The Sunny South: An Autumn in Spain and MajorcaClayton, John William
History
The Sunny South: An Autumn in Spain and Majorca
Clayton, John William
Majorca (Spain) -- Description and travel; Spain -- Description and travel
Of course we are not going to describe Rouen and its wonderful
architectural remains, nor conjure up visions of mailed Norman chiefs,
nursed in war, whose unscrupulous will and iron hearts, backed by the
moral weight of great warrior prelates, enforced submission upon all
races between Normandy and the far East, from their stern old capital
at Rouen. Tempting as is the subject, we have no intention of entering
upon any disquisition regarding the vigorous race who founded the city,
or of describing the antiquarian relics of which it possesses so rich a
store.
It is pleasant to ascend the Mont St. Catherine, and look down upon
the fine old town, with its broken walls and ramparts, which have
witnessed the gallant struggles of the stout hearts of earlier days,
which opposed the onset of Henry V. of England and Henry of Navarre,
now overgrown with hoar moss or buried in labyrinths of modern streets,
with scarce a thought bestowed upon the past of those mighty chiefs
who in old times assailed or defended them--men who, by their deeds,
laid the foundations of modern history. It is pleasant to see and feel
the solemn air of repose or gentle majesty which hangs over the more
silent streets where still stand those time-honoured buildings, the
fortresses, palaces, and convents, with piles of toppling planks and
wooden turrets, witnesses of ancient story and actors in its varied
scenes. There, from the midst of the venerable city, spire up to the
level of the wood-crowned heights surrounding Rouen, the fretted
pinnacles of the cathedral towers, and beneath them the gables of
Gothic houses pierce the air, while afar off the silver windings of the
Seine, studded with green islets, lose themselves in the mist which
hangs in the distance, seaward.
In the city below died the simple-minded, heroic, and betrayed Maid
of Orleans. There, forsaken by his own sons, and his menials even, in
agony and neglect, William, the Conqueror of England, and of our Saxon
Harold, departed this life. There died also the great Clarendon; and
there Corneille and Boieldieu were born.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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