The limits assigned to Normandy by the treaty of Louviers, made Gaillon
a frontier town of the duchy; and here therefore I should take my leave
of you, but that, in the prouder days of its history, Vernon was
likewise swayed by the ducal sceptre. Vernon also seems peculiarly
connected with England, from the noble family of the same name still
flourishing, agreeably to their well-known punning motto, on your side
of the water. This motto is in the highest degree inapplicable to the
present state of the town, whose old and ruinous appearance looks as if
it had known neither improvement nor repair for centuries. Better things
might have been expected from the situation of Vernon, on the banks of
the Seine, in a singularly beautiful valley, and from its climate, which
is reported to be so extraordinarily healthy, that instances of
individuals attaining in it the age of one hundred are not unfrequent.
The royal palace, formerly here, is now wholly swept away; and of the
ancient fortifications there remains little more than a tower,
remarkable for the height and thickness of its walls, a part of the
castle, which, in the reign of Henry IInd, was held by the service of
sixteen knights for its defence[102].--Prior to the revolution, Vernon
contained five religious houses, three of them founded by St.
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