hibited and apparently enhanced the danger. The fog had hitherto rendered the cannon of the castle useless, but no sooner was the army of the Leaguers distinctly visible to the garrison, than the pieces, only four in number, were discharged with such terrible effect as to throw the Leaguers into confusion. Four other volleys succeeded with the greatest rapidity, and with similarly destructive results. The Leaguers wavered, and at last, unable to endure the fire, retired in disorder to the side of the valley, behind which all the immense multitudes disappeared in a few moments, astonished, without doubt, at the great loss they had sustained, and utterly disheartened by a resistance they had so little anticipated. And thus ended the battle of Arques, which in a great measure fixed Henry IV., the most popular of French monarchs, on his throne. Other engagements ensued; the king received assistance from Queen Elizabeth, of England; and in 1593 the League was virtually broken up, after some preliminary negotiations, by the king's public profession of the catholic faith-an act which did not deprive his protestant subjects of a sincere and valued friend.

CHAPTER V.-FRANCE.

ROUEN is an ancient city in the north of France, and the capital of the department of the Lower Seine. It stands on the right bank of the river Seine, and is by far the most interesting city on the banks of that river. The surrounding country is fertile and agreeable. It presents a very imposing appearance; but the interior of the city does not correspond with its external beauty. Almost all the houses are built of wood, with each story projecting over the one below it, until their pointed roofs nearly meet from the opposite sides of the narrow, crooked streets, into which, under such circumstances, light and sunshine make but feeble inroads. The door-posts, windowframes, beam-ends, and wood-work, with which the fronts of almost every building are chequered and intersected, are frequently ornamented with rich carving, grotesque heads, flowers, and other fanciful devices. At every turning, some relic of antiquity, a pointed arch, the mutilated statue of some saint, or a Gothic fountain, strikes the eye; while the mouldering magnificence of the cathedral, churches, Palais de Justice, and other public edifices, carries the imagination four or five centuries back in the history of society. The demolition of the ancient fortifications and castles which defended the approach to the city, is, perhaps, the only innovation of modern times. They have been replaced by boulevards, or broad avenues of trees, forming stately promenades or vestibules of verdure, which have, however, like most things stately, something of stiffness and monotony. Among the public edifices of Rouen, the cathedral is pre-eminent. It is said to have been founded as early as 260, to have been enlarged by St. Romanus in 623, and afterward by Archbishop Robert, first duke of Normandy, in 942, until it was raised to its present splendor by archbishop Maurillus, in 1063. Its superb façade is terminated by two lofty towers. That on the right hand is said to have been first built by St. Romanus, but completed in its present style by Cardinal d'Amboise, in 1482, who also built the tower on the left of the façade, called the Butter tower, because it is reported to have been raised with the money collected from the sale of indulgences to eat butter during Lent. This second tower is a beautiful specimen of the most elaborate Gothic; it is terminated by a flat roof, surrounded by balustrades of stone, and adorned with rich Gothic pinnacles, which give it the appearance, at a distance, of being surmounted by a rich crown. The other tower is also terminated, in its upper story, by pinnacles at each corner and face, four of which, on each side, bear colossal statues, the whole being surmounted by a grotesque pyramidal spire. The space between these towers is again divided by four pinnacles of the richest and most delicate sculpture, which crown, like eastern minarets, the centre of the façade and portal. The latter consists of three entrances, of which the two lateral are richly sculptured. The central doors are carved, and surmounted by a basso-relievo, representing the genealogical tree of the root of Jesse." The pointed arch of the porch is adorned with three bands of images, in alto-relievo, each figure standing beneath a Gothic tabernacle. This central entrance has a pyramidal pediment, carved, and containing a large dial. It is also flanked by two graceful pinnacles, one of which is in part decayed, toward the bases of which are niches, filled with the colossal images of saints

and bishops. But this is a feeble effort to portray forms of sculpture too rich and complicated to be adequately expressed by words. The artist's pencil can alone do justice to the architect's conceptions. The whole interior length of the edifice is five hundred and eight feet; the nave is eighty-three feet across, and is divided into three aisles; of these, the central is flanked by ten clustered columns, which are cut by an arcade surrounding the whole building. The lateral aisles are lower than the central, and have each eight chapels on either side. The transept is one hundred and fifty feet from one side entrance to the other. Four massive columns, each consisting of a cluster of thirty-one smaller pillars, support the principal tower, which rises to the height of three hundred and eighty feet, and is terminated by a lofty spire bearing a cross, on the top of which is a weathercock. The choir is separated from the lateral aisles by fourteen plain columns, with capitals of leaves. These originally resembled the clustered columns of the nave, but were pared away to let in more light; an alteration by which the effect of the perspective is much injured. Another blemish is the screen of the choir, which, like that of Winchester cathedral, is a piece of modern architecture, ornamented with Corinthian columns, altars, and statues, all in the modern taste. The lateral aisles which surround the choir, terminate in the chapel of the Virgin, which contains some of the most interesting objects in the cathedral. Near the altar is the monument of the cardinals d'Amboise, uncle and nephew, both archbishops of Rouen. It is of white marble, and was completed in 1522. It consists of a flat tomb, on which the two cardinals are kneeling in their robes; both these figures are very finely sculptured. Above their heads, an image of St. George on horseback adorns the richly-fretted canopy which arches the mausoleum. The face of the tomb is enriched with small statues of white marble, representing the many virtues of the two prelates, the elder of whom was minister to Louis XII., and boasted of holding but one benefice, though, as Voltaire justly observes, "the kingdom of France stood him instead of a second."

