Paris as It Was and as It Is Part 42

LETTER XLV.

_Paris, January 6, 1802._

In speaking of the interior of the _Louvre_, in one of my former letters, I think I mentioned the various learned and scientific societies, which, under the name of Academies, formerly held their sittings in that palace. For the sake of facilitating a comparison between the past and the present, it may be necessary to state the professed object of those different inst.i.tutions.

_French Academy_. The preservation of the purity of the French language, its embellishment and augmentation.

_Academy of Sciences_. The progress of the sciences, the encouragement of researches and discoveries, as well in physics, geometry, and astronomy, as in those sciences which are applicable to the daily wants of society.

_Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres_. The composition of inscriptions, of the subjects of medals, and their mottos, the research of the manners, habits, customs, and monuments of antiquity, as well as all literature relating to history.

_Academy of Painting and Sculpture_.

_Academy of Architecture_.

The t.i.tles of these are a sufficient explanation.

All these academies were founded by Lewis XIV, at the instigation of his minister Colbert; with the exception of the French Academy, which owed its origin to Cardinal Richelieu. This was a misfortune for that society; for custom had established it as a law that every new member, on the day of his reception, should not only p.r.o.nounce a panegyric on him whom he succeeded, but also on the founder of the inst.i.tution. It certainly was not very philosophical for men of enlightened understanding, and possessing even a common portion of sensibility, to make an eulogium on a minister so cruel, a man of a spirit so diabolically vindictive, that he even punished the innocent to revenge himself on the guilty. De Thou, the celebrated author of the _History of his own time_, had told some truths not very favourable to the memory of the Cardinal's great uncle. In consequence, the implacable minister, under false pretences, caused the philosophic historian's eldest son to be condemned and decapitated, saying: "De Thou, the father, has put my name into his history, I will put the son into mine."

It is well known, from their memoirs, that these academies included among their members men of eminent talents. The Academy of Sciences, in particular, could boast of several first-rate geniuses in the different branches which they respectively cultivated, and the unremitting labours of some of them have, no doubt, greatly contributed to enlarge the sphere of human knowledge. During the early part of the revolution, all these monarchical inst.i.tutions were overthrown, and on their ruins rose the

NATIONAL INSt.i.tUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES.[1]

This establishment was formed, agreeably to a decree of the National a.s.sembly pa.s.sed on the 3d of Brumaire, year IV (25th of October, 1796). By that decree, it appears that the Inst.i.tute belongs to the whole Republic, though its point of union is fixed in Paris. Its object is to extend the limits of the arts and sciences in general, by an uninterrupted series of researches, by the publication of discoveries, by a correspondence with the learned societies of foreign countries, and by such scientific and literary labours as tend to general utility and the glory of the Republic.

It is composed of one hundred and forty-four members, resident in Paris, and of an equal number scattered over the departments. The number of its foreign a.s.sociates is twenty-four. It is divided into three cla.s.ses, and each cla.s.s into several sections, namely:

Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

Moral and Political Sciences.

Literature and the Fine Arts.

The Mathematical Cla.s.s is divided into ten sections; each of which consists of six members. Of this cla.s.s, there are sixty members in Paris, and as many in the departments, where they are divided, in the same manner, into ten sections, each of six members.

The first section comprehends Mathematics.

The second, Mechanical Arts.

The third, Astronomy.

The fourth, Experimental Physics.

The fifth, Chemistry.

The sixth, Natural History and Mineralogy.

The seventh, Botany and vegetable Physics.

The eighth, Anatomy and Zoology.

The ninth, Medicine and Surgery.

The tenth, Rural Economy and the Veterinary Art.

The Moral and Political Cla.s.s is divided into six sections, each consisting of six members, making in all thirty-six members in Paris, and an equal number in the departments.

The first section comprises the a.n.a.lysis of Sensations and Ideas.

The second, Morals.

The third, Social Science and Legislation.

The fourth, Political Economy.

The fifth, History.

The sixth, Geography.

The Cla.s.s of Literature and Fine Arts is divided into eight sections, each of six members, forty-eight of whom reside in Paris, and as many in the departments.

The first section includes Grammar.

The second, Ancient Languages.

The third, Poetry.

The fourth, Antiquities and Monuments.

The fifth, Painting.

The sixth, Sculpture.

The seventh, Architecture.

The eighth, Music and Declamation.

Twice in every decade, each cla.s.s holds a meeting: that of the first cla.s.s takes place on the first and sixth days; that of the second, on the second and seventh days; and that of the third, on the third and eighth days. Every six months each cla.s.s elects its president and two secretaries, who continue in office during that interval.

On the fifth day of the first decade of every month is held a general meeting of the three cla.s.ses, the purpose of which is to deliberate on affairs, relating to the general interests of the Inst.i.tute. The chair is then taken by the oldest of the three presidents, who, at these meetings, presides over the whole society.

The National Inst.i.tute has four public quarterly meetings, on the 15th of the months of Vendemiaire, Nivose, Germinal, and Messidor.

Each cla.s.s annually proposes two prize questions, and in the general meetings, the answers are made public, and the premiums distributed.

The united sections of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture nominate the pupils who are to visit Rome, and reside there in the national palace, at the expense of the Republic, in order to study the Fine Arts. Conformably to the decree by which the Inst.i.tute was organised, six of its members were to travel at the public charge, with a view of collecting information, and acquiring experience in the different sciences; and twenty young men too were to visit foreign countries for the purpose of studying rural economy: but the expenses of the war and other matters have occasioned such a scarcity of money as, hitherto, to impede these undertakings.

The apartments of the Inst.i.tute are on the first floor of the _Louvre_, or, as it is now styled, the _Palais Nationial des Sciences et des Arts_. These apartments, which were once inhabited by Henry IV, are situated on the west side of that building. Before you arrive at the hall of the Inst.i.tute, you pa.s.s through a handsome antichamber, in which are the statues of Moliere, Racine, Corneille, La Fontaine, and Montesquieu. This hall, which is oblong and s.p.a.cious, formerly served for the meetings of the Academy of Sciences. Its sides are adorned with colonnades, and the ceiling is richly painted and decorated. In the intercolumniations are fourteen marble statues (seven on each side) of some of the most celebrated men that France has produced: namely, Conde, Tourville, Descartes, Bayard, Sully, Turenne, Daguessau, Luxembourg, L'Hopital, Bossuet, Duquesne, Catinat, Vauban, and Fenelon. Parallel to the walls, tables are set, covered with green cloth, at which the members take their places.

At the upper end of the hall is the chair of the President, and on each side below him are seated the two Secretaries. A little on one side again is the tribune, from which the members who speak address the a.s.sembly, after having asked leave of the President, who never quits the chair during the whole meeting. The s.p.a.ce appropriated to the members is inclosed by a railing, between which and the walls, the hall is surrounded by benches for the spectators, among whom there are generally many of the fair s.e.x.

The library of the Inst.i.tute consists of three s.p.a.cious apartments, which are said to contain about sixteen thousand volumes. On one side of the hall is an apartment, destined for the communications of correspondents. There is also an apartment for the secretary and his deputies, and a large room containing a collection of machines and models, (among which are several of shipping), as well as every apparatus necessary for chemical and physical experiments.

Although I have several times attended the private meetings of the three cla.s.ses, I have thought that the printed accounts of their proceedings, which I subjoin, would be more satisfactory than a hasty sketch from my pen. However, as I promised to describe to you one of the public sittings of the Inst.i.tute, I shall now inform you of what pa.s.sed at that held yesterday, the 15th of Nivose, year X, (5th of January, 1802), at which I was present.

On this occasion, BIGOT-PReAMENEU, one of the members of the cla.s.s of Moral and Political Sciences, was the President. The sitting was opened by proclaiming the nomination of three foreign a.s.sociates, elected by the Inst.i.tute in its general sitting of the 5th of Nivose; namely, Mr. JEFFERSON, Sir JOSEPH BANKS, and HAYDN, the celebrated musical composer. A prize was then awarded to Citizen Framery, a literary character residing in Paris, for having solved the following question proposed by the cla.s.s of Literature and Fine Arts. "To a.n.a.lyze the relations existing between music and declamation, and determine the means of applying declamation to music, without detracting from the charms of melody."

DELAMBRE read an account of the life and works of Cousin.

DeGeRANDO, an account of the education which the young savage of Aveyron receives from Itard, physician to the Inst.i.tution of the Deaf and Dumb.

p.r.o.nY, the result of observations made with a French instrument and an English one, for the purpose of determining the relation between the French metre and the English foot.

Next were heard notes, by CAMUS, on the public exhibitions of the productions of French Industry, which took place in the years VI and IX of the Republic.

Then, the report of the restoration of the famous picture known by the name of the _Madonna di Foligno_, which I have already communicated to you.

BUACHE, the celebrated geographer, read some observations on the ancient map of the Romans, commonly called Peutinger's map, as well as on the geography of the anonymous writer of Ravenna. The sitting was terminated by an account of the life and works of Dumoustier, read by COLIN D'HARLEVILLE.

The members of the Inst.i.tute have a full-dress and a half-dress. The former consists of a suit of black, embroidered in dark green silk, with a c.o.c.ked hat. The latter is the same, but the embroidery is confined to the collar and cuffs of the coat, which is trimmed with a cord edging,

P.S. Yesterday evening was married Mademoiselle Beauharnois, daughter-in-law of the First Consul, to Louis Bonaparte, one of his younger brothers.

[Footnote 1: At the end of this volume will be found the new organization of the Inst.i.tute, conformably to a decree of the government, dated the 3d of Pluviose, year XI.]