a darts upon that, with a falcon-like velocity, which puts all his blood in a tingle, and deprives him of sleep for at least the six succeeding nights! And then for bargaining, purchasing, or diplomatic protocols how happy to be instrumental to the enriching of his noble Patron's Cabinet! A Virgil, by that most ancient of all printers, Adam;-a Boccacio by his younger brother Adam de Michaelibus;-the Greek Hours by Aldus;-a German Bible by Mentelin, and other similar marvels, of which we northern literati pretend not to have heard even the names; all these, first made known to us in the pages under consideration, are absolutely delectable and most ravishing. The seasons are also marked by our author with a sort of Thomson-like accuracy. In spring, the blossoms of Normandy throw out their delicious perfume; in summer, there is no remedy against the sweltering heat, but in the pyramid-shaped" ices of Fortoni and Riche; while, in autumn, the whole country is reeling beneath the influence of the gushing grape, as first witnessed in the suburbs of Vienna, and afterwards in the neighbourhood of Metz and Rheims. This is no idle unconnected rhapsody, as a prelude to the commencement of our critical labours, but an ebullition of feeling excited by the contents of the volumes before us. Mr Dibdin started in April, and returned quite at the latter end of October; and he happened to witness a year of remarkable fecundity, characterised by a summer heat of almost unsupportable oppressiveness. Such is our exordium; from which it will be observed, that, differing from some few of our obscurer critical brethren, who seem to have substituted ignorance for knowledge, and vulgarity for good breeding,-distorting their analysis of these volumes by the most" loathsome and laughable absurdities," "—it is our intention * Tracts of a Warburtonian. The triumph of the author of the "Bibliographical, Antiquarian, and Picturesque Tour," may be considered as complete; in as much as, in the very heblomadal journals which have spit their spite upon his pages, we find such trashy stuff as Mr Clarke's poetry, and such sleepy stuff as Mr Davies's prose, lauded to the very skies! Surely to take up the task of reviewing Mr Dibdin's labours with all the energies of earnest advocates, but with all the candour and courage of unhired judges. The volumes before us contain little short of 1800 honestly filled pages, and 150 highly finished copper-plates; and the author seems to have gone over very little less than 3000 miles. He started from Brighton for Dieppe, then for Rouen, Havre, Harfleur, Caen, Bayeux, St Lo, Contances, Vire, and Falaise; to say nothing of a few minor places, such as Caudebec, Jumièges, Lillebonne, and Tancarville, which make his Tour through NORMANDY tolerably complete. Paris, Nancy, and Strasbourg, form the principal features of his account of FRANCE. Stuttgart, Ulm, Augsbourg, Munich, and Vienna, are the grand characteristics of his third volume, devoted to GERMANY. And here, by the way, we do most sincerely regret that the accounts of Ratisbon, Nuremberg, and Manheim, which are compressed into the form of a Supplement, were not more dilated—or extended in a manner to do justice to the materials which seem absolutely to have been collected. To begin with the Preface: this is, as it should be, perfectly explana tory. We are great enemies to fine writing in prefaces; it is, in general, fine nonsense. Let no man (as a justification) pretend to say, that he strove to imitate Casaubon in his preface to Athenæus; or De Thou, in that of the History of his own Times; or Johnson, in his preface to his Dictionary, or to his Shakespeare. The conclusion of Mr Dibdin's preface is, however, well deserving of quotation. It is British all over. "One word more, and I have done. Whatever may have been the objects of other travellers, or the feelings with which those objects may have been viewed by them, whether as connected with art, or with society, I have never ceased to bear in mind, that an attachment to the laws and liberties of one's own country, could never be increased by a systematic disparage there must be some drollery or sarcasm about all this!