modation is to be
found, but only such as will suit a very limited number of purses;
whereas, at Paris a family may find in most of the restaurateurs small
apartments where they can dine by themselves if they object to the
public room, but even in the latter they might take their meal very
undisturbed and without exciting the slightest observation, at various
prices that will either suit the economist or the wealthy individual.
This is amongst many of the conveniences of Paris; as also that of the
libraries being open to the public, any one having the privilege to call
for the book he wishes, where he may read as quietly as in his own
house. This is extremely useful to studious and literary men, as there
are so many works of reference too expensive to be within the compass of
a small private library, which may be found in the liberal
establishments in which Paris abounds. Museums, exhibitions, academies,
gardens, public buildings, etc., are, with a very few exceptions,
accessible to the foreigner merely on the exhibition of his passport.

CHAPTER III.

TO AN HISTORIAN.

A very brief account of the foundation of Paris, its progress
during the most remarkable epochs, and under the reigns of some of
its most celebrated monarchs with its, gradual advance in
civilisation to the present period. Some allusions also to the
customs which existed in the earlier ages, and a statement of the
different dates as regards the erection and foundation of the
various monuments and institutions still extant.

[Illustration: Paris in the 16th Century. View taken from the towers of
Notre Dame.]

France, under the ancient appellation of Gaul, is cited in history as
early as 622 years before the Christian era, when Belloveaus, a
celebrated leader from that country, defeated the Hetrurians and made
himself master of Piedmont and Lombardy, by crossing the Rhone and the
Alps with his army, which at that period had never before been
attempted. Increasing in power, we find, 180 years after, the Gauls,
headed by Brennus, sacking and burning Rome; and the same chief, after
having been defeated and cut off by Camillus, the Roman general, with
the loss of 40,000 men, again appears in the year 387 before Christ at
the head of 150,000 foot and 60,000 horse, invading Macedonia, and after
ravaging the country and being ultimately defeated in Greece, to have
put an end to his existence. Some idea may be forme