rangers; a wretched specimen of wretched
taste. Infinitely more interesting to us are the Gothic fountains or
conduits, which are now wholly wanting in England. Such is the fountain
_de la Croix de Pierre_, which, in shape, style, and ornaments,
resembles the monumental crosses erected by; our King Edward Ist, for
his Queen Eleanor. The water flows from pipes in the basement. The stone
statues, which filled the tabernacles, were destroyed during the
revolution: they have been replaced by others in wood.--The fountain _de
la Crosse_ is of inferior size, and more recent date. It is a polygon,
with sides of pannelled work, each compartment occupied by a pointed
arch, with tracery in the spandrils. It ends in a short truncated
pyramid, which, in Millin's time, was surmounted by a royal crown[114].
Its name is taken from a house, at whose corner it stands, and on whose
roof was originally a crozier.

Writing to a friend may be regarded, if we extend to writing the happy
comparison which Lord Bacon has applied to conversation, not as walking
in a high-road which leads direct to a house, but rather as strolling
through a country intersected with a variety of paths, in which the
traveller wanders as fancy or accident directs. Hence I shall scarcely
apologize for my abrupt transition to another very different subject,
the hospitals.--There are at Rouen two such establishments, situated at
opposite extremes of the town, the _Hospice General_ and the _Hotel
Dieu_, more commonly called _la Madeleine_. The latter is appropriated
only to the sick; the former is also open to the aged, to foundlings, to
paupers, and to lunatics. For the poor, I have been able to hear of no
other provision; and poor-laws, as you know, have no existence in
France; yet, even here, in a manufacturing town, and at a season of
distress, beggary is far from extreme. These institutions, like all the
rest at Rouen, are said to be under excellent management.

The annual expences of la Madeleine are estimated at two hundred and
forty thousand-francs[115]; out of which sum, no less than forty-seven
thousand francs are expended in bread. The number of individuals
admitted here, during the first nine months of 1805, the last authentic
statement I have been able to procure, was two thousand seven hundred
and seventeen: during the same period, two thousand one hundred and
fifty-eight were discharged, and two hundred and seventy died. The
building is modern and handso