MEMOIRS OF MONSIEUR CLAUDE, Chief of Police under the Second Empire.

TRANSLATED BY MARY SEAL

SHERWOOD.

CHAPTJSK I. Mir youth Aim jit vocation,

I WAS born at Tonl, October 17, 1807, as noble as I was unfortunate. lam proud of my native town, which so nobly resisted the last invasion, lam glad to belong to a population which carries respect for duty so far that it amounts to heroism, and car ries contempt of danger tc the furthest limit of courage. -_ The modest position of my family com pelled me to leave them early and create for myself an independent position. Desirous of relieving my parents from the burden of my anpport, and grateful for the education they had bestowed upon me, I left Toul at nineteen to go Paris. I arrived in the capital less guided by ambition than by the desire of obataining a lucrative position, which at .that time was impossible in the Provinces for a .yyung man like myself, whose education was far better than ordinary. No man is a prophet In his]own country. Convinced of the truth of this adage, I first applied to a friend of my family, who occupied an excellent posi tion in Paris. Through this gentleman's reeommenndation I was received by a lawyer as his clerk on a small salary. I was not precisely on the path to fortune. I was tied all day to my desk—copying papers and making minutes, when X was not harrying about Paris on business con nected with the office.

I was naturally curious, and with a strong taste for adventure; and it was with diffi culty that I r. signed myself to this mechanical life, which was calculated to paralyze the imagination. I was three years in this office, and was promoted to the second clerkship, which would have been my final elevation, had not chance given me an opportunity of exercising my especial tastes, aad so prov ing to my comrades the keen powers of observation with which nature had en dowed me.

This opportunity which decided my future career, I owe to a person who was ;a great celebrity In the annals of crime. It resul ted in a most singular circumstance, which assisted me to leave this lawyer's office, and enabled me to enter that of the Recor der of Criminal Affairs.

It was on "a Saturday, in 1829. I had been invited by twenty or more clerks to a dinner Riven by a future neophyte. This debutant in the vortex of Paris was, they said, the son of a rich merchant in the Provinces. Alter having expended .his pst?imony, he was new compelled' to employ Ms [brilliant faculties in some pro. fesxioD.

Quite intimate with these clerks, this young man, whose resources were now nearly: exhausted, expended his last gold pieces in burying, as ns called it, his tur bulent youth. He had invited to this dinner some notaries' clerks, also some lawyers' clerks, under which head I came, and I could not refine the invitation with which I waa honoured.

. The yonng man had ordered a {repast which promised to he long, abundant, and well watered with liquid).

My invitation bad be;n sent to me through mutual friends, and I was not sorry to make the acquaintance of this youth, who, out of respect for his family, it was said, >;hoso to be known only under the name of George.

I was curious to see him, for in my friend's,eyes he was somewhat of a hero. • V And," they said, "il he does not usa his family name, it is really less because he f ears bis father's anger f orpeccadillos which are excusable at his age than because he fears the pursuit of the police. Their eyes have been on him ever since a duel, which was fa.tal to his adversary—particularly as he him not hesitated to announce his carbonaro opinions.

Jus tat this time the Opposition was making demi-gods of the carbonari. The bar was by no means the last to declare its preference for tbis Opposition, which opened to young men a far more brilliant career than that which the defenders of tbe widow and the orphan could hope to achieve. In 1829, politics were rampant; they made themselves heatd in the tobacco shops, they were expressed in the hats v la Bolivar, the brims of which were orna mented with portraits of Laffitto, of Benjamin Constant and of Lafayette. At all the cafes and restaurants, uniformity of opinions decided the guests, aud every one ira* on guard against the admittance of adversaries.

It is therefore qaiie apparent that; these gentlemen—theso clerks of whom I speak— weria not the last to swell the ranks of the Opposition. Ail to myself, ardent disciple as I was of liberty, I considered it quite a privilege to kaow this mysterious being who was a martyr to his opinions. This duel, too, bad elevated him enor mously in my opinion. My imagination was greatly excited, and I adored him with* out knowing him. The dinner given by this fascinating un known took place at the Veau qni Te*te, a restaurant much ia vogue at that time. ",•- ---1 caa oven now, in my old age, perfectly remember the Jong table, surrounded by twenty gay. youth*, eager to attack]the dainty dishes upon the table. I can atao recall moat vividly thefaces of my host and his friend, I had eyes all through the dinner for only theso two faces, and, in spite of my youthful appetite, I paid little attention to anything else.

