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Paris As It Was and As It Is

F >> Francis W. Blagdon >> Paris As It Was and As It Is




The art of purloining a watch, a snuff-box, or a purse, unperceived
by the owner, may, no doubt, be acquired by constant practice, till
the novice becomes expert in his profession: but the admirable
presence of mind displayed by Parisian sharpers must, in a great
measure, be inherited from nature. What can well surpass an example
of this kind mentioned by a celebrated French writer?

A certain person who had been to receive a sum of money at a
banker's, was returning home with it in a hired carriage. The
coachman, not remembering the name of the street whither he had been
ordered to drive, got off his box, and opened the coach-door to ask
it. He found the person dead and cold. At his first exclamation,
several people collected. A sharper who was passing by, suddenly
forced his way through the crowd, and, in a lamentable and pathetic
voice, called out: "'Tis my father! What a miserable wretch am I!"
Then, exhibiting every mark of the most poignant grief, he got into
the coach, and, crying and sobbing, kissed the dead man's face. The
bystanders were affected, and dispersed, saying, one to another,
"What an affectionate son!" The sharper drove on in the coach, where
he found the bags of money, which were an unexpected booty, and,
stopping it at a door, told the coachman that he wished to apprize
his sister of the melancholy accident that had just happened. He
alighted, and shut the coach-door, leaving the corpse as naked as it
came into the world. The coachman, having waited a long time,
inquired in vain at the house for the young man and his sister; no
one had any knowledge of her, him, or the deceased.

I remember when I was last in Paris, at the beginning of the
revolution, being shewn a silversmith's shop, whence a few articles
having been stolen, the master was induced to examine in what manner
the thieves gained admittance. Discovering an aperture where he
conjectured that a man's hand might be introduced, he prepared a
noose with a proper cord, and remained in waiting the following night
to see if they would repeat their visit. At a late hour, when all was
quiet, he perceived a man's hand thrust through the aperture;
instantly he drew tight the noose, and thought he had effectually
secured the culprit; but he was mistaken. The fellow's accomplices,
fearing that the apprehension of one of them would lead to the
discovery of all, on finding it impossible to extricate him by any
other means, cut off his wrist. When the patrole arrived at the spot,
on the call of the silversmith, he was not a little astonished to
find that his prisoner had escaped, though with the loss of a hand,
which remained fast in the noose.

With respect to these more daring classes of rogues, every year
almost produces some new race of them. Since the revolution, the
criminal code having condemned to death none but those guilty of
murder, housebreakers, to avoid the penalty of the law, had recourse
to a practice, which put the persons whom they subjected to it to the
most severe pain. This was to hold their feet to the fire till they
declared where all their moveable property was to be found. Hence
these villains obtained the name of _chauffeurs_. Notwithstanding the
vigilance of the Police, they still occasionally exercise their
cruelties in some of the departments, as may be seen by the
proceedings of the criminal tribunals. I have also heard of another
species of assassins, who trained blood-hounds to seize a man by the
throat in certain solitary places, and then came afterwards, and
plundered him at their ease. When apprehended, they coolly said: "We
did not kill the man, but found him dead."

As in former times, all sentences passed on criminals, tried in
Paris, whether condemned to die or not, are put into execution on the

PLACE DE GRÈVE.

The first sentence executed here was that passed on _Marguerite
Porette_, a female heretic, who was burnt alive in the year 1310.

Among the punishments which it has been found necessary to
re-establish is that of marking with a hot iron. Criminals, condemned
to imprisonment in irons, are exposed for two hours on a scaffold in
the middle of this square. They are seated and tied to a post, having
above them a label with the words of their sentence. They are clad in
woollen pantaloons and a waistcoat with sleeves, one half of each of
which is white; the other, brown. After being exposed two hours, they
are stripped, and to their shoulder is applied a hot iron, which
there leaves the impression of the letter V, for _voleur_, thief.
Women, not being condemned to imprisonment in irons; are exempt from
the penalty of being marked. This punishment is said to produce
considerable effect on the culprits, as well as on the spectators.
Previously to its being revived, persons convicted of thieving were
insolent beyond all endurance.

