P A 
There are two other cemeteries, that of Vaugirard 
and of St. Catharine ; but in extent, fituation, and other 
circumftances, they are lefs interefting than that of Pere 
la Chaife. General Pichegru was interred in the ceme¬ 
tery of St. Catharine, where there is a plain tomb eredted 
to him by the aff’e&ionate piety of his daughter. In Vau¬ 
girard, is interred Jean Francis de la Harpe, Here alfo 
are the monuments of Leroy and Lavalette. 
Laftly the cemetery called La Morgue, fituated on the 
Quai du Marche Neuf, is deftined to receive the dead bo¬ 
dies of fitch individuals as have fallen victims to accidents 
and murders, or been induced by defpair to put an end 
to their own lives ; here they are publicly expofed, that 
they may be recogniled by their relatives or friends. 
On Sundays, ip fine weather, the cemeteries are much 
frequented ; and on the fecond of November, the day of 
la Fete des Morts, there is a fort of melancholy and fen- 
timental pilgrimage, which is of the molt impreffive de- 
fcription. 
It appears that the bills of mortality at Paris hold out 
a tremendous lelfon of morals to the Parifians, if, as may 
be fairly inferred, they agree in their refults with the 
tombftones of the different cemeteries. In the burial- 
ground of Montmartre, which is the depofit for the gay 
part of Paris, the purlieus of the Palais Royal, the Rues 
•St. Honore, Vivienne, Richelieu, and Montmartre, the 
Boulevards, and the Chaufiee d’Antin, nine tombs in ten 
•are to the memory of perfons cut ofF in the flower of their 
youth : but in the burial-ground of Pere la Chaife, which 
ferves principally for the fober citizens of Paris, the in¬ 
habitants of the Marais, and of the Faubourg St. Antoine, 
nine out of ten record perfons who had attained a good 
old age. In both cal’es this fadft relates to fubjefts in eafy 
or affluent circumftances ; and the difference of mortality 
•is folely attributable to the difference between a diffipated 
and a regular life. If nofological tables had been kept 
in different places, and in different parts of the world, 
with the fame care as meteorological ones, how many more 
important refults might have been deduced from them ! 
CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 
The hofpitals and other charitable inffitutions of Paris 
are fupported and maintained by government. Their 
number is fcarcely credible. More than 15,000 beds are 
made up at the different hofpitals, and the annual expen¬ 
diture is computed at 300,0001. fterling. Thefe charities 
may be confidered as forming two diftindl claffes: the one 
comprehends the hofpitals for the fick, called Hopitaux; 
the other, thofe for the indigent, Hojpices. The former 
are devoted to the relief of the affli£ted 5 the latter ferve 
as an afylum to children, to the infirm, and to the aged 
poor. All perfons who are not ill enough to be admitted 
of neceflity into the hofpital neareft to their refidence,-are 
•obliged to prefent themfelves at the Bureau Central d’Ad- 
mifjions, or General Office of Relief, where they are exa¬ 
mined, and, if there be occafion, they receive a ticket 
of admiffion for the hofpital where their particular difor- 
der is treated. 
Hotel Dieu. —Formerly this was rather a charnel- 
houfe than an hofpital. It was founded, as far back as 
the year 660, for the reception of the fick and maimed 
of both fexes, without any diftin&ion of perfons. All of 
every country, and of every religion, were admitted with¬ 
out form or recommendation. Though it contained but 
1200 beds, the number of patients very often exceeded 
5000, and on the average it was never lefs than 2500. 
Until the year 1786, no fteps were taken for enlarging 
the hofpital, or providing elfewhere for thofe who could 
not be conveniently accommodated in it. The air of the 
neighbourhood was contaminated by the noifome exhala¬ 
tions continually arifing from this abode of peftilence 5 and 
that which was breathed within the walls of the hofpital 
was fo contagious, as to turn a trifling complaint into a 
dangerous diforder, and a fimple wound into a mortifi¬ 
cation. In 1785 the attention of the government being 
R I S. 479 
called to this ferious evil by various memoirs, the acade¬ 
my of Sciences was directed to inveftigate the truth of the 
bold affertions made in different publications. A report 
was made, and the hofpital enlarged fo as to contain 
2000 beds. 