-since it must be obvious to every man who knows any thing of the subject upon which Mr Dibdin and his followers write, that the two most worthy gentlemen just mentioned are the very Messieurs Doodle and Noodle of Biblio graphy! ment of those of others; that civilities and kindnesses conferred called for grateful returns; and that the sentiments which possessed me at an early period of my continental visit, have never ceased to operate till the moment of my return. This confession implies neither unqualified praise, nor unqualified censure, of the manners and customs of the countries visited. It neither checks freedom of thought, nor truth of observation; but, least of all, does it betray a fixed and malign disposition to disown the soil of one's birth, to forget the country which has yielded protection to our persons and properties, and to traduce those laws which have long rendered her the envy and admiration of the world. If, on the one hand, I may say with a writer, when speaking of the character of FRANCE, Gens humanitate in exteros, benevolen tià in eruditos, et facili in omnes comitate, PRAE ALIIS INSIGNIS.' I trust, on the other hand, that I may be permitted to conclude, in the words of a much higher authority, I suppose that, wherever mention is made of countries, manners, or men, the ENGLISH PEOPLE, among the first that shall be praised, may deserve to be accounted a right pious, right honest, and right hardy nation."" pp. xiii—xv. We know not why or wherefore it is, but we rather like the author's account of his passage to Dieppe; and are quite in love with the plate of the crucifix seen on landing at the latter place. Nothing strikes an Englishman-who views it for the first time, with an artist-like, or even serious feeling with more powerfully mixed sensations than the form of worship observed in the greater churches abroad. We think the following, although an early, a very good specimen of Mr Dibdin's manner of treating this subject, to which, it is evident, he invariably pays great attention, in his rambles among the several cities which he visited. He is now describing military mass at Dieppe. "Military Mass was performed about an hour after at the church of ST REMY. Both Mr Lewis and my son saw this extraordinary spectacle, but I had had sufficient for one dose.' Yet I strolled quictly to that same church, to witness the devotion of the congregation, previous to the entry of the soldiers; and I will not dissemble, that I was much struck and grati BUCKLEY, in his dedication of the edition of De Thou's Historia Sui Tem. poris, to Dr Mead. † Milton. fied by what I saw. There was more simplicity; a smaller congregation; softer music; a lower-toned organ; less rush of people; and in very many of the flock, the most intense and unfeigned expression of piety. At the elevation of the Host, from the end of the choir, (near which was suspended a white flag, with the portrait of the present king thereupon,) a bell was rung from the tower of the church: the sound below was soft, and silver-toned, accompanied by rather a quick movement of the organ, upon the diapason stop; which, united with the silence and prostration of the congregation, might have commanded the reverence of the most profane. I became motionless, save a slight and fixed inclination of the head, in which attitude I could not refrain from offering up a prayer for the preservation of those left behind; and which prayer, although not borrowed from the Romish ritual, might possibly be not the less availing on that account. There is nothing, my dear friend, more refreshing in a foreign land, than the general appearance of earnestness of devotion upon a Sabbath-day, especially within the house of God. Out of doors, a very different order of things prevails. But I quickly heard the clangor of the trumpet, the beat of drums, the measured tramp of human feet, and in marched two or three troops of the National Guard, to perform military mass. I retired precipitably to the inn. My companions, who staid behind, told me, that this military mass consisted of certain manœuvres of the soldiers, with their caps on, within the choir, accompanied by loud and stunning music. It seem ed a frightful contrast to all that had preceded it." p. 23. The vignette embellishments, scattered about our author's account of Dieppe, are certainly too profuse. They are beautiful of their kind; but we are not so desperately smitten as Mr Dibdin, or his "graphic companion, (as he calls him,) seems to have been, with squat figures, ugly faces,' flaunting caps, and busikking petticoats. The view of the Castle of Arques is a delicious exception, or relief to the quantity of grotesquenese which precedes it. We hardly know how to trust ourselves at Rouen. was, and never will be, such another There surely never city. If the ne plus ultra of deformity should by chance turn out to be the perfection of beauty, this capital of Lower Normandy would be the most beauteous of all continental capitals. Overhanging roofs, elaborated architraves, window-frames, and window-mullions, which, like the strong man, seem to be pulling down the superincumbent edifice,-doorways, through which dwarfs could only have