PARIS, the capital of the kingdom of France, is situated on the river Seine, in the department of the Seine, at the distance of 120 miles from the sea, and is 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 has been the usual residence of the kings of France. It is of a circular form; its extent along the river is about four miles and a half, its breadth three and a half, and its circumference about 16 miles. The number of its inhabitants in 1817, was 713,000. Paris is the see of an archbishop, the seat of the court, of the chief tribunals, and public bodies in the kingdom. Before the revolution, it contained 46 parish churches, 20 subsidiary churches, 11 abbeys, 133 monasteries and convents, 13 colleges, 15 public schools, and 26 hospitals. Of the convents and monasteries, the greater number were suppressed in the course of the revolution. Three have been converted into commodious prisons, four into hospitals, three into barracks, and several others into markets and manufactories of various kinds. The Seine, upon which Paris stands, is much smaller than the Thames. It forms two islands, the Isle of St. Louis, and the Isle of Notre Dame. The former was the site of the ancient city. In the oldest part of Paris, as in London, the streets are narrow, dark, and dirty. Few of them have pavements for foot passengers, who are exposed to be trodden down or crushed by the carriages plying back and forward. The gutter, which is in the centre, is generally filled with a stream of mud even in summer, which the pedestrian often finds it difficult to cross, and from which he is sure to be bespattered by the drivers of the cabriolets. There are few of those splendid equipages which crowd the streets of London to be seen in Paris, the higher classes in the latter being comparatively poor; but fiacres and cabriolets are very numerous. The houses are generally of stone, six or seven stories high, with one gable or wing to the street, and with the lower windows barricaded with iron. The street entrance is often by a massive gate which opens into a court, and out of this court there is one common entrance into a large building called a hotel, the first floor of which is probably occupied by a person of rank, who pays 300l. per annum of rent; above him are tenants in different gradations of fashion or opulence, to the sixth or seventh floor, which is inhabited by the milkman, the cobler, or the scavenger, paying only ten pounds of rent. The whole of this ill assorted community use the same magnificent staircase, decorated with marble columns and bas-reliefs, and embrowned by the filth of a hundred dirty feet. When a hotel (or large house) is inhabited by one opulent or noble family, it is not unusual to make the upper story the receptacle for the hay and provender for the horses. The lamps are suspended by cords across the middle of the street,
but usually afford more light than those of London. The shops are generally small and dark, without projecting windows for the display of goods, or any other mark to distinguish them except a sign-board. In viewing the city from a distance, nothing strikes an Englishman more than the great transparency of the atmosphere, and absence of that cloud of smoke which hovers over our cities, in consequence of the use of pitcoal for fuel: the Parisians scarcely use any thing else than wood.
Paris surpasses all the other capitals of Europe in its number and splendour of its public edifices. Of these one of the most distinguished is the Palace of the Tuilleries, founded by Catherine de Medicis. The front consists of five pavilions comprising that of the centre, with four ranges of buildings connecting them together, and forming one grande façade, adorned with columns of the various orders, and with vases and statues. In front of the building stands a beautiful triumphal arch erected by Napoleon. Behind it are extensive gardens laid out with exquisite taste by Lenestre, embellished with orange trees, statues, fountains, and basins of water. In the morning they are the resort of the politician, who is accommodated with a chair and newspaper for four sous; in the evening they are crowded with gay and fashionable company. 2. The Palais Royal, originally built by Cardinal Richelieu, is a magnificent edifice adorned with Doric and Ionic columns, with a garden, basin, and fountain. The arcades of the ground story are occupied by innumerable shops, of small dimensions, but elegantly fitted up. Beneath are apartments where various groups are dancing, regaling with liquor, engaged in play, or in scenes of vice and debauchery. Other apartments are occupied by restaurateurs, lecturers on belles lettres and philosophy, or literary societies. It is in short a little world within itself. 3. The Luxembourg, or Palace of the Chamber of Peers, is one of the most magnificent palaces in Paris. It consists of one vast court of a square form, 360 feet by 300, surrounded by porticos, and flanked by square buildings called pavilions. The garden is fine, and from its elevated situation commands many delightful views of the city. 4. The Palace of Justice is a large and handsome building, forming three sides of a square, and occupied partly by some of the tribunals. 