Chapter I: Front Matter

Every attempt has been made to replicate the original book as printed. Some typographical errors have been corrected. (see list following the text.) No attempt has been made to correct or normalize the printed accentuation of names or words. (etext transcriber’s note)

OLD AND NEW PARIS

Its History, its People, and its Places

BY

H. SUTHERLAND EDWARDS

AUTHOR OF “IDOLS OF THE FRENCH STAGE” “THE GERMANS IN FRANCE” “THE RUSSIANS
AT HOME” ETC. ETC.

VOL. II

_WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS_

CASSELL AND COMPANY LIMITED

_LONDON PARIS & MELBOURNE_

1894

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

STREET CHARACTERS. PAGE

The “Cocher”--The Bus-driver--The Private Coachman--The Hackney Coachman--The Public Writer--The Flower-girl--The Oyster-woman.....1

CHAPTER II.

THE ENGLISH AND AMERICANS IN PARIS.

The Englishman Abroad--M. Lemoinne’s Analysis--The Englishwoman--Sunday in London and in Paris--Americans in Paris--The American Girl.....9

CHAPTER III

MORE PARISIAN TYPES.

The Spy--Under Sartines and Berryer--Fouché--Delavau--The Present System--The Écuyère--The Circus in Paris.....17

CHAPTER IV.

THE DOMESTIC.

The French Servant, as described by Léon Gozlan and by Mercier--The Cook and the Cordon Bleu--The Valet.....20

CHAPTER V.

PARISIAN CHARACTERISTICS.

Parisian Characteristics--Gaiety, Flippancy Wit--A String of Favourite Anecdotes.....24

CHAPTER VI.

THE STREETS.

The Arrangement of the Streets--System of Numbering the Houses--Street Nomenclature--Street Lamps--The Various Kinds of Vehicles in Use.....28

CHAPTER VII.

THE SEINE AND ITS BRIDGES.--THE MORGUE. The Various Bridges over the Seine--Their Histories--The Morgue--Some Statistics.....33

CHAPTER VIII.

THE REFORMATION IN PARIS.

D’Étaples, the Pioneer of the Reformation--Nicolas Cop and Calvin--Progress of the Reformation--Persecutions--Catharine de Médicis--St. Bartholomew’s--The Edict of Nantes.....36

CHAPTER IX.

THE UNIVERSITY OF PARIS AND THE COLLEGE OF FRANCE.

The French Educational System--Lycées and Collèges--The University of Paris--The College of France.....44

CHAPTER X.

THE SORBONNE.

Robert de Sorbonne--The Sorbonne, its Origin and History--Richelieu--The Revolution--The New Sorbonne--Mercier’s Views.....49

CHAPTER XI.

THE INSTITUTE.

The Institute--Its Unique Character--The Objects of its Projectors--Its Constitution.....53

CHAPTER XII.

THE ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE.

The Académie Française--Its Foundation by Richelieu--Its Constitution--The “Forty-first Chair”.....55

CHAPTER XIII.

THE PANTHÉON.

The Church of Clovis--The Church of Sainte-Geneviève--France in the Thirteenth Century--The Building of the New Church under Louis XV.--Mirabeau and the Constituent Assembly--The Church of Sainte-Geneviève becomes the Panthéon......59

CHAPTER XIV.

THE POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL.

The “Central School of Public Works”--Bonaparte and the Polytechnic--The College of Navarre--Formal Inauguration in 1805--1816--1830.....67

CHAPTER XV.

THE HÔTEL CLUNY.

The Rue des Carmes--Comte de Mun and the Catholic Workmen’s Club--The Place Maubert--The Palais des Thermes--The Hôtel Cluny--Its History--Its Art Treasures.....71

CHAPTER XVI.

THE MUSÉE D’ARTILLERIE.

The Museum of Artillery--Its Origin and History--The Growth of its Collection of Armour and Weapons of all Kinds.....83

CHAPTER XVII.

THE VAL DE GRÂCE--RELICS OF THE GREAT.

The Deaf and Dumb Institution--The Val de Grâce--Hearts as Relics--Royal Funerals--The Church of Saint-Denis.....89

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE CATACOMBS: THE OBSERVATORY.

Origin of the Catacombs--The Quarries of Mont Souris--The Observatory--Marshal Ney--The School of Medicine.....99

CHAPTER XIX.

THE ODÉON: THE LUXEMBURG PALACE.

The Odéon--Its History--Erection of the Present Building in 1799--Marie de Médicis and the Luxemburg Palace--The Judicial Annals of the Luxemburg--Trials of Fieschi and Louvel--Trial of Louis Napoleon--Trial of the Duc de Praslin.....109

CHAPTER XX.

THE PRISONS OF PARIS.

La Santé--La Roquette--The Conciergerie--The Mazas--Sainte-Pélagie--Saint-Lazare--Prison Regulations.....131

CHAPTER XXI.

THE PARIS ZOO.

The Jardin des Plantes--Its Origin and History--Under Buffon--The Museum of Natural History--The Tobacco Factory.....147

CHAPTER XXII.

SOME HISTORICAL BUILDINGS.

Abailard and Héloise--Fulbert’s House in the Rue des Chantres--The Philip Augustus Towers--The Hôtel Barbette--The Hôtel de Sens.....156

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE MONT-DE-PIÉTÉ.

“Uncle” and “Aunt”--Organisation of the Mont-de-Piété--Its Various Branches--Its Warehouses and Sale-rooms.....160

CHAPTER XXIV.

PARIS MARKETS.

