England,
the public road winds beautifully between walls overhung with shrubbery,
or hedge-rows, with stiles or gateways here and there, revealing hamlets
or cottages, which appear and disappear in a rapid and endlessly varied
succession, as the road meanders, like a rivulet, between its beautiful
banks. In a word, the public highway in England is beautiful; in France
it is grand.

The greatest city in Normandy in modern times is Rouen, which is
situated, as will be seen by referring to the map at the commencement of
this chapter, on the Seine, half way between Paris and the sea. At the
mouth of the Seine, or, rather, on the northern shore of the estuary
which forms the mouth of the river, is a small inlet, which has been
found to afford, on the whole, the best facilities for a harbor that can
be found on the whole line of the coast. Even this little port, however,
is so filled up with sand, that when the water recedes at low tide it
leaves the shipping all aground. The inlet would, in fact, probably
become filled up entirely were it not for artificial means taken to
prevent it. There are locks and gateways built in such a manner as to
retain a large body of water until the tide is down, and then these
gates are opened, and the water is allowed to rush out all together,
carrying with it the mud and sand which had begun to accumulate. This
haven, being, on the whole, the best and most commodious on the coast,
was called _the_ harbor, or, as the French expressed it in their
language, _le havre_, the word _havre_ meaning harbor. In fact, the name
was in full _le havre de grace_, as if the Normans considered it a
matter of special good luck to have even such a chance of a harbor as
this at the mouth of their river. The English world have, however,
dropped all except the principal word from this long phrase of
designation, and call the port simply Havre.

* * * * *

From Rollo the line of Dukes of Normandy continued in uninterrupted
succession down to the time of William, a period of about a hundred and
fifty years. The country increased all the time in wealth, in
population, and in prosperity. The original inhabitants were not,
however, expelled; they remained as peasants, herdsmen, and
agriculturists, while the Norman chieftains settled over them, holding
severally large estates of land which William granted them. The races
gradually became intermingled, though they continued for many cen