consulted.



LETTER VI

_Paris, October 26, 1801._

From particular passages in your letter, I clearly perceive your
anxiety to be introduced among those valuable antiques which now
adorn the banks of the Seine. On that account, I determined to
postpone all other matters, and pay my first visit to the CENTRAL
MUSEUM OF THE ARTS, established in the

LOUVRE.

But, before, we enter the interior of this building, it may not be
amiss to give you some account of its construction, and describe to
you its exterior beauties.

The origin of this palace, as well as the etymology of its name, is
lost in the darkness of time. It is certain, however, that it
existed, under the appellation of _Louvre_, in the reign of Philip
Augustus, who surrounded it with ditches and towers, and made it a
fortress. The great tower of the _Louvre_, celebrated in history, was
insulated, and built in the middle of the court. All the great
feudatories of the crown derived their tenure from this tower, and
came hither to swear allegiance and pay homage. "It was," says St.
Foix, "a prison previously prepared for them, if they violated their
oaths."[1] Three Counts of Flanders were confined in it at different