ofthe see; but the town of Corbeil retained possession, whilst theBajocessians attempted to console themselves by antitheticalpiety. --"Referamus Deo gratias, nec inde aliquid nos minus haberecredamus, quòd Corbeliensis civitas pignus sacri corporis vindicavit. Teneant illi tabernaculum beatæ animæ in cineribus suis; nos ipsamteneamus animam in virtutibus suis: teneant illi ossa, nos merita: apudillos videatur remansisse quod terræ est, nos studeamus habere quodcoeli est: amplectantur illi quod sepulchre, nos quod Paradisocontinetur. Meminerit et beatior ille vir, utrique quidem loco, sed huicspeciali se jure deberi. "--St. Regnobert's _chasuble_ is however, leftto the church, together with his maniple and his stole, all of themarticles of costly and elaborate workmanship. They were found in hiscoffin, when it was opened by the Calvinists; and they are now worn bythe bishop, on the anniversary of the saint, as well as on five otherhigh festivals, during the year; at which times, the faithful press withgreat devotion to kiss them. When not in use, they are kept in an ivorychest, magnificently embossed with solid silver, and bearing aninscription in the Cufic character, purporting that whatever honor menmay have given to God, they cannot honor him so much as He deserves. Father Tournemine, the Jesuit, is of opinion, that this box was taken bythe French troops, under Charles Martel, in their pillage of the Saracencamp, at the time of the memorable defeat of the infidels; and that itwas afterwards presented to Charles the Bald, whose queen, Hermentrude, devoted it to the pious purpose of holding the relics of Regnobert, ingratitude for a cure which the monarch had received through theintercession of the saint. But this is merely a conjecture, and it isnot improbable but that the chest may have been brought from Sicily, which abounded with Arabic artificers, at the time when it was occupiedby the Normans. 

St. Regnobert, who was one of the most illustrious bishops of Bayeux, isplaced second on the list, in the _History of the Diocese_; but in the_Gallia Christiana_ he stands twelfth in order. It was customary beforethe revolution, and it possibly may be so at present, for theinhabitants of the city, upon the twenty-fourth of October, theanniversary of his feast, to bring their domestic animals in solemnprocession to the church, there to receive the episcopal benediction, inthe same manner as is practised by the Romans with their horses, on thefeast of St. Anthony. --St. Lupus, the fourth bishop, and St. Lascivus, the tenth, are remarkable for their names. St. Lupus is said to havebeen so called from his having destroyed the wolves in the vicinity ofBayeux[92]; and the other is reported to have been descended from thesame person, whom Ausonius addresses in the following stanza, which haslikewise been applied to this bishop. 

 "Iste _Lascivus_ patiens vocari, Nomen indignum probitate vitae Abnuit nunquam; quia gratum ad aures Esset amicas. "--

But neither among her ancient nor her modern prelates can Bayeux boastof a name equally distinguished as that of Odo. Many were unquestionablythe misdeeds of this great man, and many were probably his crimes, butno one who wore the episcopal mitre, ever deserved better of the see. Asa statesman, Odo bore a leading part in all the principal transactions ofthe times: as a soldier, he accompanied the Conqueror to England, fought by his side at Hastings, and by his eloquence and his valor, contributed greatly to the success of that memorable day. Nor wasWilliam tardy in acknowledging the merits of his brother; for no soonerdid he find himself seated firmly on the throne, than he rewarded Odowith the earldom of Kent, and appointed him his viceroy in England, whilst he himself crossed the channel, to superintend his affairs inNormandy. But the mind which was proof against difficulties, yielded, astoo commonly happens, to prosperity. Nothing less than the papacy couldsatisfy the ambition of Odo: he abused the power with which he wasinvested in a flagrant manner; and William, finally, disgusted with hisproceedings, arrested him with his own hand, and committed him prisonerto the old palace at Rouen, where he continued till the death of themonarch. --The sequel of the story is of the same complexion: more plots, attended now with success, and now with disgrace; till at length theprelate resolved to expiate his sins by a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and died on his journey, at Palermo. --Such was Odo in his secularcharacter: as a churchman, historians unanimously agree that he was mostzealous for the honor of his diocese, indefatigable in re-building thechurches which time or war had destroyed, liberal in endowments, munificent in presents, and ever anxiously intent upon procuring asupply of able ministers, establishing regular discipline, and reformingthe morals of the flock committed to his charge. 

The Bishop of Bayeux has at all times claimed the distinction of beingregarded the first among the suffragan bishops of the Norman church. Inthe absence of the archbishop, he presides at, the ecclesiasticalassemblies and councils. His revenue, before the revolution, wasestimated at one hundred thousand livres: per annum. The see, in pointof antiquity, even contests for the priority with Rouen. From timeimmemorial, the chapter has enjoyed the right of mintage; and theyappear to have used it till the year 1577, at which time their coin wasso much counterfeited, that they were induced to recal it by publicproclamation. Their money, which was of the size of a piece of two sous, was stamped, on one side, with a two-headed eagle, and the legend_moneta capituli_; and on the obverse, with the letter V, surrounded bythe word _Bajocensis_. The eagle was probably adopted, in allusion tothe arms of the see, which were, _gules_; an eagle displayed with twoheads, _or_[93]. --Another privilege of the chapter was, that no personof illegitimate birth could be allowed to hold place in it, under anypretext or dispensation whatever. --Among their peculiar customs, theyimitated that of the see of Rouen, in the annual election of aboy-bishop upon Innocents'-day; a practice prevalent in many churches inSpain and Germany, and notoriously in England at Salisbury. Theyoung chorister took the crozier in his hands, during the first vespers, at the verse in the _Magnificat_, "He has put down the mighty from theirseats, and has exalted the humble and meek;" and he resigned his dignityat the same verse in the second vespers. --The ceremony was abolished in1482. 

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 91: The following are the dimensions of the church, in Frenchmeasure, according to Béziers. 

 FEET. Height of the central tower 224 Ditto of the two western ditto 230 Length of the interior of the church 296 Width of ditto 76 Height of ditto 76 Length of the nave 140 Width of ditto 38 Ditto of side-aisles 17 Ditto of chapels 15 Length of the transepts 113 Width of ditto 33 Length of the choir 118 Width of ditto 36

]

[Footnote 92: A new St. Lupus is now wanted for the see; for wolves areby no means extinct in the neighborhood of Bayeux. We saw a tame one, kept near the cathedral, which had been taken in the woods, about a yearago, when it was quite young. Wild boars are likewise found inconsiderable numbers, and the breed is encouraged for the purposes ofhunting. ]

[Footnote 93: In its origin, the _Baiocco_ of Naples seems to have beenthe two-penny piece of Bayeux, its denomination being abbreviated fromthe last word in the legend. It has been supposed that the coin wasstruck and named by lusty Joan, as a token of her affection towards aFrisick warrier, who, in his own country, was called the _Boynke_, orthe Squire; but we think that our etymology is the most natural one. ]

LETTER XXIX. CHURCH AND CASTLE OFCREULLY--FALAISE--CASTLE--CHURCHES-FAIR OF GUIBRAY. 

(_Falaise, August_, 1818. )

Previously to quitting Bayeux, we paid our respects to M. Pluquet, adiligent antiquary, who has been for some time past engaged in writing ahistory of the city. His collections for this purpose are extensive, andthe number of curious books which he possesses is very considerable. Amongst those which he shewed to us, the works relating to Normandyconstituted an important portion. His manuscript missals are numerousand valuable. I was also much pleased by the inspection of an old copyof Aristophanes, which had formerly belonged to Rabelais, and bore uponits title-page the mark of his ownership, in the hand-writing of thewitty, though profligate, satirist himself. M. Pluquet's kindnessallowed me to make the tracing of the signature, which I send you. --

[Illustration: Rabelais hand-writing]

Such an addition as we here find to Rabelais' name, denoting that theowner of a book considered it as being the property of his friendsconjointly with himself, is not of uncommon occurrence. Our friend, Mr. Dibdin, who had been here shortly before us, and had carried off, as wewere told, some works of great rarity from this collection, hasenumerated more than one instance of the kind in his _BibliographicalDecameron_; and the valuable library of my excellent friend, Mr. Sparrow, of Worlingham, contains an Erasmus, which was the property ofSir Thomas Wotton, and bears, stamped upon its covers, _Thomae Wotton etamicorum_. 

From Bayeux we returned to Caen, by way of Creully, passing along badroads, through an open, uninteresting country, almost wholly croppedwith buck-wheat. --The barony of Creully was erected by Henry Ist, infavor of his natural son, the Earl of Gloucester: it was afterwards heldby different noble families, and continued to be so till the time of therevolution. At that period, it gave a title to a branch of the line ofMontmorenci, whose emigration caused the domain to be confiscated, andsold as national property; but the baronial castle is still standing, and displays, in two of its towers and in a chimney of unusual form, aportion of its ancient character: the rest of the building is modernizedinto a spruce, comfortable residence, and is at this time occupied by acountryman of our own, General Hodgson. 

The church at Creully is one of the most curious we have seen. The nave, side-aisles, and choir, are all purely Norman, except at theextremities. The piers are very massy; the arches wide and low; thecapitals covered with rude, but most remarkable sculpture, which isvaried on every pillar. Round the arches of the nave runs a band of thechevron ornament; and over them is a row of lancet windows, devoid ofornament, and sunk in a wall of extraordinary thickness. Externally, allis modernized. 

The view of Caen, on entering from this direction, is still moreadvantageous than that on the approach from Lisieux. Time would notallow of our making any stop at the town on our return: we thereforeproceeded immediately to Falaise, passing again through an open andmonotonous country, which, thoughtfully cultivated, has a most drearyaspect from the scantiness of its population. We saw, indeed, as we wentalong, distant villages, thinly scattered, in the landscape, but noother traces of habitations; and we proceeded upwards of five leagues onour way, before we arrived at a single house by the road-side. 

