Paris As It Was and As It Is | Page 4

in the antique style--La Conciergerie, the place of confinement of
Lavoisier, Malsherbes, Cordorcet, _&c._--Fortitude displayed by the
hapless _Marie-Antoinette_ after her condemnation--_Pont St.
Michel_--_Pont Notre-Dame_--Cathedral of _Notre-Dame_--Anecdote
of Pepin the Short--Devastations committed in this
cathedral--Medallions of _Abélard_ and _Héloïse_ to be seen near
_Notre-Dame_ in front of the house where Fulbert, her supposed uncle,
resided--_Petit Pont_--_Pont au Double_--_Pont Marie_--Workmen
now employed in the construction of three new bridges--Pont de la
Tournelle.
LETTER XXXVI. Paris a charming abode for a man of
fortune--Summary of its
advantages--_Idalium_--_Tivoli_--_Frascati_--_Paphos_--La
Phantasmagorie of _Robertson_--Fitzjames, the famous
ventriloquist--Method of converting a galantee-show into an exhibition
somewhat similar to that of the phantasmagorists.
LETTER XXXVII. Paris the most melancholy abode in the world for a
man without money --_Restaurateurs_--In 1765, Boulanger first
conceived the idea of restoring the exhausted animal functions of the
delibitated Parisians--He found many imitators--The restaurateurs, in
order to make their business answer, constitute themselves
_traiteurs_--_La Barrière_--Beauvilliers, Robert, Naudet, and _Véry_
dispute the palm in the art of Appicius--Description of _Beauvilliers'_

establishment--His bill of fare--Expense of dining at a fashionable
_restaurateur's_ in Paris--Contrast between establishments of this kind
existing before the revolution, and those in vogue at the present
day--Cheap eating-houses--The company now met with at the
fashionable rendezvous of good cheer compared with that seen here in
former times--_Cabinets particuliers_--Uses to which they are
applied--Advantages of a _restaurateur's_--Beauvilliers pays great
attention to his guests--Cleanly and alert waiters--This establishment is
admirably well managed.
VOLUME SECOND.
LETTER XXXVIII. National Institution of the Deaf and Dumb--France
indebted to the philanthropic _Abbé de l'Épée_ for the discovery of the
mode of instructing them--It has been greatly improved by Sicard, the
present Institutor--Explanation of his system of instruction--The deaf
and dumb are taught grammar, metaphysics, logic, religion, the use of
the globes, geography, arithmetic, history, natural history, arts and
trades--Almost every thing used by them is made by
themselves--Lessons of analysis which astonish the spectators.
LETTER XXXIX. Public women--Charlemagne endeavours to banish
them from Paris--His daughters, though addicted to illicit enjoyments,
die universally regretted--_Les Filles Dieu_--_Les Filles pénitentes ou
repenties_ --Courtesans--Luxury displayed in their equipages and
houses--Kept women--Opera-dancers--Secret police maintained by
Lewis XVI, in 1792 --Grisettes--Demireps--A French woman, at thirty,
makes an excellent friend--_Rousseau's_ opinion of this particular class
of women in Paris.
LETTER XL. National Institution of the Industrious
Blind--Circumstance which gave rise to this establishment--_Valentin
Haüy_, its founder, found his project seconded by the Philanthropic
Society--His plan of instruction detailed--Museum of the Blind--After
two or three lessons, a blind child here teaches himself to read without
the further help of any master.
LETTER XLI. _Théâtre des Arts et de la République_, or Grand
French opera--Old opera-house burnt down, and a new one built and
opened in 72 days --Description of the present house--Operas of
_Gluck_; also those of Piccini and _Sacchini_--Gluckists and
Piccinists--The singing is the weakest department at the French

opera--Merits of the singers of both sexes--Choruses very
full--Orchestra famous--The Chief Consul, being very partial to Italian
music, sends to that land of harmony to procure the finest musical
compositions.
LETTER XLII. Dancing improved in France--Effect of some of the
ballets--Noverre and Gardel first introduce them on the French
stage--Rapid change of scenery--Merits of the dancers of both
sexes--The rector of St. Roch refuses to admit into that church the
corpse of Mademoiselle _Chameroi_--The dancers in private society
now emulate those who make dancing their profession--Receipts of the
opera.
LETTER XLIII. New year's day still celebrated in Paris on the 1st of
January --Customs which prevail there on that occasion--_Denon's_
account of the French expedition to Egypt--That country was the cradle
of the arts and sciences--Fourrier confirms the theory of Dupuis,
respecting the origin, &c. of the figures of the Zodiac.
LETTER XLIV. _Hôtel des Invalides_--It was projected by Henry IV
and erected by Lewis XIV--Temple of Mars--To its arches are
suspended the standards and colours taken from the enemy--Two
British flags only are among the number--Monument of
_Turenne_--Circumstances of his death--Dome of the _Invalides_--Its
refectories and kitchens--Anecdote of Peter the Great--Reflections on
establishments of this description--_Champ de Mars_--_École
Militaire_--Various scenes of which the Champ de Mars has been the
theatre--Death of _Bailly_--Modern national fêtes in France, a humble
imitation of the Olympic games.
LETTER XLV. Object of the different learned and scientific
institutions, which, before the revolution, held their sittings in the
_Louvre_--Anecdote of Cardinal Richelieu--National Institute of Arts
and Sciences --Organization of that learned body--Description of the
apartments of the Institute--Account of its public quarterly meeting of
the 15th Nivose, year X, (5th of January, 1802)--Marriage of
Mademoiselle Beauharnois to Louis Bonaparte.
LETTER XLVI. _Opéra Buffa_--The Italian comedians who came to
Paris in 1788, had a rapid influence on the musical taste of the French
public--Performers of the new Italian company--Productions of
Cimarosa, _Paësiello_, &c.--Madame Bolla.

LETTER XLVII. Present state of public worship--Summary of the
proceedings of