apoleon was crowned; and George was in ecstasies, for you know how
thoroughly he goes in for his beau ideal of the hero. Here are, the
splendid candelabra which the emperor gave on the occasion. We heard
mass, but the service was very formal, and the priest might have been a
real downeaster, for he had a horrid nasal twang, and his
"_sanctissime_" was "_shanktissime_." The history of these churches is
strange, and I think a pretty good book might be written on the romance
of church architecture. The portal of the north aisle of the choir was
erected by a vile assassin, the Duke of Burgundy, who murdered his
cousin, the Duke of Orleans, in 1407. This, of course, was his penance,
and fully expiated his crime. The great bell weighs thirty-two thousand
pounds, and was baptized in presence of Louis XIV., and is called
Emanuel Louise Therese, after his queen. I cannot attempt to describe
the beauties of this building, inside or out. The exterior is all flying
buttresses, crocketed pinnacles, and sculpture. Inside you see chapel
after chapel; and as to windows of painted glass, they are studies for
hours. The rose windows are exquisite.

We repaired to a small chapel used as a sacristy, or treasure-house of
the church. Here we saw the coronation robes of Napoleon, and splendid
capes and embroideries, in gold and silver, given by Charles X. and
Louis Philippe; and here, too, is the vertebrae of the late Archbishop of
Paris, who was killed in the revolution of 1848. The bone has a silver
arrow tracing the course of the bullet, which lies beside it. This is in
time to be a saintly relic, but it seems to me a filthy sight, and in
wretched taste. But Popery knows well what to do with dead men's bones.
For a minute description of this church, I would refer you to three
volumes, called the "History of Paris," published by Galignani. On our
return we went to the Hotel de Ville, and had the company of M. O----n,
whose kindness did much for us on several occasions. The Hotel de
Ville stands in the Place de Greve, where so much blood has been shed in
other days. Here the martyrs of the Protestant faith have been put to
death. Here it was that Dubourg was strangled and burnt by order of
Francis II. Dubourg was a noble character. His last words were, "Father,
abandon me not; neither will I abandon thee."

This noble pile was begun in 1533, and only completed in 1841, and in
the modern improvements fifteen millions have been expended. The w