The Duke's tomb will be seen engraved in Sandford's Genealogical
History,[43] p. 314; which plate, in fact, is the identical one used by
Ducarel; who had the singularly good fortune to decorate his Anglo-Norman
Antiquities without any expense to himself![44]
There is a curious chapter in Pommeraye's _Histoire de l'Eglise Cathedrale
de Rouen_, p. 203, respecting the Duke's taking the habit of a canon of the
cathedral. He attended, with his first wife, ANNE OF BURGUNDY, and threw
himself upon the liberality and kindness of the monks, to be received by
them as one of their order: "il les prioit d'être receu parmy eux comme un
de leurs frères, et d'avoir tous les jours distribution de pain et de vin,
et pour marque de fraternité d'être vétu du surplis et de l'aumusse: comme
aussi d'être associé, luy et sa très généreuse et très illustre épouse, aux
suffrages de leur compagnie, et à la participation de tous les biens qu'il
plaira à Dieu leur donner la grace d'opérer," p. 204. A grand procession
marked the day of the Duke's admission into the monkish fraternity. The
whole of this, with an account of the Duke's superb presents to the
sacristy, his dining with his Duchess, and receiving their portion of
"eight loaves and four gallons of wine," are distinctly narrated by the
minute Pommeraye.
As you approach the _Chapel of the Virgin_, you pass by an ancient
monument, to the left, of a recumbent Bishop, reposing behind a thin
pillar, within a pretty ornamented Gothic arch.[45] To the eye of a
tasteful antiquary this cannot fail to have its due attraction. While
however we are treading upon hallowed ground, rendered if possible more
sacred by the ashes of the illustrious dead, let us move gently onwards
towards the _Chapel of the Virgin_, behind the choir. See, what bold and
brilliant monumental figures are yonder, to the right of the altar! How
gracefully they kneel and how devoutly they pray! They are the figures of
the CARDINALS D'AMBOISE--uncle and nephew:--the former, minister of Louis
XII.[46] and (what does not necessarily follow, but what gives him as high
a claim upon the gratitude of posterity) the restorer and beautifier of the
glorious building in which you are contemplating his figure. This splendid
monument is entirely of black and white marble, of the early part of the
sixteenth century. The figures just mentioned are of white marble, kneeling
upon cushions, beneath a rich canopy of Gothic fretwork. They are in their
professional robes; their heads are bare, exhibiting the tonsure, with the
hair in one large curl behind. A small whole-length figure of _St. George_,
their tutelary saint, is below them, in gilded marble: and the whole base,
or lower frieze, of the monument, is surrounded by six delicately
sculptured females, about three feet high, emblematic of the virtues for
which these cardinals were so eminently distinguished. These figures,
representing Faith, Charity, Prudence, Force, Justice, and Temperance, are
flanked by eight smaller ones, placed in carved niches; while, above them,
are the twelve Apostles, not less beautifully executed.[47]
On gazing at this splendid monument of ancient piety and liberality--and
with one's mind deeply intent upon the characters of the deceased--let us
fancy we hear the sound of the GREAT BELL from the south-west tower ...
called the _Amboise Tower_ ... erected, both the bell and the tower, by the
uncle and minister AMBOISE. Know, my dear friend, that there was _once_ a
bell, (and the largest in Europe, save one) which used to send forth its
sound, for three successive centuries, from the said tower. This bell was
broken about thirty years ago, and destroyed in the ravages of the
immediately succeeding years.[48] The south-west tower remains, and the
upper part of the central tower, with the whole of the lofty wooden
spire:--the fruits of the liberality of the excellent men of whom such
honourable mention has been made. Considering that this spire is very
lofty, and composed of wood, _it is surprising that it has not been
destroyed by tempest, or by lightning_.[49] The taste of it is rather
capricious than beautiful.
I have not yet done with the monuments, or rather have only commenced the
account of them.[50] Examine yonder recumbent figure, to the left of the
altar, opposite the splendid monument upon which I have just been dilating.