The _Place de Grève_ is a parallelogram, one of the long sides of
which is occupied by the _ci-devant Hôtel de Ville_, a tasteless
edifice, begun in 1533, but not finished till 1605.

Before the revolution, the _Place de Grève_ was alternately the
theatre of punishments and rejoicings. On the same pavement, where
scaffolds were erected for the execution of criminals, rose superb
edifices for public festivals.

Here, when any criminal of note was to suffer, the occupiers of the
adjoining houses made a rich harvest by letting their apartments.
Every window that commanded a view of the horrid scene, was then
hired at a most exorbitant price. Women of the first rank and
fashion, decked in all the luxury of dress, graced even the uppermost
stories. These weak-nerved females, who would have fainted at the
sight of a spider mangling a fly, stood crowded together, calmly
viewing the agonies of an expiring malefactor, who, after having been
racked on the wheel, was, perhaps, denied the _coup de grace_ which
would, in an instant, have rid him of his miserable existence.

The death of a regicide was a sort of gala to these belles; while the
lead was melting over the furnace, the iron pinchers heating in the
fire, and the horses disposed for tearing asunder the four quarters
of the victim of the laws, some of them amused themselves with an
innocent game at cards, in sight of all these terrible preparations,
from which a man of ordinary feeling would avert his looks with
horror.

How happens it that, in all countries on the continent, ladies flock
to these odious spectacles? Every where, I believe, the populace run
to behold them; but that a female of superior birth and breeding can
deliberately seek so inhuman a gratification is a mystery which I
cannot explain, unless, indeed, on the principle of shewing
themselves, as well as that of seeing the show.

"_Spectatum veniunt, veniunt spectentur ut ipsæ_."



LETTER LXI.

_Paris, February 2, 1802._

Independently of the general organization of Public Instruction,
according to the new plan, of which I have before traced you the
leading features, there exist several schools appropriate to
different professions, solely devoted to the Public Service, and
which require particular knowledge in the arts and sciences. Hence
they bear the generic name of

SCHOOLS FOR PUBLIC SERVICES.

They are comprised under the following denominations.

POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL.
SCHOOL OF ARTILLERY.
MILITARY ENGINEERS.
BRIDGES AND HIGHWAYS.
MINES.
NAVAL ENGINEERS.
NAVIGATION.

In order to be admitted into any of the above schools, the candidates
must prove themselves qualified by the preliminary instruction
required the examinations at the competition prescribed for each of
them. The pupils of these schools receive a salary from the nation.
At the head of them is the _Polytechnic School_, of which I have
already spoken. This is the grand nursery, whence the pupils, when
they have attained a sufficient degree of perfection, are
transplanted into the other _Schools for Public Services_. Next come
the

SCHOOLS OF ARTILLERY.

There are eight of these in the places where the regiments of
artillery are garrisoned. The pupils who are sent thither as
officers, after having been examined, apply their knowledge to the
arts, to the construction of works, and to the manoeuvres of war
dependent on artillery. Each school, in which the pupils must remain
two years longer, is under the superintendance of a general of
brigade of the corps.

SCHOOL OF MILITARY ENGINEERS.

This school, united to that of Miners, is established at Metz. Its
labours relate to the application of the theoretical knowledge which
the pupils have imbibed at the _Polytechnic School_. The objects of
these labours is the construction of all sorts of works of
fortification, mines and counter-mines, mock-representations of
sieges, attack, and defence, the drawing of plans and military
surveys, in a word, all the details of the duty of engineers in
fortified places and in the field.

The number of pupils is limited to twenty. They have the rank and pay
of second lieutenant. The School of Engineers, as well as the Schools
of Artillery, is under the authority of the Minister at War.

Much as I wish to compress my subject, I must observe that,
previously to leaving the school, the pupils undergo a strict
examination respecting the objects of instruction before-enumerated.
This examination is intrusted to a _jury_ (as the French term it)
composed of the commander in chief of the school, a general or
field-officer of the corps, appointed every year by the Minister at
War, and one of the permanent examiners of the Polytechnic School.
_This jury forms the list of merit, which regulates the order of
promotion._ Can we then wonder that the French have the first
military engineers in Europe?

SCHOOL OF BRIDGES AND HIGHWAYS.

