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Paris As It Was and As It Is

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Nor let it be imagined that policy has had no share in establishing
this institution. It has furnished the numerous bands of musicians
rendered necessary by the levy of fourteen armies which France had,
at one and the same time, in the field. It is well known that music
has done almost wonders in reviving the courage of the French
soldiers, who, when Victory seemed adverse to them, inclined her in
their favour, by rallying to the tune of the _Marseillois_. In the
heat of action, joining their voice to the instruments, and raising
themselves to a pitch of enthusiasm, they received or dealt out
death, while they kept singing this hymn. The French then are no less
indebted to ROUGET DE LILLE than the Spartans were to TYRTÆUS. At the
beginning of the revolution, they had no songs of the warlike kind,
except a few paltry ballads sung about the streets. ROUGET, who was
then an officer of engineers at Strasburg, was requested to compose a
martial hymn. Full of poetic fire, he shut himself up in his chamber,
and, in the course of one night, wrote the words of the
_Marseillois_, adapting to them music, also of his own composition.
Notwithstanding this patriotic production, and the courage which the
author is said to have displayed during the war, he was twice
imprisoned, at one time on suspicion of royalism; at another, of
terrorism.

Independently of the great number of musicians with which the
Conservatory has supplied the armies, it has furnished between two
and three hundred to the theatres, as well in Paris as in the
departments.[1] The band of the Consular guard was formed from the
pupils of the Conservatory, and sixty of them at present compose the
orchestra, known in Paris by the name of _Concert Français_, and the
execution of which has been much applauded by many celebrated
composers.

Its members meet to discuss the theories which may improve and extend
the different branches of the musical art. They have already laid the
principal foundations of a body of elementary works for teaching them
in perfection. _Les Principes élementaires de Musique_, and a _Traité
d'Harmonie_, which is said to have gained the universal approbation
of the composers of the three schools, assembled to discuss its
merits, are already published. A method of singing, established on
the best principles of the Italian school, applied to French
declamation, is now in the press; and these publications are to be
successively followed by other didactic works relative to the history
of the art.

A principal cause of the present scarcity of fine voices in France,
is the war which she has had to maintain for ten years, by armies
continually recruited by young men put in requisition at the period
when the voice is forming, and needs to be cultivated in order to
acquire the qualities which constitute a good singer.

Formerly, French commerce derived but very little advantage from
articles relating to music; but the means employed by the
Conservatory may probably turn the scale in favour of this country,
as well as render it, in that respect, independent of foreign
nations.

Before the revolution, England furnished France with _piano-fortes_,
the common price of which was from three to five hundred francs.
Germany mostly supplied her with wind and string instruments. German
French-horns, though coarsely-made instruments, cost seventy-two
francs, and the good violins of the Tyrol were paid for as high as
one hundred and twenty. The consumption of these instruments was
considerable. Nor will this appear surprising, as previously to the
foundation of the Conservatory, the instrumental musicians, employed
in the French regiments and places of public amusement, were mostly
Germans.

The French _piano-fortes_ are now in request in most parts of Europe,
and their price has, in consequence, increased from one thousand to
two thousand four hundred francs. The price of French-horns, made in
Paris, which, from being better finished, are preferable to those of
Germany, has, in like manner, risen from three to five hundred
francs. Parisian violins have increased in proportion.

With respect to printed music, the French import none; but, on the
contrary, export a great deal; and the advantages resulting from
these two branches of commerce, together with the stamp-duty attached
to the latter, are said to be sufficient to defray the expenses of
the musical establishments now existing, or those proposed to be
created.

Before I close this letter, I must not omit to mention a very useful
institution, for the promotion of the mechanical arts, established
in the _Rue de l'École de Médecine_, and called the

GRATUITOUS SCHOOL FOR DRAWING.

It was founded in the year 1766, for the instruction of fifteen
hundred children intended for mechanical professions, and was the
first beneficent establishment opened in favour of the common people.
Literature, sciences, and liberal arts had every where public
schools; mechanical arts alone were neglected. The lower orders, by
whom they were exercised, had no other means of learning them, and of
developing the faculties of their mind, than the blind routine of
apprenticeship.

