LADITE DAME SUZANNE BUTAY VEUVE DUDIT FEU S^R LEBRUN PAR SON TETA^{MT.} OLOGRAPHE DE XIII SEPTEMBRE MDCXCVI RECONNU DEVANT VATRY, ET TORINON NOT^{RES}.... A LEGUÉ AUX PAUVRES HONTEUX, ET AUX PAUVRES MALADES DI CETTE PARROISSE LA SOME DE DEUX MIL LIVRES UNE FOIS PAYÉ, PLUS A LEGUÉ MIL LIVRES DE RENTE À AYDIR À MARIER DE PAUVRES FILLES, ET À METTRE EN APPREN- TISSAGE DE PAUVRES GARÇONS NÉS DANS LA PARROISSE.... NOTRE-DAME. Sauval likens the island upon which the cathedral stands to a ship: "L'ile de la cité est faite comme un grand navire enfoncé dans la vase et échoué au fil de l'eau vers le milieu de la Seine;" and perhaps the Ship of Paris upon the Gallic sea may have owed its origin as the city arms to some idea of this sort. [Illustration: VIEW FROM THE SOUTH TOWER.] The origin of Notre-Dame is enveloped in mystery. Whether its first bishop, S. Denis, or Dyonesius, was the Areopagite converted by S. Paul's preaching at Athens, and sent by S. Clement to preach the Gospel to the Parisians, or whether he was another personage of the same name who was sent into Gaul in the 3rd century and martyred during the persecutions under Decius, it is impossible to say, as there is no evidence of any value. Certain it is, however, that the first bishop of Paris bore the name of Denis, and that he suffered martyrdom with his two companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, on the summit of the hill now called Montmartre. Tradition went so far as to point out the spot where they first gathered their followers together--the crypt of Notre-Dame des Champs; also the prison where Our Lord appeared to them and strengthened them with His Holy Body and Blood, at S. Denis de la Chartre; the place, at S. Denis du Pas, where they suffered their first tortures; and, lastly, Montmartre, where they were beheaded. But, with the exception of the latter, all these holy spots have disappeared. So, too, have the crosses which marked the route taken by the Saint, when he carried his head to the place chosen for his burial, at S. Denis. An ancient church covered the remains of the three Saints until the present splendid building was erected in the reign of Dagobert I. [Illustration: NOTRE-DAME FROM THE PLACE DU PARVIS.] [Illustration: ARCHBISHOP DARBOY.]