beautiful statue of "Joan of Arc," which is much admired. In several of the rooms there are many historical paintings, mostly modern. One of these, very striking, represents "The Storming of Malakoff at Sevastopol." In the Hall of the Crusades are pictures descriptive of battles fought by the Crusaders in their efforts to regain possession of the Holy Land. In the Salle du Sacre is David's famous picture of "The Coronation of Napoleon," which cost, it is said, twenty thousand dollars. In the same or another room is an equally grand picture, a most striking representation of "The Crowning of Josephine by the Emperor" at the Church of Nôtre Dame in Paris on the 2d of December, 1804. Josephine is kneeling, attended by two Maids of Honor bearing her long train, and Napoleon, standing by her and holding the crown up with both hands, is about to place it upon her head. Officers of

the Church in their robes and other insignia of office, many of the nobility of both sexes, the foreign ministers, and others are in attendance, as interested spectators, the portraits of many of them being painted from life. One of these was pointed out to us as that of General Armstrong, the American Minister. The Napoleon family is largely represented here by busts, statues, and paintings, nor are they alone in this respect, great numbers of other distinguished men and women of France being in like manner remembered. We paused to look with more than common interest upon the Chambre à Coucher of Marie Antoinette, as on a former occasion the writer entered her little prison in Paris. It was in this room that she lay asleep on the night of the 5th of October, 1789, when the mob broke into the Palace. "She made her escape

through a small corridor leading to the grand antechamber of the King." In one of the rooms we saw portraits of Washington, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, and James K. Polk.

Nothing can be more charming than the Palace grounds, adorned as they are with innumerable statues, a magnificent staircase, splendid fountains, flower beds, and shady groves. In the Grand Trianon, at the further end of the Park, a building "erected for Madame Maintenon, a favorite mistress of Louis XIV.," there are some fine apartments, in one of which, the Cabinet de la Reine, is the bed formerly occupied by Josephine. On the whole, we were amply compensated by our visit to Versailles.

Another day was devoted to St. Cloud and Sèvres. The glory of St. Cloud had departed, leaving only a mass of ruins. Its beautiful Palace was entirely destroyed during the late war-set on fire, it is said, by French shells in an endeavor to dislodge the Germans on the 13th of October, 1870. The surrounding grounds are still beautiful, but their magnificent Cascade was silent on the day of our visit. A short walk took us to the Imperial Manufactory of Porcelain at Sèvres, just out of the village. The building is of the commonest character of a workshop. We were kindly received and shown through the entire establishment, from the molding and painting rooms to the ovens. None but accomplished workmen and artists could turn out such works as go from this famous manufactory. We were charmed with some of the portraits and other pictures on porcelain we saw here. We do not wonder that they bring a high price.

Beautiful as are the surroundings of Paris, much the greater interest, of course, centers in the city,

which, of itself, is one of the wonders of the world. At first view, and especially if we enter it before seeing other European cities, we feel a sense of oppression from the overwhelming number of novel things to be seen everywhere around us; and we are sometimes startled at the thought whether, after all, we are not dreaming! The Garden of the Tuileries, the Champs Élysées, and the many broad boulevards and streets, with their blocks of high, substantial brick and stone edifices, not omitting the Tuileries, the Louvre, the Palais Royal, the Hôtel des Invalides, the Columns of Vendôme, St. Jacques, and July, the Arc de Triomphe, and many other monuments, the Seine, with its twenty-seven beautiful bridges, and the one hundred or more churches of the city, not further to specify, all go to form a grand spectacle nowhere else to be seen.

There are omnibus lines in all directions, and their management is very systematic. At all the prominent stations there are ticket offices, and the passenger purchases his ticket, which is numbered, and he is received only in the order of his number. He may alight where he pleases; but the omnibus stops for passengers only at fixed stations. The fare is six sous inside and three sous outside, on top, the seats being arranged lengthwise. When the seats are all taken, a card, bearing the word "Complet,” is displayed on the rear end of the omnibus as a notice that no more passengers will be admitted.

We have attended services at several of the churches, among them the Church of St. Étienne du Mont, built in 1121, the Nôtre Dame, and the Madeleine, three perhaps the most beautiful. The Church of Nôtre Dame is considered one of the finest monuments of its particular style of architecture in

France. It is provided with an enormous bell, requiring the strength of eight men to ring it. The Church of th› Madeleine is probably the more admired. Commenced in 1764, it was only finished in the reign of Louis Philippe. The work upon it was suspended during the Revolution of 1789. By an Imperial decree rendered at Posen, the 2d of December, 1806, Napoleon ordered it transformed into a Greek Temple, and that this inscription, "The Emperor Napoleon to the Soldiers of the Grand Army,” should be borne on its front. Another article of that decree provided that, every year, on the anniversaries of the battles of Austerlitz and Jena, this monument should be illuminated, that a concert should then be given, preceded by a discourse on the duties of the soldier and a eulogy on those who fell in those sanguinary battles. It was expressly forbidden to mention the Emperor in these discourses. If this decree was carried out, it was probably abrogated after the final abdication of Napoleon; as we see that in 1815 Louis XVIII. ordered that the church be converted into a chapel in honor of Louis XVI. and his consort, Marie Antoinette, and this failing, it was at length completed in its present form by Louis Philippe. "It is surrounded by fifty-two Corinthian pillars, ornamented by a splendid façade. The interior is most magnificently ornamented with rich gilding, paintings, and statuary, and is lighted by three domes, which are most beautifully painted."

We have passed many hours in the Art Galleries of the Louvre, connected with the Palace of the Tuileries, the northwest wing of which is in ruins. These buildings are just across the rue de Rivoli from the Grand Hôtel du Louvre, where we have