17] XI. p. 923.

PLATE XV.

HOUSE AT GREAT ANDELYS.

[Illustration: Plate 15. GREAT HOUSE.
_Andelys._]

About forty miles, in a south-westerly direction from Rouen, upon the
right bank of the Seine, and on the western frontiers of the ancient
duchy of Normandy, stands the town of Great Andelys, so called, not by
reason of its own positive magnitude, but to distinguish it from a
village of the same name, situated in its immediate vicinity.

In early times, few places could boast to a greater degree than Andelys,
"the odor of sanctity." It was indebted for its celebrity, and, probably
also, for its existence, to a nunnery, founded here by St. Clotilda,
which, in the seventh century, the time of the venerable Bede, enjoyed
the highest reputation. But its fame was short-lived: it fell during the
incursions of the Normans, and, unlike most others, seems to have
possessed none of the phoenix-power of reviviscence. In its place, arose
afterwards, a collegiate church, which M. de Harlay, Archbishop of
Rouen, by a formal act, dated 1634, honored with the title of first
collegiate church of the diocese. The distinction, thus obtained, was
due not only to its antiquity, but to the unusual number of its
ecclesiastics, particularly those who composed its chapter.

Though St. Clotilda's convent, however, was destroyed, the inhabitants
of Andelys continued to enjoy her especial protection. The church was
under her invocation; but her favor was more eminently vouchsafed to an
ancient chapel and an adjacent fountain, both of which bore her name.
The latter was, from the earliest times, celebrated for its miraculous
qualities in the cure of various disorders; and it continues to be so to
the present day. St. Clotilda, at the period of the erection of the
monastery, turned its waters into wine, for the benefit of the fainting
workmen. The clergy of Andelys, in commemoration of the miracle, used
annually, before the revolution, upon the return of her festival, to
pour large pitchers of wine into the spring. During the revolutionary
fervor, St. Clotilda, together with the rest of the Romish hierarchy,
lost her credit in France. She is now rapidly recovering it: miracles
are again wrought at her shrine; and, in all probability, the time is
not far distant, when the belief will be as strong, the processions as
splendid, the throng of votaries as great, and the cures as certain, as
ever. It is only to be hoped, that the good