Connecticut western news., 1873-10-10
Foreign Correspondence.
(MR. BATES LETTER CONCLUDED, )

have had so much to do that have not been able to finish it; and this evening sit down to do what ought to have done be- fore. Let me say then that have ascer- tained the exact size of the Arc de Tri- umphe and before set it down let me ex- plain little. In length it is 146 feet. In the center is the great arch, which is AS feet wide and 1Ol feet high. The entire struct- ure is l62 feet in height and 72 feet thick. The smaller arch, of which have spoken, intersects transversely the larger one: but cannot state it's exact height or width. should be glad to be able to state the extent of the Bois de bologne, ,but am not. There are, however, two large artificial lakes in it, one of which is three-quarters of mile in length, with numerous waterfalls descend ing from it into lower lakes, and the water being supplied by Artesian wells, one of which is 300 feet in depth. may as we'll speak of the Madeleine, as have come out of it within the last hour. It stands in the "Place" of the same name and fronting the Egyptian monolith pre- sented by the Pasha of Egypt. It is great curiosity; and is a fitting monument to compliment the magnificent temple that confronts it. It stands of the height of 100 feet and is over $500 years of age. The Madeleine is an immense church standing in an exposed position with streets and av- enues radiating from it, so that it has been sort of land mark for me to find my home when l wandered too far from my hotel. It is surrounded by an open space ornament ed with trees and standing upon a base ment 20 feet in height. It is erected in the form of Grecian temple and is I5O feet wide by $50 feet in length. There are 62 columns in front and rear, and along the two sides; and as should judge, about the same number of saints. Some of the statues are well executed, and some of them appeared to me to be of rare beauty. The cost of the building IS said to have been 3,o00,o ,o00 of francs. The columns and walls bear the marks of repairs from the injuries inflicted upon it during the in surrection ot 1871. Aportion of the Com munists driven from the barricades sought refuge in the church, but the troops were so exasperated by their conduct that they put every one of them to the sword. A portion of us this afternoon attended di- vine service there. The interior was truly grand. The ceiling is in the form of. con- cave domes. The altar is at the extreme end. The officiating clergymen were, of course, at the altar. We could hear but little of the service except the music, and that was the best part. It was not as good as at St. Peters, but still it was excellent. We could sec the priests engaged in the services, but hearing was out of the ques- tion except in case of the responses. Only think of sitting in 0 church twenty-one rods distant from the preacher, with a space of five rods on each side of you and space of 100 feet between you and the ceiling
 felt also a desire to visit the Hotel des Invalides, in which is situated the tomb of Napoleon. It was founded by Louis XIV, two centuries ago, and has been fostereG by the succeeding kings and emperors. The purpose of it is to create home for the disabled officers and soldiers of the Elm pire; and there are between 20oO and 5000 of them living upon the gratitude of their country. A loaf of bread and bottle of wine of good quality are distributed daily to each inmate. In front of the large and beautiful building is an open esplanade, as I should estimate, of nearly quarter of a mile in length. From it there is passage through gateway into an open quadran- gle called the Court of Honor, from which the passage leads into the church. The length of this beneyolent home for the worn-out veterans IS GOO feet, and it con tains all tho appliances for their comfort. Frescoes adorn the arcades of portion of the inner court, representing epochs in French history in the time of Charemagne, St. Louis and Louis XIV, and of course Napoleon. There is library of 30,OOC volumes founded by the latter for the use of the establishment, and numerous statues and paintings. The church consists of a long and high central nave and aisles on each side. The nave is decorated with hundreds of captured flags, and two of them were brought from the Notifications of Sebastopol. Before the entry of the allies into Paris, after the battle of Water loo, there were 5000 of the flags in this church. To prevent their removal, the
 Minister of War ordered them to be burnt, but such was the feeling of the old vetel. ans that the order had to be renewed three times before they would destroy these dear ly cherished trophies.
 We attended the military mass that i: