Page images
PDF
EPUB

tion of the gallery on the side of the Rue St. Honoré, and the completion of the Louvre, must be attributed to Napoleon. The form of this palace is square, with a square court in the centre, surrounded with buildings three stories high, the principal of which is ornamented with columns and the rest with bas-reliefs. Four spacious vestibules lead to the interior of the apartments and to the stair cases, the principal of which is very grand. The grand front is towards the church of St. Germain l'Auxerrois; it is 850 feet long, and not inferior to the most beautiful monuments of antiquity. The chief gate is in the centre, adorned with double pillars and crowned with a pediment, the coping of which is formed of only two stones, fifty-four feet long and eight broad. A project was formed during the times of the empire, and is still carrying on, for joining the Louvre to the Thuilleries by a double gallery, one on the side of the Seine which is accomplished, and the other from the north-west pavilion.

2. The Thuilleries.-This palace has taken its name from a place where there were several tile-kilns. It was commenced by Catherine de Medici in 1564, after the plans of Philibert de Lorme; the building was continued by Henry IV. and Louis XIII., and finished by Louis XIV. The front consists of five pavilions and four more buildings in the same line, the length of the whole being about 1000 feet. It is composed of almost all the different orders of architecture. The vestibule has five openings, so well planned that through the arcades you have a view of the whole length of the garden, as far as the top of the Elysian fields, presenting a most magnificent perspective. The arrange ment and ornaments of the interior of this building constitute it the finest palace in Europe. The apartments are decorated with splendid pieces of painting and sculpture, executed by the most celebrated artists, both Frenchmen and foreigners. Before the front of the carousel is a spacious court, separated from an immense square by an elegant breast high railing; at the central gate is a triumphant arch, upon which were lately placed the four bronze horses which for 500 years adorned St. Mark's Square in Venice.

3. The Luxembourg.-This palace was commenced in 1615 by Mary de Medici, and built in the space of six years, under the direction of Jean de Bresse, on the model of the palace of Pitti at Florence. It forms a rectangle of 300 feet in the front, and 360 feet in depth. The front, on the side of the Rue de Tournon, is composed of two pavilions, united by terraces supporting open galleries, in the middle of which rises a cupola united to the main building by two wings raised one story above it; four great square pavilions, the roofs of which terminate in a point, are at the angles of the principal building. The decorations are of the Tuscan, the Doric, and the Ionic orders. On the front of the side towards the court is an allegorical design, relative to commerce. Since the revolution this palace has received considerable additions and embellishments. The principal bodies of the state have successively held their meetings here, and it is at present the place of sitting for the cham

ber of peers. It contains several vast galleries, in which are exhibited the masterpieces of the French living artists.

4. The palace of the chamber of deputies, built in 1721, may bear comparison with the finest palaces of Italy. The entrance in the square is very fine, and the great gateway is adorned on each side with a colonnade of the Corinthian order. In the centre is a portico decorated with eight columns, surmounted by an attic, on the front of which is represented, in basso-relievo, the law protecting innocence and punishing crime. The hall of the assembly is semicircular and arranged in the form of an amphitheatre, the partition walls are of stucco of antique green cofor, and fringed with drapery; six side niches contain statues of the most celebrated orators of Rome and Athens. The front on the side of the Seine was built between the years 1804 and 1807; it has twelve immense Corinthian columns, supporting an entablature and approached by a vast flight of steps, eighteen feet in height, divided by a balustrade, and about 100 feet broad.

5. The hall of justice is an edifice founded in the earliest times of the French monarchy. St. Louis and Philip the Fair made great additions to it; Charles V. and Francis I. made it their residence; in 1776 part of it was consumed by fire, and in the reign of Louis XVI. the grand front was raised, and the court enclosed by a fine railing. The entrance to it is in a semicircular spot, at the end of which runs the Rue de la Barillerie. It consists of a central building and two advanced wings, presenting fronts, each decorated with four Ionic columns. A flight of steps, sixty feet long and seventeen high, lead to the central building, which presents also four columns, with four colossal statues representing Power, Plenty, Justice, and Prudence. The two side wings of the court are pierced, level with the ground, with arcades, above which are raised two floors of buildings. The space occupied by this edifice reaches from the Change Bridge to the Place Dauphine, and takes in the breadth of half of the island of the city. This palace, devoted to the administration of justice by Louis XII., is the seat of the court of cassation, the court of accounts, the royal court, and an inferior court of judicature.

