Chapter IV: 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.

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.