It was founded in 1787, by TRUDAINE, and continued under the
direction of PERRONET, chief engineer of this corps, till his death,
which happened in 1794. He was then 86 years of age. By his will, he
bequeathed to this school, for the instruction of the pupils whom he
loved as his children, his library, his models, his manuscripts, and
his portfolios; articles which at this day form an invaluable
collection.

This school, which is at present established in the _Hôtel de
Chatelet_ (formerly belonging to the duke of that name) _Rue de
Grenelle_, _St. Germain_, unites the _dépôt_ or repository of plans
and models to the labours relating to roads, canals, and harbours for
trade. The number of pupils admitted is fifty. They are taken from
the _Polytechnic School_, and retain the salary which they there
received.

The instruction given to them chiefly consists in the application of
the principles of physics and mathematics to the art of planning and
constructing works relative to roads, canals, and sea-ports, and the
buildings belonging thereto; the means of execution, and the mode of
forming plans and estimates of the works to be executed, and the
order to be observed in keeping the accounts.

The _School of Bridges and Highways_ is under the authority of the
Minister of the Interior,

PRACTICAL SCHOOLS OF MINES.

One of these schools is established at Geislautern, in the
department of La Sarre; and the other, at Pesay, in the department
of Mont-Blanc.

The Director and Professors form a committee for the working of the
mines of Pesay, as well as for the instruction of the pupils. In
consequence of the report of this committee the _Council of Mines_
established in Paris, proposes to the government the measures
necessary to be adopted. Twenty pupils, who have passed their
examination at the _Polytechnic School_, are attached to the
practical schools, for the purpose of applying the theoretical part
of their instruction. Extra-scholars, with testimonials of good
behaviour and capacity, are admitted to be educated at their own
expense. These schools are also under the authority of the Minister
of the Interior.

SCHOOL OF NAVAL ENGINEERS.

The _School of Naval Architects_, which existed in Paris, has been
removed to Brest, under the name of _École des Ingénieurs des
Vaisseaux_. No pupils are admitted but such as have been students, at
least two years, in the _Polytechnic School_. The examination of the
candidates takes place every year, and the preference is given to
those who excel in descriptive geometry, mechanics, and the other
branches of knowledge appropriated to the first year's study at that
school. When the pupils have proved, in the repeated examinations
which they must undergo, that they are sufficiently qualified, they
are sent to Brest (as vacancies occur), in order to apply the theory
they have acquired to the different works carried on in that port,
where they find both the example and the precept, and are taught
every thing relative to the construction of ships of war and
merchant-vessels.

This school is under the authority of the Minister of the naval
department. The pupils admitted into it, receive a salary of 1800
francs (_circa_ £. 75 sterling) a year.

SCHOOLS OF NAVIGATION.

The Schools of Mathematics and Hydrography, established for the navy
of the State, and the Schools of Hydrography destined for the
merchant-service, bear the name of _Écoles de Navigation_.

Every year, there is a competition for the admission of candidates
for naval employment. The Hydrographical Examiner makes a general
tour to the different ports, where he interrogates the pupils in
arithmetic, algebra, geometry, statics, and navigation. According to
these examinations, they are admitted to the rank of _aspirons de
marine_ or midshipmen, captains of merchant-ships for long voyages,
masters of coasting-vessels, pilots, &c,

By a late decree of the Consuls, no one can be admitted to the
examination prescribed for being received as master in the
coasting-trade, unless he is twenty-four years of age, and has
served five years on board the ships of war belonging to the
Republic.

* * * * *

In my letter of the 15th of January, I have shewn you that Public
Instruction is to be divided into four classes: 1. In Primary
Schools, established by the _Communes_. 2. In Secondary Schools,
established by the _Communes_, and kept by private masters. 3. In
Lyceums. 4. In _Special Schools_. In the two last-mentioned
establishments, the pupils are to be maintained at the expense of the
nation.

Before I particularize the _Special Schools_, I must mention a
national institution, distinguished by the appellation of

PRYTANÉE FRANÇAIS.

It is divided into four colleges, established at Paris, St. Cyr, St.
Germain-en-Laye, and Compiegne. It was destined for the gratuitous
education of the children of the military killed in the field of
honour, and of public functionaries who might happen to die in the
discharge of their office.

