458 
PARIS. 
money, and are under its immediate infpefition : they are 
well regulated ; but dill are dangerous places, as many 
Englifh know. In divers fubterraneous chambers are 
many fcenes of unfanftioned diffipation, where the’game 
of billiards is dexteroufly played, and too well attended. 
The rejlaurateurs in the Palais Royal are by far the mod 
famous and mod frequented; their larders are the choic- 
ed, their bill of fare the longed, and their dining-rooms 
the mod elegant, in all Paris. You have in them the 
choice of more than two hundred didies, of above twenty 
forts of deferts, upwards of twenty kinds of wine, and 
more than twenty fpecies of liqueurs. 
The coffee-ltonfes form another point of meeting for the 
multitude, who do not go merely to take a walk, or who 
choofe to recreate themfelves after walking. Coffee, le¬ 
monade, orgeat, liqueurs, and ice, are to be had in all of 
them, and of equal qualities ; they are mod lively and 
gay, in the morning from nine to eleven ; in the after¬ 
noon from three to fix ; and in the evening from eight to 
eleven. 
Adopting our opinions from antient mythology, we 
might fay that all the inhabitants of Olympus, the god- 
defs of Wifdom excepted, had contributed to the crea¬ 
tion of this place. Comus, Mercury, Plutus, and Cythe- 
rea, however, condantly hold their court here. The 
long galleries here, with their elegant fhops, exhibit every 
thing the mod feducing that opulence or luxury can de¬ 
fire, not excepting trinkets, jewels, and various articles 
equally curious and rare. Happy are they who are con¬ 
tent with the worfhip paid here to Fedivity, and avoid the 
neighbouring faloon dedicated to Plutus, or that higher 
dill to facrifice to the popular Venus of the day; for the 
Palais Royal is the favourite haunt and chofen refidence 
of this miferable and degraded clafs of fociety. The re¬ 
gulations of the police, with refpeft to thefe unhappy 
beings are peculiar. Every proditute is compelled to take 
out a licenfe at the proper bureau, for which (he pays a 
dipulated fum. Her name, age, and abode, are entered ; 
once in every month (lie is vifited by a medical man, ap¬ 
pointed for the purpofe, who gives her, or withholds ac¬ 
cording to circumdances, a carte de j'ante , or bill of health. 
Should (lie dare to purfueher calling without this licenfe 
and this medical infurance, (he is liable to fine, impri- 
fonment, and corporal punifhment. 
Our defcription would be incomplete were we not to 
point out the places where, for a few fous, the votaries 
may be (applied with tobacco and beer, and the perfor¬ 
mances of Come ventriloquid ; or thofe redaurateurs where 
you may at once regale upon iniipid foup and difcordant 
mafic. Here are tailors’ fhops, where you may be fuited 
in a minute; reading-rooms, and a long train of et¬ 
ceteras all calculated as much for the benefit of the body 
as the mind. In fine, the Palais Royal is (aid to embrace 
every profeflion but that of an apothecary and a phy- 
fician ; and, being the only place where people can walk 
under cover from the rain, its attradlions are equal either 
in fummeror winter. Its proximity to the Exchange in- 
creafes“its bultle ; but the vigilance of the police pre¬ 
vents any diforders, whild a wife regulation prohibits 
the prieftefles of Venus from fpreading their nets before 
the dufk of the evening. 
The Exchange is held, provifionally, in the great court 
of the Palais Royal, while a new building is erecting in 
Rue des Filles St. Thomas. If we may judge from its 
prefent appearance, it will be one of the larged and mod 
beautiful edifices of the kind in Europe. It will be a 
long fquare, of a noble yet fimple architecture. Its only 
ornament will coniid of a feries of medallions, reprefent- 
ing the diderent coins of Europe. A periftyle of the 
Ionic order will furround it, and ferve as a promenade in 
winter. Six millions of livres have been voted for the 
completion of this building. 
Near the Palais Royal is the Place des Vidtoires. —The 
marlhal de la Feuillade, loaded with benefits by Louis 
XIV. wifhed to leave to pofterity fome public teltimony 
of his gratitude. For this purpofe he built this “ Place,” 
of a femicircular form ; and in the centre he placed a co- 
loflal datue of Louis XIV. with Victory danding on a 
globe behind him, and placing a crown on his head. 