[Illustration: Castle of Falaise]

Falaise appeared but the more beautiful, from the impression which thedesolate scenery of the previous country had left upon our minds. Thecontrast was almost equally pleasing and equally striking, as when, intravelling through Derbyshire, after having passed a tract of drearymoors, that seems to lengthen as you go, you suddenly descend into thelovely vallies of Matlock or of Dovedale. Not that the vale of Falaisemay compete with those of Derbyshire, for picturesque beauty or boldromantic character; but it has features exclusively its own; and itsdeficiency in natural advantages is in some measure compensated, by theaccessories bestowed by art. The valley is fertile and well wooded: thetown itself, embosomed within rows of lofty elms, stretches along thetop of a steep rocky ridge, which rises abrupt from the vale below, presenting an extensive line of buildings, mixed with trees, flankedtowards the east by the venerable remains of the castle of the NormanDukes, and at the opposite extremity, by the church of the suburb ofGuibray, planted upon an eminence. Near the centre stands the principalchurch of Falaise, that of St. Gervais; and in front of the wholeextends the long line of the town walls, varied with towers, andapproached by a mound across the valley, which, as at Edinburgh, holdsthe place of a bridge. 

The name _Falaise_, denotes the position of the town: it is said to be aword of Celtic origin; but I should rather suppose it to be derived fromthe Saxon, and to be a modification of the German word, _fels_, a rock, in which conjecture I find I am borne out by Adelung: _falesia_, inmodern Latinity, and _falaise_, in French, signify a rocky shore. Hence, Brito, at the commencement of his relation of the siege by PhilipAugustus, says, "Vicus erat scabrâ circumdatus undique rupe, Ipsius asperitate loci Falæsa vocatus, Normannæ in medio regionis, cujus in altâ Turres rupe sedent et mÅ“nia; sic ut ad illam Jactus nemo putet aliquos contingere posse. "--

The dungeon of Falaise, one of the proudest relics of Norman antiquity, is situated on a very bold and lofty rock, broken into fantastic andsingular masses, and covered with luxuriant vegetation. The keep whichtowers above it is of excellent masonry: the stones are accuratelysquared, and put together with great neatness, and the joints are small;and the arches are turned clearly and distinctly, with the key-stone orwedge accurately placed in all of them. Some parts of the wall, towardsthe interior ballium, are not built of squared free-stone; but of thedark stone of the country, disposed in a zigzag, or as it is morecommonly called, in a herring-bone direction, with a great deal ofmortar in the interstices: the buttresses, or rather piers, are of smallprojection, but great width. The upper story, destroyed about fortyyears since, was of a different style of architecture. According to anold print, it terminated with a large battlement, and bartizan towers atthe angles. This dungeon was formerly divided into several apartments;in one of the lower of which was found, about half a century ago, a veryancient tomb, of good workmanship, ornamented with a sphynx at each end, but bearing no inscription whatever. Common report ascribed the coffinto Talbot, who was for many years governor of the castle; and at lengthan individual engraved upon it an epitaph to his honor; but the fraudwas discovered, and the sarcophagus put aside, as of no account. Thesecond, or principal, story of the keep, now forms a single square room, about fifty feet wide, lighted by circular-headed windows, each dividedinto two by a short and massy central pillar, whose capital isaltogether Norman. On one of the capitals is sculptured a child leadinga lamb, a representation, as it is foolishly said, of the Conqueror, whom tradition alleges to have been born in the apartment to which thiswindow belonged: another pillar has an elegant capital, composed ofinterlaced bands. 

Connected with the dungeon by a stone staircase is a small apartment, very much dilapidated, but still retaining a portion of its originalfacing of Caen stone. It was from the window of this apartment, as thestory commonly goes, that Duke Robert first saw the beautiful Arlette, drawing water from the streamlet below, and was enamoured of her charms, and took her to his bed. --According to another version of the tale, theearliest interview between the prince and his fair mistress, took placeas Robert was returning from the chace, with his mind full of angeragainst the inhabitants of Falaise, for having presumed to kill the deerwhich he had commanded should be preserved for his royal pastime. Inthis offence the curriers of the town had borne the principal share, andthey were therefore principally marked out for punishment. But, fortunately for them, Arlette, the daughter of one Verpray, the mostculpable of the number, met the offended Duke while riding through thestreet, and with her beauty so fascinated him, that she not onlyobtained the pardon of her father and his associates, but became hismistress, and continued so as long as he lived. From her, if we may givecredence to the old chroniclers, is derived our English word, _harlot_. The fruit of their union was William the Conqueror, whose illegitimatebirth, and the low extraction of his mother, served on more than oneoccasion as a pretext for conspiracies against his throne, and werefrequently the subject of personal mortification to himself. --The wallsin this part of the castle are from eight to nine feet thick. A portionof them has been hollowed out, so as to form a couple of small rooms. The old door-way of the keep is at the angle; the returns are reeded, ending in a square impost; the arch above is destroyed. 

Talbot's tower, thus called for having been built by that general, in1430 and the two subsequent years, is connected with the keep by means, of a long passage with lancet windows, that widen greatly inwards. It ismore than one hundred feet high, and is a beautiful piece of masonry, as perfect, apparently, as on the day when it was erected, and as firmas the rock on which it stands. This tower is ascended by a staircaseconcealed within the substance of the walls, whose thickness is fullfifteen feet towards the base, and does not decrease more than threefeet near the summit. Another aperture in them serves for a well, whichthus communicates with every apartment in the tower. Most of the archesin this tower have circular heads: the windows are square. --The wallsand towers which encircle the keep are of much later date; the principalgate-way is pointed. Immediately on entering, is seen the very ancientchapel, dedicated to St. Priscus or, as he is called in French, St. Prix. The east end with three circular-headed windows retains itsoriginal lines: the masonry is firm and good. Fantastic corbels surroundthe summit of the lateral walls. Within, a semi-circular arch restingupon short pillars with sculptured capitals, divides the choir from thenave. In other respects the building has been much altered. --Henry Vthrepaired it in 1418, and it has been since dilapidated and restored. --Apile of buildings beyond, wholly modern in the exterior, is nowinhabited as a seminary or college. There are some circular archeswithin, which shew that these buildings belonged to the originalstructure. 

Altogether the castle is a noble ruin. Though the keep is destitute ofthe enrichments of Norwich or Castle Rising, it possesses an impressivecharacter of strength, which is much increased by the extraordinaryfreshness of the masonry. The fosses of the castle; are planted withlofty trees, which shade and intermingle with the towers and ramparts, and on every side they groupe themselves with picturesque beauty. It issaid that the municipality intend to _restore_ Talbot's tower and thekeep, by replacing the demolished battlements; but I should hope that noother repairs may take place, except such as may be necessary for thepreservation of the edifice; and I do not think it needs any, except theinsertion of clamps in the central columns of two of the windows whichare much shattered[94]. 

From the summit we enjoyed a delightful prospect: at our feet lay thetown of Falaise, so full of trees, that it seemed almost to deserve thecharacter, given by old Fuller to Norwich, of _rus in urbe_: the distantcountry presented an undulating outline, agreeably diversified withwoods and corn-fields, and spotted with gentlemen's seats; while withina very short distance to the west, rose another ridgy mass of bare brownrock, known by the name of Mont Mirat, and still retaining a portion ofthe intrenchments, raised by our countrymen when they besieged Falaise, in 1417. --By this eminence the castle is completely commanded, and it isnot easy to understand how the fortress could be a tenable position; asthe garrison who manned the battlements of the dungeon and Talbot'stower, must have been exposed to the missiles discharged from thecatapults and balistas planted on Mont Mirat. 

The history of the castle is inseparably connected with that of thetown: its origin may safely be referred to remote antiquity, the time, most probably, of the earliest Norman Dukes. If, however, we could agreewith the fanciful author just quoted, it would claim a much earlierdate. The very fact of its having a dungeon-tower, he maintains to be aproof of its having been erected by Julius Cæsar inasmuch as the word, _dungeon_, or, as it is written in French, _donjon_, is nothing but acorruption of _Domus Julii_! More than once in the course of thiscorrespondence, I have called your attention to the fancies, or, tospeak in plain terms, the absurdities, of theoretical antiquaries. Theworthy priest, to whom we are indebted for the _Recherches Historiquessur Falaise_, "out-herods Herod. " Writers of this description arecurious and amusing, let their theories but rest upon the basis of fairprobability. Even when we reject their reasonings, we are pleased withtheir ingenuity; and they serve, to borrow an expression from Horace, "the purpose of a whetstone. " But M. Langevin has nothing farther tooffer, than gratuitous assertion or vague conjecture; and yet, upon thefaith of these, he insists upon our believing, that the foundation ofFalaise took place very shortly after the deluge; that its name isderived from _Felé_, the cat of Diana, or from the less pure source of_Phaloi-Isis_; that the present site of the castle was that of a temple, dedicated to Belenus and Abraxas; and that every stone of remarkableform in the neighborhood, was either so shapened by the Druids, (notwithstanding it is the character of rocks, like those at Falaise, toassume fantastic figures, ) or was at least appropriated by the Celticpriesthood to typify the sun, or moon, or stars. 

