niKPPE. 227 



angels — of pasteboE^rd. They liorered above the tomb of the 

 virgin, and straightway the viigin arose — not, alas ! the lovely 

 Dieppais, who was scarcely yet fledged for heaven, but a locum 

 tenens like herself, a shadow of a shade, formed of silk and 

 paper, that was carried away into the bosom of celestial glory, 

 and delivered into the arms of an old man with a white beard, 

 the representation of God the Father. 



At this period of the mystery, the expectation of the people 

 seemed to be wrought up to the very highest. A loud and 

 greedy murmur ran through the crowd, resembling the sound by 

 which the refined audience of an English theatre express their 

 desire that the music should cortimi^nce. At length another stir 

 took place below; and the holiness of the place and of the spec- 

 tacle was not enough to repress the genuine plaudits with which 

 was hailed the appearance of a being whose nature we know not, 

 but whose name was Grimpe-salais. Awakened from the dead 

 at the intercession of the Virgin, ^e sprang to his feet, and stared 

 around. Then, as the nature of the miracle broke upon his 

 senses, delivering himself up to transports of joy, he leaped, 

 danced, clapped his hands, and finally climbed up, by the orna- 

 ments of the choir, till he reached the glory at the top, where he 

 jumped one moment upon the shoulders of the Eternal Father, 

 and the next peeped down upon the people from between his 

 legs. The holy rapture of the spectators was unbounded. They 

 bellowed with admiration ; and the ceremony concluded with 

 shouts of laughter, and cries of *• Well done, Grimpe-salais !*' 

 This singular ceremony, it is said, continued to be performed 

 till the bombardment of Dieppe by the English, in 1694, when 

 the machinery of the piece was burnt. 



We have purposely kept out of view till now the establishment 

 of baths, which gives the place altogether another character, 

 Dieppe is not merely a fishing town, such as we have described 

 it, distinguished by an air of the rich simplicity of the olden 

 time, which puts one in mind of the carving of a Gothic cornice, 

 but also at the same moment a resort of amusement, frivolity, 

 and dissipation. The town is not situated at the confluence of a 

 river, the waters of which are sufficient to soften at their meeting 

 those of the ocean. Its shore receives the waves of the channel 

 in all its original strength and bitterness; and invalids flock to 

 it at the proper ssason in the hope of imbibing a portion of their 

 vigour. The bathing establishment consists of a gallery, three 

 hundred! feet long, with a pavillion at either end, one appro- 



