At the bottom of the Rue S. Martin, close to the Rue de Rivoli, is a spot which, during the ages of faith, was much reverenced for its miracle-working powers. In the 7th century, the whole district was a forest, and doubtless the King and courtiers hunted there; for are we not told that the Louvre, hard by, was in early days but a royal hunting-box. As is well known, Paris, the Lutetia of the Gauls, consisted only of the present CitÉ, the island upon which stands the cathedral. All around were forests, well stocked with game (animals more or less wild); and here and there, probably, small outlying settlements which we should now call villages and hamlets.

In the midst of the wood stood a little chapel dedicated to S. Peter, which was as much surrounded by trees and shrubs as the present church of S. Merri is by streets and houses. Adjoining this chapel was a cell, or hermitage, and it was there that S. Merri, and his disciple, S. Frodulphe, sojourned when on their way from Autun to the shrines of S. Denis and S. Germain. S. Merri was abbot of Autun, but he seems to have been glad of a change to the great city; for so it befel, that instead of returning to his abbey, he stayed in this little wooded retreat, undisturbed by aught but the singing of the birds and the sighing of the trees, for the space of three years. Then, on the 29th of August, about the year 700, he died, and was buried in the chapel. Many and wondrous were the miracles wrought at his tomb; and so famous did it become that S. Peter's patronage was forgotten, and the church was looked upon by the people as being under the exclusive protection of S. Merri.

About the end of the 9th century, a redoubtable warrior, Eudes de Fauconnier, desiring to celebrate his part in the expulsion of the Normans from the neighbourhood, erected a new church on the site of the little chapel, or in its immediate neighbourhood. This was dedicated to the two saints, S. Merri being placed before S. Peter. When this church, in its turn, was demolished in the time of FranÇois I^er, the remains of the founder were found in a stone coffin, the bones of his legs and feet being still shod in his gilt leathern boots. The coffin was re-buried in the choir, and an inscription placed upon a white marble slab: Hic jacet vir bonae memoriae Odo Falconarius, huius ecclesiae, ora pro eo. In the opinion of the abbÉ Lebeuf, this Odo was the famous warrior who with Godefroi defended the city against the Normans in 886. The surname Falconarius may come from Odo having been made the King's falconer, or from the kind of lance which he used, falco, because it was bent; just as Charles, the grandfather of Charlemagne, was known by the surname of Martel. The gilt leather boots denote a personage of the 9th century; similar chaussures may be seen in miniatures of the Carlovingian period. One of the monks of S. Germain des PrÉs, Abbon, has celebrated the heroic deeds of Odo, and testified to the ability of the surgical instrument makers of the 9th century:—

S. Merri was made into a parish church in the 12th century, and in the early years of the following century it became collegiate. It was called the third daughter of Notre-Dame, a title given to churches which were served by the clergy of the mother church, its chapter consisting of a chefcier, who filled the position of the curÉ, six canons, and six chaplains.

The present church was commenced in 1520 or a few years later, and finished in 1642; the architects adhering to the original plan, without any change of style, which is not often the case in churches that were so long in course of construction. The beautiful west front is a mass of rich ornamentation; its three portals, the pinnacles, corbels, niches, etc., being carved with various conceits—animals, human heads, flowers, vine-leaves, and so on, one little head having a cap such as is worn by the peasants of Auvergne. The statues, large and small, are modern, having been put in position in 1842, replacing those destroyed during the Revolution. Those round the voussure are copied from one of the portals of Notre-Dame, and consequently are two centuries too early for the church. Another blunder of the modern architect is the placing of a demon in the centre at the point of the arch, where the MediÆval artists invariably put the figure of Christ or of Our Lady. The lower part of the tower is contemporary with the church, but the upper stories have been rebuilt in the 17th century, and consist of Renaissance arches and shafts. Upon the opposite side is a little turret of open woodwork, and from the roof some old gargoyles stretch themselves out. The church is cruciform; unfortunately it is partly hidden by the Presbytery and other buildings. Indeed, like many Continental churches, it is so built about by surrounding houses that one only gets a view of it here and there. It is extraordinary that in such a city as Paris this is tolerated. At S. Germain l'Auxerrois there is (or was, not long ago) an extraordinary little wooden hut (presumably the dwelling of the sacristan) built in between the buttresses of the east end, and completely filling up two windows of the apse. The whole erection being in wood, it could easily be taken down; for it is only supported on great wooden piles, and approached by a sort of ladder. Such a state of things only exists in Catholic countries, and the more Catholic—as, for example, Belgium—the more complete is this sort of desecration.