Various tombs, stone-hatchets, &c. , have been dug up at Tassilly, avillage within six miles of Falaise, and fragments of mosaic pavementshave been discovered in the immediate vicinity of the castle[95]; buthistory and tradition are alike silent as to the origin of theseremains. --The first historical mention of Falaise is in the year 1027;during the reign of the fifth Norman Duke, Richard IIIrd, at whichperiod this town was one of the strong holds of the duchy, and affordedshelter to Robert, the father of the Conqueror, when he rebelled againsthis elder brother. Falaise on that occasion sustained the first of thenine sieges, by which it has procured celebrity in history. --Fourteenyears only elapsed before it was exposed to a second, through theperfidy of Toustain de Goz, Count of Hiesmes, who had been intrustedwith the charge of the castle, and who, upon finding that his owndistrict was ravaged by the forces of the King of France, voluntarilyoffered to surrender to that monarch the fortress under his command, oncondition that his territory, the Hiesmois, should be spared. But DukeWilliam succeeded in retaking the place of his birth before the traitorhad an opportunity of introducing the troops of his new ally. --In theyears 1106 and 1139, Falaise opposed a successful resistance to thearmies of Henry Ist, and of Geoffrey Plantagenet. Upon the first ofthese occasions, the Count of Maine, the general of the English forces, retired with shame from before the walls; and Henry was foiled in all hisattempts to gain possession of the castle, till the battle of Tinchbrayhad invested him with the ducal mantle, and had induced Robert himselfto deliver up the fortress in person to his more fortunate brother. Onthe second occasion, Robert Marmion, lord of the neighboring barony ofMarmion le Fontenay, a name equally illustrious in Norman and in Englishstory, held Falaise for Eustace of Boulogne, son to Stephen, and twicerepelled the attacks of the husband of the Empress Maud. --The fourthsiege was conducted with different success, by Philip Augustus: forseven days the citizens quietly witnessed the preparations of the Frenchmonarch; and then, either alarmed by the impending conflict, ordisgusted by the conduct of their own sovereign, who had utterlydeserted them, they opened their gates to the enemy. --In 1417 the casewas far otherwise, though the result was the same. Henry Vth attackedFalaise upon the fourth of November, and continued to cannonade it tillthe middle of the following February; and, even then, the surrender wasattributed principally to famine. Great injuries were sustained by thetown in the course of this long siege; but, to the credit of ourcountrymen, the efforts made towards the reparation of them were atleast proportionate. The fortifications were carefully restored; thechapel was rebuilt and endowed afresh; Talbot's tower was added to thekeep; and a suite of apartments, also named after that great captain, was erected in the castle. --The resistance made by the English garrisonof Falaise in 1450, at the time when we were finally expelled from theduchy, was far from equal to that which the French, had previouslyshewn. Vigour was indeed displayed in repeated sallies, but six dayssufficed to put the French general in possession of the place. Disheartened troops, cooped up in a fortress without hope of succour, offer but faint opposition; and Falaise was then the last place whichheld out in Normandy, excepting, only Domfront and Cherbourg, both whichwere taken almost immediately afterwards. --Falaise, from this timeforwards, suffered no more from foreign enemies: the future miseries ofthe town were inflicted by the hands of its own countrymen. In commonwith many other places in France, it was doomed to learn from hardexperience, that "alta sedent civilis vulnera dextræ. "--Instigated bythe Count de Brissac, governor of the town, and one of the most ablegenerals of the league, the inhabitants were immoveable in theirdetermination to resist the introduction of tenets which they regardedas a fatal variance from the Catholic faith. The troops of Henry IIIrd, in alliance with those of his more illustrious successor, were vainlybrought against Falaise in 1589, by the Duc de Montpensier; a party ofenthusiastic peasants, called _Gautiers_, from the name of a neighboringvillage, where their association originated, harassed the assailantsunremittingly, and rendered such effectual assistance to the garrison, that the siege was obliged to be raised. --But it was only raised to berenewed at the conclusion of the same year, by Henry of Bourbon, inperson, whom the tragical end of his late ally had placed upon thethrone of France. Brissac had now a different enemy to deal with: heanswered the king's summons to surrender, by pleading his oath takenupon the holy sacrament to the contrary; and he added that, if it shouldultimately prove necessary for him to enter into any negotiation, hewould at least delay it for six months to come. "Then, by heavens!"replied Henry, "I will change his months into days, and grant himabsolution;" and; so saying, he commenced a furious cannonade, whichsoon caused a breach, and, in seven days, he carried the town byassault. Brissac, who, on the capture of the fortress, had retired intothe keep, found himself shortly afterwards obliged to capitulate; and Iam sorry to add, that the terms which he proposed and obtained, were notof a nature to be honorable to his character. The security of his ownlife and of that of seven of his party, was the principal stipulation inthe articles. The rest of the garrison were abandoned to the mercy ofthe conqueror, who contented himself with hanging seven of them inmemorial of the seven days of the siege; but, if we may believe theFrench historians, always zealous for the honor of their monarchs, andespecially of this monarch, Henry selected the sufferers from amongthose, who, for their crimes, had, subjected themselves to the pain ofdeath. 

From these various attacks, but principally from those of 1417 and 1589, the fortifications of Falaise have suffered materially; and since thelast no care has been taken to repair them. The injuries sustained atthat period, and the more fatal, though less obvious ones, wrought bythe silent operation of two centuries of neglect, have brought the wallsand towers to their present state of dilapidation. 

The people of Falaise are commonly supposed to be Normans κατ εξοχην[English. Not in Original: pre-eminently, especially, above all]; andwhen a Norman is introduced upon the French stage, he calls himself aFalesian, just as any Irishman, in an English farce, is presumed to comefrom Tipperary. The town in the French royal calendar is stated tocontain about fourteen thousand inhabitants; but we are assured that thereal number does not exceed nine thousand. Its staple trade is themanufacture of stockings, coarse caps, and lace. The streets are wide;and the public fountains, which are continually playing, impart afreshness, which, at the present burning season, is particularlyagreeable. --The town now retains only four churches, two within itsprecincts, and two in the suburbs. The revolution has deprived it ofeight others. Of those which are now standing, the most ancient is thatsituated near the castle, and dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Langevinassures us that it was built upon the ruins of the temple of Felé, Isis, Belenus, and the heavenly host of constellations, and that in the fifthcentury it changed its heathen for its Christian patrons. The oldestpart (a very small one it is) of the present structure, appertains to abuilding which was consecrated in 1126, by the Archbishop of Rouen, inthe presence of Henry Ist, but which was almost entirely destroyed bythe cannonade in the fifteenth century. An inscription in gothicletters, near the entrance, relates, that after this desolation, abeginning was made towards the re-building of the church, "in 1438, ayear of war, and death, and plague, and famine;" but it is certain thatnot much of the part now standing can be referred even to that period. The choir was not completed till the middle of the sixteenth century, nor the Lady-Chapel till the beginning of the following one. Architecturally considered, therefore, the church is a medley of variousstyles and ages. 

The larger church, that of St. Gervais and St. Protais, is said to havebeen originally the ducal chapel, and to stand in the immediate vicinityof the site of the Conqueror's palace, now utterly destroyed. Accordingto an ancient manuscript, this church was consecrated at the same timeas that of the Trinity. The intersecting circular-headed arches of itstower are curious. The Norman corbel-table and clerestory windows stillremain; and the exterior of the whole edifice promises a gratificationto a lover of architectural antiquity, which the inside is littlecalculated to realize. --An invading army ruined the church of theTrinity; civil discord did the same for that of St. Gervais. TheHuguenots, not content with plundering the treasure, actually set fireto the building, and well nigh consumed it: hence, the choir is the workof the year 1580, and the southern wall of the nave is a more recentconstruction. 

We see Falaise to a great advantage: every inn is crowded; every shop isdecked out; and the streets are full of life and activity; all inpreparation for the fair, which commences in three days, on thefifteenth of this month, the anniversary of the Assumption of the HolyVirgin. This fair, which is considered second to no other in France, excepting that of Beaucaire, is held in the suburbs of Guibray, andtakes its name from the place where it is held. For the institution, Falaise is indebted to William the Conqueror; and from it the placederives the greatest share of its prosperity and importance. During thefourteen days that the fair continues, the town is filled with theneighboring gentry, as well as with merchants and tradesmen of everydescription, not only from the cities of Normandy, but from Paris andthe distant provinces, and even from foreign countries. The revolutionitself respected the immunities granted to the fair of Guibray, without, at the same time, having the slightest regard, either to its royalfounder, or its religious origin. --An image of the Virgin, discoveredunder-ground by the scratching and bleating of a lamb, first gave thestamp of sanctity to Guibray. Miraculous means had been employed for thediscovery of this statue; miraculous powers were sure to be seated inthe image. Pilgrims crowded from all places to witness and to adore; andhawkers, and pedlars, and, as I have seen inscribed upon a hand-bill atParis, "the makers of he-saints and of she-saints, " found Guibray aplace of lucrative resort. Their numbers annually increased, and thusthe fair originated. --We are compelled to hasten, or we would havestopped to have witnessed the ceremonies, and joined the festivities onthe occasion. Already more than one field is covered with temporarybuildings, each distinguished by a flag, bearing the name and trade ofthe occupant; already, too, the mountebanks and showmen have taken theirstand for the amusement of the company, and the relaxation of thetraders; and, what is a necessary consequence of such assemblages, youcannot stir without being pestered with crowds of boys, proffering theirservices to transport your wares. 