Another monument, on the opposite side of the chapel, equally remarkable for the beauty of its sculpture, is that of the grand senechal de Brezé, governor of Rouen, who died in 1531. His undraped effigy, in black marble, lies upon a tomb, sup ported by four Corinthian columns, on the face of which he is again represented on horseback, in complete armor. On either side are two females, one of whom.is supposed to represent his wife, at whose expense the monument is said to have been erected. Above the entablature are four allegorical figures of Prudence, Glory, Victory, and Faith.

These monuments deserve attention, not only from the merit of their execution, but also as curious specimens of the style of sculpture which, toward the end of the reign of Louis XII., and during that of Francis I., connected the Gothic with the revived Grecian, by a mixture of the faults and beauties of both. Thus, warriors and prelates were raised from their recumbent to a kneeling or erect position; allegorical personifications, borrowed from pagan mythology, began to figure as their attendants; and undraped exhibitions of the human body were frequently substi tuted for those exact imitations of costume and armor peculiar to foregoing periods; the various orders of architecture were mixed with Gothic pinnacles and niches; and the final result began to have that inappropriateness which is commonly the consequence of imitation. Besides these two monuments, the chapel of the Virgin formerly contained the Gothic tombs of the archbishops of Rouen, each of whom lay in his episcopal robes and ornaments; but they have been all demolished recently. The sites of the tombs of Cœur de Lion, of his brother Henry, and Queen Eleanor, are marked by inscriptions, on the pavement, which merely record their names and burial; but the simple name of "Ricardi Cor Leonis dicti," supersedes the necessity of a more splendid epitaph. Behind the choir an inscription marks the burialplace of John, duke of Bedford, who died at the château of Rouen in 1435.

In the chapel of the southern transept is the tomb of Rollo, first duke of Normandy. His effigy, in a recumbent posture, is of stone, colored; the feet are broken off, and seem to have been made of plaster. He wears a long robe, with open sleeves, fastened with a brooch on one shoulder. His countenance has a cast of effeminacy, little suited to a captain of pirates. The inscription tells us that the monument was placed in its present situation by Archbishop Maurillus, when he repaired the church, and who, as well as William Longsword, the son and successor of Rollo, have their tombs in it.

The abbey of St. Ouen was founded by Clotaire I., and rebuilt by Richard, duke of Normandy; it is now, however, re-edified, and since the revolution, has been converted into an hôtel de ville, museum, and public library. The church was completed, as it stands at present, in 1319, by John Roussel, surnamed Silvermark, the twenty-third abbot. The façade was never finished; but a lofty tower rises above the transept, and terminates in a number of pinnacles, in the fashion of a radiated coronet. The interior is a model of Gothic effect; the walls retain their venerable gray; the light, streaming with dim richness through "storied pane," falls upon unbroken ranges of clustering columns and pointed arches of the most delicate symmetry; the eye strains down the depth of "long-drawn aisles," which, as they recede round the choir, seem of an indefinite extent, while the splendid windows of "Our Lady's Chapel," which forms the eastern extremity of the edifice, give the termination of the prospect the radiant, yet awful, appearance of a sanctuary

"In which a God might dwell."

The church of St. Maclou is a Gothic edifice, remarkable for its superb portals, especially that toward the Rue Martainville. They were sculptured in the reign of Henry III., either by the hands of the celebrated John Goujon, or under his direction. The detail, delicacy, and precision of the innumerable figures, and other ornaments, are truly astonishing. The church of St. Vincent is an elegant Gothic structure, enriched with windows of the most brilliant colors, but defaced in parts by the modern barbarism of French taste. Besides these churches, several others, little inferior to them in architectural magnificence, are either walled up, or converted into stables and warehouses.

The Palais de Justice, in which the ancient parliament of Normandy held its sittings, was finished in 1499. It consists of a quadrangle, surrounded on three sides by buildings of various dates and orders; an embattled wall, with two antique gates, closes it toward the street. Several flights of steps conduct to the Salle des Procu