It is lying upon its back, with a ghastly expression of countenance,
representing the moment when the last breath has escaped from the body. It
is the figure of the Grand SENESCHAL DE BREZE,[51]--Governor of Rouen, and
husband of the celebrated DIANE DE POICTIERS--that thus claims our
attention. This figure is quite naked, lying upon its back, with the right
hand placed on the stomach, but in an action which indicates _life_--and
therefore it is in bad taste, as far as truth is concerned; for the head
being fallen back, much shrunken, and with a ghastly expression of
countenance--indicating that some time has elapsed since it breathed its
last--the hand could not rest in this position. The cenotaph is of black
marble, disfigured by the names of idle visitors who choose to leave such
impertinent memorials behind. The famous GOUJON is supposed to be the
sculptor of the figure, which is painfully clever, but it strikes me as
being too small. At any rate, the arms and body seem to be too strong and
fleshy for the shrunken and death-stricken expression of the countenance.
Above the Seneschal, thus prostrate and lifeless, there is another and a
very clever representation of him, on a smaller scale, on horseback.
On each side of this figure (which has not escaped serious injury) are two
females in white marble; one representing the VIRGIN, and the other DIANE
DE POICTIERS:[52] they are little more than half the size of life. The
whole is in the very best style of the sculpture of the time of Francis I.
These precious specimens of art, as well as several other similar remains,
were carried away during the revolution, to a place of safety. The choir is
spacious, and well adapted to its purposes; but who does not grieve to see
the Archbishop's stall, once the most curious and costly, of the Gothic
order, and executed at the end of the XVth century, transformed into a
stately common-place canopy, supported by columns of chestnut-wood carved
in the Grecian style? The LIBRARY, which used to terminate the north
transept, is--not gone--but transferred. A fanciful stair-case, with an
appropriate inscription,[53] yet attest that it was formerly an appendage
to that part of the edifice.
Before I quit the subject of the cathedral, I must not fail to tell you
something relating to the rites performed therein. Let us quit therefore
the dead for the living. Of course we saw, here, a repetition of the
ceremonies observed at Dieppe; but previously to the feast of the
_Ascension_ we were also present at the confirmation of three hundred boys
and three hundred girls, each very neatly and appropriately dressed, in a
sort of sabbath attire, and each holding a lighted wax taper in the hand.
The girls were dressed in white, with white veils; and the rich lent veils
to those who had not the means of purchasing them. The cathedral,
especially about the choir, was crowded to excess. I hired a chair, stood
up, and gazed as earnestly as the rest. The interest excited among the
parents, and especially the mothers, was very striking. "Voila la
petite--qu'elle a l'air charmant!--le petit ange!"....A stir is made ...
they rise... and approach, in the most measured order, the rails of the
choir ... There they deposit their tapers. The priests, very numerous,
extinguish them as dexterously as they can; and the whole cathedral is
perfumed with the mixed scent of the wax and frankincense. The boys, on
approaching the altar, and giving up their tapers, kneel down; then shut
their eyes, open their mouths; and the priests deposit the consecrated
wafer upon their tongues. The procession now took a different direction.
They all went into the nave, where a sermon was preached to the young
people, expressly upon the occasion, by a Monsieur Quillebeuf, a canon of
the cathedral, and a preacher of considerable popularity. He had one of the
most meagre and forbidding physiognomies I ever beheld, and his beard was
black and unshaven. But he preached well; fluently, and even eloquently:
making a very singular, but not ungraceful, use of his left arm--and
displaying at times rather a happy familiarity of manner, wholly exempt
from vulgarity, and well suited to the capacities and feelings of his
youthful audience. His subject was "belief in Christ Jesus;" on which he
gave very excellent proofs and evidences. His voice was thin, but clear,
and distinctly heard.
And now, my dear Friend, if you are not tired with this détour of the
CATHEDRAL, suppose we take a promenade to the next most important
ecclesiastical edifice in the city of Rouen. What say you therefore to a
stroll to the ABBEY of ST. OUEN? "Willingly," methinks I hear you reply. To
the abbey therefore let us go.
