Account of a Tour in Normandy Volume Ii Part 8

The third abbey, that of St. Evrau or St. Evroul, called in Latin, _Monasterium Uticense_, was one of the most renowned throughout Normandy. The abbey dates its origin from St. Evroul himself, a n.o.bleman, who lived in the reign of Childebert, and was attached to the palace of that monarch, "from which," to use the words of the chronicles, "he made his escape, as from s.h.i.+pwreck, and fled to the woods, and entered upon the monastic life."--The legend of St. Ebrulfus probably savors of romance, the almost inseparable companion of traditional, and particularly of monastic, history: it is safer, therefore, to be contented with referring the foundation of the monastery to the tenth century, when William Gerouis, after having been treacherously deprived of his sight and otherwise maimed, renounced the world; and, uniting with his nephews, Hugh and Robert de Grentemaisnil, brought considerable possessions to the endowment of this abbey. The abbey was at all times protected by the especial favor of the kings of France. No payment or service could be demanded from its monks; they acknowledged no master without their own walls, besides the sovereign himself; they were ent.i.tled to exemption from every kind of burthen; and they had the privilege of being empowered to castellate the convent, and to compel the people of the surrounding district to contribute their a.s.sistance for the purpose.

St. Evroul, however, princ.i.p.ally claims our attention, as the sanctuary where Ordericus Vitalis, to use his own expressions, "delighted in obedience and poverty."--This most valuable writer was an Englishman; his native town being Attingesham, on the Severn, where he was born in the year 1075. He was sent to school at Shrewsbury, and there received the first rudiments, both of the _humanities_ and of ecclesiastical education. In the tenth year of his age, his father, Odelerius, delivered the boy to the care of the monk Rainaldus. The weeping father parted from the weeping son, and they never saw each other more.

Ordericus crossed the sea, and arrived in Normandy, an exile, as he describes himself, and "hearing, like Joseph in Egypt, a language which he understood not." In the eleventh year of his age, he received the tonsure from the hands of Mainerius, the abbot of St. Evroul. In the thirty-third year of his age, he was ordained a priest; and thenceforward his life wore away in study and tranquillity. Aged and infirm, he completed his _Ecclesiastical History_, in the sixty-seventh year of his age; and this great and valuable work ends with his auto-biography, which is written in an affecting strain of simplicity and piety.--The Ecclesiastical History of Ordericus is divided into parts: the first portion contains an epitome of the sacred and profane history of the world, beginning with the incarnation, and ending with Pope Innocent IInd. The second, and more important division, contains the history of Normandy, from the first invasion of the country, down to the year 1141.--Though professedly an ecclesiastical historian, yet Ordericus Vitalis is exceedingly copious in his details of secular events; and it is from these that his chronicle derives its importance and curiosity. It was first published by d.u.c.h.esne, in his collection of Norman historians, a work which is now of rare occurrence, and it has never been reprinted.

Valuable materials for a new edition were, however, collected early in the eighteenth century, by William Bessin, a monk of St. Ouen; and these, before the revolution, were preserved in the library of that abbey. Bessin had been a.s.sisted in the task by Francis Charles Dujardin, prior of St. Evroul, who had collated the text, as published in the collection of Norman historians, with the original ma.n.u.script in his own monastery, to which latter d.u.c.h.esne unfortunately had not access, but had been obliged to content himself with a copy, now in the Royal Library at Paris. It is to be hoped, that the joint labors of Bessin and Dujardin may still be in existence, and may come to light, when M.

Liquet shall have completed the task of arranging the ma.n.u.scripts in the public library at Rouen. The ma.n.u.script which belonged to St. Evroul, and was always supposed to be an autograph from the hands of Ordericus Vitalis himself, was discovered during the revolution among a heap of parchments, thrown aside as of no account, in some buildings belonging to the former district of Laigle. It is now deposited in the public library of the department of the Orne, but unfortunately, nearly half the leaves of the volume are lost. The earliest part of what remains is towards the close of the seventh book, and of this only a fragment, consisting of eight pages, is left. The termination of the seventh book, and the whole of the eighth are wanting. From the ninth to the thirteenth, both of these inclusive, the ma.n.u.script is perfect. A page or two, however, at the end of the work, which contained the author's life, has been torn out.--At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the ma.n.u.script was complete; for it is known that, at that time, a monk of St. Evroul made a transcript of it, which extended through four volumes in folio. These volumes were soon dispersed. Two of them found their way to Rouen, where they were kept in the library of St. Ouen: the other two were in that of the abbey of St. Maur de Glandefeuille, on the Loire. A third, though incomplete, copy of the original ma.n.u.script was also known to exist in France before the revolution. It formerly belonged to Coaslin de Camboret, Bishop of Metz, by whom it was presented, together with four thousand ma.n.u.scripts, to the monks of St. Germain des Prs at Paris. But the greater part of the literary treasures of this abbey fell a prey to the flames in July, 1793, and it is feared that the copy of Ordericus perished at that time.

