СНАР.
V.

man whose office it is to beat time to the musicians. In the municipality box which was in the centre, lined with green silk, and gold, were two fine young women who appeared to be ladies of fashion, and consequence; they were dressed after the antique, in an attire which, for lightness, and scantiness I never saw equalled, till I saw it surpassed at Paris. They appeared to be clothed only in jewels, and a little muslin, very gracefully disposed, the latter, to borrow a beautiful expression, had the appearance of "woven air."-From emotions of gratitude, for the captivating display which they made, I could not help offering a few fervent wishes, that the light of the next day might find them preserved from the dreaded consequences of a very bitter cold night.

Rouen, upon the whole, is a fine city, very large, and populous. It was formerly the capital of the kingdom of Nor mandy. It stands upon a plain, screened on three sides, by high, and picturesque mountains. It is near two leagues in compass, exclusive of the fauxbourgs of St. Severs, Cauchoise, Bouveul, St. Hiliare, Martainville and Beauvisme.

Its com

merce was very celebrated, and is returning with great rapidity. Most of the fine buildings in this city, and its environs are Anglo-Norman antiquities, and were founded by the English before they left Normandy.

The cathedral is a grand, and awful pile of gothic architecture, built by our William the Conqueror. It has two towers, one of which, is surmounted by a wooden spire covered with lead, and is of the prodigious height of 395 french feet, the other is 236 feet high.

The

CATHEDRAL.

ST. OUENS.

47

V.

The additional wooden spire, and the inequality of the towers CHAP. produce rather an unfavourable effect. During the revolution, this august edifice was converted into a sulphur and gunpowder manufactory, by which impious prostitution, the pillars are defaced, and broken, and the whole is blackened, and dingy.

The costly cenotaphs of white marble, enriched with valuable ornaments containing the hearts of our Henry III, and Richard I, kings of England, and dukes of Normandy, which were formerly placed on each side of the grand altarpiece, were removed during the revolution.

The altarpiece is very fine.
for the inauguration of the
place the following Sunday. There were not many people
at mass; those who were present, appeared to be chiefly com-
posed of old women, and young children. Over the charity box
fastened to one of the pillars was a board upon which was
written in large letters "Hospices reconnoissance et prospérité
à l'homme géneréux et sensible." I saw few people affected
by this benedictory appeal. I next visited the church of
St. Ouens, which is not so large as the cathedral, but surpasses
that, and every other sacred edifice I ever beheld, in point
of elegance. This graceful pile, has also had its share of
sufferings, during the reign of revolutionary barbarism. Its
chaste, and elegant pillars, have been violated by the smoke of
sulphur and wood; and in many places, present to the distressed
eye, chasms, produced by massy forges, which were erected
against them, for casting ball. The costly railing of brass, gilt,

Grand preparations were making
archbishop, which was to take

48

V.

which half surrounded the altar, has been torn up, and melted into cannon. The large circular stained window over the entrance called La Rose du Portail is very beautiful, and wholly unimpaired. The organs in all the churches are broken and useless. They experienced this fate, in consequence of their having been considered as fanatical instruments during the time of terrour. The fine organ of St. Ouens is in this predicament, and will require much cost to repair it *.

I cannot help admiring the good sense which in all the churches of France is displayed, by placing the organ upon a gallery over the grand entrance, by which the spectator has an uninterrupted view, and commands the whole length of the interior building. In the English cathedrals, it is always placed midway between the choir and church, by which, this desired effect is lost.-St. Ouens is now open for worship.

In spite of all the devastations of atheistic Vandalism, this exquisite building, like the holy cause to which it is consecrated, having withstood the assailing storm, and elevating its meek, but magnificent head above its enemies, is mildly ready to receive them into her bosom, still disfigured with the traces of blind and barbarous ferocity.

Behind the altar, I met the celebrated prince of Waldec. He, who possessed of royal honours, and ample domains, revolted in the day of battle, from his imperial master, and joined the victorious and pursuing foe. I beheld him in a shaded corner of one of the cloisters of St. Ouens, in poor attire,

* The ornaments of the churches of England experienced a similar fate from the commissioners of the Long Parliament, in 1643.

THE MAID OF ORLEANS.

V.

49

with an old umbrella under his arm, scantily provided for, CHAP. and scarcely noticed by his new friends. A melancholy, but just example of the rewards due to treachery and desertion.

I have described these churches only generally, it cannot be expected of me to enter into an elaborate history of them, or of any other public edifices. The detail, if attempted, might prove dull, and is altogether incompatible with the limited time, and nature of my excursion.

After we left St. Ouens, we visited the Square aux Vaux, where the celebrated heroine of Lorrain, Joan d'Arc, commonly called the Maid of Orleans was cruelly burnt at the stake, for a pretended sorceress, but in fact to gratify the barbarous revenge of the duke of Bedford, the then regent of France; because after signal successes, she conducted her sovereign, Charles, in safety, to Rheims, where he was crowned, and obtained decisive victories over the English arms. We here saw the statue erected by the French, to the memory of this remarkable woman, which as an object of sculpture seems to possess very little worthy of notice.

CHAP.

VI.

CHAPTER VI.

First Consul's Advertisement. Something ridiculous. - Eggs.
Criminal Military Tribunal.- French Female Confidence. - Town
House. Convent of Jesuits.-Guillotine.-Governor W

UPON looking up against the corner wall of a street, sur-
rounded by particoloured advertisements of quack, medicines,
wonderful cures, new invented essences, judgments of cassa-
tion, rewards for robbers, and bills of the opera, I beheld
Bonaparte's address to the people of France, to elect him first
consul for life. I took it for granted that the spanish proverb
of " tell me with whom you are, and I will tell you what
you are," was not to be applied in this instance, on account
of the company in which the Consular application, by a mere
fortuitous coincidence, happened to be placed.

A circumstance occurred at this time, respecting this election, which was rather ridiculous, and excited considerable mirth at Paris. Upon the first appearance of the election book of the first consul, in one of the departments, some wag, instead of subscribing his name, immediately under the title of the page, "shall Napoleone Bonaparte be first consul for life?" wrote the following words, "I can't tell."

This trifling affair affords rather a favourable impression of the mildness of that government, which could inspire sufficient confidence to hazard such a stroke of pleasantry. It reached Mal Maison with great speed, but is said to have occasioned

no