M E A 
appearance of the beggar and cripple contrails fo well the 
dignity of the apoftles, and the elegance of the women 
and boys bringing prefents to the temple, betides the 
richnefs of the columns of the Speciofa Porta, or Beautiful 
Gate ; that the writer of part of thefe obfervations, when 
a boy, and unconfciou 3 of the merit of the originals from 
which thefe had been copied, ufed to fit hours in filent ad¬ 
miration before this performance, and lofe fight of his in¬ 
fantine toys, in the full enjoyment of a representation, the 
author, the fubjeff, and the pittorial merit, of which, lie 
was perfectly ignorant. 
Thefe copies are painted in oil, and of the fame dimen- 
fions. as the originals ; and, if compared with thofe made 
by fir James Thornhill, (once the property of the duke of 
Bedford, and now in the Royal Academy at Somerfet- 
lioufe,) appear to the eye much nearer, in execution and 
fpirit, to the immortal work of the firft of all painters. 
They efcaped the rapacity of the revolutionifts, from their 
value not being known ; and thus, for once, ignorance has 
been productive of fome good.—TheStoning of St. Stephen, 
after Domenichino, the Con verfion of Saul after De la Hire, 
and a modern piece, the Death of the Virgin, complete the 
number of ten pictures, which are hung in and about the 
choir. There are befides two large performances; one the 
Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew, and the other the Lead¬ 
ing of St. Andrew to the Crofs; the firft, it is faid, after 
Domenichino, the fecond after Carlo Maratti; both of the 
fize of the cartoons, and refpeCting each other over the 
north and fouth gates of the tranfept. 
In the church dedicated to St. Nicholas, there were an¬ 
ciently three very good pictures, fuppofed to have been 
the work of Corregio. The largeft, in the centre, repre- 
fented the Adoration of the Shepherds at the Manger; and 
the two others, one St.John theBaptift, the other St- Catha¬ 
rine. About the 1770, fome picture-dealers, having heard 
of the merit of thefe pieces, came from the capital, and 
offered for them eleven or twelve hundred louis d’or to 
the reCfor and churchwardens of the parifh, engaging alfo 
to procure faithful copies to be made, “ which,” accord¬ 
ing to the words of the agreement, “ fliould look better than 
the originals.” The parifh-church was in the fubnrbs, 
and the parifhioners mo'ftly gardeners. As foon as they 
heard that thefe ancient pictures, which they had fo long 
admired without knowing why, were to be removed, they 
armed themfelves with fpades, dungforks, and other agri¬ 
cultural tveapons, (Quod cuique repftum rimanti telum ira 
facit. Virg.) and filled the whole body and porch of the 
church, where they remained feveral days and nights to 
guard them. At laft the civil power was obliged to 
implore the affiftanceof the military : foldiers were quar¬ 
tered upon the leaders of the mutiny ; anti a ftrong detach¬ 
ment was ordered to efcort the piCture-dealers, who went 
away loaded with their prize and with the execrations of 
the Meldefe.. It is not known what became of thefe chef 
d’ceuvres, and in whofe polfeflion they have been fince 
that period. It is certain, however, that they are not 
in the Gallery of the Mufeum at Paris. With the money 
received for the piftures, the church underwent a tho¬ 
rough repair; but we are forry to add, that the reftor, 
having taken the blame he had incurred too much to 
heart, fell into a deep ftate of melancholy, and died. 
The name of Meaux cannot but recall to remembrance 
the celebrated and eloquent Boifuet, who was bilhop of 
that fee, and whofe remains, though interred in the chan¬ 
cel, have not the lealt monument to remind the traveller 
that fuch a man ever exifted there. The epifcopal pa¬ 
lace is built of brick, and very lofty, though remarkable for 
nothing but its fimplicity, as it appears in the Plate. 
The ftaircafe is curious, having no lieps, the whole up to 
the firft ftory being an inclined plane, or Hope, built alfo 
of brick, and of fo eafy an afcent, that the bifhop of 
Meaux having fent to Paris forSanteuil, the famous hym- 
mographer, to confult him upon fome additions to the 
Saymns of the Meldean Breviary, the waggifh canon of 
Sr. Victor rode up the flope on horfeback, gained the anti- 
:Voi. XiV. No. 999. 
