d from the same source; many
attempts were made to abolish so disgraceful a custom as the continuance
of the Fetes 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 Peres, and extending to the Invalids, consisted
entirely of meadows, and was called the Pre 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