to the industry and enterprise of the people of Caen; there is probably
no city in Normandy where purchases of clothing, hardware, &c., can be
more advantageously made.

There is commercial activity at Caen and little sympathy with idlers.
If we take up a position in the _Place Royale_, adorned with a statue of
Louis XIV., or, better, in the _Place St. Pierre_ near the church tower,
we shall see a mixed and industrious population; and we shall probably
hear several different accents of Norman patois. But we shall see a
number of modern-looking shops, and warehouses full of Paris goods, and
even find smooth pavement to walk upon.

We are treading in the 'footsteps of the Conqueror' at Caen, but its
busy inhabitants have little time for historic memories; they will
jostle us in the market-place, and in the principal streets they will be
seen rushing about as if 'on change,' or hurrying to 'catch the train
for Paris,' like the rest of the world. A few only have eyes of love and
admiration for the noble spire of the church of St. Pierre, which rises
above the old houses and the market-place, with even a grander effect
than any that the artist has been able to render in the illustration.
'St. Pierre, St. Pierre,' are the first and last words we heard of Caen;
the first time, when--approaching it one summer's morning from Dives, by
the banks of the Orne--the driver of our calèche pointed to its summit
with the pride of a Savoy peasant, shewing the traveller the highest
peak of Monte Rosa; and the last, when Caen was en fête, and all the
world flocked to hear a great preacher from Paris, and the best singers
in Calvados.

Built in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in the best period of
Gothic art in Normandy, its beautiful proportions and grace of line