has repeatedly called on me to request that I will mention it to all my friends, that it may become known in England. As it is a most correct and admirable piece of execution, you will oblige me by speaking of it to some of our principal printsellers. Rosaspina was one of the deputies of the Italian Republic, who were ordered by the First Consul, to traverse the Alps, for the purpose of giving away the independence of their country, by electing him their president against their inclination.

There is one circumstance attached to all the public institutions of Paris, on which I cannot refrain from bestowing the highest commendation, They are open to the public gratis. I wish I could say the same of many of our excellent establishments at home. With the exception of the Royal Society, the British Museum, and the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, I do not know of a single institution, to which a native or a foreigner can be admitted without fees, and sometimes they are exacted under so many circumstances of barefaced imposition, that one cannot avoid feeling ashamed that the most liberal nation upon the face of the earth, should tolerate such an abuse of its character, and continue to permit the officers of their establishments for the sake of paltry gratuities, to exclude inquisitive travellers from the opportunity of ad

miring the productions of their genius and industry.

Every intelligent foreigner who visits London, goes there in general, with a view to reap instruction. It is very rare indeed, that foreigners, like certain Englishmen, who disgrace themselves at Paris, carry their pockets filled with gold, for the purpose of cutting a figure; if they be disposed to dash, they throw away their money at home among their own fellow-citizens. But to rational men, every facility ought to be afforded which may promote their views. From what I have said in a former letter, it is evident I cannot be understood to cast any imputation on artists, because from the confined nature of their profession, they are justly entitled to every advantage, even to more than they derive, from the pleasure which they afford to the community. But I allude to National Establishments, and the collections of private gentlemen, in which, I am sorry to confess, the French order matters with far more liberality than we do *.

At the time this letter was written, I was not so well acquainted with our public institutions as I have since become. When Mr. Grégoire and his friends were with me last year, we experienced the utmost civilities in the course of two whole months, occupied principally in visiting our different public establishments. But I cannot avoid repeating, that we paid more money than we made bows. The sums we paid altogether appear almost incredible.

The

The only qualification requisite for admission into the central museum, is to have your passport always in your pocket; and unless you are provided with it, the porter at the gate will on no account permit you to enter. Foreigners are also indulged with a privilege, from which the French themselves are excluded; for the museum is open to the former at all times, but only on certain fixed days to the latter.

Under the monarchy, the gallery always contained a splendid collection of paintings; but now, the whole edifice of the Louvre is appropriated to national uses. It is not only the repository of pictures, but also of antiquities; the National Institute, and the Polytechnic Society, designed to supply the ancient Academy of Belles Lettres, hold their assemblies there. The productions of living artists and their pupils, are exhibited once a year in it, and apartments are allotted, free of expence, to various eminent artists and scientific men. No royal palace can be maintained in a higher state of cleanliness and propriety, than the apartments of the museum; and the decency and orderly conduct of the spectators, who are all admitted without any respect of persons, present an example which the people of other countries need not be ashamed to adopt.

It is extremely pleasing as one traverses the great gallery, to see a number of artists con

stantly

stantly employed in taking copies of the different originals; some elevated midway, between the cieling and the floor, on little pulpits; others a little lower; and some with tables before them, and seated on chairs. I have seen several female artists at work, and one of them who was occupied in drawing a very beautiful Madona, was, I am sure, much handsomer than the original from which she was copying, and I took the liberty of telling her so, which she received à la Française, though with much more unaffected modesty than the generality of her countrywomen. Indeed, her youth, beauty, and bashfulness, were so striking, that many of our young Englishmen were buzzing, but always respectfully, around her, under pretence of inspecting her drawing. She had not a French face; hence, I conclude, she is of Norman or Breton extraction. The artists never feel themselves incommoded by your overlooking their works; on the contrary, they consider it as a flattering mark of attention, and receive with the utmost politeness any observations that the by-stander may presume to offer. We have often experienced their civility, which I think they. have occasionally pushed too far, by offering their seats, and allowing us to compare the copies with the originals. Such behaviour is, however, a strong proof of urbanity. But these men are artists, not members of the National Institute.

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The

The great gallery of the Louvre is by no means adapted for the exhibition of pictures, for it is extremely narrow in proportion to its length, and the windows which look towards the Seine, completely defeat the effect of those which look towards the place du Carousel. A great number of the paintings thus appear to be covered with eternal mist, and others are scarcely discernible; so that the principal effect of shade and light is wholly destroyed. In addition to this misfortune, some of the noblest master-pieces of the Italian school, have been injudiciously retouched by the French artists, and have been rendered quite unnatural, and in many instances, ridiculous. The colouring of the parts defaced has been often executed in such a bungling and tasteless manner; that they resemble pieces of patch-work. would have proved fortunate for the art, and the reputation of its most illustrious professors, if the French were endowed with a more chastened taste for what they frequently misname perfectionnement. They have likewise injured a multitude of exquisite performances with a species of varnish, by which, when I have approached them in search of the beauties of the artist, I have been mortified with a view of my own face. Things are often more spoilt by overdoing than by remaining stationary; and by the neglect of this maxim, the French have materially injured,

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