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FOURTH DISTRICT. NORTH-EASTERN PARIS.

the Louvre consists, contain a mass of treasure in the fine | value, when passing through the Barrières, by which the arts which few other cities can equal. During the usurpation extent of every day's supply is well known. of Buonaparte, the richest treasures of Italy and Germany were added to the collection of the Louvre, as military spoils; but at the conclusion of the war, the Allies properly insisted on the restitution of the sculptures and paintings which had been violently taken from their rightful owners. The present collection is all honourably acquired, and is creditable to the taste of the French nation. The long gallery, at the time to which we just alluded, contained 1200 pictures, the finest of every age and country, and most of which had been brought by Buonaparte from foreign countries. In its present state, the Louvre contains about 1500 pictures, 1000 pieces of sculptures, 4000 engraved copper-plates, and 20,000 drawings. These treasures are deposited in various apartments, to which appropriate names are given; and the present monarch, Louis Philippe, has been constantly making additions to the collection.

The English reader is aware that the French nation professes the Roman Catholic religion. There are, however, a few Protestant places of worship at Paris, one of which is situated in the district now under consideration. This is the ancient church of the Oratoire, in the Rue St. Honoré, and is much admired for the regularity of the architecture, and the harmonious proportions of the Corinthian order, which prevail throughout the building. Service is performed here every Sunday morning, by a French or a Swiss Protestant clergyman, and on Sunday afternoon by an English clergyman. The Church of the Visitation, once belonging to a conventual establishment, is now devoted to Protestant worship; as are likewise six other buildings, situated in different parts of Paris, the congregations belonging to various denominations of Protestants. At a short distance northward of the Louvre, is the Place des Victoires, planned by Marshal la Feuillade, in the reign of Louis the Fourteenth. It is in a semicircular form, and had originally a colossal statue of that monarch in the centre; but in the year 1792 this statue was removed, and another put up in honour of General Dessaix. This, in its turn, disappeared in 1822, to make room for another equestrian statue of Louis the Fourteenth, by Bosio, an Italian sculptor: the pedestal of this statue is decorated with bas-reliefs, representing some of the military achievements of "le grand monarch." The Place is surrounded by noble and uniform houses; among which is one which was built by Francis Mansard, as an hotel for the Duc de Vrillière in 1620, but which is now appropriated as a bank, where notes are issued, bills discounted, money advanced to government, private deposits received, &c. Near this building is also the Public Treasury; and a little way northward of it the Bourse, or Royal Exchange. This last is a noble building: it was commenced in 1808, and finished in 1824. It comprises both an exchange and a tribunal of commerce, and is surrounded by columns which form a continuous colonnade round the building; and in the principal front (Rue des Filles St. Thomas) is a peristyle of fourteen columns, the ascent to which is by a | flight of sixteen steps. Within the peristyle is a vestibule, leading to a noble hall, 116 feet long, by 75 broad, capable of holding two thousand persons, and decorated with great beauty and taste. The hall for public business occupies the lower part of the building, and the Tribunal of Commerce, (where municipal arrangements regarding commerce are made,) the upper part.

The Post-Office and the Custom-House, present no remarkable features; but the Halle au Blé, or Corn-Market, merits a passing notice. In Paris, the markets are termed either halle or marché, according as the goods are sold by wholesale or retail. The Corn-Market is of the former class, and was built by Mazières, in 1762. The building was of a circular form, and was admired for its lightness and elegance. Being open to the sky, it was afterwards covered with an immense dome or roof; but it was destroyed by fire in 1802, and replaced by the present structure, which is a circular hall of cast-iron, covered by a cupola, 130 feet in diameter, and lighted by a central lantern, 37 feet in diameter. The other markets of Paris are the wine-hall, the leather-market, the wool-warehouse, and fish, butter, poultry, fruit, flower, horse, cattle, &c., markets. We may here mention a remarkable difference between London and Paris. In our own capital there are neither gates, walls, nor barriers, so that the precise quantity of provisions brought into London from the country can scarcely be deterrined. But in Paris every cart-load, of whatever kind, pays a duty, proportionate to its extent or

We now pass on to another district, including all that part of Paris which is east of the Rue St. Martin and north of the river Seine, and in which are contained the Hôtel de Ville, the churches of St. Gervais, of la Visitation, of the Carmelites, and of St. Antoine, the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, the Archives de la France, the hospitals of Quinze-Vingts and of St. Louis, the Place Royale, the Fountain of the Elephant, numerous places of public amusement, and,-just without the walls,-the celebrated cemetery of Père la Chaise.

Few buildings in Paris are so remarkable in their exterior appearance as the Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall), situated in the Place de Grève, near the river. It was commenced in 1533, after the design of an Italian architect; but has been frequently altered and repaired. The entrance, in the centre of the principal front, is deemed far too small for such a building; but the interior of the edifice is conveniently arranged for the purposes for which it was intended. The large hall is a parallelogram, ornamented with Corinthian columns, and beautifully decorated. The Hôtel de Ville derives its chief importance from the exciting scenes of the Revolution: Louis the Sixteenth was exhibited to the populace from one of the windows; and hither Robespierre retreated, when his guilty career was nearly at an end. In the Revolution of 1830, also, the Hôtel de Ville was the scene of many conflicts.

The Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers is one of the most admirable institutions in Paris. It is a collection of models of all the machines invented by French genius and industry, in almost every kind of manufacture, and every branch of art, arranged and classified in a very convenient way. A piece of tapestry is shown at the museum, respecting which a singular story is told. Vaucanson, the celebrated mechanician, invented some weaving-machines which the weavers of Lyons treated with neglect; in revenge for which he attached an ass to one of his looms, in such a manner as to produce a piece of tapestry more exquisite than the Lyonnese had ever produced.

The Archives of France, consisting of about ten thousand volumes, are now kept in a building formerly belonging to the Dukes of Guise, and having a handsome façade of sixteen columns of the Composite order. Adjoining this is another building, once occupied by Cardinal de Rohan ; but now devoted to the Royal Printing-office, where an immense collection of types, of all ages, countries, and characters, is kept, and where the Royal Ordonnances, &c., have been printed. We may here remind the English reader, that many matters of this kind, which in England are under the control of parliament, are in France the prerogative of the king in person. It is said that when the pope, during the usurpation of Buonaparte, visited this printing-office, the directors caused the Lord's Prayer to be printed in 150 different languages, copies of which were prepared and presented to him while he was yet there.

A little to the north of the Rue St. Antoine is the Place Royale, an open square planned and built by order of Henry the Fourth, about 1600; but, unlike other Parisian "Places," it has much of the melancholy air of a cloister, on account of the height of the buildings, their sombre style of architec ture, the few outlets from the square, and the small number of persons who visit it. A statue of Louis the Thirteenth, erected in the middle of the square, was pulled down by the mob, in 1792, but afterwards replaced by a marble equestrian statue of the same monarch. The Palace des Tournelles, which once stood in this square, and which was inhabited by several French sovereigns, was destroyed by order of Catherine de Medicis. Almost close to this square is the site on which the celebrated prison of the Bastille stood, before it was destroyed by the revolutionists. When Buonaparte was in the height of his power, he ordered the erection of a figure of a gigantic elephant near this spot: the elephant was to be seventy-two feet high, with a tower on its back, out of whose trunk water was to flow. This enormous structure was commenced; but the fall of Buonaparte prevented its completion; and it is not likely that the original plan will be carried out to the fullest extent.

The Hospital of St. Louis is an extensive pile of buildings, surrounding a court 300 feet square, and is used as a pest-house for the reception of infected persons: the number which can be accommodated is 800. Paris, in the midst of its demoralizing scenes, is not deficient in benevolent insti

tutions: it is said that there are 5000 beds devoted gra- | on its site. A court, called the Cour du Mai, in front of tuitously to the sick, and 15,000 to the aged, infirm, and infants; but. notwithstanding the schools, institutions, and hospitals of Paris, no other city in Europe contains so many idle poor; chiefly owing to the facilities for dissipation which that capital affords. The cemetery of Père la Chaise, situated in this part of Paris, is well worthy of notice; but as we intend to devote a separate article to it hereafter, as well as to the extraordinary Catacombs of Paris, we will not enter into any details respecting it here.

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We have now taken a rapid view of that part of Paris which lies north of the river Seine; and must next describe the three islands situated in that river, before proceeding to its southern banks. These islands are called Isle du Palais, Isle St. Louis, and Isle Louvier. The first constituted the original city of Paris, in the time of the Romans, and is still often called the cité. The island is surrounded by quays, and is thickly intersected by old streets, which are generally narrow and gloomy. The isle is chiefly distinguished for the magnificent cathedral of Notre Dame, the Archbishop's Palace, the Hôtel Dieu, and the Palais de Justice.

The cathedral of Notre Dame is the principal religious edifice in France. In the time of the Romans a temple occupied the site on which the cathedral now stands; and this temple was removed to make way for a church dedicated to St. Denis. The present structure was built by Robert the Devout, about the year 1010, and it has survived the storms which have so often desolated France. It is a Gothic structure, 414 feet long, 144 wide, and 102 high, with two immense square towers, about 200 feet high. The edifice is supported by 120 enormous columns, running from end to end; besides which there are about 300 other columns, each cut from a single block, in different parts of the edifice. There are forty-five chapels ranged round the interior. The eastern, or principal front, presents three portals, of which the side ones are ancient, and the centre comparatively modern; and above the central one is a gallery which formerly contained statues of twenty-eight kings of France, but which were destroyed at the Revolution. The whole exterior of the building is surrounded by galleries, in such a manner that a visitor may gain access to almost every part of it. The interior is decorated with all that costly magnificence which distinguishes cathedrals in Roman Catholic countries, and which accords better with the tenets of that church than with the simpler and purer rites of the English national church. The chapels, of which thirty still remain in good preservation, are, as is usual on the Continent, dedicated to various saints, and are decorated with paintings and sculptures in great number.

The archiepiscopal Palace, the residence of the archbishop of Paris, is a heavy building, adjoining the cathedral, and contrasting unfavourably with the elegant Gothic details of the latter. It was, however, before the Revolution of 1830 (at which time it suffered great injury) decorated with much beauty and richness. Nearly adjoining the cathedral, on the other side, is the Hôtel Dieu, the most ancient hospital in Paris. Being situated in the very heart of Paris, it has always been crowded with patients; and it is said that, shortly before the Revolution, it contained no less than five thousand patients, in less than one-third that number of beds. Dead and dying,-the fevered and the consumptive, -were often lying on the same pallet; so that of all the patients who entered the hospital, only one-fifth, on an average, left it alive, notwithstanding the benevolent exertions of physicians, and of the Sisters of Charity, (a class of nuns whose time and employments are devoted to works of humanity). By the care of Louis the Sixteenth, and by subsequent arrangements made during the Revolution, other hospitals were established in different parts of France, and the Hôtel Dieu became relieved of those inmates whose maladies were most severe or infectious. At present about 1300 beds are made up in the hôtel, and it is under admirable regulations.

Towards the west end of the island is the Palais de Justice, a large building, once occupied as a residence by the kings of France. The original palace was built in the ninth century, and was enlarged at different periods. It contained a hall, much celebrated in the annals of France, as being the place where the kings received the ambassadors of foreign nations. That building was, however, destroyed by fire, in 1618, and the present structure built

the building, leads to a grand flight of steps, at the summit of which is the entrance to the palace, having four noble Doric columns, surmounted by a balustrade. One part of the building is devoted to the prison of the Conciergerie, another to the Tribunal of Police, a third to the Court of Cassation, a fourth to the Cour Royale, a fifth to the Court of Assizes. The whole building is therefore appropriately termed the Palace of Justice. Close by the palace is the Sainte Chapelle, or Holy Chapel, one of the most beautiful Gothic structures in Europe. It is not used for religious worship, but was intended as a repository for the relics which St. Louis brought from the Holy Land, and is now used as a record-house for the archives and records of the courts of justice.

The Isle St. Louis contains private dwellings, chiefly of modern date, but no public buildings of importance; and the Isle Louvier, the easternmost, is used as a depôt for. fire-wood. After having said a few words about the bridges, therefore, we shall quit this insular part of Paris. Reckoning from the extremities of Paris, there are eighteen bridges across the Seine, most of which are tolerably level. The most western is the Pont de Jena, opposite the Champ de Mars. It has five handsome arches, and was built about thirty years ago, after the battle of Jena. The Pont des Invalides is a chain-bridge, leading from the Hôtel des Invalides to the Champs Elysées. The Pont Louis XVI. leads from the Place Louis XVI. to the Chamber of Deputies, and was formerly called the Pont de la Concorde. It was built by Louis XVI. in 1791: the length is 600 feet; the number of arches five, and it is decorated with statues of Bayard, Condé, Sully, Colbert, and other eminent Frenchmen. The Pont Royal is opposite the Tuileries, and is a plain stone structure, 430 feet in length, chiefly remarkable for the fine view obtained of the Tuileries' garden. The Pont des Arts leads from the Louvre to the Palais des Beaux Arts, and is a horizontal cast-iron bridge, 500 feet in length. We next come to nine or ten bridges, (which either connect the three islands together, or to the other parts of Paris,) the most celebrated of which is the Pont Neuf, at the west end of the Isle du Palais, which it connects with both sides of the city, by passing over both arms of the river. This bridge is nearly 1000 feet in length, and has an equestrian statue of Henri Quatre in the centre. A constant stream of persons is passing over this bridge, and itinerant dealers in fruit, vegetables, sweetmeats, books, prints, ballads, &c., are met with at every step. Beyond the islands, towards the east, is the last Parisian bridge, the Pont du Jardin des Plantes, formerly the Pont d'Austerlitz, an elegant cast-iron structure, leading from the Boulevard Bourbon to the Jardin des Plantes.

SIXTH DISTRICT.-SOUTH-WESTERN PARIS.

We shall now conduct the reader to the southern side of the Seine, where, westward of the Rue St. Jacques, and between the Boulevards and the river, are the Champ de Mars, the Hôpital des Invalides, l'Ecole Militaire, le Chambre des Députés, the Luxembourg, the Observatory, &c.

The Champ de Mars is a vast open area between the river and the military school; bounded by a double avenue of trees, and surrounded by a fosse and a wide embankment, This embankment is sufficiently lofty to allow spectators to obtain a view of the fêtes, reviews, races, &c., which are frequently carried on in the field. The Ecole Militaire is a large edifice, on the eastern boundary of the Champ de Mars, and erected about ninety years ago, for the instruction of young men of good family, who were either almost portionless, or whose fathers had fallen in the service of the state. Buonaparte used the edifice as barracks for the Imperial Guard, but it has since reverted to its original destination.

The Hôpital des Invalides is perhaps the most extensive building in Paris. Henry the Third planned, and Henry the Fourth put in execution, an asylum for soldiers who had grown old in the service of their country. This asylum being deemed by Louis the Fourteenth too small and mean for such an object, he caused the present hospital to be constructed about the year 1680. It is an immense pile, covering an area of more than 30,000 square yards. There are five square courts, all equal in dimensions, and all surrounded by buildings. The principal façade, which fronts the river, is 600 feet long, and divided into three floors, above the pasement. A projecting building in the centre is pierced with a magnificent arch, forming the principal entrance to the building; and from this entrance convenient

galleries, corridors, and staircases lead to the other parts of the building. Every convenience that is practicable is afforded for the veteran inmates, who are generally about 3500 in number. The church attached to the hospital is deemed one of the finest ecclesiastical structures in France. It has a spacious dome, or cupola, surrounded by forty columns, and has a central lantern more than 300 feet from the ground. Beneath the dome were formerly hung a large collection of flags and banners which had been taken in battle: but when the Allies entered Paris, the invalids took down the flags and burned them, to prevent them from falling into the enemy's hands.

together once a quarter, to prepare general reports &c. As the number of members is small, as each receives a salary from the king, and as the institute stands high in European estimation, the honour of a seat in it is eagerly sought at every vacancy.

As the prosecution of science is under a central government, so is that of education. The University of Paris, situated near the Chamber of Deputies, is an institution as old as the time of the Emperor Charlemagne; and though it has at different times suffered changes, it still remains a national establishment of considerable importance. Education in France is entirely under the control of a Council of Public Instruction, without whose sanction no school can be established. The educational establishments are of four kinds, Colleges, Royal Schools, Boarding Schools, and Charity Schools:-Of these we may briefly mention the Faculté de Théologie, where six professors lecture on biblical history, church-discipline, the Hebrew language, ethics logic, &c. Faculté de Droit, where seven professors give instruction and lectures on all branches of the law, civil and international. Faculté de Médicine. This is a noble building, erected by Louis the Fourteenth, consisting of a central court, surrounded by a large pile of beautiful buildings, in which instruction is given in anatomy, physiology, medical chemistry, philosophy of medicine, pathology, botany, materia medica, and the collateral branches of study: it is deemed the most complete medical school in Europe, and has produced men whose medical reputation will be imperishable. The Faculté de Lettres et Sciences is divided into two sections, in one of which lectures are given on all subjects relating to history and the Belles Lettres: and in the other on subjects relating to the physical sciences. The Collège de France affords a gratuitous education to a large number of pupils, who are instructed in an extensive range of subjects, qualifying them to fill various stations in after-life. The other Facultés; Collèges, Lycées, Ecoles, &c., are too numerous to be dwelt on here.

Proceeding northward from the hospital towards the river, we come to the Chamber of Deputies. This building was formerly the Palais Bourbon, and was built by the Duchess of Bourbon in 1722. At various times it has been cosiderably altered, and was almost rebuilt about ten years ago. Its principal entrance consists of one noble portice, with a colonnade of Corinthian columns; and within are courts, corridors, galleries, &c., in great number. The hall, in which the national representatives assemble, was rebuilt in 1831, and is a very handsome apartment, ornamented with statues. The members do not, as in England, address the house from their places, but each one, when he wishes to speak, proceeds to an elevated rostrum or tribune, something like a pulpit. Business here commences at one o'clock, instead of four or five, as in England. The Chambre des Pairs, or House of Lords, does not hold its meetings adjoining the Chamber of Deputies, but in the Luxembourg Palace, near the Rue St. Jacques. This magnificent palace was occupied in succession by the Due de Luxembourg, Mary de Medicis, Madame de Montpensier, the Duchess de Guise, Louis the Fourteenth, Duchess of Brunswick, Mademoiselle d'Orléans, Louis the Sixteenth, Monsieur; and afterwards became a prison,-a house for the Senate, and finally the Chamber of Peers. It forms a square 360 feet by 300, enclosing a large court: and at the corners are four square buildings called pavilions: these The church of St. Sulpice, near l'Ecole de Médicine, is pavilions are connected with the central portion by low a beautiful structure, whose grand proportions, boldness of galleries, supported by light and elegant arcades. The design, and general effect, are highly extolled. The portico building contains numerous apartments devoted to official has two stories, of which the lower is in the Doric, and the purposes. The hall in which the peers meet is an elegant upper in the Ionic order: a tower rises at each extremity semicircular room, 80 feet in diameter, and adorned by of the portico: the interior of the church is fitted up with numerous statues and paintings. The palace has a fine magnificence. This church was commenced in the reign of garden, as is indeed the case with all the Parisian palaces. Louis the Thirteenth; but was not completed for nearly a century.

At a short distance within the Boulevards, and eastward of the Chamber of Deputies, are the Palace of the Legion of Honour, the War Office, and the Office of the Home Secretary. The first named is noted as having been built by Rousseau in the last century. He called it the Hôtel de Salm; but when Buonaparte appropriated it to the Legion of Honour, its name was changed. At the principal front in the Rue de Lille is a triumphal arch, flanked by an Ionic colonnade, and enclosing a spacious court or area. The palace itself presents a noble Corinthian portico, flanked by Ionic colonnades. The river-front is not so elegant; but the interior fully accords with the grand entrance: there is a noble saloon, in form of a rotunda, covered by a cupola, which is adorned with fine paintings; and the saloon itself contains many statues of the principal officers of the Legion. Proceeding eastward, we come to the Palace of the Institute, at the foot of the Pont des Beaux Arts. This palace was built by Cardinal Mazarin, and was called the College of the Four Nations; because originally intended for the reception of sixty pupils from four nations conquered by Louis the Fourteenth. It is of a semicircular form, consisting of two pavilions flanked by two ranges of buildings, with a central portico of the Corinthian order, surmounted by a noble dome. An ancient church or chapel attached to the palace, is now used as a hall, where the sittings of the members are held. The other rooms are appropriated as cabinets, museums, libraries, &c. We may here remark that science, in France, partakes of that system of centralization which so much prevails in that country. The National Institute is an establishment divided into four sections or academies; viz., the Académie des Sciences, for the cultivation of natural philosophy, chemistry and mathematics; the Académie Française, for the cultivation of the French language and literature; the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, for history, antiquities, and ancient literature; and the Académie des Beaux Arts, for sculpture, painting, engraving, &c. There are in the whole about two hundred members, and an equal number of corresponding members. The four academies pursue their researches separately; but they all meet

The last building which we can describe in the present district is the Observatoire, situated nearly at the southern extremity of the city, at the end of an avenue leading from the Luxembourg gardens. It consists principally of a solid mass of buildings, almost entirely of stone, with octagonal towers at two of the angles, and a projecting building on the opposite side. The exterior is grand, simple, and imposing; but rather too small for the purposes for which it was intended. The interior is fitted up with astronomical instruments of every kind; an anemometer, for measuring the direction and force of the wind; a pluviometer, for measuring rain; a mural circle; a well 170 feet deep, for making experiments on the velocity of falling bodies; a meridian line, running through the great hall; caverns and pits, for the prosecution of experiments in congelation, &c. There are three resident astronomers; and the affairs of the Bureau des Longitudes are conducted here.

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THE last section into which we have divided Paris is that portion east of the Rue St. Jacques, and south of the Seine; constituting the south-east portion of the city. This contains the Church of St. Etienne, the Panthéon, or Church of St. Geneviève, the Church of Val-de-Grace, the College of France, and L'Ecole Polytechnique, Colleges of Henry the Fourth and of Louis the Fourteenth, the Jardin des Plantes, the Gobelin Tapestry Manufactory, &c., &c.

The Church of St. Etienne du Mont is one of the most ancient in France. St. Geneviève, who converted the first French monarch to Christianity, died in 512, and was buried near the spot where this church now stands. The spot was regarded as a holy one by succeeding monarchs, and at length a royal abbey was built, and dedicated to St. Geneviève. The Church of St Etienne, as it is now called, was subsequently built as a chapel for the vassals belonging to the abbey; and in order to indicate that this chapel belonged wholly to the abbey, and did not come under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Paris, it was made with

duty of one franc is paid for every cask of wine that enters the market, of which as many as fifteen hundred is the average number. The market is capable of conveniently receiving half a million casks at once.

