Paris as It Was and as It Is Part 7

On the summit of _Montmartre_, is a circular terrace, in the centre of which stands a windmill, and not far from it, are several others.

Round its brow are several _maisonettes_, or little country boxes, and also some public gardens with bowers, where lovers often regale their mistresses. Hence you command a full view of the city of Paris.

You behold roof rising above roof; and the churches towering above the houses have, at this distance, somewhat the appearance of lofty chimnies. You look down on the capital as far as the Seine, by which it is intersected: beyond that river, the surface of the land rises again in the form of an amphitheatre. On all sides, the prospect is bounded by eminences of various degrees of elevation, over which, as well as over the plains, and along the banks of the river, are scattered villas, windmills, country-seats, hamlets, villages, and coppices; but, from want of enclosures, the circ.u.mjacent country has not that rich and variegated aspect which delights the eye in our English rural scenery. This was always one of my favourite walks during my residence in Paris before the revolution; and I doubt not, when you visit the French capital, that you will have the curiosity to scale the heights of _Montmartre_.

As to the theatres, concerning which you interrogate me, I shall defer entering into any particular detail of them, till I have made myself fully acquainted with the attractions of each: this mode of proceeding will not occasion any material delay, as I generally visit one of them every evening, but always endeavour to go to that house where the _best_ performers are to be seen, in their _best_ characters, and in the _best_ pieces. I mention this, in order that you may not think me inattentive to your request, by having hitherto omitted to point out to you the difference between the theatrical amus.e.m.e.nts here under the monarchy, and those of the republic.

The _theatre des arts_ or grand French opera, the _opera buffa_ or Italian comic opera, the _theatre Feydeau_ or French comic opera, and the _theatre Francais_, chiefly engage my attention. Yesterday evening I went to the last-mentioned theatre purposely to see Mademoiselle CONTAT, who played in both pieces. The first was _Les Femmes Savantes_, a comedy, in which Moliere, wis.h.i.+ng to aim a blow at female pedantry, has, perhaps, checked, in some French women, a desire for improvement; the second was _La fausse Agnes_, a laughable afterpiece. Notwithstanding the enormous _embonpoint_ which this celebrated comic actress has acquired since I saw her last on the Parisian stage upwards of ten years ago, she acquitted herself with her accustomed excellence. I happened to sit next to a very warm admirer of her superior talents, who told me that, bulky as she was become, he had been highly gratified in seeing her perform at _Rouen_ not long since, in her favourite character of _Roxalane_, in _Les Trois Sultanes_. "She was much applauded, no doubt." observed I.

--"Not at all," replied he, "for the crowd was so great, that in no part of the house was it possible for a man to use his hands."

LETTER X.

_Paris, November 2, 1801._

On reaching Paris, every person, whether Jew or Gentile, foreigner or not, coming from any department of the republic, except that of _La Seine_, in which the capital is situated, is now bound to make his appearance at the _Prefecture de Police_.

The new-comer, accompanied by two housekeepers, first repairs to the Police-office of the _arrondiss.e.m.e.nt_, or district, in which he has taken up his residence, where he delivers his travelling pa.s.sport; in lieu of which he receives a sort of certificate, and then he shews himself at the _Prefecture de Police_, or General Police-office, at present established in the _Cite_.

Here, his name and quality, together with a minute description of his person and his place of abode, are inserted in a register kept for that purpose, to which he puts his signature; and a printed paper, commonly called a _permis de sejour_, is given to him, containing a duplicate of all these matters, filled up in the blanks, which he also signs himself. It is intended that he should always carry this paper about him, in order that he may produce it when called on, or, in case of necessity, for verifying his person, on any particular occasion, such as pa.s.sing by a guard-house on foot after eleven o'clock at night, or being unexpectedly involved in any affray. In a word, it answers to a stranger the same end as a _carte de surete_, or ticket of safety, does to an inhabitant of Paris.

