aces, the
formidable strata of their foundations, on which houses have now
sprung up. Above the chateau, is the famous tower of Issoudun, once
the citadel. The conqueror of the city, which lay around these two
fortified points, had still to gain possession of the tower and the
castle; and possession of the castle did not insure that of the tower,
or citadel.

The suburb of Saint-Paterne, which lies in the shape of a palette
beyond the tower, encroaching on the meadow-lands, is so considerable
that in the very earliest ages it must have been part of the city
itself. This opinion derived, in 1822, a sort of certainty from the
then existence of the charming church of Saint-Paterne, recently
pulled down by the heir of the individual who bought it of the nation.
This church, one of the finest specimens of the Romanesque that France
possessed, actually perished without a single drawing being made of
the portal, which was in perfect preservation. The only voice raised
to save this monument of a past art found no echo, either in the town
itself or in the department. Though the castle of Issoudun has the
appearance of an old town, with its narrow streets and its ancient
mansions, the city itself, properly so called, which was captured and
burned at different epochs, notably during the Fronde, when it was
laid in ashes, has a modern air. Streets that are spacious in
comparison with those of other towns, and well-built houses form a
striking contrast to the aspect of the citadel,--a contrast that has
won for Issoudun, in certain geographies, the epithet of "pretty."

In a town thus constituted, without the least activity, even business
activity, without a taste for art, or for learned occupations, and
where everybody stayed in the little round of his or her own home, it
was likely to happen, and did happen under the Restoration in 1816
when the war was over, that many of the young men of the place had no
career before them, and knew not where to turn for occupation until
they could marry or inherit the property of their fathers. Bored in
their own homes, these young fellows found little or no distraction
elsewhere in the city; and as, in the language of that region, "youth
must shed its cuticle" they sowed their wild oats at the expense of
the town itself. It was difficult to carry on such operations in open
day, lest the perpetrators should be recognized; for the cup of their
misdemeanors once filled, they were liable to be arr