A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

Paris As It Was and As It Is

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




The lottery being over, till the next drawing, those persons think no
more of their effects, provided they are within two or three of the
winning numbers; and thus they gamble away almost every thing
belonging to them, even to the very clothes on their back. This is so
true that it is not, I understand, at all uncommon in Paris, for a
Cyprian nymph to send her last robe to the nearest pawnbroker's, in
order to have the chance of a prize in the lottery, and to lie in bed
till she obtains the means of purchasing another. Nor is this by far
the worst part of the story.

The too credulous followers of Fortune, on finding all their hopes of
success blasted, frequently seek a termination of their misery by
suicide: and a person of veracity, who made a point of visiting the
_Morne_ almost daily, assured me that he always knew when the lottery
had just been drawn, by the increased number of dead bodies, there
exposed, of persons who had put an end to their existence.

These are facts shocking to relate; but, if legislators will promote
gaming, either by lotteries, or in any other manner, such are the
consequences to be expected.

Another article which has multiplied prodigiously in Paris, since the
revolution, consists of

NEWSPAPERS.

In 1789, the only daily papers in circulation here were the _Journal
de Paris_ and the _Petites Affiches_; for the _Gazette de France_
appeared only twice a week. From that period, these ephemeral
productions increased so rapidly, that, under the generic name of
_Journaux_, upwards of six thousand, bearing different titles, have
appeared in France, five hundred of which were published in Paris.

At this time, here is a great variety of daily papers. The most
eminent of these are well known in England; such as the _Moniteur_,
the only official paper, the sale of which is said to be 20,000 per
day; that of the _Journal de Paris_, 16,000; of the _Publiciste_,
14,000; of the _Journal des Débats_, 12,000; of the _Journal des
Défenseurs de la Patrie_, 10,000; and of the _Clé du Cabinet_, 6,000.
The sale of the others is comparatively trifling, with the exception
of the _Petites Affiches_, of which the number daily sold exceeds
30,000.

In addition to the _Journals_, which I mentioned in my letter of the
16th of December last, the most esteemed are the _Magazin
Encyclopédique_, edited by MILLIN, the _Annales de Chimie_, the
_Journal des Arts_, the _Journal Polytechnique_, the _Journal des
Mines_, the _Journal général des Inventions et des Découvertes_, &c.
I stop here, because it would be useless to attempt to send you a
complete list of all the French periodical publications, as, in the
flux and reflux of this literary ocean, such a list cannot long be
expected to preserve its exactness.

Among the conveniences which this city affords in an enviable degree
and in great abundance, are

BATHS.

Those of Paris, of every description, still retain their former
pre-eminence. The most elegant are the _Bains Chinois_ on the north
Boulevards, where, for three francs, you may enjoy the pleasure of
bathing in almost as much luxury as an Asiatic monarch. Near the
_Temple_ and at the _Vauxhall d'Été_, also on the old Boulevards, are
baths, where you have the advantage of a garden to saunter in after
bathing.

On the Seine are several floating baths, the most remarkable of which
are the _Bains Vigier_, at the foot of the _Pont National_. The
vessel containing them is upwards of 200 feet in length by about 60
in breadth, and presents two tiers of baths, making, on both decks,
140 in number. It is divided in the middle by a large transparent
plate of glass, which permits the eye to embrace its whole extent;
one half of which is appropriated to men; the other, to women. On
each deck are galleries, nine feet wide, ornamented with much
architectural taste. On the exterior part of the vessel is a
promenade, decorated with evergreens, orange and rose trees,
jasmines, and other odoriferous plants. By means of a hydraulic
machine, worked by two horses, in an adjoining barge, the reservoirs
can be emptied and filled again in less than an hour.

The _Bains Vigier_ are much frequented, as you may suppose from their
daily consumption of two cords of wood for fuel. Tepid baths, at
blood-heat, are, at present, universally used by the French ladies,
and, apparently, with no small advantage. The price of one of these
is no more than 30 _sous_, linen, &c. included.