glided,-and others apparently made for the exclusive promenade of giants-striped black exteriors of plastered mansions -narrow streets-foaming gutters a ceaseless and countless throng of noisy population-these, and very much more than these, seem to be the characteristics of Rouen, while its cathedral, abbey, and churches, are absolutely of the most massive and magnificent class of ecclesiastical buildings. And then, for its neighbourhood! Here is Mont St Catherine, there the deep and rapid Seine, with a forest of masts; above, the Boulevards, powdered (at the time of our author's visit) with innumerable blossoms of almond, apple, and pear; be low are meadows, villas, bleachinggrounds, and trout-streams, while a belt of gently undulating hills forms a background worthy of all which it encircles. The population of Rouen is estimated at 100,000 souls. * We shall now accompany our author to Havre. In our way thither, we are cheered with the descriptions of the abbey of Jumièges, Caudebec, and Bolbec. We know not whether Mr Dibdin's enthusiasm be greater in a place of worship, or in a public library. We select a specimen of it, as connected with his visit to the abbey of Jumièges. "Sacred be the moment, and serene be the Heavens, on the first view of this in We should hardly forgive ourselves, if, in enumerating the various engravings by which the account of the city of Rouen is illustrated, we omitted to notice most particularly those of the south transept of the cathedral, and the Rue du Bac. We suspect the perspective of the cathedral to be a little wrong; but the accompaniments of houses and groups of figures are quite enchanting. H. de Keux, the engraver, has here outdone himself in the execution of his department. Among the minor embellishments, that of the basso-relievo of the Champ de Drap d'or shews how miser ably faithless the representation of the same interesting relic of antiquity is in Montfaucon's Monarchie Françoise. The castellated remains, at p. 154, are as much a credit to Landseer as to Lewis. We defy the reader to point out any similar specimen of antiquity so perfectly and artistlike executed in Millin's Antiquités Nationales. terior! I can never forget it. It has not the magical effect, or that sort of artificial burst, which attends the first view of Tintern abbey; but, as the ruin is larger, tion. Like Tintern also, it is unroofed; there is necessarily more to attract attendifferent cause, of which presently. The yet this unroofing has proceeded from a side aisles present you with a short flattened arch: the nave has none; but you observe a long pilaster-like, or alto-relievo column, of slender dimensions, running from bottom to top, with a sort of Roman capital. The arched ceiling and roof are entirely gone. We proceeded towards the exterior extremity, and saw more frightful ravages, both of time and of accident. The latter, however, had triumphed over the former; but for accident, you must read revolution. "On the first view of each surrounding object, we were struck with a variety of sensations. In the land of Normandy, the land of castles and cathedrals, we fancied a higher tone of feeling was connected with every thing we saw. But this was only the venial enthusiasm of young travellers. The day had been rather oppressive for a May morning; and we were getting far into the afternoon, when clouds began to scured. We seated ourselves upon a grassy gather, and the sun became occasionally obhillock, and began to prepare for dinner. To the left of us lay a huge pile of fragments of pillars and joinings of arches the effects of recent havoc; to the right, within three yards, was the very spot in which the celebrated AGNES SOREL, mistress of Charles VII., lay entombed :-not a relic of mausoleum now marking the place where, formerly, the sculptor had exhibited the choicest efforts of his art, and the devotee. had repaired to Breathe a prayer for her soul-and pass on! "What a contrast, my dear friend, to the present aspect of things!