It is called "_Notre-Dame de la bonne Delivrande_," and is necessarily confined to the religion of the country. You have here, first of all, a reduced form of the original: probably about one-third--and it is the more appropriate, as it will serve to give you a very correct notion of the dressing out of the figures of the VIRGIN and CHILD which are meant to grace the altars of the chapels of the Virgin in most of the churches in Normandy. Is it possible that one spark of devotion can be kindled by the contemplation of an object so grotesque and so absurd in the House of G.o.d?
[Ill.u.s.tration: SAINTE MARIE, MeRE DE DIEU, priez pour nous]
To describe all the trumpery which is immediately around it, in the original, would be a waste of time; but below are two good figures to the right, and two wretched ones to the left. Beneath the whole, is the following _accredited_ consoling piece of intelligence:
L"AN 830, _des Barbares descendent dans les Gaules, ma.s.sacrent les Fideles, profanent et brulent les Eglises. Raoul, Duc de Normandie, se joint a eux; l"image de la Ste. Vierge demeure ensevelie sous les ruines de l"ancienne chapelle jusqu"au regne de Henri I. l"an 1331.
Beaudouin, Baron de Douvres, averti par son berger qu"un mouton de son troupeau fouillait toujours dans le meme endroit, fit ouvrir la terre, et trouva ce tresor cache depuis tant d"annees. Il fit porter processionnellement cette sainte image dans l"Eglise de Douvres: mais Dieu permit qu"elle fut transportee par un Ange dans l"endroit de la chapelle ou elle est maintenant reveree. C"est dans cette chapelle que, par l"intercession de Marie, les pecheurs recoivent leur conversion, les affliges leur consolation, les infirmes la sante, les captifs leur delivrance, que ceux qui sont en mer echappent aux tempetes et au naufrage, et que des miracles s"operent journellement sur les pieux Fideles_.
A word now for BIBLIOPOLISTS--including _Bouquinistes_, or venders of "old and second-hand books." The very morning following my arrival in Caen, I walked to the abbey of St. Stephen, before breakfast, and in the way thither stopped at a book stall, to the right,--and purchased some black letter folios: among which the French version of _Caesar"s Commentaries,_ printed by Verard, in 1488, was the most desirable acquisition. It is reserved for Lord Spencer"s library;[128] at a price which, freight and duty included, cannot reach the sum of twelve shillings of our money. Of venders of second hand and old books, the elder and younger MANOURY take a decisive lead. The former lives in the _Rue Froide_; the latter in the _Rue Notre Dame._ The father boasts of having upwards of thirty thousand volumes, but I much doubt whether his stock amount to one half of that number. He unhesitatingly asked me two _louis d"or_ for a copy of the _Vaudevires_ of OLIVIER Ba.s.sELIN, which is a modern, but privately printed, volume; and of which I hope to give you some amusing particulars by and by.
He also told me that he had formerly sold a paper copy of _Fust"s Bible of 1462,_ with many of the illuminated initials cut out, to the library of the a.r.s.enal, at Paris, for 100 louis d"or. I only know that, if I had been librarian, he should not have had one half the money.
Now for Manoury the younger. Old and young are comparative terms: for be it known that the son is "age de soixante ans." Over his door you read an ancient inscription, thus:
"_Battu, perce, lie, Je veux changer de main_."
This implies either (like Aladdin"s old lamps for new) that he wishes to give new books in exchange for old ones, or that he can smarten up old ones by binding, or otherwise, and give them a renovated appearance. But the solution is immaterial: the inscription being as above. The interior of the younger Manoury"s book repository almost appalled me. His front shop, and a corridor communicating with the back part of the house, are rank with moisture; and his books are consequently rotting apace. Upon my making as pitiable a statement as I was able of this melancholy state of things--and pleading with all my energies against the inevitable destruction which threatened the dear books--the obdurate bibliopolist displayed not one scintillation of sympathy. He was absolutely indifferent to the whole concern. In the back parlour, almost impervious to day-light, his daughter, and a stout and handsome bourgeoise, with rather an unusually elevated cauchoise, were regaling themselves with soup and herbs at dinner. I hurried through, in my way to the upper regions, with apologies for the intrusion; but was told that none were necessary--that I might go where, and stay as long, as I pleased--and that any explanation would be given to my interrogatories in the way of business. I expressed my obligations for such civility; and gaining an upper room, by the help of a chair, made a survey of its contents. What piles of interminable rubbish! I selected, as the only rational or desirable volume--half rotted with moisture--_Belon"s Marine Fishes_, 1551, 4to; and placing six francs (the price demanded) upon the table, hurried back, through this sable and dismal territory, with a sort of precipitancy amounting to horrour. What struck me, as productive of a very extraordinary effect--was the cheerfulness and _gaiete de coeur_ of these females, in the midst of this region of darkness and desolation.
