lars to seven dollars fifty cents per sack. This arrangement can not but operate with great hardship, not only by locking up capital to the amount of six or seven hundred thousand dollars, but by placing the bakers too much in the hands of the corn-dealers, and also by affecting the price of bread. When the markets are rising, they can not resort to their stock in the warehouses without running the risk of having to replace it, at perhaps a considerable sacrifice; whereas, by consuming their stock on hand, and keeping out of the market for a time, the price of corn would come down. An artificial demand is created, the effect of which is to raise prices in an unnatural manner. Private speculation effects by more economical means those arrangements which the executive power can not undertake without oppressing private interests. The notion of providing for the prospective consumption of Paris indicates a want of confidence in the ever-active agency of personal interests, operating in commercial transactions, which possibly will be soon regarded as of little importance, now that the nature of trade is more generally and better understood by the French people. If a scarcity be apprehended in any particular quarter, prices rise as a matter of course, and hundreds of individuals avail themselves of the opportunities which are best known to themselves; and by purchasing wherever the commodity is in the greatest plenty and the cheapest, the scarcity is obviated and prices are equalized; or, if there be a real deficiency in the supply, the same vigilance prevents its being felt more severely in one place than in another.

The annual consumption of bread in Paris is 397,272,972 pounds, of the value of $10,262,000; the consumption of flour in pastry and various other ways is 27,145,732 pounds, of the value of $11,044,000; making the total consumption amount in value to $11,366,000, and in quantity to 434,000,000 pounds. If the annual expenses of each inhabitant of Paris be divided into one hundred parts, nineteen of them, or nearly one fifth, are occasioned by the consumption of bread, twenty-two parts by the consumption of meat, and twenty-seven in wine and spirits. Each individual uses a greater quantity of bread in Paris than in London, and in the former capital the working classes may often be seen dining on bread and fruit, or with the addition of a small quantity of cheese, while in England there are few individuals of the same class who do not take animal food at their principal meal. It is fortunate that the price of bread in Paris is usually low. The price is fixed by the police every fort night, in the same manner that the assize of bread was formerly taken periodically in London; and it is generally sixty per cent. cheaper in Paris than in London, and of as good quality.

FUEL. A comparison between London and Paris, as to the extent to which the population of each capital actually enjoy an abundant supply of fuel, will be very much in favor of London, for the necessity of having recourse to fires is not felt for so long a period of the year in Paris; and it is certain that the Parisians contrive to be cheerful without a fire, where an Englishman would often require one for "company," as it is sometimes alleged; yet the cost of fuel in Paris averages thirty-eight shillings and sixpence, and in London only thirty-two shillings, while the quantity used for manufacturing purposes is much greater in proportion in London than in Paris. The sum of thirty-two shillings goes twice as far in London in the purchase of fuel as thirty-eight shillings and sixpence in Paris; and fuel is consumed in the latter place chiefly in indispensable cases, while in England it is regarded as increas ing the means of comfort and cheerfulness. The consumption of every kind of fuel in Paris amounts in value to $8,360,000, being nearly one half the amount of the annual rental for all the houses in Paris, and two thirds of the sum annually spent in wearing apparel. The consumption in 1827 was 1,065,166 steres of firewood, 4,007,459 fagots, 2,174,865 hectolitres of charcoal, and 938,722 hectolitres of coal. The population has increased considerably since 1827, and a proportional addition must be made to each of the above articles to exhibit the present consumption. Duties are charged on the admission of the above articles within the walls of Paris.

