PARIS, the capital of France, is built on a plain watered by the river Seine, which intersects the city, and is situated in 48. 50. north latitude, and 2. 20. east longitude.

The origin of Paris is enveloped in total obscurity. The first mention we find made of it is in the Commentaries of Caesar, in whose time, about half a century before the birth of Christ, it was the chief city of the Parisii, one of the numerous Celtic tribes by whom Gaul was at that time inhabited. It was then entirely confined to the small island in the Seine now called the Cité, or the Ile du Palais. The houses which covered this small spot were, as Caesar informs us, of the most humble order, being composed merely of mud, with straw roofs, and without chimneys. When the Gauls, then newly and but partially subdued, rose in general revolt against their Roman conquerors in the year 53 before Christ, Labienus, one of the lieutenants of Caesar, marched against the capital of the Parisii, then called Lutetia, in the neighbourhood of which the revolted tribes had assembled in great force. An obstinate conflict ensued, and the Parisians fought with the fury of despair; but their undisciplined valour was unable to withstand the scientific tactics of the Roman legions. They were routed with great slaughter; and the general, with all his chiefs, and the greater part of his followers, were left amongst the slain. This battle appears to have been fought about four miles to the west of the He du Palais, but on which bank of the river the brevity of Caesar’s narrative leaves doubtful.

We find no further mention made of Paris till four hundred years after the time of Caesar. The next notice of it is contained in the curious work of the Emperor Julian, entitled Misopogon, in which he speaks of having spent a winter in that town. This was in the year 358. Julian describes Paris, which he calls his dear Lutetia, as the little capital of the Parisii, and as situated on a small island rising from the river, which surrounded it on every side. It was in Paris that Julian’s soldiers, two years afterwards, forced him to assume the imperial dignity, when the messengers arrived from Constans in order to recall him from the government of Gaul, which he then held. The Emperors Valentinian and Valens also passed the winter of the year 365 in Paris. Here the former issued many of his celebrated decrees; and Gratian, his son, lost, under its walls, a battle against Maximus, which cost him his empire and his life. In the year 486 this city passed from the dominion of the Romans to that of the Franks; and early in the subsequent century it was established as the capital of that people, who changed its name from Lutetia to Parisii or Parisea. Christianity had already been introduced amongst the Parisians by St Denis, about the year 250; and dur-ιng[7:17:74] the existence of the Merovingian race of princes, who governed France for a period of above two centuries and a half, numerous churches were erected, both within the city of Paris, and on the ground to the north and south of the river; whilst the buildings on the Ile du Palais, which still constituted all that was properly called Paris, were now likewise surrounded by a wall. The Merovingian race of kings was supplanted, about the middle of the eighth century, by Pepin, surnamed Le Brèf, the father of the celebrated Charlemagne. Under the Carlovingian dynasty, the extension of Paris was greatly checked by the disturbed state of the kingdom, and especially by the predatory attacks of the Normans, who, between the years 845 and 885, ravaged or besieged the city no fewer than four times. Few of the princes of the second dynasty resided at Paris, and under their feeble sway it became the patrimony of one of the great barons, who thence assumed the title of Count of Paris. Towards the close of the ninth century, it was erected into a new fief under the name of the Duchy of France; and in the year 987, Hugh Capet, who held this honour by inheritance from his ancestors, was, on the death of Louis V., elected by the other nobles to fill the vacant throne. Under the Capetian dynasty, Paris, which had now become once more the capital of France, and the principal residence of the monarch, extended itself rapidly. The ancient privileges of the citizens were confirmed, and many new immunities were granted them. Paris, however, appears to have been without any regular municipal government until the year 1060; but Philip I., soon after his ascension to the throne, appointed a provost to maintain that superintendence over the city which had formerly been exercised by the Dukes of France. During the reign of Philip’s son, Louis le Gros, the schools of Paris first acquired celebrity. For this they appear to have been principally indebted to the celebrated Abelard, whose lectures are said to have been at one time attended by no fewer than three thousand scholars. At this period many new churches were also erected; two fortresses were built at the extremities of the bridges called Le Grand and Le Petit Châtelet; and the suburbs of the city were now for the first time enclosed by a wall. In the reign of Louis VII., which extended from 1137 to 1180, the first college properly so called was founded in Paris. Various other schools and religious institutions, and several hospitals, were also established about this time. 4 But it is to Philip Augustus, the son of Louis VII., that Paris owes many of its chief ornaments. When that monarch ascended the throne, most of the churches and other public edifices were only of wood. He rebuilt many of them of stone, and added several new ones of the same material. He provided the different parts of the city with public fountains, paved the streets, and completely surrounded the city and suburbs with a new wall. During the reigns of Francis I. and his successor, additions were made to the public buildings upon a most extensive and magnificent scale, and the city increased with such rapidity that Henry II. deemed it necessary to restrain the continued augmentation of his capital, by issuing an edict prohibiting the erection of any more houses in the suburbs, on pain of confiscation of the land and buildings. This edict was repeated at different times by succeeding monarchs, but apparently without any effect. Paris suffered severely during the wars of the League, in consequence of the hostile assaults and other calamities to which it was exposed; and many of the public buildings and houses of the nobility were laid in ruins. But these marks of civil contention were speedily effaced on the ascension to the throne of Henry IV., who was the first to embellish the city with regular squares, decorated with the different orders of architecture. Several of the unaccomplished schemes of this prince were carried into effect by his successor, Louis

XIII. x in whose reign the palace of the Luxembourg was built by Maria de’ Mcdicis, and the Palais Royal by the Cardinal de Richelieu, and the celebrated Jardin des Plantes was laid out on the opposite side of the river, towards the eastern extremity of the town. During the long reign of Louis XIV. Paris was embellished by the erection of a vast number of new and splendid buildings, both public and private, and was extended in all directions. The magnificent Hôtel des Invalides was erected at the western extremity of the Faubourg St Germain. Great additions were also made to the royal palaces of the Louvre and the Tuileries. The old ditches, from the standing water of which putrid and noxious effluvia constantly arose, were filled up; the ramparts were demolished, and the present Boulevards formed in their place; and two triumphal arches were substituted for the gates of St Martin and St Denis.

The reign of Louis XV. and his successor Louis XVI. witnessed a considerable extension of Paris in various directions. Several of the adjacent villages were joined to it, and formed new faubourgs; many improvements were made in the interior of the city; numerous schools, markets, and places of public amusement, were also erected. To the taste and energy of Napoleon, Paris owes many of its most magnificent embellishments. The improvements which he added to it in the short space of twelve years surpassed those of the three preceding reigns. These consisted of twenty-four new fountains, which served at once to adorn and purify the streets; the public granaries in the garden of the arsenal; the abatoirs, many new markets and quays, four spacious cemeteries, and the Canal of the Oureq; besides the bridges of Arts, the City, Austerlitz, and*Jena. Several splendid new streets and public edifices may also be mentioned amongst the works which were either commenced or completed during his sway. The fall of that extraordinary man interrupted for a time the embellishments of Paris; but after the restoration, some works which had long been projected or begun were after many interruptions continued, and, now that they are finished, they may vie with the most useful and splendid edifices of the capital.

