P. Il se trouve, mon père, que nous avons dans notre rue une voisine
qui est la plus méchante de toutes les femmes: elle jure, elle
querelle tous ceux qui passent, personne ne la peut souffrir, ni son
mari, ni ses enfans, & bien souvent elle s'enivre, & vous me dites,
mon père, quelle est celle-la? c'est ...
C. Ah gardez-vous bien de la nommer; car à la confession il ne faut
jamais fair connoitre les personnes dont vous déclarez les péchés.
P. C'est elle qui vient se confesser après moi: grondez-la bien, car
vous ne lui en sauriez trop dire.
C. Taisez-vous donc, & ne parlez que de _vos_ péchés, non pas de ceux
_des autres_.
_Elle s'accuse de ce qui n'est point péché._
_Pénitente_.--Ah! mon père, j'ai fait un grand péché, ah! le
grand péché! Hélas je serai damnée, quoique mon confesseur m'ait
defendu de le dire j'amais, néanmoins mon père je vais vous le
declarer.
C. Ne le dites point, puisque votre confesseur vous l'a defendu, je ne
veux point l'entendre.
P. Ah! n'importe; je veux vous le dire, c'est un trop grand péché:
J'ai battu ma mère.
C. Vous avez battu votre mère! Ah! misérable, c'est un cas réservé &
un crime qui mérite la potence. Et quand l'avez-vous battue?
P. Quand j'étois petite de l'âge de quatre ans.
C. Ah! simple, ne savez-vous pas que tout ce que les enfans font avant
l'âge de raison, qui est environ l'âge de sept ans, ne sauroit être un
péché.
There is however one thing, which I must frankly declare to you as entitled
to distinct notice and especial commendation. It is, the method of teaching
"catechisms" of a different and higher order: I mean the CHURCH CATECHISMS.
Both the Cathedral and the Abbey of St. Ouen have numerous side chapels.
Within these side chapels are collected, on stated days of the week, the
young of both sexes. They are arranged in a circle. A priest, in his white
robes, is seated, or stands, in the centre of them. He examines, questions,
corrects, or commends, as the opportunity calls for it. His manner is
winning and persuasive. His action is admirable. The lads shew him great
respect, and are rarely rude, or seen to laugh. Those who answer well, and
pay the greater attention, receive, with words of commendation, gentle pats
upon the head--and I could not but consider the blush, with which this mark
of favour was usually received, as so many presages of future excellence in
the youth. I once witnessed a most determined catechetical lecture of
girls; who might be called, in the language of their matrimonial catechism,
"de grandes filles." It was on an evening, in the Chapel of Our Lady in St.
Ouen's Abbey, that this examination took place. Two elderly priests
attended. The responses of the females were as quick as they were correct;
the eye being always invariably fixed on the pavement, accompanied with a
gravity and even piety of expression. A large group of mothers, with
numerous spectators, were in attendance. A question was put, to which a
supposed incorrect response was given. It was repeated, and the same answer
followed. The priest hesitated: something like vexation was kindling in his
cheek, while the utmost calmness and confidence seemed to mark the
countenance of the examinant. The attendant mothers were struck with
surprise. A silence for one minute ensued. The question related to the
"Holy Spirit." The priest gently approached the girl, and softly
articulated--"Mais, ma chère considerez un peu,"--and repeated the
question. "Mon pere, (yet more softly, rejoined the pupil) j'ai bien
considerée, et je crois que c'est comme je vous l'ai déjà dit." The Priest
crossed his hands upon his breast ... brought down his eyebrows in a
thoughtful mood ... and turning quickly round to the girl, addressed her in
the most affectionate tone of voice--"Ma petite,--tu as bien dit; et
j'avois tort." The conduct of the girl was admirable: She curtsied,
blushed... and with eyes, from which tears seemed ready to start, surveyed
the circle of spectators ... caught the approving glance of her mother, and
sunk triumphantly upon her chair--with the united admiration of teachers,
companions, parents and spectators! The whole was conducted with the most
perfect propriety; and the pastors did not withdraw till they were fairly
exhausted. A love of truth obliges me to confess that this reciprocity of
zeal, on the part of master and pupil, is equally creditable to both
parties; and especially serviceable to the cause of religion and morality.