I accordingly went through this indispensable ceremony in due form on my arrival here; but, having neglected to read a _nota bene_ in the margin of the _permis de sejour_, I had not been ten hours in my new apartments before I received a visit from an Inspector of Police of the _arrondiss.e.m.e.nt_, who, very civilly reminding me of the omission, told me that I need not give myself the trouble of going to the Central Police-office, as he would report my removal. However, being determined to be strictly _en regle_, I went thither myself to cause my new residence to be inserted in the paper.

I should not have dwelt on the circ.u.mstance, were it not to shew you the precision observed in the administration of the police of this great city.

Under the old _regime_, every master of a ready-furnished hotel was obliged to keep a register, in which he inserted the name and quality of his lodgers for the inspection of the police-officers whenever they came: this regulation is not only strictly adhered to at present; but every person in Paris, who receives a stranger under his roof as an inmate, is bound, under penalty of a fine, to report him to the police, which is most vigilantly administered by Citizen FOUCHe.

Last night, not being in time to find good places at the _Theatre des Arts_, or Grand French Opera, I went to the _Theatre Louvois_, which is within a few paces of it, in hopes of being more successful. I shall not at present attempt to describe the house, as, from my arriving late, I was too ill accommodated to be able to view it to advantage.

However, I was well seated for seeing the performance. It consisted of three _pet.i.tes pieces_: namely, _Une heure d'absence_, _La pet.i.te ville_, and _Le cafe d'une pet.i.te ville_. The first was entertaining; but the second much more so; and though the third cannot claim the merit of being well put together, I shall say a few words of it, as it is a production _in honour of peace_, and on that score alone, would, at this juncture, deserve notice.

After a few scenes somewhat languid, interspersed with common-place, and speeches of no great humour, a _denouement_, by no means interesting, promised not to compensate the audience for their patience. But the author of the _Cafe d'une pet.i.te ville_, having eased himself of this burden, revealed his motive, and took them on their weak side, by making a strong appeal to French enthusiasm. This cord being adroitly struck, his warmth became communicative, and animating the actors, good humor did the rest. The accessories were infinitely more interesting than the main subject. An allemande, gracefully danced by two damsels and a hero, in the character of a French hussar, returned home from the fatigues of war and battle, was much applauded; and a Gasc.o.o.n poet, who declares that, for once in his life, he is resolved to speak truth, was loudly encored in the following couplets, adapted to the well-known air of _"Gai, le coeur a la danse."_

"Celui qui nous donne la paix, Comme il fit bien la guerre!

Sur lui deja force conplets....

Mai il en reste a faire: Au diable nous nous donnions, Il revient, nous respirons....

Il fait changer la danse;

Par lui chez nous plus de discord; Il regle la cadence, Et nous voila d'accord."

True it is, that BONAPARTE, as princ.i.p.al ballet-master, has changed the dance of the whole nation; he regulates their step to the measure of his own music, and _discord_ is mute at the moment: but the question is, whether the French are bona-fide _d'accord_, (as the Gasc.o.o.n affirms,) that is, perfectly reconciled to the new tune and figure? Let us, however, keep out of this maze; were we to enter it, we might remain bewildered there, perhaps, till old Father Time came to extricate us.

The morning is inviting: suppose we take a turn in the _Tuileries_, not with a view of surveying this garden, but merely to breathe the fresh air, and examine the

PALAIS DU GOUVERNEMENT.

Since the Chief Consul has made it his town-residence, this is the new denomination given to the _Palais des Tuileries_, thus called, because a tile-kiln formerly stood on the site where it is erected.

At that time, this part of Paris was not comprised within its walls, nothing was to be seen here, in the vicinity of the tile-kiln, but a few coppices and scattered habitations.

