semblage,
was full of the virtues of his wares--which were pronounced to be also
"equally efficacious for _complaints in the stomach!_"

This man had been preceded, in the situation which he occupied, by a rival
charlatan, on horseback, with _powders to kill rats_. The latter stood upon
the same eminence, wearing a hat, jacket, and trowsers, all white--upon
which were painted _black rats_ of every size and description; and in his
harangue to the populace he took care to tell them that the rats, painted
upon his dress, were _exact portraits_ of those which had been destroyed by
means of his powders! This, too, on a Sunday morning. But remember
Dieppe.[152]

Having despatched my breakfast, I proceeded to survey the church, from
which the town takes its name. First, for the exterior. The _attached_
towers demand attention and admiration. They are so slightly attached as to
be almost separated from the body or nave; forming something of that
particular character which obtains more decidedly at the cathedral of
Coutances. I am not sure whether this portion of the church at St. Lo be
not preferable, on the score of regularity and delicacy, to the similar
portion at this latter place. The west front is indeed its chief beauty of
exterior attraction; and it was once rendered doubly interesting by a
profusion of alto-rilievo statues, which _disappeared_ during the
commotions of the revolution. You ascend rather a lofty flight of steps to
this entrance; and into which the whole town seemed to be pouring the full
tide of its population. I suffered myself to be carried away along, with
the rest, and almost startled as I entered the nave.[153] To the left, is a
horribly-painted statue of the Virgin, with the child in her arms. The
countenance is even as ugly, old, and repulsive, as the colouring is most
despicable. I never saw such a daub: and what emotions, connected with
tenderness of feeling, or ardour of devotion, can the contemplation of such
an object excite? Surely the parish must have lost its wits, as well as its
taste, to endure such a monstrous exhibition of art.

As I advanced towards the choir, I took especial notice of the very
singular, and in my opinion very ugly, formation both of the pillars and
arches which sustain the roof. These pillars have _no capitals_, and the
arch springs from them in the most abrupt manner. The arch itself is also
very short and sharp pointed; like the tops of lancet windows. This mode
o