PARIS

PARIS, son of Priam, king of Troy, by Hecuba, also named Alexander. He was decreed, even before his birth, to become the ruin of his country; and when his mother, in the first months of her pregnancy, had dreamed that she should bring forth a torch which would set fire to her palace, the soothsayers foretold the calamities which were to be expected from the imprudence of her future son, and which would end in the ruin of Troy. Priam, to prevent so great and so alarming an evil, ordered his slave Archelaus to destroy the child as soon as he was born. The slave, either touched with humanity, or influenced by Hecuba, did not obey, but was satisfied to expose the child on mount Ida, where the shepherds of the place found him, and educated him as their own. Some attribute the preservation of his life, before he was found by the shepherds, to the motherly tenderness of a she-bear who suckled him. Young Paris, though educated among shepherds and peasants, gave very early proofs of courage and intrepidity; and from his care in protecting the flocks of mount Ida from the rapacity of the wild beasts, he was named Alexander, "helper or defender." He gained the esteem of all the shepherds, and his graceful countenance and manly deportment recommended him to the favours of Cænone, a nymph of Ida, whom he married, and with whom he lived with the most perfect tenderness. Their conjugal peace was, however, of no long duration. At the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, the goddesses of discord, who had not been invited to partake of the entertainment, showed her displeasure, by throwing into the assembly of the gods who were at the celebration of the nuptials, a golden apple, on which were written the words Detur pulchriori. All the goddesses claimed it as their own; the contention at first became general; but at last only three, Juno, Venus, and Minerva, wished to dispute their respective right to beauty. The gods, unwilling to become arbiters in an affair so tender and so delicate in its nature, appointed Paris to adjudge the prize of beauty to the fairest of the goddesses; and indeed the shepherd seemed sufficiently qualified

Paris. qualified to decide so great a contest, as his wisdom was so well established, and his prudence and sagacity so well known. The goddesses appeared before their judge without any covering or ornament, and each endeavoured by promises and entreaties to gain the attention of Paris, and to influence his judgment. Juno promised him a kingdom; Minerva military glory; and Venus the fairest woman in the world for his wife, as Ovid expresses it, Heroid 17. v. 118.

Unaque cum regnum; belli daret altera laudem;
Tyndaridis conjux, tertia dixit, eris.

After he had heard their several claims and promises, Paris adjudged the prize to Venus, and gave her the golden apple, to which perhaps she seemed intitled as the goddess of beauty. This decision of Paris drew upon the judge and his family the resentment of the two other goddesses. Soon after, Priam proposed a contest among his sons and other princes, and promised to reward the conqueror with one of the finest bulls of mount Ida. His emissaries were sent to procure the animal, and it was found in the possession of Paris, who reluctantly yielded it. The shepherd was anxious to regain his favourite, and he went to Troy and entered the lists of the combatants. He was received with the greatest applause, and obtained the victory over his rivals, Nestor the son of Neleus, Cyrenus son of Neptune, Polites, Helenus, and Deiphobus, sons of Priam. He likewise obtained a superiority over Hector himself; which prince, enraged to see himself conquered by an unknown stranger, pursued him closely; and Paris must have fallen a victim to his brother's rage, had he not fled to the altar of Jupiter. This sacred retreat preserved his life; and Cassandra the daughter of Priam, struck with the similarity of the features of Paris with those of her brothers, inquired his birth and his age. From these circumstances she soon discovered that he was her brother, and as such she introduced him to her father and to her brothers. Priam acknowledged Paris as his son, forgetful of the alarming dreams which had caused him to meditate his death, and all jealousy ceased among the brothers. Paris did not long suffer himself to remain inactive; he equipped a fleet, as if willing to redeem Hefione his father's sister, whom Hercules had carried away and obliged to marry Icarion the son of Eacus. This was the pretended motive of his voyage, but the causes were far different. Paris remembered that he was to be the husband of the fairest of women; and, if he had been led to form those expectations while he was an obscure shepherd of Ida, he had now every plausible reason to see them realized, since he was the acknowledged son of the king of Troy. Helen was the fairest woman of the age, and Venus had promised her to him. On these grounds, therefore, he went to Sparta, the residence of Helen, who had married Menelaus. He was received with great respect; but he abused the hospitality of Menelaus, and while the husband was absent in Crete, Paris persuaded Helen to elope with him, and to fly to Asia. Helen consented; and Priam received her into his palace without difficulty, as his

