On the opposite side of the bridge of Pont-de-l'Arche, stand the
remains of a far richer abbey, that of Bonport, of the Cistertian order,
founded by Richard Coeur-de-Lion, in 1190, as an _ex voto_. The monarch,
then just in possession of his crown, was indulging with his courtiers
in the pleasures of the chace, and, carried away by the natural
impetuosity of his temper, had plunged in pursuit of the deer into the
Seine, whose rapid current brought his life into imminent danger; and he
accordingly vowed, if he escaped with safety, to erect a monastery upon
the spot where he should reach the shore. Hence, according to Le
Brasseur[99], the foundation, and hence the name. I ought, however, to
add, that no record of the kind is preserved in the _Neustrta Pia_, nor
even by Millin, who has described and figured such of the monastic
buildings and monuments as had been spared at the early part of the
revolution[100]. Another view of the ruins has since been published by
Langlois, in the first number of a work which was intended to have
comprised a long series of Norman antiquities, but was discontinued for
want of encouragement. The author, whose portrait I have sent you in the
course of this correspondence, is himself a native of Pont-de-l'Arche,
and has subjoined to his fas-ciculus a couple of plates, illustrative of
the costume and customs of the neighborhood.
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