In 1180 Philippe Auguste succeeded his father, and did more for Paris than all the works of his predecessors united; he reconstructed Notre Dame, and made it such as it now is with respect to the grand body of the building; but the variety of little chapels contained within it, and the elaborate workmanship, with the bas, mezzo and alto relievos with which it abounds, occupied two centuries. On the exterior of the building on the south side, about three feet and a half from the ground, is an inscription in raised letters nearly two inches long, and the date being perfectly distinct is 1257 written thus, MCCLVII. The two last characters have dropped, but the impression of them is clearly visible; the inscription itself is difficult to decypher, it is in Latin, and some of the letters are missing, others so curiously formed as to render them doubtful exactly as to their import. The greater part of the characters are Roman, the others resemble more the Saxon, yet are not quite so; at all events I recommend the inscription to the attention of the curious. A vast space, which is now covered with streets, commencing at the Rue des Saints Pères, and extending to the Invalids, consisted entirely of meadows, and was called the Pré aux Clercs, or the Clerks' Field, from the students and a number of young men who possessed some education, usually enjoying their recreations in this spot, but certainly not in the most innocent manner, in fact, the disorders committed in this privileged piece of ground, which the students considered as their own, were such as to be often named in history, and to have formed the subject of a favourite Melo Drama; it retained its character as being the scene of turbulence and disorder even to the time of Louis XIV.
Amongst other useful undertakings effected by Philippe Auguste was that of establishing markets with covered stalls, and he it was that first conceived the idea of paving Paris, which he partially effected, and surrounded the town with a wall, part of which is still standing in the Rue Clovis. Paris increased and flourished under his reign; he in fact did all that was possible to augment its prosperity, and amongst other measures he granted the utmost protection in his power to the students, knowing that the more the population of the city increased, the more flourishing was its condition; by such means he induced scholars to come in numbers from the most distant parts to study in the colleges of Paris, two of which he erected, as well as three hospitals; he also instituted many good laws, which protected the tradespeople and repressed the robberies and extortions of the nobles. But Paris was still subject to calamities, a flood having occurred from the overflowing of the Seine, which reached as high as the second floor windows of some houses. A great part of Paris was occupied with monasteries and convents, which with their gardens covered an immense space; in the course of time, however, the monks found it advantageous to dispose of their lands for the purpose of building dwelling-houses, and in the Revolution numbers were suppressed; and in some quarters of the city there are warehouses in the occupation of different tradesmen, which formerly formed part of the old monasteries. Many of the streets by their names still indicate the order of the convents by which they were occupied, as the Rue Blanc Manteaux (White Cloaks), Rue des Saints Pères (Holy Fathers), Filles de Dieu (Daughters of God), which now is one of the narrowest and dirtiest streets in Paris, and inhabited by daughters of a very different description. Such are the extraordinary changes which time effects. Philippe Auguste dying in 1223, was succeeded by his son Louis VIII, surnamed the Lion, whose short reign of four years was occupied by war, leaving no leisure for effecting any great improvement in Paris; but under his successor Lewis IX, styled Saint-Louis, much was effected, although his efforts were principally directed towards the erection of religious institutions, being much under the dominion of the priests, and naturally possessing a fanatic zeal. Churches at that period were too often but monuments of superstition for the celebration of mummery, for sheltering criminals, receptacles for pretended relics, and in fact instruments for maintaining the power of priestcraft. This same Saint Louis, so lauded by some authors, had some excellent notions of his own, and was very fond of practising summary justice, recommending to his nobles that whenever they met with any one who expressed any doubts regarding the Christian religion, never to argue with the sceptist, but immediately plunge their swords into his body.
Rhetoric at this period was a study much followed and admired, but the logic of Saint-Louis, I suspect, was the most forcible and best calculated to remove all doubts, having a great objection to language that was what some persons would style far too energetic; where an oath was suffered to escape, he ordered the intemperate orator's tongue to be pierced with a hot iron and his lips burnt; hence many of his subjects were compelled to endure that operation; but this was considered in those days all very saint-like. They had strange ideas in some instances, in days of yore, according to our present notion of words and things. Louis the First, surnamed the Débonnaire (the gentle), had his nephew Bernard's eyes bored out; this act was certainly very like a gentle man. Hugh the Great, so called on account of his splendid virtues, in the year 1014 thought it proper that he should be present at the burning of a few heretics, and his lady, with her ardent religious zeal, stepped forward and poked out the eye of her confessor, who was one of the victims, with her walking cane, before he was committed to the flames. Louis however had some redeeming qualities; he founded the Hospital of the Quinze-Vingts, which still exists; he also enlarged and improved the Hôtel Dieu, the principal hospital in those days, in which he even exceeded the munificence of his predecessor, Philippe Auguste, who published an ordonnance commanding that all the straw which had been used in his chamber should be given to the Hôtel Dieu, whenever he quitted Paris and no longer wanted it; such overpowering kindness one would imagine must have had the effect of curing some of the invalids who were capable of appreciating the high honour conferred upon them, in being suffered to lie upon straw which had been trodden by royal feet. Saint Louis also founded the celebrated College of the Sorbonne, which is still existing, and maintains a high character; he also built the curious and interesting chapel adjoining the Palais de Justice, which is well worth the amateur's attention; he founded the Hospital of Les Filles de Dieu, for the purpose of reclaiming women of improper conduct. The Mendicant Monks, the Augustines, and the Carmes were established in France during his reign, and he founded the convents of the Beguines, Mathurins, Jacobins, Carthusians, Cordeliers, and several others of minor importance, in Paris, with the chapels attached to them; besides different churches with which I shall not tire my reader with recapitulating, as there are none of them now standing, except the chapel belonging to the Palais de Justice; he also added several fountains, contributing to the comforts of the Parisians, as well as embellishing their city. The number of churches which have been demolished in Paris within the last fifty years, exceeds the number of those which are now standing, many of them during the Revolution, which might have been expected; but an equal number under the Restoration in the reigns of Louis the Eighteenth and Charles the Tenth, who being rather devotees, one would have imagined might have been induced to repair and preserve all religious monuments, also highly interesting as specimens of the architecture of the different ages in which they were founded. Louis Philippe has better kept up the spirit of the restoration in having rescued from demolition the ancient and beautiful church of St. Germain l'Auxerrois; which was to have been pulled down to make way for a new street, according to the plan projected by his predecessor; instead of which, it has been repaired with the greatest judgment, carefully preserving the original style of the building wherever ornaments or statues required to be renewed. Thus this noble edifice has been preserved to the public, which would not have been the case had the Revolution of the Three Days not occurred, as its doom was sealed prior to that period. In fact, since