U X. 615 
chamber, and then without dismounting entered the very 
room where the prelate was fitting in confiftory with tire 
dignitaries of the church. The garden of this palace, 
though final!, was, and is ftill, very agreeable by the 
fhady walks of yoke-elm and lime-trees interwoven in a. 
fort of labyrinth, with bafons of water and fountains 
playing in the centre. This water was conveyed in leaden, 
pipes under ground from the Cregian rock, about a mile 
and a half diftance, and ftill preferves a great part of its 
petrifying quality ; the hand of the revolution put an 
end to the (port of the fountains. 
The college, in its prefent ftate, occupies the fite of the 
ancient liofpital “Jean Rofe,” a molt benevolent inftitu- 
tion founded by a man of that name, for twelve blind peo¬ 
ple, four priefts, and ten boys to attend them. The 
founder of this charity for the blind was a private citizen 
of Meaux in the fifteenth century. A great influx of 
corn having been brought to market, he bought, at a, 
higher price than commonly fold, a confiderable quantity 
of wheat, in order to enable the poor farmers of the fur¬ 
rounding villages to pay their rents 5 for corn was at that 
peculiar moment fo very cheap, that the felling of it 
could not pay the expenfes of cultivation. The Succeed- 
ing year, through a very fevere froft in March, an uncom¬ 
mon dearth was felt throughout the province of Brie. 
Not unlike Jofeph of old, the provident man opened 
his granaries, and fold his property at a much lower 
rate than the then ftandard price, but much above what 
he had bought it for; by which means he found him- 
felf confiderably in pocket. Confcious of having done 
good, he thought he might do better; and, having h® 
children, he conceived the humane idea of helping the 
blind with the application of his property to them. The 
firft allowance was, four bufhels of wheat to each of the 
blind, men or women indiferiminately feleffed in the dio- 
cefe, a certain number of red herrings, and a few pence 
in hard cafh. But this foundation was fettled upon fome 
fine and fruitful lands about Neufmoutier, Penchard, 
and other villages in the Ifte of France, particularly noted 
in the whole province for the prodigious fecundity of 
the foil. In the courfe of time, the farms-belonging to 
Jean Rofe increafed fo much in value, that the produce 
was fufficient to fupport, befides an increafed allowance 
to the blind, the boys who attended them, and the priefts. 
So that, at the end of the feventeenth century, the bifhop, 
upon the excefs of the revenue, built a Seminary for 
young men to be educated in the dailies, and fitted for 
the church if their inclinations fliould lead them to em¬ 
brace that profeflion. Cardinal de Bifly added much to 
this foundation, and regulated the whole in order that it 
might become as ufeful as poflible to the city and the 
diocefe. The blind were, however, then fent to their 
friends, and received penfions in lieu of lodging and at¬ 
tendance. If we have trefpafled a little upon the com¬ 
mon length of our articles in giving an account of this 
charity, we are fure to be forgiven in a country which, 
upon the whole face of the globe, can indifputably boait 
of being the moft prominent in charitable foundations. 
The eftablilhment afterwards acquired the benefit of a 
penfional, or boarding-fchool, where young men paid for 
their board and education. Three profeflors were ap¬ 
pointed for teaching Greek and Latin ; one for philoso¬ 
phy, and two for theology. AH of thefe to a man re- 
fufed the oath required by the national aflembly in 1791, 
and retired. The college has been fince in a very auk- 
ward plight; and the Hones upon which the beys ufed to 
have an unimpeded game at marbles and fk.itties, or whip 
away the w hirling-top of giddinefs, are now covered with 
weeds and grafs. The refeifory, where the boys on the 
foundation, to the number of twenty, and the reft of the 
boarders, ufed to fit at their meals, was adorned with 
portraits of the bifhops of Meaux : that of the celebrated 
Bofluet was transferred to the hall of audience in the cha¬ 
teau, by the care of Mr. Hattingais, one of the princi¬ 
pal magiftrates of the town, to whofe zeal the Meldei 
7 R were 