Paris, as has been already stated, is built on a plain on both banks of the river Seine, which at this place flows in a direction nearly from south-west to north-east. The river, as it flows through the midst of the city,'is interrupted in its course by three small islands, the two most westerly of which, the Ile de la Cité, and the He St Louis, are covered with buildings. The third, called the He Lou-vier, is used only as a dépôt for firewood. The parts of the city on the opposite sides of the river are connected with these islands and with each other by nineteen bridges, several of which are distinguished by their elegance or splendour, and add greatly to the beauty of the city. Throughout its whole length within the barriers, the banks of the Seine are skirted on both sides with spacious stone quays, furnished with parapets, and forming two broad and continuous streets between the water and the city. These quays, thirty-four in number, not only improve greatly the appearance of the river, but also furnish an important public accommodation. They are decorated with various buildings, both public and private, and they form one of the most pleasant walks in Paris.

Paris is nearly of a circular form. It consists of three divisions; the Ville, situated on the north, the University on the south, and the City in the centre. It stretches along the river about four miles and a half, and its breadth from the barrier St Denis to the barrier St Jacques is about three miles and a half. In the early part of the reign of Louis XVI. it was surrounded by a wall about seventeen miles in circumference, to prevent the introduction of contraband goods; but as this wall encloses a considerable space of ground which is uninhabited, and even under til-läge, [7:17:75]the real extent of the city is very different from its apparent magnitude.

The impression which the general appearance of this metropolis is calculated to make upon a stranger is not of the most favourable kind. The streets in the more ancient parts, and in the centre of the city, are crooked, narrow, dark, and dirty. They are also extremely ill paved, and few of them even now possess any accommodation for foot passengers. The causeway itself is often most rugged and uneven, and is made to incline from both sides towards the centre, in order to form a run for a constant stream of black mire, there being no subterranean drains.

The general aspect of the French capital by night is singularly gloomy, so that it is almost impossible for the pedestrian to direct his steps aright. The lamps, instead of being fixed on posts at the sides of the streets, are suspended in the middle on ropes swung across, and having their opposite ends fastened to the walls of the houses. It was these ropes which the mob, in the first French Revolution, were wont to make use of as halters for their victims, and hence their well-known cry of a la lanterne, as they dragged them along to execution. Gas has, however, long been introduced into the shops and public buildings, and the whole city is expected in a short time to be lighted in the same manner.

The houses, which are generally constructed of stone, are often six or seven stories high. Their unusual height, the massive thickness of the walls, and their lower windows, which in many cases are strongly barricaded with iron, give to’ them an air of gloom and precaution more suited to a prison than a private dwelling. Like the buildings of the Scottish metropolis, they are inhabited by a great variety of families of all gradations of rank, from the nobleman, who occupies the first floor, to the milkman or cobler, who inhabits the garret. The whole of this motley community use the same magnificent staircase; and as the cleansing of it is the duty of no particular individual, it is often suffered to remain for months without being profaned by the mop or broom. Even when a hotel is inhabited by one family only, it is not unusual to make the upper story the receptacle for the hay and straw of the horses. Many of the larger houses do not present a simple front to the street, but only the side of one immense wing, or they are completely concealed by a high wall, erected so as to intercept the view from the street. Adjoining houses often form a complete contrast to each other in height, in workmanship, and in almost every other respect; and it not unfrequently happens that a mansion of the humblest sort, inhabited by the very meanest of the citizens, is situated beside a splendid edifice, the residence of one of the most opulent or most noble families of France.

To the general inelegance of the streets of Paris there are, however, several remarkable exceptions. The Faubourg St Germain, in particular, contains some of the finest streets in Europe. But perhaps the most spacious and extensive street of the French metropolis is the celebrated road called the Boulevards. The northern Boulevards are twelve in number, the southern seven. They may be generally described as a road or street of great breadth, along each side of which are planted double rows of elms. Those to the north of the river are lined on both sides, throughout their whole extent, by buildings of the most handsome description. Some of these are private residences; others are shops, Cafés, public hotels, and theatres. These shady avenues present a striking picture of rural beauty combined with artificial elegance and splendour. The magnificence of the buildings, the majestic trees with which the place is adorned, the winding form and great breadth of the street, and the gay and festive crowds by whom it is frequented, give to the scene singular liveliness and brilliancy, and render the Boulevards one of the most interesting and splendid spectacles which any modern city can exhibit.

According to MM.Bérand and Dufey {DictionnaireHistorique de Paris'), the streets of Paris, supposing all their names counted, amounted, in 1828, to 1180, besides 120 cul-de-sacs, 158 passages, twenty-seven alleys, thirty-two cross-ways, and seventy-four places or squares. There were also ten cloisters, twenty-two courts, seven enclosures, and forty-seven market-places. The town was lighted in 1830 by 4533 lamps, having 10,672 burners, exclusively of 482 lamps belonging to public establishments.

The system of numbering the houses in Paris is much more uniform and perfect than that in the British capital; and there is a peculiarity in the manner which will often prove a useful guide to the stranger. The numbers begin with that part of the street which is nearest to the Seine, or at the cast end when the street is parallel with the river. The even numbers are always arranged upon the right, and the odd numbers on the left side, of the street. The numbers of the houses, and the names of the streets which are parallel with the course of the Seine, are painted in red letters, but those which are perpendicular to the Seine are in black.