The supply of firewood is brought down by the Seine in rafts, of which about four thousand five hundred arrive annually; but this number includes those which bring charcoal and timber for other purposes than fuel. The Seine rises in the department of the Côté d'Or, southeast of Paris, and receives the Yonne, the Aube, and the Marne, before it enters Paris. It communicates with the Loire, the Saone, the Somme, and the Scheldt, by canals. The greater the distance whence the supply is brought, the more necessary it is that the wood should be seasoned so as to resist the effects of the water. If the bark has been stripped off at the time of the wood being

cut, and then allowed to remain exposed, it becomes hardened, and is much better adapted for fuel. The degrees in which several kinds of wood differ in their specific qualities, and the degree of caloric which each of those qualities will give forth, have been investigated. The wood which is obtained from trees growing in a stratum of stones and gravel is much esteemed, and is brought by the Yonne from the Bourgogne. The distance from Paris not being great, it does not receive injury by long contact with the water. Wood of an inferior description is used by the bakers. The poorer classes often use wood in nearly a green state, from a mistaken notion of economy; but the moisture which is disengaged neutralizes the effect of the caloric, and dry wood, of a higher price, would in reality be more economical. There are two or three kinds of wood which are used on account of the pleasant perfume which they emit, and others on account of the clear and lively flame which attends their combustion. There is something extremely agreeable in a wood fire, on account of the cheerful blaze, the pleasant odor, and the absence of smoke and dust, which characterize it; but this is a luxury of a very expensive description in Paris. To keep the embers in a smouldering state is the only means of preventing the cost of fuel from bearing a great disproportion to other household expenses. A composition of charcoal, in the shape of small bricks, is used to economize wood. Stoves, though not so common as in this country, are still in extensive use in Paris. Charcoal is used in cooking only, and, as in some parts of the south of England where fuel is scarce, the fire is lighted and put out several times a-day. Of the coal consumed in Paris, the great proportion is used, not by private families, but in manufactories and workshops. About one fourth of the quantity raised in France is obtained from the mines in the department of the Nord, and the supply arrives at Paris by canal from Lille. One seventh of the total quantity of coal exported by England, or one hundred and four thousand one hundred and thirty-eight tons, is imported by France, chiefly at Bordeaux and other towns on the coast, which find the cost of internal transport much greater than that of obtaining a foreign supply.

The Ile Louviers, one of the three islands formed by the Seine within the walls of Paris, is used as a depôt for firewood. It is about three quarters of a mile in length. A depot of this description (chantier) is represented in the engraving.

The charbonniers form a class similar in some respects to the London coalheavers, and are distinguished by a peculiarity of costume. They are said chiefly to come from one particular part of France, contrive by industry to accumulate a small capital, and then permanently retire to their native department. Before the revolution of 1789, a deputation of the charbonniers had the privilege of being admitted at court when any royal marriage or birth occurred. The market-women, or dames de la halle, enjoyed by courtesy a similar right. These distinctions, accorded under special circumstances to a fraction of the people by despotic monarchs, who regarded the mass of the people as incapable of exercising any power in the state, are now unknown, and would, in France, be inconsistent with the broad basis on which a constitutional monarchy reposes, when all classes are permitted to approach the throne.

CHAPTER III.-FRANCE.

AMONG the public establishments of Paris may be mentioned the baths, which have much increased in number within these last few years, and received considerable improvements in regard to neatness, convenience, and elegance.

On taking a survey of this extensive city from a central situation, such as the steeples of Nôtre Dame, or the cupola of the Pantheon, it presents, with its suburbs, a form nearly circular, and as coal is not generally employed for fuel, its spires and domes are clearly seen, so that the situation of the distant public buildings and monuments is distinctly marked.

There are few streets in London which will bear comparison with the Boulevards of Paris; they occupy the space originally appropriated to the defence of the city. This space has been converted into wide and magnificent streets, in the centre of which is an unpaved road, and on each side of the road is a row of lofty trees, and between each row of trees and the houses are wide gravel walks, for the accommodation of the pedestrians. The waving line which these streets assumes, adds greatly to the beauty of the Boulevards; the eye can not reach to the end of the

prospect, and the uncommon width is productive of no vacuity or dulness, so active are the movements of carriages and passengers, and so lively the scene presented in the shops, the hotels, and the coffeehouses on either side. The massy stone structures of Paris appear to greater advantage here than in the narrower streets. On the southern side of Paris, the Boulevards extend a still greater length, and are planted with trees, but they are not considered to equal those on the other side of the city.