Manoury told me that the Revolution had deprived him of the opportunity of having the finest bookselling stock in France! His own carelessness and utter apathy are likely to prove yet more destructive enemies.
But let us touch a more "spirit-stirring" chord in the book theme. Let us leave the _Bouquiniste_ for the PUBLIC LIBRARY: and I invite you most earnestly to accompany me thither, and to hear matters of especial import.
This library occupies the upper part of a fine large stone building, devoted to the public offices of government. The plan of the library is exceedingly striking; in the shape of a cross. It measures one hundred and thirty-four, by eighty, French feet; and is supposed, apparently with justice, to contain 20,000 volumes. It is proportionably wide and lofty. M.
HeBERT is the present chief librarian, having succeeded the late M.
Moysant, his uncle. Among the more eminent benefactors and Bibliomaniacs, attached to this library, the name of FRANCOIS MARTIN is singularly conspicuous. He was, from all accounts, and especially from the information of M. Hebert, one of the most raving of book-madmen: but he displayed, withal, a spirit of kindness and liberality towards his favourite establishment at Caen, which could not be easily shaken or subdued. He was also a man of letters, and evinced that most commendable of all literary propensities--a love of the LITERATURE OF HIS COUNTRY. He ama.s.sed a very large collection of books, which was cruelly pillaged during the Revolution; but the public library became possessed of a great number of them. In those volumes, formerly belonging to him, which are now seen, is the following printed inscription: "_Franciscus Martin, Doctor Theologus Parisiensis, comparavit. Oretur pro co_." He was head of the convent of Cordeliers, and Prefect of the Province: but his mode of collecting was not always that which a public magistrate would call _legitimate_. He sought books every where; and when he could not _buy_ them, or obtain them by fair means, he would _steal_ them, and carry them home in the sleeves of his gown! He flourished about a century ago; and, with very few exceptions, all the best conditioned books in the library belonged to this magisterial book-robber. Among them I noted down with singular satisfaction the Aldine edition of _Stepha.n.u.s de Urbibus_, 1502, folio--in its old vellum binding: seemly to the eye, and comfortable to the touch. Nor did his copy of the _Repertorium Statutorum Ordinis Cartusiensis_, printed by _Amerbach, at Basil_, in a glorious gothic character, 1510, folio, escape my especial notice--also the same Bibliomaniac"s beautiful copy of the _Mentz Herbal_, of 1484, in 4to.
But the obliquities of Martin a.s.sume a less questionable aspect, when we contemplate a n.o.ble work, which he not only projected, but left behind ready for publication. It is thus ent.i.tled: _Athenae Normannorum veteres ac recentes, seu syllabus Auctorum qui oriundi e Normannia, &c._ It consists of one volume, in MS., having the authority of government, to publish it, prefixed. There is a short Latin preface, by Martin, followed by two pages of Latin verses beginning thus:
_In Auctorum Normannicorum Syllab.u.m.
Prolusio metrica.
En Syllabus prodit palam Contextus arte sedula Ex litteratae Neustriae Auctoribus celebribus._ &c. &c.
Among the men, the memories of whom throw a l.u.s.tre upon Caen,[129] was the famous SAMUEL BOCHART; at once a botanist, a scholar, and a critic of distinguished celebrity. He was a native of Rouen, and his books (many of them replete with valuable ms. notes) are among the chief treasures of the public library, here. Indeed there is a distinct catalogue of them, and the funds left by their ill.u.s.trious owner form the princ.i.p.al support of the library establishment. Bochart"s portrait, with those of many other benefactors to the library, adorns the walls; suspended above the books: affording a very agreeable coup-d"oeil. Indeed the princ.i.p.al division of the library, the further end of which commands a pleasant prospect, is worthy of an establishment belonging to the capital of an empire. The kindness of M. Hebert, and of his a.s.sistant, rendered my frequent sojournings therein yet more delectable. The portrait of his uncle, M.
MOYSANT, is among the ornaments of the chief room. Though Moysant was large of stature, his lungs were feeble, and his const.i.tution was delicate. At the age of nineteen, he was appointed professor of grammar and rhetoric in the college of Lisieux. He then went to Paris, and studied under Beau and Batteux; when, applying himself more particularly to the profession of physic, he returned to Caen, in his thirtieth year, and put on the cap of Doctor of medicine; but he wanted either nerves or stamina for the successful exercise of his profession. He had cured a patient, after painful and laborious attention, of a very serious illness; but his patient chose to take liberties too soon with his convalescent state. He was imprudent: had a relapse; and was hurried to his grave. Moysant took it seriously to heart, and gave up his business in precipitancy and disgust.
In fact, he was of too sanguine and irritable a temperament for the display of that cool, cautious, and patient conduct, which it behoveth all young physicians to adopt, ere they can possibly hope to attain the honours or the wealth of the _Halfords_ and _Matons_ of the day! Our Moysant returned to the study of his beloved belles-lettres. At that moment, luckily, the Society of the Jesuits was suppressed; and he was called by the King, in 1763, to fill the chair of Rhetoric in one of the finest establishments of that body at Caen. He afterwards successively became perpetual Secretary of the Academy of Sciences, and Vice-President of the Society of Agriculture.
He was next dubbed by the University, Dean of the faculty of arts, and was selected to p.r.o.nounce the public oration upon the marriage of the unfortunate Louis XVI. with Marie Antoinette. He was now a marked and distinguished public character. The situation of PUBLIC LIBRARIAN was only wanting to render his reputation complete, and _that_ he instantly obtained upon the death of his predecessor. With these occupations, he united that of instructing the English (who were always in the habit of visiting Caen,) in the French language; and he obtained, in return, from some of his adult pupils, a pretty good notion of the laws and liberties of Old England.
The Revolution now came on: when, like many of his respectable brethren, he hailed it at first as the harbinger of national reformation and prosperity.
But he had soon reason to find that he had been deceived. However, in the fervour of the moment, and upon the suppression of the monastic and other public libraries, he received a very wide and unqualified commission to search all the libraries in the department of _Calvados_, and to bring home to Caen all the treasures he might discover. He set forth upon this mission with truly public spirited ideas: resolving (says his nephew) to do for Normandy what Dugdale and Dodsworth had done for England--and a _Monastic.u.m Neustriac.u.m_ was the commendable object of his ambition. He promised much, and perhaps did more than he promised. His curious collection (exclusively of the cart-loads of books which were sent to Caen) was shewn to his countrymen; but the guillotine was now the order of the day--when Moysant "resolved to visit England, and submit to the English n.o.bility the plan of his work, as that nation always attached importance to the preservation of the monuments, or literary materials, of the middle ages."--He knew (continues the nephew) how proud the English were of their descent from the Norman n.o.bles, and it was only to put them in possession of the means of preserving the unquestionable proofs of their origin. Moysant accordingly came over with his wife, and they were both quickly declared emigrants; their return was interdicted; and our bibliomaniac learnt, with heart-rending regret, that they had resolved upon the sale of the national property in France. He was therefore to live by his wits; having spiritedly declined all offer of a.s.sistance from the English government. In this dilemma he published a work ent.i.tled "_Bibliotheque des Ecrivains Francais, ou choix des meilleurs morceaux en prose et en vers, extraits de leurs ouvrages_,"--a collection, which was formed with judgment, and which was attended with complete success. The first edition was in four octavo volumes, in 1800; the second, in six volumes 1803; a third edition, I think, followed, with a pocket dictionary of the English and French languages. It was during his stay amongst us that he was deservedly admitted a member of the Society of Antiquaries; but he returned to France in 1802, before the appearance of the second edition of his _Bibliotheque_; when, hawk-like, soaring or sailing in suspense between the book-atmospheres of Paris and Caen, he settled within the latter place--and again perched himself (at the united call of his townsmen) upon the chair destined for the PUBLIC LIBRARIAN! It was to give order, method, and freedom of access, to the enormous ma.s.s of books, which the dissolution of the monastic libraries had caused to be acc.u.mulated at Caen, that Moysant and his colleagues now devoted themselves with an a.s.siduity as heroic as it was unintermitting. But the health of our generalissimo, which had been impaired during his residence in England, began to give way beneath such a pressure of fatigue and anxiety. Yet it pleased Providence to prolong his life till towards the close of the year 1813: when he had the satisfaction of viewing his folios, quartos, octavos, and duodecimos, arranged in regular succession, and fair array; when his work was honestly done; and when future visitors had only to stretch forth their hands and gather the fruit which he had placed within their reach. His death (we are told)[130]
was gentle, and like unto sleep. Religion had consoled him in his latter moments; and after having reposed upon its efficacy, he waited with perfect composure for the breathing of his last sigh! Let the name of MOYSANT be mentioned with the bibliomaniacal honours which, are doubtless its due!...