Oat Amphitryon wati a young man of twenty-five, and decidedly elegant in ap pearance ; Ms smiling face was relieved by a silky moustache; otherwise, he night have Dten taken for a woman in disguise. He was excessively thin; but that his frail body, in appearance so delicate, concealed a robust constitution, I felt very ccr. tain. ~., ,-, His companion, on the contrary, was a vtout, broad-shouldered fellow, but his health wae evidently impaired by ex cesses.

George made himself agreeable, although With a touch of sarcasm in his manner, while the other, in spite of his good humoured face, was a trifle reserved and almost sulky, The name of the latter was Begand; ho was from Lyons, like his fiicnd George. i ' . When there past became more animated, and ths eating and the drinking was at its height, I still continued to watch these two men, I saw that George, when the others were heated by wine, preserved his coolness, and jot he drank too, I noticed, too, that he hardly touched any of the dishes handed to him; his companion, however, ate more than be drank.

At the-end of the dinner I noticed that Bdgand's face was crimson, while that of George was livid, I noticed,; too, that his almond-shaped eyep, generally so soft, glitterod like steel. His frowning brows nearly mat, and on bis li|:n was a most nn pleasant smile. Ho seemed absolutely transformed, 'or, rather to hare thrown off his mask. I fait an;innato conviction that hit man, who had been described to me as a hero, was simply a criminal. Whence came thin conviction I could not tell, bat 1 felt it very strongly. The clink of glasses resounded in my eats like tho shouts of the huntsman start ing bis dogs, impatient for their prey. 1 felt strangely attracted towards this rouD, with something of tho fascination exercised by the wolf roving around the Hock on tho rhopherrf dog that guards it, This magnetic impression 1 have often felt since, when in contact with some groat rascal, and it has beon of marvellous asoia. tauco in my moat important investigation!), I admit that on tbis occasion, these impres sions, wbich wero then new to mo, asto nished mo greatly. Since then they have ceased to tnprise mo, althongb, as I oaid before, they have guided me constancy. At that lime, I could not fully compre hend tlie instinctive avoi sion which I felt; lor this George, whom my friends regarded as a demi-god, and in fact was a little troubled at my own presumption. So great was my interest and cariosity that I lent an attentive ear to the discourse of these women.

It was plain that our Amphitryon, to use the classical expression; was not as excitod by the champagne as were his guests. I took it^ into my betid that Georee was on cowaginz tte intoxication of those about jam, Kfijile Keeping his self-control. J mascot l'/a# In coaiine to the conclusion •Jihat Gmw (TOiKidered himself a superb ,*aj«pivß.c4 thit tba bfg man by his side was taew to applaud his sallies, wbich he Si with Ms mouth full

We discussed religion, society, and politics. These youpg men were too young to recall all that their country had suffered, were astonished that France had returned to its monarchical traditions. Alter drink ing to the return (of Liberty. I beard my Cftrbonaro say to bis future colleagues:

"Gentlemen, I drink to my former com panions in pleasure, to my new associate*, who are all victims like myself to the inequality of social conditions, la entering my new and hopeful career I drink to cue future which shall avenge us. As to my self, I have fought and am conquered. One consolation remains to me which is, that I did not sorrecder until i had fought most gal'antlyl" . "That is true I that is truer' cried Begand, giving his friend a slap on the back. " You are a brave fellow. Every body remembers your duel with the nephew of Benjamin Constant." At this name pronounced by these lips I shuddered. All my suspicions in regard to my host returned; although I had heard much about the famous duel, the name of his adversary was unknown to me. 1 at once recalled the duel.

A young, man constantly frequented, under a feigued name, a well-known gambling bouse. He there met the nephew of the great orator of the Opposition. Tbia realitive of BeDJamin Constant, after meet ing with many losses, bad rea-on to suspect the honesty of his adversary's play, who went into a violent fit of rage when Con s ant said to him :

Z," My name speaks in favour of my loyalty. I cannot say the same of yours, since it is unknown to me, I feel, theretore, that I was a fool to play with you." The unknown promptly replied. " Sir/1 call myself only George, here, for the reason that my father has suffered enough.without xpy compromising his name in a house like this. If my name is un known to jou, youra unfortunately has be come too conspicuous by your uncle's leap at the time of the Hundied Days."

The reproach was most cutting; fer Benjamin Constant, before the Hundred Days, had compared Napoleon I. to Attila and to Gengis Khan, declaring that he was the most odious man in the world. And when, during the Hnndred Daya, he was made Counselor of State, it was to the stupefaction of cveryboay. This incident, recalled by George at the moment when Benjamin Constant was the hope of the Liberal party, had so enraged his nephew that a duel ensued on the very next day in the Bios de Boulogne.