sister was then detained in a foreign country, and as he wished to show himself as hostile as possible to the Greeks. This affair was soon productive of serious consequences. When Menelaus had married Helen, all her suitors had bound themselves by a solemn oath to protect her person, and to defend her from every violence; and therefore the injured husband reminded them of their engagements, and called upon them to recover her. Upon this all Greece took up arms in the cause of Menelaus; Agamemnon was chosen general of all the combined forces, and a regular war was begun. Paris, meanwhile, who had refused Helen to the petitions and embassies of the Greeks, armed himself, with his brothers and subjects, to oppose the enemy; but the success of the war was neither hindered nor accelerated by his means. He fought with little courage, and at the very sight of Menelaus, whom he had so recently injured, all his resolution vanished, and he retired from the front of the array, where he walked before like a conqueror. In a combat with Menelaus, which he undertook by means of his brother Hector, Paris must have perished, had not Venus interfered, and stolen him from the resentment of his antagonist. He wounded, however, in another battle, Machaon, Euryphylus, and Diomedes; and, according to some opinions, he killed with one of his arrows the great Achilles.

The death of Paris is differently related: some say that he was mortally wounded by one of the arrows of Philoctetes, which had been once in the possession of Hercules; and that when he found himself languid on account of his wounds, he ordered himself to be carried to the feet of Enone, whom he had basely abandoned, and who in the years of his obscurity had foretold him that he would solicit her assistance in his dying moments. He expired before he came into the presence of Enone; and the nymph, still mindful of their former loves, threw herself upon his body, and stabbed herself to the heart, after she had plentifully bathed it with her tears. According to others, Paris did not immediately go to Troy when he left the Peloponnus, but he was driven on the coasts of Egypt, where Proteus, who was king of the country, detained him; and when he heard of the violence which had been offered to the king of Sparta, he kept Helen at his court, and permitted Paris to retire. Whatever was the mode of his death, it took place, we are told, about 1188 B. C. See Troy, &c.

Paris, the capital of the kingdom of France; is situated on the river Seine, in the isle of France, being one of the largest and finest cities in Europe. It derived its modern name from the ancient Parisii; and is supposed by some to have had the Latin name of Lutetia, from Lutum, "mud," the place where it now stands having been anciently very marshy and muddy. Ever since the reign of Hugh Capet, that is, for near 800 years, this city hath been the usual residence of the kings of France; it is of a circular form, and, including the suburbs, about five French leagues, or 15 English miles, in circumference. The number of its inhabitants is computed at about 500,000 (A); that of its streets

streets 912; and that of its houses upwards of 20,000, exclusive of the public structures of all sorts. Its greatest defect, according to some, is the want of good drinking water; but others tell us, that very fine water is brought by an aqueduct from the village of Arcueil, not far from Paris, but own that the water of the Seine, and the city, is not good. The streets are of a proper breadth, well built, paved, and lighted. There is a great number of tribunals and offices here; most of which are kept in the Palais, situated on an island, to which it gives name. The number of churches, convents, hospitals, market-places, fountains, gates, and bridges, in this city is very great; besides the university, several academies, public libraries, royal palaces and castles, and above 100 hotels, some of them very stately. But to be more particular, that part called la Cité, lies in the centre, and consists of three islands formed by the Seine, viz. L'Île de Palais, L'Île de Notre Dame, and L'Île Louviers. It is the principal of the three parts into which the city is divided, and contains the following remarkable structures:

8th of September, when a vacation chamber is appointed during the interval, for criminal causes, and others which require dispatch. The jurisdiction of this court is of great extent. There is a beautiful chapel belonging to the Palais: in which is also the prison, or jail, for the jurisdiction of the parliament, called in French La Contourge.

Louvre is a palace for great Lewis fit:
God him alone exceeds, as heaven does it.

This palace is joined to the Thuilleries by a gallery, in which are 180 models of fortresses, some situated in France, and some in other countries, executed with the utmost accuracy. Here is a valuable collection of paintings, the king's printing-house, the mint where the king's medals are struck, together with a prodigious quantity of rich tapestry hangings, and a collection of ancient arms, among which are those worn by Francis I. at the famous battle of Pavia. Here also the French academy, the academy of inscriptions and belles lettres, the royal academy of sciences, the academy of painting and sculpture, and the royal academy of architecture, have their meetings. The first of these was founded for the improvement of the French language; and as for the others, their names explain the design of their institution.

composed of four rows of lofty elms, to which vast crowds of people resort in the fine weather, as well as to the gardens. In the palace is a spacious and magnificent theatre; and hard by it are the Elysian fields, where a surprising number of coaches are to be seen in fair weather: not far off is the church of St Roche, where the celebrated poet Corneille is interred. 13. La place de Louis le Grand, a very beautiful square, in the centre of which is an equestrian statue of that king, which is justly accounted a masterpiece. 14. The Place, or Square des Victoires, which is round, and contains a statue of Lewis XIV. of gilt brass, erected to him by the duke de la Faullade, with this inscription, Vivo immortalis. 15. The Royal Library in the Rue Vivien, which contains 94,000 printed books, 30,000 manuscripts, and a prodigious collection of copperplates and medals. Near by, in the church-yard of St Joseph, lies the famous comic poet Moliere. 16. The parish-church of St Eustace, which stands in the quarter of the same name, and contains the tomb of the great minister Colbert. 17. The gate of St Dennis, which was erected as a triumphal arch in honour of Lewis XIV. 18. The gate of St Martin, erected also in form of a triumphal arch, in honour of the same king. Not far from hence, in the church-yard of St Nicholas des Champs, Peter Gassendi, and other learned men, are buried. 19. La Greve, an open place, where all public rejoicings are celebrated, and malefactors executed. 20. The Hotel de Ville, which is a large building of Gothic architecture, though adorned with columns of the Corinthian order. 21. The arsenal in the quarter of St Paul, consisting of many spacious buildings, among which are a foundry, and a house for making saltpetre. Here is a musquetoon of two barrels, which it is said will pierce a thick board at the distance of six miles; and for discerning an object at that distance, has a telescope fixed to the barrel. 22. The Bastille, a kind of fortress like the Tower of London, which is used as a prison for state-criminals, and for such as are taken up by letters de cachet, i. e. by warrants signed by the king, and sealed. 23. Le Temple, a commandery of the knights of Malta, which gives name to a quarter, wherein, being a privileged place, artificers that are not freemen may carry on their business without molestation. The temple is the residence of the grand prior of the French nation. 24. That formerly called La Maison professe des Jésuites, in the quarter of St Anthony, in the church of which the hearts of Lewis XIII. and XIV. are preserved, each in a casket of gold, supported by two angels of massy silver, and as big as the life, hovering with expanded wings. In the same quarter is a fine looking glass manufacture, where above 500 persons are employed in polishing plates cast at St Gobin; with a convent of Franciscans, the monks of which are called Pique-pates, or Prick-pates.

In that part of the city called the University, the principal places are,

1. The university, which gives name to it, and which was first founded, as it is said, by Charles the Great: all the arts and sciences are taught here, particularly law, physic, and divinity. There are above 40 colleges; of which the chief are those of Sorbonne, of Navarre, of the faculty of physic, and of the four nations; but lectures are read only in eleven of them.

The head of the university is the rector, who is chosen every three months, but sometimes is continued several years. All the professors have settled salaries; the whole annual income of the university amounting, it is said, to about 50,000 livres. 2. The Gobelins, a house or palace, where a great number of ingenious artists, in various manufactures and handicrafts, are employed by the government. The most curious tapestry of all sorts is made here. 3. The General Hospital, a most noble foundation for the poor of the female sex, near 7000 objects being taken care of and provided for. The sick are carefully tended; and those that are in health are obliged to work; different wards being allotted for foundlings, for girls who sew or knit, prostitutes, idiots, and poor women: of the last, some are kept gratis, and others pay a small matter. In the cable of Bicetre, belonging to this hospital, and consisting of many large buildings, are near 4000 persons of the other sex, among which are persons disordered in their senses, and such as are afflicted with the venereal disease. To this hospital are also sent children who abuse their parents, and lead dissolute lives. The fund for the maintenance of it, and the hospital de la Pietie, where poor children are brought up, together with the Hotel Dieu, amounts to above two millions of livres per annum. 4. The King's Physic Garden, in which are an infinite variety of plants and trees, a certain sum being allotted by the king for keeping the garden in order, and improving it, and for lectures on botany, anatomy, chemistry, and the materia medica. A curious collection of natural curiosities is kept here. 5. The abbey of St Victor, in which is a public library, containing some very ancient and scarce books, several curious manuscripts, and a prodigious collection of maps and copperplates. 6. The College of Physicians, to which belong five professors. 7. The Little Chatelet, an old fortress, now used for a prison. 8. The Rue St Jacques, chiefly inhabited by bookfellows. 9. The Royal College, and that of Lewis the Great: to the former belong twelve professors. 10. The Abbey of St Genevieve, in which is the marble monument of king Clovis, the shrine of St Genevieve, a large library, with a cabinet of antiquities and natural curiosities. 11. The Royal Observatory, a most stately edifice, built on the highest part of the city. Several astronomers are maintained here by the king. 12. The Royal Academy of surgery, instituted in 1731. 13. The Convent of Franciscans, in the quarter of St Andrew, the richest in France. In the same quarter are some remains of the palace of Julian the Apostate, in which Childebert, and some other kings of the Franks, afterwards resided. 14. The Play-house. 15. The Convent of Carthusians, in the quarter of Luxembourg, containing fine paintings. 16. The palace of Luxembourg, or Orleans, a magnificent structure, containing also some fine paintings by Rubens, and embellished with a noble garden. In the Hotel des Ambassadeurs, ambassadors extraordinary are entertained for three days, and those of remote countries all the time they stay at Paris. 17. The Abbey of St Germain des Prez, which contains a very valuable library, the manuscripts alone making 8000 volumes: here also is a cabinet of antiquities. 18. The Hotel royal des Invalides, erected by Lewis XIV. in which lame

