492 
PARIS. 
from our capital fotne manufa&ures which have been 
molt injudicioufly eftablilhed there ; but the French have 
carried this falfe calculation much farther, Paris being 
the centre not only of ornamental fabrics, fuch as jewel¬ 
lery, bronze, fculpture, cabinet-making, See. but of a 
number of coarfer employments, which a very flight 
change of plan might transfer to a cheaper quarter. 
There are at Paris periodical exhibitions of French ma¬ 
nufacture held once in three or four years ; the laft (in 
Augult 1819) was very brilliant, and honoured by the 
prefence of the king, the princes, the nobility, and all 
eminent men of fcience. 
The manufacturing induftry of France is»confined, far 
more than ours, to the home-market, whether we look 
to the fupply of the raw material, or to the export of the 
finilhed articles. Her imports are large only in cotton 
and filk; in wool and iron they are not confiderable ; 
while in flax, hemp, and leather, they may be termed in- 
fignificant. In exports the limitation is ftill more ftriking; 
her hardware, her linen, her woollens, her cotton, her 
leather, and, in a great meafure, her filk, being confined 
to the home-market; a reftrifition owing partly to our 
manufacturing fuperiority, but more to the capital of our 
merchants, and their ability to give long credit. The 
productive induftry of France is confequently much lefs 
fubjeCt than ours tofudden fluctuation. It follows nearly 
the fame routine year after year. On the occurrence of 
a war, or other political change, the commerce and ma¬ 
nufactures of our neighbours, to borrow a phrafe of Tal¬ 
leyrand, (Letter to Mr. Fox, 1 ft of April, 180 6.) fe re- 
plient fur evx-wSmes. Need more be added, to fltow the 
error of thofe who maintain that, half a century ago, her 
manufactures were of great amount, that they were al- 
moft entirely fufpended by the revolution, and indebted 
for their fubfequent revival to the exertions of the go¬ 
vernment. The fluctuations, at no time of great amount, 
have related chiefly to the. export-trade, and owed their 
origin to the general hoftilities of 1793. 
Land-carriage in France cofts only from as. to as. 6d. 
per cwt. for 100 miles ; a cheapnefs which facilitates the 
tranfport of merchandife to the various annual fairs 
which are ftill held in every great town in the kingdom, 
exactly as was done by our forefathers a century ago. 
This periodical routine begins by the Foire de Long- 
champs, which is held annually at Paris in fpring, and is 
followed by a long lift of provincial fairs, of which the 
chief are thofe of Beaucaire in Languedoc, and Guibray 
in Normandy. 
The weights and meafures of France were reduced, as 
is well known, to a very Ample and uniform fcale foon 
after the revolution ; but there has been much difficulty 
in accuftoming the inhabitants, particularly in country- 
diftriCts, to the adoption of the new fyftem, which un¬ 
luckily preferred none of the names with which they were 
familiar. In 181a, a kind of compromife took place; go¬ 
vernment fanftioning the retention of the old names, 
fuch as pounds, ounces, ells, and bufhels; but requiring 
that their contents ftiould be calculated by a reference to 
the decimal ftandard. It is, accordingly, on this footing 
that bulinefs is now tranfatted in France. 
Commerce. —The chief commercial bufinefs of Paris is 
neceflarily inland; but it is the centre of exchange tranf- 
afitions for France, foreign as well as inland; as London 
is for England, and Amfterdam for Holland. The prin¬ 
cipal bufinefs of Paris is carried on by forty refpeftable 
banking-houfes, and about feven hundred and forty-five 
mercantile firms. Fifty-four agents of the Exchange 
take upon themfelves the negociation of public and pri¬ 
vate bufinefs ; they alone regulate the courfeof exchange, 
the difeount upon bills, &c. Every open day at change, 
they are to be found there from two to four; and every 
week a chamber of fifteen of the moft refpedlable mer¬ 
chants in point of opulence and charadter, aflemble at the 
Hotel de Ville, to prepare for government their views and 
obfervations upon the means for augmenting the prof- 
perity of commerce, &c. For the adjuftment of difputes 
among people in trade, a court is chofen confiftingofa 
prefident, eight judges, and fixteen fuppleans; and here 
fotne of the principal bankers and merchants are not 
above giving their attendance. 
