General account of literary establishments at Paris.—National library.—Manuscripts.—Memoirs of his own times, by Lewis XIV.—_Fac simile_ of a love letter of Henry IV.—Cabinet of medals.—Cabinet of engravings, &c.—Library of the Pantheon.—Mazarine library.—Library of the Institute.—Libraries of the senate, the legislative body, and tribunate.—The _Lycées_, now called _les Athénées_.—Admirable lectures given at one of them.—Professors _Fourcroy_, _Cuvier_, and _la Harpe_.—“L’Institute national.”—“_Jardin national des Plantes_”—Collection of birds, plants, fossils, and insects, in the house attached to the “_Jardin des Plantes_.”—“Cabinet de l’École des Mines, _à l’Hôtel des Monnoies_.”—Great opportunities afforded at Paris of cultivating science and literature in all their various branches. Paris, may the 10th, 1802 (20 floréal.) MY DEAR SIR, I have postponed speaking to you of the literary establishments of Paris, till my residence here had been sufficiently long to enable me to give my opinion with some degree of certainty. Perhaps there is no town in the known world, which affords such favourable opportunities of acquiring and cultivating knowledge, as that from which I am now writing. On this subject, equality in the best sense exists; and while the poor man has the finest libraries, and most extensive collections opened to his use, without any expense whatever, he, whose circumstances are moderately easy, obtains, for a trifling consideration, every possible means of additional improvement. The national library, which existed during the monarchy, and was founded by Charles the fifth, occupies a large building in the _rue de la Loi_ (_ci-devant de Richelieu_). An elegant staircase, painted by Pelegrini, leads to the spacious apartments on the first floor, which take up three sides of the large court by which you enter, and which contain no less than three hundred thousand printed volumes. Five or six rooms, well lighted and well aired, offer on each side the best books, in every science and in every language. Tables are placed for the convenience of students, and attentive librarians civilly deliver the works which are asked for. In the second room is a curious piece of workmanship, called “le Parnasse françois[82]” by _Titon Dutillet_, in which the different poets and writers of France are represented as climbing up the steep ascent of that difficult but inspired mountain. In my opinion, it deserves attention more as a specimen of national taste, and private industry, than as a production either of genius or of beauty.