great variety of
beautiful pictures. One is a representation of the Genius of Glory
supported by Virtue, with a scroll on which are written the names of the
heroes of France--the warriors, statesmen, and great writers. There are
in this apartment many exquisite vases, and among them four of Sevres
porcelain, and one of Berlin porcelain, a present from the king of
Prussia. There are, also, two very fine Chinese side-boards and
specimens of Chinese sculpture.

We next looked into the _Musee Egyptian_, which contains Egyptian
curiosities, and the ceilings are painted, but, of course, by modern
authors, as they are executed not upon canvas, but upon the hard
ceiling. One of the paintings represents Egypt as being saved by
Joseph--another, and one of the finest of the ceiling decorations in the
Louvre, is by Horace Vernet. It represents Julian II. giving orders to
Michael Angelo, Raphael, and Bramante to construct St. Peters.

The _Galerie Francaise_ is filled with paintings of the French school,
but none of them are by living painters. Many of them are unquestionably
fine specimens of art, but as they were principally portraits of men
more distinguished by their position than by any genius, I was not
interested in the collection.

Very near the French gallery, there is an alcove in which Henry IV. used
often to sleep, and where he at last died. His portrait is now
exhibited in it. In another little recess the suit of armor which Henry
II. wore on the day of his death, is shown to the stranger. It was in
the year 1559. The day was very hot and the king let down his helmet for
fresh air. The royal party were engaged in a tournament, when the
tilting-spear of the count de Montgomerie pierced the king's eye, and
through it his brain, and he died.

The Spanish gallery contains many fine specimens of the works of the
Spanish masters, Velasquez, Murillo, and others.

The Standish Collection is so called, because it was given to Louis
Phillippe in 1838, by an Englishman by the name of Standish. It includes
many first-class paintings, and a bible once owned by Cardinal Ximenes,
now valued at twenty-five thousand francs. Before Louis Phillippe died,
he claimed this collection as his private property. He had no intention
of taking it away, but wished to test his claim to it. It was
acknowledged, and he then bequeathed it to the Louvre.

It is impossible for me in a brief sketch to even mention _all_ the
apartments in the Louvre