Leaving the Cathedral, you pass a beautifully sculptured fountain (of the
early time of Francis I.) which stands at the corner of a street, to the
right; and which, from its central situation, is visited the live-long day
for the sake of its limpid waters. Push on a little further; then, turning
to the right, you get into a sort of square, and observe the ABBEY--or
rather the _west-front_ of it, full in face of you. You gaze, and are first
struck with its matchless window: call it rose, or marygold, as you please.
I think, for delicacy and richness of ornament, this window is perfectly
unrivalled. There is a play of line in the mullions, which, considering
their size and strength, may be pronounced quite a master-piece of art. You
approach, regretting the neglected state of the lateral towers, and enter,
through the large and completely-opened centre doors, the nave of the
Abbey. It was towards sun-set when we made our first entrance. The evening
was beautiful; and the variegated tints of sun-beam, admitted through the
stained glass of the window, just noticed, were perfectly enchanting. The
window itself, as you look upwards, or rather as you fix your eye upon the
centre of it, from the remote end of the Abbey, or the _Lady's Chapel_, was
a perfect blaze of dazzling light: and nave, choir, and side aisles, seemed
magically illumined ...
Seemed all on fire--within, around;
Deep sacristy and altar's pale;
Shone every pillar foliage-bound....
_Lay of the Last Minstrel_.
We declared instinctively that the ABBEY OF ST. OUEN could hardly have a
rival;--certainly not a superior.
[Illustration]
As the evening came on, the gloom of almost every side chapel and recess
was rendered doubly impressive by the devotion of numerous straggling
supplicants; and invocations to the presiding spirit of the place, reached
the ears and touched the hearts of the bystanders. The grand western
entrance presents you with the most perfect view of the choir--a magical
circle, or rather oval--flanked by lofty and clustered pillars, and free
from the surrounding obstruction of screens, &c. Nothing more airy and more
captivating of the kind can be imagined. The finish and delicacy of these
pillars are quite surprising. Above, below, around--every thing is in the
purest style of the XIVth and XVth centuries. The central tower is a tower
of beauty as well as of strength. Yet in regard to further details,
connected with the interior, it must be admitted that there is very little
more which is deserving of particular description; except it be _the
gallery_, which runs within the walls of the nave and choir, and which is
considerably more light and elegant than that of the cathedral. A great
deal has been said about the circular windows at the end of the south
transept, and they are undoubtedly elegant: but compared with the one at
the extremity of the nave, they are rather to be noticed from the tale
attached to them, than from their positive beauty. The tale, my friend, is
briefly this. These windows were finished (as well as the larger one at the
west front) about the year 1439. One of them was executed by the
master-mason, the other by his apprentice; and on being criticised by
competent judges, the performance of the _latter_ was said to eclipse that
of the former. In consequence, the master became jealous and revengeful,
and actually poniarded his apprentice. He was of course tried, condemned,
and executed; but an existing monument to his memory attests the humanity
of the monks in giving him Christian interment.[54] On the whole, it is the
absence of all obtrusive and unappropriate ornament which gives to the
interior of this building that light, unencumbered, and faery-like effect
which so peculiarly belongs to it, and which creates a sensation that I
never remember to have felt within any other similar edifice.
Let me however put in a word for the _Organ_. It is immense, and perhaps
larger than that belonging to the Cathedral. The tin pipes (like those of
the organ in the Cathedral) are of their natural colour. I paced the
pavement beneath, and think that this organ cannot be short of forty
English feet in length. Indeed, in all the churches which I have yet seen,
the organs strike me as being of magnificent dimensions.
You should be informed however that the extreme length of the interior,
from the further end of the Chapel of the Virgin, to its opposite western
extremity, is about four hundred and fifty English feet; while the height,
from the pavement to the roof of the nave, or the choir, is one hundred and
eight English feet. The transepts are about one hundred and forty feet in
length. The central tower, upon the whole, is not only the grandest tower
in Rouen, but there is nothing for its size in our own country that can
compare with it. It rises upwards of one hundred feet above the roof of the
church; and is supported below, or rather within, by four magnificent
cluster-pillared bases, each about thirty-two feet in circumference. Its
area, at bottom, can hardly be less than thirty-six feet square. The choir
is flanked by flying buttresses, which have a double tier of small arches,
altogether "marvellous and curious to behold."
