412 
fitting at the upper end of the room, 2 
table before him covered with {pecimens. 
The School of Mines has for its objeé& to 
inveftigate the properties of the {ubterra- 
nean riches of the Republic, and bring 
them into ufe: infiru€tions are given on 
the art of fearching mines, of working 
them, and of fubmitting minerals to the 
neceflary operations :—the art of aflaying, 
the conftruétion of furnaces, founderies, 
and of the various inflrumests conneéted 
with the working of mines, are of courfe 
Included in the liberal and comprehenfive 
plan of inftruétion which is here adepted. 
Schools of Medicine. —Of thefe there are 
feveral :—Ecole de Chirurgie, FEcole de 
Medecine, Ecole de Pharmacie, Societé de 
Medecine, &c. But I think I hear you 
complain that a meagre lift of libraries, 
fchools, colleges, and fo on, is hardly 
worth the trouble of looking over. ‘True; 
nor would an empty catalogue of the 
public buildings with which this metro- 
polis abounds, be in any degree more en- 
tertaining. I thall be very brief, there- 
fore, on this head. The Palace of Lux- 
EMBOURG is now fitting up for the Con- 
fervative Senate: Smelfungus was never 
more out of humour during the whole of 
his travels through France and Italy than 
I was at not being able to ramble among 
the rooms of this celebrated building. 
Such a ramble, however, would evidently 
have been at the rifk of one’s neck; for 
{caffolds, ladders, mafies of ftone, and 
beams of timber, prefented a very for- 
midable appearance: but a lounge about 
the garden put us into tolerable humour. 
The garden is fpacious, and from its ele- 
vated fituation commands a good view of 
many diftant buildings: although the 
French differ materially from the Englifh 
in their tafte for laying out gardens, every 
one muf be pleafed to obferve, that this 
fine piece of ground is nct negleéted. The 
old plantation muft, in {ummer-time, pro- 
duce a fine effect, and new ones are made 
on an extenfive fcale: workmen are now 
employed in the formation of a piece of 
water, which does not promife to add much 
beauty to the fcene. 
Is not it high treafon againft tafte to 
exprefs any degree of difappointment at 
the view of Nétre Dame? If fo, my good 
Friend, I really muf entreat you to fhare 
the crime with me, and for my credit’s 
fake commit what the law calls mifpri- 
fion of treafon—that is to fay, do not in- 
form againft me. Confidering it as the 
Mother Church of France, my expeéta- 
tions of its magnificence were certainly 
difappointed: though it muft be acknow- 
An Exeurfion through France to Geneva. 
[June 1, 
Jedged to have been rather an unfavour- 
able augury, that in order to get at it we 
fhould have occafion to walk thirty or 
forty yards in a narrow ftreet, on planks 
elevated two feet from the ground, to 
keep us from the water with which it is 
deluged. Many parts of Paris are at this 
moment overflowed: the waters of the 
Seine are much fwollen, and apprehen- 
henfions are entertained that confiderable 
Injury may enfue: what a comfortable 
profpest is this for us who are on the eve 
of fetting off for Geneva! Our route lies 
by the banks of the river, and reports 
have reached us (related, probably, iz ¢er- 
rorem) that the road is under water and 
impaffable. 
Xanthe, retro propera, verfaque recurrite 
lymphe ! 
Ican fay no more: they will have their 
own way ; for I never could learn that the 
mighty Xerxes himfelf got a bit the more 
of his mind for chaining the Hellefpont 
and whipping its waves. But what has 
all this to do with Nétre Dame ?' I thank 
you for the hint. This celebrated cathe- 
dral is fo choaked with houfes that I 
know not from what {pot it may be feen 
to advantage: it is a Gothic edifice, built 
in the fhape of a crofs, and has been re- 
marked for the lightnefs of its itruéture ; 
but its two large {quare towers, in giving 
ftatelinefs, give alfo, in my opinion, a 
heavinefs to the building, which I do not 
feel difpofed to find fault with. The out 
fide is rich in fculptural and architec- 
tural ornaments, which can hardly be 
confidered as affording lightnefs to its 
character. ‘The infide of the church is 
now bald and naked: in their curfed re- 
volutionary rage, its fine paintings, rich 
tapeftry, and magnificent monuments, 
were moft of them deftroyed by the Pari- 
fian populace! In the choir is fome curious 
carving in wood, of fcriptural hiftories, 
which were related to us with a volubilit 
that overwhelmed and aftonifhed us, by — 
the fexton’s wife, or fome fuch perfonage, 
whio defcanted on the felicity of thefubjeéts, 
and the delicacy of the workmanfhip. I 
wifh I had Bunbury’s pencil in my pocket, 
you fhould certainly have a fac-fimile of 
this curious original: the age of the lady 
may be about fixty, but 
“6 Time has not thinned her flowing hair, 
Nor bent her with his iron hand.” 
She feems to be made of very durable 
materials, and very ftrongly put together. 
The old lady—ndtre-dame—was neatly 
dreffed, in a full gown, which had cer- 
tainly 
