616 



FRANCE. 



and consequently less dangerous. There are many inferior gardens of this description in Pans, 

 equally gay, but less celebrated. 



The fete of St. Louis was kept with peculiar magnificence in Paris during the latter days 

 of Louis the Eighteenth. The city was illuminated ; and the whole road, from the palace of 

 the Tuileries, to the Barriere de I'Eloile, at the end of the Champs Elysces, had the appear- 

 ance of a brilliantly lighted avenue. The gates of the Tuileries were thrown open, and the 

 gardens presented a blaze of variegated lamps. The fountains played. Innumerable crowds 

 611ed every part of the Champs Elysi!es, the Tuileries, and the neighboring avenues. All the 

 Marchands de Plaisir in Paris had ranged their booths along the gardens, with ices, comfi- 

 lures, and refreshments of every description. Bands of music, consisting of harps, violins, 

 and horns, filled the air with sounds of gay music, tyroUennes and vaudevilles. Women, en- 

 veloped in thick black or white veils, sat in corners of the gardens playing on guitars and sing- 

 ing, attracting crowds by their air of mystery. The fireworks exhibited in front of the Chambre 

 des Deputes were unusually splendid. 



The operas and theatres in Paris are constantly crowded, notwithstanding their number. 

 The French Opera is famous for its ballets ; the Italian Opera, for the excellence of its music ; 

 Theatre Francaise and the Odeon, for the best tragedy and comedy. Besides these, there are 

 the Opera Comique, the Theatre de la Porte St. JMartin, the Variete, the Gymnase., and many 

 others. The Palais Royal., of which the principal part belongs to the Duke of Orleans, con- 

 sists of the palace itself, and a long range of arcades, celebrated for the beautiful display and 

 variety of shops, and for its gambling-houses, more especially the salon. These gambling- 

 houses were, till lately, under the protection of government ; gambling is, perhaps, the only 

 amusement, of a vicious description, that the French are partial to. 



But though Paris is the centre of gayety, the same love of amusement is observable through 

 every part of France. Nearly all the money made by the laboring classes is spent at the nu- 

 merous fetes enjoined by their religion. The Fete-Dieu is one of the most solemn ; and is 

 celebrated on two successive Sundays. In every town and village in France, the inhabitants 

 are employed, for days before, in erecting and embellishing the reposoires, so called, as being 

 resting-places for the possession of the Host. They are stands covered with white, embroidered 

 muslin and lace, adorned with silver candlesticks, flowers, branches, and ornaments of every 

 kind. The path by which the Host is to pass is strewed with flowers and green branches. 

 The peasants are all dressed in their best attire. The interior of the churches is ornamented 

 with flowers. Garlands are placed on the figures of the Madonnas and Saints ; and the priests 

 are all dressed in their most splendid robes, to do honor to the solemnity. The Host, re- 

 garded as the real presence, is carried in a vase by a priest, who conceals the divine symbols 

 under the folds of an embroidered veil. A canopy of crimson velvet is held over his head by 

 four other priests. The rest follow, singing a hymn in Latin, suitable to the occasion. Crowds 

 of well-dressed persons follow. In Paris, the late king and royal family, the Duchesses of 

 Berri and Angouleme walked in solemn procession behind the priests. As the Host passes, the 

 whole assembled multitude uncover their heads, and prostrate themselves before it. When the 

 procession arrives at the reposoires, the priests stop and pronounce a prayer. These proces- 

 sions are now forbidden at Paris, by order of the French government, in consequence of some 

 seditious persons having taken advantage of them to occasion a riot, and hoist the drapeau 

 blanc, but in the provinces they are still continued. 



Nearly every amusement in France terminates by dancing. In the most remote parts of 

 the country, groups of peasants may be seen every evening dancing quadrilles and waltzing 

 under the trees, to the sound of a rustic violin, and frequently singing in chorus. In most of 

 the villages, there is a public house, where the village politicians assernble every evening, 

 and frequently engage in fierce and vehement debates, but which usually terminates by loud and 

 convivial songs, with the chorus of " Vive la Liberte." 



22. Education. There is no Catholic country with a general diffusion of education. There 

 are about 48,000 elementary schools in France, attended by 2,500,000 children, or about half 

 the whole number between the ages of 6 and 15 years. It has been calculated that more than 

 half the individuals in the nation cannot read ; though they are more intelligent than the same 

 class in other countries; probably, because they are more social. Education is now receiving 

 the attention of the government, and schools upon the Lancasterian plan have been introduced 

 nto every large city. The establishments for education consist in academies, which have the 

 ight of conferring degrees, as in Theology, Jurisprudence, Medicine, Mathematics, National 



