The Cathedrals Of Southern France Part 30

The chief artistic treasures of this ancient cathedral, aside from its elegant cloister, are a _benitier_ in white marble; a portal of some pretensions, leading from the cathedral to its cloister; a fourteen-century tomb, of some considerable artistic worth; and a _bas-relief_, called the "Tomb of Constans."

There is little else of note, either in or about the cathedral, and the town itself has the general air of a glory long past.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ST. JUST _de NARBONNE_]

XV

ST. JUST DE NARBONNE

The ancient province of Narbonenses--afterward comprising Languedoc--had for its capital what is still the city of Narbonne. One may judge of the former magnificence of Narbonne by the following lines of _Sidonius Apollinaris_:

"Salve Narbo potens Salubritate, Qui Urbe et Rure simul bonus Videris, Muris, Civibus, ambitu, Tabernis, Portis, Porticibus, Foro, Theatro, Delubris, Capitoliis, Monetis, Thermis, Arcubus, Harreis, Macellis, Pratis, Fontibus, Insulus, Salinis, Stagnis, Flumine, Merce, Ponte, Ponto, Unus qui jure venere divos Lenoeum, Cererum, Palem, Minervam, Spicis, Palmite, Poscius, Tapetis."

Narbonne is still mighty and healthful, if one is to judge from the activities of the present day; is picturesque and pleasing, and far more comfortably disposed than many cities with a more magnificently imposing situation.

The city remained faithful to the Romans until the utmost decay of the western empire, at which time (462) it was delivered to the Goths.

It was first the head of a kingdom, and later, when it came to the Romans, it was made the capital of a province which comprised the fourth part of Gaul.

This in turn was subdivided into the provinces of _Narbonenses_, _Viennensis_, the _Greek Alps_, and the _Maritime Alps_, that is, all of the later _Savoie_, _Dauphine_, _Provence_, _Lower Languedoc_, _Rousillon_, _Toulousan_, and the _Comte de Foix_.

Under the second race of kings, the Dukes of _Septimannia_ took the t.i.tle of _Ducs de Narbonne_, but the lords of the city contented themselves with the name of viscount, which they bore from 1134 to 1507, when Gaston de Foix--the last Viscount of Narbonne--exchanged it for other lands, with his uncle, the French king, Louis XII. The most credulous affirm that the Proconsul Sergius Paulus--converted by St.

Paul--was the first preacher of Christianity at Narbonne.

The Church is here, therefore, of great antiquity, and there are plausible proofs which demonstrate the claim.

The episcopal palace at Narbonne, closely built up with the Hotel de Ville (rebuilt by Viollet-le-Duc), is a realization of the progress of the art of domestic fortified architecture of the time.

Like its contemporary at Laon in the north, and more particularly after the manner of the papal palace at Avignon and the archbishop's palace at Albi, this structure combined the functions of a domestic and official establishment with those of a stronghold or a fortified place of no mean pretence.

Dating from 1272, the cathedral of St. Just de Narbonne suggests comparison with, or at least the influence of, Amiens.

It is strong, hardy, and rich, with a directness of purpose with respect to its various attributes that in a less lofty structure is wanting.

The height of the choir-vault is perhaps a hundred and twenty odd feet, as against one hundred and forty-seven at Amiens, and accordingly it does not suffer in comparison.

It may be remarked that these northern attributes of lofty vaulting and the high development of the _arc-boutant_ were not general throughout the south, or indeed in any other region than the north of France. Only at Bazas, Bordeaux, Bayonne, Auch, Toulouse, and Narbonne do we find these features in any acceptable degree of perfection.

The architects of the Midi had, by resistance and defiance, conserved antique traditions with much greater vigour than they had endorsed the new style, with the result that many of their structures, of a period contemporary with the early development of the Gothic elsewhere, here favoured it little if at all.

Only from the thirteenth century onward did they make general use of ogival vaulting, maintaining with great conservatism the basilica plan of Roman tradition.

In many other respects than constructive excellence does St. Just show a pleasing aspect. It has, between the main body of the church and the present Hotel de Ville and the remains of the ancient _archeveche_, a fragmentary cloister which is grand to the point of being scenic. It dates from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and is decidedly the most appealing feature of the entire cathedral precincts.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CLOISTER OF ST. JUST _de NARBONNE_....]

The cathedral itself still remains unachieved as to completeness, but its _tourelles_, its vaulting, its b.u.t.tresses, and its crenelated walls are most impressive.

There are some elaborate tombs in the interior, in general of the time of Henri IV.

