attached to it, worthy of their magnificent founder.  But no account can be given;[9] for nothing has come down to the present age which can justify any thing like detailed description.  Nevertheless, a number of circumstances in regard to this building are occasionally mentioned in the historians of the time, that convey an idea of vastness and splendour, which probably might have been lost had minute examination been possible.  Immense halls[10]—­magnificent galleries—­a college—­a library—­baths, where a hundred persons could swim at large—­a theatre and a cathedral—­a profuse display of the finest marble—­gates and doors of wrought brass—­columns from Rome, and pavements from Ravenna,—­such, we know, to have been some of the many things which that great palace displayed.

    [9] In all probability, the crypt of the church of
    Aix-la-Chapelle, as it stands at present, is all that remains of
    the original edifice.

[10] The baths of Aix-la-Chapelle, constructed by the emperor for the enjoyment of this recreation, were of immense extent; and while their splendour and their size showed the progress of luxury, the manner in which they were used, evinces the curious simplicity and condescension of the monarch.  “Not only his sons,” says Eginhard, “but also the great men of his court, his friends, and the soldiers of his guard, were invited to partake of the enjoyment which the monarch had provided for himself; so that sometimes as many as a hundred persons were known to bathe there together.”

Workmen were gathered together from every part of Europe; and, though but small reliance can be placed upon the anecdotes related by the Monk of St. Gall, it is evident, from every account, that the building must have been the most magnificent architectural effort which Europe had beheld since the days of the splendour of ancient Rome.

Besides the palace itself, we find, that an immense number of buildings were constructed around it, for the accommodation of every one in any way connected with the court, and adjoining, were particular halls, open at all times, and in which all classes and conditions might find a refuge from the cold of night, or from the wintry storm.[11]

[11] Stoves were furnished also to warm those who might take refuge in these general chambers; and the Monk of St. Gaul asserts, that the apartments of Charlemagne were so constructed, that he could see everything which took place in the building round about,—­an impossible folly, imagined by the small cunning of a monk.

Within the walls, was that famous domestic college, on the maintenance, extension, and direction of which Charlemagne, amidst all the multiplicity of his occupations, found means to bestow so much of his time and attention.  But every trace of his actions tends to prove, that his first and greatest, object—­to which even conquest was secondary, if not subservient—­was to civilize his dominions, and to raise mankind in general from that state of dark ignorance into which barbarian invasion had cast the world.