It is universally allowed that Paris is superior to any other European metropolis in the number and magnificence of its public buildings. The palace of the Tuileries is of comparatively modern date, and therefore possesses none of those traditions of ancient feudal tyranny and magnificence by which the palaces of European capitals are generally distinguished. This edifice derives its name from having been erected on a piece of ground appropriated to the manufacture of tiles. It was founded by the infamous Catherine de’ Medicis, when her former residence, the Palace Tournelles, was destroyed by Charles IX. The land and neighbouring houses were purchased by her at a considerable expense, and the building was proceeding with great rapidity, when she became alarmed by an astrological prediction, which bade her heware of St Germain; and the Tuileries being in the parish of St Germain l’Auxerrois, the completion of the sumptuous fabric was suddenly relinquished. The palace was much enlarged by Henry 1V., and the works, suspended by his death, were carried on and terminated under Louis XIII. The architects Levau and D’Orbay were employed by Louis XIV. to complete the gallery, and to harmonize the discordant masses of this extensive range of building, erected at different periods, and exhibiting various orders of architecture, differing in height and in ornament. Since then, few additions have been made to the original building of the Tuileries, but considerable changes have taken place in others dependent upon them. The front now consists of five pavilions, comprising that in the centre, with four ranges of buildings connecting them together, and forming one grand façade. The general effect of the Tuileries is exceedingly imposing; *more, however, from its great length and varied outline, than from any excellence of detail. The garden front is the best, and, though heavy, and incongruous when analysed by architectural taste, is unquestionably magnificent. The view of the garden from the porticois unrivalled as a scene of artificial beauty. The eye ranges over an immense parterre, bordered with orange trees, enriched with statues, diversified by fountains and shady groves, and crowded with a pleasure-loving population. The view is continued across the beautiful walks of the Elysian Fields for a distance of several miles, and is terminated by the triumphal arch of the Barrière de Neuilly, which crowns the summit of the hill. The gardens of the Tuileries are the work of Lenôtre, the celebrated gardener of Louis XIV. They have always been accounted the chief monuments of his genius; and, indeed, they are the finest specimens in the world of their peculiar style of disposition and embellishment. They are always[7:17:76] open to the public, and are the most fashionable promenade of Paris, both in summer and in winter.

The palace of the Tuileries was the official residence of Napoleon, and since his days it has remained the chief abode of the reigning monarch.

On the side of the Seine, the celebrated gallery of the Louvre connects that palace with the Tuileries. Of the more ancient palace, which was surrounded by ditches and flanked by massive towers, there exist no remains. That part of the edifice now known by the name of the Old Louvre was begun under Francis I., but was first inhabited by Charles IX., whose memory is associated with this palace by the infamous deed of treachery and bloodthirsty bigotry which is known by the name of the massacre of St Bartholomew. The court of the Louvre forms a square about 400 feet in extent. The buildings which surround it, having been erected at different periods, vary materially in their style of architecture and ornaments.

The principal façade, commonly called the Colonnade of the Louvre, was finished in 1670 under Louis XIV. by the celebrated architect Claude Perrault, and is unquestionably a magnificent monument of genius. The central mass of the building, forming the gateway, is crowned by a pediment, the sloping stones of which are each in a single piece, fifty-two feet in length, and three feet in thickness. The folding gates in the centre, constructed by order of Napoleon, are of bronze, and are splendidly ornamented. The general appearance of this important and interesting edifice is indisputably grand and majestic; but the narrowness of the open space in front, and the mean buildings with which it is so immediately associated, weaken the impression which it is otherwise calculated to produce. Since the reign of Louis XV. the Louvre has been devoted to the reception of the various royal museums of the fine arts, which constitute some of the principal and peculiar attractions of the capital of France. It has occasionally been used also for solemn purposes of state. During the imperial government, the palace of the Louvre was considerably repaired and embellished; and since the restoration much has been done towards its completion. It still, however, remains unfinished, in many places wanting windows, and being for the most part destitute of interior ornaments.

The Palais Royal was built by the celebrated Cardinal Richelieu, who, at his death, bequeathed it to Louis XIII. In 1692, Louis XIV. gave it to his nephew Philip of Orleans. At the time of the Revolution it was the residence of the infamous Duke of Orleans, better known by the name of Egalité, to whom it is indebted for much of its present magnificence. Having exhausted his noble revenues by a course of luxury and profligacy almost unparalleled, he determined, in order to save himself from ruin, to convert his splendid residence into an immense bazaar. The beautiful arcades of the lower galleries were divided by diminutive and ill-executed pilasters, and the garden was surrounded by a row of little shops, which were speedily let to the highest bidder. A few of the upper galleries were appropriated to the lectures of various professors, and to the meetings of literary and scientific societies; others were let to restaurateurs, but more were devoted to the accommodation of the gambler and the sensualist, and became the favourite haunt of every species of vice and debauchery. The Palais Royal has been called, not without some reason, the capital of Paris. It is certainly entered both by inhabitants and strangers more frequently than any other spot of equal dimensions in the city; and it is the perpetual rendezvous of all the idle and worthless in the capital. His present majesty, when Duke of Orleans, resided in this palace (with the exception of the interval of the “hundred days”) from 1814 till 1831, making some additions and improvements in various parts of the structure, and fitting up the whole anew. At present it serves for the accommodation of foreign princes during their residence in Paris.

I he palace of the Luxembourg, one of the apartments of which now forms the Chamber of Peers, is an edifice remarkable for the beauty of its proportions, and for the character of strength and solidity which it at the same time possesses. It is a square building, with an ample porticoin the centre. The front consists of two large pavilions, connected together by terraces, supported by open galleries, in the centre of which rises an elegant cupola surrounded with statues. Its interior contains a splendid gallery of modern paintings.

The Palais d’Elysee Bourbon, an edifice remarkable for its luxurious elegance, was the favourite residence of Napoleon. It was to this palace that he returned after the battlè of Waterloo; and here was performed the closing scene of the hurried drama of the “hundred days.” After the final departure of Napoleon it was inhabited by the Duke of Wellington. It was afterwards the residence of the Duke de Berri, and on his assassination it was appropriated to the Duke de Bordeaux. It now belongs to the crown. The interesting associations connected with this small palace render it one of the most valuable public monuments of Paris.

Before the Revolution, Paris contained one hundred and sixty Catholic churches or chapels. At present it does not contain more than thirty-eight, namely, twelve parish churches and twenty-six chapels of ease, thirty-five convents for women, and as many monastic seminaries. Six chapels belong to different sects, viz. three to Calvinists, one to those of the Augsburg Confession, one to the eastern Christians, and one to the Jews.

The two most important churches which the French capital exhibits are those of Nôtre Dame and the Pantheon or church of St Geneviève. The cathedral of Nôtre Dame, the mother-church of France, is a vast and magnificent building of the Gothic order, and is the most ancient religious edifice in Paris. It is 414 feet in length, 144 in width, and 102 in height, without comprehending the space allotted to forty-five chapels, and the astonishing thickness of the walls. One hundred and twenty enormous columns, which support this edifice, form a double colonnade extending the whole length of the fabric; and 297 columns, each cut from a single block, are distributed in various parts of the building. This magnificent structure is so old that the precise date of its original foundation is unknown; and its massy and venerable appearance presents a striking contrast to the modern buildings with which the city is filled.