I could not resist stealing quietly round to the porch of the _south
transept_, and witnessing, in that porch, one of the most chaste, light,
and lovely specimens of Gothic architecture, which can be contemplated.
Indeed, I hardly know any thing like it.[55] The leaves of the poplar and
ash were beginning to mantle the exterior; and, seen through their green
and gay lattice work, the traceries of the porch seemed to assume a more
interesting aspect. They are now mending the upper part of the façade with
new stone of peculiar excellence--but it does not harmonise with the old
work. They merit our thanks, however, for the preservation of what remains
of this precious pile. I should remark to you that the eastern and
north-eastern sides of the abbey of St. Ouen are surrounded with promenades
and trees: so that, occasionally, either when walking, or sitting upon the
benches, within these gardens, you catch one of the finest views imaginable
of the abbey.
At this early season of the year, much company is assembled every evening
in these walks: while, in front of the abbey, or in the square facing the
western end, the national guard is exercised in the day time--and troops of
fair nymphs and willing youths mingle in the dance on a sabbath evening,
while a platform is erected for the instrumental performers, and for the
exhibition of feats of legerdemain. You must not take leave of St. Ouen
without being told that, formerly, the French Kings used occasionally to
"make revel" within the Abbot's house. Henry II, Charles IX, and Henry III,
each took a fancy to this spot--but especially the famous HENRI QUATRE. It
is reported that that monarch sojourned here for four months--- and his
reply to the address of the aldermen and sheriff of Rouen is yet preserved
both in MS. and by engravings. "The King having arrived at St. Ouen (says
an old MS.)[56] the keys of the tower were presented to him, in the
presence of M. de Montpensier, the governor of the province, upon a
velvet-cushion. The keys were gilt. The King took them, and replacing them
in the hands of the governor, said--"Mon cousin, je vous les baille pour
les rendre, qu'ils les gardent;"--then, addressing the aldermen, he added,
"Soyez moi bons sujets et je vous serai bon Roi, et le meilleur Roi que
vous ayez jamais eu."
Next to the Abbey of St. Ouen, "go by all means and see the church _St.
Maclou_"--say your friends and your guides. The Abbé Turquier accompanied
me thither. The great beauties of St. Maclou are its tower and its porch.
Of the tower, little more than the lantern remains. This is about 160
English feet in height. Above it was a belfry or steeple, another 110 feet
in height, constructed of wood and lead--but which has been nearly
destroyed for the sake of the lead,--for the purpose of slaughter or
resistance during the late revolution.[57] The exteriors of the porches are
remarkable for their elaborate ornaments; especially those in the _Rue
Martainville._ They are highly praised by the inhabitants, and are supposed
to be after the models of the famous Goujon. Perhaps they are rather
encumbered with ornament, and want that quiet effect, and pure good taste,
which we see in the porches of the Cathedral and of the Abbey St. Ouen.
However, let critics determine as they will upon this point--they must at
least unite in reprobating the barbarous edict which doomed these delicate
pieces of sculptured art to be deluged with an over-whelming tint of
staring yellow ochre!
Of the remaining churches, I shall mention only four: two of them chiefly
remarkable for their interior, and two for their extreme antiquity. Of the
two former, that of _St. Vincent_ presents you with a noble organ, with a
light choir profusely gilded, and (rarer accompaniment!) in very excellent
taste. But the stained glass is the chief magnet of attraction. It is rich,
varied, and vivid to a degree; and, upon the whole, is the finest specimen
of this species of art in the present ecclesiastical remains of the city.
