478 
P A R I S. 
that Les inftitutiohs fune.raires font un des premiers befoins 
de la civi/ijation. Thofe, he faid, which had fallen into 
difufe in confeqnence of the revolution, furrounded the 
funerals of the rich with fplendour, and accorded nothing 
to the/poor hut the melancholy emblems of mifery and 
defertion. Thofe which were in ufe treated rich and 
poor with the lame negleft; and public opinion, in con- 
fonnnce with morality, condemned the nakednefs of the 
aftuai mode of burial. It was worthy of the firft city of 
the republic, to command by its example the decency of 
interment; and, above all, to confecrate the care of the 
burial of the poor as a duty of public piety. Three public 
cemeteries were to be inclofed for the ufe of Paris, of a 
certain extent, and at a diftance of one mile from the 
walls. In the centre of each a Ludtuaire, oh Salle de 
Dcuil, was to be erefted, deftined to receive the funeral 
proceftion, and confecrated to the ceremony which might 
precede the aft of interment. Six funeral temples were 
to be built in Paris, to ferve as depots before the funeral. 
A mode of burial common to all was to be eftablifhed. 
The commune of Paris was to defray the expenfe of the 
poor; but in all other cafes it was to be reimburfed for 
the expenies, and confequently was empowered to levy a 
burial-fax. Families might incur any additional expenfe 
that they pleafed ; il(era perniis de confacrer des Jouvenirs 
dans les enclos de la fepulture publique, par des injcriptions, 
des cerwlaphes, et avtres monumens funebres ; of courle, in 
fuel) cafes, a price was to be paid for the ground. The 
coftume of all the perfons attached to this department 
was regulated with as much precifion as that of the Di- 
reftory themfelves. 
In 1804 an imperial decree was ifiued repeating the 
prohibition of interment in churches, or within the cir¬ 
cuit of a town. High ground by this decree was to be 
chofen for cemeteries, and expofed to the north, and 
every corpfe was to be interred in a feparate grave, from 
a metre and a half to two metres deep, and the earth well 
trodden down. There was to be a certain distance be¬ 
tween the graves, and they might not be re-opened till 
after five years. Another imperial decree in 1811 con- 
figned the whole funeral bufinefs of the metropolis to one 
undertaker-general, arranged funerals into fix clafies, 
and appointed a tarif whereby the expenfe of every lepa- 
rate article and alliftant was determined ; the fum total 
in either clafs might not be exceeded; but might be di- 
miniflied if the family of the deceafed chcfe to llrikeout 
any thing in the lift. The whole expenfes of the firft 
clafs amount to 4282 francs ; of the fecond to 1800; of 
the third to 700 : the fourth to 250, the fifth to 100, and 
o,f the fixth and laft only to 16. The tarif will be confi- 
dered hereafter as Angularly precious, if pofterity fhould 
be as curious concerning the coftume of the prefent age 
as we are concerning the manners and cuftoms of our an- 
ceftors. 
The cemeteries, then, are without the walls; and the 
chief of them are thofe of Monceaux, Montmartre, Po- 
pincourt, St. Catherine, and Mont Louis. The moft 
remarkable of thefe is the laft, which is generally called 
the Cemetery of Pere la Chaife. This cemetery lies to 
the eaft of Paris, in front of the barrier d’Aunay, and on 
the north fide of the boulevard of that name, near the 
road to Montreuil. Louis XIV. built a handfome houfe 
on this fpot for his confeffor, la Chaife, a Jefuit, who for 
the long term of thirty-four years had the keeping of 
this monarch’s confcience. He was a perfecutor of the 
Proteftants, and advifed the revocation of the edift of 
Nantes. 