The Halles-Centrales--The Cattle Markets--Agriculture in France--The French Peasant.....166

CHAPTER XXV.

SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRÉS.

Its Origin and History--Its Library--Its Organ--Saint-Sulpice.....170

CHAPTER XXVI.

PRINTING IN PARIS--THE CENSORSHIP.

Rue Visconti--Historical Buildings--The National School of Roads and Bridges--The Introduction of Printing into Paris--The First Printing Establishments--The Censorship.....174

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE HÔTEL DES INVALIDES.

A Glance at its History--Louis XIV. and Mme. de Maintenon--The Pensioners--Their Characteristics and Mode of Life.....185

CHAPTER XXVIII.

SOME MORE PARIS HOSPITALS.

The French Hospital System--The Laënnec Hospital--The Houses of Assistance--The Quinze-Vingts--Deaf and Dumb Institutions--The Abbé de l’Épée--La Charité.....193

CHAPTER XXIX.

LUNATIC ASYLUMS AND MIXED INSTITUTIONS.

The Treatment of Lunacy in the Past--La Salpêtrière--Bicêtre--The Story of Latude--The Four Sergeants of La Rochelle--Pinel’s Reforms--Charenton.....207

CHAPTER XXX.

THE RIVER BIÈVRE AND THE MANUFACTORY OF THE GOBELINS.

The Brothers Gobelin--Lebrun--The Gobelins under Louis XIV.--At the Time of the Revolution--The Manufactory of Sèvres.....225

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE PALAIS BOURBON.

The Palais Bourbon--Its History--The National Convention--Philippe Égalité.....231

CHAPTER XXXII.

SOME HISTORICAL RESIDENCES.

The Palace of the Legion of Honour--The Ministry of War--The Rue de Grenelle--Talleyrand.....236

CHAPTER XXXIII.

THE RUE TARANNE AND DIDEROT.

Diderot’s Early Life in Paris--His Love Affairs--Imprisonment in the Château de Vincennes--Diderot and Catherine II. of Russia--His Death.....242

CHAPTER XXXIV.

MONSEIGNEUR AFFRE AND THE INSURRECTION OF JUNE.

The Courtyard of the Dragon--The National Workshops--The Insurrection of June--Monseigneur Affre Shot at the Barricade of the Faubourg St. Antoine.....247

CHAPTER XXXV.

SOME OCCUPANTS OF MONTPARNASSE.

The Boulevard Montparnasse--The Cemetery--Father Loriquet--Hégésippe Moreau--Sainte-Beuve.....250

CHAPTER XXXVI.

SPORTS AND DIVERSIONS.

Le “Sport”--Longchamps--Versailles Races--Fontainebleau--The Seine--Swimming Baths--The Art of Book-collecting.....254

CHAPTER XXXVII.

FENCING SCHOOLS.

Fencing in France--A National Art--Some Extracts from the Writings of M. Legouvé, One of its Chief Exponents--The Old Style of Fencing and the New.....257

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

PETTY TRADES.

Petty Trades--Their Origins--The Day-Banker--The Guardian Angel--The Old-Clothesman--The Claque--Its First Beginning and Development.....259

CHAPTER XXXIX.

OBSOLETE PARIS SHOPS.

The Old Wooden Stalls of Forty Years Ago--The “Lucky Fork”--The Cobbler’ Shops--The Old Cafés.....265

CHAPTER XL.

THE PARIS PRESS.

French Governments and the Press--The Press under Napoleon--Some Account of the Leading Paris Papers--The _Figaro_.....268

CHAPTER XLI.

FROM THE QUAI VOLTAIRE TO THE PANTHÉON.

The Quai Voltaire--Its Changes of Name--Voltaire--His Life in Paris and Elsewhere--His Remains laid in the Panthéon--Mirabeau--Rousseau--Vincennes.....273

CHAPTER XLII.

THE PALAIS MAZARIN AND THE RUE MAZARINE.

The Institute or Palais Mazarin--The Rue Mazarine--L’Illustre Théâtre--Molière--The Theatre Français--The Odéon--Heine--The Faubourg Saint-Germain--Historical Associations.....288

CHAPTER XLIII.

THE PARIS RIVER AND PARIS COMMERCE.

The Society of the Water-Merchants of Paris--The Navigation of the Seine--The Paris Slaughter-Houses--Records of Famine in France--The Lot of the French Peasant in the Last Century--The Paris Food Supply.....307

CHAPTER XLIV.

THE BARRIERS--PARISIAN CRIME.

The Approaches to Paris--The French Railway System--The St. Germain Railway--The Erection of the Barriers--Some of the most famous Barriers--Parisian Crime--Its Special Characteristics.....317

CHAPTER XLV.

PARISIAN MENDICANCY--THE PARIS POOR.

Parisian Mendicancy in the Sixteenth Century--The General Hospital--Louis XV. and the Beggars--The Revolution--Mendicancy as a Regular Profession--The Organ-grinders and the Trade in Italian Children--The French Treatment of the Poor--Asylums, Almshouses, and Retreats--The _Droit des Pauvres_--The Cost of the Poor.....324

CHAPTER XLVI.

VERSAILLES.

Derivation of the Name--Saint-Simon’s Description--Louis XIV.--The Grand Fête of July, 1668--Peter the Great and the Regent--Louis XV.--Marie Antoinette and the “Affair of the Necklace”--The Events of October, 1789.....338

CHAPTER XLVII.

VERSAILLES AND THE SIEGE OF PARIS.

The Advance on Paris--Preparations for the Siege--General Trochu--The Francs-Tireurs--The Siege.....348