PALAIS ROYAL. 439 



garden of the palais royal, and have all its glories round 

 us. It is almoft impoffible not to be dazzled by the 

 grand, brilliant, pompous effect which the firfl view 

 makes on the beholder, and not to be feized with a 

 palpitation, wherein what he has previoufly heard, read, 

 and expected of it, has no lefs Ihare than what he 

 now has actually before his eyes. 



The three wings which bound the horizon, are the 

 new buildings of the palais royal. The two fide wings 

 extend to the length of 117 toifes, and that oppofite, 

 the breadth of fifty toifes. All three are of equal 

 height and uniformly ornamented. Fluted pilafcers of 

 the compofite order are carried round and fupport a 

 balluftrade on which ftand vafes, which top the whole 

 circumference of the edifice. Level with the ground a 

 vaulted gallery runs round it, interfered by 180 ar- 

 cades ; between which, at the diflance of every two, 

 hangs a large reverberatory lantern, and which on either 

 lide run into elegant veftibules adorned with pillars. 

 Fefloons and bas-reliefs form the decorations of the 

 interfaces, and give the whole a cheerful, pleaiing, 

 and diveriified appearance ; greater than one mould be 

 led to expect from the uniformity of the ftructure. Over 

 the arcades rifes the firft ftory, with lofty windows be- 

 coming a palace, above this the fecond, with lower 

 windows, and over this the manfarde, before the win- 

 dows and outlets of which runs the balluftrade, and 

 partly hides them. 



The fpace enclofed within thefe three wings is the 

 garden of the palais royal, but which in fact has no 

 other refemblance to a garden than from the trees, and 

 even thefe but fmall ones, that are planted there in re- 



f f 4 gular 