Let me here make honourable mention of the kind offices of _Monsieur
Longchamp_, who volunteered his friendly services in walking over half the
town with me, to shew me what he justly considered as the most worthy of
observation. It is impossible for a generous mind to refuse its testimony
to the ever prompt kindness of a well-bred Frenchman, in rendering you all
the services in his power. Enquire the way,--and you have not only a finger
quickly pointing to it, but the owner of the finger must also put himself
in motion to accompany you a short distance upon the route, and that too
uncovered! "Mais, Monsieur, mettez votre chapeau ... je vous en prie ...
mille pardons." "Monsieur ne dites pas un seul mot ... pour mon chapeau,
qu'il reste à son aise."
Among book-collectors, Antiquaries, and Men of Taste, let me speak with
becoming praise of the amiable and accomplished M. AUGUSTE LE PREVOST--who
is considered, by competent judges, to be the best antiquary in Rouen.[76]
Mr. Dawson Turner, (a name, in our own country, synonymous with all that is
liberal and enlightened in matters of virtù) was so obliging as to give me
a letter of introduction to him; and he shewed me several rare and splendid
works, which were deserving of the commendations that they received from
their owner.
M. Le Prevost very justly discredits any remains of Roman masonry at Rouen;
but he will not be displeased to see that the only existing relics of the
castle or town walls, have been copied by the pencil of a late travelling
friend. What you here behold is probably of the fourteenth century.
[Illustration]
The next book-collector in commendation of whom I am bound to speak, is
MONSIEUR DUPUTEL; a member, as well as M. Le Prevost, of the _Academy of
Belles-Lettres_ at Rouen. The Abbé Turquier conducted me thither; and I
found, in the owner of a choice collection of books, a well-bred gentleman,
and a most hearty bibliomaniac. He has comparatively a small library; but,
withal, some very curious, scarce, and interesting volumes. M. Duputel is
smitten with that amiable passion,--the love of printing for _private
distribution_--thus meriting to become a sort of Roxburghe Associate. He
was so good as to beg my acceptance of the "nouvelle édition" of his
"_Bagatelles Poétiques,"_ printed in an octavo volume of about 112 pages,
at Rouen, in 1816. On taking it home, I discovered the following not
infelicitous version of our Prior's beautiful little Poem of _the Garland_.
_La Guirlande_.
_Traduction de l'Anglais de Prior_.
Pour orner de Chloé les cheveux ondoyans,
Parmi les fleurs nouvellement écloses
J'avais choisi les lis les plus brillans,
Les oeillets les plus beaux, et les plus fraîches roses.
Ma Chloé sur son front les plaça la matin:
Alors on vit céder sans peine,
Leur vif éclat à celui de son teint,
Leur doux parfum à ceux de son haleine.
De ses attraits ces fleurs paraissaient s'embellir,
Et sur ses blonds cheveux les bergers, les bergères
Les voyaient se faner avec plus de plaisir
Qu'ils ne les voyaient naître au milieu des parterres.
Mais, le soir, quand leur sein flétri
Eut cessé d'exhaler son odeur séduisante,
Elle fixa, d'un regard attendri,
Cette guirlande, hélas! n'aguères si brillante.
Des larmes aussi-tôt coulent de ses beaux yeux.
Que d'éloquence dans ces larmes!
Jamais pour l'exprimer, le langage des dieux,
Tout sublime qu'il est, n'aurait assez de charmes.
En feignant d'ignorer ce tendre sentiment;
"Pourquoi," lui dis-je, "ô ma sensible amie,
Pourquoi verser des pleurs? et par quel changement
Abandonner ton ame à la melancholie?"
"Vois-tu comme ces fleurs languissent tristement?"
Me dit, en soupirant, ce moraliste aimable,
"De leur fraîcheur, en un moment,
S'est éclipsé le charme peu durable.
Tel est, hélas! notre destin;
Fleur de beauté ressemble à celles des prairies;
On les voit toutes deux naître avec le matin,
Et dès le soir être flétries.
Estelle hier encor brillait dans nos hameaux,
Et l'amour attirait les bergers sur ses traces;
De la mort, aujourd'hui, I'impitoyable faulx
A moissonné sa jeunesse et ses graces.
Soumise aux mêmes lois, peut-être que demain,
Comme elle aussi, Damon, j'aurai cessé de vivre....
Consacre dans tes vers la cause du chagrin
Auquel ton amante se livre."
p. 92.