From Librarians, revert we to books: to the books in the PUBLIC LIBRARY of Caen. The oldest printed volume contained in it, and which had been bound with a MS, on the supposition of its being a ma.n.u.script also, is Numeister"s impression of _Aretinus de Bella adversus Gothos_, 1470, folio; the first book from the press of the printer. I undeceived M. Hebert, who had supposed it to be a MS. The lettering is covered with horn, and the book is bound in boards; "all proper." The oldest _Latin Bible_ they possess, is of the date of 1485; but there is preserved one volume of Sweynheym and Pannartz"s impression of _De Lyra"s Commentary upon the Bible_, of the date of 1471-2, which luckily contains the list of books printed by those printers in their memorable supplicatory letter to Pope Sixtus IV. The earliest Latin Cla.s.sic appears to be the _Juvenal_ of 1474, with the _Commentary of Calderinus_, printed at Rome; unless a dateless impression of _Lucan_, in the earliest type of Gering, with the verses placed at a considerable distance from each other, claim chronological precedence. There is also a _Valerius Maximus_ of 1475, by Caesaris and Stol, but without their names. It is a large copy, soiled at the beginning.
Of the same date is Gering"s impression of the _Legenda Sanctorum_; and among the Fifteeners I almost coveted a very elegant specimen of _Jehan du Pre"s_ printing (with a device used by him never before seen by me,) of an edition of _La Vie des Peres_, 1494, folio, in its original binding. I collected, from the written catalogue, that they had only FORTY-FIVE works printed in the FIFTEENTH CENTURY; and of these, none were of first-rate quality.
Among the MSS., I was much struck with the beautiful penmanship of a work, in three folio volumes, of the middle of the sixteenth century, ent.i.tled; _Divertiss.e.m.e.ns touchant le faict de la guerre, extraits des livres de Polybe, Frontin, Vegece, Cornazzan, Machiavel, et autres bons autheurs."_ It has no illuminations, but the scription is beautiful. A _Breviary of the Church Service of Lisieux_, of the fifteenth century, has some pretty but common illuminations. It is not however free from injury. Of more intrinsic worth is a MS. ent.i.tled _Du Costentin_, (a district not far from Caen,) with the following prefix in the hand-writing of Moysant. "Ces memoires sont de M. Toustaint de Billy, cure du Mesnil au-parc, qui avoit travaille toute sa vie a l"histoire du Cotentin. Ils sont rares et m"ont ete accordes par M. Jourdan, Notaire, auquel ils appartenoient. Le p. (Pere) le Long et Mons. Teriet de fontette ne les out pas connu. Moysantz." It is a small folio, in a neat hand-writing. Another MS., or rather a compound of ms. and printed leaves, of yet considerably more importance, in 3 folio volumes, is ent.i.tled _Le Moreri des Normans, par Joseph Andrie Guiat de Rouen:_ on the reverse of the t.i.tle, we read, "_Supplement au Dictionnaire de Moreri pour ce qui concerne la province de Normandie, et ses ill.u.s.tres_." A short preface follows; then an ode "aux Grands Hommes de Normandie." It is executed in the manner of a dictionary, running in alphabetical order. The first volume extends to the letter I, and is ill.u.s.trated with sc.r.a.ps from newspapers, and a few portraits. It is written pretty fully in double columns. The portrait and biography of _Bouzard_ form an admirable specimen of biographical literary memoirs. The second volume goes to Z. The third volume is ent.i.tled "_Les trois Siecles palinodiques, ou Histoire Generale des Palinods de Rouen, Dieppe, &c._--by the same hand, with an equal quant.i.ty of matter. It is right that such labours should be noticed, for the sake of all future BLISS-like editors of provincial literature. There is another similar work, in 2 folio ms. volumes, relating to _Coutance_.