The Pantheon, or church of St Geneviève, is perhaps the most magnificent of the modern edifices in Paris. The plan of the building is a Greek cross, forming naves which unite in a centre, surmounted by a dome of vast dimensions, which, being the highest object in Paris, is visible from any part of the city. The west porticobears some resemblance to the Pantheon at Rome, and is composed of twenty-two fluted Corinthian columns sixty feet in height and six in diameter, which support a triangular pediment a hundred and twenty feet in breadth by twenty-four in height. The pediment is now receiving some sculptures by David; and, on the frize beneath it, is the following inscription, in reference to the vaults beneath the church being used as a place of sepulture for illustrious characters:

Aux grands hommes la patrie reconnaissante.

Amongst the distinguished personages interred here are Voltaire, Rousseau, the mathematician Lagrange, Bougainville the navigator, Marshal Lannes, and the Dutch admiral De Winter. Of the other churches of Paris, those of St Sulpice, St Eustache, and St Roche, are the only ones which deserve to be particularly noticed for their size and elegance.
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The clergy of Paris are composed of one archbishop, two vicars-general appointed by the king, and nine others; three secretaries, one penitentiary, three metropolitan officials, four diocesan officials, and sixteen canons of Nôtre Dame, the first of whom is archdeacon; thirty-four honorary canons, two masters of the choristers, five superintendents of the edifice of Nôtre Dame, and three superiors of seminaries. To these must be added the curates and officiating ministers of the churches of Paris, of whom there is one to each church. The number of vicars is not accurately known, and there is also an indefinite number of almoners of hospitals, convents, and other establishments.

The total number of the Catholic clergy in France is about 41,298, including four cardinals, fourteen archbishops, and sixty-six bishops. To these maybe added 10,904 theological students intended for the priesthood. The number of convents for nuns of different orders is about 3000, and the number of nuns about 24,000. There are also in France a few establishments of monks of La Trappe, and one of Carthusians or Chartreux. Of the ministers of other religious denominations there are, Lutherans, 388; reformists of the Confession of Augsburg, 345; Jews, eight; and of other denominations, eighty-six. The total expense to the state, of all religions, is 34,289,000 francs, or L. 1,371,560. At the time of the Revolution the total number of ecclesiastics was 114,000, including 19,000 regular clergy, and 32,000 nuns of all orders. Their annual revenue amounted to seventy-two millions of francs, and the tithe to seventy millions, giving a total of 142 millions, or L.5,680,000 sterling.

The Parisians formerly buried their dead in the Roman fashion, without the city walls, along the sides of the high roads. But the increase of the population rendering it necessary to extend the bounds of the city, the cemeteries became in the process of time enclosed within the walls, and at length were almost in the heart of the town. They were so few in number, and so confined in space, that the inhabitants were thereby compelled to adopt a mode of burial altogether revolting to decency and humanity. Vast trenches were opened, into which corpse after corpse was deposited, until the putrid heap nearly reached the surface of the ground. The earth was then thrown over them, and similar trenches dug close by their side. As might have been expected, the neighbourhood of these cemeteries became proverbially the seat of every pestilential disease, till at length government interfered and prohibited all burials within the city, and ordered three cemeteries to be enclosed for the usc of Paris, at a distance of about one mile from the walls. The cemeteries of Paris are now five in number. They are laid out in a picturesque style; the monuments are often in good taste, and the inscriptions are interesting. The cemetery of Père la Chaise, in particular, is one of the most beautiful as well as interesting sights of Paris. The advantageous situation of this spot upon the slope of a hill, surrounded by luxuriant valleys and rising grounds, and commanding an extensive view of a picturesque and glowing landscape, has occasioned its being chosen by the most distinguished personages as the place of their interment; and hence no Parisian cemetery can vie with that of Père la Chaise in the number and beauty of its monuments.

In 1784, the council of state issued a decree for clearing the cemetery of the Innocents, and for removing its contents, as well as those of other cemeteries, and converting their sites into squares or market-places. The bones being separated, and carefully cleaned, were piled in some of the immense galleries of the quarries by which a great part of the city is undermined; and the name of the Catacombs was given to this new receptacle of the dead, in imitation of similar excavations appropriated to the same purpose in Rome, in Milan, in Naples, and in ancient Thebes. The calculations differ as to the number of bones collected in this vast charnel-house. It is certain, however, that it contains the remains of at least three millions of human beings.

The metropolis of France is extremely rich in literary and scientific institutions, not a few of which have obtained great celebrity. The National Institute or Royal Society is the most distinguished of these learned societies. The great reputation of this institution, and the obligations which it has conferred both on French and European science and literature, are universally acknowledged. It was established during the reign of Louis XIV. and is composed of the most distinguished philosophers, literary characters, and artists of France, and maintains a correspondence with the learned of every nation. It is divided into four classes, which may be considered as forming so many distinct societies. Each class has its separate meetings, but four times in every year the whole society assembles, and a general report is made of the labours and progress of the institution. The first division is devoted to natural philosophy, chemistry, and mathematics; the second to French literature and the French language; the third to history and ancient literature; and the fourth to the fine arts. The public meetings of the National Institute are held in a very extensive and magnificent apartment, adorned with marble statues of the most celebrated persons whom France has produced. The society of the Bureau des Longitudes is engaged in constant astronomical observations at the Observatory and in the Military School; and for this purpose it has at its disposal all the astronomical instruments belonging to government. It corresponds with . the other observatories of France, and with those of foreign countries, and suggests to the government where it is desirable to establish observatories.

The University of France is indebted for its origin to the illustrious Charlemagne, and has for centuries been celebrated throughout Europe. It was suppressed in 1792, but afterwards re-established on a more extensive and liberal plan. The superintendence of the business of education throughout France is now intrusted to a council, under the Minister of Public Instruction, and no school or place of instruction can be established without their permission. The university possesses a library, which is placed at the Sorbonne, and special funds are provided for granting pensions to superannuated and infirm teachers. There are many other establishments in Paris of a similar description. Of these, perhaps,the most celebrated is the Royal College of France, in which there are twenty-three professors who give public and gratuitous lectures in every department of science and literature. In addition to the colleges, there are a great number of schools for special purposes founded in Paris, mostly by the government. At the head of these stands the Polytechnic School. The object of this most useful and justly celebrated institution is to diffuse the knowledge of the mathematical, physical, and chemical sciences, and to form pupils for the artillery, engineering, and other departments, into which no officer can be admitted who has not been educated in this school. The most distinguished masters in every branch of science are employed by the government. Every year a certain number of scholars are admitted, after undergoing the most rigorous examination in the classics, the mathematics, mechanics, and drawing. The number of pupils amount to three hundred. The period usually allowed for study is two years, but in certain cases it is extended to three. The school possesses an excellent philosophical and chemical apparatus, and a well-selected library, consisting of 24,000 volumes. The pupils of this establishment took a prominent part in the Revolution of 1830. In the School of Bridges and Roads, eighty pupils selected from the Polytechnic School are taught every branch of science connected with the construction of bridges, canals, harbours, roads, and public [7:17:78]edifices. The museum contains a noble collection of plans, charts, and models. There is also an academy, termed the School of the Fine Arts, appropriated to the teaching of painting, sculpture, and architecture, in which lectures are given gratuitously, on every subject connected with the fine arts, by twenty professors. Besides, Paris possesses several great public schools devoted to elementary instruction; and every year is bringing improvements to this most important branch of national education. There are also many private academies; and, altogether, the institutions appropriated to the instruction of youth in the French capital are in a most flourishing condition.

