cratic republic.

[Illustration: HOTEL DES INVALIDES]

The Hotel des Invalides is visited by a vast crowd of people, Parisians,
provincials, and foreigners, for it is the final resting place of
Napoleon the Great. It is an imposing structure, and aside from the
interest felt in it as the receptacle of the remains of Napoleon, it is
well worth a visit. It is situated on the south side of the Seine, not
far from the chamber of deputies, its front facing the south. It
presents a magnificent appearance from the street, perhaps the finest of
any like building in Europe. It has long been a celebrated military
hospital for the reception of disabled and superannuated soldiers. Under
Louis XIV. the present hospital was instituted, and building after
building was added, together with a fine church, until the vast pile
covers sixteen acres of ground, and encloses fifteen courts. At the time
of the revolution, the hospital was called the Temple of Humanity, under
Napoleon the Temple of Mars, and now the Hotel des Invalides. It is
under the control of the minister of war, has a governor and a
multiplicity of inferior officers. It is divided into fourteen
sections, over each of which an officer is appointed. All soldiers who
are disabled, or who have served thirty years in the army, are entitled
to the privileges of the institution, and are boarded, clothed, and
lodged. For breakfast they have soup, beef, and vegetables, for dinner,
meat, vegetables, and cheese. They have but two meals a day. They also
receive pay at the rate of two francs a day, and the officers higher in
proportion to their rank. Before the northern face of the building there
is a large open space, in which many trophies of war are placed, and
there are beds of flowers interspersed among them. On the southern front
there is a fine statue of Napoleon. The library of the hospital contains
fourteen thousand volumes, and is of course open to all the inmates. The
church is a very important part of the great pile of buildings, and is
filled with statues of great military men, trophies of different
campaigns, etc. etc. The dome of this church is one of the finest in
Paris, and is decorated in the interior in a gorgeous style.

Beneath the dome lies the tomb of Napoleon, the great attraction of the
place. It is, for a wonder, simple and massive in its style, and upon it
are laid Napoleon's hat, sword, imperial crown, etc. etc. To this tomb
thousands of admirers have come