Volume I Part 10 (1/2)
Visitez ce tombeau, baignez-le de vos pleurs; Rechauffez vos esprits d'une divine flame; Touchez-le settlement du doigt, Et vous y trouverez (si vous avez la foi) Et la sante du corps, et la sante de l'ame.”
The building retains, at this time, only two of its celebrated painted windows; but they are fortunately the two which were always considered the best. One of them represents the history of St. Romain; the other, the genealogy of Jewish kings, from whom the Holy Virgin descended.
Rouen has, from a very early period, been famous for its manufactories of painted gla.s.s. But the windows of this church were still esteemed the _chef d'oeuvre_ of its artists; and these had so far pa.s.sed into a proverb, that Farin[104] tells us it was common throughout France to say, in recommendation of choice wine, that ”it was as bright as the windows of St. G.o.dard.” The saying, however, was by no means confined to Rouen, for it was also applied to the windows of the Ste. Chapelle, at Dijon.
It was at St. G.o.dard that the burst of the reformation was first manifested. The Huguenots, taking courage from the secret increase of their numbers, broke into the building, in 1540, demolished the images, and sold the pix to a goldsmith. But the man suffered severely for his purchase: he was shortly afterwards sentenced, by a decree of the parliament, to be hanged in front of his shop; and two of those concerned in the outrage also suffered capital punishment. The spark thus lighted, afterwards increased into a conflagration; and, to this hour, there is a larger body of Protestants at Rouen, than in most French towns.
I do not expect that you will reproach me with the prolixity of these details. The subject is attractive to me, and I feel that you will accompany me with pleasure in my pilgrimage, from chapel to shrine, dwelling with me in contemplation on the relics of ancient skill and the memorials of the piety of the departed. Nor must it be forgotten, that the hand of the spoliator is falling heavily on all objects of antiquity. And the French seem to find a source of perverse and malignant pleasure in destroying the temples where their ancestors once wors.h.i.+pped: many are swept away; a greater number continue to exist in a desecrated state; and time, which changes all things, is proceeding with hasty strides to obliterate their character. The lofty steeple hides its diminished head; the mullions and tracery disappear from the pointed windows, from which the stained gla.s.s has long since fallen; the arched entrance contracts into a modern door-way; the smooth plain walls betray neither niches, nor pinnacles, nor fresco paintings; and in the warehouse, or manufactory, or smithy, little else remains than the extraordinary size, to point out the original holy destination of the edifice.
Footnotes:
[91] The following brief statement of their excesses is copied from a ma.n.u.script belonging to the monastery: the full detail of them engages Pommeraye for nearly seven folio pages:--”Le Dimanche troisieme de May, 1562, les Huguenots s'etans ama.s.sez en grosse troupe, vinrent armez en grande furie dans l'Eglise de S. Ouen, ou etant entrez ils rompirent les chaires du choeur, le grand autel, et toutes les chapelles: mirent en pieces l'Horloge, dont on voit encore la menuiserie dans la chapelle joignant l'arcade du coste du septentrion, aussi bien que celles des orgues, dont ils prirent l'etaim et le plomb pour en faire des balles de mousquet: puis ils allumerent cinq feux, trois dedans l'Eglise et deux dehors, ou ils brulerent tous les bancs et sieges des religieux, auec le bois des bal.u.s.tres des chapelles, les bancs et fermetures d'icelles, plusieurs ornemens et vestemens sacrez, comme chappes, tuniques, chasubles, aubes, vne autre partie des plus riches et precieux ornemens de broderie et drap d'or ayant este enlevee en l'hotellerie de la pomme de pin, ou ils les brulerent pour en auoir l'or et l'argent. Ils firent la mesme chose des saintes reliques, qu'ils brulerent, ayant emporte l'or, l'argent, et les pierreries des reliquaires.”--_Histoire de l'Abbaye Royale de St. Ouen_, p. 205.
[92] Farin, Histoire de Rouen, IV. p. 134.
[93] _Histoire de l'Abbaye Royales de Saint Ouen_, p. 204.
[94] The following are the dimensions of the interior of the building, in French feet:
Length of the church.................. 416 Ditto of the nave..................... 234 Ditto of the choir.................... 108 Ditto of the Lady-Chapel.............. 66 Ditto of the transept................. 130 Width of ditto........................ 34 Ditto of nave, without the aisles..... 34 Ditto, including ditto................ 78 Height of roof........................ 100 Ditto of tower........................ 240
[95] _Figured in Cotmans Norfolk Sepulchral Bra.s.ses_.
[96] The house of the abbess of St. Amand is still standing, though neglected, and in a great degree in ruins. What remains, however, is very curious; and is, perhaps, the oldest specimen of domestic architecture in Rouen. It is partly of wood, the front covered with arches and other sculpture in bas-relief, and partly of stone.
[97] _Farin, Histoire de Rouen_, IV. p. 156.
[98] The dimensions of the building, in French feet, are,--
Length of the nave.................... 70 Ditto of choir........................ 40 Ditto of Lady-Chapel.................. 30 Ditto of the whole building.......... 140 Width of ditto........................ 76 Height to the top of the lanthorn.... 142
[99] _Farin, Histoire de Rouen_, IV. p. 168.
[100] _Antiquitez et Singularitez de la Ville de Rouen_, p. 186.
[101] _Farin, Histoire de Rouen_, IV. p. 132.
[102] _Histoire des Archeveques de Rouen_, p. 130.
[103] _La Normandie Chretienne_, p. 487.
[104] _Histoire de Rouen_, IV. p. 134.
LETTER XII.
PALAIS DE JUSTICE--STATES, EXCHEQUER, AND PARLIAMENT OF NORMANDY--GUILD OF THE CONARDS--JOAN OF ARC--FOUNTAIN AND BAS-RELIEF IN THE PLACE DE LA PUCELLE--TOUR DE LA GROSSE HORLOGE--PUBLIC FOUNTAINS--RIVERS AUBETTE AND ROBEC--HOSPITALS--MINT.
(_Rouen, June_, 1818.)
Amongst the secular buildings of Rouen, the Palais de Justice holds the chief place, whether we consider the magnificence of the building, or the importance of the a.s.semblies which once were convened within its precinct.
The three estates of the Duchy of Normandy, the parliament, composed of the deputies of the church, the n.o.bility, and the good towns, usually held their meetings in the Palace of Justice. Until the liberties of France were wholly extirpated by Richelieu, this body opposed a formidable resistance to the crown; and the _Charte Normande_ was considered as great a safeguard to the liberties of the subject, as Magna Charta used to be on your side of the channel. Here, also, the _Court of Exchequer_ held its session. According to a fond tradition, this, the supreme tribunal of Normandy, was inst.i.tuted by Rollo, the good Duke, whose very name seemed to be considered as a charm averting violence and outrage. This court, like our _Aula Regia_, long continued ambulatory, and attendant upon the person of the sovereign; and its sessions were held occasionally, and at his pleasure. The progress of society, however, required that the supreme tribunal should become stationary and permanent, that the suitors might know when and where they might prefer their claims. Philip the Fair, therefore, about the year 1300, began by enacting that the pleas should be held only at Rouen. Louis the XIIth remodelled the court, and gave it permanence; yielding in these measures to the prayer of the States of Normandy, and to the advice of his minister, the Cardinal d'Amboise. It was then composed of four presidents, and twenty-eight counsellors; thirteen being clerks; and the remainder laymen. The name of exchequer was perhaps unpleasing to the crown, as it reminded the Normans of the ancient independence of their duchy; and, in 1515, Francis Ist ordered that the court should thenceforward be known as the _Parliament of Normandy_; thus a.s.similating it in its appellation to the other supreme tribunals of the kingdom. There is an old poem extant, written in very lawyer-like rhyme, which invests all the cardinal virtues, and a great many supernumerary ones besides, with the offices of this most honorable court, in which purity is the usher, truth has a silk gown, and virginity enters the proceedings on the record.