Extensive and valuable collections of books are attached to'almost every public institution and every public building in Paris. The most splendid of these collections is the Royal Library, which is justly considered as the largest and most valuable in Europe. It contains no fewer than 900,000 booksand printed pamphlets,80,000manuscripts, 1,600,000 engravings, 300,000 maps and plans, and a most valuable collection of medals and antiquities. With a liberality highly honourable to the French character, people of every .class and rank, as well as strangers from any quarter of the globe, are allowed access to it, and every necessary accommodation is provided for their use. Of the other libraries, which are extremely numerous, those of the arsenal, the Pantheon, and the Institute, are the largest and most important, and the greater part of them are open both to the Parisians and to strangers. (See the article Libraries, vol xiii. p. 285.)

The collections of works of art, and of subjects connected with natural history, with which Paris abounds, ought not to be passed over in silence. The Museum of the Louvre, during the sway of Napoleon, was the boast of Paris, and contained almost every celebrated work of art that could be procured on the continent of Europe. On the downfall of this extraordinary man, a portion of these treasures were restored to their rightful owners; but the collection, even as it now stands, is unrivalled. The walls of the Louvre are still covered with a fine collection of pictures and statues from the Luxembourg, Versailles, and other royal residences, and partly from private collections. The paintings also which adorned the numerous churches destroyed during the frenzy of the Revolution have found an asylum in this interesting and valuable museum. The great gallery of paintings is a most magnificent apartment, 1400 feet in length, and contains upwards of 1400 pictures of the most eminent masters of every school.

Few museums are more interesting, instructive, or valuable, than the Conservatory of Arts and Trades, an immense repository of machines, models, and drawings, for the improvement of machinery and implements connected with manufactures, agriculture, and other branches of industry. It is a collection peculiar and highly creditable to the metropolis of France, and has undoubtedly been productive of the most beneficial effects in diffusing an extensive knowledge of mechanics, and a skilful adaptation of the simplest instruments to the most complicated purposes. The Museum of Artillery is a repository of every kind of warlike instrument. It likewise contains a valuable collection of the different kinds of armour used in every period of French history. The Museum of Natural History in the Jardin des Plantes stands at the head of all institutions of the kind, not only in France, but in the world. The name of Jardin des Plantes expresses very inadequately the real nature of the institution; for, in addition to a noble botanic garden, it contains a large menagerie, a museum of natural history and anatomy, and numerous halls in which public lectures are delivered on every branch of natural history and philosophy. This garden was founded by Jean de la Brosse, physician to Louis XIII.; but it is principally indebted for its present beauty and value to the assiduous labours of Buffon. From the commencement of the Revolution until the time of Napoleon, the institution was greatly neglected and abused for want of funds. But on his arriving at the head of affairs a new impulse was given to the establishment, and the only temporary check which it received was on the occupation of Paris by the allies, when a body of Prussians were about to take up their quarters in the garden; but the spirited remonstrances of the celebrated traveller Humboldt obtained a safeguard for the museum, and an exemption from all military requisitions. There was great reason to fear that thς museum would be deprived of some of the valuable parts of its contents, by the restitution of the treasures which had been plundered from neighbouring countries. In fact, the magnificent cabinet of the stadtholder was reclaimed; but it was afterwards agreed that an equivalent should be furnished from the duplicates of the museum. An arrangement equally friendly and equitable was effected respecting the minerals and zoological specimens which had been taken from the Austrian dominions in Italy. Since that time the support of this museum has been munificently provided for by the state, and its condition was never so flourishing as at the present moment. Its collections of every kind arc equally valuable and rare. The garden and the menagerie contain specimens of almost every living production of the animal or the vegetable kingdom, arranged with great taste and skill. For the cabinet of comparative anatomy, incomparably the richest in existence, the museum is indebted to the unwearied exertions of Baron Cuvier, by whom it was arranged, and under whose direction most of the objects were prepared. The cabinet of natural history is equally precious, and still more complete. In the zoological and fossil departments it is unrivalled; and one of the halls contains some interesting specimens of the animal remains of the antediluvian world, with the skeletons of numerous animals now unknown or extinct. There are' various other institutions of a similar kind in Paris, of which the Royal Museum at the Luxembourg, and the Cabinets of Mineralogy and Anatomy, are the most extensive and celebrated.

Of the public monuments the greatest is the column in the Place Vendome, erected under the superintendence of Denon, in commemoration of the campaign of 1805, upon the model of Trajan’s Pillar at Rome. It is 134 feet high by twelve feet in diameter, formed of the metal of 425 brass cannon taken from the Austrians and Prussians in that campaign. It was originally surmounted by the statue of Napoleon, which was removed in 1814, and replaced in 1831. The triumphal arch in the Place du Carousel, built on the plan of that of Septimius Severus at Rome, is not inferior to its celebrated original. In 1806 a triumphal arch of surpassing magnitude was commenced at the extremity of the principal avenue of the Champs Elysées; but after it had attained a considerable elevation it was stopped by the reverses of the Russian campaign. Our limited space forbids our describing other monuments highly deserving of notice, such as the gate of St Denis, the gate of St Martin, the equestrian statue of Henry IV., the obelisk on the heights of Chaillot, &c.

The hospitals and charitable institutions of Paris are remarkably numerous and extensive. They are supported and maintained by government, and are under the direction of a general council and an administrative committee, consisting of some of the most distinguished functionaries of the state, the principal magistrates, and others remarkable for their talents and philanthropy.^[1. The name of Hospitals is generally appropriated to the establishments for the sick, and that of Hospices to those in which children and the aged and infirm are received. ] According [7:17:79]to the report published by the prefect of the department in 1834, the hospitals, thirteen in number, contained 5337 beds, and the hospices, eleven in number, 11,740 beds, giving a total of 17,077 beds. The number of patients in the hospitals on the 1st of January 1833 was 4170, in the hospices 9567; and the number admitted during the year was, in the former 61,765, in the latter 3190; giving a total in hospitals and hospices for 1833 of 78,692. On the first of January of the same year, there were supported by the hospices 17,433 foundlings and orphans; and to these were added during the year 5693 foundlings, whilst 1760 children were placed out gratuitously to nurse, and 68,986 persons were relieved at home by the Bureau de Bienfaisance; thus giving a general total of persons supported and assisted by public charity during that year, of 172,564. The proportion of the number of indigent persons in Paris to that of the whole population is as one to eleven; and the number of the indigent families relieved was 31,723. According to the same account, the total expenditure, in 1833, of the hospitals and charitable institutions dependent on them was 10,186,388 francs. The mean time of a patient’s remaining in the hospital was twenty-three days, and the average cost of each patient was thirty-eight francs. The number of deaths in the hospitals was 5886, giving a mean mortality of one in eleven. In the hospices, the cost of each patient per day was eighteen sous, the number of deaths 1548, and the mean mortality about one in six. The number of the foundlings was 23,126, and the cost of supporting each was seventy-four francs. There is aboard of medical men, called the Bureau Central d’Admission, established for the inspection of persons desiring to be admitted into the hospitals'when the case is not one of urgency. The particular hospital is indicated by this board to the patient, according to the nature of the complaint; and no one can be admitted into any without an order from its members.

