The northern tribune. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1847-1855, 1848-03-09
From the Christian Mirror
Mr.. Palmer's Sketches.
No. VIII.

Of MISUNDERSTANDING of Denderah-Palais
de Justice and its Prison--Sainte ChapeAe-
Notre Dame-Palais du Lurembourg-M.
CouQerers e1oqtence-Palais of 81. Cloud
the King and Royal tamily-School Of Fine
Arts-Paais Bourbon dElysee-departure
from, Paris.
AT short distance from the Hotel des In
valides, in the same section of the city, is the
fine military field called the Champ de Mars.
This is in form parallelogram, nearly three
fourths Of a mile long by half mile in width,
level as floor and wholly without turf. At
the head of it stands large edifce, which
was formerly military school, and the head
quarters of Napoleon; but it is now used for
barracks Here the great General used often
to review his troops and finding, as we did,
squadrons of cavalry performing their various
evolutions, it was not difficult to see in imagi-
nation his commanding figure moving from
point to point with dignifed elaboration, at
once to direct and to observe the movements
of the field.
One of the most interesting places in Paris
to the curious, and especially to the scholar,
is the Bibliotheque Royale or Bibliotheque du
Roi. This noble library was established at an
early period, but was not extensive till the
time of Louis XIV. At his death it had been
enlarged to the number of seventy thousand
volumes; and it has since been rapidly in
creasing. 1t embraces not only printed books,
but manuscripts, engravings, coins and med
ais; together with museum of antique sculp-
| ture, which contains very ancient specimens,
Greek, Roman and Egyptian. Here is the
famous Zodiac brought from the temple of
Denderah, by the help of which the French
Infdels once fancied that they were going to
destroy the credit of the Bible. Their exul-
taton proved, however, to be premature
What they had first imagined to be of vast
antiquity, turned out, on full examination, to
belong in all probability to the time of the Ro
man Emperors, or about the date of the Chris
tan Era. The collection is not urge, and the
Zodiac is the most interesting object in it.
The coins are highly curious, extending back
TO the time of Alexander the Great, and ear
lier still, if rightly recollect; and many of
the canoes and medals are of the rarest beau
ty. Among the many treasures which we sa
in passing through the halls of this rich col
lection, were the original manuscript of Te-
Tenacious in the hand writing of Fenelon, a
letter of Bossuet, one of DIR. Franklin, those
! of Henry " to Gabrielle d Estrees, one of
Voltaire, and a manuscript volume written by
Louis XIV. The collection of engravings, all
arranged and bound, is immense; furnishing
specimens of the works of the best artists al
most from the infancy of the art.
A very different place from this, in the i'm
preston which it makes upon the mind, is
tings of the principal Courts. We stepped
into three or four in which pleadines were go
ing forward. But the chief interest of the
place to US, was in the fact that in the prison
attached to it, which is very ancient, great
numbers of the unhappy victims of revolu-
tionary fury were confined; and among them
the unfortunate Marie Antoinette who, after
two months and half of Imprisonment here.
went from the dungeon to the scaffold. You
look up to the dark frownins tower, from
which in her deep distress she might plainly
see the splendid palace in which but little
pefore she had reigned Queen. And then
YOU turn to the grated passage out Of which
in one day-the third of September, 1902
two hundred and thirty-nine persons were
passed to the guillotine. Just above you also
is the old square bell tower, the bell in which
sounded the signal for the massacre OF st.
Bartholomew's. My imagination conjured up