PARIS, 



421 



burnt, but was re-opened in 1819. The architecture 

 of the Odton is rich and beautiful, and its accommo- 

 dations are excellent. The same pieces are performed 

 as in the Premier Thidtre Fran.ais, and the two 

 stages are engaged in a constant competition. The 

 older repertory of the classic French dramatists 

 is open to both theatres. Of the living poets, 

 each stage has its distinct repertory. Mademoiselle 

 George is the chief support of the Odeon. In the 

 characters of Medea, Semiramis, Phasdra, Merope, 

 Agrippina, and Salome (in Les Machabees, by 

 Soumet), this actress attracts the highest applause. 

 In tragedy Joanny, Lafargue, and David, and in 

 comedy, Faure and the younger George, are the 

 principal actors. 5. Italian Opera. This theatre 

 attracts the first society in the fashionable world of 

 Paris. The interior is convenient and beautiful. 

 The orchestra is considered perfect of the kind. The 

 Italian opera is patronised by the government, as a 

 school of vocal music, and the managers are careful 

 to maintain a complete and skilful company. The 

 public have here been delighted by the singing and 

 acting of Mad. Fodor, Galli, Pasta, and Cinti. The 

 best performers connected with this stage have been 

 Dongelli, Garcia, Graciani, Pellegrini, Levasseur, 

 Bordogui, Zuchelli. Next to these five principal 

 theatres come the three smaller popular theatres, fre- 

 quented principally by the lower classes. 6. Theatre 

 du f'audeville, in Chartres street. 7. Gymnase Dra- 

 matique ; and 8, Theatre des f^ariefes, both in the 

 "boulevards. These theatres display to perfec- 

 tion the exhaustless gayety of the French people ; 

 their wit, and disposition to make themselves merry 

 at the most trifling occurrence, and to make the 

 most of a ban mot or a pun. The small pieces 

 performed in these theatres contain no deep- 

 laid plot, and are not accompanied by any magni- 

 ficent decorations. They are written merely for 

 wit, and seem designed to increase the natural 

 aptness of the nation to laugh at every thing. The 

 lash of satire, indeed, is always heard, but applied 

 for amusement, and not to gratify malice. The 

 songs which animate the performances are of a 

 popular cast, and are heard in every street. Nothing 

 appears in the highest theatres which is not parodied 

 here, and the house is frequently entertained with 

 the tricks of harlequin. The Gymnase was long the 

 most popular of these three theatres, and its income 

 exceeded that of the first Theatre Francaise. The 

 Vaudeville is at present on the decline. A large 

 number of poets write for these theatres. One of 

 the most popular is Scribe. 9. Theatre de la Porte 

 St Martin; 10. Theatre de la Gaiete; 11. Ambigu 

 Comigue, in the boulevards, represent chiefly the 

 melo-drama, pantomime, and ballet. The two latter 

 are designed principally for the lower ranks. 12. 

 In 1821, the Panorama Dramatique was opened. 

 No pieces are performed here in which there are 

 more than two performers. 13. In 1817, the Cirque 

 Olympique was opened by Franconi, where horses 

 play the chief part. 14. The Soirees de M. Comte, 

 likewise denominated the Theatre de Magie, repre- 

 sents the conjuration of spirits, philosophical experi- 

 ments, feats of ventriloquism, &c. 



PARIS; the son of Priam, king of Troy, by 

 Hecuba ; also called Alexander. His mother, in the 

 first month of her pregnancy, had dreamed that she 

 should bring forth a torch, which would set fire to her 

 palace. The soothsayers foretold the calamities 

 which might be expected from the imprudence of her 

 son, and which would end in the destruction of Troy. 

 Priam, to prevent so great an evil, ordered his slave 

 Archelaus to destroy the child. The slave exposed 

 him on mount Ida, where the shepherds educated him 

 as their own son. Some attribute the preservation 



of his life to the tenderness of a she-bear, who suckled 

 him. Young Paris gave early proofs of courage and 

 intrepidity, and his graceful countenance and manly 

 deportment recommended him to the favour of CEnone, 

 a nymph of Ida, whom he married. At the marriage 

 of Peleus and Thetis, the goddess of discord (see Eris) 

 threw into the assembly of the gods, who were at the 

 nuptials, a golden apple, on which were written the 

 words Detur pulchriori. Juno, Venus, and Minerva 

 claimed the prize, and the decision was referred to 

 Paris. The goddesses appeared before their judge 

 without any covering or ornament, and each tried, by 

 promises and entreaties, to influence his judgment. 

 Juno promised him a kingdom, Minerva military 

 glory, and Venus the fairest woman in the world for 

 his wife. Paris adjudged the prize to Venus. This 

 decision drew upon the judge and his family the re- 

 sentment of the two other goddesses. Soon after, 

 Priam proposed a contest among his sons and other 

 princes, and promised to reward the conqueror with 

 the finest bull of mount Ida, which was found in the 

 possession of Paris, who reluctantly yielded it up. 

 The shepherd, desirous of obtaining again this fav- 

 ourite animal, went to Troy, entered the lists of the 

 combatants, and obtained the victory. Hector, en- 

 raged to see himself conquered by a stranger, pursu- 

 ed him closely ; and Paris must have fallen a victim 

 to his brother's resentment, had he not fled to the 

 altar of Jupiter. Cassandra discovered that he was 

 her brother, and Priam acknowledged Paris as his 

 son. Paris recollected that he was to be the husband 

 of the fairest of women. Helen was the fairest wo- 

 man of the age, and Venus had promised her to him. 

 He therefore visited Sparta, the residence of Helen, 

 who had married Menelaus, and was received with 

 every mark of respect ; but he abused the hospitality 

 of Menelaus, and persuaded Helen to elope with him. 

 (See Helen.) Greece took up arms in the cause of 

 Menelaus; Agamemnon was chosen general of the 

 combined forces, and a war was begun. Paris fought 

 with courage, and, according to some, killed Achilles 

 with one of his arrows. The death of Paris is differ 

 ently related. 



PARIS, the abbe, was the son of a counsellor to 

 the parliament, and was born at Paris in 1690. He 

 embraced the ecclesiastical profession, and took 

 deacon's orders, and, in the disputes occasioned by 

 the bull Unigenitus, attached himself to the Jansenist 

 party. Upon the death bf his father, the abbe Paris 

 renounced all claim to his patrimonial inheritance, in 

 favour of a younger brother, and devoted himself to 

 a life of poverty, living in a poor little house in the 

 suburb of Marcel, where he passed his time in prayer 

 and in making stockings for the poor. He died in 

 1727, and was buried in the churchyard of St Medard. 

 On his death, the Jansenists used his credit to re- 

 vive their sinking influence, by making his tomb the 

 seat of their pretended miracles ; and so far did the 

 delusion gain ground, that, in 1732, it was found ne- 

 cessary to have the churchyard walled up. The 

 abbe" Paris wrote a Commentary on the Gospel of St 

 Matthew ; an Explanation of the nine first Chapters 

 of the Epistle of St Paul to the Romans ; on the Ga- 

 latians ; and an Analysis of the Epistle to tlit 

 Hebrews. See Jansenitts. 



PARIS, MATTHEW, an English historian, was a 

 Benedictine monk of the congregation of Cliigny, in 

 the monastery of St Alban's, and died in 1259. His 

 principal work is his Historia Major, of which we 

 have only remaining the annals of right kings, from 

 the beginning of the Conqueror's reign to the end of 

 that of Henry III., the latter years being added, it is 

 supposed by William Rishanger, a monk of the same 

 monastery. It is composed with candour and imparti- 

 ality. He also wrote Historia Minor, an abridgment 