Before we again touch upon printed books, but of a later period, it may be right to inform you that the treasures of this Library suffered materially from the commotions of the Calvinists. Those hot-headed interpreters of scripture destroyed every thing in the shape of ornament or elegance attached to book-covers; and piles of volumes, however sacred, or unexceptionable on the score of good morals, were consigned to the fury of the flames. Of the remaining volumes which I saw, take the following very rapid sketch. Of _Hours_, or _Church Services_, there is a prodigiously fine copy of an edition printed by _Vostre_, in 4to., upon paper, without date. It is in the original ornamented cover, or binding, with a forest of rough edges to the leaves--and doubtless the finest copy of the kind I ever saw. Compared with this, how inferior, in every respect is a cropt copy of _Kerver"s_ impression of a similar work, printed upon vellum! This latter is indeed a very indifferent book; but the rough usage it has met with is the sole cause of such inferiority. I was well pleased with a fair, sound copy of the _Speculum Stultorum_, in 4to., bl. letter, in hexameter and pentameter verses, without date. Nor did I examine without interest a rare little volume ent.i.tled "_Les Origines de quelques Coutumes anciennes, et de plusieurs facons de parler triviales. Avec un vieux Ma.n.u.scrit en vers, touchant l"Origine des Chevaliers Bannerets_; printed at Caen in 1672, 12mo.: a curious little work. They have a fine (royal) copy of _Walton"s Polyglot_, with an excellent impression of the head; and a large paper copy of _Stephen"s Greek Glossary_; in old vellum binding, with a great number of ms. notes by Bochart. Also a fine large paper _Photius_ of 1654, folio.
But among their LARGE PAPERS, few volumes tower with greater magnificence than do the three folios of _La Sainte Bible_, printed by the Elzevirs at Amsterdam, in 1669. They are absolutely fine creatures; of the stateliest dimensions and most attractive forms. They also pretend that their large paper copy of the first edition of _Huet"s Praeparatio Evangelica_, in folio, is unique. Probably it is, as the author presented it to the Library himself. The _Basil Eustathius_ of 1559, in 3 volumes folio, is as glorious a copy as is Mr. Grenville"s of the Roman edition of 1542.[131] It is in its pristine membranaceous attire--the vellum lapping over the fore-edges, in the manner of Mr. Heber"s copy of the first Aldine Aristotle,--most comfortable to behold! There is a fine large paper copy of _Montaigne"s Essays_, 1635, folio, containing two t.i.tles and a portrait of the author.
It is bound in red morocco, and considered by M. Hebert a most rare and desirable book. Indeed I was told that one Collector in particular was exceedingly anxious to obtain it. I saw a fine copy of the folio edition of _Ronsard_, printed in 1584, which is considered rare. There is also a copy of the well known _Liber Nanceidos_, from Bochart"s library, with a few ms.
notes by Bochart himself. Here I saw, for the first time, a French metrical version of the works of _Virgil, by Robert and Anthony Chevaliers d"Agneaux freres, de Vire, en Normandie_; published at Paris in 1582, in elegant italic type; considered rare. The same translators published a version of Horace; but it is not here. You may remember that I made mention of a certain work (in one of my late letters) called _Les Vaudevires d"Olivier Ba.s.selin_. They preserve here a very choice copy of it, in 4to., large paper; and of which size only ten copies are said to be in existence. The entire t.i.tle is "_Les Vaudevires Poesies du XVme. siecle, par Olivier Ba.s.selin, avec un Discours sur sa Vie et des Notes pour l"explication de quelques anciens Mots: Vire, 1811_." 8vo. There are copies upon pink paper, of which this is one--and which was in fact presented to the Library by the Editors. Prefixed to it, is an indifferent drawing, in india ink, representing the old castle of Vire, now nearly demolished, with Ba.s.selin seated at a table along with three of his boosing companions, chaunting his verses "a pleine gorge." This Ba.s.selin appears in short to have been the French DRUNKEN BARNABY of his day.
