from the building, struck me as being equally curious and uncommon.  It is asserted that they have different kinds of marble in the department of Calvados, which equal that of the south of France.  At Basly and Vieux white marble is found which has been judged worthy of a comparison with Parian; but this is surely a little presumptuous.  However, it is known that Cardinal Richelieu brought from Vieux all the marble with which he built the chapel in the college of the Sorbonne.

Upon the whole, as to general appearance, and as to particular society, Caen may be preferable to Rouen.  The costume and manners of the common people are pretty much, if not entirely, the same; except that, as to dress, the cauchoise is here rather more simple than at Dieppe and Rouen.  The upper fille-de-chambre at our hotel displays not only a good correct model of national dress, but she is well-looking in her person, and well-bred in her manners.  Mr. Lewis prevailed upon this good-natured young woman to sit for her likeness, and for the sake of her costume.  The girl’s eyes sparkled with more than ordinary joy at the proposal, and even an expression of gratitude mingled itself in her manner of compliance.  I send you the figure and dress of the fille-de-chambre at the Hotel Royale of Caen.[102]

[Illustration:  FILLE DE CHAMBRE, CAEN.]

Caen is called the depot of the English.[103] In truth there is an amazing number of our countrymen here, and from very different causes.  One family comes to reside from motives of economy; another from those of education; a third from those of retirement; and a fourth from pure love of sitting down, in a strange place, with the chance of making some pleasant connection, or of being engaged in seeking some strange adventure:  Good and cheap living, and novel society, are doubtless the main attractions.  But there is desperate ill blood just now between the Caennois (I will not make use of the enlarged term Francois) and the English; and I will tell you the cause.  Do you remember the emphatic phrase in my last, “all about the duel?” Listen.  About three weeks only before our arrival,[104] a duel was fought between a young French law-student, and a young Englishman; the latter the son of a naval captain.  I will mention no names; and so far not wound the feelings of the friends of the parties concerned.  But this duel, my friend, has been “THE DUEL OF DUELS”—­on the score of desperation, and of a fixed purpose to murder.  It is literally without precedent, and I trust will never be considered as one.  You must know then, that Caen, in spite of all the “bouleversemens” of the Revolution, has maintained its ancient reputation of possessing a very large seminary, or college for students at law.  These students amount to nearly 600 in number.  Most young gentlemen under twenty years of age are at times riotous, or frolicsome, or foolish.  Generally speaking, however, the students