THE CURIOSITIES O F PARIS, In NINE LETTERS. containing The Manner of T/avelling from Calais to Paris, and the Defcription of the Towns, &c. on the Road. Defcription of Paris, 'Courfe of the Seine, Bridges, Foun- tains, &c. Palaces, Paintings, Gardens, Statues, Cabinets of Curio- iities, and an Execution on the Wheel. Hofpitals, Churches, Relics, and Proceffions. Squares, Statues, and Infcrip- tions. Different Orders of the Religi- ous, Orders of Knighthood, Equipages, and Theatres. Amphitheatres, public Libra- ries, Colleges, Nunneries, &c. and the Ceremony of taking the Veil. Defcription of St. Cloud, the Royal Maufoleum of St. Dennis, and Regalia of the Crown. Defcription and Curlofities at Versailles, Trianon, Mar LI, Waterworks, and Machine, Gardens, Statues, Proceffion of the Knights of the St. Esprit, &c. &c. Interfperfed with ufeful Observations, and particularly- adapted for the Perufal of Chirurgical Students and the Traveller. By A. R. Si quid novifti redlius iftis, Candidas imperti; Si non, his utere mecum. Hor. If you have made any better Remarks of your own, communicate them with Candour ; if not, make Ufe of thefe I prefent you with. LONDON; Printed for W. Owen, at Homer’s Head, near Temple- Bar, Fleet- Street. Mineral Waters. A t OWEN’S Original Mineral Water Warehoufe in Fleet -Street, which hath been eftablilhed in its Repu- tutiou for near fifty Years, the Nobility, Gentry, and Faculty, may be afl'ured of having the following Waters (from the great Call for them at this Original Water Warehoufe) always in the utmoft Perfedion, for ready Money, as hath been the ufual Cuflom of this Trade, and at the loweft Prices. German Spa, filled at the Pouhon Springf in whole and half Flalks ; Pyrmont, in three-pint Bottles j Seltzer, in large Stone Bottles; Nevil JIolt Water, from Dr, Short ; Bristol Hot-well Water, from Smith and Woodall-, Haragate Spa Water; Wiltshire Holt Water; Tilbury Alterative Wa- ter, from the ; Cheltenham; Bath; Scar- borough; Malvern ; Jessop’s Well, or Stoke; Acton; Dog and Duck ; Tar- Water, made agreeable to Bilhop Berkley s Diredions ; and Sea-Water, taken up feveral Leagues at Sea. Allb Dr. RuJJelh DilTertation on the Ufe of the Sea- Water, with Dr. Speed' % Commentary, Price jr. in Boards and blue Paper. Scarborough, Cheltenham, and ASion Salts. iV. B. The Foreign \^aters are taken up at fuch Times only; when they are in full Vigour, and approved by the Phyficians both of Pyrmont and Spa, as will more fully appear by feveral Certificates under their Hands and Seals, as well as thofe from the Magiftrates of Spa ; who have in the ftrongeft Manner alTerted and recommended the Skill, Care, and long Experience, of My Agent at Spa, in taking up the Pouhon Water in the moft proper Seafon, and at the only fit Times, and fecuring the Flaiks after the moft improved Method, moft effedually to retain and preferve their Mineral Spirit. And as feveral Journies have been taken both to Pyrmont and Spa, to fettle the bell Cor-, refpondence, in order to import the Foreign Waters in the utmoft Perfedion, fo I have no Doubt but they will meet with general Approbation. Note, Bath, Briftol, Cheltenham, Mahern, Holt, JeJfop's Well, Sea, A£lon, Dog and Duck Waters, come conllantly frelh every Week. To prevent Impofitions, I beg the Favour of thofe who are pleafed to honour me with their Commands, to dired that the MelTenger, or Agent, do always bring back one of my printed Bi'Is, with a Receipt, figned by their moft obedient Servant, W. OWE N. PREFACE. T the Time I was going to leave Eng- land, a particular Friend recommended to me the keeping of a Journal, or at lead to take Notes of every Thing memorable which fhould occur during my Abfence : By this Means I fhould difcharge my Memory of a Number of Subjects, which in all Probability would otherwile foon flip out of it. After jthis ufeful Inftrudion, he further infilled that I Ihould digefi: thefe Notes into Order, and by Letter communicate to him all my Obfer- vations, for his private Entertainment. Thefe Preliminaries being adjufied by a peremptory Demand of a Friend, who I could not dif- oblige, I haflily complied, not knowing, at that Time, the many laborious Hours I had to en< vl PREFACE, encounter by purfulng his Plan ; However, as I had given my Promife, I endeavoured to ful- fil it. All the Apology I can make for their Publication, is no more than that the follow- ing Letters were the Subjedls of near twice the Number, which pafled from Paris to Lon- don, during my fourteen Months Relidence in that City. At my Return I found that thefe Letters, which were defigned only for his private Entertainment, had been bandied about among his Acquaintance with various Succefs, fometimes attended with fevere Criticifms, and fometimes the contrary. However, my Friend was fo indulging to reftore me thefe Letters, upon Confideration that I (hould revife and correcfl them at my leifure Hours, and return him a Copy. Thus this Embrio, from a Variety of Alterations, had its firft Formation. I (hall not be very anxious whether thefe Letters (like many of our modern periodical W^orks) live for a Mo- ment and fall in Oblivion. I have no high Efteem of the Performance, nor could I poffi- bly difcern my Errors j it would be unpardon- able in me if I could, and did not amend them : PREFACE. vU them: Indeed I found it more difficult to correct than it was to write, as the Chain of my Thoughts at this Time was far removed from the Objedf, and confequently the Spirit (from the Variety of Subjedls) much fl gged, dry, and vaftly difficult to alter with tolerable Vivacity ; therefore I could only curtail the Number of Letters, make fome Alterations in regard to the Language, and digeft and clafs them into a more regular Order. I now principally intend them for the Perufal of fuch Gentlemen who intend to take a Tour to Paris: I dare affirm, that the defcriptive Part is as near as poffible to^ the Truth 5 and no material Place is omitted, either in the City or adjacent Towns, which are worth viewing by the Eye of a Stranger. I flatter myfelf, that thofe Gentlemen (of my Acquaintance) who have been there, will likewife find fome Satisfaction in the Perufal, as it will recal to their Memory, the many pleafing Scenes, &c. they enjoyed in Paris : How far I have fucceeded in my Defign, is left to every one to judge. I have concealed my Name, for two Motives j the firft, to avoid A 4 viil PREFACE, public Cenfure j and the fecond, to avoid Ap- plaufe (if any is due.) It would be much more agreeable to hear the concealed Author approved than condemned 5 yet whatever is their Fate I fhall reft equally contented, as it will be in the Power of but few Perfons to throw out any perfonal Cenfure. I hope they will be in fome Meafure ufeful to fuch who go there merely through Cu- riofity, as they will be here conducted to every Part of the City, and adjacent Parts worthy of their Infpeition ; but more particularly ufeful to medical and chirurgical Students, whofe chief Intereft I keep in View j for had I been furniftied with thefe or fuch like Hints, before I went to France, the Obligation would have been highly acceptable. I have now done with the Apology (in regard to their Publication) — fo let them take their Fate. Finding no Plac6 more proper than the Preface, tofpeak a few Words to my chirur- gical Readers, who intend taking a Tour to this famous Metropolis, it may not be impro- per now to enter upon this Topic. In PREFACE. IX In regard to the Praftice of Phylic in France, it is at a low Ebb, and I think not worth a medical Student’s W hile to go there, the Profeffors being moftly TIheorifts, and the Pradice exceeding concife ; moftly confifting in Ptifans, unmerciful Bleedings, Glyfters, and many lefs effedual Prefcriptions j which are here repeated Iterum atque Iterum, until Death interferes, Vel Natura evincit Morbum, Me diem paucorum remediorum. A Phyfician with few Medicines, is an old Maxim j and feveral great Men have declared, that the more limple the Pradice of Phylic is the better ; If fo, the French Phylicians have done their Parts in reducing its Copioufnefs. Desault has compared feven or eight of the bed: Medicines in Phylic, to leven or eight Tones in Mulic ; the harmonious Combination of which com- pofes all Sorts of Tunes, and the mod: melo- dious Concerts, through the Skill of an able Mudeian. Virgil (in his iEneid) calls Phy- lic ‘‘ A dumb Art, mutas intimating that it requires rather Rededion and Medita- tion than Words and Eloquence} and Sy- denham tells us, that great Phy^dologills are com- X preface. commonly but middling Praaitioners. (Syd. prsefat. de Prodagra.) However well the pre- fent French Phyficians obferve thefe Maxims Jet every one judge who are accj^uainted witii their Method of Pradice : Yet it is allowed by moft of the medical Gentlemen, that Phy- fic is here far from its dernier Perfedion, and much better taught at Edinburgh and Lon- don. Students in Surgery may indeed receive great Advantages from their public Hofpitals, as they may fee a Multiplicity of Operations, and a Variety of Cafes j befides the great Ad- vantage of attending ieveral Hofpitals, the Ledures in Anatomy, Operations, Midwifery^ phyfical Ledures and Difputations, with re- gular Courfes on Bandages ; fuch as the ana- tomical, botanical, chymical, and chirurgical Operations, and Ledures at the King’s Gar- dens 5 Courfes in Anatomy, and Operations at the medical School j Anatomy, Operations^ and Midwifery at Sx. Cosme: All which public Courfes every Student may, if he pkafes, attend gratis. If they do not chufe to attend’ thefe Ledures, which are always crowded 1 PREFACE. xi crowded with Barbers Garmons (who are all Surgeons) they may attend the private Courfes of the public ProfelTors, who are reafonable in their Prices : Though I muft at the fame Time acknowledge, that Meflieurs Hunter and Smellie, in London, are equal, if not fuperior, to any of the celebrated Profellbrs in Paris. I would recommend to the Students of the London Hofpitals, the continual Affiduity which thefe Gar9ons labour at their Studies ; for moft of the Barbers here underftand the pradtical Part of Anatomy (Diffeding) bet- ter than the Majority of our EngliQi Surgeons. Botany, a Study formerly in Efleem in England, but now almoft negleded by Stu- dents, is in Paris in the greateft Perfedion 5 and every young Fellow, by his diligent Ap- plication, is a Botanift, which T mention to the great Honour and candid Difintereflednefs of Meflieurs Jussieus's, Profeflbrs royal in Botany at the King’s Gardens ; (Gentlemen well known among the Learned) who walk with the Students into the Country weekly, during xii PREFACE* during the proper Seafon a-botanizing, befideg fliewing aud explaining the Plants in the King’s Garden : Thefe Gentlemen, by their free communicative Behaviour,, are univerfally efteemed by the Students of every Nation. The mod: noted Profeflbrs in Paris, are Meffieurs De la Faye and Garegeot, royal Profeflbrs at St. Cosme for Surgery and Ope- rations ; Meffieurs Ger vais and Barbote, ProfefTors at St. Cosme for Midwifery 5 Monfieiir Levret, private ProfefTor and Teacher in Midwifery, and the mod efteemed of any in Paris. The Method w^hich Students are to take in this Study is as follows : They firft go through a private Courfe of Ledures with this Gentleman, for which they pay two Guineas, and then enter their Name in the. fage Femme or Midwife’s Book, giving a pro- per Addrefs to their Lodging: Once a Week they mud attend the Midwife, at which Time are fometimes fifteen or twenty Wo- men, at diderent Periods of their Pregnancy, each of whom the Students examine, and pay every Woman fix Sous (Threepence Englidi.) When any of thefe Women are in Labour, they PREFACE. xiii they are brought to the fage Femme’s Houfe, where the Pupils have immediate Notice to attend; for being prcfent they pay three Livres (half a Crown) but if they pleafe they may. themfelves deliver, which is attended with an additional Expence of three Livres more. In all praeternatural Cafes the Profef- for is fent for ; and if he delivers the Woman by Inftruments, each Pupil pays fix Livres to the Midwife. Meffieurs Louis and Simons royal Pro- fefibrs at St- Cosme for Phyfiology ; Mef- fieurs Andouille and Ruffel, royal Pro- feffors at St. Cosme for Pathology; Mef- I fieurs Hevin and Bassuel, royal ProfefTors I at . St. Cosme for Therapeutic ; Mefileurs Duplessis and Sue, royal ProfefTors at St. Cosme for Anatomy; Meffieurs Farrein and Mertrude, royal Profeflbrs at the King’s Gardens for Anatomy and Operations; Monfieur Rouelle, royal Profeflbr at the King’s Gardens for the pradical Part of Che- miftry ; Monfieur Halle, royal ProfefTor at The medical School for Anatomy and Ope- rations ; Monfieur Astruc, royal Profeflbr at xiv PREFACE, at the College Royal for medical Lectures ; and laftly, the famous Abbe Nollet, royal Proieilor for natural and experimental Philo*^ fophy, Thefe feveral Profeffors have a fuffi- cient Allowance from the Crown ; and Stu- dents of every Nation may attend all the Lec- tures and Experiments gratis. Moft of the above Gentlemen give private Courfes at their own Houfes, which are rea- fonable j and the Students pay for every in- jedted Subjedl (which they diffedl under the Infpedion and Direftion of the Profeffor) forty Livres j and this is their own Property. Their private anatomical Leaures are curious, and I would recommend all Gentlemen to attend them, rather than be crowded by the Bar- bers at their public Courfes : Finally, I muft particularly recommend, that all Students lay their own Hands to the Work, more efpe- cially in Operations, Diffeaing, and in apply- ing Bandages ; by this IVIeans, they will learn more Dexterity and Knowledge in four Months, than by hearing the Leduies and viewing the diffeded Parts, they can poffibly attain in one Year. In thefe Studies I would recommend PREFACE. XV recommend Meffieurs Morreau and Petit for Operations, Monfieur Sue for Anatomy, and Desdier for Bandages. In regard to their Hofpital Pradice, they will find many Cafes treated in as judicious a Manner as they are in any Country, and their Fertility of inventing Bandages (not defcribed in Authors ' excelling mod. Their moft un- fuccefsful Cafes are the compound Fradures, which are generally fatal i which is, I imagine^ in a great Meafure owing to their too plentiful Ufe of hot Spirits j a little will undoubtedly be ufeful, but fure there can be no Neceffity for their par-boiling the whole Member twice a Day, both Dreffings and Bandages in Brandy : By this Means the Digeftion never comes on kindly, and often none at all. The Patient, by the Digeftion being flopped, is foon thrown into an high Fever ; an Inflammation begins, which is generally follow'ed by a Gangrene, and in a few Days that fatal Period Death. Thefe compound Cafes I mention as a Beacon^ that none may purfue their Method of Prac- tice in the prepofterous Ufe of Spirits ; for from Experience I fpeak, after having feen Numbers XVI PREFACE. Numbers die through this Treatment, which would have recovered in England. In Lythotomy they follow the old Method, by cutting through the ligamentous Part of the Urethra : Thefe Patients are commonly re- ferved until the general Day, when they per- form the Operation on eight or twelve dif- ferent People in a Morning. The Operation by this Method is generally tedious, more ef- pecially if the Stone is large ; though I may truly fay, the Surgeons meet with great Suc- cefs in thefe Cafes : The lateral Operation (according to Mr. Cheselden’s Improve- ment) is feldom pradlifed here, and will fcarcely ever be univerfally received, as it has the Difadvantage of coming from a Nation they cordially defpife (through Affedednefs) for chirurgical Knowledge. The Suture of the Tendo Achillis is entirely laid ahde. In this Cafe they only relax the Mufcles of the Foot and Leg, and retain it in that Portion, by proper Bandages, about fix or eight Weeks, at which Time the Union is generally accomplifhed : I mean in fuch Cafes where PREFACE. xvii where the Tendon is divided by an Over- flretch, and not accompanied with a Wound j likewife in all large tranfverfe mufcular Wounds, they feldom apply the Suture, but only relax the Part by Bandages until the Cure is perfected. The ufeful Improvement of the double In- cifion in Amputations in their Hofpitals, is fel- dom or ever pradifed, for theReafons affigned above. In all Callofities, whether proceeding from venereal Caufes, Fiflulas in Perinaeo (after cut- ting for the Stone) Stridures in the Urethra, Indurations, callous Scars, &c. are all treated according to the Improvement of Monfieur Daran j the Remedy is the Bougie, which he ftill keeps as an Arcanum : Though almoR every Surgeon here has a particular Bougie of his own, which they judge equal to thofe of Daran : For my Part I can perceive no dif- ferent Effeds from thofe of Daran, Hotel Dieu, or Mr. Sharp j for after having tried them all on different Patients, I perceived nearly the fame Operation, by producing a a copious xvlii PREFACE. . copious Suppuration from the affeded Part, which fell in Contad with the Bougie. Upon which Confiderations, I think we may not be fo very anxious after Mr. Daran’s Arcanum, fince the Compofition of Mr. Sharp’s Bougie (in his Critical Enquiry) is equal to any they have in France, In Amputations below the Knee or Elbow, and fometimes above, in Aneurifms and large incifed Wounds, where the Blood Veffelsare divided, they have partly laid afide the Liga- ture ; and I have frequently feen the Agaric * * This Styptic is called by Botanifts, Agaricus pedis equini. Fig. Inst. Rei Herbar. Fungi Arborci ad Ellychnia. J. B. Fungi Igniarii. Cis alp in i et T r ag i . Boletus acaulis pulvinatus Igevis poris tenuiflTimis. Linn. Flor. Succ. Monfieur Brossart, who firft introduced this Pre- paration into Pradice, conceives, that that which grows upon old Oaks which have been lopped, is the moft: valu- able ; that it ftiould be gathered in Augufl: or September, and kept in a dry Room. Mellieurs Morand and Jus- sieu think that the Agaric, which when growing is of a greyifti Colour on the Outfide, is better than that which is white. The Way of preparing it is, to take olF with a Knife the white and hard Part, till you find a Subftance fo foft, as to yield under the Finger like Shammoy Leather. This is to be divided into Pieces of different Sizes and Thick- nefs ; beat thefe with a Hammer to give them a Degree of Softnefs, fo that they may be eafily torn with the Finger. ufed XIX PREFACE. ufed in thefe and flmilar Cafes with the greateft Succefs. This Styptic has been fucceeded by another, which was brought into Pradice in France by the King’s Farrier, Monfieur le Fosse j it is known in England under the Name of Fungus Ovatus, or Fuffe Balls. But of all their Inventions, they feem to efteem the Method of taking away the fali~ vating Property of Mercury the greateft ; of which they ufe a large Quantity each Fridion, without fearing the riling of a Sputation. The Compolition of the Unguent, the Method of deftroying its falivating Quality, and Manner of uling it, is as follows : p . Argent. Vi v. 5 iij. ( Sol v. in T ereb. Venet. q. f ) Axung. Porcin. Camph. 