CONTENTS.
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'œuvre 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'œil 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'œuvre—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.
LETTER LXXII.
The savans saved France, when their country was
invaded—Astonishing exertions made by the French on that
occasion—Anecdote relating to Robespierre—Extraordinary
resources created by the men of science—Means employed for increasing the
manufacture of powder, cannon, and muskets—The produce of these new
manufactories contrasted with that of the old ones—Territorial
acquisitions of the French—The Carnival revived in Paris.
LETTER LXXIII.
Public gaming-houses—Académies de jeu, which existed in Paris
before the revolution—Gaming-houses licensed by the police—The
privilege of granting those licences is farmed by a private
individual—Description of the Maisons de jeu—Anecdote of an
old professed gambler—Gaming prevails in all the principal towns of
France—The excuse of the old government for promoting gaming, is
reproduced at the present day.
LETTER LXXIV.
Museum of Natural History, or Jardin des Plantes—Is much enlarged
since the revolution—One of the first establishments of instruction in
Europe—Contrast between its former state and that in which it now
is—Fourcroy, the present director—His
eloquence—Collections in this establishment—Curious articles which
claim particular notice.
LETTER LXXV.
The Carnival—That of 1802 described—The Carnival of modern times,
an imitation of the Saturnalia of the ancients—Was for some years
prohibited, since the revolution—Contrast between the Carnival under the
monarchy and under the republican government.
LETTER LXXVI.
Palais du Sénat Conservateur, or Luxembourg Palace—Mary of
Medicis, by whom it was erected, died in a garret—It belonged to
Monsieur, before the revolution—Improvements in the garden of the
Senate—National nursery formed in an adjoining piece of
ground—Bastille—Le Temple—Its
origin—Lewis XVI and his family confined in this modern state-prison.
LETTER LXXVII.
Present slate of the French Press—The liberty of the press, the measure
of civil liberty—Comparison, between the state of the press in France and
in England.
LETTER LXXVIII.
Hospitals and other charitable
institutions—Hôtel-Dieu—Extract from the report of the
Academy of Sciences on this abode of pestilence—Reforms introduced
into it since the revolution—The present method of purifying French
hospitals deserves to be adopted in England—Other hospitals in
Paris—Hospice de la Maternité—La
Salpêtrière—Bicêtre—Faculties and Colleges of
Physicians, as will as Colleges and Commonalties of Surgeons, replaced in
France by Schools of Health—School of Medicine of Paris—France
overrun by quacks—New law for checking the serious mischief they
occasion—Society of Medicine—Gratuitous School of
Pharmacy—Free Society of Apothecaries—Changes in the teaching and
practice of medicine in France.
LETTER LXXIX.
Private seminaries for youth of both sexes—Female
education—Contrast between that formerly received in convents, and that
now practised in the modern French boarding-schools.
LETTER LXXX.
Progressive aggrandisement of Paris—Its origin—Under the name of
Lutetia, it was the capital of Gaul—Julian's account of it—The
sieges it has sustained—Successively embellished by different
kings—Progressive amelioration of the manners of its
inhabitants—Rapid view of the causes which improved them, from the reign
of Philip Augustus to that of Lewis XIV—Contrast between the number of
public buildings before and since the revolution—Population of Paris,
from official documents—Ancient division of Paris—Is now divided
into twelve mayoralties—Barrières and high wall by which it is
surrounded—Anecdote of the commis des barrières seizing an
Egyptian mummy.
LETTER LXXXI.
French Furniture—The events of the revolution have contributed to improve
the taste of persons connected with the furnishing line—Contrast between
the style of the furniture in the Parisian houses in 1789-90 and
1801-2—Les Gobelins, the celebrated national manufactory for
tapestry—La Savonnerie, a national manufactory for
carpeting—National manufactory of plate-glass.
LETTER LXXXII.
Academy of Fine Arts at the ci-devant Collège de
Navarre—Description of the establishment of the
Piranesi—Three hundred artists of different nations distributed in
the seven classes of this academy—Different works executed here in
Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Mosaic, and Engraving.
LETTER LXXXIII.
Conservatory of Arts and Trades—It contains a numerous collection of
machines of every description employed in the mechanical arts—Belier
hydraulique, newly invented by Montgolfier—Models of curious
buildings—The mechanical arts in France have experienced more or less the
impulse given to the sciences—The introduction of the Spanish merinos has
greatly improved the French wools—New inventions and discoveries adopted
in the French manufactories—Characteristic difference of the present
state of French industry, and that in which it was before the revolution.
LETTER LXXXIV.
Society for the encouragement of national industry—Its origin—Its
objects detailed—Free Society of Agriculture—Amidst the storms of
the revolution, agriculture has teen improved in France—Causes of that
improvement—The present state of agriculture briefly contrasted with that
which existed before the revolution—Didot's stereotypic editions
of the classics—Advantages attending the use of stereotype—This
invention claimed by France, but proved to belong to
Britain—Printing-office of the Republic, the most complete typographical
establishment in being.
LETTER LXXXV.
Present State of Society in Paris—In that city are three very distinct
kinds of society—Description of each of these—Other societies are
no more than a diminutive of the preceding—Philosophy of the French in
forgeting their misfortunes and losses—The signature of the definitive
treaty announced by the sound of cannon—In the evening a grand
illumination is displayed.
LETTER LXXXVI.
Urbanity of the Parisians towards strangers—The shopkeepers in Paris
overcharge their articles—Furnished Lodgings—Their price—The
Milords Anglais now eclipsed by the Russian Counts—Expense of
board in Paris—Job and Hackney Carriages—Are much improved since
the revolution—Fare of the latter—Expense of the
former—Cabriolets—Regulations of the police concerning these
carriages—The negligence of drivers now meets with due
chastisement—French women astonish bespattered foreigners by walking the
streets with spotless stockings—Valets-de-place—Their wages
augmented—General Observations—An English traveller, on visiting
Paris, should provide himself with letters of recommendation—Unless an
Englishman acquires a competent knowledge of the manners of the country, he
fails in what ought to be the grand object of foreign travel—Situation of
one who brings no letters to Paris—The French now make a distinction
between individuals only, not between nations—Are still indulgent to the
English—Animadversion on the improper conduct of irrational British
youths.
LETTER LXXXVII.
Divorce—The indissolubility of marriage in France, before the revolution,
was supposed to promote adultery—No such excuse can now be
pleaded—Origin of the present laws on divorce—Comparison on that
subject between the French and the Romans—The effect of these laws
illustrated by examples—The stage ought to be made to conduce to the
amelioration of morals—In France, the men blame the women, with a view of
extenuating their own irregularities—To reform women, men ought to begin
by reforming themselves.
LETTER LXXXVIII.
The author is recalled to England—Mendicants—The streets of Paris
less infested by them now than before the
revolution—Pawnbrokers—Their numbers much increased in Paris, and
why—Mont de Piété—Lotteries now established in the principal
towns in France—The fatal consequences of this incentive to
gaming—Newspapers—Their numbers considerably
augmented—Journals the most in request—Baths—Bains
Vigier described—School of Natation—Telegraphs—Those in
Paris differ from those in use in England—Telegraphic language may be
abridged—Private collections most deserving of notice in
Paris—Dépôt d'armes of M. Boutet—M. Régnier,
an ingenious mechanic—The author's reason for confining his observations
to the capital—Metamorphoses in Paris—The site of the famous
Jacobin convent is intended for a market-place—Arts and Sciences are
become popular in France, since the revolution—The author makes amende
honorable, or confesses his inability to accomplish the task imposed on him
by his friend—He leaves Paris.