New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-08-12

with tall empty canopies, and covered, gehefaiiy,
with statues, and ornaments
On each side of it rises two great towers, one
rugged mass Of early Norman work, with little oIna-
ment it's hacheted closed arches and ITS great
naked base as huge and white as the bottom of
chalk elif the other specimen OF sixteenth cen
fury gothic, extremely namboyant and elegant and
confounding 10 the eye. The sides Of the cathedral
are as yet more or less imbcddcd in certain black
and dwariish Old houses, but if you pass around
them by long detour You arrive at two superb lat
cral porches The socalled Portal DIES Libraries, in
especial, on the northern side, is magnificent AZ
fair sculptured from summit to base ut ~
now restored. and proceeded by long fare
court in which the guild OF booksellers
used TO hold its musty trahc. From mere
you can see the immense central tower Pelched
above the junction of the transepts and the nave,
and crowned with gigantic iron spire lately erected
to replace which destroyed by lightning III
the early part of the century. This gaunt pyramid
has the drawback TO American eyes of resembling
too much the tall fire towers which are seen III trans
atlantic cities and its dimensions are such that,
viewed from distance 1t fairly makes little Ronen
look top-heavy. Behind the choir within Is Dcau-
tiful ady-chapel, and in this chapel are two en-
chanting works of art. The larger and more strik-
ing of these is the tomb of the two Cardinals
IL
not, Minister of Francis |. 1t consists of a shallow,
oblong recess in the wall, lined with gilded and
fretted marble and corniced with delicate little
statues Within the recess the figures of the two
cardinals are kneelng with folded hands and
ruggedly earnest faces their long robes spread out
behind them with magnificent amplitude They
are full of life, dignity, and piety they
look like portraits of Holbein transmitted into
marble. The base of the monument is composed OF
n series of admirable little images representing the
cardinal and other virtues, and the effect OF the
whole work is admirably grave and rich. The dis
Greet traveller will never miss an opportunity to
come into great church at cventide-the honrwhen
his feowtravclers. less discreet are lingering over
the table fh6te when the painted windows glow with
deeper splendor, when the long wand of the beadle
slowly tapping the pavement, or the shuttle OF the
old sacristan, has a ghOsty resonance along the
empty nave, and three or four work-weary women
before a dusky chapel, are mumbng for the remis-
sion of unimagnable sins. At this hour at Rouen
the tomb of the Duke de BrGz6 husband of Diana of
POiticTs, placed opposite to the monument have
Just described, seemed to me the most beautiful
thing in the world. 1t is presumably the
work of the charming sixteenth century sculptor
Jean Pouion, and it bears the stamp OF
his graceful and inventive talent. The deceased is
living on his back almost naked, with a part OF his
shroud-bound in knot about bis head-a realistic
but not q repulsive image of death. AT his head
kneels the amiable Diana, in sober garments, all
decency and devotion at his feet stands the Virgin
a charming young woman with charming child
Above on another tier, the subject of the monument
is represented in the ulncss of life, dressed as for
tournament, bestrdgg housekeeping war horse
riding forth like Rel md or Galahad The arch-
lecture of the tomb is most graceful and the
A., g ~,
dead Duke is altogether a masterpiece The other
evening in the solemn stiffness aud the fading light
of the great cathedral it seemed iuesistiby human
and touching. The spectator felt a sort of impulse
to smooth out the shroud and sraightcn the helpless
hands.
The second church of Rouen, St. Ouen, the
beautiful aud harmonious. has no monuments of this
value but it offers within higher interest than the
Cathedral. Without it looks like an English abbey
scraped and restored, disincumbered of budding
neighbors and surrounded on three sides by a beaut-
full garden Seen 10 this excellent advantage it is
one of the noblest of churches but within it is one
of the most fascinating. / am always, III arch
tectual matters. very much of the opinion of the
last speaker; the last fine building have seen seems
to me for the time the finest possible. This is de-
porable leviy; yet risk the affirmation aproros OF
st. Ouen. l can imagine no more cOnsummate com
bring tears to the eyes. / have left myself space
only to recommend the sail down the Seine from
Rouen TO the mouth Of the stream but | recon-
mend it in the highest terms. The heat wa eXtiel-e
and the little steamer most primitive, but t." river
is as picturesque as could wish. 1t MAKES an in
finite number of bends, and corners, and
angles, rounded by q charming vegetation.
Abrupt and rocky hills 90 with it all
the way-blls with cOufields lying in their
hollOws and forests crOwniDI their tops. Cut OF tue
forests peep Old manOrs, AMI beneath between the
hills and the stream. are hIgh-thatchcd tarmsteadS,
lying deep in their ucadows and orchards, cottages
palisaded with hollyhocl,s gray old Norman
churches and villas shaded with enormous trees Ii
is a land of peace and plenty, and remarkable 10
Ango-Saxon eyes for the English-oOklng details OF
its scenery. | noticed a hundred place where one
might have been in Kent rs well as III Normandy.
In fact il is almost better han Kent for Kent has no
Seine At the lat the river becomes Enthusiastically
an arm of the sea- and river, therefore, less III
teresting. But crooked little liOnilcur, with ITS
miniature port cngng 10 the side of cliff as lux
urian a. one of the hcadlands of the Mediterranean,
is picturesque last incident. -