on of the same black-letter treasures; and that he swept away
every thing in the shape of an ancient and _equivocal_ volume, in his
annual rounds. I learnt pretty nearly the same thing from Manoury at Caen.
M. Joubert is a very sensible and respectable man; and is not only "_Seul
Imprimeur de Monseigneur l'Eveque"_ (PIERRE DUPONT-POURSAT), but is in fact
almost the only bookseller worth consulting in the place. I bought of him a
copy of the _Livre d'Eglise ou Nouveau Paroissien a l'usage du Diocese de
Coutances_, or the common prayer book of the diocese. It is a very thick
duodecimo, of 700 double columned pages, printed in a clear, new, and
extremely legible character, upon paper of sufficiently good texture. It
was bound in sheepskin, and I gave only _thirty sous_ for it new. How it
can be published at such a price, is beyond my conception. M. Joubert told
me that the compositor or workman received 20 francs for setting up 36
pages, and that the paper was 12 francs per ream. In our own country, such
prices would be at least doubled.

It is impossible not to be struck here with the great number of YOUNG
ECCLESIASTICS. In short, the establishment now erecting for them, will
contain, when completed, (according to report) not fewer than four hundred.
It is also impossible not to be struck with the extreme simplicity of their
manners and deportment. They converse with apparent familiarity with the
very humblest of their flock: and seem, from the highest to the lowest, to
be cordially received. They are indifferent as to personal appearance. One
young man carries a bundle of linen to his laundress, along the streets:
another carries a round hat in his hand, having a cocked one upon his head:
a kitchen utensil is seen in the hand of a third, and a chair, or small
table, in that of a fourth. As these Clergymen pass, they are repeatedly
saluted. Till the principal building be finished, many of them are
scattered about the town, living quite in the upper stories. In short, it
is the _profession_, rather than the particular candidate, which seems to
claim the respectful attention of the townsmen.

[152] See page 13 ante.

[153] Mr. Cotman has a view of this church, in his work on Normandy.

[154] I suspect that the "peaceful" waters of this stream were frequently
died with the blood of Hugonots and Roman Catholics during the fierce
contests between MONTGOMERY and MATIGNON, towards the latter half of
the sixteenth