copious as that of Mons. R.




LETTER VII.

THE QUAYS. BRIDGE OF BOATS. RUE DU BAC. RUE DE ROBEC. EAUX DE ROBEC ET
D'AUBETTE. MONT STE. CATHARINE. HOSPICES--GÉNÉRAL ET D'HUMANITÉ.


Still tarrying within this old fashioned place? I have indeed yet much to
impart before I quit it, and which I have no scruple in avowing will be
well deserving of your attention.

Just letting you know, in few words, that I have visited the famous
chemical laboratory of M. Vitalis, (_Rue Beauvoisine_) and the yet more
wonderful spectacle exhibited in M. Lemere's machine for sawing wood of all
descriptions, into small or large planks, by means of water works--I must
take you along THE QUAYS for a few minutes. These quays are flanked by an
architectural front, which, were it finished agreeably to the original
plan, would present us with one of the noblest structures in Europe. This
stone front was begun in the reign of Louis XV. but many and prosperous
must be the years of art, of commerce, and of peace, before money
sufficient can be raised for the successful completion of the pile. The
quays are long, broad, and full of bustle of every description; while in
some of the contiguous squares, ponderous bales of goods, shawls, cloth,
and linen, are spread open to catch the observing eye. In the midst of this
varied and animated scene, walks a well-known character, in his large
cocked hat, and with his tin machine upon his back, filled with lemonade or