Hence the name. This datue was dedroyed in 1792, and 
a coloffal figure of general Deffaix ereCted in its dead, 
which in its turn has likewife difappeared. • The houfes 
are noble and uniform, and adorned with Ionic piladers. 
The Place des ViCtoires is, however, too narrow'; and the 
avenues to it are fometirnes dangerous from the number 
of carriages. 
The Luxembourg ; now called Palais de la Chambre 
des Pairs, or Houle of Lords; Rue Vaugirard.—Of all 
the royal palaces in the. metropolis, and even in France, 
none furpafles the Luxembourg in magnificence. It was 
built for Mary de Medicis, widow of Henry IV. in 1612, 
by Jacques Delbrolles, upon the model of the Palais Pitti 
at Florence, where this queen had refided in her youth. 
Few palaces have fo frequently changed their pofleffors. 
During the revolution it was a prifon ; and is now occu¬ 
pied by the fenate. This edifice, diltinguifiied by the 
boldnefs of its architecture, its regularity and beautiful 
proportion, nearly forms an exaCt. fquare. Though the 
architecture of Florence is vifibleupon each of its fronts, 
that towards the garden is univerfally admired. The (ta¬ 
tties here are by Cartelier, and thofe towards the court 
by Defparcieux. The great (taircafe in the right wing of 
the court, ornamented with the (tatues of feveral French 
generals and legiflators, is very fine. To the right of this 
an arcade is now opened, the centre of which correfponds 
with another oppofite, and a fountain decorated with a 
pedeftal bearing a marble (tatue. A free communication 
being eftablilhed underthe galleries, perfons may walk all 
round in rainy weather and in winter among the orange- 
trees. In the apartments leading to the Hall of the Sit¬ 
tings there is a fine figure by Puget, reprefenting Hercules 
at reft; and in another a ceiling by Barthelemy : in the 
Hall of the Sittings are feveral ftatues in plafter of Grecian 
and Roman orators; and in one of the apartments in 
an angle of the pavilion, there are fome cloth hang¬ 
ings, and fome furniture covered with velvet, upon which 
fome of the fined monuments in Rome and its environs 
are reprefented. Some of thefe rooms communicate with 
the gallery of pictures, which contained the bell pieces of 
Le Sueur, Vernet, and feveral other matters, now in the 
Louvre. The ceiling of the Rubens Gallery is decorated 
with a painting by Calais, reprefenting the twelve months 
of the year, arranged in the order ufed before the re-elta- 
blilhment of the Gregorian calendar in 1806. The new 
iron railing on each fide the palace, 80 feet long, which 
confines the private buildings, and the plantations, which 
are calculated for general ornament, do honour to the ta¬ 
lents of M. Baraguey. 
The garden of the Luxembourg begins to lofe its for¬ 
mer fombre appearance, which towards the fouth ufed to 
be encloled with high walls; but at prefent the view ex¬ 
tends beyond the large dole of the Chartreux, now tranf- 
formed into a magnificent pepiniere roi/ale, or nurfery- 
garden, which, being only feparated by a wall breaft-liigh, 
appears to increafe the extent of the garden. To the 
right of the palace is a plantation of young maples, the 
frelh verdure of which and their moderate height form 
an agreeable contraft with the ancient grove On the other 
fide, whofe (hades adminifter to the moil profound medi¬ 
tation. In the midft of the whole is the parterre, no lohger 
disfigured by the mournful yews lhaped into a thoufand 
grotefque forms, and confiding of alleys, walls, and 
ruins. A fine (loping lawn is now to be feen on the 
right and left of this (pot; its walks, planted with trees, 
of a middle growth, afford an agreeable mixture of flowers 
and foliage. 
The noble monaftery of the Chartreux, with its vaft 
dependencies, once occupied the right fide of the garden. 
The manner in which this territory came into the pof- 
feflion of the monks is. Angular and ridiculous. The 
chateau 