The havoc made in the interior of the church by the 18th century architects is deplorable. Windows have been destroyed, piers have been stuccoed over, and pointed arches turned into round ones. The pillars are late Perpendicular, or rather Flamboyant, shafts without capitals; and round the nave, between the arches and the clerestory, runs a little frieze of foliage and quaint birds and beasts, a feature which is not common. All the bosses of the choir and apse are very richly decorated, and the vaulting is good, but both the choir and the chevet have been sadly "improved." About 1753 the brothers Slodtz were commissioned to convert the thirteen pointed arches of the choir into round ones, and to encase the pillars in panellings of stucco, which was marbled and gilt, the last bay being profusely decorated with golden sun-rays. One of these unfortunate brothers, Michel-Angelo by name, designed the pulpit, a mass of palm-tree decoration, surmounted by a female figure of Religion; and to place this wondrous production, a whole bay of the nave had to be demolished. The year following three chapels were destroyed to make room for the new square, barn-like Chapel of the Communion; which, besides being beautified by the Slodtz brothers' sculptures, was further embellished with a picture by Charles Coypel. The modest sum paid to these miserable, so-called artists, for hacking the church to pieces, was 50,000 Écus.

SAINT-MERRI; NORTH-WEST DOOR.
SAINT-MERRI; NORTH-WEST DOOR.

The crypt is most interesting, and is said to have been a reproduction of the original one which contained the tomb of S. Merri. It was used for some time as a workshop by the cleaners of the church, and was the depository of brooms, brushes and lamps. It has a stumpy central column, from which spring the ribs of the vault, the capital being ornamented with vine-leaves. It is square, and divided into four parts. A few remains of recumbent tombs can be seen in the pavement; but of the monuments of Arnaud de Pomponne, ambassador of Louis XIV., and of Jean Chapelain, the author of La Pucelle, nothing remains. The crypt, with its solid central pillar, resembles that in the Louvre of the time of Philippe Auguste, which has lately been brought to light.

Much of the old glass has gone, the central portion of each window having been taken away, to throw more light upon the marbled stucco. What remains is in good 16th century style, the work, probably, of HÉron, Jacques de Paroy, Chamu, and Jean Nogare, whom Levieil records to have been the artists employed. The subjects are from the history of SS. Peter, Joseph, John the Baptist, and Francis of Assisi; but it is most difficult to follow the designs, as not only are there the gaps of plain glass, but what was taken out has been used for repairing the other windows. Still a few subjects can be traced; the Raising of Lazarus; an Angel bringing food to the Virgin as she works in the temple; the Magdalen preaching to the people from a pulpit; the Beheading of S. John. In one of the chapels the history of Susannah figures—also Joseph and Jacob, and other Old Testament worthies. Three persons, identical in form and features, represent the Holy Trinity; they hold each other's hands in a circle, upon which is inscribed, Ego sum alpha et omega, primus et novissimus. On another window are the Sybils carrying the emblems of the Nativity and the Passion, the Cradle, a lantern, the Scourge, and the Cross.

The church possesses a very curious holy-water stoop of the time of Louis XII. It is about three feet high, more like a baptismal font than a stoop in size; it is octagonal, and stands upon a pedestal with a square base. The upper part is decorated with the arms of France and of Bretagne, and the instruments of the Passion. A small amount of carved woodwork of the Renaissance period remains—fragments of sculptured columns, pilasters, children, birds, and trophies. But a most remarkable picture of the 16th century arrests the visitor's attention as he saunters round the aisles, S. GeneviÈve sitting in a sort of Druidical circle surrounded by her flock of sheep—a rare combination of mystic Paganism and Christian legend.

A mosaic tablet of the Virgin and Child now in the HÔtel Cluny (No. 1795) was formerly in this church. It was given by Jean de Ganay, first president of the Parliament. Piganiol de la Force gave the continuation of the inscription as "Opus magistri Davidis, Florentini, Anno M.CCCC.LXXXXVI." Jean de Ganay went to Italy with Charles VIII., and took part in the campaign of 1494 and 1495, and for some time he was chancellor of the kingdom of Naples; but as he was not first president until 1505, the mosaic must have been sent to Paris subsequently to his sojourn in Italy. His epitaph runs thus:

M. de Sommerard attributes this mosaic to David Ghirlandajo.