_St. Vivien_ is the second of these two former. It is a fine open church,
with a large organ, having a very curious wooden screen in front,
elaborately carved, and, as I conceive, of the very earliest part of the
sixteenth century. I ascended the organ-loft; and the door happening to be
open, I examined this screen (which has luckily escaped the yellow-ochre
edict) very minutely, and was much gratified by the examination. Such
pieces of art, so situated, are of rare occurrence. For the first time,
within a parish church, I stepped upon the pavement of the choir: walked
gently forwards, to the echo of my own footsteps, (for not a creature was
in the church) and, "with no unhallowed hand" I would hope, ventured to
open the choral or service book, resting upon its stand. It was wide,
thick, and ponderous: upon vellum: beautifully written and well executed in
every respect, with the exception of the illuminations which were extremely
indifferent. I ought to tell you that the doors of the churches, abroad,
are open at all times of the day: the ancient or more massive door, or
portal, is secured from shutting; but a temporary, small, shabby wooden
door, covered with dirty green baize, opening and shutting upon circular
hinges, just covers the vacuum left by the absence of the larger one.
Of the two ancient churches, above alluded to, that of _St. Gervais_, is
situated considerably to the north of where the _Boulevards Cauchoise_ and
_Bouvreuil_ meet. It was hard by this favourite spot, say the Norman
historians, that the ancient Dukes of Normandy built their country-houses:
considering it as a _lieu de plaisance._ Here too it was that the Conqueror
came to breathe his last--desiring to be conveyed thither, from his palace
in the city, for the benefit of the pure air.[58] I walked with M. Le
Prevost to this curious church: having before twice seen it. But the
_Crypt_ is the only thing worth talking about, on the score of antiquity.
The same accomplished guide bade me remark the extraordinary formation of
the capitals of the pillars: which, admitting some perversity of taste in a
rude, Norman, imitative artist, are decidedly of Roman character.
"Perhaps," said M. Le Prevost, "the last efforts of Roman art previous to
the relinquishment of the Romans." Among these capitals there is one of the
perfect Doric order; while in another you discover the remains of two Roman
eagles. The columns are all of the same height; and totally unlike every
thing of the kind which I have seen or heard of.
We descended the hill upon which _St. Gervais_ is built, and walked onward
towards _St. Paul_, situated at the further and opposite end of the town,
upon a gentle eminence, just above the Banks of the Seine.[59] M. Le
Prevost was still our conductor. This small edifice is certainly of remote
antiquity, but I suspect it to be completely Norman. The eastern end is
full of antiquarian curiosities. We observed something like a Roman mask as
the centre ornament upon the capital of one of the circular figures; and
Mr. Lewis made a few slight drawings of one of the grotesque heads in the
exterior, of which the hair is of an uncommon fashion. The _Saxon whiskers_
are discoverable upon several of these faces. Upon the whole, it is
possible that parts of this church may have been built at the latter end of
the tenth century, after the Normans had made themselves completely masters
of this part of the kingdom; yet it is more probable that there is no
vestige left which claims a more ancient date than that of the end of the
eleventh century. I ought just to notice the church of _St. Sever_,[60]
supposed by some to be yet more ancient: but I had no opportunity of taking
a particular survey of it.
Thus much, or rather thus little, respecting the ECCLESIASTICAL ANTIQUITIES
of Rouen. They merit indeed a volume of themselves. This city could once
boast of upwards of _thirty parish churches_; of which very nearly a
_dozen_ have been recently (I mean during the Revolution) converted into
_warehouses_. It forms a curious, and yet melancholy mélange--this strange
misappropriation of what was formerly held most sacred, to the common and
lowest purposes of civil life! You enter these warehouses, or offices of
business, and see the broken shaft, the battered capital, and
half-demolished altar-piece--the gilded or the painted frieze--in the midst
of bales of goods--casks, ropes, and bags of cotton: while, without, the
same spirit of demolition prevails in the fractured column, and tottering
arch way. Thus time brings its changes and decays--premature as well as
natural: and the noise of the car-men and injunctions of the clerk are now
heard, where formerly there reigned a general silence, interrupted only by
the matin or evening chaunt! I deplored this sort of sacrilegious
adaptation, to a respectable-looking old gentleman, sitting out of doors
upon a chair, and smoking his pipe--"c'est dommage, Monsieur, qu'on a
converti l'église à"--He stopped me: raised his left hand: then took away
his pipe with his right; gave a gentle whiff, and shrugging up his
shoulders, half archly and half drily exclaimed--"Mais que voulez vous,
Monsieur?--ce sont des événemens qu'on ne peut ni prévoir ni prévenir.
Voilà ce que c'est!" Leaving you to moralize upon this comfortable morceau
of philosophy, consider me ever, &c.
[36] A most ample and correct view of this west front will be found in Mr.
_Cotman's Norman Antiquities_.
[37] It is about 180 English feet in width, by about 150 in the highest
part of its elevation. The plates which I saw at Mr. Frere's,
bookseller, upon the Quai de Paris, from the drawings of Langlois,
were very inadequate representations of the building.
[38] The ravages committed by the Calvinists throughout nearly the whole of
the towns in Normandy, and especially in the cathedrals, towards the
year 1560, afford a melancholy proof of the effects of RELIGIOUS
ANIMOSITY. But the Calvinists were bitter and ferocious persecutors.
Pommeraye, in his quarto volume, _Histoire de l'Eglise Cathedrale de
Rouen_, 1686, has devoted nearly one hundred pages to an account of
Calvinistic depredations.
[39] [Mr. Cotman has a plate of the elevation of the front of this south
transept; and a very minute and brilliant one will be found in the
previous edition of this Tour--by Mr. Henry le Keux: for which that
distinguished Artist received the sum of 100 guineas. The remuneration
was well merited.]
[40] [Mons. Licquet says each clustered pillar contains thirty-one
columns.]
[41] This chapel is about ninety-five English feet in length, by thirty in
width, and sixty in heighth. The sprawling painting by Philippe de
Champagne, at the end of it, has no other merit than that of covering
so many square feet of wall. The architecture of this chapel is of the
XIVth century: the stained glass windows are of the latter end of the
XVth. On completing the circuit of the cathedral, one is surprised to
count not fewer than _twenty-five_ chapels.
[42] [Mons. Licquet is paraphrastically warm in his version, here. He
renders it thus: "les atteintes effroyables du vandalisme
révolutionaire," vol. i. p. 64.]
[43] Sandford, after telling us that he thinks there "never was any
portraiture" of the Duke, thus sums up his character. "He was justly
accounted one of the best generals that ever blossomed out of the
royal stem of PLANTAGENET. His valour was not more terrible to his
enemies than his memory honourable; for (doubtful whether with more
glory to him, or to the speaker) King Lewis the Eleventh being
counselled by certain envious persons to deface his tomb (wherein with
him, saith one, was buried all English men's good fortune in France)
used these indeed princely words: 'What honour shall it be to us, or
you, to break this monument, and to pull out of the ground the bones
of HIM, whom, in his life time, neither my father nor your
progenitors, with all their puissance, were once able to make flie a
foot backwarde? who, by his strength, policy and wit kept them all out
of the principal dominions of France, and out of this noble duchy of
Normandy? Wherefore, I say first, GOD SAVE HIS SOUL; and let his body
now lie in rest, which when he was alive, would have disquieted the
proudest of us all. And for THIS TOMB, I assure you it is not so
worthy or convenient as his honour and acts have deserved.'" p. 314-5,
Ed. 1707[A] The famous MISSAL, once in the possession of this
celebrated nobleman, and containing the only authenticated portrait of
him (which is engraved in the _Bibliog. Decameron_, vol. i. p.
cxxxvii.) is now the property of John Milner, Esq. of York Place,
Portman Square, who purchased it of the Duke of Marlborough. The Duke
had purchased it at the sale of the library of the late James Edwards,
Esq. for 687l. 15s.
[A] [Upon this, Mons. Licquet, with supposed shrewdness and
success, remarks,--"All very well: but we must not forget that the
innocent Joan of Arc was burnt alive--thanks to this said Duke of
Bedford, as every one knows!"]
[44] [A different tale may be told of ONE of his Successors in the same
Anglo-Norman pursuit. The expenses attending the graphic
embellishments alone of the previous edition of this work, somewhat
exceeded the sum of _four thousand seven hundred pounds._ The risk was
entirely my own. The result was the loss of about 200l.: exclusively
of the expences incurred in travelling about 2000 miles. The
_copper-plates_ (notwithstanding every temptation, and many
entreaties, to _multiply_ impressions of several of the subjects
engraved) were DESTROYED. There may be something more than a mere
negative consolation, in finding that the work is RISING in price,
although its author has long ceased to partake of any benefit
resulting from it.]
[45] A plate of this Monument is published in the Tour of Normandy by
Dawson Turner, Esq.
[46] The Cardinal died in his fiftieth year only; and his funeral was
graced and honoured by the presence of his royal master. Guicciardini
calls him "the oracle and right arm of Louis." Of eight brothers, whom
he left behind, four attained to the episcopal rank. His nephew
succeeded him as Archbishop. See also _Historia Genealogica Magnatum
Franciae_; vol. vii. p. 129; quoted in the _Gallia Christiana_, vol.
xi. col. 96.
It was during the archiepiscopacy of the successor of the nephew of
Amboise--namely, that of CHARLES of BOURBON--that the _Calvanistic
persecution_ commenced. "Tunc vero coepit civitas, dioecesis,
universaque provincia lamentabilem in modum conflictari, saevientibus
ob religionis dissidia plusquam civilibus bellis," &c. But then the
good Archbishop, however bountiful he might have been towards the poor
at _Roncesvalles_, (when he escorted Philip II.'s first wife
Elizabeth, daughter of Henry II. to the confines of Spain, after he
had married her to that wretched monarch) should not have inflamed the
irritated minds of the Calvinists, by BURNING ALIVE, in 1559, _John
Cottin_, one of their most eminent preachers, by way of striking
terror into the rest! Well might the Chronicler observe, as the
result, "novas secta illa in dies acquirebat vires." About 1560-2, the
Calvinists got the upper hand; and repaid the Catholics with a
vengeance. Charles of Bourbon died in 1590: so that he had an arduous
and agitated time of it.
[47] How long will this monument--(matchless of its kind)--continue
unrepresented by the BURIN? If Mr. Henry Le Keux were to execute it in
his best style, the world might witness in it a piece of Art entirely
perfect of its kind. But let the pencils of Messrs. Corbould and Blore
be first exercised on the subject. In the mean while, why is GALLIC
ART inert?
[48] The choir was formerly separated from the surrounding chapels, or
rather from the space between it and the chapels, by a superb brass
grating, full of the most beautiful arabesque ornaments--another
testimony of the magnificent spirit of the Cardinal and Prime Minister
of Louis XII.: whose arms, as well as the figure of his patron, St.
George, were seen in the centre of every compartment ... The
Revolution has not left a vestige behind!
[49] [In this edition, I put the above passage in _Italics_,--to
mark, that, within three years of writing it, the spire was consumed
by LIGHTNING. The newspapers of both France and England were full of
this melancholy event; and in the year 1823, Monsieur Hyacinthe
Langlois, of Rouen, published an account of it, together with some
views (indifferently lithographised) of the progress of the burning.
"It should seem (says Mons. Licquet) that the author had a
presentiment of what was speedily to take place:--for the rest, the
same species of destruction threatens all similar edifices, for the
want of conductors." I possess a fragment of the lead of the roof, as
it was collected after a state of _fusion_--and sent over to me
by some friend at Rouen. The fusion has caused portions of the lead to
assume a variety of fantastic shapes--not _altogether_ unlike a
gothic building.]
[50] Let me add that the whole length of the cathedral is about four
hundred and forty feet; and the transept about one hundred and
seventy-five; English measure. The height of the nave is about ninety,
and of the lantern one hundred and sixty-eight feet, English. The
length of the nave is two hundred and twenty-eight feet.
[51] He died in 1531. Both the ancient and yet existing inscriptions are
inserted by Gilbert, from Pommeraye and Farin; and formerly there was
seen, in the middle of the monument, the figure of the Seneschal
habited as a Count, with all the insignia of his dignity. But this did
not outlive the Revolution.
