LETTER XXXIII. _Pont National_, formerly called the _Pont Royal_--Anecdote of Henry IV and a waterman--_Coup d'oeil_ from this bridge--Quays of Paris --Galiot of St. Cloud--_Pont de la Concorde_--Paris besieged by the Swedes, Danes, and Normans, in 885--The Seine covered with their vessels for the space of two leagues--A vessel ascends the Seine from Rouen to Paris in four days--Engineers have ever judged it practicable to render the Seine navigable, from its mouth to the capital, for vessels of a certain burden--Riches accruing from commerce pave the way to the ruin of States, as well as the extension of their conquests. LETTER XXXIV. French literature--Effects produced on it by the revolution--The sciences preferred to literature, and for what reason--The French government has flattered the literati and artists; but the solid distinctions have been reserved for men of science--Epic Poetry --Tragedy--Comedy--Novels--Moral Fable--Madrigal and Epigram--Romance --Lyric Poetry--Song--Journals. LETTER XXXV. _Pont au Change_--_Palais de Justice_--Once a royal residence --Banquet given there, in 1313, by Philip the Fair, at which were present Edward II and his queen Isabella--Alterations which this palace has undergone, in consequence of having, at different times, been partly reduced to ashes--Madame _La Motte_ publicly whipped--In 1738, _Lewis XVI_ here held a famous bed of justice, in which _D'Espresmenil_ struck the first blow at royalty--He was exiled to the _Ile de St. Marguerite_--After having stirred up all the parliaments against the royal authority, he again became the humble servant of the crown--After the revolution, the _Palais de Justice_ was the seat of the Revolutionary Tribunal--_Dumas_, its president, proposed to assemble there five or six hundred victims at a time--He was the next day condemned to death by the same tribunal--The _Palais de Justice_, now the seat of different tribunals--The _grande chambre_ newly embellished in the antique style--_La Conciergerie_, the place of confinement of _Lavoisier_, _Malsherbes_, _Cordorcet_, _&c._--Fortitude displayed by the hapless _Marie-Antoinette_ after her condemnation--_Pont St. Michel_--_Pont Notre-Dame_--Cathedral of _Notre-Dame_--Anecdote of _Pepin_ the Short--Devastations committed in this cathedral--Medallions of _Abélard_ and _Héloïse_ to be seen near _Notre-Dame_ in front of the house where _Fulbert_, her supposed uncle, resided--_Petit Pont_--_Pont au Double_--_Pont Marie_--Workmen now employed in the construction of three new bridges--_Pont de la Tournelle_. LETTER XXXVI. Paris a charming abode for a man of fortune--Summary of its advantages--_Idalium_--_Tivoli_--_Frascati_--_Paphos_--_La Phantasmagorie_ of _Robertson_--_Fitzjames_, the famous ventriloquist--Method of converting a galantee-show into an exhibition somewhat similar to that of the phantasmagorists.