Some of the historic cafes are still thriving in their original locations, although the majority have now passed into oblivion. Glimpses of the more famous houses are to be found in the novels, poetry, and essays written by the French literati who patronized them. These first-hand accounts give insights that are sometimes stirring, often amusing, and frequently revolting--such as the assassination of St.-Fargean in Fevrier's low-vaulted cellar cafe in the Palais Royal. There is Magny's, originally the haunt of such literary men as Gautier, Taine, Saint-Victor, Turguenieff, de Goncourt, Soulie, Renan, Edmond. In recent years the old Magny's was razed, and on its site was built the modern restaurant of the same name, but in a style that has no resemblance to its predecessor. Even the name of the street has been changed, from rue Contrescarpe to the rue Mazet. Meot's, the Very, Beauvilliers', Masse's, the Cafe Chartres, the Troi Freres Provencaux, and the du Grand Commun, all situated in the Palais Royal, are cafes that figured conspicuously in the French Revolution, and are closely identified with the French stage and literature. Meot's and Masse's were the trysting places of the Royalists in the days preceding the outbreak, but welcomed the Revolutionists after they came in power. The Chartres was notorious as the gathering place of young aristocrats who escaped the guillotine, and, thus made bold, often called their like from adjoining cafes to partake in some of their plans for restoration of the empire. The Trois Freres Provencaux, well known for its excellent and costly dinners, is mentioned by Balzac, Lord Lytton, and Alfred de Musset in some of their novels. The Cafe du Grand Commun appears in Rousseau's _Confessions_ in connection with the play _Devin du Village_. Among the most famous of the cafes on the Rue St. Honore were Venua's, patronized by Robespierre and his companions of the Revolution, and perhaps the scene of the inhuman murder of Berthier and its revolting aftermath; the Mapinot, which has gone down in cafe history as the scene of the banquet to Archibald Alison, the 22-year-old historian; and Voisin's cafe, around which still cling traditions of such literary lights as Zola, Alphonse Daudet, and Jules de Goncourt. [Illustration: INTERIOR OF A TYPICAL PARISIAN CAFE OF THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY]