The spark
thus lighted, afterwards increased into a conflagration; and, to this
hour, there is a larger body of Protestants at Rouen, than in most
French towns.
I do not expect that you will reproach me with the prolixity of these
details. The subject is attractive to me, and I feel that you will
accompany me with pleasure in my pilgrimage, from chapel to shrine,
dwelling with me in contemplation on the relics of ancient skill and the
memorials of the piety of the departed. Nor must it be forgotten, that
the hand of the spoliator is falling heavily on all objects of
antiquity. And the French seem to find a source of perverse and
malignant pleasure in destroying the temples where their ancestors once
worshipped: many are swept away; a greater number continue to exist in
a desecrated state; and time, which changes all things, is proceeding
with hasty strides to obliterate their character. The lofty steeple
hides its diminished head; the mullions and tracery disappear from the
pointed windows, from which the stained glass has long since fallen; the
arched entrance contracts into a modern door-way; the smooth plain walls
betray neither niches, nor pinnacles, nor fresco paintings; and in the
warehouse, or manufactory, or smithy, little else remains than the
extraordinary size, to point out the original holy destination of the
edifice.
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