6. The exchange is a superb edifice, situated at the end of the Rue Vivienne, on the site of the ancient convent of the nuns of St. Thomas. It is a rectangle, the base of which is 206 feet long and 122 wide. Sixty-six columns support the entablature and an attic, and form a covered gallery round the building. A raised flight of steps, the whole breadth of the western front, leads to this gallery and to the principal entrance. The public saloon in the centre is 114 feet long by seventy-five broad, and receives its light from the cupola.

7. The palace of the legion of honor is an elegant structure, once intended for the residence of the prince of Salm Salm. At the entrance is a triumphal arch, decorated with pillars of the Ionic order; from this two galleries lead to two pavilions, which stand forward in the building, of which the attic is covered with bas reliefs; an Ionic peristyle runs round the court, forming a

23. The building of new Magdalen church was commenced in 1764, by order of Louis XV., and continued under the following reign; but owing to the revolution the work was stopped from 1789 to 1806, when Napoleon conceived the idea of making it a temple to glory, dedicated to the grand army. The works were accordingly recommenced and a second time suspended. In 1816 a royal ordinance determined that this church should be finished on a new plan and devoted to the reception of the expiatory monuments of Louis XVI., and Marie Antoinette. The interior of the temple of glory was to have been a parallelogram decorated with pilasters; its ulterior destination must make many changes in the plan and arrangement. Besides these, the churches of St. Roch, St. Eustathius, St. Gervaise, le Val-de-Grace, the Sorbonne, the Holy chapel, St. Steven of the Mount, the Oratoire, &c., are well worthy of attention.

Seventeen bridges, twelve of which are of stone and very beautiful, communicate with the different parts of Paris. The bridge of Austerlitz, or of the botanical garden, connects the botanic garden with the arsenal. It consists of five arches of cast-iron, supported on piles and abutments of freestone; it is 400 feet long and thirtyseven wide, and cost 3,000,000 of francs, which is defrayed by a toll on carriages and foot passengers. The bridge of Grammont joins the arsenal to the isle Louvieres. St. Mary's bridge connects the Elms quay with the island of St. Louis. The bridge of the Tournelle, forms a communication between the quay of the same name, and the isle of St. Louis. The city bridge, built in 1804, joins the city to the island, the abutments are of stone, and its arch wood. The Pontau-Double connects the Rue de la Bûcherie with the bishopric; it was built in 1634. The Little Iron Bridge, erected in 1606 over a small arm of the Seine, establishes a communication in the interior of the Hotel-Dieu. The Little Bridge, uniting the quarter of St. James's to the city, may be regarded as one of the most ancient in Paris; as it formed, with the Change Bridge, the two entrances of Parisii or Lutetia, in the time of the Romans. The latter, thrown over the grand arm of the river, is the largest in Paris;

has seven arches. The Bridge of Notre Dame, remarkable for its solidity and elegance, forms the communication between the quay Lepelletier, and Dessaix Quay. Here is an hydraulic engine which furnishes water to several parts of Paris. St. Michael's bridge joins the Augustine's Quay with the New Market. Three bridges had been built on this spot, when in 1616 the present one was erected by a company, on the condition of being allowed to build houses; of these there were thirty-two, but they were pulled down in 1804. Pont Neuf, consisting of iwelve arches, was begun in 1578 and finished In 1604 under the reign of Henry IV. It is thrown over two arms of the river, in the middle of which is the island of the City; and is 468 feet long by seventy-eight broad. The platform between is occupied by the statue of the good king Henry on horseback; the bronze group which composes this monument is fourteen feet high. The bridge of the arts is situated between

the palace of the Louvre and that of the fine arts, from which it takes its name. It consists of nine iron arches with stone abutments; its length is 516 feet, and its breadth thirty; foot passengers pay a toll here. The Royal Bridge was built in 1685, by order of Louis XIV., aud joins the Louvre Quay with Voltaire's Quay. It is 432 feet long, and fifty-two broad. From this bridge the passenger has a most delightful view over the capital, embracing the Thuilleries, the Louvre, the two arms of the Seine, &c. &c. Louis XVI's. Bridge, commenced in 1787 and finished in 1791, joins the square of Louis XV. with the quays of Orsay and the Invalids. It was built by the architect Peyronnet, and is remarkable for the boldness of its arches, the vast extent of the square in which it abuts, and the elegant buildings of which it commands a view. The bridge of the Military School forms a line of communication between the Champ de Mars and the road to Versailles; it is 460 feet long, by forty-two broad, and perfectly horizontal. The Suspension Bridge of the invalids, uniting the esplanade of that hospital with the Elysian Fields. It is supported by four columns ten feet in diameter at their bases, and the chain, comprising the curve which it describes, is 240 metres in extent, formed of long links, and sustained by masonry imbedded thirty feet deep. The breadth of this bridge is forty-two feet.

The numerous fountains that embellish this capital, and contribute to the health and comfort of its numerous inhabitants, are supplied from three reservoirs, two steam pumps, and one hydraulic machine. The reservoir of Cassini distributes the waters, which are brought to it by the aqueduct of Arcueil; the reservoir of St. Martin's boulevard is supplied from the canal of the Ourcq; and that of the Palais Royal receives the waters of the Seine and the Arcueil. The Fountain of the Innocents is the finest in Paris : it was built in 1551 after the designs of Pierre Lescot. It is ornamented with basso-relievo and figures of great beauty; the water issues from a large vase and falls in magnificent cascades. This monument is forty-two feet in height. The fountain of Grenelle is the work of the chisel of the celebrated Bouchardon; it is decorated with seven statues, the three principal of which are grouped and represent the city of Paris seated on a pedestal with the Seine on one side and the Marne on the other, rendering homage to her and bringing to her all the productions of the seasons, which are designed by four figures placed around the group. The fountain Dessaix was erected in 1801 to 1803, to the memory of general Dessaix, who was killed at the battle of Marengo. It represents a military genie crowning the figure of Dessaix; two figures of Fame are inscribing on two rolls, one, Thebes and the pyramids, and the other Kel and Marengo; on the front of the pedestal the name of the warrior is engraven in letters of gold. The Fountain of the Palm-tree, finished in 1808, is situated in the centre of the Place du Chatelet. It is of a quadrilateral form, and in the midst of it rises, from a basin twenty feet in diameter, a column in the Egyptian style representing a palm-tree; the jet which serves for a base rests on an elevated

platform, each angle of which is adorned with a cornucopia, from which issues the water. Above the column is a ball, on which is a figure of Fame with spread wings and extended arms, and holding a civic crown in each hand. Below are four statues representing Justice, Fortitude, Vigilance, and Prudence. The pillar is cut at equal intervals by bracelets, on which are inscribed in letters of brass the names of the principal battles gained by the French armies; the chapiter is ornamented with feathers and palm-leaves, and the pedestal has an eagle with outstretched wings and is encircled with laurel. The fountain of the Medical School consists of a grotto formed by four fluted columns of the Doric order; the waters fall from the arch above, and are supplied from the Seine. Besides these there are several others very beautiful.

Paris contains several fine squares or public places, the most remarkable of which are, the Place du Carousel, between the Louvre and the Thuilleries, which is one of the largest in Europe. The principal ornament which it presents is the triumphal arch already mentioned. The Place Vendome, executed after the designs of Mansard was commenced in 1699 and finished in 1715. It is octagonal, with four long and four short sides. The centre was occupied by an equestrian statue of Louis XIV., which was thrown down in 1792, and its place is now occupied by the triumphal column raised to the honor of the French armies. The Place des Victoires, of an oval form, was built in 1686, after the designs of Mansard. It is surrounded with beautiful buildings ornamented with pilasters of the Ionic order. Before the revolution here stood the statue of Louis XIV., treading on a Cerberus, the symbol of the triple alliance over which he had triumphed, and behind him was the figure of Victory; at the four corners were four slaves in bronze, chained and sitting on trophies, representing the nations France had conquered. This was destroyed in 1792 and is now replaced by another of more recent execution. The Place Louis XV., which has been successively called the Place de la Revolution and the Place de la Concorde, was finished in 1772. It is a parallelogram of 780 feet in length by 630 broad, surrounded by large ditches fenced with stone balustrades. Its four outlets present magnificent views of the Thuilleries, the Magdalen, the arch of the Etoile, and the palace of the legislative body. Here it was that Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette were beheaded in 1793; an expiatory monument is now built on the spot in memory of this deplorable event. There are other public places which deserve mention, as the Place Royale with the statue of Louis XIII.; the Place Dauphine, the centre of which is occupied by a fountain with the statue of general Dessaix; the Place du Chatelet, remarkable for the palm fountain; the Place de l'Hotel-de-Ville, surrounded with very ancient houses; the Place St. Antoine; the Place Maubert, &c. &c.

This city also contains a number of public establishments, remarkable for the elegance of their construction, in its halls, markets, hospitals, prisons, cemeteries, &c. There are thirty-seven halls or markets, the principal of which are the follow

ing :-The corn market, built in 1767 on the ancient site of the Hotel de Soissons, is a circular building isolated and open on all sides, being pierced with twenty-five arcades six feet and a half wide, answering to as many streets, which they front. It is of the Tuscan order of architecture. Above these are vast granaries, vaulted with brick and stone, with which two flights of stairs communicate. The cupola, which was considered very fine, was consumed by fire in 1802; but in 1811 it was replaced by an iron one. The market of the Innocents is in the same quarter with several others in a vast area once occupied by the church and cemetery of the Innocents; it is a great square, surrounded with large and convenient galleries; in the centre is a superb fountain with four jets at the four angles. Here the wholesale market of fruits and vegetables commences at break of day, and closes between nine and ten o'clock; then begins the retail trade, which lasts through the day. The cloth market was built in 1786; it is isolated on all sides, and surrounded witn a foot path enclosed within a railing; it is 400 feet long and fifty feet broad. The roof is vaulted and covered with tinned copper. It is open every day for the sale of cloths, and three days in the month for linen. The poultry and game market, erected on the site of the old convent of the Great Augustines, was finished in 1811; it is built of free-stone, covered with slates, and consists of three galleries, separated by pillars supporting arches. It is 190 feet long and 141 feet broad. The calf market was built in 1774, and is surrounded by four streets. It is open every Wednesday and Saturday for the sale of calves, and on Fridays for the sale of tallow. Among the markets we might also mention the wine market, the flower and shrub market on Dessaix quay, the Jacobins market, &c. &c. Besides these there is the granary of reserve, a vast edifice begun in 1807, consisting of a long line of five square pavilions, united by four principal buildings. Here are deposited about 25,000 sacks of flour, belonging to the bakers of Paris.

Of the several large and well conducted hospitals in this city we may particularise the Hotel Dieu for the reception of 4000 sick; the general hospital de la Salpêtriere, designed for women; the Val de Grâce, a military hospital; the hospital of St. Louis; the lying-in hospital; the Foundling Hospital, &c. &c. Paris contains ten prisons:-the Conciergerie, where persons committed for trial are confined; the great and little Force; the St. Pelagie, where are destined those who are arrested for debt, and persons convicted of political crimes; Les Madelonettes, a prison designed for women who are condemned for any crimes; St. Lazare; l'Abbaye, a prison for the military; the Montaign; the Refuge; and the Hotel de Bazancourt, a place of confinement for the national guard. Since the practice of burying the dead within the cities has been abolished there have been only five burial grounds :-the cemetery of Vaugirard, that of Mount Parnassus, of St. Catherine, of Mont Martre, and St. Louis, or the Père Lachaise. This last is the largest in Paris, containing an area of eighty acres, and a vast number of monuments, among which may

be mentioned those of Molière, La Fontaine, Chenier, Monge, Foi, Massena, Parmentier, Gretry, Mehul, Girodet, Delille, and many others. The cemetery, which has several rising grounds, affords a picturesque walk, and is much frequented in fine weather. The catacombs are vast subterraneous caverns, in which, during the eighteenth century, the bones taken out of all the burial grounds of the city were deposited. These were formerly quarries, from which has been dug most of the stone for the churches, palaces, and other public buildings, and they now serve as a depository for the remains of past generations. They have three entrances, the first by the western pavilion of the barrière d' Enfer, the second at the tomb Isoire, and the third in the plain of Mount Souris. The first is most used, and visitors are admitted on producing a ticket from the inspector general, or any of the superintending engineers.

