The other front of the Tuilleries looks towards the Place du Carousel, from which it is separated by a lofty iron balustrade, the top of which is gilt.  Opposite the centre entrance of the Palace stands a magnificent triumphal arch, erected by Buonaparte, on the top of which he has placed the four celebrated bronze horses, which were removed to Paris on the seizure of Venice by his army, as they had been formerly transported by conquest from Corinth to Constantinople, and thence to Venice, where they adorned for several centuries the Place of St. Mark.  These horses are conducted by two figures of Victory, and Peace, executed by M. Sencot, which many admire extremely.

Buonaparte has been no bad locumtenens of this palace for the Bourbons, as it bears abundant testimony to the taste with which he caused it to be decorated.  He had the entire of the Louvre scratched, so as to give it quite a new appearance, and his crown and initials are everywhere to be seen.  On the grand facade was an inscription, signifying, “that Napoleon the Great had completed what Henry the Fourth had begun;” but this inscription has disappeared, since the return of the descendants of Henry IV. to the palace which that great king had built, and which an usurper endeavoured to persuade posterity he had a share in constructing.  It is worthy of remark, that this chef d’oeuvre of architecture, as if has always been considered, was not the work of a professed architect, but of M. Perrault, a physician.  The word Louvre is, by some, derived from the Saxon Louvar, signifying a castle.

Buonaparte’s plans for the further improvement of this palace were on the most extensive scale imaginable, as he intended to remove all the buildings situated between the Louvre and the Tuilleries; and some idea of the extent of the proposed area may be formed, when it is considered that, in its present state, the place du Carousel is sufficiently capacious to admit of 15,000 men being drawn up there in battle array.  Whilst I remained at Paris, a considerable number of workmen were engaged in carrying on these improvements, but it is probable, from the exhausted state in which the projector of these undertakings has left the finances of France, that it will be many years before it will be possible to complete them.

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CHAP.  III.

If the stranger at Paris is struck by the magnificent appearance which the exterior of the Louvre presents, he cannot fail of being delighted with an inspection of the contents of its invaluable Museum.  This, like nearly all the museums and libraries in Paris, is open to every individual, except on the days appropriated for study, when only artists are admitted; but even then, a stranger, whose stay is limited, may be admitted on producing his passport, a regulation which is highly commendable for its liberality;