its powerful activity; while canals are dug, and vast edifices are begun or terminated; while by a propitious vow which descended from the throne of St Louis, the worship of the patroness of Paris is re-established in the magnificent edifice erected by the piety of your ancestors; the private citizens, on their side, happy under your laws, rival each other in their zeal and ar

dour to aggrandize, adorn, and embellish this noble city.

"Three hundred new houses are rising at once; nineteen hundred are receiving repairs and embellishments. Money, the instrument of prosperity, circulates with rapidity from the hand of the capitalist to that of the work man; industry continues its wonders; benevolence, after so many supernatural efforts in calamitous years, docs not relax its pious ardour; and useful éstablishments are preparing, forming, or improving. Sisters of charity are established in all the quartiers of the town; schools are open for youth; and the number of children who receive religious and moral instruction has been tripled in a few years, and still

increases.

Enjoy, sire, this consoling spectacle-all hearts spring towards you; the hymn of gratitude ascends to the throne-the fruitful source of the public happiness-the sacred pledge of the welfare of France."

A new census of the population of France has just been published with the approbation of the king, which makes the number of inhabitants amount to near thirty millions and a half.

One of the events which has excited the most attention and conversation of the Parisians during this month, was

the consecration of the new church of St Genevieve, the patroness of Paris, on the third of this month, which is her festival.

On the 26th of December was pub lished the following letter from the King to the Archbishop of Paris :—

"MY LORD ARCHBISHOP,

"I HAVE Ordered that the new church, founded in honour of St Genevieve, by King Louis XV., should be placed at your disposal, in order that you may consecrate it to the performance of divine worship, under the invocation of that Saint. Wishing, according to the example of my predecessors, to give a public testimony of my devotion towards the patroness of my good town of Paris, and to draw down, by the intercession of that powerful protectress of my capital, the favour of God on my family and on myself, I write you this letter for to tell you, that on the third of next January you will cause prayers and solemn supplication to be made for this purpose in the Church of St Genevieve, and that you are to invite there the cour royale, and the municipal body of my good city of Paris, as well as the civil tribunal, the tribunal of commerce, the justices of the peace of the twelve arrondissemens of Paris, the staff of the national guard, that of the first military division, and that of la place. On this, I pray God, my Lord Archbishop, to have you in his holy keeping.

(Signed)

"LOUIS
"CORBIERES,

Minister of the Interior."

This church of Genevieve has under

gone so many vicissitudes since its foundation, and its history is so much connected, in many respects, with the annals of Paris, that I am persuaded you will like to have some short details concerning it.

A simple shepherdess, born in the village of Narterre, near Paris, cotemporary with St Germain, from whom a large portion of this city derives its name, and with Clovis, the first Christian king, and the real founder of the French monarchy, this shepherdess became the patroness of Paris; and after having been held in the greatest veneration in the capital of France, one of the greatest cities of the world, for near fourteen centuries, her name has now been proclaimed again with

fresh honours in the beginning of the 19th century!

It is related, that by her prayers and her moving eloquence, she saved this city from total destruction, when Attila, King of the Huns, came to ravage the province of Gaul. Clovis erected a church in honour of St Peter and Paul; but the body of St Genevieve having been buried in it, the Parisians, in gratitude to their benefactress, gave it her name. This ancient church subsisted till the beginning of the present century, but is now utterly demolished. The new church owes its foundation to a vow of Louis XV. about the middle of the last century, when he had a dangerous illness at Metz. Among the number of plans that were presented, that of Soufflot was preferred, as the most original and most noble: and Louis XV. laid the first stone of the church himself, on the 3d of September 1764, near 60 years ago. In 1770, the work was suspended, on account of some alarms respecting the solidity of the dome, which were so well founded, that the original plan of the interior, which was to consist entirely of insulated columns, was hecessarily relinquished; and the spaces between them were filled up with massy masonry, which entirely spoiled the primitive design. By this misfortune, this church, which was intended to be a rival to St Peter's at Rome, St Paul's at London, and St Sophia's at Constantinople, is merely an ouvrage marqué, though, at the same time, it must be allowed that its general appearance is grand and noble. It has cost above 30 millions of francs, more than L.1,200,000 sterling, in building, in embellishments, and in reparations. In 1791, the Constituent Assembly, of which an ingenious writer has said that the name will be a perpetual epigram, because, instead of constituting any thing, they led the way to the overthrow of every thing, this assembly changed the destination of the church of St Genevieve, and gave it the ridiculous name of the Pantheon. The church dedicated to the ancient patroness of Paris became a temple, on the frieze of which was placed this pompous inscription: Aux grands hommes la patrie reconnaissante. But the inscription was premature, for no grunds hommes made their appearance. The first to whom the honour of a sepulture in this new temple was decreed

was the orator Mirabeau. To him were soon after associated Voltaire and Rousseau, and, in due time, regicides and jacobins, sullied with every crime.

During this time, the shrine of St Genevieve, the object of public veneration for so many centuries, the ornaments of which were valued at several millions of livres, had been publicly burnt in the Place de Greve, the Tyburn of Paris.

In 1806, Bonaparte took it into his head to decree that the church of St Genevieve should be restored to the Roman Catholic worship, under the invocation of the patroness of Paris; but nothing farther was done than to convert the subterraneous vaults into a place of burial for his senators.

In consequence of the King's letter to the Archbishop of Paris, every preparation was inade, with the greatest haste, to open this church for public worship on the 3d of this month. Early in the morning of that day, an immense crowd assembled in the front. of the church, and, about nine o'clock, arrived deputations from all the principal courts of justice, with the whole municipal body, preceded by the prefect of the department and the prefect of police, the rector of the Academy of Paris and his inspectors, the judges of the peace, a great number of peers and deputies, the royal polytechnic school, and a great number of distinguished persons.

The archbishop arrived, preceded by all his clergy; several bishops, and a great number of the members of the royal chapter of St Denis, had seats in the choir. The students of the seminaries in Paris were arranged in an amphitheatre, round an elegant altar, which had been erected almost suddenly at the bottom of the church. At eleven, was announced the arrival of Monsieur, Madame, and the Duke d'Angouleme. The archbishop, at the head of the chapter and clergy of the metropolis, went to the portal, where he received their Royal Highnesses, whose presence excited general satisfaction, and added something still more solemn and affecting to the religious pomp, which of itself was calculated to arouse such numerous and striking recollections.

While their royal highnesses were taking their seats, nearly 300 young women, all dressed in white, and collected together under a white banner,

on which shone the image of the Blessed Virgin, sung hymns and canticles, in which the most tender sentiments of piety and loyalty were happily mingled together. The drums beat to arms; and this confusion of female voices with such warlike sounds, together with the repetition of the choruses, in which the whole people joined, formed an admirable concert, which made the most lively impression on every heart.

The archbishop first performed the benediction of the church, and then went in solemn procession to the neighbouring church of St Etienne, followed by all the cures of Paris, and all the authorities; the members of the royal family, too, joined in this religious march, the object of which was to fetch some relics of St Genevieve, which, having been formerly preserved in various churches and convents, had escaped the revolutionary fury. They had been put into a shrine, which was now translated by the archbishop into the new church.

As soon as the procession had returned, the archbishop began the high mass, which he celebrated pontifically, and which had a very fine effect, being performed by all the musicians of the cathedral, assisted by the choristers of that church. The effect was doubled, perhaps, by the pleasure which all the assistants must have felt in hearing hymns consecrated to the divinity, reechoed by the vaults of a church which the spirit of impiety had so long condemned to desolation and gloomy silence. After the mass, the shrine was carried to an altar, elevated in the middle of the church, under the dome; here the prayer for the king was sung, after which their royal highnesses took their departure amidst the acclamations of an immense multitude.

It was destined, however, that the royal family should lose one of their members in this new church. On the 10th of this month, the Duchess of Bourbon, having gone to the church of St Genevieve to perform her devotions, was seized with a fainting fit and expired almost immediately. It is remarkable that she had sent for her man of business that very morning on purpose to sign her will. She was sister to the late Duke of Orleans, and was near 72 years of age. She was exceedingly charitable to the poor; and in memory of the tragical death of her

only son, the unfortunate Duke d'Enghien, she had formed a sort of charitable institution within the precincts of her own hotel in Paris, under the name of Hospice d'Enghien. Her husband, the Duke of Bourbon, is son to the late Prince of Condé ; and it is said that at his father's death he requested the King for permission to retain his own title, and not to assume the name of Condé; because, as his father was a distinguished warrior, like all his ancestors, which he himself was not, and he had no hope of posterity, he wished it might be said that the last Prince of Condé was a warrior like the others. Now, however, that the Duke of Bourbon has lost his wife, who was some years older than himself, there is great talk of his marrying again, and it is even said that the Duchess of Berri is to be his wife.