By a decree of the Consuls, dated the 1st of Germinal year VIII (22nd
of March 1800) the number of pupils, in each of the Colleges of
Paris, St. Cyr, and St. Germain-en-Laye, is limited to two hundred,
and to three hundred, in that of Compiegne. An augmentation, however,
is to be made in favour of the new departments. The pupils are named
by the First Consul. On entering the College, they bring a stated
proportion of necessaries, after which they are wholly maintained at
the expense of the nation till they have finished their studies. The
government provides for the advancement of those who give the
greatest proof of good conduct and talent. The pupils cannot remain
in either of these four colleges beyond the age of eighteen.

As I have before observed, the Central Schools are, in future, to
bear the name of Lyceums, and the highest degree of public
instruction is to be acquired in the

SPECIAL SCHOOLS.

In these upper schools are to be particularly taught, in the most
profound manner, the useful sciences, together with jurisprudence,
medicine, natural history, &c. The Special Schools now in existence
are to be continued, subject to such modifications as the government
may think fit to introduce for the benefit of the Public Service.
They are still under the immediate superintendance of the Minister of
the Interior.

The _Collège de France_ I have before described: the Museum of
Natural History, the Special School of docimastic Mineralogy and
Chemistry, and that for Oriental languages, I shall speak of
elsewhere; but I shall now proceed to give you a rapid sketch of the
others which I have not yet noticed, beginning with the

SPECIAL SCHOOL OF PAINTING AND SCULPTURE.

This institution was founded in 1648, at the instigation of LE BRUN.
It was formerly held in the _Place du Louvre_, but is now removed to
the _ci-devant Collège des Quatre-Nations_, which has taken the name
of _Palais des Beaux Arts_. This is the only school in Paris that has
never indulged in any vacation. Each professor is on duty for two
months. During the first month, he gives his lessons in the school of
living models; during the other, in the school of the antique,
called, _la bosse_. It may not be uninteresting to give you an idea
of the

COMPETITIONS.

Every year there is a competition in Painting, Sculpture, and
Architecture, which is to be called _National Prize_. Its object is
to confer on those who have gained the first prize, at present
proposed by the Institute, the advantage of an allowance of 1200
francs for five years, which is insured to them at the French School
of Fine Arts at Rome. During their stay there, they are lodged,
boarded, and taken care of, in case of illness, at the expense of the
Republic.

A competition takes place every six months for the rank of places in
the schools; and another, every three months for the distribution of
medals.

There is also a prize, of 100 francs, founded by M. DE CAYLUS, for a
head expressive of character, painted or drawn from nature; and
another prize of 300 francs, founded by LATOUR, for a half-length,
painted after a model, and of the natural size.

Independently of the competition of the school, there is every year a
general competition followed by a distribution of the works of
encouragement, granted to the artists who have distinguished
themselves most in the annual exhibition of the _Salon du Louvre_. A
jury, named by the competitors themselves, examines the different
pictures, classes them according to the degree of merit which it
finds they possess, and the Minister of the Interior allots to each
of the artists _crowned_ a sum in payment of a new work which they
are bound to furnish to the government.

NATIONAL SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE.

In this school, which is held in the _Louvre_, the Professor of
Architecture delivers lectures on the history of that art, and the
theory of its different branches, on the orders, and edifices erected
by the ancients, and on the works of Vitruvius, Palladio, Scamozzi,
and Vignole. He takes no small pains to make known the bold style of
Grecian architecture, which the Athenians chiefly employed during the
ages when they prided themselves on being a free people.

The Professor of Mathematics explains the principles of arithmetic
and elementary geometry, which he applies to the different branches
of civil and military architecture, such as levelling, the art of
constructing plans, and perspective.

The Professor of Stereotomy, in his lectures, chiefly comprises
masonry and carpentry; he points out the best methods of employing
those arts in civil and military buildings. His demonstrations relate
to the theoretical and practical part of both branches. All the
pupils, and students of architecture are indiscriminately admitted to
the competition for the great prize of architecture, provided they
are not foreigners.

CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC.