The nephew of the orator, being the in sulted patty, fired first; he missed his ad versary. George then took aim, coldly and calmly, fired, and killed his adversary. Thisdnel was looked upon by Moderate Liberals as a deliberate assassination, while the Ultra Liberals regarded it as a fast vengeance upon the victims of the Restoration.

Now that I knew] this George, and was his guest, and ihad such an opportunity of studying him, I felt sure that he thirsted for blood as others did for win;;. I looked upon him asa vile murderer. When I heard my companions compli ment him on this duel, I was eager to fly this orgie, which inspired me with disgust George said at the end of dessert, with the last glass of champagne : "Now, my friends, that I urn on the point of leaving the f world ci idlers to become a salaried clerk like yourselves, I no longer desire to conceal ray father's name, who is a bankrupt in fortune like myself. My name is Lacenairc."

Tbis name, which was destined to in spire the new generation Jwith horror, sounded in my ears like a funeral knell.

"When Lacenaire proposed to the young men that they Should finish the night at Tonncllier's and have a bowl of punch there, I for one at once rejected this propo sition.

The lawyer^' clerks with whom I had gone to this dinner, also declined tbe in vitation oat of consideration for me, but the notaries' clerks gaily agreed.

When I left tbe restaurant I breathed more freely; I felt a« if an enormous weight were removed. My companions re proached me for not being more cordial to tbis delightful fellow, who interred with so charming a grace his social life.

"Myfriends," I replied, carried away by my psychological observations, "this Lacenaire, in spite of \m smiling face and his loquacity, which is, however, more cynical ihan 'witty, does not impress me favourably. He ha?, beneath the mask of great gentleness, a latent fierceness. I am sure that I have discovered in him an enemy of society. He is handsome, I admit, but his expression as soon as he is offbiagnard is simply horrible. His hands, too, tell the truth. The fingers flattened and broadened at the end?, like the bead of a reptile, indicate the innate cruelty ot the man. I tell you now.that he will not enter his notary's office, and I assure you that you will hear again of him. He has killed, one man, and he will ktll others.

At this outburst, which I regretted as toon as it had paßsed my lips> my comrades called me mad, and laughed at me. One of them, however, frowned and teemod to regard me as a calumniator.

Two days had not elapsed before I was justified in his [eyes. Lacenaire did not enter the office where he was engaged. The following Tuesday the iron safe in this same office was forced in the night, It was found in the mornin? that the robbers bad evidently been disturbed and terrified by some noiae, and had flown without taking with them valuable securi- I ties in the safe. As there was no one bnt the head clerk who knew that these securi ties were in tnessfe, suspicion fell upon the young man who, under the pretence of enter ing the office,had won the confidence of the head clerk at the dinner so Generously offered to him and his associates,

it was rightly suspected that the dinner at the Veau quiTeteonly concealed, on the part of the Amphitryon, his plan of rob bing the safe in the office which ho had never really intended to enter.

A few months later, Lacenaire, before becoming the odioua assassin of the Rue Montorgucil, was arrested in the Cafe de la Bourse, afier having robbed a cabriolet, Ths story soon reached the young men who bad dined at the Yeau gui Tote, and created quite an excitement. The clerk who bad looked npon me as a cnlumniator, could not'now Ittul woids in which to express his admiration for my cleverness. He told all the guests of the judgment I had uttered, and I bad little idea that, in condemning Lacenaire intui tively as I had done, I. bad opened the doors of the Prefecture to mytelf.

The head of the Office of Criminal Inves tigation, learning the opinion that I had formed merely by such a brief inspection of this rascal, came to the conclusion that I might be a most useful person. He made me proposals, which I accepted. I entered his office, and felt at once that my foot was on my native heath.

This I owed to Lacensire,

UHAPTEKII,

THE BLACK CABIURT AND SECHET SOCIE-

TIES.

After the Revolution of 1830, I received my promotion in this same office, although I acted as grejjiar before I was really entitled to do so.

I owe this promotion a? much to my zeal and to my aptitude as to political events.

At this time the Constitutional Royalty which, accordiog to the expression ot a celebrated personage, was tha best of Republics, and needed the most energetic men to compel impatient persona not to carry out, in the intcrcct of a power that was enthusiastic in favour of peace, the programme" written down in the Chatter.

I wai then with a magistrate, who con tinued to exorcise the rolo which ho had admirably lilled under the royalty of Divine Right.

The Citizen-Kin;;—Louis Philippo-in spite of his debonnairc character, had nardly reached tUo tluoDo than he *as hata«sed by the quarrels of the d ffcrent parties. They evidently had no horror of civil war. In order to protect himself, his Majesty assembled around him all those persons who were intceated in maintaining such privi leges as the Kevolalion had wished to suppress. The police were re-formed by the viligant cure of Casimir Pfiiir, The Black Cabinet, suppressed in 1830, wtia reestablished by the Minister of Foreign A flairs, General frobastiani. The revolutionary movements which simultaneously bfirst torth In nil the countries of Europe, and which emanated from Paris and secret societies in which Republicans, Bonapartiats and Legitimists played an equal part, necessitated the crea tion ot a new Cabinet Noir, which continued to act unfr'l 1847.

Here I wish to speak of a celebrated man, RasDail, the president of tbe society known vi The Friends of the People. Citizen Raspail, a druggist, had played an important part as a journalist, and iv his political letters ' had continually thundered forth his diatribes against the new government. His articles caused everyone to remember that they were directed against

hih former friends. The Black Cabinet was filled with his epistles against the King, who. as Kaspail wrote, was not of his choice. : . ; The Citizen-King sought partisans rather than adversaries ; he appeared one day to be greatly alarmed by the copies of lias pail's letters, which came to him almost daily from the Black Cabinet. He said to Moatalivet, then Minister of the Interior : " Good, heavens! what can this man want?" "Sire," answered the Minister, "he probably wants the Cross, like many other heroes of July." " Well, then, let him have it, if at any price I may hope to rest ia peace." This was all the King aaid. And after this Hawaii's name was never again men tioned between his Majesty and his Mi.uii ter. But the new administration fully rea lised the value which the King attached to franquiiity, and never forgot thefe woida. The day after this conversation between his Majesty and the Minister of the Interior, ;Kaspail received a letter with a huge seal. Raspail, chief ot a secret sociely.did not expect any favours from the chateau, and he divined that this letter was only a printed pamphlet. Tne president of the Soci6te dcs Amis dv Peuple tcsedthe letter on his desk and b'gan to think what luggage he might be allowed to take to the Consiergerie. When he opened the ministerial letter, Kaspail fell from the clouds. It took him some time to reaiiee that ie was not to the Conciergerie that he wai to go. This letter, aeut from the Cabinet of the Minister of the Inteiior, was lhusconceived :

"My peak Sir—l have the honour to announce to 'you that by the ordonnance bearing date March 13th, 1831, the King, at my suggestion, has made you Chevalier of the Legion of Hooour. The Grand Chan cellor of the Order will communicate with you. "Accept, sir, the assurances of my dis tinguished consideration. (Signed) MON TALIVET." Kaspail, utterly bewildered, looked at the envelope again and again to see if the date were not anticipated—if it were not April Ist, instead of March 13th. The Republican had vociferously de manded handcuff*, and received the Cross ! His decision was soon made : he write a reply to the Minister, which was not put on file in the Black Cabinet, for his coin v.a3 sent to the janrnals of the Opposition.

In this reply the president of the Society dcs Amis da People said, among amenable things of the government, " I hat, des pairing of reaching a citizen through his conscience, it took him by his buttonhole."

If Ha-piil were obstinate, the govern ment was equally so. Between the recep tion of the ministerial letter and the reply of it 3 recipient, Casimir Pdrier succeeded Montdlivec.

Ob. hearing of Ba«pail's public refusal, Casimir Pdrier exclaimed, with the deter, mination that characterised him :

" One of two things Raspail mntt do : he must either accept the Cross or the prison." and three days later, Raspail, decorated in spite of himself, road in the Moniteur the announcement. Then, indignant at the obstinacy *of tho government, he repaired in hot haste to the office of the Moniteur, and demanded that his positive refusal to accept the decoration should be printed in the next issue. But he was in formed that the Moniteur owed too ranch to the Ministry to dream of offering such an insult to the noble jmtitution of the Legion of Honour. From this moment the president of the Society of Friends of the People was sure of liv position. He knew that, as the Minister had said.it was cither the Cross er the prison. TbiLga remained thus until May, when on tbe 29'h, 'ha received a letter from the Prefect of the Seine, who announced to him —

"That he would have the honour to receive him on the following F;iday, in order to preaout bim to his Sovereign as Chevalier of the Order."

This was a little too much : the excess of graciousnsss savoured too rnucli of sarcasm, This Cross had become rho burden if his life. Was this not the King's fashion of revenging himself ? Kaspail really began to believe this.