-to the mixed rubbish and wild flowers with which every spot is now well nigh covered! The mistress of the inn having furnished us with napkins and tumblers, we partook of our dinner, surrounded by the objects just described, with no ordinary sensation. The first and only sentiment which we drank was, (naturally I would hope,) Dear Old England, and all that it contains!' A more enthusiastic toper would have drank to the memories of those who slept within the walls of the abbey,-but we were content to sacrifice the unknown dead to the cherished living. Yet I will not conceal, that, more than once or twice, I felt a sort of romantic twinge come across me, which had nearly induced me to make a libation to But it was only a twinge-and, like twinges in general, was perfectly evanescent. "The air now became oppressive.; when, looking through the few remaining unglazed mullions of the windows, 1 observed that the clouds grew darker and darker, while a faint rumbling of thunder reached our ears. The sun, however, yet shone gaily, although partially; and as the storm neared us, it floated as it were round the abbey, affording, by means of its purple, black colour, contrasted with the pale tint of the walls,-one of the most beautiful painter-like effects imaginable. Mr L. started up from his seat to enjoy a more general view; but I was unwilling to quit the vicinity of Agnes Sorel, and remained tranquilly upon the hillock, even though two smart flashes of lightning had come across me. In an instant almost, and as if touched by the wand of a mighty necromancer, the whole scene became mctamorphosed. The thunder growled, but only growled, and the threatening phalanx of sulphur-charged clouds rolled away, and melted into the quiet uniform tint which usually precedes sun-set. Our dinner being dispatched, we rose to make a thorough examination of the ruins which had survived not only the Revolution, but the cupidity of the present owner of the soil, who is a rich man, living at Rouen, and who loves to dispose of any portion of the stone, whether standing or prostrate, for the sake of the lucre, however trifling, which arises from the sale. Surely the whole corporation of the city of Rouen, with the mayor at their head, ought to stand between this ruthless rich man' and the abbey, the victim of his brutal avarice and want of taste." pp. 200-203. Beautifully bedecked as this first volume is with picturesque engravings, and fondly as we have hung over the distant view of Rouen on the road to Havre, as well as Caudebec from the Heights, we are yet unconscionable enough to desiderate a view, however slight, of the venerable abbey of Jumièges. The history of its foundation and early celebrity (as deve loped by Mr D.) makes us the more anxious for such a gratification. How ever, we would wish to avoid every thing in the shape of exaction, and so we will take, and be thankful for, "the good the gods provide us." We have scarcely time to rest our legs at Lillebonne, Bolbec, (where there is an anecdote, quite à la Sterne, respecting "a poor little Savoyard" and his organ-grinding ballad,) Tancarville, Havre, or Harfleur. Át Havre, a droll dispute about our House of Commons, in a bookseller's shop, was witnessed p. 249. by the author, for which we refer to We have scarcely entered Caen, and looked about us, before our very hearts are won by a handsome fille de chambre, with a cauchoise of the most towering dimensions, and a group of females of the common class," sitting and gossipping at work, out of doors betimes in the morning." plate, is quite delicious to our fancies; This latter, or vignettebut we think that the filles de chambre are uniformly made too much of: they have too much of the "air imposant," and although characteristic, and good sort of people in their way, we do not see why they are come in competition, in size, and finish of execution, with the Brials, and Bartschs, and Schweighæusers of the day. The smaller head in the Supplement, p. xvii. is just an illustration of the thing we mean. Here is the prettiest fille de chambre in the work, and yet, of its size. However, that we may more becoming, from the diminution not be taxed with scandal, we will get away from the obliging creatures, and take up the thread of Mr Dibdin's story at Caen. Here our reverend author indulged one of those strange and infatuated curiosities, which we suppose to be inseparable from a black-letter bibliographer and antiquary. In ascending a wooden stair-case, in a dark passage or lobby, which "absolutely led to nothing," he was indebted for the preservation of his life to his knowledge of the words " Tenez, Arrêtez." In fact, a depth of eighteen feet was below him, and he would have tumbled headlong down in five seconds, but for the intervention of his guide. Caen is well described, and thickly illustrated with copper-plates. The church of St Pierre de Darnetal strikes us as the grandest piece of architecture, for a parish church, which we reinember to have ever seen. We only wish the clouds had been equal to the building. Mr Lewis, with all his incomparable talent, is a bad vepeλnyegérns Zeus. His skies are too frequently in an agitated state; looking at times like ascending vapours or approaching storms. In that of Strasbourg cathedral, (a wonderful plate on the whole, and engraved by the same artist as the present,) there is an appearance