The second great apartment is the Hall of Plenty, the ceiling painted by Houdon,[1] then comes the Hall of Diana, painted by Blanchard.[1] The fourth apartment is called the Hall of Mars. Audran[1] has painted this deity in his car, surrounded by all his martial attributes. Here is an ingenious mechanical clock by Moraud, which played a carillon every hour, but since the Revolution the tunes have been altered. Through the Halls of Mercury and Apollo we reach the Saloon of War. Over the chimney-piece is a fine oval bas-relief of Mars on horseback, but as the head of Mars was a copy of the features of Louis XV., the Sovereign People thought proper to knock it off. It is in contemplation to repair this mischief by placing a resemblance of a celebrated Corsican gentleman in the stead of the former master. It would be folly to dispute the superiority of the French in the art of decoration; their public edifices, without excluding those constructed since the Revolution, exhibit the highest proof of excellence in the ornamental art, and in no part of Europe is there any apartment to compare with the Grand Gallery of Versailles, for both arrangements or magnificence. It is 220 feet in length, 30 in breadth and 32 in height, and contains seventeen large windows, opposite which are as many arcades, filled with looking-glasses that reflect the gardens and their water pieces. Between the arcades and the windows are forty-eight pilasters of the rarest marbles, the bases and capitals being of gilded bronze. [Sidenote: EXCURSION TO VERSAILLES] The Gallery terminates in the Saloon of Peace, which formed part of the apartments of the Queen of France. Beyond this chamber are two apartments, which complete this magnificent suite, they are superbly ornamented with plate glasses, vases, columns and busts. In the last there are twenty-two paintings by Leseuer, brought from the Chartreuse monastery. Formerly we might have passed through the apartments of the late King and descended by the marble staircase, but these rooms are now all occupied by military invalids. We had to return through the state saloons and descend to the gallery which leads to the Opera House, unquestionably the most magnificent in Europe. This building was commenced in 1753, and it was only finally completed in 1770, being first used for the festivities given in honour of the marriage of the late unfortunate Louis XVI., then Dauphin. It would be tedious to detail every particular of this elegant hall, suffice it to observe that it combines taste with splendour, and that the orchestra is large enough to contain eighty musicians. The Chapel of the Palace was finished in the year 1710 and is a superb monument. This chapel has been preserved with great care from the havoc of the Revolution, and is in the same state as when it was the daily resort of the Royal family of France.