He was on the point of leaving his laboratory, and going in his long apt on to the Hotel de Ville to inform the Prefect that he need not expect him, when a deputa tion of market women, all in their Sunday clothes, appeared before .him, armed with huge bouquets, to .offer their .congratula tions. tub ivietcnea Gnevaller— Übevalier 10 spite of himself—had only time to untie his apron and disappear into his private cabinet to take the repose which bo so much nneded, after having his hand wrung by these hearty woman, when a letter was handed, him from the Bishop 6>dgoi>e, claiming, as commander of the order, the right of priority in offering his felicita tion*.

This was indeed emptying his chalice to the dregs, for the congratulations of a biahop to JBaspail was really the most biting satcum.

It was plain that the government of Louis Philippe was amusing iticlf at his expense. Casimir Pe'rier was not the man, how ever, to yield any more tban was Kaspail himself.

The Minister knew his Machiavelli, and it was necessary to crash him. The Cross or the prison, the new Minister bad said, and he meant it.

A week later the unwilling Chevalier received an order to appear befoie the Judge of Instruction, to explain certain in cendiary articles be had written. As tfaspail was not intimidated by tbU, he was then invited to give his reasons for refusing to serve in the artillery when General Loban had given orders that they should pattol the taubourgs in squads. It was just at this time that I made the acquaintance of Baspail. When I caw him enter the cabinet of the Judge of Instruction I was struck by his manly vigour as well-as by the shrewdness of his face.

A clerk, like myself, in the cabinet of a Judge of Instruction is cot a mere automaton, fl hose wires are polled by the judge; he is also an observer. I looked upon the judge and .Kaspail as two athletes —the latter seated as squarely on bis chair as was tbe other in his fautcuil. Although they were placed at the two ends of the social ladder, I felt as if the lower one might easily ascend. Iv the examination and cross-examination which followed, the somewhat brutal frank ness of the accused was pardoned by the ap parent good humour of the judge. I admired the frankness with which the magistrate's questions were answered, and also the adroitness with which the latter disguised his suspicions. But Kaspail avoided every snare. The magistrate did not wis i to exasperate a man who was dangerous to the government, while the so called criminal did his licet to prove that he was oven more terrible than was believed. Both sacrificed on the altars they f erved ; one to Royalty, which the judge regretted was not absolute monarchy; the other to the Republic, whose hermaphrodite Eoyal'y in the form of Louis Philippe was not alto gether objectionable. The one had benetittcd in the past, the other hoped much in the future. Such were the opinions I formed of these two men as I sat apparently absorbed in my writing. When Uaspail finished answering the judge; when ho bad said that he assum»d all the responsibility of the ariiclcs printed in the "Tribune"; when ho had expressed hia opinion of the officer who had had recourse to civjl courts to fortify his own orders, the judge asked him if he would sign his de claration.

"Moiit willingly," ho answered, glancing toward my doak. I thought the man was delighted at tho opportunity which had been given him. Jiut the Republican had not triumphed altogpther over tho Royalist judge. Just as Raspail was leaving, the magis trate stopped him as if he had had a sudden thought.

"Ah !"ueeaid, "Iforgotonething '

He hesi'atcd for a brief second. Kaspail watched him out of the corner of his eye. He expected tho "turning question," to to speak, the one which is often reserved until the moment when their victims be lieve themselves well out of their clutches. He pricked up his ears. 'X ho magistrate continued :

"is it not," he said, "because you belong to a secret society, one more mysterious than that of which you are president, that you have refused the favours of tho Government #'

'■Did you not refuse the Cross in obedience to orders? Because the ac cept unos of this Cr-oss was regarded by the mm of your party as a defection?" "Sir," answered Raspai], proudly, -1I have no reply to make to questions which I look upon as an intrusion into my private .life. I have signed my replies to 'the questions which you had a right to aslk. I certainly shall sign no declaration which you wish mo to

make against the men whose principles are my own. I may compromise mjself; thit is one thing. To compromise my friends ia another. lam responsible for my acts, bat I am no traitor, and do not intend to criminate my friends."

And Kaspail departed. The fact i,the chiefs of secret societies do not belong to themselve3 ; they are the least independent men iv the world. They obey inflexible taws, and resemble tho-e men who, after bre iking the chains of matrimony, become the slaves of a mistress whose bonds are quite as stroug as those which they had burst. If there had not been so miuy emcutcs in the reign of Louis Philippe, there would have been no Black Cabinet, which m.de of Haspail, and others like him, tuc: r daily prey, and the police under this tolerant reign would not have been reinforced by all the enemies of liberty. Iv 1848, at the piiluj-e of the ol utaau, a portion of tbe secrets of the Black Cabinet was discovered iv the masses o! letters, copies of those written to Republicans like Raspail, 1 edru-Rollin, aud Blanqui, as well as to Monarchies like Prh.c;. de Tal leyrand, who deceived Louis Philippe, aa he" had deceived all the sjveieigus of his chuice.

