e Montfaucon brings us in
front of the prison of the Abbaye, in the Rue St. Marguerite, now only
used for confining military offenders; here it was that some of the
greatest horrors were committed during the Revolution, it has a small
turret at each corner, and seems to be a building of about two hundred
years standing. Not many yards off is the very ancient church of St.
Germain des Pres (vide page 61), which has often been pillaged, burnt,
and otherwise injured, but the lower part of the tower is coeval with
the foundation, 558. The document relative to the establishment of the
monastery and church is still preserved amongst the archives of the
kingdom, and bears the date 561. The nave is simple and of the time of
Abbot Modardus, in the year 900; additions and repairs have been made at
different periods, but in many instances the style of architecture
displays its early date, the capitals of the pillars are remarkable for
the grotesqueness of the devices. There are some pictures of merit, and
many interesting tombs, one of Casimir, the King of Poland, who
abdicated his throne in 1668, and died abbot of the monastery attached
to the church in 1672, also of the Duke and Earls of Douglas and Angus.
The Abbot's palace still stands at the east of the church, in the Rue de
l'Abbaye, directly facing the Rue Furstemberg; it was built in the year
1586 by Cardinal Bourbon. It is a large heavy-looking red brick
building faced with stone, with a large garden behind; it is at present
let out to different tenants.

We shall now descend the Rue Furstemberg, and taking the Rue Jacob, to
the right shall get into the Rue de Seine, and mounting the little
Passage du Pont-Neuf, one of the oldest in Paris, we find ourselves
opposite the Rue Guenegaud cited by Sterne, as also the Quai Conti, on
which stands the Mint or Hotel des Monnaies, a very extensive building
and rather handsome; it was built in the reign of Louis XV in 1771,
after designs furnished by M. Antoine; an entablature supported by ionic
columns forms the principal front, with six statues of Peace, Commerce,
Prudence, Fortitude, Plenty and Law. On the right is a noble staircase
ascending to apartments fitted up with the splendour of a palace. The
collection of coins and medals here are extremely interesting, the first
are two of Childebert, the dates being 511-568, and they are nearly
complete of the respective kings up to the present day, amongst others
are some of the gold