The success of this school had progressively caused similar ones to
be instituted in a great number of towns of France, but most of them
are buried under the ruins of the revolution; that of Paris has
escaped the general overthrow; and, though it has lost a considerable
portion of its revenue, it still admits about six hundred pupils.
They are taught every thing relative to the mechanical arts, such as
drawing in all its various branches, military, civil, and naval
architecture, hydraulics, arithmetic, land-surveying, mensuration,
perspective, stone-cutting, and in short such parts of mathematics
and practical geometry as relate to those different objects.

The Gratuitous School for Drawing must not be assimilated to
establishments intended for improving the taste of those who follow
the career of the liberal arts. It presents immediately to the
children of the lower orders of the people the instruction that suits
them best. Here, every thing is useful. Not only are the pupils
instructed _gratis_, but the school furnishes to the indigent,
recommended by one of the founders, the paper, pencils, and
instruments necessary for their studies in the classes, and also
models for exercising their talents at home.

* * * * *

I shall speak elsewhere of the _Special School of Medicine_ of Paris;
there are two others, one at Montpellier, and one at Strasburg. At
Alfort, near Paris, is established, on a grand scale, a

VETERINARY SCHOOL.

It would lead me too far to particularize every department of this
extensive establishment; but one of these is too useful to be passed
over in silence. Here are spacious hospitals where animals are
classed, not only according to their species, but also according to
the species of disorder by which they are affected. Every person may
bring hither sick animals, on paying for their food and medicaments
only, the operations and dressings being performed and applied
_gratis_.

There are also Veterinary Schools at Lyons, Turin, and Rodez.

In addition to all these schools are to be established, in different
parts of the Republic, the following new _Special Schools_.

Ten of Jurisprudence.

Three of Medicine.

Four of Natural History, Physics, and Chymistry.

One of Transcendent Mathematics.

Two of Technology.

One of Public Economy, enlightened by Geography and History.

One of the Arts dependent on design, and, lastly,

A new Military School.

From the foregoing enumeration, it is evident that the government can
never be at a loss for persons duly qualified to perform the duties
of every branch of the Public Service. True it is that the nation is
at a considerable expense in giving to them the instruction which
fits them for the employment; but, in return, what advantages does
not the nation derive from the exertion of their talent?

[Footnote 1: In France are reckoned seventy-fire lyric theatres,
exclusively of those in the newly-united departments.]



LETTER LXII.

_Paris, February 5, 1802_.

In one of your recent letters, you interrogated me respecting the
changes which the revolution had produced in the ceremonies
immediately connected with the increase and decrease of population.
While the subject is fresh in my mind, I shall present the contrast
which I have observed, in the years 1789-90 and 1801-2, in the
ceremony of

FUNERALS.

Under the old _régime_, there was no medium in them; they were either
very indecorous or very expensive. I have been positively assured
that eighteen francs were paid for what was called a parish-funeral,
and not unfrequently a quarrel arose between the agent of the rector
and the relations of the deceased. However, as it was necessary to
bury every one, the _Commissaire de police_ declared the fact, if the
relations were unable to pay. Those for whom eighteen francs were
paid, had a coffin in which they were buried; the others were laid in
a common coffin or shell, from which they were taken to be put into
the ground. In a parish-funeral, whether paid or not, several dead
bodies were assembled, that is, they were carried one after the
other, but at the same time to the same ground. They were conducted
by a single priest, reciting by the way the accustomed prayers.

Other funerals were varied without end, according to the fortune or
pleasure of the relations. For persons of the richest class, a
flaming chapel was constructed at the entrance of the house. This
chapel was hung with black cloth, and in it was placed the corpse,
surrounded by lighted torches. The apartments were also hung with
black for the reception of the persons who were to attend the funeral
procession. The priests came to conduct the corpse from the house of
the deceased. They were more or less numerous, had or had not wax
tapers, according to the will of those who defrayed the expenses. If
the presentation of the corpse at the parish-church took place in the
morning, a mass was sung; if in the evening, obsequies only were
chaunted, and the former service was deferred till the next morning.
The relations and friends, in mourning, followed the corpse. These
persons walked in the procession, according to their degree of
relationship to the deceased, and besides their complete
mourning-suit, wore a black cloak, more or less long, according to
the quality of the persons (or the price paid for it), and a flapped
hat, from which was suspended a very long crape band. Their hair,
unpowdered, fell loose on their back. In lieu of a cloak, lawyers,
whether presidents, counsellors, attornies, or tipstaffs, wore their
black gown. On the cuff of their coat, men wore weepers, consisting
of a band of cambric. Every one wore black gloves, and likewise a
long pendent white cravat. People of the highest rank wore _cottés
crépés_, that is, a sort of crape petticoat, which fell from the
waist to the feet. This was meant to represent the ancient coat of
arms.

