length by one hundred and forty in breadth, and contains four bergeries (sheep-folds), four bouveries (cattle-houses), and other buildings. The ABATTOIR DE POPINCOURT, near the rue de Popincourt, was also commenced in 1810, under the direction of Messrs. Happe and Vautier. It contains seven bergeries, seven bouveries, etc. The ABATTOIR D'IVRY, situate near the barrière d'Italie, was begun in 1810, after the designs of M. Leloir. Although less extensive than the foregoing, it covers a considerable space. The ABATTOIR DE VAUGIRARD, near the place de Breteuil, was begun in 1811, after the designs of M. Gisors This edifice, like the others, consists of several courts and piles of building. These five abattoirs being finished in 1818, at an expense of 16,518,000 francs, a police ordinance was issued, which fixed the 15th of September for their opening, and prohibited from that day cattle being driven to private stables or slaughter-houses. Houses for melting the tallow and drying the skins are attached to each of these establishments. A duty is paid upon the animals slaughtered, in the following proportion, viz. an ox, six francs; a cow, four francs; a calf, two francs; and a sheep, ten sous; producing annually, including a small duty on tallow, 300,000 francs, which is appropriated for the expense of keeping up the buildings and paying the persons employed. CHAP. X. PLACES, AND TRIUMPHAL ARCHES. PLACES. PLACE VENDOME. This Place, called originally Place des Conquêtes, and afterwards Place de Louis le Grand, was formed upon the site of an hotel, erected in 1604 by the duchess de Mercœur, which passed into the family of Vendôme upon the marriage of Françoise de Lorraine, only daughter of the duke de Mercœur, with Cæsar, duke de Vendôme, son of Henry IV. At the suggestion of the marquis de Louvois, who succeeded Colbert as surintendant des Bâtimens, Louis XIV. purchased in 1685, for 660,000 livres, the Hôtel Vendôme, which occupied a considerable space, with the design of forming a square, to be surrounded with public buildings, and, among others, the royal library, the mint, edifices for the different academies, and hotels for ambassadors. The works were in a state of forwardness when, in consequence of the death of Louvois, the execution of the project was abandoned. Some years after, the king presented to the city of Paris the ground and the materials collected upon it, with power to sell them, upon condition that a Place upon another plan should be formed, and that the city should erect an hotel in the faubourg Saint Antoine for the Mousquetaires Noirs. This property was ceded for 620,000 livres, to the sieur Masneuf, who erected the Place as it now appears. Mansard, who furnished the first plans to Louvois, was charged to prepare the second. The form of the Place Vendôme is octagonal, and the dimensions four hundred and fifty feet by four hundred and twenty. The style of the surrounding buildings is a basement surmounted by Corinthian pilasters. Most of the houses were built by the fermiers généraux. This Place was formerly adorned by a fine equestrian statue, in bronze, of Louis XIV., which was cast near the convent of the Capucines, at the extremity of the rue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs. The statue and horse were together twenty-two feet in height, and the other dimensions in proportion. The entire group was cast at once, and was the largest work of the kind ever attempted in Europe. Eighty thousand pounds weight of metal, of which seventy thousand pounds were employed, were melted in a furnace constructed for the purpose. The total expense was 750,000 livres. The king was represented in an antique costume, without saddle or stirrups. The designs were by Girardon, whom the work occupied for the space of seven years. It was cast in December, 1692, by Jean Balthazar Keller, a native of Zurich, in Switzerland. On the marble pedestal, which was thirty feet high, was the following inscription, composed by the Royal Academy of Inscriptions. LUDOVICO MAGNO Decimo quarto Francorum et Navarræ Regi christianissimo, Victori perpetuo, religionis vindici, justo, pio, felici, patri patriæ, erga urbem munificentissimo, quam arcubus, fontibus, plateis, ponte lapideo, vallo amplissimo arboribus consito, decoravit, innumeris beneficiis cumulavit; quo imperante securi vivimus, neminem timemus. Statuam hanc equestrem, quam diù oblatam recusavit, et civium amori, omniumque votis indulgens, erigi tandem passus est, Prefectus et Ediles, acclamante populo, læti posuêre, 199. Optimum Principem Deus servet. There were several other inscriptions, which related to the principal actions in the life of Louis XIV. The period (August, 1699) when this statue was dedicated was one of great scarcity in France, and the expense of its erection gave rise to violent murmurs, particularly as the king's finances were so reduced, that he was constrained to have recourse to extraordinary measures. A few days after the ceremony, a beggar's wallet was found suspended from the shoulder of the monarch. In 1730, the pedestal was ornamented with trophies, etc. of bronze gilt, and surrounded with palisades. On the 10th of August, 1792, it was demolished. In the centre of the Place Vendôme stands the famous triumphal pillar which Bonaparte erected to commemorate the success of his arms in Germany, in the campaign of 1805. It rests upon the foundation of the statue of Louis XIV., built upon piles at the depth of thirty feet below the surface of the ground. Its total elevation is one hundred and thirty-five feet, and the diameter of the shaft is twelve feet. It is in imitation of the pillar of Trajan at Rome, and is built of stone, covered with bas-reliefs, (representing the various victories of the French army), composed of twelve hundred pieces of cannon taken from the Russian and Austrian armies. The bronze employed in this monument was about three hundred and sixty thousand pounds weight. The column is of the Doric order. The bas-reliefs of the pedestal represent the uniforms and weapons of the conquered legions. Above the pedestal are festoons of oak, supported at the four angles by eagles, in bronze, each weighing five hundred pounds. The bas-reliefs of the shaft pursue a spiral direction from the base to the capital, and display in chronological order the principal actions of the campaign, from the departure of the troops from Boulogne to the battle of Austerlitz. The figures are three feet high; their number is said to be two thousand, and the length of the spiral band eight hundred and forty feet. Above the capital is a gallery, which is approached by a winding staircase within, of one hundred and seventy-six steps. Upon the capital is the following inscription :— MONUMENT ÉLEVÉ A LA GLOIRE DE LA GRANDE ARMÉE Commencé le XXV août 1806, terminé le XV août 1810, sous la direction de D. V. DENON, M. M. J.-B. LEPÈRE et L. GONDOIN, architectes. Over the door leading to the staircase is a bas-relief, representing two figures of Fame supporting a tablet, upon which is the following inscription, no longer visible, it having been covered with a bronze plate: NEAPOLIO. IMP. AUG. MONUMENTUM BELLI GERMANICI. ANNO M.D.CCCV. TRIMESTRI. SPATIA. DUCTU. SUO PROFLIGATI. GLORIE. EXERCITUS. MAXIMI. DICAVIT. The capital of the column is surmounted by an acroterium, upon which formerly stood the statue of Napoleon, measuring eleven feet in height, and weighing five thousand one hundred and twelve pounds. The white flag now |