The last and not the least of book-collectors, which I have had an
opportunity of visiting, is MONSIEUR RIAUX. With respect to what may be
called a ROUENNOISE LIBRARY, that of M. Riaux is greatly preferable to any
which I have seen; although I am not sure whether M. Le Prevost's
collection contain not nearly as many books. M. Riaux is himself a man of
first-rate book enthusiasm; and unites the avocations of his business with
the gratification of his literary appetites, in a manner which does him
infinite honour. A city like Rouen should have a host of such inhabitants;
and the government, when it begins to breathe a little from recent
embarrassments, will, I hope, cherish and support that finest of all
patriotic feelings,--a desire to preserve the RELICS, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS
of PAST AGES. Normandy is fertile beyond conception in objects which may
gratify the most unbounded passion in this pursuit. It is the country where
formerly the harp of the minstrel poured forth some of its sweetest
strains; and the lay and the fabliaux of the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries, which delight us in the text of Sainte Palaye, and in the
versions of Way, owed their existence to the combined spirit of chivalry
and literature, which never slumbered upon the shores of Normandy.
Farewell now to ROUEN.[77] I have told you all the tellings which I thought
worthy of communication. I have endeavoured to make you saunter with me in
the streets, in the cathedral, the abbey, and the churches. We have, in
imagination at least, strolled together along the quays, visited the halls
and public buildings, and gazed with rapture from Mont Ste. Catharine upon
the enchanting view of the city, the river, and the neighbouring hills. We
have from thence breathed almost the pure air of heaven, and surveyed a
country equally beautified by art, and blessed by nature. Our hearts, from
that same height, have wished all manner of health, wealth, and prosperity,
to a land thus abounding in corn and wine, and oil and gladness. We have
silently, but sincerely prayed, that swords may for ever be "turned into
plough-shares, and spears into pruning-hooks:"--that all heart-burnings,
antipathies, and animosities, may be eternally extinguished; and that, from
henceforth, there may be no national rivalries but such as tend to
establish, upon a firmer footing, and upon a more comprehensive scale, the
peace and happiness of fellow-creatures, of whatever persuasion they may
be:--of such, who sedulously cultivate the arts of individual and of
national improvement, and blend the duties of social order with the higher
calls of morality and religion. Ah! my friend, these are neither foolish
thoughts nor romantic wishes. They arise naturally in an honest heart,
which, seeing that all creation is animated and upheld by ONE and the SAME
POWER, cannot but ardently hope that ALL may be equally benefited by a
reliance upon its goodness and bounty. From this eminence we have descended
somewhat into humbler walks. We have visited hospitals, strolled in
flower-gardens, and associated with publishers and collectors of
works--both of the dead and of the living. So now, fare you well. Commend
me to your family and to our common friends,--especially to the Gorburghers
should they perchance enquire after their wandering Vice President. Many
will be the days passed over, and many the leagues traversed, ere I meet
them again. Within twenty-four hours my back will be more decidedly turned
upon "dear old England"--for that country, in which her ancient kings once
held dominion, and where every square mile (I had almost said _acre_) is
equally interesting to the antiquary and the agriculturist. I salute you
wholly, and am yours ever.
[71] The reader may possibly not object to consult two or three pages of
the _Bibliographical Decameron_, beginning at page 137, vol. ii.
respecting a few of the early Rouen printers. The name of MAUFER,
however, appears in a fine large folio volume, entitled _Gaietanus
de Tienis Vincentini in Quatt. Aristot. Metheor. Libros_, of the
date of 1476--in the possession of Earl Spencer. See _Æd.
Althorp_. vol. ii. p. 134. From the colophon of which we can only
infer that Maufer was a _citizen of Rouen_. [According to M.
Licquet, the first book printed at Rouen--a book of the greatest
rarity--was entitled _Les Croniques de Normandie, par Guillaume Le
Talleur_, 1487, folio.]
[72] [Since the publication of the first edition of this Tour, I have had
_particular_ reason to become further acquainted with the
partiality of the Rouennois for Parisian printing. When M. Licquet did
me the honour to translate my IXth Letter, subjoining notes, (which
cut their own throats instead of that of the author annotated upon) he
employed the press of Mons. Crapelet, at Paris: a press, as eminently
distinguished for its beauty and accuracy, as its Director has proved
himself to be for his narrow-mindedness and acrimony of feeling. M.L.
