Excerpt from Paris in Its Splendour, Vol. 1 of 2 A capital is often described as the heart or brain of a country, and the metaphor in the case of Paris conveys more truth than such epigrams usually express. But Paris is also more emphatically than some other Euro pean capitals its countenance as well. Paris, like Lon don and Rome, is not only the political, commercial, social, and intellectual centre of France, but it is an epitome and reflection of the national life and an illus tration of the past history. In it, observes Mr. H. D. Trail], the genius and the temperament of the people Who built it and Who inhabit it are almost always re flected; it bears in many cases the indelible marks of their historic experiences and the unbroken chronicle of their growth; it is the enduring monument of their labours and achievements; here and there it may reveal to us, as by the lines of care on the faces of the aged, the sombre vestiges of their calamities and crimes. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.