"What! (say you:) "not _one_ single specimen from the library of your favourite DIANE DE POICTIERS? Can this be possible?"--No more of interrogatory, I beseech you: but listen attentively and gratefully to the intelligence which you are about to receive--and fancy not, if you have any respect for my taste, that I have forgotten my favourite Diane de Poictiers. On looking sharply about you, within this library, there will be found a magnificent copy of the _Commentaries of Chrysostom upon the Epistles of St. Paul_, printed by _Stepha.n.u.s et Fratres a Sabio, at Verona_, in 1529, in three folio volumes. It is by much and by far the finest Greek work which I ever saw from the _Sabii_ Press.[132] No wonder Colbert jumped with avidity to obtain such a copy of it: for, bating that it is "un peu rogne," the condition and colour are quite enchanting. And then for the binding!--which either Colbert, or his librarian Baluze, had the good sense and good taste to leave _untouched_. The first and second volumes are in reddish calf, with the royal arms in the centre, and the half moon (in tarnished silver) beneath: the arabesque ornaments, or surrounding border is in gilt. The edges are gilt, stamped; flush with the fore edges of the binding. In the centre of the sides of the binding, is a large H, with a fleur de lis at top: the top and bottom borders presenting the usual D and H, united, of which you may take a peep in the _Bibliographical Decameron._ The third volume is in dark blue leather, with the same side ornaments; and the t.i.tle of the work, as with the preceding volumes, is lettered in Greek capitals. The H and crown, and monogram, as before; but the edges of the leaves are, in this volume, stamped at bottom and top with an H, surmounted by a crown. The sides of the binding are also fuller and richer than in the preceding volumes. This magnificent copy was given to the Library by P. Le Jeune. It is quite a treasure in its way.
Another specimen, if you please, from the library of our favourite Diana.
It is rather of a singular character: consisting of a French version of that once extremely popular work (originally published in the Latin language) called the _Cosmography of Sebastian Munster._ The edition is of the date of 1556, in folio. This copy must have been as splendid as it is yet curious. It contains two portraits of Henry the Second ("HENRICVS II.
GALLIARVM REX INVICTISS. PP.") and four of Holofernes ("OLOFARNE.") on each side of the binding. In the centre of the sides we recognise the lunar ornaments of Diane de Poictiers; but on the back, are five portraits of her, in gilt, each within the bands--and, like all the other ornaments, much rubbed. Two of these five heads are facing a different head of Henry.
There are also on the sides two pretty medallions of a winged figure blowing a trumpet, and standing upon a chariot drawn by four horses: there are also small fleur de lis scattered between the ornaments of the sides of the binding. The date of the medallion seems to be 1553. The copy is cruelly cropt, and the volume is sufficiently badly printed; which makes it the more surprising that such pains should have been taken with its bibliopegistic embellishments. Upon the whole, this copy, for the sake of its ornaments, is vehemently desirable.