9 ij. fiat Un- guentum. Monfieur Raul in the Inventor informs us, “ That, in the Year 1752, he frequently ufed the common mercurial Ointment, and followed the Method of Extindion ; but had often the Misfortune to fee, that the greateft Precautions could not hinder the dreadful Ef- feds of that Preparation on weak Conftitu- tions : XX PREFACE, tions : Therefore I refolved, after the Exam- ple of Haller and Hoffman, to mix a proportional Quantity of Camphirein the Un- guent ; and thefe very Conftitutions, whom two Drams of the common Ointment greatly difordered, bore now two Ounces of the Oint- ment, with the Addition of Camphire. Being thus encouraged with Succefs, I gave others five Drams at each Fridtion, and omitted an Interval of three Days between the Fridions, and often only two Days, There never hap- pened the lead Inconveniency ; and the Pa- tients did not keep their Chambers one Day, when the Weather was tolerable: Yet it can only be known, by repeated Experiments, whether this Quantity will fuffice for all Con- ftitutions.” (Vide Lettre fur les Maladies Veneriennes, dans laquelle on public la Ma- niere de preparer le Mercure, dont la plus forte dofe n’excite point de Salivation, parMonfieur Louis, ProfelTeur Royal en Chirurgie. Im- prime a Paris.) The above Quotation is a fufficient Indica- tion, that in moft venereal Cafes falivating is laid afide, and the Method of Extindion and 3 ho XXI PREFACE, hot Bathing fubftituted in its Place, with which they meet with great Succefs. Thus I have recapitulated the moft material Points, wherein the French Pradice differs from the Engliih, as far as I could poffibly judge from attending their Hofpitals fourteen Months 5 but, for the other Parts of Surgery, whether in regard to Operations, Wounds, Fradures, &c. &c. I think their Pradice is partly fimilar to that in England. I am far from perfuading young Gentlemen to take my bare Word in thefe Particulars ; no, I would have them diligently attend their Hofpitals, and apply themfeilves clofe to Ob- fervation, which will be much more laudable than imitating the Beau-monde in all their Fopperies. The great Boerhaave made it an inviolable Rule, to divide his Time between Study and Pradice : And Surgery requires much Pains and Application, in order to ob- tain the clofeft View of Nature: We ought to make ourfelves Mafters of all the Helps, which known Obfervations and Experiments jointly furnifh ; and not a fingle Difcovery in the Courfe of Pradice ought to efcape our Know- XXll PREFACE. Knowledge. Without this Application many fkilful Pradlitioners, of large Practice, will be ignorant of the Improvements which are fa- miliar to the junior Surgeons. Continual Study is necelTary in Pradice, a$ in Anatomy, for without we are folicitous to fearch after new Difeoveries ; our Labour will be no more than a fervile Talk, an Imitation, a mere Repetition of the Labours of our Pre- deceffors. Practice gives only the Dexterity of the Hand, and not the Genius and Know- ledge which ought to regulate it. We for- merly knew no other Method of flopping the Blood in Amputations, than the cruel Appli- cation of the adluai Cautery, until Parey happily difeovered and taught us the Method of tying up the VelTels 5 and even within thefe few Years, Surgery has been further enriched by finding out the flyptic Qiwlity of the Aga’ ric of the Oak. What ufeful Hints and Ex- pedients has Phyfic received, fince the Peru- vian Bark has been introduced into Pradlice in intermitting and gangrenous Cafes, &c. and what Lights has not Mercury given us, in ve- nereal and obftinate ulcerous Diforders, &c. in- fomuch that we may juflly apply to Mercury, the PREFACE. xxiii the Praifes which our great Sydenham be- ftowed on Opium. I thank God, that he has been pleafed to give Mankind, to alleviate their Pains, a Remedy of this Importance, lit to footh fo many Complaints, and to cure them effeaually.’’ Though I earneftly recommend to my Bro- thers, a diligent Application to Study and Pradice, yet I am very fenfible, that all young Praditioners labour under great Difficul- ties, to accommodate foreign Obfervations to Engliffi Pradice, as many are not calculated for our Climate, and fome to be followed with Caution: Yet notwithftanding thefe Difficulties, let us imitate the French Nation in their clofe Application j Study will foon be- come pleafing, and Knowledge entertaining, by purfuing this laudable Maxim of the im- mortal Boerhaave. ‘‘ I formerly never vifited a Patient, without writing down all the Signs and Symptoms according as they occur- red ; and by this Means, it is almoft incredible how much I improved. If you take this Method through four or five Diforders of every Clafs, you will ever after eafily diftinguiffi the like Difeafes.” (Academical Ledurcs, Vol. VI. p. 128.) FRENCH COINS Brass, or Copper Money. Denter • The twelfth Part of a French Penny. Liard Or French Farthing. Sol^ or Sou French Penny. Siliard Or one Sou and a half. DeuxSolpien - - Twopence their Money. SILVER COINS. Dauze Sol piece Twelvepence French. Vingt quart Sol piece — Double the Value of the former, jf Livre is twenty Sols. This is an imaginary coin as our Pound is. Petit Ecu Makes three Livres, or fixty Sols. Or Great Crown-piece, is double the Value of the former. GOLD COINS. Half a Louis d’Or - - - - Is twelve Livres. Lous d Or Is twenty-four Livres, or the French Guinea. Double Louis d'Or A two Guinea Piece, and fcarce, as indeed are all the Gold Coins in Paris, Ii) LETTER I. The Method of travelling from Calais to Paris in their Stage- Coach. SIR, January, 23, 1754. ^OU demanded, at our laft Inter- view, ‘ That I tranfmit from Time to Time a Defcription of the Places I pafs through, the Curiofities which are worthy the Obfervation of a Foreigner, during my Refidence in France, with their Manner of travelling in general. — I would gladly be acquitted of this difficult Injunc- tion, much doubting my Capacity, and Abi- lity, will greatly fall fhort of your fanguine Enquiry; yet, not totally to difoblige you, ffiall endeavour to recount my Journey from London to Paris in a curfory manner; which I hope you will find more Ifomniferous than Opium, and induce you to lay afide your ardent Defire for Enquiry, unlefs your Friend B the 2 The Curiosities the Dldator had greater Ability to fatisfy your Curiofity. If you recall your Memory you’ll remem- ber how chearfully I parted with England, in high Expedation of Improvement by Af- fiduity in the Arts and Sciences, which France is at prefent efteemed for. That I may not difguft you with a long Preface, I lliall begin my Journey from Calais, where I arrived extremely lick, after being three Days on the Pallage : Immediately on our landing w^e were brought to the Guard- room, near the Gates of the Town, where my Baggage was examined by the Cuftom- houfe Officers, to fee we brought nothing contraband into the Dominions of the Grand Monarch, as they ffile him. Here I was obliged to enter my Name into a Book, which they call the Notamina : After a great deal of Trouble, and many Compli- ments, they delivered the Paffengers to five meagie Soldiers, who placed us as Priioners between them, and hurried us to the Com- mandant, or Deputy- Governor of the Town : Here was performed a Farce I little expeded: Being arrived in die Go- vernor’s of P A R I S. 3 vernor’s Kitchen, the Corporal of the Guard, after feveral Compliments to the Cook, in- formed him of three Englifh Gentlemen’s Arrival at Calais, who were come to pay their Refpeds to his Honour the Command- ant. The Cook (at this Time was pre- paring Coffee, and diverting himfelf with whiffling) furvey’d us with a fupercilious Eye, and, after fome Minutes Attendance, and reiterating the fame Speech by our com- manding Officer, the Cook was pleafed to fay, “ Gentlemen, his; Honour is at prefent in Bed, he congratulates your Arrival into the French Dominions, and, if you pro- ceed higher up into the Country, flncerely wiffies you a good Journey.” Thus this Protaeus, who could form Soups, Fricaffies, and Ragoes, beyond human Comprehen- fion to guefs their Compofition, delivered his Mafter’s Compliment, without ffirring from the Fire, with a thoufand Shrugs and Cringes. No Wonder indeed that Foreign- ers laugh at fuch trifling Ceremonies. Being difmiffed by Monfieur Cuifinier, I returned at large to the Port-gate for my Baggage, where the Officers informed me I muff fend it to the Cuftom-houfe to be plumb’d, and B 2 get ^ The Curiosities get a Pass AVAN A. Without any further Notice the Porters feized my Concerns, and ran away to the Cuftom-houfe. I found thefe Porters mod; impofing Rafcals, as they demand, and will have, for every feparate Piece they carry ten Sols, (five Pence Englifh) though it be but the Space of twenty Yards in Length; not a Sword or a Cane can efcape them, for they immediately whip it upon their thin Shoulders, without Orders, fans Ceremonies which gave me the firft Idea of their national Affurance. If you expoflulate on their enormous Impofitions, you labour in vain ; the Officer tells you it’s their Privi- lege, and Monfieur Portier, with an Air of Confequerice, fays, It be not de Ting for Gentlemen to carry de Tings of Porters.” You’ll readily imagine I was too much fa- tigued by my Voyage and their troublefome Grimace to tarry longer than poffible among thefe Gentry, therefore I repaired to the Inn, and refreffi’d myfelf with Soup. I took my Place that Evening in the Stage Coach, which was to fet out in a few Days. Here I fhall jufi: mention Calais in a curfory way, for, as my Stay in feveral Places which I fhall of P A R I S. 5 Hiall pafs through will not e:tceed a few Days in each, you muft be contented with fuch a brief Account of them as I ( 1^11 be able to procure in fo fhort a Time. Calais or Calis was formerly a noted Sea-port and ftrong City, and occafioned much Difturbance in former Reigns, as the Annals of England plainly diew, being taken in 1347 by King Edward III. and loll by Q^en Mary in i 5 57, who declared in her laft Illnefs, That if they would look into her Heart being dead, they would find Calais written there.” It is fituated in Lower Picardy, and fiands on the Sea, is about thirty Miles S. E. of Dover, and ninety-fix S. E. of London. — Though the Fortifications were formerly fo formidable, yet now the univerfal Wreck of Nature Ihews its annihilating Power, though the Lines, &c. are far from being defpicable. Calais is garrifoned by fix Battalions in the Time of Peace, or three thoufand Soldiers, two thoufand of which are French, and one thoufand Irilh. A ftridl Difcipline is always obferved among the Troops, and the Ram- parts are continually guarded, (o that the B 3 lead 6 The Curiosities leaft Proof of Defertion is attended with Death. I mufi; further obferve, that Calais at firft View feems a mean Place, and Po- verty feems to ftare out of every Window. The Houfes are ill built, the Inhabitants are far from being rich, and in Time of War, when the Thoroughfare is fhut up between it, and l^ngland, muft undoubtedly fufter greatly/ A few Days I found produce a great Contrafl between the Englifh and French Nation — no more road Beef^ Plumb Pudding, &c. &c. but Soups, Fricafeys, Ragoos, and thin Wines; no more the Face of Gravity and Induftry, but Alfedla- tion. Foppery, and Gaiety. Tho’ it was now the Depth of Winter, the Inhabitants were all volatile, the petit Maitres went open-breaded, with Silk Stockings, thick Coats and Waidcoats, and large Muffs and Umbrellas under their Arm, and, to make them a-la-mode, their Hair powdered and decorated to the polite Goiit at Paris, which is always accompanied with the finifhing Stroke of an immoderate long Sword, and Chapeau Bras (Hat under the Arm;) fuch fanfaron Cloathings, that July and January are generally feen in the fame Perfon. Nor of P A R I S. 7 Nor is the Contraft lefs ftriking between their Stage-Coaches and ours, for the Paris Voiture is an odd Machine, fomething in the Shape of a Coach, but twice as large : Both before, and behind the Body of the Coach are placed large covered Bafkets ; in thefe Receptacles all the Goods which are fent from the Provinces to Paris are depo- fited, which ferve inftead of the Waggon Carriages as in England. Each Perlbn gives for his Place thirty Livres, and takes his Seat according to his Priority of paying his Money; firft come, fird: Choice, which he keeps all the Way, not changing, as in the Englifh Stages, which is not at all confifting with thatComplaifance they eftceni themfelves fo much for ; the four lad Per- fons, who engage for their Places, fit at the Windows, two on each Side ; which is fo contrived, that their Feet hang down, and their Heads are equal in Height to the Knees of fuch who ft in the Body of the Coach. Eight Horfes draw this Carriage conftantly, which are yoaked in Pairs by Ropes ; and two Waggoners, or, as they call them. Coach- men, walk with the Horfes, to keep them B 4 on 8 The Curiosities on a quick Walk, which is their conftant Rate. On Ivlonday Morning I left Calais, in ^ mixed Company of Englifh, French, and Dutch, and dined at a fmall Village called Marquise, in the Province of Picardy, and in the Evening entered the Gates of Boulogne. Boulogne, or Bologne, ftands on the Sea, on the Mouth of the River Lenart, where is a convenient Haven. This is a Town of fome Strength, and garrifoned. It ftands in lower Picardy, and is a Bifhop- rick under the Archbiihop of Rheims. It is twenty-four Miles S. W. of Calais, and an hundred and twenty-five N. of Paris. This City appears to be tolerably built, tho* the Entertainment is not at all anfwerable, for the Spirit of Impofiition, and dirty Cook- ery, was here the fame as at Calais. Our Coachman drove the Voiture up to the Stable Door to leave the Horfes, and brought us a Quarter of a Mile through the Streets, a Foot deep in Snow, to the Inn, which greatly refembles an Englifh Barn. This of P A R I s. 9 Bay’s Journey was exceffive uncomfortable, for it fnowed all Day,, and the Coach had ijot a proper Conveniency of keeping out tfie bad Weather, fo that the Snow beat full in our Faces. — Here Patience was a Virtue.