The _great house_ is used
merely as a granary, though, by a very small expence, it might be put
into habitable repair. The stone retains its clear and polished surface;
and the massy timbers are undecayed.--The inside corresponds with the
exterior, in decorations and grandeur: the chimney-pieces are large and
elaborate, and there is abundance of sculpture on the ceilings and other
parts which admit of ornament.
The French, in speaking of Andelys, commonly use the plural number, and
say, _les Andelys_, there being a smaller town of the same name, within
the distance of a mile: hence, the larger, all inconsiderable as it is,
and though it scarcely contains two thousand inhabitants, is dignified
by the appellation of _le Grand Andelys_.
As the French seldom neglect the memory of their eminent men, I was
rather disappointed at not finding any tribute to the glory of Poussin,
nor any object which could recal his name.--The great master of the
French school was born at Andelys, in 1594, of poor but noble parents.
The talents of the painter of the _Deluge_ overcame all obstacles. Young
Poussin, with barely a sufficiency to buy his daily bread, found means
of making his abilities known in the metropolis to such advantage, as
enabled him to proceed to Rome, where the patronage of the Cavaliere
Marino smoothed his way to that splendid career, which terminated only
with his life.
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