out any external door, having no inlet but from the abbey: it remained thus till the reign of Henry the Fourth, when the present entrance was made. The abbey crumbled away by the effects of time and devastation; but the church of St. Etienne still remains, and is much admired. The Proceeding eastward we come to the noble Jardin des front is formed of four banded Ionic columns, supporting a Plantes, one of the most extensive and valuable botanic garrichly-ornamented triangular pediment. The interior is a dens in Europe; comprising not only the plants which belong singular mixture of Greek, Gothic, and Arabic architecture, to such an establishment, but also a large menagerie, a chiefly distinguished for its lofty arches, slender columns, museum of natural history and of anatomy, and numerous and light and almost aërial staircases. The sculptured lecture-rooms, where lectures are delivered on various pulpit is supported on a colossal figure of Saturn; and the branches of science. At the entrance of the garden are seen altar, windows, &c., display much ancient magnificence. several enclosures, devoted to subjects connected with agriPascal, Racine, Le Sueur, Tournefort, De Sacy, Le Maître, calture; one containing specimens of different kinds of and other eminent men, were buried in this church. soils and manures exhibited so as to show their comparative Very near this church is the Panthéon, or Church of St. fertility; a second contains specimens of fences, hedges, &c. Geneviève, which, from its dome, at first sight reminds an with examples of the modes of training espalier fruits, everEnglish visitor of St. Paul's, and which was built about greens, &c.; a third contains, systematically arranged, seventy years ago. The entrance resembles that of the specimens of all the fruit-trees growing in France and the Pantheon at Rome, being a noble peristyle of Corinthian neighbouring countries; and a fourth contains specimens of columns, together forming a spacious porch. The interior almost every vegetable which is appropriated to the food of the building consists of four naves, separated by Corin- of man, with examples of the most successful modes of thian columns, which support an entablature serving as a training them. Beyond these enclosures we come to the basement to the galleries. Above these galleries rises a Botanic Garden, which consists of more than seven thounoble dome, having its interior surrounded by pillars, sand plants arranged on the system of Jussieu; each spestanding on a circular basement. A style of lightness and cimen being labelled with its proper name, and the whole elegance was introduced in the original construction of the planted in beds divided off from each other by box-hedges. building, which rendered the pillars unequal to the enormous To this succeeds a range of green-houses and hot-houses, pressure of the dome; and twelve new columns had to be 600 feet in length, and filled with a beautiful and extensive introduced among the others to support the pressure, which collection of flowers and shrubs, such as require artificial have the effect of injuring the coup d'œil. The interior of aid in a temperate climate. Here, as in the open garden, the dome is covered with paintings, which cover a surface every plant is labelled in the most conspicuous manner; of 3256 feet, and represent four epochs in the history of and the visitor may see the sugar-cane, the bread-fruit France, separated into four tableaux. The first, the tree, and the date-palm, in a flourishing state. A long conversion of King Clovis; the second, Charlemagne path leads by a winding ascent to the summit of an and his consort, surrounded by the emblems of his great-artificial hill, where a little pavilion is erected, from whence ness; the third, Louis the Ninth, surrounded by all those emblems of Christian virtue, which led to his being called St. Louis; and the fourth, the restoration of Louis the Eighteenth. In another department Louis the Sixteenth and his murdered relations are represented in a group. The Pantheon was intended for the reception of the illustrious dead, who had in any way rendered honour to their country; and this intention is indicated by an inscription on the plinth of the portico :-" Aux Grands Hommes: La Patrie Reconnaissante." In 1822 its name was changed from Pantheon to the Church of St. Geneviève; it was consecrated by the Archbishop of Paris; and divine service was performed in it until the Revolution of 1830, when it reverted to its original design. Many eminent men are deposited in the vaults, which consist of galleries lined with cells: each cell contains one body, enclosed in a stone sarcophagus, and an inscription of the name, dignity, &c., of the deceased.

L'Ecole Polytechnique is one of the most distinguished educational establishments in Paris. It was established in 1796, for the completion of the education of students who have rendered themselves conspicuous in other institutions, especially such as are intended for the artillery and engineering departments of the army; since no officer is admitted into the artillery who has not been educated in the Polytechnic School. The most accomplished men of science are appointed by government as professors; and their salaries, as well as the whole expenses of the establishment, are defrayed out of a fund derived partly from the payments received with the students. Each student, of whom there are 300, pays 1000 francs per annum for his board and lodging, and undergoes a most rigorous examination as to proficiency before he is admitted. As the students are mostly verging upon manhood, and are engaged in the study of military affairs, it is not very surprising that they plunged into the scene of strife and contest which distinguished the month of July, 1830.

a splendid view of nearly the whole of Paris is obtained. Half-way up the ascent is a beautiful cedar of Lebanon, planted by Jussieu and still flourishing; as well as busts of Linnæus and of Daubenton.

The Menagerie comprises a very large collection of rare animals. There are also attempts made to illustrate the native habits of more docile animals, by planting trees, shrubs, &c., in the enclosures where the animals are kept, and of such kinds as they are accustomed to prefer when in their native state. There is an Aviary, in which the birds (chiefly of France) are classed according to their species or habits.

The Cabinet of Natural History is divided into various halls and apartments. One room,-the Library.—contains a copy of almost every book that has ever been printed in any language, on the subject of natural history. A second room contains specimens of minerals arranged by Haüy. A third contains ores; a fourth, geological specimens. A fifth contains fossil remains of animals whose bones Cuvier found in the quarries at Montmartre, &c. Another room contains vegetable fossil remains, such as ferns, leaves, impressions of plants, gradual formation of coal, &c. One room is devoted to fossil reptiles-another to fossil fishes. A long gallery is devoted to stuffed specimens of quadrupeds and birds, containing almost every known species, arranged in systematic order. Another gallery contains a collection of insects, and the eggs and nests of birds.

The Cabinet of Comparative Anatomy is a separate building, and is intended to contain the skeleton of every known animal, as well as all the bones of the skeleton in a separate state, in order to verify other bones which may be found. It also contains wax preparations of insects, fishes, shell-fish, and likewise a cabinet of Human Anatomy, comprising skeletons and wax preparations in great number.

Somewhat to the south of the Jardin des Plantes is the celebrated Gobelin Tapestry Manufactory. A dyer, named Gobelin, established himself at Paris, in the reign of Francis the First, as a worsted-dyer; but at a subsequent period the minister Colbert brought some tapestry-weavers from Flanders, who introduced that branch of art into France, and produced specimens which have been universally admired throughout Europe for their beauty and excellence. It became, and has since remained, a government establishment: indeed, the principal part of the tapestry produced there during the luxurious reign of Louis the Fourteenth was employed to decorate the royal palaces. The principal sub

At a short distance north-east of l'Ecole Polytechnique is the Halle aux Vins, or Wine-market. It was built by Buonaparte in 1811, on a plan as singular as it is extensive. The market is divided into streets, receiving the names of the different kinds of wine which are principally sold there; such as the Rue de Champagne, Rue de Bourgogne, Rue de Bourdeaux, Rue de Languedoc, Rue de la Côte d'Or. There are seven distinct piles of buildings separated by these streets; of which some are used as markets, some as cellars, some for brandies, others for the offices of the nu-jects to which the Gobelin looms have been devoted are merous clerks who superintend the entrance and departures of the wines, and another as a bureau or office wherein are kept copies of all the wine-measures used in France. A

copies of the most celebrated paintings of the Italian and French schools, a single specimen of which has often taken two or three years to execute. The worsted is dyed on

the premises, and a school is established for the instruction of the workmen in the principles of their art.

The Sèvres Manufactory is also a public establishment, where are produced some fine specimens of porcelain: indeed, before the time of Wedgewood, England could not compete with the well-known "Sèvres china." A successive train of improvements has, however, made English porcelain fully equal, except in the richness of some particular tints, to that of Sèvres. The Manufacture des Glaces, (plate glass manufactory) is another government establishment, where plates of glass, containing sixty or seventy square feet of surface, are produced.

We have said that the Boulevards form a belt round Paris, and with a few words respecting these Boulevards we must conclude. A modern writer, speaking of the public walks, says: "The principal charm of the Boilevards consists in the gay and festive crowd which constantly fills them, and the inexhaustible fund of amusement which every step supplies. Ballad-singers, dancing children, dancing dogs, tumblers, posture-masters, corjurors, puppet-showmen, merry-andrews, players, and for tune-tellers, stand in long and interminable succession; each unweariedly exerting himself to please, and thankful for the few sous which are occasionally thrown to him. Intermixed with these are stalls, glittering with a gaudy

display of toys and trinkets; tables at which the scribe, with the pen of a ready writer, will indite a letter or memorial, of any length, or on any subject; flower-girls by dozens, who will take no denial; musicians performing on every instrument which the art of man has invented to please (or torture) the ear; professors of natural philosophy, who contrive to make their hydrostatic experiments sufficiently impressive on the visages and clothes of their auditors; sage diviners of the lucky numbers of lottery-tickets; men with castles inhabited by white mice, who play a thousand antics in the different apartments; fortresses guarded by a regiment of canary-birds, who perform their different evolutions with the precision of veterans; and last, not least, caricaturists, or grimaciers, who change the human face divine into a rapid succession of odd and inconceivably grotesque forms."

The reader will scarcely expect us to apologize for having omitted to name or describe many out of the large number of public buildings which are to be seen in Paris. All we have professed is to convey a brief idea of the general characteristics of a city which has long ranked as the second in Europe, and in many respects as the first. At the time we are now writing, the city of Paris is being fortified, by means of a military wall, ditch, &c., round the entire city

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LONDON Published by JOHN W. PARKER, WEST' STRAND, and sold by all Booksellers.

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