The church of Guibray, like the others of Falaise, offers specimens ofNorman architecture, strangely altered and half concealed by moderninnovations. In the first syllable of the name of the place, you willobserve the French word for misletoe, and may thence infer, and probablynot without reason, the antiquity of the station; the latter syllable, albeit in England sheep are not wont to _bray_, is supposed by the piousto have reference to the bleating of the lamb, which led to thediscovery of the miraculous image. --Etymology is a wide district in apleasant country, strangely intersected by many and deceitful paths. Hethat ventures upon the exploring of it, requires the utmost caution, andthe constant control of sober reason: woe will be sure to betide theunfortunate wight, who, in such a situation, gives the reins to fancy, and suffers imagination to usurp the place of judgment, withoutreflecting, as has been observed by the poet on a somewhat similaroccasion, that

 "Tis more to curb than urge the generous steed, Restrain his fury, than provoke his speed. "

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 94: The outline of the castle is egg-shaped; and the followingare its dimensions, in French measure, according to M. Langevin. --Length, 720 feet; mean width, 420; quantity of groundcontained within the walls, two acres and a perch. ]

[Footnote 95: _Recherches Historiques sur Falaise_, p. XIX. And XXIX. ]

LETTER XXX. ROCK AND CHAPEL OF ST. ADRIEN--PONT-DE-L'ARCHE--PRIORY OFTHE TWO LOVERS--ABBEY OF BONPORT--LOUVIERS--GAILLON--VERNON. 

(_Mantes, August_, 1818)

The last letter which I wrote to you, was dated from Falaise. Look inthe map and you will see that you now receive one from a pointcompletely opposite. In four days we have passed from one of the mostwestern towns of the province, to a place situated beyond its easternfrontier; and in four more, we may almost hope to be with you again. Inthis hasty journey we travelled through a district which has not yetbecome the subject of description to you; and though we travelled withless comfort of mind, than in the early part of our tour, I am yetenabled to send you a few details respecting it. 

From Falaise we went in a direct line to Croissanville: the road, whichwe intended to take by St. Pierre sur Dive to Lisieux, was utterlyimpracticable for carriages. From Croissanville to Rouen we almostretraced our former steps: we did not indeed again make a _détour_ byBernay; but the straight road from Lisieux to Brionne is altogetherwithout interest. 

There are two ways from Rouen to Paris: the upper, through Ecouis, Magny, and Pontoise; the lower, by the banks of the Seine. Havingtravelled by both of them before, we could appreciate their respectiveadvantages; and we knew that the only recommendation of the former was, that it saved some few miles in distance; while the latter is one ofthe most beautiful rides in France, and the towns, through which itpasses, are far from being among the least interesting in Normandy. Insuch an alternative, there was no difficulty in fixing our choice, andwe proceeded straight for Pont-de-l'Arche. The chalk cliffs, whichbounded the road on our left, for some distance from Rouen, break nearthe small village of Port St. Ouen, into wild forms, and in one spotproject boldly, assuming the shape of distinct towers. These projectionsare known by the name of the rock of St. Adrien; thus called from thepatron saint of a romantic chapel, a place of great sanctity, and offrequent resort with pilgrims, situated nearly mid-way up thecliff. --The chapel is indeed little more than an excavation, and isaltogether so rude, that its workmanship affords no clue to discover thedate of the building. Its south side and roof are merely formed of thebare rock. To the north it is screened by an erection, which, were itnot for the windows and short square steeple, might easily be mistakenfor a pent-house. The western end appears to display some traces ofNorman architecture. The hill, which leads to this chapel, commands aview of Rouen, the most picturesque, I think, of all that we have seenof this city, so picturesque from various points. You can scarcelyconceive the eagerness with which we endeavored to catch the lastglimpse, as the prospect gradually vanished from our sight, or thepleasure with which we still dwell, and shall long continue so to do, upon the recollection. All round the chapel, the bare chalk is at thistime tinged with a beautiful glow, from the blue flowers of the _ViolaRothomagensis_: the _Isatis Tinctoria_, the _true Woad_, is also commonon the steep sides of the cliff. This plant, which is here indigenous, became, during the reign of Napoléon, an object of attention with thegovernment, as a succedaneum for indigo, at the same time that beet-rootwas destined to supply the continent with sugar, and salsafy, or parchedwheat, to hold the place of coffee. The restoration of peace has causedthe Isatis to be again neglected; but the _Reseda luteola_, or, _Dyer'swoad_, is much cultivated in the neighborhood, as is the _Teasel_ forthe use of the cloth manufactory. 

Pont-de-l'Arche, though now a small mean town, may boast of highantiquity, if it be rightly believed to be the ancient _Pistae_, theseat of the palace erected by Charles the Bald, in which that sovereignconvened councils in the years 861 and 869, and held assemblies of hisnobles in 862 and 864; and from which, his edicts promulgated in thoseyears, are dated. The same monarch also built here a magnificent bridge, defended at one extremity by a citadel upon a small island. --From thisthere seems every reason to believe that the town has derived its name;for, in a diploma issued by our Henry IInd, he calls the place _PontemArcis_; and its present appellation is nothing but its Latin nametranslated into French. The fortress at the head of the bridge wasdemolished about thirty years ago, at the time when Millin publishedhis[96] account of the town. The plate attached to that account, represents one of the towers as still standing. --Though deprived of itscitadel, Pont-de-l'Arche retains to the present day its walls, flankedby circular towers; and its bridge, which is the lowest stone bridgedown the Seine, is a noble one of twenty-two arches, through which theriver at a considerable depth below, rolls with extraordinary rapidity. In the length of this bridge are some mills, which are turned by thestream; and the current is moderated under one of the arches, by a lockplaced on the down-stream side, into which barges pass, and so proceedwith security; The bridge, with its mills, forms a very picturesqueobject. 

At a short distance from the bridge, to the left, looking towards Paris, is the _Colline des deux amans_, formerly surmounted by the priory ofthe same name. Of the history of the monastery nothing is known withcertainty, nor is even the date of its foundation ascertained, though itis stated by Millin to be one of the most ancient in Normandy[97]. Butthe traditionary tale connected with this convent, forms the subject ofone of the lays of _Mary of France_; and it has been elegantlytranslated by the late Mr. Ellis, in the introduction to his _History ofour Ancient Metrical Romances_;--Du Plessis[98] is, however, of opinion, that the name of the priory is nothing more than a corruption from thewords, _deux monts_, in allusion to the twin hills, on one of which itstands; or, if _lovers_ must have any thing to do with the appellation, he piously suggests that divine love may have been intended, and thatthe parties were no other than our Savior and the Virgin, whose imageswere placed over the door of the conventual church. 

On the opposite side of the bridge of Pont-de-l'Arche, stand theremains of a far richer abbey, that of Bonport, of the Cistertian order, founded by Richard Coeur-de-Lion, in 1190, as an _ex voto_. The monarch, then just in possession of his crown, was indulging with his courtiersin the pleasures of the chace, and, carried away by the naturalimpetuosity of his temper, had plunged in pursuit of the deer into theSeine, whose rapid current brought his life into imminent danger; and heaccordingly vowed, if he escaped with safety, to erect a monastery uponthe spot where he should reach the shore. Hence, according to LeBrasseur[99], the foundation, and hence the name. I ought, however, toadd, that no record of the kind is preserved in the _Neustrta Pia_, noreven by Millin, who has described and figured such of the monasticbuildings and monuments as had been spared at the early part of therevolution[100]. Another view of the ruins has since been published byLanglois, in the first number of a work which was intended to havecomprised a long series of Norman antiquities, but was discontinued forwant of encouragement. The author, whose portrait I have sent you in thecourse of this correspondence, is himself a native of Pont-de-l'Arche, and has subjoined to his fas-ciculus a couple of plates, illustrative ofthe costume and customs of the neighborhood. --In one of these plates, anitinerant male fortune-teller is satisfying a young peasant as to theprobability of her speedy marriage, by means of a pack of cards, fromwhich he has turned up the king and queen and ace of hearts. In theother, _a cunning woman_ is solving a question by a book and key. Thepoor girl's sweetheart is an absent soldier, and fears and doubts arenaturally entertained for his safety. To unlock the mysteries of fate, the key is attached to the mass-book, and suspended from the tip of thefinger of the sybil, who reads the first chapter of the gospel of St. John; and the invocation is answered by the key turning of _its ownaccord_, when she arrives at the verse beginning, "and the word was madeflesh[101]. "--A fine rose-window in the church of the abbey of Bonport, and two specimens of painted glass from its windows, the onerepresenting angels holding musical instruments, supposed to be of thethirteenth century, the other containing a set of male and female headsof extraordinarily rich color, probably executed about a century later, are given by _Willemin_ in his very beautiful _Monumens Françaisinédits_. In the same work, you will likewise find two still moreinteresting painted windows from Pont-de-l'Arche; some boatmen and theirwives in the Norman costume of the end of the sixteenth century, and acitizen of the town with his lady, praying before a fald-stool, bearingthe date, 1621. 

The church of Pont-de-l'Arche, though greatly dilapidated, is a buildingworth notice, in a fine style of the decorated gothic. The nave is verylofty; the high altar richly carved and gilt; the oak pulpit embossedwith saints; and the font covered with curious, though not ancient, sculpture. Rich tracery abounds in the windows, which are also filledwith painted glass, some of it of very good quality. Scripture historyand personages occupy, as usual, the principal part; but in one of thewindows we noticed a representation of the Seine full of islands, andthe town of Pont-de-l'Arche, with a number of persons quitting it withtheir horses, baggage, &c. In apparent confusion. So shattered, however, is the window, that the story is no longer intelligible in its details;and fragments, quite illegible, are all that remain of the inscriptionsformerly beneath it. It is probable, that the intention of the artistwas to give a picture of the miseries experienced by the inhabitants atthe burning of the town by our troops under Edward IIIrd. --On the southside of the church the buttresses are enriched with canopies and othersculpture; and there was originally a highly-wrought balustrade, ornamented with figures of children, a part of whichremains. --Pont-de-l'Arche claims the merit of having been the first townin France, which acknowledged Henry IVth as its lawful sovereign, afterthe assassination of his predecessor, in 1589. 