This cemetery is about fourfeore acres in extent. It 
refembles not the burying-grounds of England and other 
countries, which are literally fields of the dead, and have 
nothing to diftinguilh them from other fields but a great 
number of fquare fmooth white ftones Handing upright 
upon them ; for it has in reality a moft beautiful and in- 
terefting appearance. Over the ground, which is very 
much broken and hilly, are fcattered various kinds of 
fruit-trees,—the remains of the .garden and orchard be¬ 
longing to the houfe of father la Chaife. The principal 
entrance, where funerals are admitted, is through a hand¬ 
fome gate, opening to a broad road, planted on each fide 
with a double row of linden-trees, at the end of which 
is a wood, with another avenue of lindens through it; 
under their foliage is appropriately placed the tomb of 
Delille, the poet of gardens. 
From the weft platform, near the fouthern wall, the 
coup d'ceil is ftrikingly grand ; for, the eye of the fpec- 
tator being on a level with the heights of Montmartre 
and Clichy, Paris, and the vaft extent of country beyond, 
it, are brought into the view. Beneath your feet are 
tombs of various kinds, moft of them of elegant forms, 
each encircled with funereal or other trees, according to 
fancy ; and all, even thofe which are in a ruinous or neg¬ 
lected ftate, havingfweet-feented flowers and firrubs grow¬ 
ing on or near them. Many have rofes, myrtles, jafmines, 
geraniums, and mignionette, planted round them. The 
truly claffical idea of hanging garlands of Hoovers on the 
tombs of friends and relatives is here moft completely 
realifed; many of thefe tombs have the appearance of 
being recently thus adorned. The choiceft and moft 
fcarce flowers are generally felefted to form thefe garlands : 
tuberofes, and other green-houfe plants, are common in 
them. 
The grandeft monument on the ground is the fepul- 
chre of the family of Greffuhl ; it is a chapel of Gothic 
architefture, fituate on the north fide, and near a beau¬ 
tiful range of fycamores. Towards the eaft is a fmall 
platform, formerly called The Belvidere ; it is a fhady 
fquare formed by eight linden-trees; in the midft of the 
tombs occupying the fpace is a fine monument to Meftre- 
zat, the Genevan paftor; and the Proteftants have felefted 
the ground about here for their burial place. 
The poet Chenier’s tomb has this Ample infeription : 
“Marie Jofeph Chenier, ne a Conftantinople en 1764, 
mort a Paris en 1811.” Near that lies Fourcroy, with 
his buft in a niche, under which is Amply inferibed his 
name. Not far from the latter are the tombs of Labe- 
doyere and Ney, famous for their bravery and their un¬ 
fortunate fate. Here likewife repofe the allies of Madame 
Cottin and Mademoifelle Clairon, together with'many' 
others, whofe names will live when their monuments, 
like their mortal remains, are mouldered away. 
The monument of Abelard and Eloife, which was 
tranfported from the Abbey of Paraclete, and placed in 
the internal court of the Petits Auguftins, has now been 
removed hither. This tomb adfually contains the allies 
of the two lovers. See the article Abelard, vol. i. p. 14. 
6th edit. 
St. Foix, in his Elfais Hiftoriques fur Paris, fays, that 
Charles IX. had formed the defign of converting the 
Bois-de-Boulogne into a burying-place for heroes. The 
idea was that of a great man ; but that unfortunate mo¬ 
narch, like many others, followed bad counfels, and turn¬ 
ed his abilities to a wrong purpofe. The cemetery of 
Pere la Chaife, on a fmall fcale, and of recent date, Ihows 
what that idea would have produced had it been put in 
execution. 
Madame Raucourt, the celebrated aftrefs, Lenoir, 
Dufrefne, and Volney, the deiftical writer, were buried 
here. 
Though it is but thirteen years that this has been a 
cemetery, it is now the favourite and moft falhionable 
one in Paris; for in Paris every thing lias its fafliion, 
and theParilians havedifplayed great tafte in the arrange¬ 
ment and conftruftion of the tombs, and great aft’eftion 
and feeling in the epitaphs that are engraven upon them. 
Cimeti&rc Montmartre, or Field of Repofe.—This is alfo 
to the north of Paris, and was the firft opened after the 
new regulations in 1773. There are in this cemetery a 
number of tombs, with inferiptions thatdepiftin elegant 
language the grief of the relatives left behind ; but there 
are none erefted to any perfon of great note. 
There 