- — The Snow continuing all Night, and the Roads being very deep, we had ten Horfes to draw our ponderous Machine, and four Coachmen to drive them. We dined at the poor Village of Sames, and came in the Evening into Montreuil. Montreuil is a ftrong Town, with a Caftle, and ftands in lower Picardy on a high Hill, from whence its Name is derived, near which runs the River Canche. The Houfes and Entertainment we found not very elegant, but the fame impofing Dif- pofition of the Innkeepers ftill prevailed. Montreuil is nineteen Miles S. of Bologne. After Supper an Irilh Officer and I went to a Wedding Ball, the Company of which confifted of about fifty Couple of Peafants. A Mafter of the Ceremonies conducted the Affair with the greateft Regularity and De- corum, and, from the Age of eight to eighty, each Perfon danced Minuets before the 10 The Curiosities the Country Dances. Here we were obliged to exhibit, though in Boots, as the French regard every Perfon as unpolite and as boorifli as a Dutchman, if they refufe to dance at their Aflemblies. During the Ball there came in feveral Sets of Malkers in droll DrelTes, who all danced, and, after a thou- fand apiih Tricks, made their Exit, to give Place to others. This depraved Tafte may to the Splenetick be entertaining, but to the Volatile quite abfurd and ridiculous. Here we had another Specimen of the French Familiarity, for all the Men, fans Ceremoni^, fat on the Womens Knees. At four o’Clock in the Morning we got into the Coach, and had the IVIortification to wait an Hour before the Soldiers would open the Gates of this polite Town. Dined at Bernay, a poor Village, and came in the Evening into Abbeville. This is a llrong and beautiful City in Pi- cardy, ftands on the River Somme, fifty- five Miles S. of Calais, and eighty-four almoft N. of Paris, is a Bifhoprick under the Archbifliop of Rheims. This City is the principal in France for the Woollen Trade, It of PARIS. Trade, and the Cloths are faid to excel thofe of Leeds. This Place is full of Convents and Religious, or, we may fay, full of ufe- lefs Members to Society, who are fequefter’d from, the World, and live as Drones, a Burden to the Community in general. Early the next Morning we faluted the rifing Sun, and came to a defpicable poor Cabin in the Village of Ariana. The Dinner proved here fo exceeding dirty and ill dreffed, that the Officer and I walked before the Coach to another Inn about fix Miles off, which the Machine paffes by, and, after all our Fatigue, got no better Fare than a repas meigre, (fading Dinner) Herb Soup, four Bread, and worfe Wine. At Ariana we left the great Road, and, inftead of going through Amiens, the Ca- pital of Picardy, came to the Village of Psoas, a much nearer Way to Paris. The next Morning we fwept through Granville, one of the neateft Towns we had feen in Picardy, and dined at a mean Village called Oudeile. In the Evening we 1(2 The Curiosities we entered the City of Beauvais. This is a fair and well fortified City in the Govern- ment of the Ifle of France, ftands on the River Terrain, torty-two Miles almofi: N. of Paris, is a Bifhoprick under the Archbiihop of Rheims. This City is, like Abbeville, full of Convents and Clergy. About half a League from the Gates of the Town, clofe to the Road, are three Men in Chains, and one cxpofed on a Wheel for a Murder. With a piercing cold Morning we con- tinued our Route, and dined miferablyat the mean Town pf Blainville, in the Even- ing lay at the poor Village of Beaumont suR OysE in the Ifle of France. It flands on the River Oyse, twenty-four Miles N. of Paris. At Beaumont we quitted the large Province of Picardy, and entered the Ifle of France. Certainly Picardy gives Strangers an high Idea of Plenty in the French Dominions. Paint to yourfelf the pleafing Scenes of fine Views, of beautiful Vineyards, Hares and Partridges as nume-’ rous and as tame as Rabbits and Crows in England. Indeed they may well be fo, as they of PARIS. 13 fhfey are royal Game, and but few of the Nobleffe have the Privilege of Hunting and Fowling : The Plebeians are debarred this Pleafure, and the Death of a fingle Hare or Partridge would undoubtedly merit the Gal- lies for three Years. Although the Land in general (hews the Face of Plenty, yet Foreigners are Ibon convinced to the con- trary; Poverty reigns throughout all the Province. The Houfes are for the moft Part miferably mean, and Ibme of the Inns on a Par with thofe in Weftphalia. 'Tis true you have Fowl in great Plenty, but then their Cooks and Cookery are eminently dirty : Every thing is roafted and boiled ad inf nit em, as long as any Juice remain. But- ter they have little. Oil and Bacon are fubfti- tuted inftead. Their Salt is of a dark grey Colour, and the Bread almoft black. It ought highly to be recommended to all Strangers vifiting France, always to carry about them a Knife, otherwife they will be often nonplus’d, and greatly mortified at their Meals. A Spoon and a Fork, bad Bread, four Wine, and worfe Attendance, is the common Apparatus in mofl of their Inns. I have 14 The Curiosities I have heard that Travelling in France waS extremely reafonable: Probably it might have been once fo, but now, what with the great Thoroughfare and Intercourfe of Stran- gers, but more commonly the Lavifhnefs of the Englifli, the honefl Principles of the Innkeepers are entirely vitiated, and their dilTembling Complaifance cloaks the mod: enormous Impofitions, for your Dinner in a truly defpicable manner feldom cods each Perfon lefs than two Shillings, and often double the Sum. Thofe who fay that Tra- velling in France is more reafonable than in England are much midaken 5 indeed, if trifling Ceremonies and adedled Pundlilios would fatisfy the craving Appetite of an Englidiman, then probably he would come cheap enough to Paris. For my Part, the Moment I landed at Calais Poverty among thefe Caterpillars, was the mod driking Ob-r jedti and I am well fatisfied, that an honed Farmer in England is far more happy in all Circumdances than the NoblelTe in Picardy. An Englidi Epicure will undoubtedly be greatly difguded at the Cookery a-la- mode. of P A R I S. mode, which he is mod: certain of finding in the French Inns, fuch as delicate Ra- goos and Fricafieys, all in the polite Gout of bein mortifies yet we ought earneftly to recommend to all Profeflbrs of Epicurifm, that travelling teaches us wholefome Hard- fliips, to endure any Weather as well as any Meat and Drink, to rife before Aurora, and come to the Inn late at Night, and to be fociable to Men we never faw before, and not to imagine the Land’s End is the World’s End. Indeed nothing cured Alcibiades’s Pride fo much as to fee in a Chart Ihewed him by Socrates, that his Lands, which he fo much efieemed, either appeared there not at all, or, at the moft, but a fmall Spot in Comparifon to the Globe. The immortal Homer fings of Ulysses, ’’Multorum Hommum, Mores et Urbes, who was efieemed the wifefi of all the Gre- cians, as he had travelled much, and had feen “ the Cufioms and Cities of many Men.” St. Augustine, when he fpeaks of the great Advantages arifing from Travel- 1 6 The CuRIOSITiES ling, fays, “ That the World is a gre^ Book, and none ftudy this Book fo much as a Traveller. They that never dir from home read only one Page of this Book}” like the dull Fellow in Pliny, who could never count more than five. How abfurd a Life is this! arid yet we often find improving Geniufes yvithout great Application, who ftrangely murder their Time, and delight in viewing no Court but the Tennis-Court, and fiiun all polite Af- fenxblies and Balls* to the Company of Gamefters and. Tennis-Balls. I muft beg your Pardon, Sir, for fo long a Digrefllon, which I infenfibly fell into, yet I would recommend to all my Countrymen this me- morable Saying of Seneca, which ought to be wrote in Letters of Gold over the Door of every publick School ; Imperitum ejl Animal Homo^ et fim magna Experientia rerumy Ji circumfcribatur Natalis Soli fui Fine, In the Morning we proceeded on our Journey, and dined at St. Dennis, a fmall well- of PARIS. ly well-built Town, about five Miles N. of Paris, Hands in the Ifle of France. This Place is famous for a Monastery, the Monuments of their Kings, and the Regalia of the Crown, which are con- Hantly depofited here, and (hewn gratis every Sunday^. About Six in the Evening we pafled thro* the magnificent Arch of St. Dennis, and were once more examined at the Cuftom- houfe in Paris. During our feven Day’s Fatigue, we were often compelled to walk feveral Miles daily, to prefervea moderate Warmth in ourLimbsj however, as our only Remedy was Patience, and Mirth, we endeavoured to pafs away the Time as agreeably as poffible, notwithftand- ing the Mortification of bad Weather, and worfe Fare at the Inns ^ for indeed, the old Adage could fiever be more ftridly true, than during our Journey from Calais to Paris. Comes jucundus in via pro vehiciilo eft. * Vide a minute Pefcrlption of the Regalia in the ac- count of St. Dennis’s Church, forwards. Between i8 The Curiosities Between Calais and Paris, clofe to the Roads, are placed innumerable wooden Crof- fes, as a Memento that a Perfon’ was killed on that Spot, and that all good Catholicks may ojffer up a Prayer for the Soul of the Unfortunate. There are feveral other Cru- cifixes in Alto-Relievo for private Devo- tions, beautifully painted, placed near the great Roads, or in the Streets of Towns, &c. The Day after my Arrival in Paris, I went to the Cuftom-houfe to have my Baggage again examined, and to carry it away to the Hotel orLodging-Houfci but this I could not obtain without a great deal of Trouble of get- ting Orders, Certificates, &c. Notwithftand- ingl had my Trunk examined and plumbed* at Calais, and fhewed my Italics Pas- savana, to avoid reiterating that troublefome Searching for contraband Goods ; yet, ne- verthelefs I was obliged to comply with the fime Difcipline : the difagreeable long At- tendance here reminded me of what Shake- spear calls ‘‘ The Infolence of Office.” Hamlet. * Is a little leaden Seal, which is tied near the Lock, and cofts five Sols, or Two-pence Halfpenny Englifh. Paflavana is a Certificate of Examination. Calais of PARIS. »9 CALAIS to PARIS 32iPofts, or Englifh Miles. Firft Day. Calais^ to Marquife, Marquile to Boulougne, Second Day. Boulougne to Sanies, Sames to Montreuille, Pofb. 2 2 i8a £ng. M, 12 12 2lLeag. 2 71 12 Third Day. Montreuille to Bernay, Bernay Abbeville Ariana Pfoas Oudeille to Abbeville,^ 2 1 Fourth Day. to Ariana, to Pfoas Fifth Day. to Oudeille, to Beauvais 3 2 If II 24- 15 18 12 9 9 Sixth Day. Beauvais to Blainville, 1 1 Blainville to Beaumont, 3 Seventh Day. Beaumont to St. Dennis,^ 3 St. Dennis to Paris, i f Polls Royal, for which you pay double.’ Pleafe, Sir, to accept of this my firll Letter, and believe me to be, with Ellcem, &c. A. R. 9 18 ^9 6 The CuRios_iTiES 20 LET T E R II. Defcription of Paris ; Courfe of the VILLI AC the Regicide; Publick Fountains ; and Hotels in -gene- s:i R, N this and my; future Letters, I fhall ocular Proof, and their Hiftory can afford. The French take care, in the Margin of their Charts, greatly to efteem the Antiquity of Paris : “ Cette Vi lie beaucoiip plus Ancmme cue Jules C^sar, qui ■ nsivbit loo Ans ^avant Jesus Christ.' This City is more antient than Julius Cassar, who lived an hundred Years before Jesus Christ. In this, particular they do not exaggerMe,' as is moR co/nmonly their darling Foible. It is evident by Hiftory, that Paris is an antique Seine; Principal Bridges ; Ra- ral. February 24, 1754^ endeavour.tp, give you a particular Account of: Paris, &c. as far as City, 2T of \ R I S. City, by Caesar’s nentioning it in his Sixth Book of his Comnn who built another large Ward j afterwards by St. Louis King of France, who augmented the Revenue; and Henry IV. afterwards added another Ward 5 fo that at prefent it con- tains fifty Wards, which are much crowded with Beds. The Exterior of this large Building is not beautiful, on the contrary it is very difagree- able ; but the Order and Oeconomy of the Houfe is as commendable as the Plainnefs of the Edifice ; a frugal Plenty of all things ne- cefifary, feems to reign in every Part of it, and an exadt Order, even in the mod: trivial Things, is nicely obferved. The French have a greater regard for Ufefulnefs and Con- veniency than external Magnificence, which I cannot but think is much more commendable, than expending large Sums in eredting Palaces inftead of Hofpitals j which Superfluities, if rightly applied, might caufe a Fund for the- Maintenance of double the Number of poor Objedts. I At 5^ The Curiosities At the upper End of the Chapel, there Is continually in waiting a Prieft, who receives and regiflcrs all Patients who prefent them- felves, without any Objedion either of Coun- try or Religion. The Number of Sick in this Hofpital is from three thoufand to feven thoufand, who are carefully attended by the religious Nuns of the Order of St. Austin a moft auftere Order indeed, as they pafs all their Days in a continual difagreeable Pen- ance. Thefe Nuns are cloathed in white (an Emblem of Innocence) and have their Hair concealed by a fine Linen Binder, their Heads and Shoulders are covered with a black Cloth Veil, and round the Wafte is an Iron Chain, at which is fufpended a Crucifix Beads, See, * Notwithftanding the Aufierity and Dif- agrecablenefs of this religious Order, the young Girls are fond of entering into this ftrid: Pen- ance j and they tell you of the Dutchefs of Nemours (Mother of the Qi^en of Portu- gal) who, being tired of Grandeur and worldly Vanities, devoted the latter Part of her Life of P A R I s. 59 Life to this Place, but at laft took the Small- Pox, by giving Soup to the Sick, and died. The greateft Fault in this Hofpital, is the receiving too many Patients at a Time ; for which Reafon the Wards are crowded, which obliges them to lye from two to fix in a Bed. Concerning the Cuftoms of the Hofpital, they have during the Lent, folemn Proceffions of all the Nuns and Clergy belonging to it, who chant a Benediaion as they walk round the Wards : At this Time the Relid:s of their Saints are expofed in the Chapel, which are attended by one of thefe holy Sifters 3 thefe Relids are ufually furrounded by Groups of the lower Clafs of People praying. This is the firft gratis Hofpital in Paris, where Pupils of every Nation attend all their Pradlice without the kaft Objedions or Ex- pence 5 the Hours of dre fling the Patients arc five o’clock in the Morning and three in the Evening, at which time attend Students of every Country. At the Entrance into St. Charles’s Ward, is this fine Infcription on black Marble and gilded Letters : 6o The Curiosities Qm que tu fois qui entre dans ce saint Lieu, tu n*y verras prefque par tout que des Fruits de la Charite du grand Pompone. La Brocard d’Or, et d’Argent, les Meubles precieux qui parerent autrefois fa Chambre, par une heureufe Metamorphofe, fervent maintenant aux Neceffitez des Malades. Cet Homme devin qui fut I’Ornement et leS Dehces de fon Siecle, dans le Combat meme de la Mort, a penfe au Soulagement des Affligez. Le Sang de Bellievre s’eft montre dans toutes les Aftions de fa Vie : la Gloire de fes Amballkdes n ell que trop connue. II fut premier Prefident, et Petit-fils de deux Chanceliers. Son Ame plus grand encore que fa NailPance et qua fa fortune fut un Abime de Sagelfe. La France ne porta jamais un Enfans plus digne d’elle. Tout la Terre dira fes ver- tus i mais cet Salle parlera eternellement de fa of P A R I S. 6i fa Plete, et de 1’ Amour qu’il cut pour les Pauvres. The following Infeription is on the Foun- tain near the Statue of iEfculapius : Qm fitis, hue tendas, defunt fi Forte liquores, Progredere, iEternas diva paravit Aquas. L’HOPITAL DE LA CHARITE. Charity Hospital. This is the fecond great public Hofpital, and the neateft I ever faw, having no more an offenfive Smell than a private Houfe. It is fituated in the Rue St. Pere, and was firft eftabliflied in 1602, with a confiderable Revenue annexed to it by the King; the Exterior is an heavy dull Build- ing, but the Interior is quite elegant ; it is di- vided into five large Wards, in which are about two hundred neat Beds for the Patients > at the Extremity of each Ward there are Cha- pels, which are ornamented with fine Paint- ings. The long Ward is likewife full of fine Portraits of their Kings, Cardinals, and prin- cipal Surgeons, painted by Le Brun and Ju- VENET. As the Hotel Dieu is regulated by the Sifters of St. Austin, fo likewife is this Hofpital by the Friars of St. }ean de Dieu, 62 The Curiosities Dieu, who officiate from the highell: to the loweft : upon their feftival Day, all the Wards are beautifully decorated with Tapeftry. The Habit of thefe Friars is a black loofe Veft, which is clofed together about the Wafle with a Cord ; their Heads aje ffiaved clofe, except one fmall round Space is left, in Allufion to a Crown of Thorns, but in Winter they cover the Head with an Hood. This is the fecond Hofpital where Students are admitted to fee their Pradice gratis ; the Hours of Dreffin^ are eight o’clock in the Morning and three in Evening. This Hofpital, as well as the Ho-. TEL Dieu, are excellent chirurgical and ana- tomical Schools ; as you have always plenty of Subjeds to diffied and perform the Opera- tion, for which you only pay the Surgeon- Major five Louis d’Ors for the Seafon, who always inftruds the Pupils every Morning, and direds them during the Operation. HOPITAL general de la SALPETRIERE, General Hospital, is a final! Diftance from the City ; it is an elegant Edifice, orna- mented with a fine Dome at the Top, and is furrounded by a deep Fofle. They receive all Kinds of Patients upon Application, fuch as of PARIS. 