The metropolis of France, however, distinguished as it is, is probably not more celebrated for any thing than for is literature and literary institutions. Learning and ta lents have uniformly, with Frenchmen of all ranks, been the objects of the greatest respect and reverence. The royal press of France, much to the honour of the govern ment, was formerly situated in the palace of the Louvre. Printing was at a very early date introduced into Paris, and soon attained there to a degree of perfection, unrival led at that period in any other country; one of the earliest printed books in the Greek language issued from the press of Francis Tissard ; and the names of Henry, Robert, and Henry Stephens, the most accurate and learned printers of any age, are inseparably connected with the literary history of Europe. And the high character which Paris thus early obtained, it has uniformly supported ; a great proportion of the scholars of France have been connected with it ; and, at the present date, it stands as high in this respect as at any former period. The number of works, particularly periodical works, and some of these scientific and philosophical journals of great celebrity, is at present unusually great, and is daily increasing. And this capital, as might be expected, is extremely rich in literary insti tutions, The Universite Royale, the oldest establishment of this kind in the kingdom, has for centuries been well known throughout Europe ; and though at the Revolution it was for a time suspended, it has since been re-establish ed on a more extensive and liberal plan. It consists of four colleges, and comprises professors in every depart ment of science and literature. There are many similar establishments in Paris, of which the College Royale, where the admission to the lectures is gratuitous, is nearly as extensive, and is as celebrated, as the one just describ ed. The Ecolc Polytechnique, instituted principally for the education of engineers, is furnished with a large li brary, a drawing school and mechanical work-shops In the Jardin des Plantes, there are thirteen classes for bo tany, and the various subjects connected with natural his tory. There is also an academy, termed L'Ecole Royale des Beaux Arts, appropriated to the teaching of painting, sculpture, and architecture Paris besides possesses four great public schools or Lycees, devoted to elementary in struction. There are also many private academies, and in every part of France, but particularly in Paris, several of the inferior clergy dedicate a considerable portion of their time to the instruction of youth. In addition to these, and several institutions of a similar description, the French capital is distinguished by many literary and scientific societies and associations, some of which are of great celebrity The Institute, or Royal Society, and the Bureau des Longitudes, will, with many others, at once occur to the mind of the reader. The Institute, indeed, which was established in the reign of Louis XIV. has acquired a reputation of the most illustrious kind, and the services which it has rendered, not only to French, but to European literature, are universally acknowledged. It is composed of the most eminent philosophical and literary characters in France, and main tains a correspondence with the learned of every nation. Each of the four classes, into which it is divided, has as signed it a separate department of pursuit and investiga tion ; the first is devoted to mathematical, physical, and experimental subjects ; the second to French literature and the French language—the third to universal history and ancient literature—the fourth to the fine arts. Each of these divisions has its separate meetings ; but four times a-year, the whole academy assemble, and a general re port is made of the labours and progress of the institution, (see INsTyruTE.) The Bureau des Longitudes, the ob ject of which is to bring to perfection the discovery of the longitude, to make astronomical and meteorological ob servations, &c. can boast, in the list of its members, of Some of the proudest names, and has attained to no incon siderable degree of scientific celebrity.
The numerous and extensive libraries of Paris corres pond well with the favourable description we have just given of its literature. Almost all the eminent schools and literary institutions enjoy each the advantages of a li brary. The royal library is the largest and most valuable in the world. It was instituted so early as the 14th century, by King John, whose collection amounted only to ten volumes ; under the munificent patronage of the French monarchs, it has gradually, since that period, increased in size and importance ; and it now contains no fewer than 380,000 volumes, 80,000 manuscripts, some of which are of the rarest kind, illustrative of the political and literary history of Europe ; with 5000 volumes of en gravings ; genealogies of all the eminent French families ; and a most valuable collection of medals and antiquities.
Among other curious documents, it contains the original let ters of Henry VIII. to Anna Boleyn, brought thither from the Vatican. And the liberality of the principles on which it is conducted is worthy of so dignified an establishment, and highly honourable to the French character. People of every class and rank—strangers from any quarter of the globe, are allowed, without any introduction, the easiest access to it; the attendants are extremely kind and obliging ; tables with every necessary accommodation are provided for the use of visitors ; and the books, when required, are permitted to be taken out of the library for private perusal ; a practice attended with almost no inconvenience, or risk of loss. The other libraries, which are extremely numer ous, those of the Institute and the Pantheon being the largest and most important, consist either of collections in general literature, or in some particular branch of science, according to the establishment to which they severally be long. Paris besides possesses many public reading-rooms ; and the number of circulating libraries, of which there was only one before the Revolution, is now much greater than in the British capital.
Nor, in speaking of the libraries of Paris, must those celebrated collections of works of art, &c. and of subjects connected with natural history, be passed over in silence. The Louvre, during the sway of Bonaparte, became pos sessed of every celebrated specimen of sculpture and of painting that could be procured on the continent of Eu rope; thither were brought all the works of genius and of art by which the various countries, over-run by his armies, were distinguished. The Louvre, however, thus enriched by conquest and by plunder, has, since the return of the Bourbon family, been stript of all the works which it had in this way amassed; and the halls of sculpture, and the gallery of paintings, now stand comparatively empty and uninteresting. A noble collection, however, still remains ; and the places which this retribution left vacant, are now in a great degree occupied with paintings and statues, which either belonged to churches destroyed amid the frenzy of the revolution, or that could be procured from other collections in the various parts of the empire. The ground floor of this splendid edifice is devoted to statues, and other specimens of sculpture, ancient and modern, very limited in point of number, but judiciously arranged. From this apartment a magnificent staircase leads to the gallery of paintings, the first view of which to a stranger is unspeakably grand and imposing. It is 1400 feet in length, and notwithstanding what it has lost, it yet contains 1200 paintings, some of them the works of the most eminent masters, so arranged that there is little appearance of that vacancy and desolation, by which, from its recent fall, it must really be characterized. The specimens of the French, Italian, and Flemish schools, into which the gallery is di vided, and the works of each artist, are respectively kept distinct, and thus avoid the confusion which otherwise must have taken place. The Jardin des Plantes, or royal gar den, can boast of a very rich and extensive museum. Its collections of every kind are valuable and rare; in the zoological and fossil departments it is unrivalled ; and it contains some curious specimens,not elsewhere to be seen, or the animal remains of the antediluvian world. The garden itself, which is of an oblong shape, and about half a mile in length, is laid out in great taste, and can exhibit groupes of plants from almost every region of the globe. The buildings belonging to it are also distinguished by a large menage, comprising animals of every climate and latitude. With the Jardin des Plantes, the names of Jus sieu, Buffett, flatly, and Cuvier, are inseparably connected. The Pantheon contains collections in history, anti quities, and painting, more select than numerous. Among other curiosities, it is in possession of an original portrait of Mary Queen of Scots, in high preservation, present ed by herself to the monks of St. Genevieve. There are other similar institutions in Paris, of which the Conserva toire des Arts et Metiers, a collection of the various ma chines invented by Frenchmen connected with the arts or with manufactures ; and the Musee d'Artillerie, the reposi tory of every warlike instrument, are the most extensive and the most celebrated.