Since the revolution, the improvements introduced into 
the interior government of the Hotel Dieu have been 
great and rapid. Each patient now has a bed to himf'elf. 
•Thofe attacked by contagious diforders are transferred to 
the Hofpice St. Louis. Infane perfons are no longer ad¬ 
mitted; men thus afflifted, are fent to a fpepial hofpital 
eftablifhed at Charenton, and the women to Salpetriere. 
Sick children of both fexes are no longer admitted pro- 
mifcuoufiy into different hofpitals; but are received into 
a fpecial hofpital, extremely well arranged, and in a fine 
airy fituation beyond the Barriere des Sevres. At the 
Hotel Dieu every method has Been put in practice to pro¬ 
mote the circulation of air, and expel the noxious miaf- 
mata. In all the French hofpitals, one ward, at leaft, is 
now always kept empty. The moment it becomes fo by 
the removal of the patients into another, the walls are 
lime-whitened, and the air is purified by the fumigation 
according to the plan firft propofed by Guyton Morveau. 
This operation is thus alternately performed in each ward 
in fucceffion ; that which'has been the longeft occupied 
being purified the firft, and left empty till it is wanted. 
Befides thofe mentioned above, the following may be 
confidered as branches of or annexes to the Hotel Dieu. 
Hopital Cochin, Faubourg St. Jacques.—This hofpital 
was founded by the venerable Cochin, cure of the parifh 
in 1782, who law with regret his indigent parifhioners 
expofed to the danger which the Hotel Dieu then pre- 
fented. To provide them with a fafer and more comfort¬ 
able afylum, he difpofed of all his property, and even his 
books. The hofpital contains 130 beds. 
Hopital Beaujon, Faubourg du Roule.—Founded in 
1784 by the individual whofe name it bears, with a reve¬ 
nue of 20,000 francs. It is a fubftantial building, and in 
good taftej the architecture has been as much admired as 
the humane-purpofe to which it is devoted. It is efta¬ 
blifhed on the fame principle as the Hotel Dieu ; and con¬ 
tains 120 beds. 
Hotel des Invalides, Hofpital for wounded and fu- 
perannuated Soldiers.—This Chelfea Hofpital of France 
has generally been ranked among the moft magnificent 
edifices of Paris. The building was projefted by Henry 
III. commenced by Henry IV. and completed by Louis 
XIV. They whole blood had flowed for the fafety and 
honour of their country, deferved a peaceable and com¬ 
fortable afylum in their old age. The edifice happily 
unites the bold and mafculine character that fuited the 
purpofe to which it was devoted, with the magnificence 
of the fovereign who erefled it. It is compofed of five 
courts, of equal form and dimenfions, furrounded by 
buildings. A vaft efplanade, bordered by rows of trees, 
and the centre decorated by a fountain, gives to the prin¬ 
cipal facade towards the Seine a noble perfpeBtive. A fu- 
perb railing enciofes the court before the hotel. The 
front confifts of three floors above the bafement, which 
is pierced with arcades. An advanced building prefents 
itfelf in the centre, and at each extremity. That in the 
centre, and in which is the principal entrance, is deco¬ 
rated by Ionic pillars fupporting a magnificent arch, in 
which was a bas-relief containing an equeftrian ftatue of 
Louis XIV. accompanied by Jultice and Prudence, the 
workmanfhip of the younger Coullou. Thefe two figures 
yet remain. On each fide of the gate are other figures 
reprefenting the nations conquered by Louis XIV. with 
coloflal ftatues of Mars and Minerva. 
A fpacious dome adorns the church, furrounded by 
forty columns of the Compofite order, covered with lead, 
and ornamented with gilding. Above is a cupola with 
pillars, fupporting a pyramid furmounted with a crols, 
which is 308 feet from the ground. From this lofty fitua¬ 
tion is an ex ten five view of Paris and its environs. The 
church 