The discovery of this correspondence proved th it tho govtrnment condescended to domiciliary v.sils, and employed paid agents to keep them iuformed of all leviHi tionary movements, since 1841 the Black Cabinet has been suppressed ; the tuppre- siou was much like the de&ttuction of the Bastile. It, under the Empire, existed no longer in name, but it existed in fact.

CUaPTE* 111.

THE POMOE UNDER THE REION OF LOUIS

I'MUPrE.

Although I was but twenty-live, I par formed the (lutiei of a p suion whica I could not legally fill until I w»s twenty eight. Later, in consequence of a chang ol goveromeot, my pr motion w.s de layed. At tbis time I was bat a modest clerk, but my tastoa impelled mo to mo c active du-us.

I was always on the lookout Lr evidences of crime, and for criminals. When I entered as a cl rk the oltice of criminal instruction, there to examine, note down, and arrange the reports of the secret police, this police, had very li-tie to recommend it. M. Allard was the 111>t to act aside the preposterous idea that in order to ba au courant of the acts of it was necessary to be more or leas of a rascal oneself.

Allard, who was a man of talent, and had asiiated Canler in the are-t and detec tion of Lacenaire, now applied himself to rni.-iing the standard of his police fire -. He though^, with reason, that in order to in spire the enemies of society with terror and respect, it was necessary to oppose to their vices absolute kone»ty, and to tne;r thanio ful acts the most irreproachable conduct.

It was Allard who laid the foundation of a scrupulous, vigilant, and faithful police torce, and wbo drove from tbe ranks of the department a band of rascal* who were hot in pursuit of criminals only more daring than themselves. Before Allard'« time, there were certain men who grjspsd with one hand their share of tbe bioty, and with the other the reward of their denunciation. It was not unusual to tec the denouncer breakfiat on the product of the theft, and sup on the money received as lih compensation for his discovery of the crimina's. Here is an example which proves tbe quality of tbe p dice before and atter the reign of LouU Philippe :

In consequence of an important robb>ry committed in tho house of a person > f dis tinction, the police force were Kent into the country to arre tt the thief, who was then taken to tho scene of his crime, ia order that he might point out the exact munnor in which the theft had been executed

Two days after this, tho raaitcr of the house discovered the 10-s of aa emerald, surrounded by diamonds, valued at ten thoutuind francs. Ie had been abstracted from his sleeping-room "Jhe Police De partment was at one; informed of this loss, and tbe chief immediately came to the con clusion that one of his agents bad com mitted the robbery.

This is the inpenious method employed by this Chief of Police to discover this new thief.

It was very near the cow year. The chief assembled his men: he addressed them in almost these words :

"Boys," he said, "you know we must wish the Prefect a happy New Yoar. I want each ot you, on this occasion, to put on his boi>t clothts and clean linen. I want any of you who have any jewellery in p.iwn to take it out and wear it on that occasion. We must show our chief that wo are of some consequence and means. Those among you who have not the money you require, to release your jewellery from the hands of tho pawnbrokers, may come to me. I will advance tbe necessary funds."

On New Year's mornina, the whole force, dressed in new garments, were in waiting, ready to march with their chief to tho hotel of the Prefecture. The first tbiog this nnr. of genius beheld was the stolen emerald in tLj necktie of the very man. he sus pected. " You are a fool, tir," murmured the chief iv tho ear of the agent who wore the jewel, as he bade him give it into his hands. " There arc men now serving their time in the galleys who are less culpable than you. But I have some compassion on your family, Let tbis «crvc as & lesson to you!" The chief placed tbe emerald as tie spoke in his own tie with n'majestin gesture which Robert Macairo might have envied. He wore the jewel into the presence of the prefect, and forgot, for " the honour of his force," to return it to its Uwful proprietor. The nnmerous plots and counterplots, tbe various attempts of one kind and ano ther, wbich troubled the reign of Louis Philippe, necessitated, as under the .Second Umpire, tbe creation of a double police, that of tbo Prefecture and that of tho Chateau.

