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Untitled Article
be observed , that from time im . memorial , lodgings have , in Paris , been for their quality estimated as rather dear . The public amuse . merits of this metropolis have been
so long and so loudly celebrated , that it is superfluous to remark , they afford , for every unemployed evening , a cheap and elegant amusement . To the man of letters Paris is a
most eligible residence . The stores of its public libraries , especially of the Bibliotheque Royale afford him an exhaustless fund of materials for study . The facility of access to these treasures of
knowledge claims the thankful acknowledgments even of the transient visitor ; much more so must it excite the grateful applause of those who 5 devoting themselves to some
specml literary object , are indulged with the free use of the most pre . cious documents , and are aided in their researches by the liberal , ity of some of the first scholars of the age .
Not less powerful is the charm which attracts the lover of the fine arts to the metropolis of France . Here is established the public school of the world for the study of painting and sculpture . Here the man of liberal education
contemplates those forms which have been depicted to his fancy in early life—and the artist acquires those practical lessons which are only to be obtained by minute examina * tion of the works of the most
distinguished masters . If the attracting of multitudes of wealthy and ingenious strangers to the capital of a great kingdom be at all conducive to public prosperity or diffusive fame , the transportation of the reliques of art and of the choicest paintings in Europe to
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Paris was not merely the work of vanity —it was a master-stroke of policy . As I slowly paced the gallery of the Louvre , my attention was occasionally abstracted from the wonders with which I was sur .
rounded , by speculations upon the probable duration of the period when an Englishman will be able to visit these repositories of taste in the character of a friend and
an ally . The pursuit of these spe . culations leads to a wide fidd of thoughts . The solving of the problem will , in the first place , depend upon the settlement of a preliminary inquiry : Will the go . vernment of the Bourbons be sta .
ble ? And from every thing that I could observe during my visit to France , I am persuaded that the stability of the Bourbon dynasty will depend entirely upon the conduct of the heads of that illustrious
house , and that they have not altogether an easy game to play The allegiance of the great body of the army is more than doubtful . The troops are generally disaffected to them . I understand also , that in consequence of their confirmation of the sales of confiscated
property , the loyalty of the ancient noblesse toward them is much impaired ; and with regard to the mass of the people the enthusiasm in favour of Louis XVIII . of which
we read so much in the Moniteur , appears merely on paper . Still , however , the mass of the people are friendly to the Bourbons . They were so oppressed by
Buonaparte ; and the conscription , m particular , made such inroads upon their domestic comforts , that though their joy is by no means extravagant they are glad to sea the throne filled by a monarch
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600 State and Prospects of France .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1814, page 600, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2445/page/12/
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