The _tresor_ is rich in missals, ma.n.u.scripts, ivories, and various altar ornaments and decorations.

The choir is enclosed with a series of arena-like _loges_, outside which runs a double aisle.

There are fragmentary evidences of the one-time possession of good gla.s.s, but what paintings are shown appear ordinary and are doubtless of little worth.

Decidedly the cathedral is an unusually splendid, if not a truly magnificent, work.

_PART V_

_The Valley of the Garonne_

I

INTRODUCTORY

The basin of the Garonne includes all of the lower Aquitanian province, Lower Languedoc,--still a debatable and undefinable land,--and much of that region known of lovers of France, none the less than the native himself, as the _Midi_.

Literally the term _Midi_ refers to the south of France, but more particularly that part which lies between the mouth of the Rhone and the western termination of the Pyrenean mountain boundary between France and Spain.

The term is stamped indelibly in the popular mind by the events which emanated from that wonderful march of the legion, known as "_Les Rouges du Midi_," in Revolutionary times. We have heard much of the excesses of the Revolution, but certainly the vivid history of "_Les Rouges_" as recounted so well in that admirable book of Felix Gras (none the less truthful because it is a novel), which bears the same name, gives every justification to those valiant souls who made up that remarkable phalanx; of whose acts most historians and humanitarians are generally pleased to revile as cruelty and sacrilege unspeakable.

Felix Gras himself has told of the ign.o.ble subjection in which his own great-grandfather, a poor peasant, was held; and Frederic Mistral tells of a like incident--of las.h.i.+ng and beating--which was thrust upon a relative of his. If more reason were wanted, a perusal of the written records of the Ma.r.s.eilles Battalion will point the way. Written history presents many stubborn facts, difficult to digest and hard to swallow; but the historical novel in the hands of a master will prove much that is otherwise unacceptable. A previous acquaintance with this fascinating and lurid story is absolutely necessary for a proper realization of the spirit which endowed the inhabitants of this section of the _pays du Midi_.

To-day the same spirit lives to a notable degree. The atmosphere and the native character alike are both full of suns.h.i.+ne and shadow; grown men and women are yet children, and gaiety, humour, and pa.s.sion abound where, in the more austere North, would be seen nought but indifference and indolence.

It is the fas.h.i.+on to call the South languid, but nowhere more than at Bordeaux--where the Garonne joins La Gironde--will you find so great and ceaseless an activity.

The people are not, to be sure, of the peasant cla.s.s, still they are not such town-dwellers as in many other parts, and seem to combine, as do most of the people of southern France, a languor and keenness which are intoxicating if not stimulating.

Between Bordeaux and Toulouse are not many great towns, but, in the words of Taine, one well realizes that "it is a fine country." The Garonne valley, with a fine alluvial soil, grows, productively and profitably, corn, tobacco, and hemp; and by the utmost industry and intelligence the workers are able to prosper exceedingly.

The traveller from the Mediterranean across to the Atlantic--or the reverse--by rail, will get glimpses now and then of this wonderfully productive river-bottom, as it flows yellow-brown through its osier-bedded banks; and again, an intermittent view of the Ca.n.a.l du Midi, upon whose non-raging bosom is carried a vast water-borne traffic by barge and ca.n.a.l-boat, which even the development of the railway has not been able to appreciably curtail.

Here, too, the peasant proprietor is largely in evidence, which is an undoubted factor in the general prosperity. His blockings, hedgings, and fencings have spoiled the expanse of hillside and vale in much the same manner as in Albion. This may be a pleasing feature to the uninitiated, but it is not a picturesque one. However, the proprietors.h.i.+p of small plots of land, worked by their non-luxury demanding owners, is accountable for a great deal of the peace and plenty with which all provincial France, if we except certain mountainous regions, seems to abound. It may not provide a superabundance of this world's wealth and luxury, but the French farmer--in a small way--has few likes of that nature, and the existing conditions make for a contentment which the dull, brutal, and lethargic farm labourer of some parts of England might well be forced to emulate, if even by ball and chain.

Flat-roofed houses, reminiscent of Spain or Italy--born of a mild climate--add a pleasing variety of architectural feature, while the curiously hung bells--with their flattened belfries, like the headstones in a cemetery--suggest something quite different from the motives which inspired the northern builders, who enclosed their chimes in a roofed-over, open-sided cubicle. The bells here hang merely in apertures open to the air on each side, and ring out sharp and true to the last dying note. It is a most picturesque and unusual arrangement, hardly to be seen elsewhere as a characteristic feature outside Spain itself, and in some of the old Missions, which the Spanish Fathers built in the early days of California.