63 as Women with Child, Foundlings, Orphans, and Lunatics : The Wards are numerous and extenfive, and have generally feven thoufand People of all Sor^s within the Walls. The Girls are educated in Needle Work, &c. and throughout all the Wards the plealing Prof- ped: of Indudry is obvious. This is likewife an anatomical School, and the Subjeds are plentiful and reafonable ; the Surgeon only requiring two Guineas for dif- feding the whole Winter. LES ENFANS TROUVEZ, Foundling Hospital ; is fituated clofe to the Hotel Died as an Appendix to it; the Exterior is plain and neat, all built of white Stone : In March 1754, they had four thou- fand Foundlings out at nurfe, and near a thou- fand in the Houfe : No wonder indeed they are fo much crowded, as all Children are re- ceived without queftion, except only in regard to Baptifm. The general Reception of In- fants without Exceptions into the Salpe- TRiERE, and this Hofpital, undoubtedly pre- vents Murders, which are never heard of here among the younger Sort. The 64 The Curiosities The interior Part is exceeding neat and dean j and the Lay-Sifters, who attend the Foundlings, are modeftly attired in black Gowns and white Veils, like the out-going Nuns ; the Foundlings are cloathed in Black, white Aprons and Bibs, with a neat fly Cap, which makes them look decent. HOPITAL DEs IN>ALIDES. Hospital of Invalides, is a royal Foun- dation as well as all the former, and defigned for the fame Ufe as Greenwich (for fuper- annuated and difabled Soldiers) but in point of Architedure it is greatly inferior to it ; however, it is the beft worth viewing of any Building in or about Paris. Before the out- ward Gate is a pleafant Avenue of Trees upon the Banks of the Seine, and between thefirft and fecond Gate is a fine Court, in which are placed the Cannon : at the fecond Gate is a Stone Wolf highly exprelTive ; this Gate is lofty, and adorned with BalTo-Relievos, al- luding to Louis XIV, under which is this In- fcription : Ludo- of PARIS. ^5 Ludovicus Magnus Aliluibus Rcg3.li IVIiinificcnti3 in Pcrpctuum Providens has iPdes pofuit. ‘ An. M. D. C. L. XXV. Paffing through this Gate you enter a fine large Square, on each Side of which is a double Height of Galleries 3 below are eight large Wards where the Invalides dine; thefe Places are ornamented with Paintings, repre- fenting the Wars of Louis XIV. At the upper End on the left Side is the Infirmary ; the In- terior of which is vaftly neat, and laid out in the Form of a Crofs, where is eredled a grand Altar. The Chapel is on the right Side, co- vered with a moft beautiful Dome;' the gilded Roftrum, Organs, and Altar are'mag- mficent : This is covered with a grand gilded Canopy, fupported by four Angels, who fiand on four ierpentine Pillars forty Feet high, all richly gilded. Behind the grand Altar are fix different Altars, ornamented with fine Paint- ings and Statues of Saints in full Proportion, fuch as St. Paul, Jerome, Eustace, Monifica, Augustine, Alipe, Satvre,' Ambroise, Marceiline, Grecoire, SlL- 66 The Curiosities VIE, and Emiliene, with their Lives hif- torically painted round each Cupola in Frefco j the Floor is vafHy curious, being all Marble inlaid in the Mofaic Tafte. This is another anatomical School ; by giving four Guineas, you are plentifully pro- vided with Subjedls, and diffect one Year. On Corpus Chrifti Day every Church in Paris makes a grand Proceffion, at which Time the Hoft is expofed all over the City : It would be endlefs to recite all thefe Procef- fions j therefore, for Brevity, fhall only take Notice of thofe of the Chapel of the Invalides and St. Sulpice, which will give you a per- fedt Idea of the reft ; yet it may not be amifs to premife, that on this Day, all the Streets in Paris are lined with Tapeftry; but more particularly, the Front of this Hofpital was greatly ornamented- with fine Tapeftry, re- prefenting the Battles, Sieges, and remarkable Tranfadtions of Louis XIV. fuch as his In- terview with the King of Spain, his Marriage with the Infanta, Reception of the Pope’s Le- gate, &c. &c. all in full Proportion, and highly expreffive. The Proceffion marched round of PARIS. 67 round the Court Yard in the following Order. j. One hundred and iifcy Invalldes (each carrying a Wax Taper) chanting. 2. Forty Boys cloathed in white Lawn and adorned with Silver Saflaes, and a Chaplet of Flowers on their Head ; each of thefe Boys had a Bafket of Flowers, v/hich they ftrewed before the Hoft. Others carried Silver Vef- fels with Incenfe, who, at Signals given, in- cenfed the Hoft. 3. Thirty Priefts fumptuoufly. habited in Purple and Gold j thefe Priefts, as well as the ProceiTion, chanted a Benediction as they walked, at which Time the Drums, Trum- pets, and Fiddles, made agreeable Mufic. 4. The Hoft carried on a Gold Crofs by a Prieft richly habited, over which was a Ca- nopy of fcarlet Velvet and Gold, fupported by four Pillars of Silver, which was carried by four invalide Colonels. In this manner they walked to the outward Court, where was erected a grand Altar^ richly ornamented with Silver Candlefticks, &c. Here they made a Stand F 2 to 68 The Curiosities to fing an Hymn; after which all the Can- non were difeharged, and the whole Pro- celfion retired to the Chapel, and concluded with high Mafs. I forbear to fay much on the fumptuous Apparel of the Priefts, left you ftiould ima- gine I exaggerate ; but I afture you, their rich Robes would be a great Ornament to a coronation Proceffion, being vaftly fuperior to what my Imagination can poffibly paint. The only Hofpital which remains to be taken notice of, is that called the Becet re Hof- pital, which lies about three Miles from Pa- ris : It is a large Building, but not elegant; it ferves, in a double Capacity, as an Hofpital and a State-Prifon, more efpecially to fuch who are condemned to a perpetual Imprifonment. This is another anatomical School, with Plenty of Subjedls, being no more than fix Livres (five and three- pence EngUfh) for each Cadaver. Here I think I may reft the Defeription of Hofpitals, as the remaining twenty are not worth the Curiofity of a Stranger: Nor indeed of P A‘ R I S. 69 indeed is the Exterior of any of the above defcribed, equal to feveral in and about Lon- don ; yet, upon the whole (if I muft declare my Sentiment) I think the London Hofpitals are greatly inferior to them in the principal Ar- ticle j I mean merely as a Charity, dehgned originally for Hofpitality and Conveniency only, without the unnecefTary Parade of a magnificent Frontifpiece, and the interior Ma^ nagement, not at all anfwerable to what your Idea might conceive by viewing a fuperb Edifice. NOTRE Dame, or Our Lady’s Church, is the Metropolitan of Paris, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary : It is faid to be built by the Englilh when they conquered France, but this I am inclined to believe is a Mifiake; for, upon having this Account fo ftrongly afierted by the Englifh Refidents, I took fome Pains to examine their Ecclefiaftical Iliftory, which convinced me to the contrary. It may not be unnecefiary to recommend this Hiftory, to all fuch opiniated People, where they will foon find that St. Dennis (patron of France) who lived in thefirft Ages, was the original Founder : It was after- P 3 wards JO The Curiosities wards rebuilt in the Reign of Childebert in 522, and then called Notre Dame. In the Reign of Robert the Pious, it was again rebuilt and made fpacious 5 in the fuc- ceeding reigns of Henry I. Philip I. Louis le Gros, and Louis IcJeune, it was greatly negleded, and not compleatly finifhed until the Reign of Philip Augustus ; fo that, if we may credit their Legends, it is evident, it was built before the Englifh had any footing in France. The Building is in the Gothic Tafte, and terminates in two Towers over the grand Entrance : Round the Exterior of this Front there are variety of Stone Statues, repre- fenting twenty-eight Kings of France, the iaft of whom is Philip Augustus; but thefeare without Order or Beauty. The firil Thing thatftrikes you at the Entrance, is a moft enormous large Stone Statue of St. Chri- stopher ; but, as the Attitude is unnatural, it is not worth a fecond Notice ; the Ifles are narrow and not bold : At the upper End rides Philip le Bell on Horfeback, armed and caparifoned according to the Age he lived in 5 this Figure is made of Wood in full Propor- tion, and the Horfe covered with a proper Skin. Before the Choir-Gates are two Altars, dedicated of PARIS. 71 dedicated to theV i r gin and St. Denn i s, whole Effegies are there erected in fine Italian Marble j thefe Altars are adorned with feveral Silver Lamps, prefented by Ann of Auftria. The Choir is beautiful, and ornamented with a grand Altar in Ako-Relievo, reprefenting the Crucifixion, in white Marble ; on each Side the Altar, is Louis XIII. and Louis XIVth’s Statues, in a cumbent Attitude, prefenting their Crowns to the Altar. The Copper- Statues, and fine Wainfcotting in Bas-Relief within tae Choir, and its Iron Gates, are all worth Notice. Round the Ifles are feveral fmdl Chapels, forty-feven in Number, belonging to the Nobility : In one of thefe Chapels, is the Monument of Renee du Bec-Cre?in, a Woman of great Par^s, infomuch that ihe had the Title of Am- baffadrefs extraordinary about Affairs of Con- fequence at the Court of Poland. The Ifles of this Church are lined with large hiftorical Scripture-Paintings, which Pieces are judged by Connoiffeurs to be ex- ceeding well executed. L’EGLISE de ST. SULPICE. St, Sulpicius’s Church, is a modern Piece of Architecture, and the grandeft in F 4 Paris, 72 The CuFiosiTiES Paris. It was begun in 16465 but Queen Ann of Austria jucging it too little, rebuilt it in 1655 : Though this Edifice was begun fo many Years ago, it is yet very far from being perfedled, the general Complaint here, “ Want “ of Money,” has g'eatly delayed it : Yet now, in order to finiih it according to their grand Plan, the Government has granted the Curate a Permiffion to raife Money, by way of Lottery, every Month ; each Ticket cofts a Livre, and the higheft Prize is twenty thou- fand Livres. When the Church is entirely compleated, it will be an agreeable Building, and is then to terminate with two Towers, with the King and Queen’s Statue at the Top. As this Edifice is confined at prefent between narrow Streets, it is no where to be feen with Advantage , tho’ there is fome Talk of level- ling all the Houfes about it, to make an open Square, which, if this Defign is executed, will greatly add to its Grandeur : The Exterior is entirely of the Corinthian Order, and vaftly lofty. The Interior is fpacious and grand, and ornamented with a moft magnificent Altar and Canopy 5 round the Ifles are feveial Chapels, after the prevailing Tafle in regard to their Churches : of P A R 1 s. 73 Churches : This Church alone (it is faid) has an hundred Priefts belonging to it. I fhall now give you the Procefilon of St. SuLPiGius on Corpus ChriftiDay ; and by it you may have an Idea of the Procefiions of the other Churches, which I (hall omit, to avoid Tautologies. I. Went an hundred Citizens, each carry- ing a Wax Taper burning ; thefe marched two and two before a Silver Crofs fixteen Feet in Height. 2. Two hundred Women with burning Tapers, bebre'a large filver Verge, on which was an embroidered Satin, with the word Maria in Gold Letters. 3. Several Kettle Drums and Trumpets. 4. Forty Priefts in white Surplices. 5* Twenty Nuns in their Habits, before a large Silver Crofs. 6. One hundred Citizens in black, with Tapers, y. Three embroidered Velvet Standards with Silver Staves, on each of which was the Re- prefentation of a Saint, 8. One hundred Ci- tizens in black, with Tapers, before a Crofs, on which was embroidered the Holy Ghoft, according to the Emblem. 9. Fifty Men in black with 1 apers, before a Silver Crofs fix- teen 74 The Curiosities teen Feet high and gilded. lo. Kettle Drums and the Swifs Guards, n. Sixty of the Clergy in white Surplices. 1 2. Two hundred Priefts in Satin, Purple, and Gold, all moft fumptuoufly habited. 1 3 . Forty Boys in Sur- plices and Satin Girdles, with embroidered Sadies 5 thefe Boys carried fmall Bafkets of Flowers, which they ftrewed before the Hoft. 14. Forty Boys, with Silver Veffels and In- cenfe burning. 1 5. Several Kettle Drums and other IVIulic, cloathed in Blue and Silver, j 6. Two Bidiops in purple. 17. The Hoft under a mod ftately Canopy of crimfon Velvet and Gold Lace. 18. Two hundred Citizens in black, with Tapers. The Rear of this Pro- cellion was clofed by the City Guards. Du- ring their March the whole Company chanted a BenedI(dion, Beati pauperes fpiritu j for whenever the Hod appeared in Sight, all the Spedators fell upon their Knees until it paded by. The Churches in Paris are fo numerous that it would be endlefs to deferibe minutely their various Beauties j fuch as the Paintings of St. Paul’s ; the Monument of the Conde Family in the Jefuits, which confids of eleven Figures of P A H I s. 75 Figures as large as Life, all in Brafs ; the Dome of the Affamption ; the Tomb of Cardinal Richlieu in the Sorb on ne ; of Cardinal IVIazarine in IVIazarine Church j the Life of g'j'^RRUNO, finely painted (by SEUER^inthe Chartreux ; the Paintings of Le Brun in the Carmelites ; the Exterior of Valde de Grace, and the Dome ; the Monument of Cardinal Rochefoucault j the Chafe of the Tomb of Clovis, and the mean Tomb and vain Infcription of the great Descartes, who was removed from Stockholm feven- teen Years after his Death to be interred in Paris j the royal Paintings round the Church 5 and laftly>t^eTomb in this Church of St. Ge- nevieve DU Mont (the Patronefs of Paris) which is fupported by four Angels in Brafs, who ffand on four Marble Pillars fixteen Feet high ; At this Shrine there is extraordinary Devotion paid on the annual Day of her Beati- fication. In the adjoining Church is the holy Family, with Chrift dead, all in Alto-Relievo. By a particular Favour, we obtained Permif- fion to view the holy Relics, depofitedin the Saint Chapel. The Relics were as fol- 7^ The Curiosities low, at leaft according to the Prieft’s Expref- fions who fhewed them. I. The Crown of Thorns of our Lord, and fome Drops of the facred Blood inclofed in a chryflal Veffel, enriched with Diamonds. 2. A large Piece of the true Crofs. 3. The Veft of our Saviour when an Infant. 4. The Image of our Saviour in Wood, which being fliuck by an Infidel (as he told us) bled, 5. A Ring of the Iron Chain which he was bound with. 6. The Linen with which he wiped the Apoflle’s Feet. 7. A Piece of the Stone of his Sepulchre. 8. The Milk, and the Hair of the holy Virgin. 9. The Iron Head of the Lance with which the Jews pierced his Side. 10. The purple Robe which he was cloathed in by the Jews. 1 1. The Reed which they put in his Hand. 1 2. The Spunge which they filled with Gall and Vinegar. 13. One Part of the Linen which he was wrapt in. Thus having fliewed us thefe Relics, he pre- fented us with a printed Paper, which run thus. Badouin II. Emperor of the Turks, being at War with the Greeks, and much diflrefled for Money, came into France to implore ot P A. R I S. . 77 implore Aid of Louis XI. King of France: The French Baron, whom Badouin had left to govern in his Abfence, being reduced to the greateft Extremity for Money to pay the Troops, was compelled to pawn thefe precious Relics (which they had kept for many Ages in the imperial P&lace of Bi.achernes j this Engagement was made by divers Perfons of the Nobility, for the Sum of thirteen thoufand and thirty-four Pepres to the Venetians in the Year 1238, but as they were not able to re- deem them again, and Badouin being at that Time at the Court of France, made an Offer of them to Louis, upon condition of repaying the Venetians, which the King moft joyfully accepted j and fent two of the Clergy to pay the Sum and bring them into France, which with much Difficulty they effeded. As boon as the King was informed of their Arrival, he went with his Court to meet the Relics, which were carried triumphantly into the City of Sens, by the King and Nobles all barefoot. The fame Ceremony was likewife obferved in Paris, where they were depofited in this Chapel, which by way of Difeindion, from henceforward was called the Saint Chapel. When Louis was at the Point of Death he caufed 7^ The Curiosities caufed all the Relics to be brought before him, as the beft fpiritual Remedy, which afforded him great Relief.” Yet neverthelefs he died of his Diforder in 1483 ; and for thefe and fuch like meritorious Adlions, he was fome Years after canonized by the Name of St. Louis. This is their own Account, which un- doubtedly in fome Nations will be thought romantic and improbable, yet in this Place quite the Reverfe, as a general Credulity in thefe Particulars ftrongly abets fome People to obtrude Fables upon the World as Fads ^ This I am the more inclined to believe, by " halving feen in other Churches, both in France and Flanders, a variety of Relics, fometimes four or five of a Sort, which they always af- fure you is the true Relic. In Italy feveral Travellers mention two Crowns of Thorns, fliewn in different Parts, befides a third which is here in Paris j and feveral Fragments of the Crown are fhewn in Flanders, all which are aflerted to be the real Relic. I need not mention the various Pieces of the true Crofs, and the four Nails (by which our Saviour was nailed to the Crofs) that are fhewn in France and of PARIS. 7^ and Flanders, excluding fuch which are in Italy and other Catholic Countries ; therefore I {hall quit the Subjedt, only by recommend- ing three Words, to be added to the Frontif- piece of the Paper (which the Gentleman who {hewed the Relics gave us) Rifum teneatis Amici ^ Laflly, out of Curiofity, I paid a Vifit to the Englifh Eenedidline Chapel in the Rue St. Jacqjjes. Here is depofited the lafl Re- mains of an unfortunate King and his Daugh- ter (James IL.) The Coffin, &c. lies in State within Iron Pailifadoes, round, which are Ef- cutcheons of the Arms of England j within the Gates they keep his Head in Wax Work, which an old Woman {hews for a few Sols. His Body {HU remains unburied under the Ca- nopy, which, as the Woman fays, is here de- pofited, until it is to be brought to England to be buried among his Anceffors in Weftmin{ler. The King’s Heart is buried in the Scotch Col- lege Chapel, where there is ereded a fine Monument to his Memory by the Duke of Perth : Gn the right Side lies the Queen’s Bowels, and on the left two Dukes of the Perth Family. I took a Copy of the monu- 3 mental So The Curiosities mental Infcription, by the Favour of the Pro- curator of the College, which is as follows : D. O. M. Memorias Auguftiffimi Principis, Jacobi fecundi Magns Britannise, &c. Regis. Ille partis Terra ac Mari Triumphis clarus, fed conftanti in Deuni fide Clarior, huic Regna, opes et omnia vita: florentis commoda poft poffuit, per fummum Scelus a fua fede pulfus, Abfalonis impietatem Achitophilis perfidiam et acerba Semei Convitia invida lenitate et Pa- tientia, ipfis etiam inimicis amicus, fuperavit. Rebus humanis major, adverfis Superior, et ccEleftis Gloria Audio inflammatus, quod Regno caruerit, fibi vifus Beatior, miferam banc vitam felici, Regnum Terreftre Coelefti commutavit. Haec Domus, quam Princeps labantem fuftinuit et Patrii fovit, cui etiam In- genii fui monumenta omnia Scilicet fua Manu- fcripta cuftodienda Commifit, earn Corporis ipfius partem qua Maximi Animus viget, Re- ligiofe fervandam Sufcepit. Vixit Annis lxviii, Regnavit xvi. Obiit xvii. Kal. Odob. An, Sal. Hum. M. D. C. C. I. Jacobus of P A R I S, Jacobus Dux de Perth. Perfedus inftitu- tioni Jacobi II. Magnas Britannia;^ &c. Re- gis 3 hujus domus Benefadorj Morens pofuit. D. O. M* Sub hoc Marmore Condita fiint vifcera ^yIariae Beatifici Re- ginas Mag. Britan* Uxoris Jacobi IL Ma- tris Jacobi III. Regis. Rariffimi Exempli Princeps fuit. Fide et Pietate in Deum, in Conjugem 3 li- beros Eximia Charitate in fuos, Liberalitate in Pauperes, lingularis. In fupremo Regni faftigio Chriftianam hu- militatem, Regno pulfa Dignitatem, Majefta- temque Retinuit. In utraque fortuna femper eadem : nec aul^ Deliciis Emolita, nec triginta annorum Ex- ilio Calamitatibus, omnium prope Carorum Amiffione fad:a. Quievit in Domino, vii. Mali, An, MDCcxviii. iEtatis Anno LX®. G 82 The Curiosities In fine, I think their Churches are fome of their greatefi: Curiofities, being finely decorated with votive Gifts and Paintings, &c. We fhall then have an Idea of the Richnefs of the Clergy, and be no longer in the Dark as to the Poverty of the Laity in general ; for in their Churches moftly, is the grand Treafury of France. I fhall fay nothing of their Exterior, as they fall infinitely (hort of thofe in London, but interiorly they greatly exceed us in Mag- nificence. Thus, Sir, I have given you as particular an Account, as I could poffibly draw up in a Letter, concerning the Churches and Hofpi- tals, and I imagine wore out your Patience fufficiently, by fo tedious a Defeription of in- animate Beings j therefore I fhall conclude, by affuring you how much I am, &c. A. R. L E T- of PARIS: LETTER V. SIR, July 25, 1754. ^^'^3 ^cording to the Plan I have laid A w down, the royal Squares fall next under my InfDedion, and confe- quently the public Infcriptions : the Subjects to many People will feen dry and infipid, but to you quite otherwifej nor will you (as you inform me) excufe fo great an Omiflion; therefore I fhall proceed to the Defcription of their principal Squares. la place de LOUIS le GRAND, or PLACE VENDOME. This Square is the principal and moft fpa- cious of any in Paris, and is known by two Names j the firft, riling from the equeftrian Statue of Louis XIV, eredted there ; the fe- cond, from C-®sar Duke of Vendome (na- tural Son of Henry IV) being the firll Foun- der of the fuperb Buildings which form the G 2 Square j 84 The Curiosities Square j the Order of all thefe Hotels are Co- rinthian, and haveaperfedl Symmetry with each other, formingan hundred and ten Windows, on a dired Level : within the Square (more juftly called an Odagon) in the Middle (as men- tioned before) is placed Louis XlV. on Horfe. back all in Brafs, and much larger than Life ; the King fits on the Horfe, without either Saddle or Stirrups, habited like a Roman Caefar ; this ftatue ftands on a large Marble Pedeftal, which is filled with expreflive but vain Infcriptions, exprefling the mofl; remarkable Tranfa6lions of that King’s Reign : this equeftrian Statue is thought to be exceeding well executed, and equal if not fuperior to that of KingCnARLEs I. at Charing-Crofs. The whole Figure (as the French fay) cofl: one hundred and fifty thou- fand French Crowns. The Infcriptions are as follow : Ludovico Magno Decimo Qu^arto Francorum et Navarrae Regi Christianissimo, Vidori perpetuo, Religionis vindici, Justo, Pio, Felici, Patri PATRii^,erga Urbem, munificentiflimo, quam Arcubus, Fontibus, Plateis, Ponte lapideo, Vallo amplifiimo Ar- boribus of PARIS. 85 boribus confito, Decoravit, innumeris Bene- ficiis cumulavit,Qi^ imperante fecuri vivimus, neminem timemus. Statuam banc Equef- trem, quamdiu Oblatam recufavit ; Et Civum amori, omniumque votis indulgens, Erigi tandem paffus eft, PRiEFECTUS ET ^EdILES, Acclamante populo, laeti pofuere 1699. Optimum Principem Deus fervet. Chriftianlftimus et Ecclefias prlmogenitus, Religionis antiquas \index, earn domi forifque propagavit. Edidto Nannetenfi, quod olim temporum infelicitas extorferat, fublato, Hae- reticorum fadfionem a Patre afifidfam et exar_ matam, honoribus, dignitatibu5,publicls officiis fpoliatam ,fine Bello extinxit. Templa profanae noyitatis evertit. Pravi cultus reliquias abo- levit. Ad unitatem Catholicam reverfis, ne fidei morumque dodtrina, et ad pie vivendum> fubfidia deforent, providit. Dociles praemiis conciliavit ; egentes Sublevavit, Omnes dementia et manfuetudine in Ofticia continuit. Trecentas Ecdefias a fundamentis erexit, ornavit. Inexternam Asiam, Epis- Q 2 COPOS 86 The Curiosities coPos et Sacerdotes, qui Chriftum gentir bus annunciarent, mifit, et liberalifllmc fovit. Chriftianos toto Oriente ab infidelium injuriis fecuros, prasftitit. Loca fanda ut Chriftianis peregrinis paterent, Majeftate nominis efFecit. Sepulchrum Domini pretiofiffimis donariis de- coravit, Captivos Chriftianos, etiam hoftes, ex Barbarica fervitute liberavit. Argentora- tenfi Ecclefiae a Clodov^o et Dagoberto fundatae Sacra Patria et Epifcopum poft Anno c.L.,11. reddidit. Eledlorem Archiepifcopum Ecclefiae Trevi- RENsi fuae, Erfurdiam Moguntinae, reftitui pro- curavit. Infanos fingularium certaminum fu- rores fandliffimis legibus, inexorabilique feve- ritate compreffit. Domos alendis et educandis pauperibus conftruxit et ditavit. Ampliflime regnare libi vifus eft, cum religionem fandtifti- mam et Caftiffimam, poteftate, legibus, exem- plo, juftitia, liberalitate, defendit, ftabilavite, firmavit. Arm A femper fumpfit invitus, pofuit volens. Chriftiani orbis quater pacator. Illo regnante et aufpice, Scientiis, Artibus, Commercio flo- ruit Gallia. Viros dodtrina infignes ubique munifi- of P A R I S. 87 mumficentia profecutus, Scientiamm, Numif- matum Pidurae, Architedonices Academiam inftituit ; Gallicam Academiam adoptavit, Cu- netas contubernales habuit ; eafque, vel diffi- cillimis temporibus, liberalitate fovit. Peritiffimos artifices tarn exteros quam fuos donis invitfavit, excitavit praemiis. Navalibus copiis, utramque Indiam Gallis aperuit. Interno mari Oceaniim junxit. Litigofas am- bages foro fummovit. Regnum emendavit le- gibus, moribus ornavit. Superiorum judicum deledu non femel in Provincias miflb, quod inferiorum vel errore, vel corruptela pcccatum fuerat, correxit, ac te- nuiores a potentiorum injuriis vindicavit. Ex- truxit arces aut munivit plus C C. Hoftium terrores, imperii firmamenta. Novos protus fecit, veteres ampliores tutio- relque reddidit. Miles fenio aut vulnere In- validos non indccoro dedit frui otio, ac domo excepit Regis Pari. Nautas annis aut Vulne- ribus graves honefta miffione dimifit, certum- que ftipendium conftituit. Sancyrianas ^Edes alendis ac educandis Nobilibus puellis ditavit. G 4 Re- 88 The Curiosities Rerum nioderatorj fibi ipfe concillarius, Qipaeftor, adminifler quietis, quam dat, vix particeps, Tot tantique negotiafuftinuit folus. Aditii facilis, comis alloquio, patens feinper precibus, faepe votis accurrens^ Pater Pa- TRi^, omnes caritate ac providentia coni- plexus, Qaantiis nailitiae, tantus domi, unum Vidioriarum laborumque frudum quaefivitj felicitatcm Populorum. A ViCTORiis regnum puer quinquennis flufpicatus eft. Annum xvi, ingreftbs, exer- citibus prsfuit, Fortunam Vidoriamque co- rnices duxit. Licentiae milltum fraena injecit, Difciplinamqiie Militarem reftituit. Hoftes terra marique tricenis prasliis fudit. CCCL. Urbes munitas cepit. Bataviam una aeftate vidoriis peragravit, Germanic, Hifpaniffi, Ba- taviae, totiufque fere Europas conjuratae j PIu- ribus in locis, maximeque diverfis conatus re- preflit ; validiflimas Urbes expugnavit, exer’- citus delevit, VicTis Pacem dedit. Socios et foederatos defendit, Servavlt. Anna Odiomanica Germanorum cervicibus immi- nentia, caefis ad Arrabonem Turcis, depluit, Cre- of P A R I S. 89 Cretam obfeflam navium et copiarum fab- fidiis diu fuftentavit. Mare a prasdonibus pa- cavit. Asia, Africa, et America fenfere quid marte poflet. Imperii fines longe lateque propagavit. Naves CXX. triremes XL. Nautarum prater remiges LX. Millia. Bellum late divifum atque difperfum, quod conjunxerant reges potentiffimi, et fufcepe- rant integrae gentes, mira prudentia et felici- tate confecit. Regnum non modo a Belli ca- lamitate, fed etiam a metu calamitatis defendit* Europa damnis fatigata, conditionibus ab eo latis tandem acquievit, et cujus virtutem et Confilium armata timuerat, ejus manfuetudi- nem et asquitatem pacata miratur et diligit. LA PLACE DEs VICTOIRES. This is an irregular Square which opens into fix Streets j the Buildings are of the Ionic Tafte, but neither elegant nor regular ; it de- rives its Name of the Square of Victories, from the curious Group of Figures in the Middle, which reprefents Louis XIV. in his royal Robes (thirteen Feet high) and the three- headed Cerberus lying dead at his Feet, 90 The Curiosities Feet, alluding to the triple League, over which he is fuppofed to triumph : Victory ftands behind him on a Globe in a rifmg Pofture, with one Foot on the Globe and the other in the Air ; ihe fpreads her Wings as if on flight, and crowns the King with Laurels as flie fweeps along, and in the other Hand holds an Olive Branch. Thefe Figures are Brafs gilded . and they fl:and on a Marble Pedeftal twenty Feet high, on which are fcveral fine Bafs-Re™ iiefs ; fuch as the Contention between France and Spain for Precedency ; the Paflage of the Rhine; the taking of Franche-Comte; the Peace of Nimeguen ; the Deftrudion of Hc- refy, and Abolition of Duelling. At the Bot- tom of the Pedeftal are four Slaves in Chains, larger than the Life, with their military Trophies difdainfully placed under the King’s Feet, in- timating that he triumphed over four Nations. I am quite at a Lofs to name thefe Nations to you, nor could I meet with any Perfon to in- form me. The whole Group is of Brafs, and weighs (as they fay) three hundred thoufand Weight, and was all caft at one Running j but whether this is ftrictly true I fhall not in- fift: yet we muft certainly allow it to be the moft magnificent and inimitable Piece of Sta- tuary of P A R I S. 9^ tuary that was ever executed by any Artift. Under the King is this Infcription ; VIRO IMMORTALI A LOUIS LE GRAND, LePere et le Conducteur des Armees Toujours Heureux, Apres avoir vaincu fes Ennemies, protege fes Alliez j Ajoute de tres puiffants Peuples a fon Empire. Affure fes Frontieres par des Places imprenables. Joint I’ Ocean ala Miditeranee. Chafle les Pirates de toutes les Mers. Re- forme les Loix. Detruit I’Herefie. Porte par le Bruit de fon Nom les Nations les plus Bar- bares a le venir Reverer des Extremitez de la Terre. Et regele parfaitement toutes Chofes au dedans et au dehors par la Grandeur de fon Courage et de fon Genie. Francis ViscoMTE D’Aubusson Due de laFEUiLLADE, Pairet Marechalde France, * The Original is in Latin, butfo greatly defaced and worn out, that I could not polTibly tranferibe with Propriety half the Infcription ; therefore I was obliged to infert the French Tranflation which a Gentleman favoured me with ; it poflibly may exprefs the Purport of the Latin one, as it runs remarkably fmooth, but for it’s beinga literal Tranfla- tion I cannot aflert. 92 The Curiosities Governeur de Dauphine, et Colonel dcs Gardes Francoifes. Pour perpetuelle Memoire a la Pofterite. Infcription pour la Statue du Roy. Tali fe ore ferens, Orbi et Sibi, jura modumque, Dat Lodoix, famamque affedlat vincere fadtis* Tel eft le Grand Louis, en fon Air, en fes Traits : Tel, dans le haut Eclat de fa Gloire fupreme^ II impofe des Loix a la Terre, a lui-meme; Et voit fa Renommee au deflbus de fes Faits. Inscr tptions Dcs Bafs Reliefs du Piedeftal. La Prefeance de la France, recon nue par L’Efpagne. 1662. Jndocilis quondam potiori cedere Gallo, Ponit Iber tumidos faftus, et cederc difcit. En vainau premier Roy de I’Empire Chretien, Tu veux, fuperbe Efpagne, egalertaCouronne: Louis, jaloux du Droit que fon Sceptre lui donne ; Te force a reconnoitre, et fon Rang, et le Tein. Le 93 of PARIS. Le Passage du Rhin. . . .. 1672. Granicum Macedo, Rhenum fecat agmine Gallus : Qmsquis fada voles conferre.etflumina Confer. Le Grec fend le Granique, avecque fes Dra- peaux ; Et le Fran9ois arme pafle le Rhin anage : Qm voudra comparer I’un et I’autre paffage, Qqe d’un fleuve, et de I’autre il compare les aux. La derniere Conqueste dela Franche* CoMTEo . . . 1674, Sequanicam Casfar gemino vixVincereGentem, Menfe valet 5 Lodoix terquinta luce fubegit. Et Csefar et Louis, dans leur rapide Cours, N’ont rein que les egale, et rein qui les arrete : Tous deux, ardens a vaincre, ont fait meme Conquete j Mais Caefar endeux Mois, Louis, en quinze Jours. La Paix de Nimeguen. . . . 1678. Auguftus, toto jam nullis hoftibus orbe, Pacemagit: armato Lodoix Pacem imperat orbi. Q^nd 94 The Curiosities Qoand I’Univers eft las des fureurs de la Guerre, Le Temple de Janus par Auguste eft fermej II accorde la Paix aux befoins de la Terre ; Et Louis la commande a TUnivers arme. Les Duels Abolis. Impia, quae licuit Regnum componere Nulli, Praelia, vocetua, Lodoix, compofta quieicunt* Pour bannir les Duels, de I’Empire des lis, En vain non plus grands Roisont tout mis en ufage ; Le Ciel au ieul Louis refervoit cet Ouvrage i II parle, et pour jamais on les voit abolis. L'Heresie Detruite..., i68^. Hie laudum cumulus, Lodoico vindice vixtrix, Religio, et pulfus male partis fedibus error. La Gloire de Louis eft id toute faintej Lesl’emples de TErreur quitombent a fa Voix, L Eglife qui triomphe, et 1’ Herefte eteinte j De fon Zele Chretien font les dignes Exploits. LA PLACE ROYAL. This Square, for the Regularity and pro- portionable Symmetry in the Buildings, ex- 3 cels of P A R 1 S. 95 cels all the Squares I ever faw • it is com- pleatly and beautifully piazz’d round like Co- vent Garden, but in a far more elegant Tafte. In the Middle is ere 126 The Curiosities Paris, viz. the white, blue, and black Nuns, each Sifterhood taking this Name from the outward Habit, being either white, blue, or black ; but the black Veil and Lawn Veft is common to them all. The firft Lady I fhail mention was a Scholar at the white Nuns, a Lancalhire Lady, well known in moft of the neighbouring Counties for her fmgiilar Beauty j but as Reafons of State, have induced her (fince my Return to England) to embrace a Call to the World, as laudable, I muft beg to conceal her Name, and fliall only take No- tice of the Ceremony of her firft Initiation. Mifs Barbara D— n had partly received her Education at a Convent in Flanders, and then came to England • after fome Stay here Ihe returned to France, and boarded at the Englifh Convent in Paris : Being here a few Months, (he defired to receive the firft Habit of the Order,which Ceremony was as follows : After the Celebration of the Mafs, the Cur- tain before the Iron Grate was drawn aiide and difcovered all the Nuns properly habited and veiled : The pretty Votary was drefTed in her befl: Cloaths, and her Head decorated in the gayefl Taftej (he kneeled in the Middle of 3 of P A. R I S. 127 of the Choir, with a burning Wax Taper be. fore her. The Ceremony began with the Nuns chanting, ‘‘ O come thou Creator, 8cc/* After which the Lady Abbefs called the Vo- tary, who kneeled before her, while {he took off her Head-drefs and difhevelled her Hair^ and then covered it with a Veil ; (he then took off her Gown, and put on the white Vefl of the Order, and the whole concluded with the Nuns chanting an Hymn. Six Months after this, every Votary thus initiated may claim the fecond Habit, with forne Addition to the like Ceremony ; and one Year after this fecond Period, {he may make a Profe{iion of her Vows, which is called the Year of Probation or Novicefhip j yet even at this Time {he may recede, as her Inclination calls her, which was ju{l the Cafe of this charm- ing young Lady, who left the Convent and came to England in 1756, no longer a reclufe