Another subject, which for some time past has been a topic of conversation in all the circles of Paris, is the petition of a Mr Loveday to the Chamber of Peers, complaining that his two daughters and his niece have been converted to the Roman Catholic faith, against his will. But as I hear that this business has excited almost as much interest in London as in Paris, and is, moreover, a delicate matter to handle, I shall say no more about it.

It seems that the censorship of the newspapers and other periodical publications will be taken off, in which case the French newspapers will no longer exhibit the strange appearance of a great blank, almost every day, in one or other of their columes, like this;

for as the manuscript of every newspaper must be submitted to the censors before it is printed, what they strike out must of course remain effaced.

However, the long and violent discussions to which the project of the ministers has given rise in the Chamber of Deputies, clearly shew that a satisfactory law on the liberty of the press is one of the most knotty problems in a constitutional government.

1

Captain Cooke has been brought upon the stage here in a pantomime of two acts, in dialogue, at the Olympic Cireus of Franconi. It is said that a grand opera is preparing, which will exhibit some of the most remarkable episodes of his adventurous life, with all the pomp and interest which gave such a long run to the piece of Fernand Cortez. But as a new opera, if we may judge from the Lampe Merveilleuse, so long promised, is not soon got ready, Messieurs Franconi have in the meantime brought forth a pantomime which represents the tragical end of that illustrious navigator. The piece has met with the greatest success, and is really very interesting and entertaining. The lively costumes of the savages, and brilliancy of the scenery, have a very pleasing effect.

Yesterday a new society of men of letters and artists, called Le Circle des Arts, was opened under the presidency of the Count de Ségur, and in presence of a very numerous and brilliant society. Mr Huard, director of the Circle, began by pronouncing a discourse on the object of the institution. The Count de Ségur then read some considerations on the theory of the fine arts; a subject which, though so of ten treated, appeared entirely new, from the pleasing and lively manner in which the excellent reflections of the author were delivered. The discourse was interrupted by frequent bursts of applause. Mr Keretry read a very remarkable Essay on the origin of the arts, which was followed by the lyric scene of Pygmalion of J. J. Rousseau, recited by Lafon, and enriched with some new music, which had a delightful effect. The most elegant women in the capital, the most distinguished men for rank or learning, and the most celebrated artists, were assembled at this meeting, which seemed to excite an air of surprise and satisfaction on every countenance, no unfavourable omen for the future success of the establishment.

Next Monday a course of literature will be opened in it, which is intended

as a continuation of that of Laharpe, by the learned professor, Mr Boncharlat; and it is said his discourse will be very remarkable. The celebrated Mr Lenoir, the founder of the Museum of French Monuments, and author of several esteemed works on antiquities and the arts, will deliver a discourse full of very curious and interesting details on the famous Zodiac of Denderah, which is soon expected in Paris, and also on an Indian Zodiac, of which he possesses an original drawing.

The Carnival, and the masked balls, which form the principal feature of that season of mirth and folly, are now begun, and as the new Operahouse is said to be much better calculated for them than the old one, it is probable they will be carried on this year with much spirit and gaiety. In the meantime, every body is looking forward to the appearance of the Lampe Merveilleuse, which it is reported will exceed every thing of the kind ever seen. We were told some months ago that it was to be brought forward for the entertainment of the King of England, who was expected in Paris during his continental tour. Whenever it does come out it will have plenty of spectators, for all the places are taken for the first four nights.

The Second Theatre Francais, otherwise called the Odeon, which was established about two years ago, and from which so much was expected for the renovation of the fallen drama in France, both with respect to the actors and authors, will soon cease to exist, at least for a time. The profits are not sufficient to allow the company of managers and actors to go on. A rich capitalist offered to take the concern into his hands, but this proposal being rejected by government, the theatre will be closed on the first of this month. The melo-dramatic theatres of the Boulevards are, however, in full bloom. I shall give you an account of some of them, perhaps, in my next.