At the head of the charitable institutions of Paris stands the Hôtel des Invalides. This magnificent edifice, which has been termed the Chelsea Hospital of France, was erected by Louis XIV. for the reception and maintenance of disabled and superannuated soldiers. The buildings are very extensive, and, with the adjoining grounds, which are tastefully adorned with long alleys of trees, cover a space of nearly seventeen acres.

This excellent institution is under the direction of the minister of war. The governor is a marshal of France; and under him there are a lieutenant-general, commandant of the hotel, and a colonel called colonel-major. The establishment is capable of containing 7000 persons, but at present there are not above 3500 in it; and even this number is likely to be considerably diminished, in consequence of the long continuance of peace. Skilful physicians are attached to it, and the Sisters of Charity nurse the sick with the greatest care. These old warriors find in this asylum abundant and wholesome food, every attention to their infirmities and wounds, and pay proportioned to the rank they held in the army. The officers and privates have separate refectories, and those above the rank of captain dine in their own rooms. They all wear the same uniform, and whenever the king comes within their walls they have the exclusive privilege of guarding his person. Their only duty is to mount guard at the hôtel and its dependencies. The interior was embellished by cannon taken at various periods by the armies of France. A considerable number of banners are ranged along both sides of the nave of the church. They are mostly Spanish and Portuguese; but amongst them there is a large collection of Algerine standards, all won on the field of battle. In the time of Napoleon nearly 3000 flags filled the nave; but on the evening before the entry of the allied armies into Paris in 1814, the Duke de Feltre, minister of war, by order of Joseph Bo naparte, commanded them to be burned, that they might not fall into the hands of the enemy.

The Hôtel Dieu, which is the oldest hospital in Paris, is unfortunately situated in the most populous part of the city. It was formerly very crowded and inconvenient, but has received great improvements since the Revolution. It comprises at present twelve wards for men and eleven for women, containing altogether 1260 beds. There are many other institutions in Paris of a charitable and benevolent nature, which are all conducted on the most liberal principles, and of late years they have undergone very considerable improvements.

There is also an excellent institution called the Caisse d’Epergne et de Prévoyance, intended as a kind of savings’ bank, which deserves to be noticed for the important benefits it has conferred upon the industrious classes. The administration is gratuitous, being defrayed out of money with which it was endowed by the original founder. Deposits of from one to fifty francs are received, and four per cent, compound interest is allowed on them. Not more than 2000 francs can be kept by any individual in this bank, and the whole or part of the deposits may be withdrawn on giving five days’ notice. The total amount of money paid into the establishment during the year 1835 was 24,085,174 francs, divided amongst 150,000 depositors. It is gratifying to learn, that the importance and utility of this most benevolent institution are extending every year.

The Minister of Justice is the supreme head of all the courts in the kingdom, and keeper of the seals. To him belongs the organization and superintendence of the whole judicial system, and of the body of notaries.

The courts of justice in France are now comprehended under three grand divisions, viz. the Tribunaux de Première Instance, the Cours Royales, and the Cour de Cassation. There are, besides, several special courts, such as the Tribunaux de Commerce, the Cour de Comptes, and the Officialités or Ecclesiastical Courts.

The Cour de Cassation, which is held in the Palais de Justice, is the supreme court of appeal from all the tribunals of France. It can alter the decisions or judgments of any court or tribunal, and there is no appeal from its decrees. It can censure the royal courts, summon the judges to render an account of their conduct, and even suspend them from the exercise of their functions. The Court of Cassation is composed of a president, three vice-presidents, and forty-five councillors, nominated for life by the king, and is divided into three sections, called sections of requests, and of civil and criminal cassation.

The Cour des Comptes, or Court of Exchequer, is the court next in rank to that of Cassation, and enjoys the same prerogatives. It takes cognizance of all matters relating to the revenue, and examines all the principal accounts of the kingdom. For the despatch of business it is divided into three sections or chambers, each of which has a president and six conseillers-maitres.

The Cour Royale consists of a president, five vice-presidents, and numerous other officers. It is divided into five chambers; three for civil actions, one for appeals from the correctional police, and another for accusations or indictments.

The Tribunal de Première Instance is divided into eight chambers; five for civil affairs, and the others for affairs of the correctional police, and all offences relative to the customs, indirect taxes, excise, &c.

The judges of the Tribunal of Commerce are respectable merchants, principally heads of ancient houses, who are nominated in a general assembly of merchants, subject to the approbation of the king.

The order of advocates is very numerous, and justly celebrated for their talent and learning. They have a bureau [7:17:80]for gratuitous advice to the poor, at their library in the Palais de Justice.

The number of notaries in Paris who exercise their profession within the jurisdiction of the Royal Court is 114. They give security to the government, and on their retirement or death their places are sold.

The chief officer of the municipality of Paris is the prefect of the Seine, who may be said to exercise the functions both of what we should call lord-lieutenant of the county or department, and of mayor of the city. Under him is a council of prefecture, composed of five members, and also a secretary-general. The council-general of the department consists of forty-four members, three of whom are elected by each arrondissement of Paris, and four by each rural arrondissement. Each of the twelve arrondissements into which the city is divided has its particular municipality, presided over by a mayor and a justice of the peace, and four commissaries of police, one for each of its quarters. Besides the prefect of the department, who resides at the Hôtel de Ville, there is also the prefect of police, whose residence is in the Ile de la Cité, and who exercises his authority in subordination to the minister of the interior. The police of Paris has been brought to a state of great perfection, and such is the immense number of clerks, officers, and spies employed, and so strict is the system of espionage, that they possess the most minute information respecting the character and pursuits of every suspected person; indeed their secret agents, chosen from all classes of society, and paid accordingly, are to be found in almost every public assembly. The prisons of Paris were at one time as wretched in their accommodations, and as unhealthy, as those of any city in Europe. Immediately before the Revolution, considerable progress was made in improving ìhem; but in 1795, the National Convention ordered a report to be drawn up respecting the state of the prisons; and in the following year a criminal and penal code was formed, which fixed with greater precision the competency of the different tribunals, and separate prisons were appointed for the different classes of offenders. The changes effected in the criminal legislation since the Revolution have necessarily produced a great improvement in the prison regulations; and the new buildings lately erected for such purposes promise to produce the most beneficial results, not only to the prisoners, but also to the community at large. The prisons existing in Paris are now eight in number, and the persons confined in them are divided into the following classes; those under accusation, debt, or political offenders, and offenders liable to only one year’s imprisonment; persons under trial, persons condemned to hard labour, juvenile criminals, and females; all of which are under the jurisdiction of the prefect of police. Besides, there are three military prisons, under the jurisdiction of the minister of war.