Votary of the Order of St. Augustine, no more the fprightly Bab. D n, but now the amiable Confort of Mr. T ly of Lan- calhire. Some- 128 The Curiosities Sometime after this Lady took the firif Ha- bit, I was favoured with an Invitation to fee a young EngliHi Lady at the blue Nuns made a profelTed Nun. Lucy Lacy, or Lacy Tal- bot, Daughter to the late Earl of Sh y, who, after going through her Novicelliip with remarkable Rigour and Stridtnefs, defired to be admitted into the Sifterhood at the Convent of blue Nuns, where the was educated. Du- ring the Celebration of the Mafs, the Curtain was drawn before the Iron Grate which di- vides the Chappel, one Part of which belongs to the Nuns. At the Conclufion it was with- drawn, and difcovered all the Nu ns in their proper Stalls, habited and veiled, each holding a burn- ing Wax Taper ; In the Middle of the Choir, the Votary was kneeling cloathed in white, as an Emblem of Innocency ; before her was placed a large burning Taper, alluding to the perfed Light (he was going to receive. Being thus prepared, one of their moft celebrated Preachers from the Pulpit (in the other Di- vifion of the Chapel) addreffed to her an extem- porary Sermon, Exhorting her to recede, if her worldly Inclinations prevailed over the fo- litary reclufe Life (he was going to enter in f * fpoke of P A R I S. 129 fpoke of the three ftridi Vows, which (he muft inviolably keep, viz. Chaftity, Poverty, and Obedience ; and laftly concluded with a Panegyric on her laudable Refolutions ; at the fame Time reminding her, how many wor- thy Heroes her Family had produced, more particularly the great Lord Talbot, and that he rejoiced to find her not degenerated from the noble Race of her illuftrious Anceftors. The Sermon being copcluded, the grand Vicar, affifted by three of the Clergy, came clofe to the Grate, and demanded of the Vo- tary, “ What ihe requefted ?” She advanced (from the Middle of the Choir, where (he kneeled) making three low Reverences, with a Taper in her Hand and a Manual, up to the Grate, and anfwered, “ She came to make her Vows, and defired to be admitted among the holy Sifterhood as a profefled Nun.” Af- ter fome few Interrogations by the Vicar, be prefented her with a Crucifix and a Ring . The firft as a Memorial that our Saviour fuf- fered Death on the Crofs, for the Redemption of the World — the Ring as an Emblem of herfolemn Marriage to the Almighty. He then gave her the Veil and Habit of the Order^ K which 130 The Curiosities which the Abbefs put on the Votary as flie kneeled before her j then a Chaplet of Flowers was put upon her Head, which the Vicar faidj Was an Emblem of a celeftial Crown j” then the Beads and Prayer Book ; afterwards the Sil- ver Badge, in Form of an Heart, on which W'as the Virgin Mary engraved ; this was hung on a Ribbon, and put on her left Breaft : Laflly, he gave her a burning Taper ; at the fame Time reminding her, that every particu- lar Badge, or Part of the Order, is prefented merely as emblematical, and then gave a Be- nediction to every Badge of the holy Order which he had bellowed upon her. During this Time, the A.bbefs cloathed her as a pro- feffed Nun, and the whole Sifterhood chanted Veni Creator. After which the young Nun read to the Vicar, the Vows of Chaftity, Poverty, and Obedience, which llae folemnly fwears never to violate, and then regilfers her Name in the Convent Book, as a Sifter of the Order. When this Part of the Ceremony was concluded, fhc proftrated herfelf flat on the Earth, in the Middle of the Choir 5 and all the Nuns, with each a burning Taper, took hold of a black Velvet Pall, which they laid over her 5 the Vicar at the fame Time telling her, ‘‘ That of P A R I S. That from hence forward fhe muft liveas one buried to the W(orld,” — and then the Choir of Nuns chant over her the funeral Service, concluding wit;h Requiefcat in Pace^ Secula Seculorum, (Let her reft in Peace, World without End.) At length this awful, folemn Ceremony was concluded by Sifter Talbot (her Name for ever after) faluting the Nuns, and the whole Choir chanting Te Deum, As I am now upon the Topic of Prifons for the Ladies, I hope you will permit me to give a fmall Sketch of one equally detefted by many of the Englifti and French Nation : I mean the Bastille, or Royal State Prison, well known through all Europe, and the Dread of the French, on the Account of its being in all Ages a perfedl Scene of Blood; It is fituated near Port St. Antoine 3 the Building is_ of the Gothic Tafte, and low, with eight regular Towers, which are furrounded on one Side by a deep Folie. No Perfon is permitted to view the interior Part 3 nor indeed is it any Place for a Stranger to gaze at with Safety 5 fuch who are iimder the Difpleafure of their abfolute Monarch may foon gain Ad- K 2 mittance 5 i.32 , The Curiosities niittance j but when under thefe Circumftances, and within the Gates, he may conclude his Exit from this tranfitory Stage will fpeedily draw to a final Period ; as the State-Prifoners are commonly executed in a private Manner. : Round this Building there are few Lights or | Windows, which make it as difmal as Imagi- j nation can poflibly paint. Mofi: Strangers vifit the Goblins, or Tapef- try Manufadlure, on Corpus Chrifti Day, when all the Courts about the Houfe are lined with rich Tapeftry, vaftly curious ; where Nature is fo exactly imitated by the Needle, that the Inofi: Ikilful Artift in Painting would admire it. The triumphal Arches, or Gates of the City, are not the leafi: remarkable Things here, and well deferve to be noticed by all Vi- fiters. The principal are Port St. Dennis, whichisamoft beautiful Arch feventy Feet high, in the Model of the antient triumphal Arches ; The Bafs-Reliefs on the Sides and Top reprefent the French pafling the Rhine and the Waal, &c. with Infcriptions under^ Port St. Martin, Port St. Antoine, Port St. Barnard, &c. all which ^ / adorned of PARIS. 133 adorned with Baflb-Relievos, Trophies, and vain Infcriptions, in order to eternize the Reign o ^ their Immortal Man. Thus at length, I have made a Rotund of this Metropolis ; a Difficulty^ at firft which feemed to me almoft infurmountable. If the Language does not always flow eafy, but ap- pears fometimes warped, 1 cannot much exte- nuate my Fault, though you ought to make fome Allowances, for my being frequently called off to other Bufinefs, which confe- quently broke off the Thread of the Narration, which with Difficulty I entered into again. If every Page is not agreeable, it is no more than what I expedled, though I endeavoured to pleafe, as far as my Ability could foar 5 yet even in the mod laboured Paffages of thefe Letters, I ever had in my Memory thefe me- morable Lines of Hes. Defire of Fame by various Ways is croftj. Hard to be gain’d, and eafy to be loft. Therefore, if I have mijfled my Aim, in en- deavouring to amufe, be for once friendly, and give me a gentle Hint, before I make Ex- curfions into the adjacent Towns. I am yours, &c. K 3 A. R; Defcription of St. Cloud, the Royal Maufoleum of St. Dennis, and Regalia of the Crown, &c. December 29, 1754. S 1 R, ' Was favoured with your Letter the 20th Inftant : I thank you for the welcome Reception you are pleafed to give my Letters j indeed you pay me a great Compliment in faying, “ You willingly and unwillingly folicit a Continuance of our Cor- refpondence.’' Though, Sir, I muft confefs I am now in a Nation noted for Pundilios and Cbmplaifance, yet I endeavour to avoid mere verbal Politeffe 5 therefore I cannot make a more fuitable Return, than a tacit Compliance to your Requed:. An Itch of Writing is as dangerous fometimes as .the contagious Itch, ag the one by minute Animaculse burrowing un- der of P A :r I s. 13^ der the Skin, produces? loathfome Blotches, deftroys the natural Hue of Nature, and con- taminates the whoIe.Mafs? of Blood gradatim fo the other infenfibly einervates the Conftitu- tion, and hurries us into many Errors, even to write ad infinitem upon irifling Subjeds, nei- ther pleafing to the Reader, or laudable in the Dictator ; a mere Multiplicity of Words, a Jargon of Expreffions, is extremely fulfome and tedious : And indeed I much fear, that fo many Letters (which I have wrote from Time to Time) merely defcriptive, will prove equally infipid and fomniferous. If this. Sir, fhould prove the Cafe, permit me to plead, that I do not fall under the word Negligence^ or any Part of the twelfth Article, but muft candidly confefs an Error in Judgment and Ability. Since my laft Letter, I have made feveral Excurfions into the adjacent Parts, to view their Palaces and Curiofities 5 the firft I went to is called, S T. C I O U D. This is the Palace, or Country Refidence of Louis Philip Duke of Orleans, and the K 4 firil 136 The Curios:ties firft Prince of the Blood. The Houfe is pleafantly htuated on an Eminence, on the Banks of the River Seine, about five Miles from Paris : The moft univerfal Way of going there is in the Galliot or Paflage-boat (com- monly called the Coche d’Eau)^ a moft gro- tefque Figure, near forty Yards in Length and very narrow, without either a Maft or a Sail, and it is generally dragged along by Horfes, fixed to long Ropes : The Fare to St, Cloud is no more than fix Sols (Threepence Engliihj each Pafiengdr ; and the Boat is commonly ft owed full of the Bourgeois on thofe Days the Waterworks play, fometimes amounting to fe- veral Hundreds, fome of whom make as much Preparation as for an India Voyage.' In the Voiage d St. Cloudy fe veral Boats of Gen- tlemen and Ladies pafled the Galliot ^ who, according to their natural Complaifance, al- ways faluted the Company by way of Politefle^ as Merchant Ships do a Man of War ; But this Salutation was in a far different Strain to what we met with in Paris, being no ways in- ferior to the complimental Punctilios we are often faluted with by the Watermen on the Thames, or the learned Language of Billingf- gate j but in reality you are fufficiently com- penfated of P A R I S. 137 penlated for their rough Treatment, by the Variety of fine Profpedls, Villages, and Gentle- men’s Seats which you pafs j fuch as the Vil- lages of Passt, Autueil, Billancourt, &c. The Chateau of Meudon, belonging to the Dauphin, and the pleafant Chateau of Bellveu, the fainpus Refidence of IVladam Pompadour, Paramour to his prefent Ma* jefty Louis XV. The Chateau of St. Cloud ftands on a pleafant Hill, and is furrounded with fine ru- ral Gardens : The Architedure is agreeable but not elegant 5 but the Interior is well worth viewing, efpecially the long Gallery painted by Mignara, and ornamented with the Buftos of the Poets in oriental Marble. The Duke’s Colledion of Pidures here, are al- lowed to be exceeding well chofen, though inferior in hiumber to his Collection at the Palace Royal : He has many Pieces here that cannot be excelled, if equalled j fuch Atti- tude, that Michael Angelo might not blulh to own ; fuch Colouring, that might claim the mafterly Hand of Raphael Urbin ; fuch Expreflion, that they feem to be in Relievo and pulpy, rifing from the Canvas like living Flelh^ worthy *3^ The Curiosities worthy the Name (of the great Cotemporary with Angelo) Andrea del Sartos : In iinCj there is here fuch elegant Pieces, and exad Imitations of Nature, which would even flagger the Ariftotelian Philofophy. Mag^ ?icintff2us tuhtl odmif'citUT ' The principal AU" thors are Mignard, Le Brun, Poussin, JouvENET, Le Sueur, Claude Lorrain, Bon Boulogne, &c. Nor can I difmifs thefe great Artifts without applying to their Manes, the remarkable Expreffion of King Charles the Second, upon a Painter fhewing him a Portrait of a celebrated Court- Beauty, “ Friend, I can fay nothing more in Commendation of your Performance, than that you paint both the Infide and Outfide too.’* The Gardens belonging to St. Cloud commences on the Banks of the Seine, and afcends gradually to the Summit of a high Hill ; they are pleafant and rural, and Art and Nature feem to reign by Turns. The moll re- markable Thing here is the grand Cafcadeand Jet d'Eaii^ which the French fay is the belt in Europe; indeed it throws up a (Column of Water prodigious high and with great Force ; nothing in Comparifon to “ A Fountain in Rome, of PARIS. 139 Rome, which throws up fo large a Quantity of Water, as always to produce a Mift, and when the Sun (hines obliquely upon it, a per- fect Rainbow appears.^’ {Vide V nage d Italie far M. Wilfon,) In the Village of St. Cloud, there is lately crec^fed an agreeable Pile of Building, called the Porcelane Manufactory, which is now in great Efteem in Paris, to the great Detriment of the foreign China. After viewing this delightful Seat of his Grace of Orleans, no Perfon ought to omit going two M^iles more, to fee the C-hateau of Meudon : The Caftle is fituated on an ex- ceeding high Hill, and has delightful Gardens well laid out, from whence there is a fine Prof- ped of Paris. In going to Meudon, we paffed by the Houfe of Madame Pompadour, fi- tuated on an Eminence on the Banks of the River ; but we could not get Admittance to view the Interior, without an Ambaflador s Ticket: In the Garden this lady has eredled a fine Marble Statue of her befi: Friend, in the Character of a Roman Emperor, Near 140 The CuKiosiTiEs Near St. Cloud is an exceeding high Hill, called Mount Calvary, on the Summit of which is a Convent of Carthufians, whofe ri- gorous Rules obliges them to live in a very re- clufe Manner, or rather a continual Hermi- tage. St. Germains is about twelve Miles from the Metropolis, and was formerly noted for being the Place of Retreat of King James II. when in Exile: The Palace is fituated on a Hill near the River j it is a maffy Pile of Building, and in former Days thought magni- ficent, but has been in a State of Decay, lince their Kings deferred it to live at Versailles. The principal Thing here worth viewing, is the grand Terrace. FounTainbleau is another royal Hunting- Seat, about thirty-five Miles from Paris j it is fituated in the Middle of a large Foreft, and is an irregular Pile, but yet noble and grand ; there is feveral fine Pieces of Water here, and Store of all Kinds of Game. The moft re- markable Thing in the Chateau, is the Paint- ings in Ulyfifes’ Gallery, In of PARIS. m In going to Choisy, another of the King’s Hunting- Seats, we paffed by a pleafant Chateau, which (lands near the Village of Ch arenton, on the Banks of the River, which was formerly the Refidence of Madame Maintenon, Mif- trefs to Louis XIV. a Lady univerfally allowed to be the moft perfect Miftrefs in the Art of Love, that France could ever boaft of. There are many other Palaces worthy of the Infpe(5lion of a Stranger ; fuch as Anger- viLLE, Annex, Bassville, Brunet, Chily, Livry, Mount Louis, Issy ; the Chateatt of Madrid, built by Francis I. Chateau of Vincennes, St. Maur, Conflans, Scaux, the Chateau of the Duke of Main. The moft remarkable Things here are the Gardens^ Apartments, and Orangery ; Vaux, the fine Paintings of Le Brun; Chantilly, the Seat of the Prince of Conde, a moft beautiful Place ; the Houfe, Gardens, Waterworks, and magnificent Gallery, with a fine Statue of the Conftable Silvius, and perhaps the moft fu- perband elegant Stables for Horfes in Europe j all which claim a Stranger’s Curiofity, ST. ‘142 The Curiosities ST. DENNIS. This fmall Town is noted throughout all France for its rich Convent, and for being the royal Maufoleum of the Kings of France. In this Church are a great Number of antique Brafs and Marble Monuments, and Effigies in full Proportion of the royal Family, whofe laft Remains are depofited here. In the Choir lies a Corpfe in State, with Lamps perpetually burning round the Coffin ; the Efcutcheons indicates, that this is the Remains of the late King Louis le Grand j it being a cuftom in France never to lay the deceafed Monarch un- der the Earth, until the Succeflbr dies ; fo that the Corpfe will thus continue lying in State till the fucceeding Reign. Every Sunday (except during the Lent) the Regalia of the Crown are fhewn gratis, viz. The different Crowns, Scepters, Swords, and other Enfigns of Royalty, ufed at Coronations, of all the Kings of France. In the prefent King’s Crown is the fuperb Diamond of Mr. Pitt, who fold^it to the Crown of France for i2o,oool. Sterling; it weighed 127 Carats. They ffiewed us a Relic which is deemed fa- cred i of PARIS. 