Among the public establishments of Paris should be noticed the baths, which have much increased in number within these few years past, and received considerable improvements in regard to neatness, convenience, and elegance. There is still wanting, however, an establishment of this kind where the working class could, for a small sum, or even gratuitously, enjoy this healthful exercise. There are twenty-five public baths; the most frequented of which are those of St. Sauveur, Montesquieu, Chinois, Turcs, Tiquetonne, Géures, and Vigur upon the Seine, near Pont Marie, Pont Neuf, and Pont Royal; raised two or three stories high on elegant boats as large as great vessels, and containing 150 bathing boxes. There are many fine gardens, among which the following are particularly worthy of notice: -The garden of the Thuilleries, planted by the celebrated Le Notre, consists of two parts, one near the palace, occupied by beds of flowers, the other by immense trees, and the whole encircled with spacious terraces. The different parterres are divided by grass plats, and among them are three circular pieces of water, stocked with fish and swans, and a fountain in the centre; to these follow two masses of trees, equal in extent, and arranged on the right and left of the middle alley; they are principally chestnuts and elms. At the extremity of these is an immense octagonal basin, with a fountain, beyond which is the railing of the Champs Elisées; here the two principal terraces terminate, and the angle which they form is occupied by a platform of great length, planted with shrubs of various sorts; these terraces are covered with avenues of trees. Besides the common plants here are found some most beautiful orange trees, and other exotics, which are brought out in the spring, and continue till the chill nights of autumn. Statues and groups, copies of the masterpieces of antiquity, or the work of skilful modern artists, add to the beauties of this delightful garden. The Luxembourg garden, which owes its origin to the duke of Luxembourg, but was almost entirely laid out afresh in 1806, rivals that of the Thuilleries in the thick clusters of its trees and the beauty of its parterres. Here also are scattered copies of a great number of antique statues, placed in such a manner as to

vary and embellish its whole extent. The botanical or king's garden, established in 1636, by Guy de la Brosse, physician to Louis XIII., fo the cultivation of foreign plants, has received considerable additions since that period; but it is particularly to the celebrated Buffon that owes its present splendor, being the finest of the kind in Europe. It consists of a garden of plants methodically arranged; a menagerie, an amphitheatre for the lectures, and a library. The garden, reaching to the banks of the Seine, presents one of the largest, pleasantest, and most healthy walks in the neighbourhood of Paris, here are found trees, shrubs, and vegetables from every country upon earth. In the upper part, which is planted with evergreens, and called the Swiss valley, there is a little eminence, ascended by a spiral road, whence you enjoy a most delightful view. This hill is crowned with a pavilion in bronze very elevated, and surmounted by a sphere. One of the most interesting parts of this garden is the menagerie, where the animals range at liberty within greater or less enclosures, suited to their different natures. The Elysian fields, a fine promenade opposite the grand alley of the Thuilleries, of which it seems only a continuation, was planned in the reign of Louis XIV., and partly replanted in 1770. In this place and the squares adjacent to the avenue of Neuilly the public rejoicings take place. The Champ de Mars is a vast rectangle 2700 feet long by 900 broad, and reaches from the military school to the Seine. It is surrounded with ditches coped with masonry and sloping terraces, and adorned both within and without with four rows of trees, and five iron railings connected with the five gates. This place is capable of containing 400,000 persons, and it was here that, on the 14th of July 1790, Louis XVI. took the constitutional oath, and it was on that occasion that the idea was conceived of making slopes or steps to accommodate the spectators; but the work was advancing very slowly, though 12,000 workmen were employed in it, when the inhabitants of Paris spontaneously engaged in the undertaking, and it was finished with the greatest ardor and celerity. Here, during the same year, a funeral ceremony was performed in honor of the citizens who had fallen before Nancy; here were held the anniversaries of the 14th of July and the 10th of August, the festivals of reason and of the Supreme Being! Here the directory received the statues from Italy, and here in 1815 Napoleon reviewed the whole of the imperial guard, and about 60,000 of the national guard of Paris.

This city is externally surrounded by boulevards, forming three alleys bordered by four rows of trees; the middle of the principal alley is occupied by a road; the side alleys are gravelled, and afford very pleasant walks. The old boulevard within the city was commenced in 1536, at the time that the English were ravaging Picardy and menacing the capital; in 1668 they began to plant trees. It runs from the banks of the Seine, near St. Martin's lock, to the entrance of the Rue Royale, and is about 2400 feet i extent. It is one of the most frequented walks in the capital, both on account of the fine view which it presents of gardens, hotels, shops, the

atres, coffee-houses, and other public buildings, and the multitude of spectators met with at every step. Some years before the revolution the farmers general, having obtained permission of Louis XVI. to extend the limits of Paris, built walls and constructed numerous barriers at all the issues from the city, some of which are models of taste and elegance.

