that which is called l' Isle du Palais was for several ages the whole of Paris.

The houses are either entirely built of hewnstone, or of stone less accurately finished; of the latter, the walls are rough-cast. At the beginning of the reign of the present king, some houses were built both of brick and stone, as the Place-Royal, Place-Dauphin, &c. that mode is however now entirely discontinued. In some few instances, as in the Abbey of St. Germain, the plaister front is made to resemble brick-work.

The houses are every where high and stately; the churches numerous but not large, the towers and steeples but few in proportion to the churches. Some of the churches are finished with that noble way of steeple-building by domes or cupolas, which has a surprising effect in prospect: that of the Val de Grace, des Invalides, College Mazarin, De l' Assumption, the Grand Jesuits, La Sorbonne, and some few others are examples of this.

All the houses of persons of distinction are built with port-cochéres, that is, wide gates to allow of carriages being driven in; there are consequently courts within the gates, and generally remises, or coach-houses, to protect them from the weather. Of these gate-ways, there are estimated to be more than seven hundred, very many of which have the pillars carved and formed after the most noble patterns of ancient architecture.

The lowest windows of all the houses are secured with strong iron bars, which must have been attended with a vast expence.

As the houses are magnificent on the outside, so the decorations within are elegant and sumptuous. The gildings, carvings, and paintings of the ceilings, are admirable in point of workmanship and finishing; while the hangings of rich tapestry, raised with threads of gold and silver; the beds of crimson damask and velvet, or of gold and silver tissue; cabinets and bureaus of ivory, inlaid with tortoise-shell; and gold and silver ornaments in a great variety of fashions; branches of crystal and candlesticks of the same, and, above all, most rare pictures, declare the costliness and grandeur of the furniture.

Displays of this sort are, in Paris and its vicinity, in such variety and excess, that you cannot enter the private dwellings of men of any substance without being struck with them; so that it is no uncommon thing, for the gentry to ruin themselves in these expences, for every one who has any thing to spare, is, uneasy till he has laid it out in the purchase of sculpture or paintings, the productions of some eminent artist. And this has been observed to be more particularly the case with individuals, who have become suddenly rich by inheritance, or other means. The whole is immediately expended in the purchase of ornamental furniture, or in the decorations of a garden; so that it is scarcely conceivable, what a vast variety of fine things there is to gratify and delight the curious stranger. Yet after all, there are so many utensils and conveniencies of life, which are common in England, wanting here, that M. Justall, a Parisian, told me he had made a catalogue of such deficiencies, and that they were threescore in number.

The streets are paved with square stones, about eight or ten inches in thickness, so that they are as deep in the ground, as they are broad at top; the gutters are without edges, so that carriages glide easily over them. The streets, however, are very narrow, and people on foot are not secured from the hurry and danger of coaches, which always pass with an air of haste; nor is the noise made by a full trot upon broad flat stones, and between lofty and resounding houses, so pleasing to the ears of strangers, as it would seem to be to the Parisians.

The royal palaces are surprisingly stately, particularly the Louvre, the Tuilleries, the Palais Luxembourg, and the Palais Royal.

The convents are spacious, well built, and numerous; the squares are few, but greatly admired, particularly the Place Royal; Place Victoire, Place Dauphin, which is the least of all except the Place Vendosme, and that is in an unfinished state.

The gardens, which are within the walls of the city and thrown open to the public, are of large extent, and extremely beautiful; of these the principal are the Tuilleries, the Palais Royal, Luxembourg, the royal physic garden, that of the Arsenal, and many others belonging to the convents.

But that which renders a residence in this city par ticularly agreeable to people of quality, is the facility of driving into the fields which lie around in all directions, and the avenues to which are well paved. These places of airing are perfectly clean, and the drives are either open or shaded, as the time of the day, the season of the year, or the inclination of individuals

may require. The Cour de la Reyne, Bois de Bologne, Bois de Vincennes, Les Sables, de Vaugerarde are the principal of these.

But to descend to a more particular review of this great city, I think it not amiss to speak first of the streets and public places, and what may be seen in them; in the next place of the houses of greatest note, and what curiosities of nature or art they contain; also of the individuals with whom I conversed, and the museums and libraries to which I had access. In the next place I shall speak of the diet of the Parisians and their recreations; then of the gardens and their furniture and ornaments; and lastly, of the air of Paris, the health of the citizens, and the present state of physic and pharmacy there.

CHAP. II.

OF THE STREETS AND PUBLIC PLACES, AND THE OBJECTS THAT ARE TO BE SEEN IN THEM.

THE carriages here are very numerous, and much embellished with gilding; there are very few of them, and none except those of the prime nobility, that are large and have a double seat. But what they want in the size, beauty and neatness of ours in London, is amply compensated by their superior ease, and by the facility with which they turn in the narrowest streets. They are all crane-necked, with the fore-wheels very small, not exceeding two feet and a half in diameter. By this contrivance, they are not only easy to be entered, but the coach-box is brought down so low, that the prospect through the front glasses is but little impeded; while in the London carriages, the high-seated coachman is always in the point of view. Another advantage which they possess is, that they are hung with double springs at each of the four corners, which insensibly break or prevent all jolts; and this extends even to the fiacres, or hackney-coaches. I never