143 cred; it is the Cranium of the Patron of France, St. Denn i s, inclofed in a large Cafe of Gold: Among the reft of the Regalia, the Keeper of the Treafury put into my Hand an old rufty Sword ; and with a triumphant Smile told us, It was the Sword of the great Lord Talbot,” who made France to tremble in Henry Vth’s Reign, and Henry Vlth’s: On the Blade is this Motto, Ego fum T^alboti^ not very elegant Latin you’ll fay : Another Relic he fhewed, inclofed in a Gold Cafe j it was, he told us, the real Nail which the Jews fixed in our Saviour’s right Foot at his Cruci- fixion : He fhewed likewife feveral other Re- lics enchafed in Gold, and highly prnamented with precious Stones ; but I am forry to fay^’ that his Accounts of the Relics and their Vir- tues, were highly romantic, and required a great Share of tacit Credulity, to regard all he fpoke about them as Fadls : Indeed no Perfbn gave him the leaft Contradidion, as we were obliged to fhew him great Refpeft, in regard to his facerdotal Charader, and the royal Infignia of the Office he officiated in j though I would recommend one fhort Sentence, by him to be fpoke after the defcriptive Part of every Relic. >44 Curiosities Si Populus mlt decipi — decipiafun St. Dennis is about five Miles from Paris^ and is one of the moft pleafant Jaunts about the adjacent Country. The Road is|quite agree- able, as we palTed through a Vifto of Trees all the Way j and the Multiplicity of Hares and Partridges, fporting and playing quite round us exceeding tame, gave us great Pleafure. We pafifed by a high Hill called Montmartre, a Place in great Efteem with the Religious, on the Account of St. Dennis their Patron being beheaded there : His Effigy is always made with his Head in his Hands ; and indeed they tell us moft furprifing Tales about him, fuch lavifh Accounts, that Modefly obliges me to omit mentioning. You defire me to fay fomething in regard to the Charaders of the French Nation : This, Sir, is a Topic I muft either be filent on, or vaftly concife ; for I think no Perfon can un<» dertake this Subjed with Propriety, unlefs they were to refide fome Time among the Nation they pretend to criticife ; however, for your private Satisfadion, I fhall freely communi- cate of PARIS. I4J Cate the few Oblervations I have made on this particular Part. It is well known, that the frequent Wars between the two Nations, has always kept alive a reciprocal Hatred j therefore we can pay but little Regard to many People who fingls out a few Inftances to juftify their Contempt of the whole Nation. In regard to the Per- fonages of the Men, we may juftly fay that they are like our own Nation ; tall and Ihort, handfome and ordinary, proportionable and de- formed; fprightly, active, and agreeable in Converfation ; temperate in Diet and Drinking . but in general, I may fay, both the Males and Females are inclined to Leannefs. Their Ge- nius more particularly tends to ftudy the Arts and Sciences ; but the military Art and Science of Defence, are their favourite Studies. They are extremely lavifli in Drefs, and pride them- felves much in this Tafle, and in every Thing relating to it; they efteem themfelves the Leaders of Europe ; their Modes in Drefs are a mere Hydra with many Heads, one of which is no fooner cut oif, than another fprings up. Though I fay the French change the Fafhions almoft with the Moon, yet I do not pretend L to 146 The Curiosities to inhnuate, that they are People of the greatefl Levity and Inconftancy in Europe : However decihve the Expreffion I ufe may appear, per- mit me to remind you, that I never take upon me to decide j for what Angle Perfon can pre- fume to fummon a whole Nation to his own Tribunal ? The Ladies (who I mention with the greateft Veneration) may claim a great Part of the foregoing Skizo. Their greateft Fault is the immoderate painting of their Faces ; fo high her Station, fo high the Scarlet advances, even to the Tinfture of a florid Carmine: If the Wife of a Bourgeois lays on half an Ounce of Vermeille, certainly Madame la Duchefle may reafonably claim one Ounce, to make her the more confpicuous. I have been often told, that no Woman paints here but the Lady of Q^lity, and the Fille de Joie ; but if this Rule was ftridly true, we Foreigners would have Rcafon to imagine, that every Woman we meet, is of Quality or the contrary. In general they are fine perfonable Women, and walk in a more majeftic Manner than moft Nations j they have free eafy Shapes, as few are encumbered with ftiff Stays as in England . at 1 of PARIS* 147 at this time their Heads are bare, and their Hair decorated in the gayeft Tafte. They are fprightly and witty in Converfation, and love Raillery to Excefs ; they afFedt Freedom and Gallantry j npr are they troubled with that Fiend called Jealoufy : Their Converfation moftly tends to double Entendres, Fafhions, Plays, Operas^ and Bawbles, or fuch a String of pretty Trifles ; yet it muft be allowed, that they are complete Miftreflfes of the pleating Agremem in Converfation, but a little too talkative. This Hint may perhaps be ufeful to the mathematical Gentlemen who are now labouring to find out the Longitude j for almofi every pretty French Lady can furnifh them with 2^ perpetuum Mobile, But to draw both their Characters to a Period : They generally affeCt a peculiar Po- litenefs to all Strangers, always profefs a Friend- fhip, and almoft ftifle you with Carefies and Embraces j yet we ought to be cautious of forming a Judgment of them from their flattering Addrefs and complimental Punc- tilios, Notwithflanding all thefe fine Talents, we foon find them inconftant and changeable in their Behaviour, and they feldom grow in L 2 our 148 The Curiosities our Efleem. How laudable would it be, if every Subjed: of France had this remarkable Sentence of their own Countryman perpe- tually in their Memory ! How much it were to be wilhed for them (the Englifh) and us, that the Wifdom of our Morals attraded them as much as the Politenefs of our Beha- viour.” (Abbe le Blanc’s Letters on the Englifh Nation.) A certain modern Author ftiles Paris, “ The Fountain-head of Vice and Folly j and that the Englilh are too great Dupes to the French, and facrifice their Eafe to the Fafhions of a genteel Air, and curfe the Nation with the Importation of Bawbles, Cooks, Barbers, and Valets j a Race of People who crowd to England, on the money- getting Principle.” Thus we condemn and yet imi- tate them, and even adopt their Modes and Manners. Every Man extols his native Country, and the Love of our Country is the EfFed of Self-love, by which we infenfibly extol our- felvesj but what Nation is there, wherein there are not many Things commendable and blameabie to be found ? Paris is an inland City, and has but little Trade j yet, notwithftanding, it has more ex- ternal of P A R I S. 145 ternal Splendor and Magnificence than tha^ Miftrefs of the Globe London : In fine, it has ever been deemed the Centre of Europe v^rith the Beau-monde, and no Perfon of For- tune in France lives in the Country ; if they do it is in a frugal Manner to fave Money, in or- der to make a more grand Appearance in the gay World, and fparkle with more Eclat ^ as it is a well known Maxim here, “ There can be no Life out of dear Paris f ’ and I much doubt, if this very Principle is not too much inculcated by Foreigners of every Nation. Thus it being the conftant Refidence of their numerous Nobility, and a Loadfione to all Strangers 5 we are partly prepared to expedl the dazzling Face of Opulence in their gay EquL pages, Groups of Valets, &c. more than in London. Such of the French who are ac- quainted with England, allow that our Soil is more fertile than theirs, and our Trade exten- five, and the Nation rich \ On the contrary their Soil is not very fertile, and their Trade in- confiderable, except in their great maritime Towns, filch as Lyons^ Msrfeilles, Bourdeaux, &c. But every Climate has its particular Ad- vantages, and every Advantage is attended with particular Inconveniencies : Though ^ 3 France 150 The Curiosities France has not the Verdure of England, yet it is much drier, and not fo fubjedt to Fogs, and confequently rnuft be much more healthy than our Country. The Plebeians in general are miferably poor, and greatly opprefled by the Nobility, who are all petty Tyrants, and the Peafants their mere Slaves ; Though the Nobles have large Eftates, yet w'e may fay that thefe Riches are but in a few Hands 5 and if we muft allow them to be as opulent as their Neighbours, we may at the fame Time fay they are poor. To define this Paradox, it is a well known Maxim that Wealth, when properly divided, enriches and ftrengthens the State, but when confined in a few Purfes greatly impoverilhes the com- mon People 5 for by accumulating the Vitals of the Country, its Circulation is totally ob- flrudted. The fad Effedts of ill contrived Oeconomy is extremely vifible in all the Country Towns and Villages in France, where the Cultivation of the Land, and the Welfare of the Farmer, are the lead: Objedts of the legiflative Power. Hail of PARIS. 151 Hail, O happy England ! Land of Liberty ! Afylum of the Opprefled ! where Humanity dictates, and Experience indicates the Wifdom of thy Laws j that permits the honeft Farmer to fow and reap, to labour for himlelf and not for others, and where every Cottage fmiles with Content ! Happy indeed would thy In- habitants be, if they had a right Idea of the iingular Advantages fcarcely known in many Countries, equalled by few, and excelled by none I As the Poet fweetly fings : England proteaed by the Almighty’s Hand, Still fhincstheEnvy of each neighbouring Land ; Skill’d in each Grace, die chofe the pureft Part, And cropttheFIow’rs from every blooming Art. I am, Sir, with Efteem, Yours, &c. A. R. L4 LET- 152 The Curiosities LETTER IX. Defeription of Verfailles, 'Trianon, Marly, Waterworks, Gardens, Sta- tues, and the Proceffion of the Knights of the St. Esprit, 8cc. Jan. 30, 1755, S I R, His is the lafl Letter you muft exped: ^ ^ ^ to receive from me, while I am in this Qiwrter of the World, being now about to finilh the Defeription of this famous Metropolis. As in my firft Epiftle I commenced with the deferiptive Part of thofe truly mifera- ble Cabins on the Road between Calais and Paris, and traced numerous inferior Scenes to thofe of a politer Gout, fo I now proceed to the Fountain-Head, whofe Defeription will put a Period to our Correfpondence. V E R. 3 of PARIS. - 153 VERSAILLES. The Palace of Versailles is the ordinary Refidence of the royal Family j it lies in a Valley about eleven or twelve Miles from Pa- ris. In going there we (lopped at Seve, to view the King’s Wine-Cellars, which are curious, and likewife the Porcelane Manufadtory lying clofe to the .high Road, The Front of the Chateau of Versailles> as it at firft prefents to the great Road, appears an immenfe Pile, yet at the fame Time no^ very pleating to the Eye, This Frontifpiece was built in 1661, of the Corinthian and Do- ric Orders 5 it forms two large Wings, with a large Square before it, furrounded with fine Pallifadoes of Iron ; on the right Wing lies the Chappel, and on the left the royal Apartments. The Frontifpiece to the Gardens is of a more modern Date, being built in 1678 5 and if there is any Part of this Chateau curious it can be only this Part, which contains one hundred and thirty, one large Safh- Windows in a Line, from End to End. This over-grown Edifice was but in a mean State in Louis Xlllth’s Reign, being then only a Hunting-Seat 5 but Lou 1 s le Grand taking 154 The Curiosities taking a Fancy to the Spot, augmented and adorned it in the fuperb Manner it is feen at prefent. The royal Apartments are grand, more efpecially the long Gallery, which is fu- perb, and about two hundred Feet in Length ; it is ornamented with large Pannels of Glafs^ inflead of Wainfcot or Tapeftry, fine Paint- ings of Le Brun, and feveral valuable an- tique Bufios; as likewife are all the other Apartments decorated with curious Statues and fine Paintings. In one of the Anti-Chambers, we are fliewn an original Piece of Raphael Urbin, reprefenting St. Michael and the Dragon, which is efteemed by the Connoif- feurs as a moft exquifite Piece of Painting. I cannot mention Raphael’s immortal Name, without reminding you of the Honour paid to his Memory by his Countrymen, Hie fitus eft Raphael, timuit, quo Sofpite, vinci Rerom magna Parens, et Moriente, Mori. Living, great Nature feared he might outvie Her Works, and dying, fears herfelf may die. (Vide his monumental infeription.) In of PARIS. In another Apartment is a curious Piece of Machinery, which 1 had the Pleafure to hear was executed by an Englifhman. It repre- fents a Clock, which when the Hour is drawn to a Period, a brazen Eagle and Cock expand their Wings, the one crows, and the other makes a Kind of fqueaking Noife j a Door then opens, and two Men as Centinels ad- vance and give the Signal, by knocking at a Door above them ; the Alarum being given this Door opens, and Louis le Grand advances forwards, when Vidory defcends and places a Crown of Laurels upon his Head. When the Clock has done chiming, all retire into the Cafe in the fame regular Manner. Upon the whole, I may fincerely fay to you, that neither the Interior or Exterior of Ver- sailles anfwered my Expedations ; nor was it any ways equal to the Ideas that we Stran- gers are prepared to expedt : Indeed the Im- menfity of the Building at firft View ftrikcs one with an Air of Magnificence and Grandeur, but it will not bear a clofe Infpedtion, as the Irregularity of the Building (by being executed at different Times) may be liable to very fevere Criticifms, 1^6 The Curiosities Criticifms, more efpecially as your Ideas are primarly wrought up to fuch a Pitch, to expea nothing lefs than a terreftrial Paradife. I fhall now quit this imaginary Beauty, to enter into the Defeription of the Appendages of this Place, which really merit our Curiofity, viz. the Gardens, Waterworks, See. Before I fpeak of thefe, I ought to take No- tice of the royal Stables ; however odd it may feem to defeend from a Palace to a Stable, yet I make no doubt that in Point of Architecture, the Stables may claim a Preference to the Chateau, They are built before the Avenues ofthe Palace in feparate Places, each forming an half Rotund, and have an exadt Symmetry through the whole Strudure. Here are kept a large Stud of Horfes (belonging to the Court) of all Countries, and at lead one thoufand of them Englilh, which are in fo much Edeem in France, that the Gentlemen in general ride no other. The Gardens of Versailles are vadly ex- tenfive, and cover a large Space of Ground, which is divided into innumerable pleafant Walks and rural Alleys, which are mod pro- fufely of A R 1 S. 157 fufely crowded with Variety of Marble Sta- tues j fome reprefeiting hiftorical Pieces, with four, five, and fix proportionable Figures in a Group 3 others, al the Heathen Gods and Goddefles in the Pintheon, with the Seafons, and the four Elements ; in the other Alleys, the Buftos of the moft celebrated Poets ; a fine Copy of Venus, frcm that inimitable Statue in the Florence Galley j and a dying Myrmillo exquifitely wrough 5 befides many Scores of others, all which are executed in a moft maf- terly Manner, which Words would in vain at- tempt to exprefs, aid can only convey at the belt but a faint Ido of their Beauties, where Meafure, Harmon;, and Movement is given, and Nature feems perfedly animated by the Expreffion of Art. Under Corneille’s Bull, was the following Lines wrote with a Pencil : Pofteritas pene pmem populum Urbi dedit, Qt^am Natura Procreavit. The Waterworks in the Gardens are the Surprize of all Beholders ; but I can only give you a Sketch of thefe glorious Monuments of Louis le Grand’s Vanity, which are equally Admirable as the Statues j fuch Magnificence and 158 The Curiosities and Elegance combined together, even ftardeS our Imagination : To give a minute Defcrip- tion, would require a more artful Pen than mine ; therefore I can only mention them in a curfory Manner. Here is a Dolphin, which as a Jet d’Eau, cafts up the Water near fixty Feet high, which is furrounded with all Kinds of Animals, who difplay their aqueous Won- ders ; others reprefenting Neptune and the Sea Nymphs, in Chariots drawn by Sea Horfes all in full Proportion ; others in the Labyrinth, reprefenting the Fables of ^Efop, each Figure in the Fable cafts out Water, and requires a Caution to keep at a proper Dif- tance, otherwife they will be intrapped ; others forming large pyramidal Fountains, &c. Jet d’Eaus, Pillars, Cafcades, triumphal Arches, Mountains of Water 5 and others, reprefenting the Bafons of Apollo, Ceres, Saturn, Latona, Flora, and Bacchus, See. See. with a thoufand different Kinds of Waterworks too tedious to minute particularly : In fine, they are allowed to be the completeft of any in Europe j nor are the Gardens any where to be parallelled . all the beautiful Models that Italy and other Parts of the World could afford, were imitated here and brought to great Perfedion, in order to of PARIS. 