the Ptolemies, the famous cameo representing the apotheosis of Augustus, the seal of Michael Angelo, and the armour of Francis I, and the admirers of vertu must be delighted with the collection of exquisitely beautiful intaglios and cameos.  Two globes, twelve feet in diameter, being the largest extant, cannot be overlooked.  Mount Parnassus in bronze, which the French poets and musicians are ascending with Louis XIV on the summit, is a fine piece of workmanship; there is also a model of the Pyramids of Egypt, with figures and trees to denote their height.  There are a few very good paintings, and many objects calculated to excite the highest interest, which it would take years properly to examine and appreciate.  The prayer-books of St. Louis and Anne of Brittany, and one which belonged in succession to Charles V Charles IX, and Henri III, bearing their signatures are exceedingly curious.  Amongst the books and manuscripts may be found some of every known language which has characters.  This noble institution is open daily for students; authors; etc., from ten till three, except Sundays and festivals; and those who merely wish to view the establishment may be admitted from ten till three on Tuesdays and Fridays; except during the vacation, which is from the 1st September to the 15th October.

In the same street, a little farther southward, at the corner of the Rue Traversiere, the preparations will be observed for a statue to Moliere, on the spot where stood the house in which he died, and nearly opposite is a small passage which passes under a house; and takes one opposite another of a similar description, which leads into the Palais Royal:  suddenly emerging from the little dark alleys into a beautiful area, has a most extraordinary and pleasing effect; you see before you a parallelogram of 700 feet by 300, completely surrounded by a beautiful building with arcades, and having flower-gardens; statues, and a splendid fountain in the centre.  To see this extraordinary scene to the greatest advantage, the first visit should be by night, and the impulsive coup-d’oeil tempts the beholder to imagine that he has around him the realization of some gay dream of a fairy palace, the immense glare of light glittering on the falling waters, the brilliance of the illuminated shops; the magnificence and richness of the articles therein displayed, with reflecting lamps so contrived as to throw a powerful light on their sparkling jewels and glittering ware, the vistas of trees, the borders of flowers, the well dressed company and animated groups, with the gilded coffee-houses beaming all round, form such a picture as it is more easy to imagine than describe.  Four galleries with shops encircle the garden of the Palais Royal, three of them are under piazzas opening to the grand area, the fourth, called the Galerie d’Orleans, is enclosed on both sides, and the roof is formed by one immense skylight, whilst the effect of the whole is superb.  Over the shops are mostly either coffee-houses