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rope; till his invasion of Russia in 1812, brought on a series of reverses, which stript him of his crown, and France of her conquests.

Lutetia, or PARIS, was a thatched village in the time of the Romans. Chlovis chose it for the capital of his kingdom in 508. It was enlarged and embellished by succeeding monarchs, particularly Charles VI. and Louis XIV. None of the approaches to London can be compared with the entrance into Paris from the west, which, passing through St Germains, leads to the Champs Elysées, the gardens and palace of the Tuileries, and the Louvre. No capital in Europe has streets equal in beauty to the Boulevards, which occupy the space of the ancient fortifications of the town. This space unencumbered with buildings, has been converted into a continued series of spacious and magnificent streets, which encircle the city. The northern boulevards have in the middle a wide unpaved road, with a long row of lofty trees on each side, and between each row of trees and the parallel row of houses are spacious gravelled walks for foot passengers. The width is from 200 to 300 feet. The Champs de Mars is an oblong park on the north-west of Paris, extending from the Military School to the river, and bor dered on each side by several rows of trees. The Palais Royal, situated in the centre of Paris, has long ceased to be a royal residence; it is a bazaar on a large scale, and a general rendezvous both for business and amusement. The Place de Carousal is a spacious oblong between the Tuileries and the Louvre, extending a quarter of a mile in length, and having the long picture gallery on its south side. Of public monuments the principal is a great pillar in the Place Vendome, covered with bronze basso-relievos made from the cannon taken at the battle of Austerlitz: it is 12 feet in diameter, and 133 feet high, and is surmounted by a colossal statue of Napoleon. The Exchange, the most sumptuous edifice in Paris, and the finest of the kind in the world, was also built by Napoleon: it is of the same size, and nearly of the same form, as the Parthenon at Athens.

Besides Paris, France has many other large and popu lous towns:-Lyons, famous for silk manufactures; Beur

deaux, for its wines; Brest and Toulon, as naval stations; Versailles, for its palace; and Strasburg, for its cathedral. Nantz is celebrated as the place where Henry IV. passed an edict in favour of the Protestants; and the revocation of which, by Louis XIV., compelled so many of that persuasion to flee their country.

V.-Spain.

SPAIN may almost be regarded as a great battle-field, so numerous, long-continued, and obstinate, have been the struggles by various tribes and nations for possession of the soil. Rome, after two centuries of fighting, acquired the mastery of this fine country, and maintained her dominion over it for 400 years. Upon the fall of the empire, the Vandals held possession of the country for a short period; but were compelled to fly into Africa, before Theod'oric, king of the Visigoths, leaving a southern province called after their name Vandalusia—a name which, with a slight change, it still retains. The country submitted for three centuries to the Visigoths; when in 712, the Arabs or Saracens having conquered the whole African coast of the Mediterranean from the Nile to the Atlantic, carried their victorious arms into Spain. Then followed 700 years of warfare, during which the country was held by the Goths and Moors in different proportions, at different periods. The Moors were finally expelled in 1492, when Ferdinand of Arragon, and Isabella of Castile, made their triumphant entry into Grenada, the last bulwark of the Musselmans. The enterprise of Columbus, who discovered a new world, in 1492, gave to Spain vast territories in America, abounding in gold and silver mines. After this acquisition, the Spanish monarch took the title of king of Spain and the Indies. In the time of Charles V., from 1519 to 1556, Spain was the most powerful military nation in Europe. In addition to his vast possessions in America and the West Indies, the Spanish monarch ruled over the Netherlands, Burgundy, Milan, Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia. These European States cast off in succession the Spanish yoke, and the American

provinces having recently asserted their independence, Spain has sunk down into a feeble and second-rate power. The attempt of the French Emperor in 1808, to seize upon the Spanish monarchy, gave rise to a five years' war, in which the English, under the Duke of Wellington, gained a brilliant series of victories.

MADRID was an inconsiderable village till the fineness of the air attracted the attention of the Spanish Kings, and it became the capital in the reign of Philip II., about the middle of the sixteenth century. Though 2000 feet above the level of the sea, it nevertheless stands on a plain surrounded by mountains. The Prado is a large plain on the east of the town, planted with rows of trees, and beautified with fountains. The Alcala is the largest street in Madrid, so wide that ten carriages may pass abreast in any part of it. Five of the principal streets terminate in the square of the Sun, which is a place of much resort, both for the idle and the busy. The Plaza Mayor, or Great Square, where the markets are now held, was formerly the arena of the bull-fights. The triumphal arch of Alcala, leading to the Prado, and the gate of Toledo, leading to the majestic bridge over the Manzanares, are both much admired. Twenty-two miles NW. of Madrid is the palace of the Escurial, esteemed the most magnificent in Europe.