On leaving this place, we passed through the forest of the same name, anextensive tract covered with young trees, principally beech, oak, andbirch. The soil, a mixture of chalk and gravel, is poor, and offers butlittle encouragement to the labors of the plough. All around us, thedistant prospect was pleasantly varied with gentle hills, upon one ofwhich, nearly in front, we soon saw Louviers, a busy manufacturing town, of about seven thousand inhabitants, who are chiefly employed in makingthe fine cloth of the district, which is considered superior in qualityto any other in France. Spanish wool is almost exclusively used forthe purpose. 

Throughout the vicinity of Louviers, are the most undoubted symptoms ofcommercial prosperity; new houses every where erecting, and old onesundergoing improvement. But the streets of the town itself are, asusual, dirty and narrow, and the people of the lower orders more thancommonly ragged and beggarly. It was impossible to mistake the nature oftheir occupations; so many of them had their faces and hands, and everypart of their limbs and bodies that was visible, died of a brightblue. --The church at Louviers is very much injured, but very handsome;and though reduced to a nave with its four aisles it is still a spaciousedifice. The south porch, which projects boldly in the form of agalilee, is scarcely to be excelled as a specimen of pointedarchitecture at its highest pitch of luxuriant beauty. Yet, even inthis, the saints have been torn from their pedestals by the wantonviolence of the Calvinists or democrats. The central tower is square andshort: it is, however, handsome. Two windows, very similar to those ofthe tower of St. Romain, in Rouen cathedral, light it on either side;and saints, placed under canopies, ornament the angles behind thebuttresses. --The great western door is closed, and the front defaced:the eastern end, likewise, is altogether modern. --Within, the same kindof architecture prevails as in the exterior, but the whole is soconcealed, and degraded by ornaments in the worst of taste, and bypainted saints in the most tawdry dresses, that the effect isdisgusting. I never saw so great an array of wretched representations ofthe heavenly host: the stone images collected round the holy sepulchre, are even worse than those at Dieppe. Near the chapel of the sepulchre, however, are four bas-reliefs, attached to the wall, exhibitingdifferent events in our Savior's life of good execution, and not in hadtaste: an open gallery of fillagree stone-work, under the central toweron the south side, is an object really deserving of admiration. 

M. Langlois has engraved the gable end of an old house at Louviers, saidto have belonged to the Knights Templars. We found it used as anengine-maker's shop; and neither within nor without, could we discoverany thing to justify his opinion, that it is a building of the twelfthor thirteenth century. On the contrary, the windows, which are double, under a flatly-pointed arch, and are all of them trefoil-headed, wouldrather cause it to be considered as erected two centuries later. 

The town of Louviers, though never fortified, is noticed on severaloccasions in history. It was the seat of the conferences between RichardCoeur-de-Lion and Philip Augustus, which ended in the treaty of 1195, defining new limits to Normandy. --It was, as I have already mentioned, one of the items of the compensation made by the same Duke to theArchbishop of Rouen, for the injury done to the church, by the erectionof Château Gaillard. --During the wars of Edward IIIrd, "Louviers, " touse the language of old Froissart, "after the battle of Caen, was soonentered by the Englishmen, as it was not closed; and they over-ran, andspoiled, and robbed it without mercy, and won great riches; for it wasthe chief place in all Normandy for drapery, and was full ofmerchandize. "--And, in the subsequent warfare of the fifteenth century, this town, like the others in the duchy, was taken by our countrymen, under Henry Vth, and lost by them under his successor. --Hither theNorman parliament retired when the Huguenots were in possession ofRouen; and here they remained till the recapture of the capital. --It wasprobably owing in a great measure to this circumstance, that Louvierswas induced to distinguish itself by a devoted attachment to the partyof the league, for which it suffered severely in 1591, when it wascaptured and pillaged by the royalists shortly after their victory atIvry. The town was then taken through the treachery of a priest of thename of Jean de la Tour, who received, as a recompence, a stall in thecathedral at Evreux, but was so much an object of abhorrence with hisbrethren, that he scarcely ever ventured to appear in his place. Duringthe holy week, however, he attended; and it once happened, that while hewas so officiating, all the canons contrived to leave the church towardsthe close of the psalm, which immediately precedes the _Benedictus_ at_Laudes_, so that the anthem, _Traditor autem_, which is sung with thathymn, necessarily fell to the part of de la Tour, who found himselfcompelled to chaunt it, to his own extreme confusion, and the infiniteamusement of the congregation. Irritated and mortified, the poor priestpreferred his complaints to the king; but it was one thing to love thetreason, and another to love the traitor; and his appeal obtained noredress. 

From Louviers our next stage was Gaillon, on our road to which we passedsome vineyards, the most northern, I believe, in Normandy. The vinescultivated in them are all of the small black cluster grape; and thewine they produce, I am told, is of very inferior quality, --No placecan appear at present more poverty-stricken than Gaillon; but the casewas far otherwise before the glories of royal and ecclesiastical Francewere shorn by the revolution. Ducarel, who visited this town about theyear 1760, dwells with great pleasure upon the magnificence of itspalace and its Carthusian convent and church. Of the palace the remainsare still considerable; and, after having been suffered to lie in astate of ruin and neglect from an early period in the revolution, theyare now fitting up as a prison. The long inscription formerly over thegate might with great propriety be replaced by the hacknied phrase, "Sictransit gloria mundi;" for the vicissitudes of the fortune of noblebuildings are strikingly illustrated by the changes experienced by thissumptuous edifice, long proverbial throughput France for its splendor. 

Philip Augustus conferred the lordship of Gaillon upon one of hiscaptains of the name of Cadoc, as a reward for his activity in theconquest of Normandy. Louis IXth afterwards, early in the thirteenthcentury, ceded the town in perpetuity to the Archbishop of Rouen. St. Louis here received by way of exchange the Château of Pinterville, whichhe bestowed upon William d'Aubergenville, whose uncle, the Bishop ofEvreux, had, while chancellor of France, done much service to him and toQueen Blanche, his mother. From that time to the revolution thearchbishops had their country seat at Gaillon, and enjoyed the soleright of trying civil and criminal causes within the town and itsliberties. Their palace, which was destroyed during the wars of HenryVth, in 1423, was rebuilt about a century afterwards by the munificenceof the first cardinal Georges d'Amboise, one of whose successors in theprelacy, Colbert, expended, as it is said, more than one hundredthousand livres towards the embellishment of it. --Another archbishop, the Cardinal of Bourbon, founded the neighboring monastery, in the year1571. The conventual church was destroyed by fire, through thecarelessness of some plumbers, shortly after Ducarel visited it; andwith it perished the celebrated monument of one of the counts of BourbonSoissons, said to have been a master-piece of sculpture. 

The limits assigned to Normandy by the treaty of Louviers, made Gaillona frontier town of the duchy; and here therefore I should take my leaveof you, but that, in the prouder days of its history, Vernon waslikewise swayed by the ducal sceptre. Vernon also seems peculiarlyconnected with England, from the noble family of the same name stillflourishing, agreeably to their well-known punning motto, on your sideof the water. This motto is in the highest degree inapplicable to thepresent state of the town, whose old and ruinous appearance looks as ifit had known neither improvement nor repair for centuries. Better thingsmight have been expected from the situation of Vernon, on the banks ofthe Seine, in a singularly beautiful valley, and from its climate, whichis reported to be so extraordinarily healthy, that instances ofindividuals attaining in it the age of one hundred are not unfrequent. 

The royal palace, formerly here, is now wholly swept away; and of theancient fortifications there remains little more than a tower, remarkable for the height and thickness of its walls, a part of thecastle, which, in the reign of Henry IInd, was held by the service ofsixteen knights for its defence[102]. --Prior to the revolution, Vernoncontained five religious houses, three of them founded by St. Louis, whois said to have regarded this town with peculiar favor, and probably onthat account assigned it as a jointure to his queen, an honor which ithas received upon more than one other occasion. 

The present parish church of Vernon was collegiate. It was founded aboutthe year 1052, by William of Vernon, and was endowed by him, at the timeof its dedication, with the property called, _La Couture du Pré deGiverny_, and with a fourth part of the forest of Vernon, all which thedean and canons continued to enjoy till the revolution. This Williamappears to have been the first of the family who adopted the surname ofVernon. His son, Richard, by whom the foundation was formally confirmed, attended the Conqueror to England, and obtained there considerablegrants. One of their descendants ceded the town in 1190 to the King ofFrance, accepting in return other lands, according to a treaty stillpreserved in the royal library at Paris. The tombs of the founder, andof his namesake, Sir William de Vernon, constable of England, who diedin 1467, and of many others of the family, among the rest the statelymausoleum of the Maréchal de Belle Isle, were destroyed during the reignof jacobinism and terror. The portraits, however, of the Marshal and ofthe Duc de Penthièvre, both of them very indifferent performances, weresaved, and are now kept in the sacristy. The only monument left to thechurch is that of Marie Maignard, whose husband, Charles Maignard, wasLord of Bernières and president of the parliament of Normandy. She diedin 1610. Her effigy in white marble, praying before a fald-stool, hasalso been spared. 

[Illustration: Elevation of the West Front of _La Délivrande_]

The church itself is a spacious building, consisting of a nave and twoaisles, with chapels beyond, separated by lofty pointed arches, supported on clustered pillars, to each of which is still attached atabernacle; but the statues have been destroyed. The choir is altogetherin a different style of architecture: that portion of it whichimmediately surrounds the altar, is early Norman, and most probablybelonged to the original structure. Its arches vary remarkably in width. The most narrow among them are more decidedly horseshoe-shaped, than anyothers which I recollect to have seen. --The west front, though muchmutilated, is still handsome. It is flanked by two small, very shortturrets, richly ornamented. --The square central tower, capped by aconical roof, does not even equal the height of the nave, which isgreatly superior to that of the choir. --Upon an eminence in theimmediate vicinity of Vernon, are the remains of a Roman encampment. 