Catherine de Medicis, wis.h.i.+ng to enlarge the capital on this side, visited the spot, and liking the situation, directed PHILIBERT DE L'ORME and JEAN BULLAN, two celebrated French architects, to present her with a plan, from which the construction of this palace was begun in May 1564. At first, it consisted only of the large square pavilion in the centre of the two piles of building, which have each a terrace towards the garden, and of the two pavilions by which they are terminated.

Henry IV enlarged the original building, and, in 1600, began the grand gallery which joins it to the _Louvre_, from the plan of DU CERCEAU. Lewis XIII made some alterations in the palace; and in 1664, exactly a century from the date of its construction being begun, Lewis XIV directed LOUIS DE VEAU to finish it, by making the additions and embellishments which have brought it to its present state. These deviations from the first plan have destroyed the proportions required by the strict rules of art; but this defect would, probably, be overlooked by those who are not connoisseurs, as the architecture, though variously blended, presents, at first sight, an _ensemble_ which is magnificent and striking.

The whole front of the palace of the _Tuileries_ consists of five pavilions, connected by four piles of building, standing on the same line, and extending for the s.p.a.ce of one thousand and eleven feet.

The first order of the three middle piles is Ionic, with encircled columns. The two adjoining pavilions are also ornamented with Ionic pillars; but fluted, and embellished with foliage, from the third of their height to the summit. The second order of these two pavilions is Corinthian. The two piles of building, which come next, as well as the two pavilions of the wings, are of a Composite order with fluted pillars. From a tall iron spindle, placed on the pinnacle of each of the three princ.i.p.al pavilions is now seen floating a horizontal tri-coloured streamer. Till the improvements made by Lewis XIV, the large centre pavilion had been decorated with the Ionic and Corinthian orders only, to these was added the Composite.

On the facade towards the _Place du Carrousel_, the pillars of all these orders are of brown and red marble. Here may be observed the marks of several cannon-b.a.l.l.s, beneath each of which is inscribed, in black, 10 AOuT.

This tenth of August 1792, a day ever memorable in the history of France, has furnished many an able writer with the subject of an episode; but, I believe, few of them were, any more than myself, actors in that dreadful scene. While I was intently remarking the particular impression of a shot which struck the edge of one of the cas.e.m.e.nts of the first floor of the palace, my _valet de place_ came up to know at which door I would have the carriage remain in waiting.

On turning round, I fancied I beheld the man who "drew Priam's curtain in the dead of night." That messenger, I am sure, could not have presented a visage more pale, more spiritless than my Helvetian.

Recollecting that he had served in the Swiss guards, I was the less at a loss to account for his extreme agitation. "In what part of the _chateau_ were you, Jean," said I, "when these b.a.l.l.s were aimed at the windows?"----"There was my post," replied he, recovering himself, and pointing to one of the centre cas.e.m.e.nts.--"Is it true," continued I, "that, by way of feigning a reconciliation, you threw down cartridges by handfuls to the Ma.r.s.eillese below, and called out; _vive la nation?"_----"It is but too true," answered Jean; "we then availed ourselves of the moment when they advanced under the persuasion that they were to become our friends, and opened on them a tremendous fire, by which we covered the place with dead and dying.

But we became victims of our own treachery: for our ammunition being, by this _ruse de guerre_, the sooner expended, we presently had no resource left but the bayonet, by which we could not prevent the mob from closing on us."--"And how did you contrive to escape," said I?

--"Having thrown away my Swiss uniform," replied he, "in the general confusion, I fortunately possessed myself of the coat of a national volunteer, which he had taken off on account of the hot weather. This garment, bespattered with blood, I instantly put on, as well as his hat with a tri-coloured c.o.c.kade."--"This disguise saved your life,"

interrupted I.--"Yes, indeed;" rejoined he. "Having got down to the vestibule, I could not find a pa.s.sage into the garden; and, to prevent suspicion, I at once mixed with the mob on the place where we are now standing."--"How did you get off at last," said I?--"I was obliged," answered he, "to shout and swear with the _poissardes_, while the heads of many of my comrades were thrown out of the windows."--"The _poissardes_," added I, "set no bounds to their cruelty?"--"No," replied he, "I expected every moment to feel its effects; my disguise alone favoured my escape: on the dead bodies of my countrymen they practised every species of mutilation." Here Jean drew a picture of a nature too horrid to be committed to paper. My pen could not trace it.----In a word, nothing could exceed the ferocity of the infuriate populace; and the sacking of the palace of the Trojan king presents but a faint image of what pa.s.sed here on the day which overset the throne of the Bourbons.

