Rouen is disappearing like a dissolving view--a few more slides in the
magic lantern, a few more windows of plate-glass, a few more '_grandes
rues_' and the picture of old Rouen fades away.
Let us hasten to the _Place de la Pucelle_, and examine the carving on
the houses, and on the _Hotel Bourgtheroude_, before the great Parisian
conjuror waves his wand once more. But, hey presto! down they come, in a
street hard by--even whilst we write, a great panel totters to the
ground--heraldic shields, with a border of flowers and pomegranates,
carved in oak; clusters of grapes and diaper patterns of rich design,
emblems of old nobility--all in the dust; a hatchment half defaced, a
dragon with the gold still about his collar, a bit of an eagle's wing, a
halberd snapped in twain--all piled together in a heap of ruin!
A few weeks only, and we pass the place again--all is in order, the
'improvement' has taken place; there is a pleasant wide _pave_, and a
manufactory for '_eau gazeuse_.'
The cathedral church of Notre Dame (the west front of which we have seen
in the illustration), and the church of St. Ouen, the two most
magnificent monuments in Rouen, are so familiar to most readers that we
can say little that is new respecting them. When we have given a short
description, taken from the best authorities on the subject, and have
pointed out to artistic readers that this west front with its
surrounding houses, and the view of the towers of St.
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