Servants in mourning, or pages for princes, supported the train of
the cloak or gown of persons above the common rank. Other servants,
also in mourning, surrounded the relations and friends of the
deceased, holding torches with his armorial bearings, if he was a
_noble_. Persons extremely rich or very elevated in rank, hired a
certain number of poor (from fifty to three hundred), over whom were
thrown several ells of coarse iron gray cloth, to which no particular
form was given. They walked before the corpse, holding large lighted
torches. The procession was closed by the carriages of persons
belonging to it; and their owners did not get into them till their
return from the funeral. Sometimes on coming out of the
parish-church, where the presentation of the corpse was
indispensable, the rector performing the office of magistrate in
regard to the delivery of the certificate of presentation, the
corpse was carried into a particular church to be buried. This was
become uncommon before the revolution, as to do this it was
necessary to possess a vault, or pay extremely dear, it being
prohibited by law, except in such cases, to bury the dead in
churches.

When the deceased belonged to a society or corporation, they sent a
deputation to attend him to the grave, or followed in a body, if he
was their chief. At the funeral of a prince of the blood, all his
household, civil and military, marched in the procession. The
_corbillard_, or sort of hearse, in which his highness was carried to
_St. Denis_, was almost as large as the moveable theatre which Mr.
Flockton transports from fair to fair in England. Calculated in
appearance for carrying the body of a giant, it was decorated with
escutcheons, and drawn by eight horses, also caparisoned to
correspond with the hearse. These, however, were but the trappings of
woe.

While this funereal car moved slowly forward amidst a concourse of
mourners, its three-fold hangings concealed from the eye of the
observer the journeymen coach and harness makers, drinking, and
playing at dice on the lid of his highness's coffin, by way of
dispelling the _ennui_ of the journey. These careless fellows were
placed there to be at hand to repair any accident that might happen
on the road; so, while, on the outside of the hearse, all wore the
appearance of sadness; within, all was mirth; no bad image of the
reverse of grandeur and the emptiness of human ostentation.

Such were the ceremonies observed in funerals before the revolution.
Passing over the interval, from its commencement in 1789 to the end
of the year 1801, I shall describe those practised at the present
day. It now depends on the relations to have the corpse presented at
the parish-church; but there are many persons who dispense with this
ceremony. The priests receive the corpse at the door of the church.
It is carried thither in a _corbillard_. Each municipality has its
own, and there are twelve municipalities in Paris. Some of them have
adopted the Egyptian style; some, the Greek; and others, the Roman,
for the fashion of their _corbillard_, according to the taste of the
municipality who ordered its construction. It is drawn by two horses
abreast, caparisoned somewhat like those of our hearses. The coachman
and the four bearers are clothed in iron gray or black. An officer of
the police, also clothed in black, and holding a cane with an ivory
head, walks before the _corbillard_ or hearse. Each corpse has its
particular coffin furnished by the municipality. Arrangements have
been so made that the rich are made to pay for the poor. The coffin
is covered with a black cloth, without a cross, for fear of scaring
philosophers and protestants. The relations follow on foot, or in
carriages, even in town. Few of them are in mourning, and still fewer
wear a cloak.

At the _Sainte Chapelle_, near the _Palais de Justice_, is a private
establishment where, mourning is let out for hire. Here are to be had
_corbillards_ on a more elegant plan. These are carriages hung on
springs, and bearing much resemblance to our most fashionable
sociables with a standing awning; so much so, that the first of them
I saw I mistook for a _mourning_ sociable. Some are ornamented with
black feathers. Caparisons, hangings, every thing is in black, as
well as the coachman. This speculator also lets out mourning coaches,
black without and within, like those in use in London. At a few
funerals, these are hired for the mourners, and at a recent one,
fifteen of these carriages were counted in the procession. However,
this luxury of burials is not entirely come again into fashion. In
the inside of the church, every thing passes as formerly.

I shall now proceed from the _grave_ to the _gay_, and conclude this
letter with a concise observation on

MARRIAGES.

The _civil_ act of marriage is entered into at the office of the
municipality. But this civil act must not be coufounded with the
contract, drawn up by the notary, and containing the stipulations,
clauses, and conditions. The former signifies merely that such a man
and such a woman take each other for man and wife. There are few, if
any, persons married, who, from the municipality, do not repair to
the parish-church, or go thither the next morning; the civil act
being considered by individuals only as the ceremony of the
betrothing, and till the priest has given the nuptial benediction,
the relations take care that the intended bride and bridegroom shall
have no opportunity of anticipating the duties of marriage.

Political opinions, therefore, prevent but few persons from going to
church. Mass is said in a low voice, during which the priest, or the
rector, receives the promise of the wedded pair. With little
exception, the ceremony is the same for all. Those who pay well are
married at the high altar; the rector addresses to them a speech in
which he exhorts them to live happily together; the beadles perform
their duty; and the organist strikes up a voluntary.

In regard to marriages, the present and former times presenting no
other contrast, I have nothing more to add on the subject.



LETTER LXIII.

_Paris, February 6, 1803._

The mode of life of the persons with whom I chiefly associate here,
precludes me from reading as much as I could wish, either for
instruction or amusement. This, you will say, I ought not to regret;
for a traveller visits foreign countries to study mankind, not books.
Unquestionably, the men who, like splendid folios in a library, make
at present the most conspicuous figure in this metropolis, are worth
studying; and, could we lay them open to our inspection, as we do
books of a common description, it would be extremely entertaining to
turn them over every morning, till we had them, in a manner, by
heart. But I rather apprehend that they partake, more or less, of the
qualities of a book just come out of the hands of the binder, which
it is difficult to open. Let us therefore content ourselves with
viewing them as we would volumes of a superbly-bound edition, not to
be examined by the general observer, and direct our eyes to such
objects as are fully exposed to investigation.

In Paris, there are several public libraries, the greater part of
them open every day; but that which eclipses all the others, is the

BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE.

Charles V, justly surnamed the _Wise_, from the encouragement he gave
to learning, may be considered as the first founder of this library.
According to the President Henault, that king had collected nine
hundred volumes; whereas king John, his father, possessed not twenty.
This collection was placed in a tower of the _Louvre_, called _La
Tour de la Librairie_, which was lighted up every night, in order
that the learned might pursue their studies there at all hours.

After the death of Charles VI, in 1423, the inventory amounted to no
more than one hundred and twenty volumes, though several works had
been added, because on the other hand, a great number had been lost.

When Paris fell into the power of the English, in 1429, the Duke of
Bedford, then regent of France, purchased these books, for which he
paid 1200 livres, and the library was entirely dispersed. Charles
VII, being continually engaged in war, could not concern himself in
its re-estahlishment. Lewis XI collected the remains scattered in
different royal residences, and availed himself of the resources
afforded by the invention of printing, which was discovered at
Strasburg or Mentz in 1440.

Printers, however, were not established in Paris till 1470, and in
that same year, they dedicated to Lewis XI one of the first books
which they printed. Books were, at this time, very scarce and dear,
and continued so for several years, both before and after the
discovery of that invention. Twenty thousand persons then subsisted
in France by the sale of the books which they transcribed. This was
the reason why printing was not at first more encouraged.

Charles VIII added to this literary establishment such works as he
was able to obtain in his conquest of Naples. Lewis XII increased it
by the library of Potrarch. Francis I enriched it with Greek
manuscripts; but what most contributed to augment the collection was
the ordinance of Henry II, issued in 1556, which enjoined booksellers
to furnish the royal libraries with a copy on vellum of all the works
printed by privilege; and, under the subsequent reigns, it gradually
acquired that richness and abundance which, before the revolution,
had caused it to be considered as one of the first libraries in
Europe.