lame and superannuated officers and soldiers are maintained. The buildings take up no less than 17 acres. The number of common soldiers here amount to about 3000, and of officers to about 500. The chapel is very magnificent. Hard by is a military academy, in which 500 young gentlemen are instructed in the art of war.

Our readers from the above account will be able to conceive what Paris was; what it is we cannot so easily show them. Possessed by a set of men who disgrace human nature, and whose reign may be as short as that of a considerable number of those who have preceded them, its state in every sense is fluctuating and undetermined; inasmuch that what may be true of it to-day, would perhaps be false to-morrow. Respecting its public buildings, internal police, and other circumstances, it is impossible to speak with certainty. The bastille is levelled with the dust; but unjust imprisonments have not ceased; and other places in that extensive capital overflow with unfortunate persons who deserved a better fate; whose only crime is, that they are related to the late lamented king; that they were once nobles or allied to nobility; or that they are churchmen, or wish for some regular government to relieve their distracted country from the anarchy that has destroyed it. The church of Notre Dame, one of the finest cathedrals in Europe, is no more a place of Christian worship, but has been solemnly dedicated by the deluded people to reason and philosophy. Its archbishop has renounced the peaceful religion of Jesus (a thing almost unheard of in the history of Christianity); and has with his own hand knocked down those images which ancient superstition indeed had erected, but which should nevertheless have been removed with reverence and decency. On the whole, such strange and unlooked for revolutions have taken place in this once flourishing city, as renders it impossible to say where they may end, or what may be their consequences.—To give a history of the events that have occurred here within these few years, is not our business in an article of this sort. They have been partly, i.e. as far as they were then known, mentioned under the article FRANCE; and for further information, our readers were there referred to REVOLUTION. To this article we again refer them, in hopes that something decisive may (by the time that we arrive at that period of our work) have taken place with respect to the kingdom of which Paris is the capital.

Paris, Herb Paris, or Truelove: A genus of the trigynia order, belonging to the oclandria class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 1st order, Sarmentaceæ. The calyx is tetraphyllous; there are four petals, narrow in proportion; the berry quadrilocular. There is but one species, growing naturally in woods and shady places both in Scotland and England. It hath a single naked stem, greenish blossoms, and bluish black berries.—The leaves and berries are said to partake of the properties of opium; and the juice of the berries is useful in inflammations of the eyes. Linnaeus says, that the root will vomit as well as ipecacuanha, but must be taken in double the quantity. Goats and sheep eat the plant; cows, horses, and swine, refuse it. Though this plant has been reckoned of a poisonous nature, being ranked among the aconites; yet late authors attribute quite other

properties to it, esteeming it to be a counter-poison, and good in malignant and pestilential fevers.

Herb Paris of Canada or of America, Trillium. In botany, a genus of the hexandria trigynia class: The characters are, that it has a three-leaved spreading empolement, and three oval petals; it has sixawl-shaped stamens, terminated by oblong summits, and a roundish germen with three slender recurved styles, crowned by single stigmas; the germen afterwards becomes a roundish berry, with three cells filled with roundish seeds. There are three species.

Plaster of Paris. See PLASTER of Paris.