Commerce and manufactures have by no means attained that degree of prosperity which we might be led to expect from the size, population, and facilities of the city. The staple manufactures of the French capital consist chiefly of articles of taste, and all kinds of fancy works, such as jewellery, watches, artificial flowers, toys, and the like. There are no authentic returns published of the produce of the different manufactures of Paris, calculated to the present day. An immense increase has, however, taken place within the last ten years, and is still proceeding very rapidly. The prefect of the department, in his report of 1834, estimates the manufactures of Paris exported to foreign countries at eighty millions of francs annually, and those for the consumption of the departments at the same amount. Of the manufacturing establishments of Paris, two belong to the government; namely, those for tapestry and carpets, and for snuff. The first of these, known by the name of the Gobelins, from a dyer who instituted it about the middle of the sixteenth century, manufactures that beautiful tapestry, the reputation of which has spread over all Europe. The principal subjects on which the looms are employed are copies of the most celebrated pictures of the French and Italian schools; for brilliancy of colour, fidelity of outline, and delicacy of execution, their productions are often little inferior to the most masterly touches of the pencil. Of the other manufactures of the capital, paper-hangings, leather, jewellery, chemical products, gas, fine hardware, fans, &c. give occupation to a vast number of persons, and yield considerable profits. Printing, engraving, and the preparation of all substances and materials connected with the fine arts, form very extensive branches of trade.

As every thing which enters Paris must be introduced by the Barriers, where duties are levied upon almost all descriptions of necessaries as well as luxuries, the quantities of the different articles of consumption used by the population every year are ascertained with extraordinary exactness. The following is a table of the consumption of the town of Paris during the year 1834, extracted from the Anmiaire du Bureau des Longitudes.

Wine 877,769 hectolitres.

Brandy 35,716 ...

Cider and perry 16,390 ...

Vinegar 19,275 ...

Beer 120,552 ...

Grapes 1,569,356 kilogrammes.

Oxen 72,474 head.

Cows 14,175 ...

Calves 70,739 ...

Sheep 364,409 ...

Pigs 85,336 ...

Pies, preserved meats, &C...1,122,466 kilogrammes.

Meat, coarse 2,553,422 ...

Sausages, hams, salt pork, &c. 643,495 ...

Offal 1,062,873 ...

Cheese, dry 1,150,187 ...

Sea-fish 4,229,388 francs.

Oysters 1,118,971

Fresh-water fish 307,949 ...

Poultry and game 7,728,041

Butter 10,301,762 ...

Eggs 4,441,384 ...

The ordinary consumption of Paris in grain and flour is estimated at 158 sacks, each weighing 139 kilogrammes, daily, or 91,695,300 kilogrammes annually. The price of the loaf of household bread, of four pounds weight, varies from eleven to twelve sous. The annual consumption of potatoes in Paris is nearly 325,000 kilogrammes, or about 650,000 pounds. More than twenty cart loads of water-cresses are brought into Paris daily, each of which produces 300 francs, thus giving a daily consumption of 6000 francs for this article alone.

Indirect taxes produce on an average nineteen millions a year. The post-office collects annually in Paris alone about four millions and a quarter. The direct taxes amounted, in the year 1815, to about twenty-two millions; but at present they amount to twenty-eight millions. The revenues of the city of Paris for the year 1835 were 44,436,797 francs, and the expenditure for the same year was about 41,087,091 francs. During the year 1835 the sum of 6,286,000 francs was devoted by the municipality to the embellishment of the town; a similar sum of 6,615,000 francs was allotted to the same purpose for the year 1836; and the budget of the town for the year 1835 was expected to give a clear excess of 4,782,004 francs, to be devoted to improvements and embellishments. The total territorial revenue of the Seine, in 1835, amounted to about 54,418,000 francs. The produce of the octroi duties has [7:17:81]been gradually increasing for some time past; in 1834 it amounted to 27,684,000 francs, and in 1835 to 29,050,000 francs. The average annual duties paid for the navigation of the Seine amount to about 700,000 francs.

The following are the official returns of the population of Paris.
[table]

The above numbers are exclusive of strangers and troops, which are never comprehended in these returns.

In the department of the Seine the numbers in 1836 were 1,106,891.
[table]

All ranks of the' inhabitants are distinguished by gay and agreeable dispositions, and great civility of manners. The polished character of Parisian society throws a veil of external decency over the more disgusting features of immorality. The eyes and the ears are not offended, as in London or Edinburgh, with the rudeness and blackguardism of vice; but the statistics of Paris indicate that, under the thin covering of superficial decency and civility, there lies a deep substratum of criminality and corruption.

The number of suicides in Paris is very great; on the other hand, the executions are few. These were, in

1827. 1828. 1829. 1830. 1831. 1832. 1833. 1834. 1835. Suicides...261 279 307 269 359 369 325 360 394 Executions...3 16111204

being an average of suicides of rather more than 346 for the last six years; whilst the capital punishments for the same period are on an average one and a half annually.

The laws for licensing and regulating female licentiousness, so far from checking the progress of corruption, seem rather to foster it. Every prostitute’ is compelled to take out a license at the proper bureau, for which she pays a stipulated sum. Her name, her age, and her abode, are entered in the books of the police; and once in every month she is visited by a medical man appointed for the purpose, who gives her, or withholds, according to circumstances, a carte de santé, or bill of health. Should she dare to pursue her calling without this license and this medical certificate, she is liable to fine, imprisonment, and corporal punishment. Some notion of the actual number of these females in Paris may be formed from the following table of the number of inscriptions during twenty years, which is abridged from the work of Μ. Perent Duchâtelet, whose benevolent exertions to prevent and restrain this frightful social evil deserve the warmest gratitude of all who are sincerely concerned in the welfare and improvement of the human race.
[table]
[table]

It thus appears that in 1832 the total number of females inscribed or registered as public prostitutes amounted to above 42,000, and the average monthly inscriptions were above 3500. As the population of the French metropolis was at the period referred to upwards of 800,000, the estimate now given makes the number of public females spending their lives in and subsisting by prostitution to be rather more than one in twenty of the whole population.