In 1789, the _Bibliothèque du Roi_, as it was till then called, was
reckoned to contain one hundred and eighty thousand printed volumes,
eighty thousand manuscripts, a prodigious numbcr of medals, antiques,
and engraved stones, six thousand port-folios of prints, and two
thousand engraved plates. But, under its present denomination of
_Bibliothèque Nationale_, it has been considerably augmented.
Agreeably to your desire, I shall point out whatever is most
remarkable in these augmentations.

The buildings, which, since the year 1721, contain this vast
collection, formally made part of the _Hôtel Mazarin_. The entrance
is by the _Rue de la Loi_. It is at present divided into four
departments, and is managed by a conservatory, composed of eight
members, namely:

1. Two conservators for the printed books, M. M. CAPPERONNIER and
VAN-PRAET.

2. Three for the manuscripts, M. M. LANGLÈS, LAPORTE DUTHEIL, and
DACIER.

3. Two for the antiques, medals, and engraved stones, M. M. MILLIN
and GOSSELIN.

4. One for the prints and engraved plates, M. JOLY.

The first department, containing the printed books, occupies, on the
first floor of the three sides of the court, an extent of about nine
hundred feet by twenty-four in breadth. The rooms, which receive
light on one side only, are equal in height. In the second room to
the right is the _Parnasse Français_, a little mountain, in bronze,
covered with figures a foot high, and with medals, representing
French poets. Lewis XIV here occupies a distinguished place under the
figure of Apollo. It was a present made by TITON DU TILLET.

In another of these rooms, built on purpose, are a pair of globes of
an extraordinary size, constructed, in 1683, by Father CORONELLI, a
Jesuit, for Cardinal D'ESTRÉES, who presented them to Lewis XIV. The
feet of these globes rest in a lower apartment; while their
hemispheres project by two apertures made in the floor of fhe first
story, and are thus placed within reach of the observer. Their
diameter is eleven feet, eleven inches. The celebrated BUTTERFIELD
made for them two brass circles, (the one for the meridian, the other
for the horizon), each eighteen feet in diameter.

Since the year 1789, the department of printed books has received an
augmentation of one hundred and forty thousand volumes, either
arising from private acquisitions, or collected in France, Italy,
Holland, Germany, or Belgium. Among these is a valuable series of
works, some more scarce than others, executed in the XVth century,
which has rendered this department one of the most complete in
Europe. I shall abstain from entering into a detail of the articles
assembled in it, several of which deserve particular notice. A great
many ancient specimens of the typographical art are on vellum, and
give to this collection a value which it would be no easy matter to
appreciate. All the classes of it present a great number, the
enumeration of which would far exceed my limits.

The department of manuscripts, which is placed in a gallery one
hundred and forty feet in length, by twenty-two in breadth, has been
increased in proportion to that of the printed books. The library of
Versailles, that of several emigrants, the chapters of various
cathedrals, the Sorbonne, the _Collège de Navarre_ in Paris, and the
different suppressed religious corporations, have enriched it with
upwards of twenty thousand volumes; eight thousand of these belonged
to the library of _St. Germain-des-Prês_, which was burnt in 1793-4,
and was immensely rich in manuscripts and old printed hooks.

About fifteen hundred volumes have been taken from Italy, Holland,
and Germany. Among those arrived from Italy, we must distinguish the
original manuscript of RUFFIN, a priest of Aquilea, who lived in the
IVth century, containing, on papyrus or Egyptian paper, the Latin
tranlation of the Jewish antiquities of FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS; the grammar
of PROBUS or PALÆMON, a manuscript of the Vth century, on vellum, in
uncial characters; a very beautiful volume in Syriac, containing the
Four Evangelists, a manuscript on vellum of the VIth century; the two
celebrated manuscripts of Virgil of the VIIth century, the one from
the Vatican, the other from Florence, both on vellum. A roll, in good
preservation, composed of several skins, sewed together, containing
the Pentateuch in Hebrew, a manuscript of the IXth century. A
Terence, with figures of the time and a representation of the masks
introduced on the stage by the ancients, together with the various
poetical works of PRUDENTIUS; manuscripts on vellum of the IXth
century. The Terence is that of the Vatican, in praise of which
Madame DACIER speaks in her translation.

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