General Atbalio, whose devotion to tbo dow King numbered ages, had [tho office which, under the Second Jimpitc, was filled by M. d'Hyrvoiv; like hi«a, be fulfilled tho duties of Supremo Director of that branch of the servico which, at tho time of which I write, was called the fcoyal Police It was to General Atbalin that the Black Cabinet addressed the most compromising letters which emanated from secret societies; it was to him that (he Prefecture sent all information and denunciations relative to political plots. Since the arrest of the regicide Alibauii, up to that of Fieschi, author of the infernal mucbinc, General Athalin had not been able to convince him self that this oflico as Director of tho Royal Police, was not a sinecure.

If General Athalin found in Casimir Pcricr and in the jodges most efficient assistants in combating the conspirators who thirsted for tbo life of the Kins:, he also met the moat desporaSc opposition from ihe person who was certainly the moat interested in helping him—his Majesty himself. The following is an example : About the time when Louis Philippe took notice of Ra9pail, a military plot was discovered, under tho management of the Bonaparte family, who intended, on the sth of May, to proclaim the return of Napoleon 11. in tho Place Vei'ddrae. Much information ba>l been given to General Athalio, who know, biyoii'i the possibility of a doubt, that the son of Queen Hortcnsc was coming from Italy with his mother, the Ducheese dc fuint-Leu, to proclaim tbo JSmpirc. Tho General had also every reason to bclievo that Prince Louis was oxpectcd on tho sth of Mny/aud that tho Empire would be proclaimed in the gloriou3 debris of tho Grand Army.

The plot wus a eeiinus one, The army, thoroughly impregnated by military Car bonarii'm, waited only for the arrival of the son of Queen Hortcusc to avenge the insult of Waterloo.

The adroit Duchesso do Saint-Leu, in ordo* to lull Louis Philippe into security, at. the very moment when the plot was ripe, begged an Audience of his Majesty in order to request permission for herself and her ann to pass through his kingdom on her way, as she said, irom Italy to England. Tlie King, good-natured an usual, did as ho would have done had there been no Bonapartists in the world, and received the request of the Duchess favourably and kindly. He went evon further; he gave her substantial aid, which tho asked, that aha might continue her journey, fc'ho took leave ot the King, saying that her son had not accompanied her to theTuilerirs to offer It's thanks, only because ho was do tained by severe indisposition, Ihe day after tbia iuformal reception ex* tended to the ex-Queen of Holland by the new lOng, it wan renotted to the chateau by General Athalin, who was utterly exaspe rated by the too great amiability of the Sovereign his master, There was a Cabinet Council that day. "Whatis thoro. new, gentlemen?" said1 the King, as he took his seat, ,

