When St. Louis was on the throne of France the physician attendant upon his mother, la Reine Blanche, died bequeathing a sum of money for the institution of a college of theology. In consequence thereof Robert de Sorbon built the school for theological study, a very simple erection then, which developed into the great college adapted to studies of the most varied character, known as the Sorbonne: that was in the year 1253. Two hundred years later the first printing press in France was set up there. In another nigh upon two hundred years Richelieu, elected Grand Master of the college, built its church and rebuilt the surrounding structure. Napoléon set the college in action on a vaster scale, after its suppression at the Revolution, by making it the seat of the Académie de Paris, the “home” of the Faculties of Letters and Science, as well as of Theology. But the edifice was then again crumbling--in need of rebuilding. Time passed, ruin made headway. Plans were made, and in 1853 the first stone of a new structure was laid. It remained a first stone and a last one for many years. The modern walls we see were not built till the close of the nineteenth century, finished in 1901. In the great courtyard white lines mark the site of Richelieu’s edifice. The vast building is richly decorated with statuary and frescoes. In its church Richelieu seems still to hold sway. We see his coat-of-arms on every side; over his tomb, the work of Girardon, hangs his Cardinal’s hat. Another handsome monument covers the tomb of his descendant, the minister of Louis XVIII. Many generations of Richelieu lie in the vault beneath the chapel floor. The church is dismantled and partially secularized. Grand classic concerts are held there during the Sundays of term each year, but the Richelieu have still the right to be baptized, married, buried there; the altar therefore has not been undraped.