5. The Hotel de Bourbon, or Palace of the Representatives, is chiefly distinguished by its noble portico, with a colonnade of the Corinthian order surmounted by a pediment. It is delightfully situated on the banks of the Seine. 6. The Louvre is connected by a gallery with the Tuilleries. The façade of this building, called the colonnade, is justly regarded as one of the most perfect pieces of architecture to be found anywhere. In this building was the celebrated museum, which was stript of so many works of art after the battle of Waterloo. 7. The Palace of the Fine Arts, formerly called the College of the Four Nations, is an elegant edifice of a semicircular form, with a dome which is much admired. It contains two libraries; and the school of fine arts, and the meetings of the institute, now called the royal academy, are held here. 8. The Royal Observatory, erected in 1667, is distinguished by the simplicity of its design and the harmony of its parts. It is vaulted throughout, and has neither wood nor iron in its construction. It has a well 170 feet deep, to the bottom of which there is a descent by a stair; and the
stair is so constructed as to leave a vacancy in the middle, through which the stars are seen from the bottom of the well at midday. Three astronomers are always resident here. 9. The Hotel de Ville, or town hall, is worthy of notice both for its antiquity and its architecture. It is rich in beauty and ornament. An equestrian statue of Henry IV. in bas relief is placed over the principal entrance. Hither Robespierre retreated after he was outlawed. In front of the Hotel de Ville is the famous lamp iron, and within it is preserved the still more famous guillotine. 10. The Mint is one of the finest ornaments of the banks of the Seine. It is 360 feet long by 84 in height, and combines simplicity of design, with a tasteful display of ornament. 11. The cathedral of Notre Dame, the mother church of France, was built about the year 1010, or according to others 1177. Its architecture, though Gothic, is singularly bold and delicate, and it has ever been esteemed one of the handsomest structures in the kingdom. It is 414 feet long, 144 wide, and 102 high. 12. Abbey du Val de Grace, now converted into an hospital; it has a fine dome decorated in the inside with some excellent fresco paintings. 13. The church of St Eustache, is a model of the boldness and lightness of the Gothic style. 14. The Pantheon, a large and magnificent temple, 339 feet long by 253 broad, with a dome rising to the height of 282 feet. The portal, formed by 22 Corinthian columns 58 feet high, is 112 feet long and 36 deep, and is crowned with a grand bas relief, sculptured by Coustou. It was originally built on a plan too light to sustain its own weight, and the alterations rendered necessary to support it, have injured its beauty: but it is still a grand and imposing structure. It was designed to commemorate men whose talents or achievements had reflected honour on their country. There are four Protestant churches in Paris, of which that in the Rue St Honoré is much admired for its elegance; and two Jewish synagogues. Several of the remaining convents are worth visiting. The Catacombs of Paris are justly classed among the curiosities of the place. These are very extensive quarries excavated in ancient times in the limestone rock under the city, and used at a later period as a depository for the bones of the dead. For many centuries the inhabitants of Paris buried their dead in large trenches, into which the corpses were thrown in heaps, and thinly covered with earth. From the small extent of the burying grounds, these trenches were soon opened again, and the putrid mass often spread contagion over the town. At length the government forbid all burials within the walls, and had these immense masses of corruption which had been accumulating for ten centuries, taken up, the bones separated and cleaned, and deposited in these catacombs. They are placed along the walls in rows, those of one size and kind being placed together. There are some of the apartments resembling chapels, in which are vases and altars sometimes formed of human bones, and sometimes having skulls of different sizes disposed about them as ornaments. Some of the altars are cut out of the solid rock; and it is believed that, in a very early age, they were frequented as places of Christian worship. The descent to these caverns is by a narrow staircase of eighty steps, and the visitor is conducted out at another passage more than half a mile distant. The guide as
well as the stranger bears a torch; the former traces his course by a black line marked on the roof. Without this, there would be a risk of losing the way amidst the labyrinth of passages and chambers.