If you want to learn to swim, you may be instructed here in that
necessary art, or merely take a look at those acquiring it, at the

SCHOOL OF NATATION.

The Seine is the school where the lessons are given, and the police
takes care that the pupils infringe not the laws of decency.

* * * * *

It is certain that, as far back as the year 1684, means were proposed
in London to transmit signs to a great distance in a very short space
of time, and that, towards the close of the seventeenth century, a
member of the Academy of Sciences made, near Paris, several minute
experiments on the same subject. The paper read at the Royal Society
of London, and the detail of the experiments made in France, seem to
suggest nearly the same means as those now put in practice, by the
two nations, with respect to

TELEGRAPHS.

The construction of those in France differs from ours in consisting
of one principal pole, and two arms, moveable at the ends. There are
four in Paris; one, on the _Louvre_, which corresponds with Lille;
another, on the _Place de la Concorde_, with Brest; a third, on one
of the towers of the church of _St. Sulpice_, with Strasburg; and the
fourth, on the other tower of the said church, which is meant to
extend to Nice, but is as yet carried no farther than Dijon. To and
from Lille, which is 120 leagues distant from Paris, intelligence is
conveyed and received in six minutes, three for the question, and
three for the answer.

Yet, however expeditious this intercourse may seem, it is certain
that the telegraphic language may be abridged, by preserving these
machines in their present state, but at the same time allotting to
each of the signs a greater portion of idea, without introducing any
thing vague into the signification.

Independently of the public curiosities, which I have described,
Paris contains several

PRIVATE COLLECTIONS.

Among them, those most deserving of attention are:

ADANSON'S cabinet of Natural History, _Rue de la Victoire_.

CASAS' cabinet of Models and Drawings, _Rue de Seine, Faubourg St.
Germain_.

CHARLES'S cabinet of Physics, _Palais National des Sciences et des
Arts._

DENON'S cabinet of Drawings, &c. _Hôtel de Bouillon_, _Rue J. J.
Rousseau_.

FOUQUET'S cabinet of Models of Antique Monuments, _Rue de Lille_, _F.
S. G._

HAUPOIS' cabinet of Mechanics.

SUË'S cabinet of Anatomy, _Rue du Luxembourg_.

TERSAN'S cabinet of Antiquities, _Cloître St. Honoré_.

VAILLANT'S cabinet of Birds, &c. _Rue du Sépulchre_, _F. S. G._

VAN-HORREN'S cabinet of Curiosities, _Rue St. Dominique_, _F. S. G._

I must observe that, to visit these men of science, without putting
them to inconvenience, it is expedient either to procure an
introduction, or to address them a note, requesting permission to
view their cabinet. This observation holds good with respect to every
thing that is not public.

If you are fond of inspecting curious fire-arms, you should examine
the _dépôt d'armes_ of M. BOUTET in the _Rue de la Loi_, whose
manufactory is at Versailles, and also pay a visit to M. REGNIER, at
the _Dépôt Central de l'Artillerie_, _Rue de l'Université_, who is a
very ingenious mechanic, and will shew you several curious articles
of his own invention, such as a _dynamomètre_, by means of which you
can ascertain and compare the relative strength of men, as well as
that of horses and draught-cattle, and also judge of the resistance
of machines, and estimate the moving power you wish to apply to them;
a _potamomètre_, by which you can tell the force of running streams,
and measure the currents of rivers. M. REGNIER has also invented
different kinds of locks and padlocks, which cannot be picked; as
well as some curious pistols, &c.

I have, as you will perceive, strictly confined myself to the limits
of the capital, because I expect that my absence from it will not be
long; and, in my next trip to France, I intend, not only to point out
such objects as I may now have neglected, but also to describe those
most worthy of notice in the environs of Paris.

If I have not spoken to you of all the metamorphoses occasioned here
by the revolution, it is because several of them bear not the stamp
of novelty. If the exchange in Paris is now held in the _ci-devant
Eglise des Petits Pères_, did we not at Boston, in New England,
convert the meeting-houses and churches into riding-schools and
barracks?