The original code from St. Evroul, was discovered by M. Louis Dubois, whom I have already mentioned in connection with the ruins of Neomagus.

He is an antiquary of extensive knowledge and extraordinary zeal. His _History of Lisieux_, which he has long been preparing for the press, will be a work of great curiosity and interest. The publication of it is for the present suspended, whilst he superintends an edition of the _Vaux-de-Vires_, or _Vaux de villes_, of Olivier Ba.s.selin, an early Norman poet. Meanwhile, M. Dubois still continues his researches among the foundations of the ancient city, from which he has collected a number of valuable relics. Some of the most pleasant and instructive hours of my tour have been spent in his society; and, whilst it was under his guidance that I visited the antiquities of Lisieux, his learning a.s.sisted me in ill.u.s.trating them. M. Dubois likewise possesses a large collection of original autograph letters, which I found much pleasure in perusing.

During the reign of Napolon, he held the office of librarian of Alenon, a situation that afforded him the opportunity of meeting with many literary curiosities of this nature. Among others, which thus fell into his hands, was the following letter, written by the Princess Borghese, sister to the Emperor, and addressed to the Empress Marie-Louise, by whom it was received, while on a tour through the western departments. I annex a transcript of this epistle; for, although it has no immediate connection with the main subject of our correspondence, it yet is a very singular contribution towards the private history of the dynasty of Napolon.--The odd mixture of caudle-cup compliment and courtly flattery, is sufficiently amusing. I have copied it, word for word, letter for letter, and point for point; for, as we have no other specimen of the epistles of her imperial highness, I think it right to preserve all the peculiarities of the original; and, by, way of a treat for the collectors of autographs, I have added a fac-simile of her signature.

Madame et tres chere S?ur,

je recois par le Prince Aldobrandini la lettre de V.M. et la belle ta.s.se dont elle a daign, le charger pour moi au nom de L'empereur, je remercie mille fois votre aimable bont, et j'ose vous prier ma tres chere s?ur d'etre aupres de L'empereur l'interprete de ma reconnaissance pour cette marque de souvenir.--je fais parler beaucoup le Prince et la Princesse Aldobrandini sur votre sant, sur votre belle grossesse, je ne me la.s.se pas de les interroger, et je suis heureuse d'apprendre que vous vous ports tres bien, que rien ne vous fatigue, et que vous avs la plus belle grossesse qu'il soit possible de desirer, combien je desire chere s?ur que tous nos v?ux soient exauces, ne croyes cependant pas que si vous nous donns une pet.i.te Princesse je ne l'aimerais pas. non, elle nous serait chere, elle resemblerait a V.M. elle aurait sa douceur, son amabilit, et ce joli caractere qui la fait cherir de ceux qui out le bonheur de la Conaitre--mais ma chere s?ur j'ai tort de m'apesantir sur les qualits dont serait doue cette auguste princesse, vous nous donners d'abord un prince un pet.i.t Roi de Rome, jugs combien je le desire nos bons toscans prient pour vous, ils vous aiment et je n'ai pas de peine a leur inspirer ce que je sens si vivement.

je vous remercie ma tres chere s?ur de l'interest que vous prenez a mon fils, tout le monde dit qu'il ressemble a L'empereur. cela me Charme il est bien portant a present, et j'espere qu'il sera digne de servir sous les drapeaux de son auguste oncle.--adieu ma chere s?ur soyes a.s.ses bonne pour Conserver un souvenir a une s?ur qui vous est tendrement attache. Napolon ne cesse de lire la lettre pleine de bont que V.M. a daign lui ecrire, cela lui a fait sentir le plaisir qu'il y avait a savoir lire, et l'encourage dans ses etudes--je vous embra.s.se et suis,

Madame et tres chere S?ur

de V.M.

La plus attache

[Ill.u.s.tration: Autograph of the Princess Borghese]

Pitti le 18 janvier 1811

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 66: See _Magazin Encyclopdique, for_ 1802, III. p. 504.]

[Footnote 67: This transaction appears to have been peculiarly flagrant: a long detail of the circ.u.mstances, accompanied by several letters, very characteristic of the feeling and church-government of the times, is preserved in the _Concilia Normannica_, p. 520.--The account concludes in the following words:--"Exhorruit ad facinus, non Normannia solum et Anglia, quibus maledicta progenies notissima erat, sed et universa Gallia, et a singulis ad Apostolic.u.m Paschalem delatum est. Nec tamen utrique simul ante quinquienniuin sordes de domo Dei propulsare prvaluerunt. Ceteris ferventis inst.i.tit Yvo Carnotensis Antistes, conculcat disciplin ecclesiastic zelo succensus; in tantum ut Neustriacos Prsules quasi desides ac pusillanimes coarguere veritus non sit: sed ea erat Ecclesi sub ignavo Principe sors per omnia lamentabilis, ut ipsemet postmodum c.u.m laude non invitus agnovit."]

[Footnote 68: Sandford, in his _Genealogical History of the Kings of England_, says, that this marriage was solemnized at Luxseul, in the county of Burgundy; but he refers for his authority to Ordericus Vitalis, by whom it is stated to have been at Luxovium, the name by which he always calls Lisieux; and he, in the same page, mentions the a.s.sembly of the n.o.bles also held there.]

[Footnote 69: _Annal_, IV. p. 599.]

LETTER XXIII.

FRENCH POLICE--RIDE FROM LISIEUX TO CAEN--CIDER--GENERAL APPEARANCE AND TRADE OF CAEN--ENGLISH RESIDENT THERE.

(_Caen, August_, 1818.)

Our reception at Caen has been somewhat inauspicious: we had scarcely made the few necessary arrangements at the htel, and seated ourselves quietly before the _caff au lait_, when two gens-d'armes, in military costume, stalked without ceremony into the room, and, taking chairs at the table, began the conversation rather abruptly, with "Monsieur, vous tes sous arrt."--My companions were appalled by such a salutation, and apprehended some mistake; but the fact turned out to be, that our pa.s.sport did not bear the signature of the mayor of Rouen, and that this ignorance of the regulations of the French police had subjected us to so unexpected a visit. It was too late in the day for the deficiency to be then supplied; and therefore, after a few expostulations, accompanied with observations, on their part, that we had the good fortune to have fixed ourselves at an _honnte htel_, and did not wear the appearance of suspicious persons, the soldiers took their leave, first exacting from me a promise, that I would present myself the next morning before the proper officer, and would in the meanwhile consider myself a prisoner upon my parole.

The impression which this occurrence could not fail to make upon our minds, was, that the object of the gens-d'armes had been either to extort from us money, or to shew their consequence; but I have since been led to believe that they did no more than their duty.--We have several acquaintance among the English who reside here, and we find from the whole of them, that the utmost strictness is practised in all matters relating to pa.s.sports, and not less towards natives than foreigners. No Frenchman can quit his _arrondiss.e.m.e.nt_ unprovided with a pa.s.sport; and the route he intends to take, and the distance he designs to travel, must also be specified. A week or two ago the prefect of the police himself was escorted back to Caen, between a couple of gens-d'armes, because he inadvertently paid a visit to a neighboring bathing-place without his pa.s.sport in his pocket. This is a current story here: I cannot vouch for its authenticity; however it is certain, that since the discovery of the late plot contrived by the ultras, a plot whose existence is generally disbelieved, the French police is more than usually upon the alert.

When I presented myself at the Htel de Ville, to redeem my promise, a recent decree was pointed out to me, containing a variety of regulations which shew extraordinary uneasiness on the part of the government, and which would seem to indicate that they are in possession of intelligence respecting projects, that threaten the public tranquillity[70]. To judge from all official proceedings, it seems as if we were walking upon a smothered volcano, and yet we are told by every body that there is not the slightest room for apprehension of any kind.

This interruption has thrown me out of the regular course of my narration.--My last letter left me still at Lisieux, from which city to Caen the road lies through a tract of country altogether without interest, and in most places without beauty. During the first half of the ride, we could almost have fancied ourselves at home in Norfolk.--About this part of the way, the road descends through a hollow or dale, which bore the ominous name of "_Coupe Gorge_." When Napolon was last in Normandy, he inquired into the origin of the appellation.--The diligences, he was answered, "had often been stopped and robbed in this solitary pa.s.s."--Napolon then said, "If one person can be made to settle here, more will follow, for it is conveniently situated between two good towns. Let the prefect buy a little plot of ground and build a house upon it, and give it to an old soldier, upon condition that he shall constantly reside in it with his family." The orders of Napolon were obeyed. The old soldier opened an inn, other houses arose round it, and the cut-throat pa.s.s is now thoroughly secure.