With Vernon we quitted ancient Normandy: our ride thence to Mantes hasbeen delightful; and this town, for the excellence of its buildings, forneatness, and for a general air of comfort, far excels any other whichwe have seen in the north of France. The name of Mantes also recals thememory of the Duc de Sully, and recals that of the Conqueror, whoselife fell a sacrifice to the barbarous outrage of which he was hereguilty. --But, I now lay down my pen, and take my leave of Normandy, happy, if by my correspondence during this short tour, I have been ableto impart to you a portion of the gratification which I have myselfexperienced, while tracing the ancient history, and surveying themonuments of that wonderful nation, who, issuing from the frozen regionsof the north, here fixed the seat of their permanent government, becamepowerful rivals of the sovereigns of France, saw Sicily and the fairestportion of Italy subject to their sway, and, at the same time that theypossessed themselves of our own island, by right of conquest, importedamongst us their customs, their arts, and their institutions, and laidthe basis of that happy constitution, under which, by the blessing ofGod, Britain is at this moment the pride and envy of the world!

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 96: _Antiquités Nationales_, IV. No. 48. ]

[Footnote 97: _Antiquités Nationales_, II. No. 17. ]

[Footnote 98: _Histoire de la Haute Normandie_, II. P. 332. ]

[Footnote 99: _Histoire d'Evreux_, p. 161. ]

[Footnote 100: _Antiquités Nationales_, IV. No. 40. ]

[Footnote 101: This mode of divination by the Bible and key, is also tobe found among the superstitions of our own country. --See _Ellis'edition of Brand's Popular Antiquities_, II. P. 641. ]

[Footnote 102: _Ducarel's Anglo-Norman Antiquities_, p. 93. --RespectingVernon, see also _Millin, Antiquités Nationales_, III. No. 26, in whichfour plates, and near fifty pages of letter-press, are devoted to thistown. ]

APPENDIX I. 

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 The printing of this work was just concluded, when the author was favored with drawings, accompanied with short descriptions, of the chapel of our _Lady of the Délivrande_, near Caen, and of an ancient font at Magneville, near Valognes. For the former he is indebted to Mr. Cohen, to whom he has so often in the course of the work, had occasion to express his obligations; for the latter, to M. De Gerville, an able antiquary at Valognes. Both these subjects are of such a nature, that he is peculiarly happy to be able to add them to his imperfect account of the Antiquities of Normandy: the whole duchy does not contain a religious building more celebrated for its sanctity than the chapel; and while ancient fonts of any description are rare in the province, he doubts if another is to be found like that of Magneville, ornamented with sculpture and an inscription. 

 * * * * *

Some historians suppose, that the country situated between Caen and thesea, formed at least, a part of the Saxon shore of Neustria. Amongst theother ancient buildings which are found in this district, the chapel ofNotre Dame de la Délivrande, to which the Normans have resorted inpilgrimage during the last eight hundred years, is, perhaps, the mostremarkable. 

When the philosophers of the revolution envied the religious enjoymentsof the common man, all pilgrimages were forbidden, and the road leadingto our Lady's Chapel, and which, indeed, is the only high road in thispart of the country, became almost impassable. Under the Emperor it wasthoroughly repaired, and, as they say, by his especial order; and sincethe accession of the present French king, the fathers of the mission, who lose no favorable opportunity of fostering the spirit of devotion, have erected roods and tabernacles, at due distances, all along the wayside. 

After leaving Caen, the traveller will not fail to linger on the littlehill which he ascends just after passing by the first crucifix. Hence heenjoys a lovely prospect, such as delighted the old masters. In theforeground is the lofty cross, standing on a quadrangular pyramid ofsteps. The broken hollow path bending upwards round the base, is alwaysoccupied by a grotesque group of cripples and beldames, in rags andtatters, laughing and whining and praying. The horizon is bounded bylong lines of grey and purple hills, nearer are fields and pastures, whilst the river glitters and winds amidst their vivid tints. Nearerstill, the city of Caen extends itself from side to side, terminated ateach extremity by the venerable abbeys of William and Matilda. There areno traces of work-shops and manufactories, or of their pollution; butthe churches with their towers and spires rise above the houses in boldarchitectural masses, and the city assumes a character of quiet monasticopulence, comforting the eye and the mind. 

About four miles farther on from Caen, we reached Cambre, one of themany seignories which belonged to the very noble family of Mathan. Therewas a Serlo de Mathan, who appears as a witness to one of theConqueror's charters, and the family is now represented by the presentMarquis, who has recovered his château, and a fragment of his domain. Cambre is also the residence of the Abbé de la Rue, by whom the Marquiswas educated. When they both took refuge in England, the Abbé was theonly protector of his pupil, who now returns the honorable obligation. It is well known that the Abbé has devoted his life to the investigationof the antiquities both of Normandy and of the Anglo-Normans. Possessingin a high degree the acute and critical spirit of research whichdistinguished the French archaiologists of the Benedictine school, wehave only to regret, that the greater part of his works yet remain inmanuscript. His _History of Anglo-Norman Poetry_, which is quite readyfor the press, would be an invaluable accession to our literature; butbooks of this nature are so little suited to the taste of the Frenchpublic, that, as yet, he has not ventured upon its publication. Thecollections of the Abbé, as may be anticipated, are of great value; theyrelate almost wholly to the history of the duchy. The château escapedspoliation. The portraits of the whole line of the Mathans, from thefirst founder of the race, in his hauberk, down to the last Marquis, inhis _frisure_, are in good preservation; and they are ancient specimensof the sign-post painting usually found in old galleries. The Marquishas also a finely-illuminated missal, which belonged to a Dame deMathan, in the fourteenth century, and which has been carefully handeddown in the family, from generation to generation. 

The church of Douvre, the next village, is rather a picturesquebuilding. The upper story of the tower has two pointed windows of theearliest date. A pediment between them rests on the archivolt on eitherside. This is frequently seen in buildings in the circular style. Theother stories of the tower, and the west front of the church are Norman;the east end is in ruins. The British name of the village may affordground for much ethnigraphical and etymological speculation. 

Saint Exuperius is said to have founded the Chapel of La Délivrande, some time in the first century. The tradition adds, that the chapel wasruined by the Northmen, --and the statue of the Virgin, which nowcommands the veneration of the faithful, remained buried until theappointed time of resuscitation, in the reign of Henry Ist, when it wasdiscovered, in conformity to established usage and precedent in mostcases of miraculous images, by a lamb. Baldwin, Count of the Bessin andBaron of Douvre, was owner of the flock to which the lamb belonged. TheVirgin would not remain in the parish church of Douvre, in which she waslodged by the Baron, but she returned every night to the spot where shewas disinterred. Baldwin therefore understood that it was his duty toerect a chapel for her reception, and he accordingly built that which isnow standing, and made a donation of the edifice to the Bishop ofBayeux, whose successor receives the mass-pennies and oblations at thisvery day. Some idea of the architecture of the building may be formedfrom the inclosed sketch of the western front. During the morning mass, the chapel was crowded with women, young and old, who were singing thelitany of the Virgin in a low and plantive tone. A hymn of praise wasalso chaunted. It was composed by the learned Bishop Huet, and it isinscribed upon a black marble tablet, which was placed in the chapel byhis direction. The country women of the Saxon shore possess a verypeculiar physiognomy, denoting that the race is unmixed. TheNorman-Saxon damsel is full and well made, her complexion is very fair, she has light hair, long eyelashes, and tranquil placid features; hercountenance has an air of sullen pouting tenderness, such as we oftenfind in the women represented in the sculptures and paintings of themiddle ages. And all the girls are so much alike, that it might havebeen supposed that they all were sisters. As to our Lady, she is gailyattired in a Cashemire shawl, and completely covered with glaring ambernecklaces and beads, and ribband knots, and artificial flowers. Manyvotive offerings are affixed round her shrine. The pilgrim isparticularly desired to notice a pair of crutches, which testify thecure of their former owner, who lately hobbled to the Virgin fromFalaise, as a helpless cripple, and who quitted her in perfect health. Of course the Virgin has operated all the usual standard miracles, including one which may be suspected to be rather a work ofsupererogation, that of restoring speech to a matron who had lost hertongue, which had been cut out by her jealous husband. Miracles of everykind are very frequently performed, yet, if the truth must be told, theyare worked, as it were, by deputy, for the real original Virgin sufferedso much during the revolution, that it has been thought advisable tokeep her in the sacristy, and the statue now seen is a restoration ofrecent workmanship. In order to conciliate the sailors and fishermen ofthe coast, the Virgin has entered into partnership with St. Nicholas, whose image is impressed on the reverse of the medal representing her, and which is sold to the pilgrims. 

The country about La Délivrande is flat, but industriously cultivatedand thickly peopled. The villages are numerous and substantial. From apoint at the extremity of the green lane which leads onward from LaDélivrande, six or eight church spires may be counted, all within aleague's distance. By the advice of the Abbé de la Rue, we proceeded toBernieres, which is close to the sea. The mayor of the commune offeredhis services with great civility, and accompanied us to the church, which, as he told us, was built by Duke William. We easily gave creditto the mayor's assertion, as the interior of the nave is good Norman. The pillars which support the groining of the roof are square; thisfeature is rather singular. The tower and spire are copied from SaintPeter, at Caen. Those of Luc, Courseilles, Langrune, and the otherneighboring villages, are upon the same model. Many instances of thesame kind of affiliation occur at home, which shew how easily a fashionwas set in ecclesiastical architecture. 

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[Illustration: Font at Magneville]

APPENDIX II. 

