dispatched, I rose to make a thorough examination of the ruins which had
survived ... not only the Revolution, but the cupidity of the present owner
of the soil--who is a _rich_ man, living at Rouen--and who loves to dispose
of any portion of the stone, whether standing or prostrate, for the sake of
the lucre, however trifling, which arises from the sale. Surely the whole
corporation of the city of Rouen, with the mayor at their head, ought to
stand between this ruthless, rich man, and the abbey--the victim of his
brutal avarice and want of taste.[83]

The situation of the abbey is delightful. It lies at the bottom of some
gently undulating hills, within two or three hundred yards of the Seine.
The river here runs gently, in a serpentine direction, at the foot of
wood-covered hills--and all seemed, from our elevated station, indicative
of fruitfulness, of gaiety, and of prosperity,--all--save the mournful and
magnificent remains of the venerable abbey whereon we gazed! In fact, this
abbey exists only as a shell. I descended, strolled about the village, and
mingled in the conversation of the villagers. It was a lovely approach of
evening--and men, women, and children were seated, or sauntering, in the
open air. Perceiving that I was anxious to gain information, they flocked
around me--and from one man, in particular, I obtained exact intelligence
about the havoc which had been committed during the Revolution upon the
abbey, The roof had been battered down for the sake of the _lead_--to make
bullets; the pews, altars, and iron-work, had been converted into other
destructive purposes of warfare; and the great bell had been sold to some
speculators in a cannon-foundery at Rouen.[84] The revolutionary mania had
even brutalized the Abbot. This man, who must be considered as

....damned to everlasting fame,

had been a monk of the monastery; and as soon as he had attained the