acquaintances, there are no houses as in Paris where one can take a
wife, sister, or daughter to breakfast or dine, without being subject to
remark, unless indeed you can draw up to the door of a hôtel with an
equipage; then certainly every attention and accommodation 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