VALENCE.
A dull town—Cathedral—Jacques Cujas—His daughter—Pius VI.—His death—Maison des Têtes—Le Pendentif—The castle of Crussol—The dukes of Uzès—A dramatic company of the thirteenth century.
What a sleepy place Valence is! There was supposed to be a fair there when
I was at Valence, but even that could not wake it up. But the fair was in
a condition of the utmost somnolence itself. Why—I did not suspect till
I reached Vienne, when I found that this latter place had drawn to it all
that was enterprising, startling, attractive, and left only the very dregs
of fairings to poor Valence.
It has a great boulevard, very wide, very inviting, but the spotted boys, and fat girls, and bearded women, would have nothing to say to it—they herded to Vienne. It has a vast terrace, planted with trees, where any amount of stalls might stand, but there were erected there only some very inconsiderable ranges of boot and shoe tables, and of old cutlery, and slop clothes.
The cathedral is interesting and fine. The apse at the east end is early
and curious; in place of buttresses receding in stages are Corinthian
pillars tied into the walls they are to support at their heads by caps
laid on them. There is no clerestory to the church, only an arcade of rude
character. The walls of the cathedral are of sandstone, and have been so
gnawed by the wind and rain, that the whole pile looks like a piece of
very decayed cheese. The interior, however, is quite sound, reposeful, and
lovely. That weather-beaten exterior, with its calm sweet interior, struck
me as a picture of many a good Christian, buffeted and worn by storm and
trial without, whose inner self is ever still and untouched.
The church was consecrated in 1095 by Pope Urban II. in person. A new
western tower has been erected and a very fine west entrance in the
Romanesque style, all very good, except the topmost stage of the tower, which has probably been confided to an inferior architect, who has managed to mar a work of great promise.
Jacques Cujas, born at Toulouse in 1520, one of the most famous lawyers of
his time, taught at Valence. He was a candidate for the chair of laws in
the university of his native city, but was refused it; a certain Forcadel
was elected instead, whose chief merit seems to have been that he was a
wag. Cujas, on leaving Toulouse, turned, and shaking the dust off his feet
against it said, "Ungrateful fatherland, in you my bones shall not rest." He kept his word, he died and was buried at Bourges. After he was gone from the place and his fame was sounded abroad, the university of Toulouse wanted to recall him, and sent a letter to him nominating him to the chair of laws. His answer was, "Frustra absentem requiris, quem præsentem neglexistis." "In vain do you desire him absent whom present you flouted."
At Valence he had eight hundred scholars, who attended his lectures. So
great was the reverence shown for his opinion, that it is said that in the
schools of Germany, when the professors quoted him they were wont to raise
their hands to their caps. And he deserved it. His burning ambition was to
break down the system of injustice to the accused which prevailed in French
courts, where one charged with a crime, if the crime were unproved did not
obtain complete acquittal. He wrote in the cause of humanity against the
abuses of tyranny and ignorance. "Where there is not complete proof of
guilt," said he, "there let there be no condemnation," a maxim observed in
England, but not in France. "What is not full truth," is a saying of his, "is full falsehood." It was his hope, his prayer, that he might live to see the injustice of the French laws swept away. That he was not destined to see. He was a kind professor to all his scholars. When he found that some were needy, he assisted them with money and books. "I was once a poorer lad than you," said he to one whom he assisted, "and very grateful if any one would have pity on me."
He had a daughter, unworthy of her virtuous father. When his scholars were
caught flirting with the damsel, they were wont to excuse themselves by
saying that they were only "commenting on the works of Cujas."
On this the following epigram was composed:—
"Videras immensos Cujaci labores Æternum patri commeruisse decus: Ingenio
haud poterat tam magnum æquare parentem Filia; quod potuit corpore fecit
opus."