Barcelona is a large sea-port with considerable manufactures; Cadiz is a place of great trade; Toledo is famous for its swords; Seville and Grenada were once royal cities, and are still places of importance; Badajoz is strongly fortified; and Saragossa is famous for the des perate resistance it made against the French invaders in 1808-9.

VI.-Portugal.

IN 1139, Alphonso, Count of Portucalé (the present Oporto, having obtained a complete victory over five Moorish princes, his soldiers proclaimed him king upon the field of battle, and he exchanged the humble title of Count for that of a Royal Sovereign. The same Alphonso

seized Lisbon in 1148; and the conquest of Algarva was completed by Alphonso III., in 1254. Thus the Portuguese kings were freed from the Saracens, and in possession of their present limits, long before Spain had shaken off the Moorish yoke. Although comparatively insignificant in point of size and population, Portugal has shown more than once how much the power of a country may be increased by the public spirit of its inhabitants. In the annals of the middle ages, no nation holds a higher rank than Portugal, which during two centuries conquered many islands, gave laws on the banks of the Ganges, founded numerous towns and factories in India, traversed every sea with its ships, and shared with Spain vast territories, bounded according to the decrees or caprice of a Roman pontiff. Vasco de Gama, in 1497, established a new road to the East Indies. To her numerous possessions on the African coast, Portugal now added the acquisition of Goa, the conquest of Ceylon; and, in 1501, the vast territory of Brazil. In 1807, Napoleon seized upon the kingdom of Portugal, but the country remained only a short time in possession of the French.

LISBON became the capital of Portugal in the beginning of the fifteenth century, Coimbra having been formerly the royal residence. The town rises like an amphitheatre on the right bank of the estuary of the Tagus, and occupies a space of about four miles in length, and 1 in breadth. The Castle or citadel, stands on a height, and is of great strength and importance. The harbour is one of the best anchoring places in Europe, and is capable of containing 10,000 ships. The city was almost destroyed by an earthquake in 1755, in which upwards of 60,000 of the inhabitants perished. The east part, which escaped this calamity, is called the old town, and in it the streets are crooked, narrow, and dirty; the other part, rebuilt with great splendour, is called the New Town, and contains many fine edifices. But the most remarkable piece of architecture, is the aqueduct of Bemfica, which supplies the town with water: it is ten miles long, and the largest arch is 206 feet in height, and 100 feet in span.

Both Spain and Portugal are remarkable for the number of religious houses, and for the bigotry of the people.

The monastry of Alcobaça, is the richest in the world possessing a revenue greater than that of the sovereign of the kingdom: the kitchen is more than 100 feet long, and is traversed by the water of eight fountains.

VII.-Switzerland.

SWITZERLAND is the highest inhabited land in Europe, and is unrivalled in point of romantic and picturesque scenery. In this region the Alps attain their highest elevation; and most of their summits are covered with perpetual snow. The glaciers are masses of ice that have been accumulating for ages, and they often present the most beautiful and fantastic appearances, giving the idea of a crystal city, with its spires and turrets glittering in the sun. The avalanches are huge bodies of snow and ice, which being loosened from their heights by the approach of summer, tumble down the mountains, burying the traveller, and sometimes whole villages, under the falling mass. Mount Blanc, with its snowy summit peering above the clouds, is seen from almost every quarter of the country. Though there are many deep ravines and fearful chasms, there are also many delightful vallies and lovely recesses, affording landscapes of the most romantic beauty; while the neat cottages, the property of their inmates, and the clean and well-built towns, bespeak comfort and contentment. The Swiss have long been remarkable for bravery-love of freedom-simplicity of manners-and attachment to their country. Every artizan is a soldier at the age of twenty.

The ancient inhabitants of Switzerland were called Helvetii, and were conquered by Julius Cæsar. The Huns invaded Switzerland in the eighth century, but their army was totally defeated. Two hundred years afterwards, hordes of Hungarians, Moors, and Saracens, appeared twice on the Alps: they burnt the villages, and plundered the country during fifty years, but were at last destroyed by the brave mountaineers. When Switzerland, in the year 1270, gave an Emperor to Germany, in the person

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