The Bourne ie an insulated building standing in the centre of a largo square. It is in form a parellelogram, measuring 164 feet by 234 feet, and is entirely surrounded by • Corinthian peristyle of 64 columns, of which there are 14 at each and, besides which there are two others, namely, behind the second one from each angle of the west front, the portico being there two intereolumna in depth. Tho columns are 40 feet high, and raised upon a solid stylobate 10 feet high; the extreme height from the ground to the top of the attic, or podium above the entablature, is rather more than 68 feet. The interior cou tains the tribunal of commerce, several oil:Iona, and a large central hall for the Exchange, 10e feet by 59 feet (exclusive of the arcades or galleries by which it surrounded on both floors), and lighted by a central skylight in the vaulted roof.
Nearly on the lino between the Bourse and the Tuileries, off the cast side of the Rue-Richelieu, is the Palate Royal, originally built in 1629 by Cardinal Richelieu, on the sites of the hotels of Rambouillet and Mercoeur. At his death the cardinal left it to Louis MU. ; and here Louis XIV. and his mother resided during the troubles of die Fronde. After his accession to the throne, Louis XIV, presented the palace to his brother, the Duke of Orl6ans, in which branch of the Bourbon family it continued till recently. The palace was augmented in 1763, and in 1786 the galleries that surround the garden were built, with the exception of the Galerie-d'Orleaus, completed in 1829 to connect the pavilions that inclose the second court. The father of King Louis Philippe converted the pavilions into an immense bazaar, parcelling them out into little shops. Tho garden forms a parallelogram, 700 feet long by 300 feet wide; in the centre is a beautiful fountain, rising from a largo basin, on each side of which is a grass-plot bordered with flower beds, and adorned with fine bronze and marble statues. The restaur ant& and coffee-houses of the PalaheRoyal are very numerously attended ; and the promenades here, in the evening, when the whole place is brilliantly lighted, are particularly attractive. Tho southern portion of the palace, facing the great square, is now the residence of Prince Jerome Bonaparte. It was sacked by the mob in February 1848, when the valuable battle-pieces of Horace Vcrnet were destroyed. Opposite the Palais-Royal stood the Chateitind'Eau, the scene of a desperate struggle in the revolution of 1848. It has been demolished since. Naar the north end of the palace is the Th6atro-Francais ; and at the corner of the Rue-Fontaine-310E6re is a bronze statue of Molii•re, placed in a niche nearly opposite the home) in which he died. A little farther in the Rue-Richelieu, is the Imperial Library, one of the largest in the world, open to all corners from 10 o'clock a.m. till
3 o'clock p.m.
Tho Column of the Grand Army, in the Place-Vendome, is 231 feet high, comprising the pedestal. The column is built of cut stone, coated with bronze bas-reliefs representing the chief exploits of the Grand Army from its leaving the camp of Boulogne to the peace coin eluded after the battle of Austerlitz. In its general design it is a copy of that of Tmjan ; the bronze reliefs were executed by thirty different artists, under the direction of Devon. The pedestal is like wise highly enriched ; the diameter of the column is 12 feet 10 inches. In 1814 the bronze statue of Napoleon 1., in Roman costume, was taken down, and afterwards recast to form the horse of the equestrian statue of Henri IV.; but a secoud bronze figure of Napoleon L, in a characteristic dress and attitude, was put up July 25th 1S33 : it is 13 feet high.
Tho triumphal arch de-l'Etoile, begun by Napoleon I. in 1806 and completed in 1836, is, without exception, the most gigantic work of its kind either in ancient or modern times ; the great arch being 47 feet 10 inches wide, 96 feet 6 inches high, and 73 feet in depth. This structure is perfectly isolated, and forms a mass whose plan is 147 feet by 73 feet, and its height 162 feet, the effect of which extraordinary dimensions is greatly enhanced by its simplicity of form and its solidity, the outline being unbroken by columns and projecting entablatures, and there being only a single opening en each side, namely the large arch in the direction of east and west, end the smaller one running transversely through the plan from north to south ; the height of the latter is GO feet, and the breadth 271i feet. There are no columns or pilasters, and the architectural forms are exceedingly simple, but at the same time prodigiously rich : the entab lature is 23 feet deep, and the frieze is entirely covered with figures in relief, besides which the mouldings of the cornice are carved, as aro likewise those of the archivolts and imposts of the arch. If it were remarkable for nothing else, this monument would bo eminently so on account of the display of sculpture, there being four colossal groups of sculpture, one on each side of the arch in the east and west fronts, the height of which, including their pedestals, ie upwards of 56 feet, and that of the figures themselves about 20 feet. Corres ponding with these, and above the cornice forming the impost to the large arch, aro as many large bas-reliefs. The attic also has a great deal of sculptured ornament. The sculptures generally represent the achievements of Napoleon I. and his generals. Within the upper part and attic there is, besides some other rooms, a spacious hall, extending from cud to end of the building.