As the _Charnier des Innocens_, which had subsisted in the centre of
Paris for upwards of eight centuries, and received the remains of at
least ten millions of human beings, was, before the revolution,
turned into a market-place; so is the famous spot where the Jacobin
convent stood in the _Rue St. Honoré_, and whence issued laws more
bloody than those of Draco, now on the point of being appropriated to
a similar destination. The cemetery of St. Sulpice is transformed
into a Ranelagh. Over the entrance is written, in large letters,
encircled by roses, "BAL DES ZÉPHYRS," and, underneath, you read:

_"Has ultra metas requiescunt
Beatam spem expectantes."_

And on the door itself:

_"Expectances misericordiam Dei."_

I was just going to conclude with _Adieu, till we meet_, when I was
most agreeably surprised by the receipt of your letter. I am happy to
find that, through the kind attention of Mr. Mantell of Dover, whose
good offices on this and other simllar occasions claim my most
grateful acknowledgments, you have received all the packets and books
which I have addressed to you during my present visit to Paris. It is
likewise no small gratification to me to learn that my correspondence
has afforded to you a few subjects of deep reflection.

As I told you at the time, the task which you imposed on me was more
than I could accomplish; and you must now be but too well convinced
that the apprehension of my inability was not unfounded. It may not,
perhaps, be difficult for a man of sound judgment to seize and
delineate the general progress of the human mind during a determined
period; but to follow successively, through all their details, the
ramifications of the arts and sciences, is a labour which requires
much more knowledge and experience than I can pretend to: nor did
self-love ever blind me so far as to lead me to presume, for a
moment, that success would crown my efforts.

However, I think I have said enough to shew that one of the striking
effects of the revolution has been to make the arts and sciences
popular in France. It has rendered common those doctrines which had
till then been reserved for first-rate _savans_ and genuises. The
arsenals of the sciences (if I may use the expression) were filled;
but soldiers were wanting. The revolution has produced them in
considerable numbers; and, in spite of all the disasters and evils
which it has occasioned, it cannot be denied that the minds of
Frenchmen, susceptible of the least energy, have here received a
powerful impulse which has urged them towards great and useful ideas.
This impulse has been kept alive and continued by the grand
establishments of public instruction, founded during the course of
that memorable period. Thus, in a few words, you are at once in
possession both of the causes and the result of the progress of the
human mind in this country.

You may, probably, be surprised that I could have written so much, in
so short a space of time, amid all the allurements of the French
capital, and the variety of pursuits which must necessarily have
diverted my attention. Perhaps too, you may think that I might have
dwelt less on some of my least interesting details. I must confess
that I have, in some measure, subjected myself to such an opinion;
but, knowing your wish to acquire every sort of information, I have
exerted myself to obtain it from all quarters. To collect this budget
has been no easy task; to compress it would have been still more
difficult, and, alas! to have transmitted it, in an epistolary form,
would have been totally out of my power, but for the assistance of
two very ingenious artists, who have not a little contributed to
lighten my labour. Introducing themselves to me, very shortly after
my arrival, the one furnished me with an everlasting pen; and the
other, with an inexhaustible inkstand.

Farewell, my good friend. I have obtained a passport for England. My
baggage is already packed up. To-morrow I shall devote to the
ceremony of making visits _p. p. c._ that is, _pour prendre congé_ of
my Parisian friends; and, on the day after, (_Deo volente_) I shall
bid adieu to the "paradise of women, the purgatory of men, and the
hell of horses."

[Footnote 1: Since the revolution, the Paris lottery is drawn three
times in each month, in lieu of twice; and lotteries have also been
established in the principal towns of the Republic, namely; Bordeaux,
Lyons, Marseilles, Rouen, Strasburg, and Brussels. The offices in the
capital present the facility of gambling in all these different
lotteries as often every month as in that of Paris.]



THE END.

_The new organisation of the National Institute, referred to in
Letter XLV of this volume, will be found among the prefaratory matter
in Vol. I, immediately preceding the Introduction._

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