[Footnote 33:  Montfaucon, Monumens de la Monarchie Francaise, II. p. 220.]

[Footnote 34:  In a collection of epitaphs printed at Cologne, 1623, under the title of Epitaphia Joco-seria, I find the same monumental inscription, with the observation, that it is at Tournay, and with the following explanation.—­“De pari conjugum, postea ad religionem transeuntium et in ea praefectorum.  Alter fuit Franciscanus; altera vero Clarissa.”]

[Footnote 35:  Histoire du Duche de Normandie, III. p. 15.]

LETTER XVIII.

EVREUX—­CATHEDRAL—­ABBEY OF ST. TAURINUS—­ANCIENT HISTORY.

(Evreux, July, 1818.)

Our journey to this city has not afforded the gratification which we anticipated.—­You may recollect Ducarel’s eulogium upon the cathedral, that it is one of the finest structures of the kind in France.—­It is our fate to be continually at variance with the doctor, till I am half inclined to fear you may be led to suspect that jealousy has something to do with the matter, and that I fall under the ban of the old Greek proverb,—­

    “IsI+-I¹ I deg.I muII+-I1/4I muI...I, I deg.I muII+-I1/4I muI¹ I|I’I?I1/2I muI muI¹ I deg.I+-I¹ I"I muI deg.I"I?I1/2I¹ I"I muI deg.I"I%I1/2.”—­

[English.  Not in Original:  The potter is jealous of the potter, as the builder is jealous of the builder.]

As for myself, however, I do hope and trust that I am marvellously free from antiquarian spite.—­And in this instance, our expectations were also raised by the antiquity and sanctity of the cathedral, which was entirely rebuilt by Henry Ist, who made a considerate bargain with Bishop Audinus[36], by which he was allowed to burn the city and its rebellious inhabitants, upon condition of bestowing his treasures for the re-construction of the monasteries, after the impending conflagration.  The church, thus raised, is said by William of Jumieges[37], to have surpassed every other in Neustria; but it is certain that only a very small portion of the original building now remains.  A second destruction awaited it.  Philip Augustus, who desolated the county of Evreux with fire and sword, stormed the capital, sparing neither age nor sex; and all its buildings, whether sacred or profane, were burnt to the ground.  Hoveden, his friend, and Brito, his enemy, both bear witness to this fact—­the latter in the following lines:—­

“... irarum stimulis agitatus, ad omne Excidium partis adversae totus inardens, Ebroicas primo sic incineravit, ut omnes Cum domibus simul ecclesias consumpserit ignis.”—­

The church, in its present state, is a medley of many different styles and ages:  the nave alone retains vestiges of early architecture, in its massy piers and semi-circular arches:  these are evidently of Norman workmanship, and are probably part of the church erected by Henry.—­All the rest is