Before Christ was born people believed there were many gods who were like good and bad fairies, and statues weremade of them as they were supposed to look. Two of the greatest statues are in the Louvre. One is a marble figure of the goddess Venus. Venus was the goddess of Love, and this statue of her was made more than 2,000 years ago,but was found not many years ago on an island called Melos, so it is called the Venus of Melos. The other figure, like an angel with outspread wings, is called “Victory.” Victory too was made before Christ was born. Venushas lost her arms and Victory has lost her head, but, in spite of that, both figures are more beautiful than most real people who have both arms and head.

The Capitol of France has neither a dome like our Capitol nor towers like the English Capitol. There is, however,a building in Paris with a dome something like that of our Capitol and St. Paul’s in London, but it is neither a church nor a Capitol. It is the tomb of France’s two greatest soldiers. One was named Napoleon, and he livedat the same time as our George Washington. He was at one time emperor before France had presidents. His bones are in a large marble chest under this dome. The other soldier is General Foch—the leader of the armies in WorldWar I.

The tallest tower in the World is in Paris near the banks of the Seine. It is called the Eiffel Tower and it is abouta thousand feet high. It is made of iron and stands on four tall iron legs. You can look between its legs and see whole buildings as if the tower were a giant straddling them.