And now, my dear friend, you must make your bow with me to M. Hebert, and bid farewell to the PUBLIC LIBRARY at Caen. Indeed I am fully disposed to bid farewell to every thing else in the same town: not however without being conscious that very much, both of what I have, and of what I have not, seen, merits a detail well calculated to please the intellectual appet.i.tes of travellers. What I have seen, has been indeed but summarily, and even superficially, described; but I have done my best; and was fearful of exciting ennui by a more parish-register-like description. For the service performed in places of public worship, I can add nothing to my Rouen details--except that there is here an agreeable PROTESTANT CHURCH, of which M. MARTIN ROLLIN, is the Pastor. He has just published a "_Memoire Historique sur l"Etat Eclesiastique des Protestans Francois depuis Francois Ler jusqu"a Louis XVIII_:" in a pamphlet of some fourscore pages. The task was equally delicate and difficult of execution; but having read it, I am free to confess that M. Rollin has done his work very neatly and very cleverly. I went in company with Mrs. and Miss I---- to hear the author preach; for he is a young man (about thirty) who draws his congregation as much from his talents as a preacher, as from his moral worth as an individual. It was on the occasion of several young ladies and gentlemen taking the sacrament for the first time. The church is strictly, I believe, according to the Geneva persuasion; but there was something so comfortable, and to me so cheering, in the avowed doctrine of Protestantism, that I accompanied my friends with alacrity to the spot. Many English were present; for M. Rollin is deservedly a favourite with our countrymen. The church, however, was scarcely half filled. The interior is the most awkwardly adapted imaginable to the purposes either of reading or of preaching: for it consists of two aisles at right angles with each other.
The desk and pulpit are fixed in the receding angle of their junction; so that the voice flies forth to the right and left immediately as it escapes the preacher. After a very long, and a very tediously sung psalm, M. Rollin commenced his discourse. He is an extemporaneous preacher. His voice is sweet and clear, rather than sonorous and impressive; and he is perhaps, occasionally, too metaphorical in his composition. For the first time I heard the words "_Oh Dieu!_" p.r.o.nounced with great effect: but the sermon was made up of better things than mere exclamations. M. Rollin was frequently ingenious; logical, and convincing; and his address to the young communicants, towards the close of his discourse, was impressive and efficient. The young people were deeply touched by his powerful appeal, and I believe each countenance was suffused with tears. He guarded them against the dangers and temptations of that world upon which they were about to enter, by setting before them the consolations of the religion which they had professed, in a manner which indicated that he had really their interests and happiness at heart.
A word only about COURTS OF JUSTICE. "A smack of the whip" will tingle in my ears through life;[133] and I shall always attend "_Nisi Prius_"
exhibitions with more than ordinary curiosity. I strolled one morning to the _Place de Justice_--which is well situated, in an airy and respectable neighbourhood. I saw two or three barristers, en pleine costume, pretty nearly in the English fashion; walking quickly to and fro with their clients, in the open air before the hall; and could not help contrasting the quick eye and unconcerned expression of countenance of the former, with the simple look and yet earnest action of the latter. I entered the Hall, and, to my astonishment, heard only a low muttering sound. Scarcely fifteen people were present, I approached the bench; and what, think you, were the intellectual objects upon which my eye alighted? Three Judges ... all fast asleep! Five barristers, two of whom were nodding: one was literally addressing _the bench_ ... and the remaining two were talking to their clients in the most unconcerned manner imaginable. The entire effect, on my mind, was ridiculous in the extreme. Far be it from me, however, to designate the foregoing as a generally true picture of the administration of Justice at Caen. I am induced to hope and believe that a place, so long celebrated for the study of the law, yet continues occasionally to exhibit proofs of that logic and eloquence for which it has been renowned of old. I am willing to conclude that all the judges are not alike somniferous; and that if the acuteness of our GIFFORDS, and the rhetoric of our DENMANS, sometimes instruct and enliven the audience, there will be found Judges to argue like GIBBS and to decide like SCOTT.[134] Farewell.
[121] _Memoires de l"Academie des Belles Lettres de Caen. Chez Jacques Manoury, 1757, 4 vols. crown 8vo. Rapport generale sur les travaux de l"Academie des Sciences, Arts, et Belles Lettres de la ville de Caen, jusqu"au premier Janvier, 1811. Par P.F.T. Delariviere, Secretaire. A Caen, chez Chalopin_. An. 1811-15. 2 vols. on different paper, with different types, and provokingly of a larger form than its precursor.
[122] [On consulting the Addenda of the preceding edition, it will be seen that this work appeared in the year 1820, under the t.i.tle of _Essais Historiques sur la Ville de Caen et son Arondiss.e.m.e.nt_, in 2 small octavo volumes. With the exception of two or three indifferent plates of relics of sculpture, and of t.i.tles with armorial bearings, this work is entirely divested of ornament. There are some useful historical details in it, taken from the examination of records and the public archives; but a HISTORY of CAEN is yet a desideratum.]