(as I learnt from a friend who conversed with him, and as indeed I
naturally expected) seemed to be sorry for what he had done.]
[73] _like Aldus, "say my saying" quickly_.] Consult Mr. Roscoe's
_Life of Leo X._ vol. i. p. 169-70, 8vo. edit. Unger, in his Life
of Aldus, _edit. Geret._ p. xxxxii. has a pleasant notice of an
inscription, to the same effect, put over the door of his
printing-office by Aldus. [It has been quoted to satiety, and I
therefore omit it here.]
[74] [Mons. Périaux has lately published a Dictionary of the Streets of
Rouen, in alphabetical order; in two small, unostentatious, and useful
octavo volumes.]
[75] [Mons. Licquet translates the latter part of the above passage
thus:--"avec quelle facilité nous parvenons à nous abuser
nous-mêmes,"--adding, in a note, as follows: "J'avais d'abord vu un
tout autre sens dans la phrase anglaise. Si celui que j'adopte n'était
pas encore le veritable, j'en demande sincèrement pardon à l'auteur."
In turn, I may not be precisely informed of the meaning and force of
the verb "_abuser_"--used by my translator: but I had been better
satisfied with the verb _tromper_--as more closely conveying the sense
of the original.]
[76] M. Le Prevost is a belles-lettres Antiquary of the highest order. His
"Mémoire faisant suite à l'Essai sur les Romans historiques du moyen
âge" may teach modern Normans not to despair when death shall have
laid low their present oracle the ABBE DE LA RUE. [I am proud, in
this second edition of my Tour, to record the uninterrupted
correspondence and friendship of this distinguished Individual; and I
can only regret, in common with several friends, that M. Le Prevost
will not summon courage sufficient to visit a country, once in such
close connexion with his own, where a HEARTY RECEPTION has long
awaited him.]
[77] [The omission, in this place, of the entire IXth Letter, relating to
the PUBLIC LIBRARY at Rouen, must be accounted for, and it is hoped,
approved, on the principle laid down at the outset of this
undertaking; namely, to omit much that was purely bibliographical, and
of a secondary interest to the general Reader. The bibliography, in
the original IXth Letter, being of a partial and comparatively dry
description--as relating almost entirely to ancient volumes of Church
Rituals--was thought to be better omitted than abridged. Another
reason might be successfully urged for its omission.
This IXth Letter, which comprehends 22 pages in the previous
impression, and about 38 pages in the version, having been translated
and _separately_ published in 1821, by Mons. Licquet (who
succeeded M. Gourdin as Principal Librarian of the Library in
question) I had bestowed upon it particular attention, and entered
into several points by way of answer to his remarks, and in
justification or explanation of the original matter. In consequence,
any _abridgement_ of that original matter must have led to
constant notice of the minute remarks, and pigmy attacks, of my
critical translator: and the stream of intelligence in the text might
have been diverted, or rendered unpalatable, by the observations, in
the way of controversy, in the notes. If M. Licquet considers this
avowal as the proclaiming of his triumph, he is welcome to the laurels
of a Conqueror; but if he can persuade any COMMON FRIENDS that, in the
translation here referred to, he has defeated the original author in
one essential position--or corrected him in one flagrant inaccuracy--I
shall be as prompt to thank him for his labours, as I am now to
express my astonishment and pity at his undertaking. When M. Licquet
put forth the brochure in question--(so splendidly executed in the
press of M. Crapelet--to harmonise, in all respects, with the large
paper copies of the original English text) he had but recently
occupied the seat of his Predecessor. I can commend the zeal of the
newly-appointed Librarian in Chief; but must be permitted to question
alike his judgment and his motives.
One more brief remark in this place. My translator should seem to
commend what is only laudatory, in the original author, respecting his
countrymen. Sensitively alive to the notice of their smallest defects,
he has the most unbounded powers of digestion for that of their
excellences. Thus, at the foot of the ABOVE PASSAGE, in the text,
Mons. Licquet is pleased to add as follows--in a note: "Si M. Dibdin
ne s'était livré qu'à des digressions de cette nature, il aurait
trouvé en France un chorus universel, un concert de voeux unanimes:"
vol. i. p. 239. And yet few travellers have experienced a more cordial
reception, and maintained a more _harmonious_ intercourse, than
HE, who, from the foregoing quotation, is more than indirectly
supposed to have provoked opposition and _discord!_]