Review of Literature. 
Cent, entire both in flesh and bone, about a foot in 
length, and enelosed in a large crystal. On the sides 
were silver figures of Charlemagne and Saint Louis, 
and in front Louis XI. and his wife, on their knees. 
In 1437, a quarrel arising in this church between’a 
man and a woman, the latter struck the man with her 
distaff, and a few drops of blood were spilt. Jacques 
du Chastelier, bishop of Paris, interdicted the church, 
until a heavy sum should be. paid pour reconcilier 
Véglise. For twenty-two days all religious ceremonies 
_ Were suspended, and the gates of the church and ce- 
. Metery were closed, so that ‘no corpse could be in- 
terred there.” 
Chapter IT. treats of the royal and other 
palaces, gardens, &c. The following anec- 
dote is not entirely new to English readers ; 
but it is not hacknied enough to have lost its 
interest. 
“** The Cardinal de Retz relates in his memoirs, that, 
having gone to the Louvre to visit the queen dowager 
of England, widow of Charles I., he found her in the 
bed-chamber of her daughter, afterwards Duchess of 
Orleans, and that she said to him, ‘You see I am 
keeping Henrietta company; the poor child has been 
obliged tostay in bed to-day for want of a fire.” It 
is very true, adds he, that Cardinal Mazarin had not 
paid her pension for six months; nobody would give 
her credit, and there was no wood in the house. St. 
Froix, having related this anecdote, exclaims, “‘ O 
Henri IV., O mon matrie, O mon roi, est ta petite- 
Jille qui manque @un fagot pour se lever au mois de 
Janvier, dans le Louvre.” 
Bernini haying been inyited from Italy 
into France by a letter written by Louis 
XIV. with his own hand:— 
“ The lronours done to this artist are almost in- 
credible. After the Duke of Créqui had taken leave 
of the pope, with the-ceremonies usual upon such 
occasions, he went with the same pomp to Bernini's 
house, to request him to accompany him to France. 
In every town through whichhe passed, the king had 
given orders that he should be complimented, and 
that the accustomed presents should be made to him. 
Lyons, which never does this honour to any but 
princes of the blood, followed the example of other 
towns. Persons weresent from the court to prepare 
his meals on the road, and, when he drew near Paris, 
M. de Chambray, lord of Chantelou, steward of the 
household, was sent to receive him. Bernini arrived 
at Paris about the end of May, 1665. He occupied an 
hotel furnished with the meubles de la couronne, and 
attendants were appointed for him. On the 4th 
of June he was presented to the king, who gave him 
the most flattering reception. The first thing which 
he proposed, was to make a bust of his Majesty, and 
certainly this was no barrier to the royal favour. The 
bust was greatly admired, but it was otherwise with 
his designs for the fagade of the Louvre. Neverthe- 
Jess, the prejudice of the court in Bernini’s favour led 
tothe adoption of his plan, and on the 17thof October 
1665, the king himself laid the first stone of the 
fagade with great splendour and magnificence. A 
gold medal of the value of 2,400 francs was enclosed 
in the stone.”—** When the building reached above 
the ground, Bernini requested permission to return 
‘home, fearing to pass the winter in so-cold a climate. 
On the day previous to his departure, the king sent 
him a present of 3,000 louis-d’ors, with a certificate 
for a pension of 12,000 livres, and another of 1,000 
livres for his son,” 
Chapter III. is devoted to public build- 
ings. Chapter 1V. to hotels, ancient and 
modern. } 
Monraty Maa. No. 442.—Sipp. 
633° 
Maison du poids du Roi.—‘ In 132%, the previt of 
Paris, by order of the Parlement, caused the weights. 
of the Mint to be adjusted; three sets of standard 
weights were then made, of which one was placed in the 
hands of the Grocers’ Company, another deposited at 
the Mint, and a third at the Maison du Poids du Roi. 
In 1484, this right of the Grocers’ Campany was con- 
firmed by new ordinances, and they exercised it with 
regard to all tradesmen, except goldsmiths, who came 
within the jurisdiction of the Mint. Until 1434, 
the standard weights were merely masses of stone, 
shaped and adjusted. It is only since that period that 
brass weights have been used.” s 
Hote! de Rambouillet.—** This hotel, which succes- 
sively bore the names of Hétel d’O, de Noirmourtiers, 
and de Pisani, assumed that of Rambouillet, when 
Charles d@’Angennes, Marquis of Rambouillet, who 
had married Mademoiselle de Vivonne, daughter of 
the marquis of Pisina, took up his residence in it, 
after the death of his father-in-law, and he caused it 
to be almost entirely rebuilt. The wit, the grace, and 
the varied accomplishments of Catherine de Vivonne, 
together with her taste for every thing connected with 
science and literature, drew to her-hotel all the geng 
d esprit de la cour et de la villee A kind of academy 
was formed in it, and the poets and romance writers 
of the day emulated each other in celebrating this 
illustrious lady, and in commemorating the spot 
which she distinguished by her presence.”—In short, 
the house of this lady was so renowned inthe republic 
of letters, that fora long time it was called le Pg: 
nasse Frangais. Those not admitted to it would have 
aspired to celebrity in vain, whilst to have entered !t 
was a title to be reckoned among the beaur-esprits of 
the time. The society of the Hétel de Rambouillet 
fell into pedantry, and a ridiculous affectation of bel- 
esprit in writing and conversation, which Molidre 
satirized in his comedy of the Préeieuszs Ridicules, 
Nevertheless, it is generally admitted that this 
society, by exciting a taste for literature, prepared 
the way for the celebrated authors of the grand 
sidele.” 
“* Fdéel de la Reyniére, Rue des Champs-Elysées.— 
This was once the residence of the famous M. Grimod, 
author of the Almanach des Gourrhands. The Duke 
of Wellington has several times resided here! ! !” 
Hotel de Soissons.—It is worthy of observation 
that,'in 1604, CHarles de Soissons purchased thishdtel 
with all its dependencies, for the sum of 90,200 livres, 
and one hundred and fifty years after, the city of 
Paris paid for the gtound alone 2,800,367 livres.” — 
A curious instance of change in the value 
of property ! 
Chapter V. carries the reader through the 
scientific institutions of Paris. We must 
satisfy ourselyes with a single extract rela- 
tive to the origin of 
The University.‘ Charlemagne, when he visited 
Italy, perceiving that the Franks were. greatly in- 
ferior to the nations who preserved some traces of 
ancient civilization, formed the resolution of en- 
couraging the cultivation of letters by the establish- 
ment of schools inGaul. The clergy, who at that 
period were extremely ignorant, afforded him put 
little assistance in the execdtion of his projects He 
invited learned foreigners to his dorninions, and ad- 
dressed letters to all the bishops and abbots, enjoin- 
ing them to establish public or privateschools in 
their churches and monasteries.” : 
. © The object of Charlemagne seems, however, to 
have been the promotion of the inflnence of religion, 
rather than the extension of ‘general knowledge. 
He Kept near his persona great number of learned 
men, of wham several were Qnglishmen, who 
4M formel, 
