own of Mantes to ashes. Here, too, this mighty monarch
breathed his last, and left a sad warning to future conquerors, deserted
by his friends and physicians the moment he was no more; while his
menials plundered his property, and his body lay naked and neglected in
the hall[66].

The ducal palace, and the monastic buildings of the priory, once
connected with it, are now completely destroyed. Fortunately, however,
the church still remains, though parochial and in poverty. It preserves
some portions of the original structure, more interesting from their
features than their extent. The exterior of the apsis is very curious:
it is obtusely angular, and faced at the corners with large rude
columns, of whose capitals some are Doric or Corinthian, others as wild
as the fancies of the Norman lords of the country. None reach so high as
the cornice of the roof, it having been the intention of the original
architect, that a portion of work should intervene between the summit of
the capitals and this member. A capital to the north is remarkable for
the eagles carved upon it, as if with some allusion to Roman power. But
the most singular part of this church is the crypt under the apsis, a
room about thirty feet long by fourteen wide, and sixteen high, of
extreme simplicity, and remote antiquity. Round it runs a plain stone
bench; and it is divided into two unequal parts by a circular arch,
devoid of columns or of any ornament whatever, but disclosing, in the
composition of its piers, Roman bricks and other _debris_, some of them
rudely sculptured. Here, according to Ordericus Vitalis[67], was
interred the body of St. Mellonus, the first Archbishop of Rouen, and
one of the apostles of Neustria; and here, his tomb, and that of his
successor, Avitien, are shewn to this day, in plain niches, on opposite
sides of the wall. St. Mello's remains however, were not suffered to
rest in peace; for, about five hundred and seventy years after his
death, which happened in the year 314, they were removed to the castle
of Pontoise, lest the canonized corpse should be violated by the heathen
Normans. In the diocese of Rouen St. Mello is honored with particular
veneration; and the history of the prelates of the see contains many
curious, and not unedifying stories of the miracles he performed. His
feast, together with that of St. Nicasius, his companion, is celebrated
on the second of October; and their labors are commemorated with a hymn
appointed f