The banks of the Seine present but few attractions to the visiter, except in the quarter of the Tuilleries, where, on one side are the Louvre and the Tuilleries, with its gardens, and on the other, from the Palais Bourbon to the Pont-Neuf, a succession of fine buildings. The older bridges were all constructed at points where the river is divided by islands. The oldest is the Pont Nôtre Dame, which was commenced in the year 1500. It is three hundred and sixty-two feet long by fifty-two feet broad, and was formerly ornamented with statues and medallions of the kings of France, but these have been destroyed. The square tower rising above the centre of the bridge, contains machinery for raising water. On the banks of the river may be seen the washerwomen of Paris, beating their dirty clothes clean.

The Pont-Neuf has twelve arches, and is 1020 feet long. The Pont-Royal, with five arches, was built by Louis XIV.; the Pont de Louis XVI., or de la Concorde, completed in 1790, has five arches; lower down the river, and opposite the Champ de Mars, is the Pont d'Jéna; and higher up, is the Pont d'Austerlitz, a fine iron bridge; the Pont des Arts, opposite the Louvre, is also of iron, but is intended merely for foot passengers. The last three were built during the reign of Napoleon. The Pont de l'Archevêché, of three arches, was built in 1828; the Pont des Invalides, an iron bridge, in 1829; and the Pont d'Arcole, also of iron, in 1828. There are fortynine quays; they are stone embankments, on both sides of the river, and around the islands; the whole extent is about fifteen miles. The sewers fall into the river through arches under the quays. Many passages, or covered streets, with shops fitted up in an elegant style, have been constructed within a few years. Paris is supplied with water, partly by aqueducts, and partly from the Seine; there are eightysix fountains in the public places and Boulevards, some of which are distinguished for their architecture. The houses are generally very high (seven or eight stories), and generally speaking, built of stone. For the magnificence of its palaces, the French capital surpasses every other city in Europe. From the Cité the streets run north to the Temple, and south to the Pantheon, but without being broad or elegant; in recent times, the direction has been given them south to the suburb St. Germain, and north to the Tuilleries. They are not so clean as they might be, since the water is carried off by only one gutter, in the centre of the street; a few of them are paved in the modern style, and provided with footpaths. The Rue de Rivoli, Rue de Castiglione, and Rue de la Paix, are handsome streets. Among the finest of the public places are the Place Vendome and the Place du Carousel, which separates the Tuilleries from the Louvre. The Place Louis XVI., or de la Concorde, in which is a monument erected to the memory of Louis XVI., but which has recently been consecrated to the charter, is also one of the most beautiful in Paris. This place contains also one of the Egyptian obelisks brought from the Luxor; one of the two is depicted in our engraving.

When the French army, in their attempt on Egypt, penetrated as far as Thebes, they were, almost to a man, overpowered by the majesty of the ancient monuments they saw before them; and Bonaparte is then said to have conceived the idea of removing at least one of the obelisks to Paris. But reverses and defeat followed. The French were forced to abandon Egypt, and the English remaining masters of the seas, effectually prevented any such importation into France.

The project of Bonaparte had the sort of classical precedent he so much admired. Roman conquerors and Roman emperors had successively enriched the capital of the world with the monuments of subdued nations, and with the spoils of art from Sicily, Greece, and Egypt. Among these, the Emperor Augustus ordered two Egyptian obelisks, also of the same character as Cleopatra's Needle, to be brought to Rome. To this end, an immense vessel of a peculiar construction was built; and when, after a tedious and difficult voyage, it reached the Tyber with its freight, one of the columns was placed in the Grand Circus, and the other in the Campus Martius, at Rome. Caligula adorned Rome with a third Egyptian obelisk, obtained in the same manner.