In 1834, the total number of births was 29,104, deaths 23,015, marriages 8091. Of the 29,104 births, 9985 were illegitimate, and of these, 4523 took place in hospitals and public institutions, and 3649 were recognised by the fathers. 14,023 persons died at their own houses, 7759 in civil hospitals, 895 in military hospitals, fifty in prisons, and 288 were deposited at the Morgue.^[2. The Morgue is a small building where unknown and unclaimed corpses found by the police are left to be recognised by their friends. A window is constructed so as to enable those who look through it to see distinctly the bodies deposited in it; and it rarely happens that the passenger who turns aside to look will not be shocked with the view of one or more corpses on the floor. ] In the returns of the population of Paris for 1835, the births were,
[table]

Marriages 581. Deaths, males 15,519, females 14,587; deposited at the Morgue, males 226, females, forty-two; total 30,332. Of the foundlings who are every year received into the hospitals, above twenty per cent, die annually. According to the experience of a century and a half, the months in which the greatest mortality prevails in Paris are March and April, and the least August and July. The greatest number of children are born in March and January, the smallest in June, November, and December. The greatest number of marriages take place in May, the smallest in March and January. The number of male births exceeds that of females, on the average of the last seventy-seven years, in the proportion of nearly twenty-six to twenty-five. For the whole of France, the proportion is sixteen males to fifteen [7:17:82]females in the case of legitimate children, and as twenty-three to twenty-two for illegitimate children. Of the population of Paris, it has been calculated that nearly one half are working and labouring people, the rest being occupied in some trade or profession, or living upon their income. There are 80,000 servants, and nearly the same number of paupers. Nearly 15,000 patients are always in the hospitals, and about four times that number pass through the hospitals in the course of the year. There are about 20,000 foundling children supported by the state, and nearly the same number of aged and infirm incapable of working. The population of the prisons is generally about 4000.

Paris, Matthew, one of our best historians, but of whose life few particulars have been transmitted to us. Leland, his original biographer, without determining whether he was born in France or in England, informs us that he was a monk of St Alban’s, and that he was sent by Pope Innocent to reform the monks of the convent at Holm in Norway. Bishop Bale, the next in point of time, adds, that, on account of his extraordinary gifts of body and mind, he was much esteemed, particularly by Henry HL, who commanded him to write the history of his reign. Fuller represents him as a native of Cambridgeshire, because there was an ancient family of his name in that county, and also mentions his being sent by the pope to visit the monks in the diocese of Norwich. Bishop Tanner, Bishop Nicholson, Doctor Dupin, and the Nouveau Dictionnaire Historique, add not a single fact to those we havejust related. Matthew Paris died in the monastery of St Alban’s in the year 1259. He was doubtless a man of extraordinary knowledge for the thirteenth century; possessing an excellent moral character, and, as an historian, exhibiting strict integrity. His style is unpolished; but that defect is sufficiently atoned for by the honest freedom with which he relates the truth, regardless of the dignity or sanctity of the persons concerned. His works are, 1. Historia ab Adamo ad Conquestum Angliae, lib. i. manuscript, col. C. C. Cantab, c. ix. Most of this book is transcribed, by Matthew of Westminster, into the first part of his Florilegium. 2. Historia Major, seu Rerum Anglicanarum Historia a Gul. Conquestoris adventu ad annum 43 Henrici HL, several times printed. The first part of this history, viz. to the’ year 1235, is transcribed almost verbatim from the Chronicle of Roger Wendover; and the appendix, from the year 1260, is the work of William Rashinger, who was also a monk of St Alban’s. 3. Vitae Duorum Offarum, Merciae regum, S. Albani fundatorum. 4. Gesta xxii. Abbatum S. Albani. 5. Additamenta Chronicoum ad Historiam Majorem. 6. Historia Minor, sive Epitome Majoris Historiae, in manuscript. Paris left several works in manuscript.

Paris, the son of Priam, king of Troy, by Hecuba, and 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 Jmprudence of her future son, and which would end in the rqjn of Troy. Priam, to prevent so great and so alarming an evil, commanded his slave Archelaus to destroy the child as soon as he was born. But the slave, either touched with humanity, or influenced by Hecuba, did not obey, .and was satisfied with exposing the child upon 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. Paris, though educated amongst 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 the

“helper or defender.” He gained the esteem of all the shepherds; whilst his graceful countenance and manly deportment recommended him to the favours of Oenone, a nymph of Ida, whom he married, and with whom he lived in the most perfect tenderness. Their conjugal peace, however, was not of long duration. At the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, the goddess 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, and the contention at first became general; but at last only three, Juno, Venus, and Minerva, wished to urge their respective claims to the prize, in virtue of superior beauty. The gods, unwilling to become arbiters in so delicate an affair, appointed Paris to adjudge the prize of beauty to the fairest of the goddesses; and indeed the shepherd seemed sufficiently qualified to decide so great a contest, as his wisdom was so well established, whilst his prudence and sagacity were also 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. Jnno promised him a kingdom, Minerva military glory, and Venus the fairest woman in the world for his wife. 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 entitled as the goddess of beauty. This decision of Paris drew upon the judge and his family the resentment of the other two goddesses.

Soon afterwards Priam proposed a contest amongst 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, anxious to regain his favourite, 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, Cyenus the son of Neptune, Polites, Helenus, and Deiphobus, sons of Priam. He likewise obtained a superiority over Hector, who, 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 to those of her brothers, inquired his birth and 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 amongst the brothers. Paris did not long suffer himself to remain inactive; he equipped a fleet, as if willing to redeem Hesione, his father’s sister, whom Hercules had carried away and obliged to marry Telamon the son of Aeacus. This was the pretended motive of his voyage, but the real 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 these expectations whilst 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 whilst 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 [7:17:83]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 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 the combined forces, and a regular war commenced. 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 promoted 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 army, where he walked before like a conqueror. In a combat with Menelaus, which he undertook at the instigation of his brother Hector, Paris must have perished, had not Venus interfered, and stolen him from the resentment of his antagonist. In another battle, however, he wounded Machaon, Euryphilus, and Diomedes; and, according to some opinions, he killed with one of his arrows the great Achilles himself.

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 becoming languid on account of his wounds, he ordered himself to be carried to the feet of Oenone, 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. But he expired before he came into the presence of Oenone; 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 proceed to Troy when he left the Peloponnesus, but was driven upon the coasts of Egypt, where Proteus, king of that 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 is said to have taken place about 1188 before Christ.