Among the numerous public establishments of this metropolis the theatres undoubtedly hold a high rank. Of these there are five royal and eight secondary, for the most part extremely well filled, 10,000 persons at least daily frequenting them. The annual produce is about 72,000,000 francs, yielding 720,000 francs to the poor of Paris. The Opera house is the most celebrated in Europe for the magnificence of its decorations, the beauty of the scenes, the perfection of the dancing, the composition of the ballets, and the skill of the musical performers; it contains seats for 1937 persons. It owes its origin to the abbé Perrin, was established at first as a tennis court, and was transferred from place to place, till at last the saloon of the palais royal was occupied for the purpose. This place being consumed by fire, in 1781, the opera was again removed to several places, until it was fixed in the Rue de Richelieu; but in 1820, the duke of Berri having been assassinated as he was coming out of this place, it was shut up and soon after pulled down, a new house having been erected in the Rue Le pelletier. The royal French theatre was opened in 1790; it is situated in the Rue de Richelieu, and has a front adorned with twelve Doric pillars, with Corinthian chapiters, and an entablature. It is 166 feet long and 105 broad, the front of the stage being thirty-eight feet wide; it will seat about 1500 spectators. In the middle of the vestibule is a statue of Voltaire. The theatre for comic operas, built in 1791, has recently been pulled down in order to accomplish the projected improvements in the quarter of the exchange; it has since been rebuilt on a new site. The performances at this theatre are aided by the labors of some of the first composers of the day. The royal theatre of the Odeon was first built in 1782, but has been burned down twice, in 1799 and 1818; it was rebuilt in 1821, and constituted the second French theatre. The front is in a simple and noble style of architecture, having a peristyle in advance, ornamented with eight Doric pillars; under the porch three doors lead into a vestibule decorated after the Tuscan style. The body of the building is entirely isolated, but joined by three galleries pierced with forty-six arcades. The interior is of an oval form, fifty-six feet long and forty-seven broad; the king's box is in the middle, and is richly decorated. The royal Italian theatre is situated in the Rue de Louvois, and is open three times a week for serious and comic operas of the different Italian schools. The secondary theatres are the Vaudeville, Les Variétés, the Dramatic Gymnasium, La Porte St. Martin, La Gaîté, L'Ambigu-Comique, the Olympic Circus, and the Magic or Children's Theatre.

The French Academy holds the first rank among institutions for the encouragement of the arts and sciences. It was founded in 1635 by VOL. XVI.

cardinal Richelieu, but suppressed by the convention in 1793; this same convention, after having overturned the tyranny of Robespierre, by a decree of the 28th of October, 1795, founded the Institute in the room of the Academy of Sciences, the French Academy, the Academy of Inscriptions and the Belles Lettres, and the Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. In the year 1803 Buonaparte, who had been nominated a member of the Institute, on his being created consul made a fresh arrangement into four classes: that of natural philosophy and mathematics to consist of sixty members; languages and French literature forty members; history and ancient literature forty members; and the fine arts thirty members, which has been since increased to forty. At the return of the king, in 1814, Lucien and Joseph Buonaparte, members of the second and third classes, were expelled. The year following M. Vaublanc gave a new constitution to the Institute; the names of Regnault de St. Jean d'Angely, Cambacères, Merlin, Maury, Gregoire, Lebreton, Arnaud, St. Etienne, the celebrated David, and others, were erased, and (a thing unheard of before) the king nominated to the vacant places. The sittings of the Institute are held at the Palais des Beaux Arts.

In no city in the world are scientific establishments, and the means of instruction, so multiplied as in Paris. There are thirty-six great institutions for public education, besides more than 300 private seminaries, where the different branches of science are taught. The university was suppressed in the year 1793, but re-established in 1808, and re-organised in 1821. The faculty is composed of five orders, and is under the direction of a minister of state, who superintends the ecclesiastical business and the public instruction. The five orders are the faculties of theology, law, medicine, natural philosophy and mathematics, and belles lettres, and they consist of a grand master, a director of public instruction, several inspectors general of the studies, honorary inspectors general, inspectors of academies, rectors, provisors, &c. The principal establishments of education are the Royal College, the abovementioned faculties, the royal colleges of Louis le Grand, Henry IV., Bourbon, Charlemagne, and St. Louis; the colleges of St. Barbe, Stanislas, and the British; the royal polytechnic school; the royal colleges of oriental languages, mines, bridges, and highways; of charters, music, and riding; the institution for the deaf and dumb, &c.

Besides the establishments particularly devoted to instruction, Paris contains a number of societies which have rendered great services to science, the arts, commerce, and industry; the chief of them are, the Central Agricultural Society, the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry, the Royal Society of Antiquaries, the Geographical Society, the Society for Elementary Instruction, the Royal Academic Society of Sciences, the Athenæum of Arts, the Polytechnic Society, the Royal Athenæum, the Grammatical and Philomatical societies, the Literary Society, the Society of Friends of the Arts, the Academic Society of the Children of Apollo, the Writing

2 Q

« PreviousContinue »