[52] It must be admitted that Diana, when she caused the verses
_Indivulsa tibi quondam et fidissima conjux
Vt fuit in thalamo, sic erit in tumulo_.
to be engraved upon the tomb of the Seneschal, might well have "moved
the bile" of the pious Benedictine Pommeraye, and have excited the
taunting of Ducarel, when they thought upon her subsequent connexion,
in the character of mistress, with Henry the Second of France. Henry
however endeavoured to compensate for his indiscretions by the pomp
and splendor of his processions. Rouen, so celebrated of old for the
entries of Kings and Nobles, seems to have been in a perfect blaze of
splendor upon that of the Lover of Diana--"qui fut plus magnifique que
toutes celles qu'on avoit vu jusqu'alors:" see _Farin's Hist. de la
Ville de Rouen_, vol. i. p. 121, where there is a singularly minute
and gay account of all the orders and degrees of citizens--(with their
gorgeous accoutrements of white plumes, velvet hats, rich brocades,
and curiously wrought taffetas) of whom the processions were composed.
It must have been a perfectly dramatic sight, upon the largest
possible scale. It was from respect to the character or the memory of
DIANA, that so many plaster-representations of her were erected on the
exteriors of buildings: especially of those within small squares or
quadrangles. In wandering about Rouen, I stumbled upon several old
mansions of this kind.
[53] The inscription is this:
_Si quem sancta tenet meditandi in lege voluntas,
Hic poterit residens, sacris intendere libris_.
Pommeraye has rather an interesting gossiping chapter [Chap. xxii.]
"De la Bibliothêque de la Cathédrale;" p. 163: to which FRANÇOIS DE
HARLAY, about the year 1630, was one of the most munificent
benefactors.
[54] _Christian interment_.]--"Les Religieux de Saint Ouen touchez de
compassion envers ce malheureux artisan, obtinrent son corps de la
justice, et pour reconnoissance des bons services qu'il leur avoit
rendus dans la construction de leur église, nonobstant sa fin
tragique, ne laissèrent pas de luy fair l'honneur de l'inhumer dans la
chapelle de sainte Agnes, ou sa tombe se voit encore auec cet
Epitaphe:
_Cy gist_ M. ALEXANDRE DE BERNEUAL,
_Maistre des oeuvres de Massonnerie._
[55] Even Dr. Ducarel became warm--on contemplating this porch! "The porch
at the south entrance into the church (says he) is much more worthy of
the spectator's attention, being highly enriched with architectonic
ornaments; particularly two beautiful cul de lamps, which from the
combination of a variety of spiral dressings, as they hang down from
the vaulted roof, produce a very pleasing effect." p. 28.
[56] Consult the account given by M. Le Prevost in the "_Précis
Analytique des Travaux de l'Academie, &c. de Rouen_," for the year
1816, p. 151, &c.
[57] Farin tells us that you could go from the top of the lantern to the
cross, or to the summit of the belfry, "outside, without a ladder; so
admirable was the workmanship." "Strangers (adds he) took models of it
for the purpose of getting them engraved, and they were sold publicly
at Rome." _Hist. de la Ville de Rouen_, 1738, 4to. vol. ii. p. 154.
There are thirteen chapels within this church; of which however the
building cannot be traced lower than quite the beginning of the XVIth
century. The extreme length and width of the interior is about 155 by
82 feet English. Even in Du Four's time the population of this parish
was very great, and its cemetery (adds he) was the first and most
regular in Rouen. He gives a brief, but glowing description of it--"on
va tout autour par des galeries couvertes et pavées; et, deux de ces
galeries sont decorées de deux autels," &c. p. 150.
Alas! time--or the revolution--has annihilated all this. Let me
however add that M. COTMAN has published a view of the _staircase_ in
the church of which I am speaking.
[58] Ordericus Vitalis says, that the dying monarch requested to be
conveyed thither, to avoid the noise and bustle of a populous town.
Rouen is described to be, in _his_ time, "populosa civitas."
Consult Duchesne's _Historiæ Normannor. Scrip. Antiq._ p.656.
[59] A view of it is published by M. Cotman.
[60] _St. Sever_. This church is situated in the southern fauxbourgs,
by the side of the Seine, and was once surrounded by gardens, &c. As
you cross the bridge of boats, and go to the race-ground, you leave it
to the right; but it is not so old as _St. Paul_--where, Farin says,
the worship of ADONIS was once performed!