od pictures of the old French school are
amongst the attractive objects contained within this edifice.

Ascending the little unseemly streets des Pretres and Boutebrie, we find
ourselves in the Rue du Foin, No. 18, being called the Hotel de la Reine
Blanche; she was living about the year 1210, when the church of St.
Severin close by was founded in the reign of her father-in-law, and very
probably resided in the neighbourhood, perhaps on the very spot where
the house stands which is now called after her, but evidently not in the
same building which is now shown as such, although the staircase is of
a very ancient appearance.

In the same street, at the corner of the Rue Boutebrie, is the old
College de Maitre Gervais, founded in 1370, at present appropriated as a
barrack for infantry. The visiter now must prepare for a grand treat, as
we turn round into the Rue de la Harpe, and at No. 63, we find the
venerable and crumbling remains of the Palais des Thermes (vide page
55). Julian, who was born in 332, inhabited it for some time, and many
imagine it was built by his grandfather, but others state that it was
alluded to at a still earlier period. Of what now remains there is
principally a large hall and a smaller, forming together one room; the
architecture is simple but noble, the walls are adorned by three grand
arcades, the middle being the loftiest. The vaulting of the roof rests
upon supports, representing the sterns of ships; human figures may be
distinguished in one of them. Beneath the hall are vaulted apartments
extending under most of the neighbouring houses. An aqueduct is traced
as having been brought from some leagues, for the purpose it is supposed
principally of supplying the baths. The masonry is alternately of stone
and brick, in parts covered with a thick stucco. It seems almost
incredible that a monument so ancient, and of such high interest should
have been for so long a period totally disregarded by the government,
and suffered to be occupied by a printer, a traiteur, and a cooper. The
Municipality of Paris have now however purchased it, and intend to
convert it into a museum for the reception of antiquities that can be
collected of the ancient Gauls. After the overthrow of the Roman yoke,
the Palais des Thermes was inhabited by the earliest kings of France. To
view these ruins the stranger must apply to the concierge, No. 68, Rue
de la Harpe, directly opposite, and a trifle should be given to the
part