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The most remarkable among the ancient inscriptions found in that part ofNormandy, which is now comprised in the Department of La Manche, areupon an ancient altar, at Ham, on a medallion attached to the outside ofthe church of Ste. Croix, at St. Lô, and upon the font at Magneville, near Valognes. The first of these has generally been referred to theseventh century; the second seems to be of the ninth; and the last maywith safety be considered as of the latter part of the tenth, orbeginning of the eleventh, at which period, the choir of the church ofMagneville appears also to have been erected. Of the sculpture upon thefont, as well as of the inscription, an accurate idea may be formed, from the annexed drawing: the most remarkable character of theinscription seems to be in its punctuation. The letters upon the altar, at Ham, touch one another, and there is no separation of any kindbetween the words: here, on the contrary, almost all the words aredivided by three or four points placed in a perpendicular direction, except at the end of the phrases, where stops are wholly wanting. AtHam, also, the letters are cut into the stone, while at Magneville theyare drawn with a brush, with a kind of black pigment. 

G. 

INDEX. 

A. 

_Abbey_, of Ardennes, Bec, Bernay, Bonport, Cormeilles, Ducler, Jumieges, Preaux, St. Evroul, St. Georges de Bocherville, St. Stephen, at Caen, St. Taurinus, Trinity at Caen. _Academy of Druids_, at Bayeux. _Academy of Sciences_, at Caen. _Agnes Sorel_, buried at Jumieges, her statue destroyed by the Huguenots, her tomb destroyed at the revolution, inscription upon. _Amphitheatre, Roman_, found near Lisieux. _Amyot, Mr_. His paper on the Bayeux tapestry. _Andelys_, origin of the name, history of, seat of an early monastery, great house at, birth-place of Poussin. _Andromeda polifolia_, found near Jumieges. _Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury_, a monk at Bec. _Aqueduct, Roman_, remains of, at Vieux. _Archbishops of Rouen_, their palace at Gaillon. _Arches, trefoil-headed_, early specimen of, at Jumieges. _Ardennes_, abbey of, near Caen. _Arlette, mother of the Conqueror_, native of Falaise. _Arnulf_, bishop of Lisieux. _Arthur, Prince_, knighted at Gournay. _Asselin_, forbids the interment of the Conqueror. _Audinus, bishop of Evreux_, authorizes Henry Ist to burn the city. _Augustodurum_, probably the site of, at Vieux. 

B. 

_Bailiffs_, first established in Normandy under Philip Augustus, _Baiocco of Naples_, named after Bayeux, _Bas-relief_, in the church of St. Georges de Bocherville, _Baudius_, professor of law for a short time at Caen, _Bayeux_, seat of an academy of Druids, Roman relics found near, but no Druidic, a Roman station, probably the Næomagus Viducassium, its ancient name, its importance under the early French kings, its history, the place where the Norman princes were educated, castle, situation, population, and trade, tapestry, cathedral, _Bayeux, Roman_, probably destroyed by the Saxons, _Bec, abbey of_, its present state, former income and patronage, church described by Du Plessis, founded by Hellouin, history, seminary for eminent men, _Belenus_, worshipped near Bayeux, _Berengarius_, his tenets impugned by Lanfranc, condemned by the council of Brionne, _Bernay_, abbey of, church, burial-ground, population and trade, costume of the females, _Bernieres_, church of, _Blanche, wife of Charles the Bel_, confined in Château Gaillard, _Bochart_, one of the founders of the academy at Caen, _Boileau_, his eulogium on Malherbe, _Bonport_, abbey of, _Borghese, Princess of_, original letter by, _Bouillon, Duke of_, Lord of Evreux, at the revolution, _Bourg-Achard_, seat of an abbey, dedicated to St. Eustatius, leaden font, _Bourg-Theroude_, _Bourgueville_, his antiquities of Caen, present at the exhumation of the Conqueror's remains, _Boy, bishop_, annually elected at Caen, _Bretteville l'Orgueilleuse_, church of, _Brionne_, situation of, seat of the council which condemned the tenets of Berengarius, castle, _Brito_, his account of the siege of Gournay, of Château Gaillard, of the murder of the French garrison of Evreux, of Caen. _Broglie_, church of. _Bruce, David_, a resident in Château Gaillard. _Buck-wheat_, much cultivated in Lower Normandy, etymology of its French name. 

C. 

_Caen_, arrival at, distant view of, trade and population, situation, grand cours, costume of females, house-rent, foundation, described by Brito, etymology of the name, fortifications, Château de Calix, castle, chapel in the castle, hospital, royal abbeys, college, palace, museum, library, universities, men of eminence, academy, Malherbe, history, neighborhood abundant in fossil remains, seen from the road leading to La Délivrande. _Caen-stone_, large quarries of, formerly much used in England. _Cambre_. _Cambremer, Canon of_, tale respecting, at Bayeux. _Cannon_, first used in France, at the siege of Pont Audemer. _Canons_, four statues of, at Evreux. _Castle_, of Bayeux, Brionne, Caen, Creully, Falaise, Gisors, Montfort, Neufmarché. _Cathedral of Bayeux_, founded by St. Exuperius, history, described, crypt, stripped of its relics, revenue, right of mintage. _Cathedral of Evreux_, often destroyed, its present state, little injured by the Huguenots, founded by St. Taurinus. _Cathedral of Lisieux_, now the parish church of St. Peter, described, remarkable tomb in. _Cauchon, Peter_, bishop of Lisieux, president at the trial of Joan of Arc. _Cecily_, daughter of the Conqueror, abbess at Caen. _Chapel_, subterranean, in Bayeux cathedral, in the castle at Caen, in the castle at Falaise, of St. Adrian, of La Délivrande. _Chapel in the castle at Caen_, built fronting the east_Chapels_, stone-roofed, in Ireland, of Norman origin_Charles the Bad_, born in the Château de Navarre_Charters_, of the abbey of St. Georges de Bocherville_Château de Navarre__Château Gaillard_, its situation described account of, by Brito history_Château de Calix_, at Caen_Chesnut-timber_, formerly much used in Normandy_Church_, of the abbey of Bec Bernieres Bernay Bretteville l'Orgueilleuse Broglie Creully Ducler Ecouis Falaise Gisors Gournay Jumieges St. Peter's at ditto Louviers Moulineaux Pont Audemer Pont-de-l'Arche St. Germain de Blancherbe St. Gervais, at Falaise St. Georges de Bocherville St. Giles, at Evreux St. James, at Lisieux St. John, at Caen St. Michael, at ditto St. Nicholas, at ditto St. Peter, at ditto St. Stephen's abbey, at ditto St. Stephen, at ditto Trinity, at ditto Trinity at Falaise Vernon_Cider_, the common beverage, in Normandy first introduced by the Normans_Cocherel__Coins, golden_, struck at Bayeux, under the first French kings_Colline des deux amans_, priory of_Cormeilles_, abbey of_Corneille_, buried at Andelys_Costume_, at Bernay at Caen_Coupe gorge_, colony established at, by Napoléon_Creully_, castle church_Crocodile fossil_, found near Caen_Croissanville_

D. 

_Dalechamps_, native of Caen_D'Amboise, Cardinal_, built the palace at Gaillon_Darnétal__De Boissy_, bishop of Bayeux, his epitaph. _De la Rue, Abbé_, professor of history at Caen, is preparing an account of Caen, his paper on the Bayeux tapestry. _Douce, Mr. _, his illustration of the sculpture at St. Georges de Bocherville. _Douvre_. _Druids_, academy of, at Bayeux. _Dubois Louis_, his discoveries among the ruins of Old Lisieux, preserved the original M. S. Of Ordericus Vitalis, is preparing the history of Lisieux. _Ducarel_, his description of a pavement in the palace at Caen. _Ducler_, convent, parish church. _Du Perron_, cardinal, bishop of Evreux. _Du Plessis_, his opinion as to Turold on the Bayeux tapestry, description of the abbey church of Bec. 

E. 

_Ecouis, church of_, burial-place of John and Enguerrand de Marigny, singular epitaph. _Epitaph_, enigmatical at Ecouis, of John de Boissy, on the exterior of Bayeux cathedral. _Evreux_, destroyed by Henry Ist, cathedral, abbey of St. Taurinus, history, present appearance. _Evreux, Old_, a Roman station. 

F. 

_Falaise_, situation of, etymology of the name, castle, Talbot's tower, chapel in castle, history, firmly attached to the League, fortifications, inhabitants _true Normans_, population and trade, churches. _Fastolf, Sir John_, governor of Caen. _Flambart, Ralph_, bishop of Durham, seizes Lisieux. _Fleury, Cardinal_, abbot at Caen. _Fonts_, seldom seen in French churches. _Font_, curiously sculptured, at Magneville. _Font, leaden_, at Bourg-Achard. 

G. 

_Gaillon_, vineyards near, present state of, ceded to the archbishop of Rouen, made by the treaty of Louviers the frontier town of the Duchy, _Gisors_, castle, appearance of, history, place of interview between Henry IInd, and Philip Augustus, arms of the town, castle, described, church of, banded column in the church, _Glass painted_, at the abbey of Bonport, in the church of Pont de l'Arche, _Gournay_, origin of, present appearance, history, siege described by Brito, arms of, place where Prince Arthur was knighted, church, remarkable sculpture on the capitals, _Gournay, Hugo de_, _Guibray_, fair of, _Gurney, Hudson_, his paper on the Bayeux tapestry, H. 

