Paris As It Was and As It Is | Page 5

the constitutional clergy--National councils of the
Gallican church held at Paris--Conduct of the Pope, _Pius VII_--The
Cardinal Legate, Caprara, arrives in Paris--The Concordat is
signed--Subsequent transactions.
LETTER XLVIII. _Pantheon_--Description of this edifice--Marat and
Mirabeau pantheonized and dispantheonized--The remains of Voltaire
and Rousseau removed hither--The Pantheon in danger of falling--This
apprehension no longer exists--Bonaparte leaves Paris for Lyons.
LETTER XLIX. Scientific societies of Paris--_Société
Philotechnique_--_Société Libre des Sciences, Lettres, et
Arts_--_Athénée des Arts_--_Société Philomatique_--_Société
Académique des Sciences_--_Société Galvanique_--_Société des
Belles-Lettres_--_Académie de Législation_ --_Observateurs de
l'Homme_--_Athénée de Paris_.
LETTER L. Coffee-houses--Character of the company who frequent
them--Contrast between the coffee-houses of the present and former
times--Coffee first introduced at Paris, in 1669, by the Turkish
ambassador--_Café méchanique_--Subterraneous coffee-houses of the
Palais du Tribunat.
LETTER LI. Public instruction--The ancient colleges and universities
are replaced by Primary Schools, Secondary Schools, Lyceums, and
Special Schools--National pupils--Annual cost of these establishments
--Contrast between the old system of education and the new plan,
recently organized.
LETTER LII. Milliners--_Montesquieu's_ observation on the
commands of the fair sex--Millinery a very extensive branch of trade in
Paris--_Bal de l'Opéra_--Dress of the men and women--Adventures are
the chief object of those who frequent these masquerades.
LETTER LIII. _Théâtre Français de la République_--The house
described--List of the stock-pieces--Names of their authors--_Fabre
d'Eglantine_--His _Philinte de Molière_ a _chef-d'oeuvre_--Some
account of its author --_La Chaussée_ the father of the drame, a
tragi-comic species of dramatic composition.
LETTER LIV. Principal performers in tragedy at the _Théâtre
Français_--Vanhove, Monvel, _St. Prix_, and _Naudet_--Talma, and
_Lafond_--_St. Fal_, Damas, and _Dupont_--Mesdames Raucourt and

_Vestris_--Mesdames Fleury, Talma, Bourgoin, and
_Volnais_--Mesdames Suin and _Thénard_--_Début_ of Mademoiselle
_Duchesnois_; Madame Xavier, and Mademoiselle
_Georges_--Disorderly conduct of the Duchesnistes, who are routed by
the Georgistes.
LETTER LV. Principal performers in comedy at the _Théâtre
Français_--Vanhove, and _Naudet_--_Molé_, Fleury, and Baptiste the
elder--_St. Fal_, Dupont, Damas, and _Armand_--_Grandménil_, and
Caumont --Dugazon, Dazincourt, and _Larochelle_--Mesdemoiselles
Contat, and _Mézeray_--Madame _Talma_--Mesdemoiselles _Mars,
Bourgoin_, and _Gros_--Mesdemoiselles Lachassaigne and
_Thénard_--Mesdemoiselles Devienne and _Desbrosses_--Contrast
between the state of the French stage before and since the revolution.
LETTER LVI. French women fond of appearing in male
attire--Costume of the French Ladies--Contrast it now presents to that
formerly worn--The change in their dress has tended to strengthen their
constitution--The women in Paris extremely cleanly in their
persons--Are now very healthy.
LETTER LVII. The studies in the colleges and universities interrupted
by bands of insurgents--_Collège de France_--It is in this country the
only establishment where every branch of human knowledge is taught
in its fullest extent--Was founded by Francis I--Disputes between this
new College and the University--Its increasing progress--The
improvements in the sciences spread by the instruction of this
College--Its present state.
LETTER LVIII. _Théâtre de l'Opéra Comique_--Authors who have
furnished it with stock-pieces, and composers who have set them to
music--Principal performers at this theatre--Elleviou, Gavaudan,
Philippe, and _Gaveaux_--Chenard, Martin, _Rézicourt_, Juliet, and
Moreau --_Solié_, and _St. Aubin_--Dozainville, and
_Lesage_--Mesdames _St. Aubin_, Scio, Lesage, _Crétu_, Philis the
elder, Gavaudan, and _Pingenet_--Mesdames Dugazon, Philippe, and
Gonthier.
LETTER LIX. France owes her salvation to the savans or men of
science --Polytechnic School--Its object--Its formation and subsequent
progress--Changes recently introduced into this interesting
establishment.

LETTER LX. Pickpockets and sharpers--Anecdote of a female
swindler--Anecdote of a sharper--Housebreakers--_Chauffeurs_--A
new species of assassins --_Place de Grève_--Punishment for thieves
re-established--On the continent, ladies flock to the execution of
criminals.
LETTER LXI. Schools for Public Services--The Polytechnic School,
the grand nursery whence the pupils are transplanted into the Schools
of Artillery, Military Engineers, Bridges and Highways, Mines, Naval
Engineers, and Navigation--Account of these schools--_Prytanée
Français_--Special Schools--Special School of Painting and Sculpture
--Competitions--National School of Architecture--Conservatory of
Music--Present state of Music in France--Music has done wonders in
reviving the courage of the French soldiers--The French are no less
indebted to Rouget de Lille, author of the Marseillois, than the Spartans
were to _Tyrtæus_--Gratuitous School for Drawing--Veterinary
School--New Special Schools to Le established in France.
LETTER LXII. Funerals--No medium in them under the old
_régime_--Ceremonies formerly observed--Those practised at the
present day--Marriages --Contrast they present.
LETTER LXIII. Public Libraries--_Bibliothèque Nationale_--Its
acquisitions since the revolution--School for Oriental Living
Languages.
LETTER LXIV. _Bibliothèque Mazarine_--_Bibliothèque du
Panthéon_--_Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal_--The Arsenal--Other libraries
and literary _dépôts_ in Paris.
LETTER LXV. Dancing--Nomenclature of caperers in Paris, from the
wealthiest classes down to the poorest--Beggars form the last link of
the chain.
LETTER LXVI. _Bureau des Longitudes_--Is on a more extensive
scale than the Board of Longitude in England--National
Observatory--Subterraneous quarries that have furnished the stone with
which most of the houses in Paris are constructed--Measures taken to
prevent the buildings in Paris from being swallowed up in these
extensive labyrinths--Present state of the Observatory--Lalande,
_Méchain_, and _Bouvard_--_Carroché_, and _Lenoir_--Lavoisier, and
_Borda_--Delambre, Laplace, Burckhardt, Vidal, Biot, and
_Puisson_--New French weights and measures--Concise account of the

operations employed in measuring an arc of the terrestrial
meridian--Table of the new French measures and weights--Their