The conductor and the post-boy tell the tale with glee whilst they drive through the hamlet; and its humble dwellings will perhaps recal the memory and fame of Napolon Buonaparte when the brazen column of the grand army, and the marble arch of the Thuilleries, shall have been long levelled with the ground.--As to the character of the landscape, I must add, that though it makes a bad picture, there are great appearances of care in the agriculture, and of comfort in the population. The country, too, is sufficiently well wooded; and apple and pear trees every where take the place of the pollard oaks and elms of our hedge-rows.

Norman cider is famous throughout France: it is princ.i.p.ally, however, the western part of the province that produces it. Throughout the whole of that district, the lower cla.s.ses of the inhabitants scarcely use any other beverage. Vines, as I have already had occasion to mention, were certainly cultivated, in early times, farther to the north than they are at present. The same proofs exist of vineyards in the vicinity of Caen and Lisieux, as at Jumieges. Indeed, towards the close of the last century, there was still a vineyard at Argence, only four miles south-east of Caen; and a kind of white wine was made there, which was known by the name of _Vin Huet_. But the liquor was meagre; and I understand that the vineyard is destroyed.--Upon the subject of the early use of beer in Normandy, tradition is somewhat indistinct. The ancient name of one of the streets in Caen, _rue de la Cervoisiere_, distinctly proves the habit of beer-drinking; and, when Tacitus speaks of the beverage of the Germans, in his time, as "humor ex hordeo vel frumento in quandam similitudinem vini corruptus," it seems highly improbable but that the same liquor should have been in use among the cognate tribes of Gaul. Brito, however, expressly says of Flanders, that it is a place where,

"Raris sylva locis facit umbram, vinea nusquam: Indigenis potus Thetidi miscetur avena, Ut vice sit vini multo confecta labore."

And the same author likewise tells us, that the Normans of his time were cider-drinkers--

"... _Sicerque_ potatrix Algia tumentis ...

Non tot in autumni rubet Algia tempore _pomis_ Unde liquare solet _siceram_ sibi _Neustria_ gratam."

Huet is of opinion, that the use of cider was first introduced into Neustria by the Normans, who had learned it of the Biscayans, as these latter had done from the inhabitants of the northern coast of Africa.

We did not find the Norman cider at all palatable: it is extremely sour, hard, and austere. The inhabitants, however, say that this is not its natural character, but is attributable to the late unfavorable seasons, which have prevented the fruit from ripening properly.--The apple-tree and pear-tree in Normandy, far from being ugly, and distorted, and stunted in their growth, as is commonly seen in England, are trees of great beauty, and of extreme luxuriance, both in foliage and ramification. The _Coccus_, too, which has caused so much destruction among our orchards at home, is fortunately still unknown here.

The only place at which we stopped between Lisieux and Caen, was Croissanville, a poor village, but one that possesses a degree of historical interest, as the spot where the battle was fought between Aigrold, King of Denmark, and Louis d'Outremer, King of France; a battle which seated Richard Fearnought upon the throne of Normandy.--The country about Croissanville is an immense tract of meadow-land; and from it the Parisian market draws a considerable proportion of its supplies of beef. The cattle that graze in these pastures are of a large size, and red, and all horned; very unlike those about Caen, which latter are of small and delicate proportions, with heads approaching to those of deer, and commonly with black faces and legs.

From Croissanville to Caen the road pa.s.ses through a dead flat, almost wholly consisting of uninclosed corn-fields, extending in all directions, with unvaried dull monotony, as far as the eye can reach.

Buck-wheat is cultivated in a large proportion of them: the inhabitants prepare a kind of cake from this grain, of which they are very fond, and which is said to be wholesome. Tradition, founded princ.i.p.ally upon the French name of this plant, _sarrazin_, has given rise to a general belief, that buck-wheat was introduced into France by the Moors; but this opinion has, of late, been ably combated. The plant is not to be found in Arabia, Spain, or Sicily; the countries more particularly inhabited by Mahometans; and in Brittany, it still pa.s.ses by the Celtic appellation, _had-razin_, signifying _red-corn_, of which words _sarrazin_ may fairly be regarded a corruption, as _buck-wheat_, in our own tongue, ought unquestionably to be written _beech-wheat_; a term synonymous to what it is called in Latin and German. The present name may well appear inexplicable, to those who are unacquainted with the Anglo-Saxon and its cognate dialects.