[123] [By the favour of our common friend Mr. Douce, I have obtained permission to enrich these pages with the PORTRAIT of this distinguished Archaeologist, from an original Drawing in the possession of the same friend. See the OPPOSITE PLATE.]
[124] He has recently (1816) published an octavo volume ent.i.tled "_Histoire des Polypiers, Coralligenes Flexibles, vulgairement nommes Zoophytes. Par J.V.F. Lamouroux_. From one of his Epistles, I subjoin a fac-simile of his autograph.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Lamouroux]
[125] The medallic project here alluded to is one which does both the projector, and the arts of France, infinite honour; and I sincerely wish that some second SIMON may rise up among ourselves to emulate, and if possible to surpa.s.s, the performances of GATTEAUX and AUDRIEU.
The former is the artist to whom we are indebted for the medal of Malherbe, and the latter for the series of the Bonaparte medals. [Has my friend Mr. Hawkins, of the Museum, abandoned all thoughts of his magnificent project connected with such a NATIONAL WORK?]
[126] See post--under the running t.i.tle Bayeux.
[127] See page 172 ante.
[128] It is described in the 2d vol. of the aeDES ALTHORPIANae; forming the Supplement to the BIBLIOTHECA SPENCERIANA: see page 94.
[129] Goube, in his _Histoire du d.u.c.h.e de Normandie_, 1815, 8vo. has devoted upwards of thirty pages to an enumeration of these worthies; vol. iii. p. 295. But in _Huet"s Origines de la Ville de Caen;_ p. 491-652, there will be found much more copious and satisfactory details.
[130] I am furnished with the above particulars from a _Notice Historique_ of Moysant.
[131] [A copy of this Roman Edition of 1542, of equal purity and amplitude, is in the library of the Rev. Mr Hawtrey of Eton College: obtained of Messrs. Payne and Foss.]
[132] When I was at Paris in the year 1819, I strove hard to obtain from Messrs. Debure the copy of this work, UPON VELLUM, which they had purchased at the sale of the Macarthy Library. But it was destined for the Royal Library, and is described in the _Cat. des Livres Imp. sur Velin_, vol. i. p. 263.
[133] [Twenty-eight years have pa.s.sed away since I kept my terms at Lincoln"s Inn with a view of being called to THE BAR; and at this moment I have a perfect recollection of the countenances and manner of Messrs. Bearcroft, Erskine, and Mingay,--the pitted champions of the King"s Bench--whom I was in the repeated habit of attending within that bustling and ever agitated arena. Their wit, their repartee--the broad humour of Mingay, and the lightning-like quickness of Erskine, with the more caustic and authoritative dicta of Bearcroft--delighted and instructed me by turns. In the year 1797 I published, in one large chart, an _a.n.a.lysis of the first volume of Blackstone"s Commentaries_--called THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS. It was dedicated to Mr. (afterwards Lord) Erskine; and published, as will be easily conceived, with more zeal than discretion. I got out of the sc.r.a.pe by selling the copper plate for 50 shillings, after having given 40 guineas for the engraving of the a.n.a.lysis. Some fifty copies of the work were sold, and 250 were struck off. Where the surplus have lain, and rotted, I cannot pretend to conjecture: but I know it to be a VERY RARE production!]
[134] [So in the preceding Edition. He who writes notes on his own performances after a lapse of ten years, will generally have something to add, and something to correct. Of the above names, the FIRST was afterwards attached to the _Master of the Rolls_, and to a _Peerage_: with the intervening honour of having been _Chief Justice of the Common Pleas_. My admiration of this rapid elevation in an honourable profession will not be called singular; for, after an acquaintance of twenty years with Lord Gifford, I can honestly say, that, while his reputation as a Lawyer, and his advancement in his profession, were only what his friends predicted, his character as a MAN continued the same:--kind hearted, unaffected, gentle, and generous. He died, "ere he had attained his 48th year, in 1826.]
LETTER XIV.
BAYEUX. CATHEDRAL. ORDINATION OF PRIESTS AND DEACONS. CRYPT OF THE CATHEDRAL.