We (hall conclude this feftion with noticing three lite¬ 
rary focieties which have'been eftablifhed at Paris for the 
benefit of agriculture and commerce. 
1. The Bureau des Longitudes, or Committee of Lon¬ 
gitude ; at the Obfervatory, in the Faubourg of St. James. 
—The labours of the learned men who compofe this fo- 
ciety have for their objedf conftant aftronomical obferva¬ 
tions at the Obfervatory, and in the Military School; and 
for this purpofe they have at their difpofal all the inftru- 
ments of which government is pofl'efled. They correfpond 
with other obfervatories in France and abroad. They are 
charged with the 'publication of the “ Connaiflance des 
Temps,” for the ufe of aftronomers and navigators, and 
with bringing to perfection the difeovery of the longitude, 
and the moft fcientific way of making and recording af¬ 
tronomical and meteorological obfervations, See. The 
bureau is compofed of two geometricians, four aftrono¬ 
mers, with four affiftants, two retired naval officers, a 
geographer, and three artifts. 
a. The Suciltl d'Bnconragement, or Royal Society for 
the Encouragement of National Induftry; Rue du Bac. 
—This fociety, which has not exifted more than twenty 
years, compriles moft of the minifters of ftate, many 
public functionaries, the firft men of property, and the 
moft celebrated literary characters, Its objedt is to fe- 
cond the efforts of government, for the improvement of 
French manufadlures, agriculture, and induftry. At an 
annual meeting in July numerous prizes are diftributed. 
The more private meetings of the fociety are held on 
every alternate Wednefday. 
3. The Agricultural Society, at the Hotel de Ville.— 
It is compoled of fifty relident members, thirty French, 
and twenty foreign afl'oeiates. It is the centre of corref- 
pondence for all the agricultural focieties in the kingdom 5 
and is occupied, under the fuperintendance of the mi- 
nifter of the interior, with every thing relative to the im¬ 
provement of agriculture. It holds its fittings on the 
firft and third Wednefday in every month. The king 
is the patron, and the comte de Neufchateau prefident. 
INTERESTING OBJECTS in the ENVIRONS. 
The Boulevards, or Malls.—The Boulevards were 
formerly the boundaries of Paris; but, as that city gra¬ 
dually extended itfelf on every fide, parts of them were 
at length found in the very centre of the population. 
They confift of a road, or rather of a fuperb ftreet, as 
wide as Portland Place, with a row of elms on each fide. 
This road extends through the whole of the-city, and 
nearly round it, forming a circumference of almoft feven 
miles. Little of the national luxuriance of the elms is 
pruned ; and, arching over head, they form a pleafing 
fhade. Some of the walks are carefully gravelled for the 
accommodation of foot-paffengers; and on each fide of 
the malls is an uninterrupted lucceflion of noble manfions, 
fplendid hotels,cafes, reftaurateurs, theatres, (hops, booths, 
tea-gardens, flower-gardens, and fountains. 
The Boulevards on the north, which are called the Old 
or Great Boulevards, were begun in 1536, and intended 
to ferve as fortifications againft the Englilh, who were 
ravaging Picardy, and threatening the capital: hence the 
name boulevard, which fignifies a bulwark. As the walks 
were extended, they were loon covered with turf, and 
were much reforted to for playing at bowls; hence another 
derivation of the name, hauler au vert, to bowl upon the 
green, or, in fliort, a bowling-green. 
The Great or North Boulevards were firft planted about 
the year 1660; the trees have therefore attained a ma- 
jeftic fize. Some of thofe on the fouth fide of the river 
were not completed till 1761; but the walks are wider, 
and the trees more luxuriant. 
The 