This establishment, situated in the _Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière_,
was founded on the 16th of Thermidor year III, (4th of August 1795)
for the preservation and reproduction of music in all its branches.

It is composed of a director, three inspectors of teaching, a
secretary, a librarian, and thirty-five professors.

The director presides over the whole establishment; the inspectors
superintend the teaching, examine the pupils, and teach the branches
of study attributed to them by the regulation.

In the Conservatory, the instruction is divided as follows:
composition, harmony, solfaing, singing, violin, violincello,
harpsicord, organ, flute, hautboy, clarinette, French-horn, bassoon,
trumpet, trombonne, serpent, preparation for singing, and declamation
applicable to the lyric stage.

The completion of the study is effected by a series of lectures,
treating specially of the relations between the sciences and the art
of music.

Three hundred pupils of both sexes, taken in equal number from each
department, are instructed gratuitously in the Conservatory. The
principal points towards which their studies are directed, are, to
keep up music in society, to form artists for the execution of public
_fêtes_, for the armies, and for the theatres.

These pupils are admitted after an examination, which takes place
four times a year. Prizes are distributed annually, in a public
meeting of the Conservatory, to the pupils who distinguish themselves
in each branch of study.

* * * * *

_February 2, in continuation._

To the preceding brief account of the Conservatory, I shall subjoin a
few observations on the

PRESENT STATE OF MUSIC IN FRANCE.

Till the year 1789, this was the country where the greatest expense
was incurred in cultivating music; yet the means which were employed,
though very numerous, produced but little effect, and contributed not
to the improvement of that art. Every thing even announces that its
progress would have been still more retarded, but for the
introduction of the Italian Opera, in 1645, by Cardinal Mazarin.

The brilliant success of _Orfeo e Euridice_, in 1647, determined the
national taste in favour of this sort of _spectacle_, and gave birth
to the wish of transplanting it to the French stage. It was in 1659
that the first opera, with music adapted to a French poem, was
performed at Issy.

Since the epoch of the establishment of the French opera, every
department belonging to it, with the sole exception of the singing,
has been so much improved, that it is become the most brilliant
_spectacle_ in Europe. But, as the lyric theatres in France were
always obliged to seek recruits among the pupils formed in the
schools maintained by the clergy for the service of public worship,
the influence of the clerical mode of instruction was felt; and this
was, in fact, the source of the bad taste which for a long time
characterized French singing.

Had the grand opera in France been continued an Italian one, as it
was first established, (like those subsequently introduced in the
principal cities of Europe) it would have been supported by
performers formed by the Conservatories of Italy; and the good taste
of those schools would have balanced or proscribed the bad taste of
the French cathedrals; but the genius of the seventeenth century
chose that the French language, purified and fixed by the writers who
rendered it illustrious, should also become the language of the lyric
theatre. Musical instruction, remaining entirely subservient to the
customs of religion, was unable to keep pace with the rapid progress
of the arts and sciences during that brilliant period.

Among the defects of the old system of teaching music, must be placed
that of confining it to men; nevertheless, the utility of women in
concerts and plays was as incontestable then as it is at the present
day. Public instruction was therefore due to them in that point of
view; but, had no such consideration existed, they should have been
admitted to participate in this instruction, in order to propagate
the art in society. The success of this method would have been
infallible: as soon as women should have cultivated the musical art
with success, its naturalization would have been effected in France,
as it has been in Germany and Italy.

The expense of the musical instruction pursued in the schools
belonging to the cathedrals was immense, compared with its results in
every branch of the art. As to composers, they produced but a very

small number, and few of these distinguished themselves; no
instrumental performer of eminence ever issued from them; and, with
few exceptions, the singers they formed were very indifferent.

The necessity of introducing a better method of singing induced the
government, in 1783, to establish a _Special School of Singing and
Declamation._ This institution continued in full exercise for ten
years; but, though the celebrated PICCINI was appointed to preside
over the vocal department, the habits of the old school obstructed
its progress, and prevented it from producing the good which was
expected from it.

At the epoch of the dissolution of the monarchical institutions,
there remained in France only the School of Music of the Parisian
national guard, and that of Singing and Declamation just mentioned.
The republican government ordered them to be united, and thus was
formed the _Conservatory of Music_.

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