of the Aurora Borealis, or as if a set of wicked rogues were letting off squibs and crackers from the summit of the building! Once more to return, but for a few minutes, to Caen. The account of the antiquities here is, perhaps, a little too scanty; but the house and medal of Malherbe, the black and bushy-bearded portrait of Bourgueville, the old historian of Caen; the biographical sketches of Pierre Aimé Lair, and Moysant; the spirited notices of booksellers and black-letter lore; together (as at Rouen) with an account of chap-books, &c. are severally and collectively of a perfectly antiquarian cast, and may perhaps suit the taste of our southern neighbours better than our own. We think Bayeux an excellently well written article; and the portrait of Harold, the ne plus ultra of marvellous facsimile. We were obliged to draw our finger across the surface, to be convinced that it was not worsted. At Contances we should greatly desire to spend a few of the next summer months of our vacation, if it were only to hire a cottage which should command a view of the old aqueduct and cathedral, as seen in the beautiful plate opposite p. 409. Meantime, let us listen to the account of the prospect from the top of the central tower of the said cathedral. "The view was lovely beyond measure. Contances lies within four miles of the sea, character, I took a pleasure in gazing upon the roof which contained an inhabitant capable of administering so much good to the community. In short, I shall always remember the view from the top of the cen tral tower of the cathedral of Contances!" 66 pp. 406, 407. Granville makes us melancholy, and so we will take a seat upon the springless bench within the voiture which conveyed our author and his companion to Vire. This latter town is described as a sort of Rouen in miniature;" but ere we reach it we must stop one moment to compliment the author upon his resistance to a strong temptation of running away with “a very clean, large paper, and uncut copy of the folio Rouen Missal of 1759," which presented itself upon the desk of a deserted monastic chapel at St Sever. As to Vire, whether we consider the plates, the bibliographical extracts, the fine glowing old poetry of Basselin, "the Drunken Barnaby of France," the accounts of Messieurs Du Mortueux, Seguin, and, above all, of De la Renaudière, we own, that this place strikes us as being possessed of no ordinary sources of antiquarian gratification. The larger plate of the fountain, washerwomen, and castle, splendid and interesting as it is, is not, in our opinion, more seductive than the vignette-plate of the castle alone. (where the land sometimes lets as high The country around Vire as six guineas per acre) is called the BOCAGE of Normandy. It was rendered as memorable in the sixteenth century, by the bloody persecution of the Huguenots and Calvinists, as the Bocage in the south of France has been, more recently, from the but cheries of the Revolution. We have slightly mentioned the name of M. so that to the east and south appeared an immense expanse of ocean. On the opposite points was an extensive landscape, well wooded, undulating, rich, and thickly studded with farm-houses. Jersey appeared to the north-west, quite encircled by the sea; and nearly to the south stood out the bold insulated little rock of Granville, defying the eternal washing of the wave. Such a view is perhaps no where else to be seen in Normandy; certainly not from any ecclesiastical edifice with which I am acquainted. The sun was now declining apace, which gave a warmer glow to the ocean, and a richer hue to the landscape. It is impossible to particularize. All was exquisitely refreshing and joyous. The heart beats with a fuller pulsation as the eye darts over such an expansive and exhilarating scene! Spring was now clad in her deepest-coloured vesture; and a prospect of a fine summer and an abundant harvest infused additional delight into the beholder. Immediately below stood the insulated and respectable mansion or palace of the Bishop, in the midst of a formal We cannot take leave of the first garden-begirt with yet more formally volume, and enter upon the second, clipt hedges. As the prelate bore a good without a word or two of observation, de la Renaudière. Mr Dibdin found him "a bibliomaniac of the first water," but he was also a critic and a collector of English literature. He had nearly a thousand volumes in our language; and, speaking of the two great northern and southern quarterly critical journals, he said "he preferred the politics and vivacity of the Edinburgh, but thought the Quarterly more instructive, and more carefully written." DE GUSTIBUS NON EST DISPUTANDUM. |
