ght, a
monument of the talents of Robert Becquet and of the liberality of
cardinal d'Amboise, the second of the name. It was commenced in the
month of june 1542, and terminated in the month of august 1544.

This beautiful pyramid was destroyed by fire, on the 15th of september
1822; at seven o'clock in the morning it had already fallen; two hours
after, the roof of the choir, that of the transept and the third part of
the roof of the nave, had equally fallen in. The melted lead of the roof
was bought by M. Firmin Didot and converted into types for printing.

We cannot give too many praises to the zeal of M. de Vansay, prefect of
the department at that time: the misfortune happened on the 15th
september, and already on the 26th of the same month, the government
having been informed and solicited by that magistrate, ordered M.
Alavoine, one of the best architects, to go to Rouen, and confer with
the prefect on the means of remedying the havoc caused by the fire.
Early in the year 1823, the roofs of a aisles had already been repaired;
and a portion of the nave had been covered with lead, by the 15th march
of the same year. The roofs of the choir and of the whole transept, were
also soon repaired; but, for these parts, a copper covering was
preferred as being more solid and less liable to be destroyed. The
raising and renewing the lantern was terminated in 1829.

From this new platform, the pyramid will rise majestically in the air,
and of it we already discover thirteen floors (the pyramid will be
completed with one more), each of four metres fifty centimetres, that is
to say a height of fifty eight metres, or about one hundred and eighty
feet. The spire of the church was first erected of stone but was
overthrown by the electric fluid, after that, it was twice built of
wood, and both times it became the prey of the flames; to rebuild it
with wood would have been gathering materials for a third fire, but now
it is made of cast iron and in open work. At the summit of the spire,
there will be a small lantern surrounded by a gallery for the purpose of
meteorological observations. The total weight of the spire when
completed, will be 600,000 kilogrammes, or about 1,200,000 pounds. It is
composed of 2,540 pieces, not including 12,879 iron pins[13]. Lastly,
this magnificent pyramid will reach an elevation of 436 feet; that is to
say 40 feet higher than the former, and will only be 13 feet less than
the highest pyramid of Egypt[