_Harcourt_, castle of, _Hellouin_, founder of the abbey of Bec, his epitaph, _Hennuyer, John_, bishop of Lisieux, said to have saved the Huguenots, _Henry Ist_, kept prisoner by Robert at Bayeux, destroyed the city, _History, ecclesiastical, of Ordericus Vitalis_, materials for a new edition of, original manuscript, manuscript copies, _Holy Trinity_, church of, at Falaise, _Honfleur_, situation of, described, _Horses, Norman_, present price of, _Hospital at Caen_, founded in the thirteenth century, _Hoveden_, his account of the interview between Henry IInd, and Philip Augustus, near Gisors, _Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury_, a monk of Bec, _Hubert, M. _, discovered the site of the Neomagus Lexoviorum, _Huet_, his _Origines de Caen_, one of the founders of the academy at Caen, _Huguenots_, destroy the tomb and violate the remains of the Conqueror, _Hume, David_, his opinion on the Bayeux tapestry, _Hypocaust, Roman_, found at Vieux, I. 

_Inscription_, on the font at Magneville, _John, King_, murders the French garrison of Evreux, _Isatis tinctoria_, cultivated in France under Napoléon, _Jumieges, abbey of_, its foundation, original building, history, church, Salle des Chevaliers, church of St. Peter, monuments, _Ivory chest_, in Bayeux cathedral, K. 

_Knights, Templars_, house of, at Louviers, L. 

_Lamouroux, M_. Professor of natural history at Caen, his publications, _Lanfranc_, settled at Bec, first schoolmaster in Normandy, first abbot of St. Stephen's, _Langevin, M_. , author of the history of Falaise, _Langlois, M_. , his portrait, his work on Norman Antiquities, _Le Beuf, Abbé_, his opinion of Vieux, _Le Brasseur_, his account of the statues of four canons at Evreux, _Léproserie de Beauîleu_, _Letter, original_, from Princess Borghese, _Library, public_, at Caen, _Lisieux_, situation and trade of, its see suppressed in 1801, cathedral, tomb in cathedral, town probably founded in the sixth century, ancient names of, history of, church of St. Jacques, _Littleton, Lord_, his opinion of the Bayeux tapestry, _Louviers_, treaty of, population, church, house of knights templars, history, M. 

_Magneville_, font at, _Malherbe_, native of Caen, _Mallet, Anthony_, his statement of Hennuyer's saving the Calvinists, _Maréchal de Belle Isle_, his monument, _Margaret of Burgundy_, immured in Château Gaillard, _Marigny, Enguerrand de_, buried at Ecouis, his mausoleum destroyed at the revolution, _Marriage ceremony_, in France, _Matilda, wife of the Conqueror_, supposed portrait of, her seal buried in the church of the Trinity, her tomb destroyed by the Huguenots, her remains lately found and new tomb raised, _Maud, Empress_, her expostulations with her father as to the placeof her burial, _Mazarine, Cardinal_, abbot of St. Stephen's, _Melons_, cultivated on a large scale, near Lisieux, _Misereres_, sculptured, in Bayeux cathedral, _Misletoe_, commonly hung over inn-doors, near Caen, _Money_, struck by the chapter of Bayeux, how marked, _Montfaucon_, his engravings of the portraits of the Conquerorand his family, _Montfort_, castle of, _Moulineaux_, church of, _Mount Phaunus_, temple of, near Bayeux, _Museum_, at Caen, _Musicians_, sculptured at St. Georges de Bocherville, N. 

_Napoléon_, establishment formed by him at the pass of _Coupe Gorge_, his attempt to make a naval station at Caen, _Navarre, kings of_, lords of Evreux, _Navarre, Château de_, _Næomagus Viducassium_, probably the modern Bayeux, _Neomagus Lexoviorum_, site of, lately discovered, _Neufmarché_, castle of, _Normandy_, divided anew, under Philip Augustus, _Notre Dame de la Délivrande_, chapel of, O. 

_Odo, bishop of Bayeux_, rebuilds the cathedral, his life and character. _Ordericus Vitalis_, his account of the destruction of Evreux, his account of St. Taurinus, sketch of his life, his ecclesiastical history, his reflections on the death of the Conqueror_Ornaments_ on the spandrils of the arches in Bayeux cathedral. _Oxen_, breed of, near Caen. 

P. 

_Paintings, fresco_, in Bayeux cathedral. _Passports_, regulations respecting, in France. _Patye, John, Canon of Cambremer_, legend concerning, at Bayeux. _Pays de Bray_. _Pistae_, the site of, occupied by Pont de l'Arche. _Pont Audemer_, its situation, history, churches. _Pont de l'Arche_, seat of a palace under Charles the Bald, origin of the name, church. _Portraits_, of the Conqueror and family. _Poussin_, born at Andelys, if his example has been favorable to French art. _Preaux_, abbey of. _Priory, des deux Amans_. 

R. 

_Rabelais_, his autograph. _Reseda luteola_, cultivated near Rouen. _Richelieu, Cardinal_, abbot of St. Stephen's at Caen. _Roads in France_, compared with those in England. _Robert the Devil_, his castle near Moulineaux. _Romance_, subjects borrowed from, sculptured on a capital in St. Peter's, at Caen. _Rupierre, William of, Bishop of Lisieux_, resists the power of KingJohn. 

S. 

_St. Adrian_, Chapel of, near Rouen. _St. Clotilda_, her fountain, at Andelys still worshipped there. _St. Evroul_, abbey of, founded by William de Gerouis, residence of Ordericus Vitalis. _St. Georges de Bocherville_, abbey of, founded by Ralph de Tancarville, its history, abbey church described sculpture in ditto chapter-house. _St. Germain_, church of, at Pont Audemer. _St. Germain de Blancherbe_, church of. _St. Gervais_, church of, at Falaise. _St. Giles_, church of, at Evreux. _St. Jacques_, church of at Lisieux. _St. John_, church of, at Caen. _St. Lascivus_, bishop of Bayeux. _St. Lupus_, bishop of Bayeux, so called from destroying the wolves. _St. Maimertus_, subterranean chapel dedicated to, in Bayeux cathedal. _St. Michael_, church of, in the suburb of Vaucelles, at Caen. _St. Nicholas_, church of at Caen its roof like those of the Irish stone-roofed chapels. _St. Peter_, church of at Caen sculpture upon the capital of one of the columns. _St. Philibert_, founder of Jumieges. _St. Regnobert_, bishop of Bayeux, his chasuble kept in the cathedral, domestic animals blessed on his feast-day. _St. Stephen_, church of, at Caen. _St. Stephen_, abbey of, at Caen, its privileges now used as the college. _St. Stephen, abbey church of_, at Caen, described formed on the the Roman model burial-place of the Conqueror. _St. Taurinus_, founder of Evreux cathedral his fight with the devil, his shrine crypt, in which he was buried. _St. Taurinus, abbey of_ at Evreux its privileges ancient architecture in the church crypt. _St. Vitalis_, his feast celebrated annually at Evreux. _St. Ursinus_, privileges enjoyed by the Canons, at Lisieux, on his vigiland feast-day. _Saxons_, established about Bayeux, where many words from their languagestill exist. _Screens_, of rare occurrence in French churches. _Sculpture_, in the abbey church of St. Georges de Bocherville, in the chapter-house of the same abbey, in the abbey church of Jumieges, on the capitals in the church at Gournay, on a capital in the abbey church at Bernay, over the high altar at Bernay, on a tomb in Lisieux cathedral, on a capital in St. Peter's at Caen, on the capitals of the pillars in the crypt at Bayeux cathedral, _Seal_, supposed to belong to Matilda, wife of the Conqueror, _Sheep_, Norman breed of, _Siege_, of Château Gaillard, _Statues_, in the chapter-house of the abbey of St. Georges de Bocherville, of William the Conqueror, at Caen, _Stothard, C. A. _, his drawings of the Bayeux tapestry, his opinion on its antiquity, _String-course_, remarkable, in the church of _Notre Dame des Prés_, atPont Audemer, _Superstitions_, still remaining in Normandy, T. 

_Tancarville, Ralph_, chamberlain to the Conqueror, and founder of theabbey of St. Georges de Bocherville, _Tapestry, Bayeux_, accounts of, published by Montfaucon and Lancelot, referred by them to Matilda, Queen of the Conqueror, figure from, its antiquity denied by Lord Littleton, Hume, and the Abbé de la Rue, when first described, reasons for believing in its antiquity, formerly kept at the cathedral, exhibited during the revolution at Paris, described, _Tassillon_, confined at Jumieges, _Tassilly_, ancient tombs found at, _Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury_ a monk of Bec, _Thomas à Becket_, retired during his disgrace to Lisieux, _Tiles, painted_, in the palace at Caen, supposed to prove the antiquity of heraldic bearings, _Tombeau des énervez_, at Jumieges, _Tombs, ancient_, at Cocherel, in Lisieux cathedral, at Tassilly, _Torigny marble_, _Trinity Holy, abbey of the_, at Caen, when built, used as a fortress as well as a nunnery its income privileges. _Trinity Holy, church of the abbey of the_, at Caen, now a work-house, described, its spires destroyed by Charles, King of Navarre. _Turnebus_, Adrian, native of Andelys. _Turold_, founder of Bourg-Theroude, represented on the Bayeux tapestry. 

U. 

_University of Caen_, founded by Henry VIth, abolished and restored by Charles VIIth, esteemed the third in France. 

V. 

_Vernon_, its situation, formerly the seat of a royal palace, church. _Vieux_, a Roman station, etymology of the name. _Vines_, formerly cultivated at Jumieges, also at Caen and Lisieux. 

W. 

_Wace_, a resident at Caen. _Whales_, formerly caught near Jumieges. _William the Conqueror_, his statue at Caen, supposed figure of him on a capital in the church of the abbey of the Trinity, buried in the abbey-church of St. Stephen, his epitaph, his death and burial, and the disturbance of his remains, his palace at Caen, fresco-paintings of him and his family, born at Falaise, receives the homage of the English, as successor to Edward, at Bayeux. _William of Jumieges_, his account of the attachment of the Empress Maud to Bec.