ch side it presents piles
of towers and fortifications covered with slate, a severe specimen of
military architecture; while on the other side, the cour d'honneur, we see
one of the handsomest chateaux of the Renaissance yet remaining in
Brittany. This facade is richly ornamented with sculptures of varied and
fanciful design. Immense gurgoyles, in the form of serpents, stretching
from the roof to the base, pierced balustrades or galleries of lace-like
delicacy, in which are introduced, according to the fashion of the period,
the initial letters of the Vicomte Alain, A and V interlaced. The old
Rohan motto, "A plus," and the escutcheon of gules, nine mascles or
lozenges, occur in every part of this gorgeous front, and also on the
finely-carved chimneypiece of the reception room (salle d'honneur). The
whole of the chateau is in course of restoration by the Prince de Leon.

In the church of Josselin is the tomb of the Constable Clisson, with that
of Marguerite de Rohan his wife; both statues were mutilated in the
Revolution, but are now restored: they are of white marble on a black
slab. Clisson is in armour, Marguerite has her hair plaited and confined
in a network of pearls; she wears a long robe, with a surcoat above,
furred with ermine. The motto, "Pour ce qu'il me plest (plait)," is in an
oratory which belonged to Clisson, expressing his haughty and overbearing
will. This same motto appears on his seal, affixed to a letter preserved
in the archives of the empire, and he is recorded to have had it inscribed
upon his Constable's sword, which, like Du Guesclin, he always wore
unsheathed, to show he was ready at all times to fight the enemies of the
crown.

There hangs in the church a picture of the finding of the image Notre
Dame-du-Roncier, of which we relate the legend:--

Long before Josselin was a town, a poor labourer had remarked, on the spot
where now stands the church of Notre Dame, a bramble bush, which the frost
and snow of the roughest winters never deprived of its leaves, but it
always remained fresh and green. Surprised at this strange phenomenon, he
dug the soil under the bramble, and discovered a wooden statue of the
Virgin. A marvellous light played round the head of the image. The man
carried it home; but next morning, to his surprise, he found the statue
under the same bush whence he had taken it. The miracle was repeated
several times, and soon attracted crowds of devotees. A chapel was built
to dep