An effigy
of Richard Coeur de Lion, lately discovered while looking for the
fiery monarch's heart, which was buried in Rouen, is shown as one of
the chief curiosities of the place.
The porter of the cathedral inhabited an extremely small dwelling,
built up against the wall, and surrounded by high, dark buildings; but
we were pleased to see that he had cheered this dismal place of abode
by a gay parterre, several rich-looking flowers occupying pots beneath
his windows.
Our next pilgrimage was to the statue of Joan of Arc, which we
approached through narrow streets, so dirty from the late heavy rains,
as to be scarcely passable. We had, as we might have expected, little
to reward us, except the associations connected with the Maid of
Orleans, and her cruel persecutors. The spot had been to me, from my
earliest years, one which I had felt a wish to visit, my researches,
while writing the Memoirs of the Rival Houses of York and Lancaster,
materially increasing the interest which an earlier perusal of the
history of England and France had created, concerning scenes trodden
by the brave, the great, and the good. However mistaken might have
been their notions, however impolitic their actions, we cannot
contemplate the characters of the Paladins, who have made Rouen
famous, without feelings of respect.
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