THE PLAINEST CITY IN EUROPE. 261 



what aslant — the chestnut trees presently conceal the 

 side sculpture ; and then by tilting one's hat so that 

 the brim shall hide the group on the summit, it is 

 possible to admire the proportions of the Arc. In the 

 Tuileries gardens there is a spot where distance obli- 

 terates the sculpture, and the projecting bough of an 

 elm conceals the group on the top. Here the arch 

 appears noble ; but it is no longer French ; it is now 

 merely a copy of a Roman original, which any of our 

 own architects could erect for us in Hyde Park. For 

 the most part the vaunted Boulevards are but planted 

 with planes, the least pleasing of trees, whose leaves 

 present an unvarying green, till they drop a dead 

 brown ; and the horse-chestnuts in the Champs Elys^es 

 are set in straight lines to repeat the geometry of the 

 streets. 



Thus central Paris has no character. It is with- 

 out individuality and expressionless. Suppose you 

 said, " The human face is really very irregular ; 

 it requires shaping. This nose projects ; here, let us 

 flatten it to the level of the cheek. This mouth curves 

 at the corners ; let us cut it straight. These eyebrows 

 arch ; make them straight. This colour is too flesh-like; 

 bring white paint. Besides, the features move, they 

 laugh, they assume sadness ; this is wrong. Here, 

 divide the muscles, that they may henceforth remain 

 in unvarying rigidity." That is what has been done 

 to Paris. It is made straight ; it is idealized after 

 Euclid ; itds stiff, wearisome, and feeble. Lastly, it has 

 no expression. The distances as observed at the com- 

 mencement remain always the same, partly because 

 of the obtrusive geometry and the monotony, partly 



