New-York daily tribune., 1843-10-28

lazlly hence by three French ponies, tandem, to
the granary In this way dozen people con-
sumo day IN harvesting an acre. Two-thlrdS
of the persons saw at work IN the fields were
women.
At II O'Clock the passengers began to order
their breakfasts, which are served, as in their
Cafes, IN small rooms upon the guards OF the
boat. The breakfasts generally consisted of red
wine, mutton-chop and bread. a few ordered
coffee instead OF wlnc and some added butter TO
their bread; while others substituted boiled egg
for the mutton-chop. AS there were more than
200 persons to be provided for in this way, the
culinary department displayed much activity for
two or three hours. have known people, how
ever, whose fastidiousness would have preferred
a long fast to a breakfast upon plates and with
knives and forks that had served twenty others
without having been removed from the table.
There are several very pleasant towns along
the Seine, the pretticst of which is Candebec,
that seems, in passing, like beautifully painted
landscape. All around Candebec YOU see lovely
Villas and Chateaux. This town was taken by
the English, under the Earls of Talbot and War
wick, in l4l9. QuilIcbnuf. an old town with
considerable shipping at its docks, is situated
upon a projecting promontory, and shows very
conspicuously The navigation Of the Seine, at
this point, is difficult and dangerous, on account
of the rapidity with which the tides change the
positions of the sand-bars. Vessels are frequently
lost here During the French Revolution the
Telcmaque, a vessel containing the money and
Jewels of Bourbon Princess wrecked and
sunk here. These immense treasures are talked
of, coveted aad sighed for, here, as is the specie
supposed to have been swallowed in the British
shp.of-war sunk near Hur-Gate during our Re-
volutlon.
There are clusters of hamlets along the river,
all enjoying the shade of fine groves, where the
pcasantry seem passing lives as pastorally, tran
quill and happy falls to the lot of man. Indeed,
passing up this charming river, saw many cot
tages the grace and beauty Of which awakened
sensations as delightful those expressed so
swectly and melodously by Moore -
"l know by the smoke that gracefully curld
Above the green elms, that cottage near
And said If there's peace to BE- found in the world
The heart that is humble might hope for 1t here
This place (Roucn is the capital of ancient
Normandy, and is second only to Paris in historic
associations and in some respects scarcely Sc
cond even to Paris. Under the auspices of Capt.
FUNK, the excellent and popular commander of
the packet ship Baltimore, who had Just arrived
from New-York, and who accompanied us to
Paris, we visited the numerous objects of inter
est in and about Roucn. In going to our Hotel
we passed through several long, narrow, dark,
damp streets, rudely paved, and without side
walks, whose high gable-faced buildings at the
caves approached so near as almost to form an
arch, and to exclude all but some feeble rays of
heavens light and air Arrived at the Hotel
was shown into the fifth story of a most antigua
ted building The stairs were of stone, into
which footsteps have worn several inches. The
bedroom is paved with species of brick, octa-
gonal in form, and of varlegatcd colors. There
is an oaken table and two rude chairs in my
room, that are probably as old as good City
Of Albany. RouEN, though very ancient, is not,
in any respect ruin. 1t is busy, bustllng,
thrifty town. It's commerce is large, and its
manufactures very considerable and it contains
population of $4,000. The Seine spreads out
1000 feet here and Rouen has docks and wharves
for $50 vessels. Along the Quay the old build
ings have been demolished, and replaced by blocks
of spacious and massive yellow marble. These
modern structurues present beautiful front or
facngs, for an interior of dark, devious, desolate,
winding labyrinths, from which stranger extrl-
Gates himself with difficulty. In walking through
The centre parts of Rouen you encounter bad pave
ments all sorts Of filth, and che most vlllalnous
odors.
Our first visit was to the Cathedral of Notre
Dame, vast and venerable pile "whose frown,"
(as Counsellor Phillips said of Napoleon) terri
fics the glance his magnhcence attracts" With
out attempting to describe this splendid Church,
let me remind you Of some Of its associations
One of its tall spires was destroyed by lightning
in 1922, in the place Of which, somebody's bad
taste suggested long, horrid looking iron tube
or chimney, which now deforms and mars the
view. The first Duke of Normandy was buried
here in the 18th century. The heart of Richard
Cpur de Lion, and the bodies of his brothers,
Henry and William, and of their uncle, the Duke
of Bedford, were inferred here During the
French Revolution, the enormous Bell, together
with the Coifins in which several of the Cardi-
mails. &c. had been inferred, were taken away and
melted into cannon and coins by the Revoiu-
ticnsts.
The BibIio'heque Pub!ique Of Rouen contains
$4,000 volumes, among which is richly orna
mcnted manuscript history Of the Normans, writ
ten in the twelfth century. The Musee deS An-
tiquiteS is rich in curlosltles, and no stranger
should pass Rouen without seeing them. In this
collection, you see the door OF the house IN which
Corneiiie was born. 1t windows are all of the
painted glass from suppressed Converts, Church
es. &c, and form a chronological series from the
18th to the l4th century. Among the Auto
graphs, is the mark of William the Conqueror,
who could not write There are also the sigma
tures of Richard CGur de Lion and several Nor
man Princes. Adjoining this building is Mu-
scum of Natural History.
The Church of St. Jcrvais is supposed to be the
oldest in Rouen, and one of the first Chr ~ n
ed;fccs in France. Its Roman Tile and It's ;t,Ie |
of masonry authorize belief that its const -uc-
ton was commenced as early as the 4th cent? V.
William the Conqueror, suffering from the wound
received at Nantes, retired to the Monastery of
ST. Gervais to die, deserted by friends, plundered
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