to pass. It is conjectured that these festivities, with their
nonsensical ceremonies, were of pagan origin, and probably the
celebration of the Carnival is derived from the same source; many
attempts were made to abolish so disgraceful a custom as the continuance
of the Fêtes des Fous, with the absurdities incidental to its revelries,
but it was not until the Parisians became more enlightened that any
monarch could succeed in its entire suppression.

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