Respecting the contents of the sacristy, I can say little from my own knowledge; but I find by Pommeraye, that, before the revolution, it boasted of a large silver image of the Virgin, endued with peculiar sanctity, a few drops of her milk, and a portion of her hair[88]; a splinter of the true cross, set in gold, studded with pearls, sapphires, and turquoises; and reliques of saints without number.  Now, however, it appears, that of all its treasures, it has preserved little else except the shrine of St. Romain, and another known by the general name of Chasse des Saints.  The former is two feet six inches long, and one foot nine inches high, and is of handsome workmanship, with a variety of figures on the sides, and St. Romain himself at the top.  Formerly it was supposed to be made of gold; now I was assured by one of the canons, that it is of silver gilt; but Gilbert[89], who is a plain layman, maintains that it is only copper.  Had it been otherwise, it would have contributed to the ways and means of the unchristian republic; but the democrats spared it, for they had well ascertained that the metal was base, and that the jewels, which adorn it, are but glass.—­This is not the original shrine which held the precious relics:  the shrine in which they were deposited by the archbishop, William Bonne Ame, when first brought to the cathedral, in 1090, was sold during a famine, and its proceeds distributed to the starving poor; after which, in 1179, Archbishop Rotrou caused another still more costly to be made; but the latter was broken to pieces by the Calvinists, in 1562, and the saint’s body cast into the fire[90].

Thus, then, I have led you, as far as I am able; through the cathedral, adjoining which, at the east end, stands the palace of the archbishop, a large building, but neither handsome nor conspicuous, principally the work of the Cardinal Georges d’Amboise, though begun by the Cardinal d’Etouteville, in 1461.  The rooms in it which are shewn to strangers are the anti-chamber, commonly called la salle de la Croix, the library, and the great gallery.  This last, which is one hundred and sixty feet long, is also known by the name of la salle des Etats.  In it are placed four very large paintings by Robert, an eminent French artist of comparatively modern date.  They represent the city of Rouen, the town of Dieppe, that of Havre de Grace, and the archiepiscopal palace at Gaillon.  The view of Rouen represents in the foreground the petit Chateau, and is on that account peculiarly interesting.  All of them are fine paintings, but much injured by the damp.  In the anti-chamber are portraits of seven prelates of the see, and among them those of the Cardinal de la Rochefoucault, and M. de Tressan:  our guide could name no others.