159 to triumph over all the Gardens in the Uni- verfe. About half a League from Versailles (within the Gardens) is the delightful Sum- mer-Houfe, or more properly called the Seat of Love, Trianon, built in the Tafteof an Italian Villa, by the partictilar Defire of Ma- dame Maintenon : The Exterior is crufted over with variegated Marble, which adds a mofi: extraordinary Luftre to the Edifice j the Interior is painted white, in Imitation of China, and decorated with fine Paintings, reprefent- ing the Wars of Louis le Grand, and the dif- ferent Views of the Waterworks when play- ing ofiF. The fame Diftance from the Cha- teau, on the left Side, is the Menagery of fo- reign Animals and Birds, which are Ihewn gratis on the State Days that the Waterworks play ; in regard to Q^drupeds, that at the Tower of London has the Superiority, and this for Variety of curious foreign Birds. In going to this Place, we pafied the grand Canal, faid to be 1700 Yards in Length, in which are fcveral Pleafure-Boafs for the Court to divert themfelves in. We amufed ourfelves at Ver- sailles three Days, and then proceeded to view 1^0 The CitRiosit lEs view Marli, about two Leagues from the Palace. The Gardens of Marli are much fmaller than thofe of Versailles} but are laid out with much more methodical Regularity than the former, and are in the fame Manner moft profufely adorned with fine Statues. The Waterworks of this Place in many Things ex- cel thofe at Versailles, particularly the grand Cafcade, which refembles a River of Water tumbling from a Mountain ; in another Part of the Garden, there is a Cafcade which re- fembles Sheets of Silver, as the Water ftreams down the Marble Stairs, and at the fame Time roars like Thunder, fo as greatly to furprife the Spectators. The Chateau of Marli is within the Gar- dens ; the Building is a direCt Square in the modern Tafie, and the Exterior is adorned with Painting in Frefco, the Interior with fine Paintings of the Wars of the late King : But what is moft curious, is two Pieces of Tapef- try Scenes in Don Quixotte, where Nature is fo exactly imitated, that a Painter would ap- plaud the Artift. This Chateau is com- monly of PARIS. i6r monly called the King’s Play-Houfe, from the Court diverting themfelves here with Variety of Games of Chance : Behind the Houfe are twelve pleafant Pavillions, fix on each Side, painted in Frefco : Thefe belong to the royal Family and Officers of the Court, and are de- figned for Collations, &c. As we were within a few Miles of the grand Source of the Waterworks, our Curiofity led us to view the Machine of Marli, which is here efteemed as one of the greatefi: Pieces of Mechanifm that the World ever produced j it is fituated upon a Branch of the River Seine between theParifii of Chaussee and the Vil- lage of Marli, from whence it derives its Name. The M^achine is compofed of fourteen Wheels, ranged in proper Order: On the Ri- ver is two hundred and twenty-five Pumps which throws the Water every Time the Wheels turn round five hundred Feet high j the Water is conduced by Conduits of Iron which join the Pumps, and’ then creep up a high Hill, being one hundred and forty-eight Feet higher than the River. Thefe Tubes ex- M tend j 62 The Curiosities tend about fix hundred Feet up to the Refer- voir ; and from thence it is raifed up by fe- venty-nine Pumps, to be carried in Leaden Pipes to a Tower on a high Hill, a great Dif- tance from the Refervoir. From this Tower it is caft along a magnificent Stone Aqueduct of thirty-nine Arches, about feven hundred Feet in Length, which ftands on a Hill about half a Mile from the Pumps on the River ; it is then conducted by Iron Tubes to the Refer- voirs of Marli, which is about feven hun- . dred Feet from the Aquedudt. From the Re- fervoirs of Marli, the Water is forwarded to the Refervoir of Lucienne, from whence it is carried to Versailles, Chenais, ROQUECOURT, ChEVRELOUP, andTRIANOxN. FromtheRefervoirof Marli to Versailles, it is about five Miles. When the River is high, it furnifiies the Refervoirs of Marli with only three Inches of Water in Height, in twenty-four Hours. The Chevalier de Ville was the Inventor and Conduder of this Machine, who had un- der him continually fifty Workmen to keep it in Repair; and the French pretend to fay, the annual of PARIS. 163 annual Expence at this Time is twenty thou- fand Pounds. It is a common Obfervation, that Louis XIV. always took a particular Pleafure in for- cing Nature j fuch as by ere6ling the Palace of Versailles oh a Spot void of a Profpe£t to recommend it, or any other Qimlification to render it agreeable, excepting merely what Art has contributed : He made Choice of a Place to eredt this expenfive Water-Machine, at leaft two Leagues from the Palace ; but had he chofe a properer Situation, fuch as St. Germains for the Chateau, thefe inimitable Waterworks would not have coft the tenth Part of the Sum which was expended in ereding them at Marli : But what cannot aboundlefs Treafure and the Will of an abfo- lute Monarch efFed, whofe greateft Study feems to be immortalizing his Memory, at the Expence of his faithful Subjeds ? I have already taken Notice of the unpleahng heavy Profped th?t the Palace at firfl appears to the Eye, and how little upon Examination it grows in our Efteem ; but by the Encomiums I have beftowed upon the Gardens, Statues, and M 2 Water- 164 The Curiosities Waterworks, you now perhaps imagine me captivated with thefe Scenes of Elegance and Dignity, v/hich cannot be rivalled in any other Part of the Globe. I mud confefs I was greatly difguded at the firfl View of the Pa- lace, by having my Imagination ftrung up fo high, but then the Appendages to the Palace gave me a fufficient Recompence; take it altogether indeed it is a mod magnifi- cent Place, and all Italy fecms to have been fearched to centre here. The Groves, Grottos Labyrinths, Cafcades, Jet d’Eaus, Orangeries, and Fountains, are fo well executed, that they may be faid to excel all the fiditious Defcrip- tions of the mod animated Imagination j and neither Prints, or lavifli Words, can only at the bed convey a faint Idea j and nothing lefs than an adual View, can fatisfy a Stranger’s Curiofity of their Reality. There arc many Gentlemen who pretend to fay, that neither Sculpture or Painting have as yet pafTed the Alps ; but I am willing to believe, that thefe Cenfurers have never been in Paris, which would have convinced them, that thefe Arts are taught here in great Perfedlion, at the aca- demical School at the Louvre, which many 1 Con- of PARIS. 165 ConnoifTeurs fay greatly excel even that at Venice. On the State Days, fuch as that of the Pen- tecoft, St. Louis, and the Audience of Am- bafladors, all Foreigners have an Opportunity of viewing the Court in its Brilliancy, with their grand Proceffions of the Knights, &c. and in the Evening the Waterworks are ex- hibited in their greateft Perfection. On the Pentecoft was the Proceffion of the Knights of the St. Esprit (or Holy Ghoft) from the royal Apartments to the Chapel, which pro- ceeded as follows: I. The Muficians of the Court, with Trumpets, Drums, &c. 2. The Swifs Body Guards, cloathed in blue, faced with red, and richly laced with Silver, and in their Hats white Feathers, with embroidered Sadies over their Shoulders 5 moft of thefe Guards were Soldiers of Fortune, having the Order of St. Louis on their Breads. 3. The Yeomen of the Court, in Number one Hundred, habited like thofe in England, with this Difference, that their Vefts were loofe and tufted with Silks of various Colours 3 round their Necks they i66 The Curiosities they wore large Ruffs, refembling the Mode in Queen Elizabeth’s Reign. 4. The Herald of the Order in (carlet Sattin, embroidered with Gold. 5. The Officers of the Order in proper Habits. 6. The Knights, in Number one Hundred, habited in the Order, which was a black Velvet trailing Mantle, fpangled with Gold Flower de Luces, a Chain of Gold round the Neck, interlaced with enamelled Shells, and on the left Side of the Mantle a large Silver Star, in which was a Dove, as an Emblem of the Order j and under the Coat a broad blue Ribbon, with a Crofs attached to it, and a black Velvet Hat and Feather, com- pleted the Ornaments of the Order. 7. After the Knights had ranged themfelves in two Lines on each Side of the Chapel, the Princes of the Blood entered, viz. The Duke of Or- leans, Princes of Conti, Conde, Count Clere- mont Tonnere, Count de la Marche, &c. with the Dauphin * of France, and the King * Louis Dauphin of France, was born at VerfailJes in 1729. He is about the fame Stature of his f'ather, and very fat ; but, has neither the Vivacity or handfome Face of the King. “ II s’appelle le Dauphin, a caufe qu’ Humbert le Dauphin du Vennois, refigna le Dauphine au Roi Philippe VI. furnommede Valois, a Condition que le premier Fils du Roi feroit appelle Dauphin.” As the of PARIS. 167 King who kneeled, during thcMafs, in the Centre of the Chapel, furrounded by the Princes. In a (hort Time after, the Queen -f- and the Princefles J appeared at the Front of the Gal- lery, the reft of the royal Family being pri- vate in the Boxes : During the Mafs, a young Lady of the Court went round the royal Fa- the Father takes a great deal of Exercife, fo on the con- trary the Son ufes very little, which will probably be fome Lofe to England when he comes to reign, in regard to the Horfe Merchandize. * Louis XV. King of France and Navarre, furnamed Le bein aime (beft beloved) was born at Verfailles in 1 710, crowned at Rheims 1722, and married at Fontainbleau in 1725. The King, in regard to his Perfonage, is of a middling Stature, proportionable and thin, has quite a foldier-like Countenance, with a remarkable Vivacity in his Eyes ; for his being inclined toLeannefs we may not wonder, fmee his Activity, frequent Hunting, and other immoderate Exercifes, is fufficient to deftroy half his Court, without they had Herculanean Conftitutions like himfelf. t Maria Queen of France and Navarre (Daughter of Stanislaus of Poland) was born in 1703. She is of a low Stature, thin, and no Beauty ; but what is a more lafting Beauty is her religious Life, and fhunning the Pomp of a magnificent Court ; She is likewife remarkable for being the only Lady in the Court who does not paint : On the State-day flie was drefled in a plain genteel Manner without any Jewels. J The Mademoifelles of France are Adelaide, Vic- ToiRE, Sophia, and Louisa ; are all of a low Stature, and have agreeable P'aces, with fine lively Eyes, as moft of the Bourbon F amily have ; but for their Perfons alto- gether, are none of them Medicean Beauties. Thefc Ladies^ State-Days are perfectly loaded with Jewels, &c. niily i68 The Curiosities mily and the Knights, to beg Money for the Poor and Sick, which Contribution amounted to a coniiderable Sum. After the Celebration of the Mafs, the Knights conduded the King into his Apartment in the fame regular Order, and then difperfed. ImuftnowhaftentoaConcluiion of thefeLet- ters, having, according to my Abilities, finifl:ied the Defcription of every Thing materially worth the Curiofity of a Foreigner in this fa- mous Metropolis and the adjacent Parts. In the defcriptive Part, I have adhered to Truth as near as poffible, and have advanced but few Things but what I had occular Derhon- ftration : I muft confefs myfelf obliged to fe- veral Authors for many Qi^tations, being more particularly compelled to confult the Hiflory of France, in regard to the Dates of their public Edifices ; and I often found it ne- ceflary to confult the Ecclefiaftical Kifiory of venerable Bede, with many other Authors I found in the public Libraries. Such Subjeds that were intricate, I took particular Pains in fearching Variety of Accounts, in order not to deviate from Truth, and amufe you with fic- titious Tales, which I flatter myfelf may in fome of PARIS. 169 fome Meafure render this Plagiarifm excufa- ble i as it is well known, a verbal Account from the Natives is not always fatisfadory, and even a bare Tranfcription extremely liable to Errors ; But what may plead more ftrongly in my Favour, I commonly found the Pari- fians very ignorant of their own Hiftory ^d knew no more of the different Rules and Or- ders of the Religious than they did of the Koran; even in their own Authors I was obliged to be very cautious, and infert few Par- ticulars without ocular Proof, as I generally found their Accounts lavifh, and every Trifle highly magnified. The next Month I intend to begin my Route by Way of Flanders, in order to vifit the fortified Towns, and the moft remarkable Scenes of Adion during the late War ; and probably, by the Middle of March, I may have the Pleafure of feeing you in Old Eng- land, and to fing with the Poet, Dulcis Amor Patriae. I am Yours, &c. A. R. N BOOKS printed for W. Owen at Temple-Bar. I A New History of England, from theTimeof - 4X Its firft Invafion by the Romans, fifty-four Years before the Birth of Chrifi: to the prefent 7 'ime j com- prehending its antient State under the Britons, Romans, axon?, and Danes ; with a particular Account of each •Keign, from the Norman Conqueft in 1066 to the Year 1756. The Whole divided into nine Parts, containing grand Periods of the Hiftory. By an Englifhman. ^eatly printed in four Volumes in Twelves, and il- Jultrated with Maps, &c. Price bound 12s. 2. An IntroduiBion to Chronology ; containing an Ac- ^iint of Time. Alfo the moft remarkable Cycles, Epochas, ^ras. Periods, and moveable Feafis. Bv James Hodgfon, F. R. S. ^ Alfo by the fame Author, 3. The Doctrine of Fluxions, founded on Sir Ifaac Newton’s Method, publifhed by himfelf in his 7 >acf upon the Qi_iadrature of Curves, Qiiarto. Price bound 8s. 4. The Theory of Jupiter's Statellites, Qiiarto. Price bound 5s. 5. The Mifcellancous Works in Verfe and Profe of BIr Thomas Overbury, Knt. with Memoirs of his Life. Price bound 3s. 6. TThc CjARDener s I ocket-Book, or Country Gentleman’s Recreation ; being the Kitchen, Fruit, and Flower Garden, difplayed in alphabetical Order. ^Ex- hibiting at one View, the Seeds, Roots, and all Sorts of Flowers ; together with the Method of propagating them ; their Situation, Soil, Heighth, 7 'ime of Flowering and Method of Culture. By R. S. Gent. Price 6d. ° 7. The Vermin Killer; being a complete and necef- fary Family-Book, (hewing a ready Way to deftroy all* Sorts of Vermin in Houfes and Gardens. Price 6d. 8. The Works of the xMarchionefs de Lambert. Con- taining, Advice to a Son and a l^aughter. Treatifes on Friendfhip and Old Age. Reflexions on the Fair Sex, 7 'a/le and Riches, With a Number of genuine Letters that pafled between her and the Archbifhop of Cambray, Author ofTelemachus, Monfieur Riviere, xMadam Tref- rxel, and other the moft eminent Perfons of the Age ; BOOKS printed for W. Owen, and feveral other Pieces never before printed. Contain- ing, Thoughts on various entertaining and ufeful Siib- jedts, Refiedtions on Education, on the Writings of Ho- rner, and on various public Events of the Time. Care- fully tranflated from the French. The Second Edition, neatly printed in a Pocket Volume. Price bound 3s. 9. An authentic Account, published by the King’s Authority, of all the Fairs in England and Wales, as they have been fettled to be held fmce the Alteration of the Stile. Noting likewife the Commodities which each of the faid Fairs is remarkable for furnishing. Note, all the Lifts of F airs are full of great Miftakes, and in no wife to be depended on, unlefs figned with the Hand-wri- ting of Mr. Owen thus, Wm. Owen. Price is. 10. A New Univerfal Colledtioii of Voyages and Travels. Confifting of the moft efteemed Relations which have been hitherto published in all Languages. Containing every Thing remarkable in the various Parts of the known World. Alfo the Cuftoms and Manners of the feveral Inhabitants, In which are all the remark- able and entertaining Voyages from Columbus to Lord Anfon inclufive. Illuftrated with a great Number of Plans, Maps, Heads, and other Copper-Plates, neatly engraved. In three large Volumes in Twelves. Price bound los. 6d. 1 1. Winter’s Evening Entertainment ; confifting of the beft Novels and Hiftories. In 2 Vols. i2mo. Price neatly bound 6s. J2. A Diflertation on the Ufe of Sea Water. Tranflated from the Latin of R. Ruftel, M. D. 3d Edit. In a neat Pocket Volume. Price bound 2s. 6d. 1 3. A new Hiftory of France ; compiled from the moft eminent French Hiftorians, for the Inftrudfion of the Children of a noble Family. By R. Rolt. Price bound 3s. 14. A full and authentic Hiftory of the Rebellion 1745 and 1 746. Price bound 3s. 15. i'he Complete Juftice of the Peace, and Parifti Officer. Shewing the Authority and Power of a Juftice of Peace, the original Inftitution thereof, with the Com- miffion at large, and the Alterations and Amendments that have from Time to 'Lime been made therein 5 Man- ner 1 BOOKS printed for W. Owen. nerand Order of Proceeding in the General Qiiarter Sef- fions and Special Seffions. The Office and Duty of a Coroner, Churchwardens, O ver Ter rs of the Poor, Veftry and Veftry Clerk, and other Ward and Parish Officers ; Appeal to the SeffionS, and the Form thereof ; alfo of Settlements, Informations, Indictments in capital and other Offences, with an Ac- count of Acceffaries before and after the F a 61 ; the Laws of Highways, Landlords and Tenants, Mafters, Appren- tices and Servants, Game, and Gaming-houfes, Inns, Inn- keepers, Mufic-houfes. To which are added, the moft ufeful Precedents of Warrants, Commitments, and other Precedents ; with Notes and Obfervations according to the Statute and Common Laws of this Kingdom, digefted under proper Titles iit alphabetical Order, purpofely for the Ufe of Juftices of the Peace, Mayors, Town-Clerks, Coroners, and all Officers of Parishes. With proper Tables to the Whole. (With the Statutes brought down to the End of the laft Seftions of Parliament. Very ne- ceffary for Mayors, Juftices of the Peace, their Clerks, Coroners, Churchwardens, Overfeers of the Poor, Vef- try and Veftry-Clerk, and all Parish and W ard Officers ; alfo for Landlords and Tenants, Inn-keepers, and all other Perfons in general, who would underftand the Laws of their own Country.) In one large Volume Oilavo. Price bound 6s. 1 6. Letters from an Armenian in Ireland to his Friends at Trebifond, &c. Tranflated inthe Year 1756. Neatly printed in a Pocket Volume. Price bound 3s. M'l m 5mAL ^^-5 153 ic ffmcafiERueitARY