Part 1
# Paris as It Was and as It Is: A Sketch Of The French Capital, Illustrative Of The Effects Of The Revolution ### By Blagdon, Francis William
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Produced by John Hagerson, Carlo Traverso, and Distributed Proofreaders
PARIS
AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS;
OR
A Sketch of the French Capital,
ILLUSTRATIVE OF
THE EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION,
WITH RESPECT TO
SCIENCES, LITERATURE, ARTS, RELIGION, EDUCATION, MANNERS, AND AMUSEMENTS;
COMPRISING ALSO
A correct Account of the most remarkable National Establishments and Public Buildings.
In a Series of Letters,
WRITTEN BY AN ENGLISH TRAVELLER,
DURING THE YEARS 1801-2,
TO A FRIEND IN LONDON.
* * * * *
_Ipsâ varietate tentamus efficere, ut alia aliis, quædem fortasse omnibus placeant. PLIN. Epist._
* * * * *
VOL. I
LONDON
1803
ADVERTISEMENT.
In the course of the following production, the Reader will meet with several references to a Plan of Paris, which it had been intended to prefix to the work; but that intention having been frustrated by the rupture between the two countries, in consequence of which the copies for the whole of the Edition have been detained at Calais, it is hoped that this apology will be accepted for the omission.
CONTENTS.
VOLUME FIRST.
New Organization of the National Institute
INTRODUCTION
LETTER I. On the ratification of the preliminary treaty of peace, the author leaves London for Paris--He arrives at Calais on the 16th of October, 1801--Apparent effect of the peace--After having obtained a passport, he proceeds to Paris, in company with a French naval officer.
LETTER II. Journey from Calais to Paris--Improved state of agriculture--None of the French gun-boats off Boulogne moored with chains at the time of the attack--St. Denis--General sweep made, in 1793, among the sepultures in that abbey--Arrival at Paris--Turnpikes now established throughout Prance--Custom-house scrutiny.
LETTER III. Objects which first strike the observer on arriving at Paris after an absence of ten or twelve years--Tumult in the streets considerably diminished since the revolution--No liveries seen--Streets less dangerous than formerly to pedestrians--Visits paid to different persons by the author--Price of lodgings nearly doubled since 1789 --The author takes apartments in a private house.
LETTER IV. Climate of Paris--_Thermolampes_ or stoves which afford light and heat on an economical plan--Sword whose hilt was adorned with the _Pitt_ diamond, and others of considerable value, presented to the Chief Consul.
LETTER V. Plan on which these letters are written.
LETTER VI. The _Louvre_ or _National Palace of Arts and Sciences_ described --_Old Louvre_--Horrors of St. Bartholomew's day--From this palace Charles IX fired on his own subjects--Additions successively made to it by different kings--_Bernini_, sent for by Lewis XIV, forwarded the foundation of the _New Louvre_, and returned to Italy--_Perrault_ produced the beautiful colonnade of the _Louvre_, the master-piece of French architecture--Anecdote of the Queen of England, relict of Charles I--Public exhibition of the productions of French Industry.
LETTER VII. _Central Museum of the Arts_--_Gallery of Antiques_--Description of the different halls and of the most remarkable statues contained in them, with original observations by the learned connoisseur, _Visconti_.
LETTER VIII. Description of the _Gallery of Antiques_, and of its _chefs-d'oeuvre_ of sculpture continued and terminated--Noble example set by the French in throwing open their museums and national establishments to public inspection--Liberal indulgence shewn to foreigners.
LETTER IX. General A----y's breakfast--Montmartre--Prospect thence enjoyed --Theatres.
LETTER X. Regulations of the Police to be observed by a stranger on his arrival in the French capital--Pieces represented at the _Théâtre Louvois_ --_Palais du gouvernement_ or Palace of the Tuileries described--It was constructed, by Catherine de Medicis, enlarged by Henry IV and Lewis XIII, and finished By Lewis XIV--The tenth of August, 1792, as pourtrayed by an actor in that memorable scene--Number of lives lost on the occasion--Sale of the furniture, the king's wardrobe, and other effects found in the palace--_Place du Carrousel_--Famous horses of gilt bronze brought from Venice and placed here--The fate of France suspended by a thread--Fall of _Robespiere_ and his adherents.
LETTER XI. Massacre of the prisoners at Paris in September, 1792--Private ball --The French much improved in dancing--The waltz described--Dress of the women.
LETTER XII. _Bonaparte_--Grand monthly parade--Agility of the First Consul in mounting his charger--Consular guards, a remarkably fine body of men --Horses of the French cavalry, sorry in appearance, but capable of enduring fatigue and privations.
LETTER XIII. _Jardin des Tuileries_--This garden now kept in better order than under the monarchy--The newly-built house of _Véry_, the _restaurateur_--This quarter calls to mind the most remarkable events in the history of the revolution--_Place de la Concorde_--Its name is a strong contrast to the great number of victims here sacrificed --Execution of the King and Queen, _Philippe Égalité_, _Charlotte Corday_, Madame _Roland_, _Robespiere_, _cum multus aliis_ --Unexampled dispatch introduced in putting persons to death by means of the guillotine--_Guillotin_, the inventor or improver of this instrument, dies of grief--Little impression left on the mind of the spectators of these sanguinary scenes--Lord _Cornwallis_ arrives in Paris.
LETTER XIV. National fête, in honour of peace, celebrated in Paris on the 18th of Brumaire, year X (9th of November, 1801)--_Garnerin_ and his wife ascend in a balloon--Brilliancy of the illuminations--Laughable accident.
LETTER XV. Description of the fête continued--Apparent apathy of the people --Songs composed in commemoration of this joyful event--Imitation of one of them.
LETTER XVI. _Gallery of the Louvre_--_Saloon of the Louvre_--Italian School--The most remarkable pictures in the collection mentioned, with original remarks on the masters by _Visconti_--Lord _Cornwallis's_ reception in Paris.
LETTER XVII. _Gallery of the Louvre_ in continuation--French School--Flemish School--The pictures in the _Saloon_ are seen to much greater advantage than those in the _Gallery_--_Gallery of Apollo_--These superb repositories of the finest works of art are indiscriminately open to the public.
LETTER XVIII. _Palais Royal_, now called _Palais du Tribunat_--Its construction begun, in 1629, by Cardinal _Richelieu_, who makes a present of it to _Lewis_ XIII--It becomes the property of the Orleans family--Anecdote of the Regent--Considerable alterations made in this palace--_Jardin du Palais du Tribunat_--This garden is surrounded by a range of handsome buildings, erected in 1782 by the duke of Orleans, then duke of Chartres--The _Cirque_ burnt down in 1797--Contrast between the company seen here in 1789 and in 1801--The _Palais Royal_, the theatre of political commotions--Mutual enmity of the queen and the duke of Orleans, which, in the sequel, brought these great personages to the scaffold--Their improper example imitated by the nobility of both sexes--The projects of each defeated--The duke's pusillanimity was a bar to his ambition--He exhausted his immense fortune to gain
## partisans, and secure the attachment of the people--His imprisonment,
trial, and death.
LETTER XIX. The _Palais du Tribunat_, an epitome of all the trades in Paris --Prohibited publications--Mock auctions--_Magazins de confiance à prix fixe_--Two speculations, of a somewhat curious nature, established there with success--_The Palais Royal_, a vortex of dissipation --Scheme of _Merlin_ of Douay for cleansing this Augæan stable.
LETTER XX. _Thé_, a sort of route--Contrast in the mode of life of the Parisians before and since the revolution--_Petits soupers_ described--An Englishman improves on all the French _bons vivans_ under the old _régime_.
LETTER XXI. Public places of various descriptions--Their title and number --Contrast between the interior police now established in the theatres in Paris, and that which existed before the revolution--Admirable regulations at present adopted for the preservation of order at the door of the theatres--Comparatively small number of carriages now seen in waiting at the grand French opera.
LETTER XXII. _Palais du Corps Législatif_--Description of the hall of the sittings of that body--Opening of the session--Speech of the President--Lord _Cornwallis_ and suite present at this sitting--_Petits appartemens_ of the _ci-devant Palais Bourbon_ described.
LETTER XXIII. _Halle au Blé_--Lightness of the roof of the dome--Annual consumption of bread-corn in _Paris_--Astrologers--In former times, their number in _Paris_ exceeded _30,000_--Fortune-tellers of the present day --Church of _St. Eustache_--_Tourville_, the brave opponent of Admiral _Russel_, had no epitaph--Festivals of reason described.
LETTER XXIV. _Museum of French Monuments_--Steps taken by the Constituent Assembly to arrest the progress of Vandalism--Many master-pieces of painting, sculpture, and architecture, destroyed in various parts of France --_Grégoire_, ex-bishop of Blois, publishes three reports, to expose the madness of irreligious barbarism, which claim particular distinction.--They saved from destruction many articles of value in the provinces--Antique monuments found in 1711, in digging among the foundation of the ancient church of Paris--Indefatigable exertions of _Lenoir_, the conservator of this museum--The halls of this museum fitted up according to the precise character peculiar to each century, and the monuments arranged in them in historical and chronological order--Tombs of _Clovis_, _Childebert_, and _Chilperic_--Statues of _Charlemagne_, _Lewis IX_, and of _Charles_, his brother, together with those of the kings that successively appeared in this age down to king _John_--Tombs of _Charles V_, _Du Gueselin_, and _Sancerre_--Mausolea of _Louis d'Orléans_ and of _Valentine de Milan_--Statues of _Charles VI_, _Rénée d'Orléans_, _Philippe de Commines_, _Lewis XI_, _Charles VII_, _Joan_ of _Arc_, _Isabeau de Bavière_--Tomb of _Lewis XII_--Tragical death of _Charles_ the _Bad_.
LETTER XXV. _Museum of French Monuments_ continued--Tombs of _Francis I_, of the _Valois_, and of _Diane de Poitiers_--Character of that celebrated woman--Statues of _Turenne_, _Condé_, _Colbert_, _La Fontaine_, _Racine_, and _Lewis XIV_--Mausolea of Cardinals _Richelieu_ and _Mazarin_--Statues of _Montesquieu_, _Fontenelle_, _Voltaire_, _Rousseau_, _Helvetius_, _Crébillon_, and _Piron_--Tombs of _Maupertuis_, _Caylus_, and Marshal _d'Harcourt_--This museum contains a chronology of monuments, both antique and modern, from 2500 years before our era down to the present time, beginning with those of ancient Greece, and following all the gradations of the art from its cradle to its decrepitude--Sepulchre of _Héloïse_ and _Abélard_.
LETTER XXVI. Dinner at General _A----y's_--Difference in the duration of such a repast now and before the revolution--The General's ancestor, _François A----y_, planned and completed the famous canal of Languedoc--_Dépôt de la guerre_--Such an establishment much wanted in England--Its acknowledged utility has induced Austria, Spain, and Portugal, to form others of a similar nature--Geographical and topographical riches of this _dépôt_.
LETTER XXVII. _Boulevards_--Their extent--Amusements they present--_Porte St. Denis_--Anecdote of Charles VI--_Porte St. Martin_--_La Magdeleine_ --Ambulating conjurers--Means they employ to captivate curiosity.
LETTER XXVIII. French funds and national debt--Supposed liquidation of an annuity held by a foreigner before the war, and yet unliquidated--Value of a franc.
LETTER XXIX. Grand monthly parade--Etiquette observed on this occasion, in the apartments of the palace of the _Tuileries_--_Bonaparte_--His person --His public character in Paris--Obstruction which the First Consul met with in returning from the parade--_Champs Elysées_--Sports and diversions there practised--Horses, brought from Marly to this spot, the master-pieces of the two celebrated sculptors, _Costou_ --Comparison they afford to politicians.
LETTER XXX. _Madonna de Foligno_--Description of the method employed by the French artists to transfer from pannel to canvass this celebrated master-piece of _Raphael_.
LETTER XXXI. _Pont Neuf_--Henry IV--His popularity--Historical fact concerning the cause of his assassination brought to light--The Seine swollen by the rains--It presents a dull scene in comparison to the Thames--Great number of washerwomen--_La Samaritaine_--Shoe-blacks on the _Pont Neuf_--Their trade decreased--Recruiting Officers--The allurements they formerly employed are now become unnecessary in consequence of the conscription--Anecdote of a British officer on whom a French recruiter had cast his eye--Disappointment that ensued.
LETTER XXXII. Balls now very numerous every evening in Paris--_Bal du Salon des Étrangers_--Description of the women--Comparison between the French and English ladies--Character of Madame _Tallien_--Generosity, fortitude, and greatness of soul displayed by women during the most calamitous periods of the revolution--Anecdote of a young Frenchman smitten by a widow--An attachment, founded on somewhat similar circumstances, recorded by historians of Henry III of France --Sympathy, and its effects.
LETTER XXXIII. _Pont National_, formerly called the _Pont Royal_--Anecdote of Henry IV and a waterman--_Coup d'oeil_ from this bridge--Quays of Paris --Galiot of St. Cloud--_Pont de la Concorde_--Paris besieged by the Swedes, Danes, and Normans, in 885--The Seine covered with their vessels for the space of two leagues--A vessel ascends the Seine from Rouen to Paris in four days--Engineers have ever judged it practicable to render the Seine navigable, from its mouth to the capital, for vessels of a certain burden--Riches accruing from commerce pave the way to the ruin of States, as well as the extension of their conquests.
LETTER XXXIV. French literature--Effects produced on it by the revolution--The sciences preferred to literature, and for what reason--The French government has flattered the literati and artists; but the solid distinctions have been reserved for men of science--Epic Poetry --Tragedy--Comedy--Novels--Moral Fable--Madrigal and Epigram--Romance --Lyric Poetry--Song--Journals.
LETTER XXXV. _Pont au Change_--_Palais de Justice_--Once a royal residence --Banquet given there, in 1313, by Philip the Fair, at which were present Edward II and his queen Isabella--Alterations which this palace has undergone, in consequence of having, at different times, been partly reduced to ashes--Madame _La Motte_ publicly whipped--In 1738, _Lewis XVI_ here held a famous bed of justice, in which _D'Espresmenil_ struck the first blow at royalty--He was exiled to the _Ile de St. Marguerite_--After having stirred up all the parliaments against the royal authority, he again became the humble servant of the crown--After the revolution, the _Palais de Justice_ was the seat of the Revolutionary Tribunal--_Dumas_, its president, proposed to assemble there five or six hundred victims at a time--He was the next day condemned to death by the same tribunal--The _Palais de Justice_, now the seat of different tribunals--The _grande chambre_ newly embellished in the antique style--_La Conciergerie_, the place of confinement of _Lavoisier_, _Malsherbes_, _Cordorcet_, _&c._--Fortitude displayed by the hapless _Marie-Antoinette_ after her condemnation--_Pont St. Michel_--_Pont Notre-Dame_--Cathedral of _Notre-Dame_--Anecdote of _Pepin_ the Short--Devastations committed in this cathedral--Medallions of _Abélard_ and _Héloïse_ to be seen near _Notre-Dame_ in front of the house where _Fulbert_, her supposed uncle, resided--_Petit Pont_--_Pont au Double_--_Pont Marie_--Workmen now employed in the construction of three new bridges--_Pont de la Tournelle_.
LETTER XXXVI. Paris a charming abode for a man of fortune--Summary of its advantages--_Idalium_--_Tivoli_--_Frascati_--_Paphos_--_La Phantasmagorie_ of _Robertson_--_Fitzjames_, the famous ventriloquist--Method of converting a galantee-show into an exhibition somewhat similar to that of the phantasmagorists.
LETTER XXXVII. Paris the most melancholy abode in the world for a man without money --_Restaurateurs_--In 1765, _Boulanger_ first conceived the idea of _restoring_ the exhausted animal functions of the delibitated Parisians--He found many imitators--The _restaurateurs_, in order to make their business answer, constitute themselves _traiteurs_--_La Barrière_--_Beauvilliers_, _Robert_, _Naudet_, and _Véry_ dispute the palm in the art of Appicius--Description of _Beauvilliers'_ establishment--His bill of fare--Expense of dining at a fashionable _restaurateur's_ in Paris--Contrast between establishments of this kind existing before the revolution, and those in vogue at the present day--Cheap eating-houses--The company now met with at the fashionable rendezvous of good cheer compared with that seen here in former times--_Cabinets particuliers_--Uses to which they are applied--Advantages of a _restaurateur's_--_Beauvilliers_ pays great attention to his guests--Cleanly and alert waiters--This establishment is admirably well managed.
VOLUME SECOND.
LETTER XXXVIII. National Institution of the Deaf and Dumb--France indebted to the philanthropic _Abbé de l'Épée_ for the discovery of the mode of instructing them--It has been greatly improved by _Sicard_, the present Institutor--Explanation of his system of instruction--The deaf and dumb are taught grammar, metaphysics, logic, religion, the use of the globes, geography, arithmetic, history, natural history, arts and trades--Almost every thing used by them is made by themselves--Lessons of analysis which astonish the spectators.
LETTER XXXIX. Public women--Charlemagne endeavours to banish them from Paris--His daughters, though addicted to illicit enjoyments, die universally regretted--_Les Filles Dieu_--_Les Filles pénitentes ou repenties_ --Courtesans--Luxury displayed in their equipages and houses--Kept women--Opera-dancers--Secret police maintained by Lewis XVI, in 1792 --Grisettes--Demireps--A French woman, at thirty, makes an excellent friend--_Rousseau's_ opinion of this particular class of women in Paris.
LETTER XL. National Institution of the Industrious Blind--Circumstance which gave rise to this establishment--_Valentin Haüy_, its founder, found his project seconded by the Philanthropic Society--His plan of instruction detailed--Museum of the Blind--After two or three lessons, a blind child here teaches himself to read without the further help of any master.
LETTER XLI. _Théâtre des Arts et de la République_, or Grand French opera--Old opera-house burnt down, and a new one built and opened in 72 days --Description of the present house--Operas of _Gluck_; also those of _Piccini_ and _Sacchini_--Gluckists and Piccinists--The singing is the weakest department at the French opera--Merits of the singers of both sexes--Choruses very full--Orchestra famous--The Chief Consul, being very partial to Italian music, sends to that land of harmony to procure the finest musical compositions.
LETTER XLII. Dancing improved in France--Effect of some of the ballets--_Noverre_ and _Gardel_ first introduce them on the French stage--Rapid change of scenery--Merits of the dancers of both sexes--The rector of St. Roch refuses to admit into that church the corpse of Mademoiselle _Chameroi_--The dancers in private society now emulate those who make dancing their profession--Receipts of the opera.
LETTER XLIII. New year's day still celebrated in Paris on the 1st of January --Customs which prevail there on that occasion--_Denon's_ account of the French expedition to Egypt--That country was the cradle of the arts and sciences--_Fourrier_ confirms the theory of _Dupuis_, respecting the origin, &c. of the figures of the Zodiac.
LETTER XLIV. _Hôtel des Invalides_--It was projected by Henry IV and erected by Lewis XIV--Temple of Mars--To its arches are suspended the standards and colours taken from the enemy--Two British flags only are among the number--Monument of _Turenne_--Circumstances of his death--Dome of the _Invalides_--Its refectories and kitchens--Anecdote of Peter the Great--Reflections on establishments of this description--_Champ de Mars_--_École Militaire_--Various scenes of which the _Champ de Mars_ has been the theatre--Death of _Bailly_--Modern national fêtes in France, a humble imitation of the Olympic games.
LETTER XLV. Object of the different learned and scientific institutions, which, before the revolution, held their sittings in the _Louvre_--Anecdote of Cardinal Richelieu--National Institute of Arts and Sciences --Organization of that learned body--Description of the apartments of the Institute--Account of its public quarterly meeting of the 15th Nivose, year X, (5th of January, 1802)--Marriage of Mademoiselle _Beauharnois_ to _Louis Bonaparte_.
LETTER XLVI. _Opéra Buffa_--The Italian comedians who came to Paris in 1788, had a rapid influence on the musical taste of the French public--Performers of the new Italian company--Productions of _Cimarosa_, _Paësiello_, &c.--Madame _Bolla_.
LETTER XLVII. Present state of public worship--Summary of the proceedings of the constitutional clergy--National councils of the Gallican church held at Paris--Conduct of the Pope, _Pius VII_--The Cardinal Legate, _Caprara_, arrives in Paris--The Concordat is signed--Subsequent transactions.
LETTER XLVIII. _Pantheon_--Description of this edifice--_Marat_ and _Mirabeau_ pantheonized and dispantheonized--The remains of _Voltaire_ and _Rousseau_ removed hither--The Pantheon in danger of falling--This apprehension no longer exists--_Bonaparte_ leaves Paris for Lyons.
LETTER XLIX. Scientific societies of Paris--_Société Philotechnique_--_Société Libre des Sciences, Lettres, et Arts_--_Athénée des Arts_--_Société Philomatique_--_Société Académique des Sciences_--_Société Galvanique_--_Société des Belles-Lettres_--_Académie de Législation_ --_Observateurs de l'Homme_--_Athénée de Paris_.
LETTER L. Coffee-houses--Character of the company who frequent them--Contrast between the coffee-houses of the present and former times--Coffee first introduced at Paris, in 1669, by the Turkish ambassador--_Café méchanique_--Subterraneous coffee-houses of the _Palais du Tribunat_.
LETTER LI. Public instruction--The ancient colleges and universities are replaced by Primary Schools, Secondary Schools, Lyceums, and Special Schools--National pupils--Annual cost of these establishments --Contrast between the old system of education and the new plan, recently organized.
LETTER LII. Milliners--_Montesquieu's_ observation on the commands of the fair sex--Millinery a very extensive branch of trade in Paris--_Bal de l'Opéra_--Dress of the men and women--Adventures are the chief object of those who frequent these masquerades.
LETTER LIII. _Théâtre Français de la République_--The house described--List of the stock-pieces--Names of their authors--_Fabre d'Eglantine_--His _Philinte de Molière_ a _chef-d'oeuvre_--Some account of its author --_La Chaussée_ the father of the _drame_, a tragi-comic species of dramatic composition.
LETTER LIV. Principal performers in tragedy at the _Théâtre Français_--_Vanhove_, _Monvel_, _St. Prix_, and _Naudet_--_Talma_, and _Lafond_--_St. Fal_, _Damas_, and _Dupont_--Mesdames _Raucourt_ and _Vestris_--Mesdames _Fleury_, _Talma_, _Bourgoin_, and _Volnais_--Mesdames _Suin_ and _Thénard_--_Début_ of Mademoiselle _Duchesnois_; Madame _Xavier_, and Mademoiselle _Georges_--Disorderly conduct of the _Duchesnistes_, who are routed by the _Georgistes_.
LETTER LV. Principal performers in comedy at the _Théâtre Français_--_Vanhove_, and _Naudet_--_Molé_, _Fleury_, and _Baptiste_ the elder--_St. Fal_, _Dupont_, _Damas_, and _Armand_--_Grandménil_, and _Caumont_ --_Dugazon_, _Dazincourt_, and _Larochelle_--Mesdemoiselles _Contat_, and _Mézeray_--Madame _Talma_--Mesdemoiselles _Mars, Bourgoin_, and _Gros_--Mesdemoiselles _Lachassaigne_ and _Thénard_--Mesdemoiselles _Devienne_ and _Desbrosses_--Contrast between the state of the French stage before and since the revolution.
LETTER LVI. French women fond of appearing in male attire--Costume of the French Ladies--Contrast it now presents to that formerly worn--The change in their dress has tended to strengthen their constitution--The women in Paris extremely cleanly in their persons--Are now very healthy.
LETTER LVII. The studies in the colleges and universities interrupted by bands of insurgents--_Collège de France_--It is in this country the only establishment where every branch of human knowledge is taught in its fullest extent--Was founded by Francis I--Disputes between this new College and the University--Its increasing progress--The improvements in the sciences spread by the instruction of this College--Its present state.
LETTER LVIII. _Théâtre de l'Opéra Comique_--Authors who have furnished it with stock-pieces, and composers who have set them to music--Principal performers at this theatre--_Elleviou_, _Gavaudan_, _Philippe_, and _Gaveaux_--_Chenard_, _Martin_, _Rézicourt_, _Juliet_, and _Moreau_ --_Solié_, and _St. Aubin_--_Dozainville_, and _Lesage_--Mesdames _St. Aubin_, _Scio_, _Lesage_, _Crétu_, _Philis_ the elder, _Gavaudan_, and _Pingenet_--Mesdames _Dugazon_, _Philippe_, and _Gonthier_.
LETTER LIX. France owes her salvation to the _savans_ or men of science --Polytechnic School--Its object--Its formation and subsequent progress--Changes recently introduced into this interesting establishment.
LETTER LX. Pickpockets and sharpers--Anecdote of a female swindler--Anecdote of a sharper--Housebreakers--_Chauffeurs_--A new species of assassins --_Place de Grève_--Punishment for thieves re-established--On the continent, ladies flock to the execution of criminals.
LETTER LXI. Schools for Public Services--The Polytechnic School, the grand nursery whence the pupils are transplanted into the Schools of Artillery, Military Engineers, Bridges and Highways, Mines, Naval Engineers, and Navigation--Account of these schools--_Prytanée Français_--Special Schools--Special School of Painting and Sculpture --Competitions--National School of Architecture--Conservatory of Music--Present state of Music in France--Music has done wonders in reviving the courage of the French soldiers--The French are no less indebted to _Rouget de Lille_, author of the _Marseillois_, than the Spartans were to _Tyrtæus_--Gratuitous School for Drawing--Veterinary School--New Special Schools to Le established in France.
LETTER LXII. Funerals--No medium in them under the old _régime_--Ceremonies formerly observed--Those practised at the present day--Marriages --Contrast they present.
LETTER LXIII. Public Libraries--_Bibliothèque Nationale_--Its acquisitions since the revolution--School for Oriental Living Languages.
LETTER LXIV. _Bibliothèque Mazarine_--_Bibliothèque du Panthéon_--_Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal_--The Arsenal--Other libraries and literary _dépôts_ in Paris.
LETTER LXV. Dancing--Nomenclature of caperers in Paris, from the wealthiest classes down to the poorest--Beggars form the last link of the chain.
LETTER LXVI. _Bureau des Longitudes_--Is on a more extensive scale than the Board of Longitude in England--National Observatory--Subterraneous quarries that have furnished the stone with which most of the houses in Paris are constructed--Measures taken to prevent the buildings in Paris from being swallowed up in these extensive labyrinths--Present state of the Observatory--_Lalande_, _Méchain_, and _Bouvard_--_Carroché_, and _Lenoir_--_Lavoisier_, and _Borda_--_Delambre_, _Laplace_, _Burckhardt_, _Vidal_, _Biot_, and _Puisson_--New French weights and measures--Concise account of the operations employed in measuring an arc of the terrestrial meridian--Table of the new French measures and weights--Their correspondence with the old, and also with those of England.
LETTER LXVII. _Dépôt de la Marine_--An establishment much wanted in England.
LETTER LXVIII. _Théâtre Louvois_--_Picard_, the manager of this theatre, is the _Molière_ of his company--_La Grande Ville, ou les Provinciaux à Paris_--Principal performers at this theatre--_Picard_, _Devigny_, _Dorsan_, and _Clozel_--Mesdemoiselles _Adeline_, _Molière_, _Lescot_, and Madame _Molé_--_Théâtre du Vaudeville_--Authors who write for this theatre--Principal performers--Public malignity, the main support of this theatre.
LETTER LXIX. _Hôtel de la Monnaie_--Description of this building--_Musée des Mines_--Formed by M. _Sage_--The arrangement of this cabinet is excellent--_Cabinet du Conseil des Mines_--Principal mineral substances discovered in France since the revolution.
LETTER LXX. _Théâtre Montansier_--Principal performers--_Ambigu Comique_--The curiosity of a stranger may be satisfied in a single visit to each of the minor theatres in Paris.
LETTER LXXI. Police of Paris--Historical sketch of it--Its perfections and imperfections--Anecdote of a minister of police--_Mouchards_ --Anecdote which shews the detestation in which they are held--The Parisian police extends to foreign countries--This truth exemplified by two remarkable facts--No _habeas corpus_ in France.