There are upwards of seventy squares in Paris, many of which are well deserving of attention for the beauty, richness, and uniformity of the buildings, and for the columns and statues that adorn them. Among these may be mentioned the Place des Victoires, Place Vendôme, Place de Louis XV. There are sixty fountains, some of which exhibit very beautiful specimens of architecture. The Fountain of the Elephant, in which the water was to have been thrown out from the trunk of a bronze statue of an elephant 72 feet high, was begun by Napoleon, but was left unfinished at his overthrow, and the work has not since been resumed. The bridges of Paris cannot vie with those of London. The most remarkable are, the Pont Neuf, completed by Henry the fourth, 996 feet long, and 90 broad. The Pont Royal; Pont Louis XVI; Pont au Change; Pont St Michael; Pont Notre Dame; Pont de la Tournele; Pont de Austerlitz, completed in 1807; Pont de Jena, lately finished; Pont des Arts, consisting of nine cast metal arches. Paris contains also a number of triumphal arches. Those called the Gate of St Dennis and the Gate of St Martin were erected in the reign of Louis XIV, and are very fine pieces of architecture. The triumphal arch of the Tuilleries erected by Bonaparte, is also of exquisite workmanship; but the bronze horses which were placed over it have been restored to Venice, and the statue of Napoleon has been cast down.
The hospitals and charitable institutions of Paris which are numerous, and many of them on an extensive scale, are supported by the government. More than 15,000 beds are made up at the different hospitals, and the annual expenditure is computed at 300,000 sterling. The Hotel des Invalides, or hospital for disabled and superannuated soldiers, is a magnificent building, in a fine situation near the Seine. The colours taken from the different nations which were suspended here, were burnt by the veterans, when the allies were before Paris, to prevent them from being retaken. We can only mention the Hotel Dieu, or hospital for the sick, the Hospice de Salpêtrière, which is a charity workhouse for women, the Hospital de Charité, Maison de Santé, the Hospital de Maternité for lying-in women and foundling children. There is besides a foundling hospital.
The Royal University of Paris, suppressed in 1792, but since re-established, consists of four faculties, viz. theology, in which there are six professors; law, in which there are seven; surgery, in which there are about twenty lecturers, many of whom are men of distinguished abilities; and lastly, letters and science, which includes professorships on philosophy, literature, poetry, history, and geography. At the royal college of France, lectures are given gratuitously on many branches of science and literature; and among the lecturers are the names of Delambre, Biot, Portal, and Cuvier. At the polytechnic school, about 300 young men, selected from those who have distinguished themselves at the inferior schools, are furnished with the higher branches of education gratuitously. They go chiefly into the service of the artillery. There are besides a school of the fine arts, a school of mines, and a variety of others. The institution
institution for the blind, and that for the deaf and dumb, are meritorious establishments, and extremely well conducted. The museums and libraries of various kinds in Paris, are too numerous to admit of separate description here. The museum of natural history includes a botanic garden, a menagerie, a collection of minerals, of animal remains, of anatomy, with a library, all on the most extensive scale, and in the most perfect order. The museum of French monuments contains many interesting remains of antiquity, along with those of a late period. The Louvre, though it has been despoiled of many of its choicest pieces, still presents 1104 pictures, with 355 specimens of sculpture. Of the 1200 paintings of the great gallery, however, about 950 were carried away. Those with which it is now filled have been furnished from other galleries, and from private collections. The royal library was founded by King John, and has ever since been increasing. It is now the most magnificent library in Europe, containing 360,000 printed books, besides 80,000 MSS. Tables are placed in the room for the accommodation of visitors, who may call for whatever books they please, and are immediately supplied with them. There are several other public libraries upon a less extensive scale.
At one period of the revolution there were thirty theatres in Paris opened nightly. At present the number is limited to ten, four large, and six smaller. The first of these in point of rank is the Theatre Français, at which the exhibitions are chiefly confined to the classical productions of the French stage. The opera is unrivalled for the beauty and splendour of the ballet, and the excellence of the dancing; but the singing is not above mediocrity.