interruption. From Rond Point to the Center of the arch, it is about 3,800
feet more. It is only after the visitor comes within half a mile of its
base that the monument begins to assume its gigantic proportions. This
proud monument was designed by Chalgrin, having been decreed by Napoleon
I. in 1806. The work was suspended from 1814 till 1823; labor was resumed
then, but it was not completed before 1836. Thus, thirty years of time and
over $2,000,000 were bestowed upon the erection of this historic monument,
which is perhaps destined to hand down to future generations both the
names of the victors and of the numerous vanquished cities that were
subject to the authority of Napoleon I. The great central arch is
forty-five feet wide and ninety feet high, over which rises a bold
entablature and the crowning attic. The transversal arch is twenty-five
feet wide and fifty-seven feet high. The total height of the monument
being 152 feet; and its breadth and depth 137 feet and 68 feet
respectively. The fronts of the structure are towards Champs Elysees and
Porte de Neuilly, the city gate near Bois de Boulogne.

The general plan of this imposing monument is borrowed from that of the
famous arches at Rome; but the transversal arch is an additional feature,
while its reliefs, and inscriptions, and its colossal proportions throw
the arches of Rome into comparative insignificance. The interior sides of
the piers are inscribed with the names of ninety-six victories; under the
transversal arches are the names of generals. A group upon the northern
pier of the eastern front represents the departure of the army in
1792:--"The Genius of War summons the nation to arms." The group on the
southern front represents the triumph of 1810:--Victory is in the act of
crowning Napoleon. History with pencil in hand is about to record his
deeds upon a tablet before her; conquered towns are at his feet. Fame
surmounts the whole, blowing her bugle of praise. The group on the
southern pier of the western front represents the French nation's