Lonjumeau, and is bordered by flower-beds adorned with statues, and
flanked on either side by columns with niches, which terminate in
spires. This portal, often seen in churches of the same period when
chance has saved them from the ravages of Calvinism, is surmounted by
a triglyph, above which stands a statue of the Virgin holding the
infant Jesus. The sides of the structure are externally of five
arches, defined by stone ribs and lighted by windows with small panes.
The apse rests on arched abutments that are worthy of a cathedral. The
clock-tower, placed in a transept of the cross, is square and
surmounted by a belfry. The church can be seen from a great distance,
for it stands at the top of the great square, at the lower end of
which the high-road passes through the town.

This square, large for the size of the town, is surrounded by very
original buildings, all of different epochs. Many, half-wood,
half-brick, with their timbers faced with slate, date back to the Middle
Ages. Others, of stone, with balconies, show the form of gable so dear
to our ancestors, which belongs to the twelfth century. Several charm
the eye with those old projecting beams, carved with grotesque faces,
which form the roof of a sort of shed, and recall the days when the
middle classes were exclusively commercial. The finest house among
them was that of the chief magistrate of former days,--a house with a
sculptured front on a line with the church, to which it forms a fine
accompaniment. Sold as national property, it was bought in by the
commune, which turned it into a town-hall and court-house, where
Monsieur Sarcus had presided ever since the establishment of municipal
judges.

This slight sketch will give an idea of the square of Soulanges,
adorned in the centre with a charming fountain brought from Italy in