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.

During the first ten or fifteen years after its establishment, the
college of the palace had probably followed the court during its
frequent migrations, notwithstanding the number of members, and
the difficulty of transporting the library, which soon became
considerable. Many circumstances, however, seem to show, that after