There, on a verdant lawn, amid firs, cypresses, poplars, and weeping
willows, repose the ashes of the illustrious poets, MOLIÈRE, LA
FONTAINE, BOILEAU, &c.; of the learned DESCARTES, MABILLON,
MONTFAUCON, &c., inclosed in sarcophagi; there, they still receive
the homage which mankind owe to talents and virtue.
But hold! mark the sepulchre of the learned and tender HÉLOÏSE. Her
remains, though formerly conjoined to those of her lover, were
subsequently separated, and after a lapse of three hundred years,
they are now reassembled.
Here one kind grave unites their hapless name,
And grafts her love immortal on his fame.
With a smile seated on her lips, HÉLOÏSE seems to be sighing for the
object of her glowing affection: while the unfortunate ABÉLARD,
coldly reclined, is still commenting on the Trinity. The _Paraclete_,
having been sold and demolished, LENOIR, with all the sensibility of
an admirer of genius, withdrew the bones of ABÉLARD and HÉLOÏSE from
that monastery, and placed them here in a sepulchral chapel, partly
constructed from the remains of their ancient habitation.
Such is the MUSEUM OF FRENCH MONUMENTS. When completed, for some
valuable specimens of the arts slill remain to be added, it will be
one of the most interesting establishments in Paris, and perhaps in
Europe, especially if considered in regard to the improvement of
modern sculpture, and, I may add, architecture. No building can be
better adapted than a monastery for an establishment of this nature.
The solemn gloom of cloisters suits the temper of the mind, when we
reflect on the mortality incident to a succession of ages, and the
melancholy which it inspires, is in perfect unison with our feelings,
when we contemplate the sepulchral monuments that recall to our
memory the actions of the illustrious departed.
This Museum is very extensive, the three courts and large garden,
which at present compose the whole of its premises, occupying a space
of three thousand seven hundred and sixty-two toises. LENOIR,
however, has recently presented to the First Consul a plan for
enlarging it, without any additional expense of building, by adding
to it the neighbouring _Hôtel de Bouillon_. He proposes that there
should be a new entrance by the quay, exhibiting a spacious court,
decorated with statues, erected in regular order; and that the
apartments on the ground-floor should be appropriated as follows: