Paris as It Was and as It Is Part 55

As in former times, all sentences pa.s.sed on criminals, tried in Paris, whether condemned to die or not, are put into execution on the

PLACE DE GReVE.

The first sentence executed here was that pa.s.sed on _Marguerite Porette_, a female heretic, who was burnt alive in the year 1310.

Among the punishments which it has been found necessary to re-establish is that of marking with a hot iron. Criminals, condemned to imprisonment in irons, are exposed for two hours on a scaffold in the middle of this square. They are seated and tied to a post, having above them a label with the words of their sentence. They are clad in woollen pantaloons and a waistcoat with sleeves, one half of each of which is white; the other, brown. After being exposed two hours, they are stripped, and to their shoulder is applied a hot iron, which there leaves the impression of the letter V, for _voleur_, thief.

Women, not being condemned to imprisonment in irons; are exempt from the penalty of being marked. This punishment is said to produce considerable effect on the culprits, as well as on the spectators.

Previously to its being revived, persons convicted of thieving were insolent beyond all endurance.

The _Place de Greve_ is a parallelogram, one of the long sides of which is occupied by the _ci-devant Hotel de Ville_, a tasteless edifice, begun in 1533, but not finished till 1605.

Before the revolution, the _Place de Greve_ was alternately the theatre of punishments and rejoicings. On the same pavement, where scaffolds were erected for the execution of criminals, rose superb edifices for public festivals.

Here, when any criminal of note was to suffer, the occupiers of the adjoining houses made a rich harvest by letting their apartments.

Every window that commanded a view of the horrid scene, was then hired at a most exorbitant price. Women of the first rank and fashion, decked in all the luxury of dress, graced even the uppermost stories. These weak-nerved females, who would have fainted at the sight of a spider mangling a fly, stood crowded together, calmly viewing the agonies of an expiring malefactor, who, after having been racked on the wheel, was, perhaps, denied the _coup de grace_ which would, in an instant, have rid him of his miserable existence.

The death of a regicide was a sort of gala to these belles; while the lead was melting over the furnace, the iron pinchers heating in the fire, and the horses disposed for tearing asunder the four quarters of the victim of the laws, some of them amused themselves with an innocent game at cards, in sight of all these terrible preparations, from which a man of ordinary feeling would avert his looks with horror.

How happens it that, in all countries on the continent, ladies flock to these odious spectacles? Every where, I believe, the populace run to behold them; but that a female of superior birth and breeding can deliberately seek so inhuman a gratification is a mystery which I cannot explain, unless, indeed, on the principle of shewing themselves, as well as that of seeing the show.

"_Spectatum veniunt, veniunt spectentur ut ipsae_."

LETTER LXI.

_Paris, February 2, 1802._

Independently of the general organization of Public Instruction, according to the new plan, of which I have before traced you the leading features, there exist several schools appropriate to different professions, solely devoted to the Public Service, and which require particular knowledge in the arts and sciences. Hence they bear the generic name of

SCHOOLS FOR PUBLIC SERVICES.

They are comprised under the following denominations.

POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL.

SCHOOL OF ARTILLERY.

MILITARY ENGINEERS.

BRIDGES AND HIGHWAYS.

MINES.

NAVAL ENGINEERS.

NAVIGATION.

In order to be admitted into any of the above schools, the candidates must prove themselves qualified by the preliminary instruction required the examinations at the compet.i.tion prescribed for each of them. The pupils of these schools receive a salary from the nation.

At the head of them is the _Polytechnic School_, of which I have already spoken. This is the grand nursery, whence the pupils, when they have attained a sufficient degree of perfection, are transplanted into the other _Schools for Public Services_. Next come the

SCHOOLS OF ARTILLERY.

There are eight of these in the places where the regiments of artillery are garrisoned. The pupils who are sent thither as officers, after having been examined, apply their knowledge to the arts, to the construction of works, and to the manoeuvres of war dependent on artillery. Each school, in which the pupils must remain two years longer, is under the superintendance of a general of brigade of the corps.

SCHOOL OF MILITARY ENGINEERS.

This school, united to that of Miners, is established at Metz. Its labours relate to the application of the theoretical knowledge which the pupils have imbibed at the _Polytechnic School_. The objects of these labours is the construction of all sorts of works of fortification, mines and counter-mines, mock-representations of sieges, attack, and defence, the drawing of plans and military surveys, in a word, all the details of the duty of engineers in fortified places and in the field.

The number of pupils is limited to twenty. They have the rank and pay of second lieutenant. The School of Engineers, as well as the Schools of Artillery, is under the authority of the Minister at War.

Much as I wish to compress my subject, I must observe that, previously to leaving the school, the pupils undergo a strict examination respecting the objects of instruction before-enumerated.

This examination is intrusted to a _jury_ (as the French term it) composed of the commander in chief of the school, a general or field-officer of the corps, appointed every year by the Minister at War, and one of the permanent examiners of the Polytechnic School.

_This jury forms the list of merit, which regulates the order of promotion._ Can we then wonder that the French have the first military engineers in Europe?

SCHOOL OF BRIDGES AND HIGHWAYS.

It was founded in 1787, by TRUDAINE, and continued under the direction of PERRONET, chief engineer of this corps, till his death, which happened in 1794. He was then 86 years of age. By his will, he bequeathed to this school, for the instruction of the pupils whom he loved as his children, his library, his models, his ma.n.u.scripts, and his portfolios; articles which at this day form an invaluable collection.

This school, which is at present established in the _Hotel de Chatelet_ (formerly belonging to the duke of that name) _Rue de Grenelle_, _St. Germain_, unites the _depot_ or repository of plans and models to the labours relating to roads, ca.n.a.ls, and harbours for trade. The number of pupils admitted is fifty. They are taken from the _Polytechnic School_, and retain the salary which they there received.

The instruction given to them chiefly consists in the application of the principles of physics and mathematics to the art of planning and constructing works relative to roads, ca.n.a.ls, and sea-ports, and the buildings belonging thereto; the means of execution, and the mode of forming plans and estimates of the works to be executed, and the order to be observed in keeping the accounts.

The _School of Bridges and Highways_ is under the authority of the Minister of the Interior,

PRACTICAL SCHOOLS OF MINES.

One of these schools is established at Geislautern, in the department of La Sarre; and the other, at Pesay, in the department of Mont-Blanc.

The Director and Professors form a committee for the working of the mines of Pesay, as well as for the instruction of the pupils. In consequence of the report of this committee the _Council of Mines_ established in Paris, proposes to the government the measures necessary to be adopted. Twenty pupils, who have pa.s.sed their examination at the _Polytechnic School_, are attached to the practical schools, for the purpose of applying the theoretical part of their instruction. Extra-scholars, with testimonials of good behaviour and capacity, are admitted to be educated at their own expense. These schools are also under the authority of the Minister of the Interior.

SCHOOL OF NAVAL ENGINEERS.

The _School of Naval Architects_, which existed in Paris, has been removed to Brest, under the name of _ecole des Ingenieurs des Vaisseaux_. No pupils are admitted but such as have been students, at least two years, in the _Polytechnic School_. The examination of the candidates takes place every year, and the preference is given to those who excel in descriptive geometry, mechanics, and the other branches of knowledge appropriated to the first year's study at that school. When the pupils have proved, in the repeated examinations which they must undergo, that they are sufficiently qualified, they are sent to Brest (as vacancies occur), in order to apply the theory they have acquired to the different works carried on in that port, where they find both the example and the precept, and are taught every thing relative to the construction of ships of war and merchant-vessels.

This school is under the authority of the Minister of the naval department. The pupils admitted into it, receive a salary of 1800 francs (_circa_ . 75 sterling) a year.

SCHOOLS OF NAVIGATION.

The Schools of Mathematics and Hydrography, established for the navy of the State, and the Schools of Hydrography destined for the merchant-service, bear the name of _ecoles de Navigation_.

Every year, there is a compet.i.tion for the admission of candidates for naval employment. The Hydrographical Examiner makes a general tour to the different ports, where he interrogates the pupils in arithmetic, algebra, geometry, statics, and navigation. According to these examinations, they are admitted to the rank of _aspirons de marine_ or midshipmen, captains of merchant-ships for long voyages, masters of coasting-vessels, pilots, &c,

By a late decree of the Consuls, no one can be admitted to the examination prescribed for being received as master in the coasting-trade, unless he is twenty-four years of age, and has served five years on board the ships of war belonging to the Republic.

In my letter of the 15th of January, I have shewn you that Public Instruction is to be divided into four cla.s.ses: 1. In Primary Schools, established by the _Communes_. 2. In Secondary Schools, established by the _Communes_, and kept by private masters. 3. In Lyceums. 4. In _Special Schools_. In the two last-mentioned establishments, the pupils are to be maintained at the expense of the nation.

Before I particularize the _Special Schools_, I must mention a national inst.i.tution, distinguished by the appellation of

PRYTANeE FRANcAIS.

It is divided into four colleges, established at Paris, St. Cyr, St.

Germain-en-Laye, and Compiegne. It was destined for the gratuitous education of the children of the military killed in the field of honour, and of public functionaries who might happen to die in the discharge of their office.