In the midst of this level country, in which even apple-trees are scarce, stands the ancient capital of Lower Normandy, extending from east to west in so long a line, that on our approach it appeared to cover as much ground as Rouen, which is in fact double its size.--From a distance, the view of Caen is grand; not only from the apparent magnitude of the town, but from the numerous spires and towers, that, rising from every part of it, give it an air of great importance. Those of the abbeys of St. Stephen and the Trinity, at opposite extremities, const.i.tute the princ.i.p.al features in the view.--The same favorable impressions continue when you enter the town. The streets are wide, and the houses of stone; and a stone city is a pleasing sight to eyes long accustomed to the wooden buildings of Rouen, Bernay, and Lisieux.--Besides, there is a certain degree of regularity in the construction of the buildings, and some care is taken in keeping them clean.--Lace-making is the princ.i.p.al occupation of females of the lower cla.s.s in Caen and the neighborhood; the streets, as we pa.s.sed along, were lined almost uninterruptedly on either side, with a row of lace-makers; and boys were not uncommonly working among the women. It is calculated that not fewer than twenty thousand individuals, of all ages, from ten or twelve years old and upwards, are thus employed; and the annual produce of their labor is estimated at one hundred and seventy thousand pounds sterling. Caen lace is in high estimation for its beauty and quality, and is exported in considerable quant.i.ties.

The present population of Caen amounts to about thirty-one thousand individuals. The town, no longer the capital of Lower Normandy, is still equally distinguished as the capital of the department of the Calvados.

The prefect resides here; and the royal court of Caen comprises in its jurisdiction, not only the department more especially appertaining to it, but also those of the Manche and the Orne.--The situation of the town, though at the confluence of the Orne and the Odon, is not such as can be regarded favorable to extensive trade. The united rivers form a stream, which, though navigable at very high tides for vessels of two hundred tons burthen, will, on other occasions, admit only of much smaller ones; while the channel, nearer to its mouth, is obstructed by rocks that render the navigation difficult and dangerous. Many plans have been projected and attempted for the purpose of improving and enlarging the harbor, but little or no progress has yet been made.

Vauban long since pointed out the mouth of the Orne as singularly well adapted for a naval station; and Napolon, in pursuance of this idea, actually commenced the excavation of a basin under the walls of the town, and intended to deepen the bed of the river, thinking it best to make a beginning in this direction. All idea, however, of prosecuting such a plan is for the present abandoned.--Other engineers have proposed the junction of the Orne with the Loire by means of a ca.n.a.l, which would be of the greatest importance to France, not only by facilitating internal commerce, but by saving her vessels the necessity of coasting Capes Finisterre, and la Hogue, and thus enabling them to avoid a navigation, which is at all times dangerous, and in case of war peculiarly exposed.

For minor purposes, however, for mills and manufactories of different kinds, Caen is certainly well situated; being in almost every direction intersected with streams, owing to the repeated ramifications of the Odon, some of which are artificial, and of as early a date as the eleventh century. The same circ.u.mstance contributes materially to the pleasantness of the town; for the banks of the river are in many places formed into walks, and crowned by avenues of n.o.ble trees.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Head-Dress of Females, at Caen]

The _grand cours_ at Caen is almost as fine a promenade as that at Rouen. On Sunday evening it was completely crowded. The scene was full of life and gaiety, and very varied. All the females of the lower rank, and many of the higher orders, were dressed in the costume of the country, which commonly consists of a scarlet gown and deep-blue ap.r.o.n, or _vice vers_. Their hair, which is usually powdered, is combed entirely back from every part of their faces, and tucked up behind. The snow-white cap which covers it is beautifully plaited, and has longer lappets than in the Pays de Caux. Mr. Cotman sketched the _coiffure_ of the chamber-maid, at the Htel d'Espagne, in grand costume, and I send his drawing to you.--The men dress like the English; but do not therefore fancy that you or I should have any chance of being mistaken for natives, even if we did not betray ourselves by our accent. Here, as every where else, our countrymen are infallibly known: their careless slouching gait is sure to mark them; and the police keep a watchful eye upon them. Caen is at present frequented by the English: those indeed, who, like the Virgilian steeds, "stare loco nesciunt," seldom shew themselves in Lower Normandy; but above thirty British families have taken up their residence in this town: they have been induced to do so princ.i.p.ally by the cheapness of living, and by the advantages held out for the education of their children. A friend of mine, who is of the number of temporary inhabitants, occupies the best house in the place, formerly the residence of the Duc d'Aumale; and for this, with the garden, and offices, and furniture of all kinds, except linen and plate, he pays only nine pounds a month. For a still larger house in the country, including an orchard and garden, containing three acres, well stocked with fruit-trees, he is asked sixty pounds from this time to Christmas. But, cheap as this appears, the expence of living at Coutances, or at Bayeux, or Valognes, is very much less.

Were I obliged to seek myself a residence beyond the limits of our own country, I never saw a place which I should prefer to Caen. I should not be tempted to look much farther before I said,

"Sis me sedes utinam senect:"--