in the open air.  Perceiving that I was anxious to gain information, they flocked around me—­and from one man, in particular, I obtained exact intelligence about the havoc which had been committed during the Revolution upon the abbey, The roof had been battered down for the sake of the lead—­to make bullets; the pews, altars, and iron-work, had been converted into other destructive purposes of warfare; and the great bell had been sold to some speculators in a cannon-foundery at Rouen.[84] The revolutionary mania had even brutalized the Abbot.  This man, who must be considered as

    ....damned to everlasting fame,

had been a monk of the monastery; and as soon as he had attained the headship of it, he disposed of every movable piece of furniture, to gratify the revolutionary pack which were daily howling at the gates of the abbey for entrance!  Nor could he plead compulsion as an excuse.  He seemed to enjoy the work of destruction, of which he had the uncontrouled direction.  But enough of this wretch.

The next resting-place was CAUDEBEC:  a very considerable village, or rather a small town.  You go down a steep descent, on entering it by the route we came.  As you look about, there are singular appearances on all sides—­of houses, and hanging gardens, and elaborately cut avenues—­upon summits, declivities, and on the plain.  But the charm of the view, at least to my old-fashioned feelings, was a fine old gothic church, and a very fine spire of what appeared to belong to another.  As the evening had completely set in, I resolved to reserve my admiration of the place till the morrow.

[78] [I am ignorant of his present destination; but learn that he has
    quitted the above situation a long time.]

[79] [Mr. COTMAN has published views of the West Front, the South East, the
    West Entrance, and the South Transept, with sculptured capitals and
    basso-relievos, &c.  In the whole, seven plates.]

[80] [Mr. Cotman has published etchings of the West Front:  the Towers,
    somewhat fore-shortened; the Elevation of the Nave—­and doorway of the
    Abbey:  the latter an extremely interesting specimen of art.  A somewhat
    particular and animated description of it will be found in Lieut. 
    Hall’s Travels in France, 8vo. p. 57, 1819. [In the first edition,
    I had called the west end towers of the Abbey—­“small.”  Mons. Licquet
    has suggested that I must have meant “comparatively” small;—­in
    contradistinction to the centre-tower, which would have been larger. 
    We learn also from M. Licquet that the spire of this central tower was
    demolished in 1573, by the Abbe le Veneur, Bishop of Evreux.  What
    earthly motive could have led to such a brutal act of demolition?]