According to a calculation, founded as well on the reports of the police as on the returns of the military corps, it appears that the number of men killed in the attack of the palace of the _Tuileries_ on the 10th of August 1792, amounted in the whole to very near six thousand, of whom eight hundred and fifty-two were on the side of the besieged, and three thousand seven hundred and forty on the side of the besiegers.

The interior of this palace is not distinguished by any particular style of architecture, the kings who have resided here having made such frequent alterations, that the distribution throughout is very different from that which was at first intended. Here it was that Catherine de Medicis shut herself up with the Guises, the Gondis, and Birague, the chancellor, in order to plan the horrible ma.s.sacre of that portion of the French nation whose religious tenets trenched on papal power, and whose spirit of independence alarmed regal jealousy.

Among the series of entertainments, given on the marriage of the king of Navarre with Marguerite de Valois, was introduced a ballet, in which the papists, commanded by Charles IX and his brothers, defended paradise against the huguenots, who, with Navarre at their head, were all repulsed and driven into h.e.l.l. Although this pantomime, solely invented by Catherine, was evidently meant as a prelude to the dreadful proscription which awaited the protestants, they had no suspicion of it; and four days after, was consummated the ma.s.sacre, where that monster to whom nature had given the form of a woman, feasted her eyes on the mangled corpses of thousands of bleeding victims!

No sooner was the Pope informed of the horrors of St. Bartholemew's day; by the receipt of Admiral de Coligny's head which Catherine embalmed and sent to him, than he ordered a solemn procession, by way of returning thanks to heaven for the _happy event_. The account of this procession so exasperated a gentlemen of Anjou, a protestant of the name of Bressaut de la Rouvraye, that he swore he would make eunuchs of all the monks who should fall into his hands; and he rendered himself famous by keeping his word, and wearing the trophies of his victory.

The _Louvre_ and the palace of the _Tuileries_ were alternately the residence of the kings of France, till Lewis XIV built that of Versailles, after which it was deserted till the minority of Lewis XV, who, when a little boy, was visited here by Peter the Great, but, in 1722, the court quitted Paris altogether for Versailles, where it continued fixed till the 5th of October 1789.

During this long interval, the palace was left under the direction of a governor, and inhabited only by himself, and persons of various ranks dependent on the bounty of the crown. When Lewis XVI and his family were brought hither at that period, the two wings alone were in proper order; the remainder consisted of s.p.a.cious apartments appointed for the king's reception when he came occasionally to Paris, and ornamented with stately, old-fas.h.i.+oned furniture, which had not been deranged for years. The first night of their arrival, they slept in temporary beds, and on the king being solicited the next day to choose his apartments, he replied: "Let everyone s.h.i.+ft for himself; for my part, I am very well where I am." But this fit of ill-humor being over, the king and queen visited every part of the palace, a.s.signing particular rooms to each person of their suite, and giving directions for sundry repairs and alterations.

Versailles was unfurnished, and the vast quant.i.ty of furniture collected in that palace, during three successive reigns, was transported to the _Tuileries_ for their majesties' accommodation.

The king chose for himself three rooms on the ground-floor, on the side of the gallery to the right as you enter the vestibule from the garden; on the entresol, he established his geographical study; and on the first floor, his bed-chamber: the apartments of the queen and royal family were adjoining to those of the king; and the attendants were distributed over the palace to the number of between six and seven hundred persons.

The greater part of the furniture, &c. in the palace of the _Tuileries_ was sold in the spring of 1793. The sale lasted six months, and, had it not been stopped, would have continued six months longer. Some of the king's dress-suits which had cost twelve hundred louis fetched no more than five. By the inventory taken immediately after the 10th of August 1792, and laid before the Legislative a.s.sembly, it appears that the moveables of every description contained in this palace were valued at 12,540,158 livres (_circa_ 522,560 sterling,) in which was included the amount of the thefts, committed on that day, estimated at 1,000,000 livres, and that of the dilapidations, at the like sum, making together about 84,000 sterling.

When Catherine de Medicis inhabited the palace of the _Tuileries_, it was connected to the _Louvre_ by a garden, in the middle of which was a large pond, always well stocked with fish for the supply of the royal table. Lewis XIV transformed this garden into a s.p.a.cious square or _place_, where in the year 1662, he gave to the queen dowager and his royal consort a magnificent fete, at which, were a.s.sembled princes, lords, and knights, with their ladies, from every part of Europe. Hence the square was named

PLACE DU CARROUSEL.

Previously to the revolution, the palace of the _Tuileries_, on this side, was defended by a wall, pierced by three gates opening into as many courts, separated by little buildings, which, in part, served for lodging a few troops and their horses. All these buildings are taken down; the _Place du Carrousel_ is considerably enlarged by the demolition of various circ.u.mjacent edifices; and the wall is replaced by a handsome iron railing, fixed on a parapet about four feet high.

In this railing are three gates, the centre one of which is surmounted by c.o.c.ks, holding in their beak a civic crown over the letters R. F. the initials of the words _Republique Francaise_. On each side of it are small lodges, built of stone; and at the entrance are constantly posted two _vedettes_, belonging to the horse-grenadiers of the consular guard.

On the piers of the other two gates are placed the four famous horses of gilt bronze, brought from St. Mark's place at Venice, whither they had been carried after the capture of Byzantium. These productions are generally ascribed to the celebrated Lysippus, who flourished in the reign of Alexander the Great, about 325 years before the christian era; though this opinion is questioned by some distguished antiquaries and artists. Whoever may be the sculptor, their destiny is of a nature to fix attention, as their removal has always been the consequence of a political revolution. After, the conquest of Greece by the Romans, they were transported from Corinth to Rome, for the purpose of adorning the triumphal arch of Septimius Severus. Hence they were removed to Byzantium, when that city became the seat of the eastern empire. From Byzantium, they were conveyed to Venice, and from Venice they have at last reached Paris.

As on the plain of Pharsalia the fate of Rome was decided by Caesar's triumph over Pompey, so on the _Place du Carrousel_ the fate of France by the triumph of the Convention over Robespierre and his satellites. Here, Henriot, one of his most devoted creatures, whom he had raised to the situation of commandant general of the Parisian guard, after having been carried prisoner before the Committee of Public Safety, then sitting in the palace of the _Tuileries_, was released by Coffinhal, the President of the Revolutionary Tribunal, who suddenly made his appearance at the head of a large body of horse and foot, supported by four pieces of cannon served by gunners the most devoted to Robespierre.

It was half past seven o'clock in the evening, where Coffinhal, decorated with his munic.i.p.al scarf, presented himself before the Committee: all the members thought themselves lost, and their fright communicating to the very bosom of the Convention, there spread confusion and terror. But Coffinhal's presence of mind was not equal to his courage: he availed himself only in part of his advantage.

After having, without the slightest resistance, disarmed the guards attached to the Convention, he loosened the fettered hands of Henriot and his aides-de-camp, and conducted them straight to the _Maison Commune_.

It is an incontestable fact that had either Coffinhal or Henriot imitated the conduct of Cromwell in regard to the Levellers, and marched at the head of their troops into the hall of the Convention, he might have carried all before him, and Robespierre's tyranny would have been henceforth established on a basis not to be shaken.