"Very grave news, Sire," answered the Minister of Wa/ ; I am credibly informed that the Duchesse de faint-Leu, with her son has crossed France." The King smiled. "Sire," said Casimir PfSrier, then taking tbe floor, "I can furnish still further in formation. Not only has Queen Uortense crossed France, but she is to-day in Paris, and was received by' your Majesty yester day." Tbe King, still smiling replied : '■You are so well iuformed, my dear Mini ter, that you have left liitleforme to tell you. Tne Duchcsse de Saint-Leu cime, in fact, to bring her son'a excuses, who was detained in his room by severe indisposition " " As to that," resumed the Minister of the Interior, "let y, ur Majesty suffer no anxibty. At tno very moment when you, Sire, were receiving the mothe?, tho sjn was surronuded by the principal chiefs of the fcupublican party, and pl.tting, in the name of Aapoleon il., to overthrow the p eaent government ixow all is ripe for the next revolution, if the Prince and his mother are not instantly nrrested." "Enough, geuilemen," answered the King, imperiously. " I have entire conn decice in tbe nood sense of the public. Such a plot canuut succeed, of course. Let us talk no wore of the King of the French, but of France itaelf." The King, as obstinate in his rrjec'ion of the ady.ee of his mioist rs as of the infor mation of the police, was obliged, however, when thesth if May coiue, to yield belief to the evidencs before him. The Squire of the Column VendOme re soundid with the seditious cats of tbe ■toldiers of tho First Empire; it needed seve at charges of the cavalry to disperse ; them, ;u.d to quell an insurrection which, without the prcciutions taken by the MLi-ters of War and of tho Interior, would bavc assumed the proportions of a revolution. 'I he Kiog consented himself with retract ing the permisi' n given lo Queen Hoittme and Casimir Perier took it upon him: elf to return him to exile. ■ At this very t;me, the joung Prioce ■ Louis Itonapurte was already a most dan gerous con-pirjtor. He did not leave for England until t ivo months after his mother's departure. But if tbe King had listened : to Oasimir Piirier he would have sent boh ' mother and son to a distant prison for trie rtst of their days. He would in that case 1 have spared to the monarchy of July the 1 frays of Strasbourg and Boul'gne, and the ' escape from Ham would not have resulted in the fall of the most amiable and gentlest 'of kings If the secret police dv.ing his rei,>n bad many members who were quite as suspicious as those whom they were called npon to pursue, the municipal police 1 were not much better. On the roll were i many old soldiers, a< well as dangerous recruit* (torn Saint Lazare. I In order to *bow my readers into what a ' state of anarchy the whole police force bad ' fallvti at tho time, I will cite two instances wnicb have remiintd in my memory- One day, more than ten jcars alter my 1 meeting with Lacenaire at therestuarantdu ' Veau gui Tfcte, I met in the uniform of a i policeman in the most elegant part of 1 Pari», whom? That Belaud who was such on admirer of my amphitryon, Lacenaire ■ I was still a clerk ; and I was simp'c ' enough to think tint I should cm'ia'nts this man by addressing him by his Dame, ' and rofuina.ng him of the singu'ar circutn- I stances under which I had known him. My ronn wis not in the smalcst degree ■ disturb d. He an>wcr<?d me promptly : "if course, sir, it was as disagreeable to you as to me, to be thrown in c mLct with a rascal like that. I was us deceived aa you were, of course ; who would not have been ? Who, too, would ever have sup ■ pos?d tint a clover, witty fellow like that ! wonhOiavc ended no bjidly. Tho truth is," he continued, lowering his voice, " with ' a government like- ours which fears every thing and everybody, one [may expect to see many such things." i As I drew back in astonishment at hearing an agent of tho police speak in 1 this way, he reaura d in a blill more inys- I tcrlons tone : "To-morrow lam not on duty. If you i will condescend to accept a modest brenk ' fast, I shall be able to speak more at • length." 1 excused myself, telling him politely I that 1 really con!d not think of encroaca ' ing on his small salary to that extent. He answered promptly : i "Oh t have no scruple on that tcoro. 1 I have all tho money I want. I hold this appointment only for reasons of my own. t To-morrow," he a'ded, in a tone that t pozz'ed rue, " you wbo have known me so » ioug sbtll knov me ttill better, after a I breakfast, which I offer you in tbe interest i of the (jovd cause." t The mxt day, therefore, i hastened to 1 the rendf7.vous. My old acquaintance,wbo < was not afraid lo lay a-ide his mask in the ' presence of a man like myself, of whom, i too, he hoped to make a proselyte, told me ' the story of his life since be had found out ' his error in regard to Lacenaire. From the Republican ranks he had gone , over to Prince Louis, whose devoted soldier .ho had become. He had followed him 1 everywhere, and while his Prince was ' at Ham, powerful tr lends had aucceded in i obtaining his present poaition for him. Be ■ felt, he added, that he was entitled to this for tho zeal he had displayed in the i Boulogne affair. He concluded by Buying, i "The Kovcrnnicnt j s entirely wroDg in i louking on Prince Louis either as insane or • under-wittod. Ho is a charming young man. ' 1 know bis political sentiments thoroughly. > 1 know that hh views are aa broad asthoscof i Louis Philippe are nnrrow,nnd totally con tradictory of the chivaltic character of our 1 nation. The Princo is clean to a degree; - tbe outbreaks at Boulogne and Strasbourg ' were conceivtd on a system, tho end of ■ which is not ytt. If I have any advice to i give, it is to warn you not to make yourself conspicuous by taking any steps against i the t>apoleonic dynasty—on the contrary, - do what you can to favour it, and it will be ' remembereH when the Princo reigns—as I reign he will." i 1 left ]i'!#ind cornp'ctely bewildered >by his words, One moment I took him for a fool and was quite certain that he > was very imprudent. On reflection, I said ! to myeclf, that tbo patty of tho prince 1 was stronger than I supposed, since even 1 the municipal police wore his partiz ins. In fact, tlii excitement at Strasbourg and ' Boulogne, aid the recent imprisonment of Prince Louis at Ham. had aroused in the : bourgeoisie ot Paris a fanatical enthusiasm. ! Napoleonic liberalism gradually grafting > itself more qnd more comple'cly on the I tree of Republicanism, 1 The Napoleonic devotion was not confined to the lowpr ranks. In fact, I owed my promotion to the manceuvera of an influcn -1 tial person, the deputy from my depart ment. He, with M. Theirs, are the persons to whom I am indebted. The first pe>son, wbom I am obliged to designate throughout tbeso memoirs, only by the inirial, M, L was tbe descendant of a family whose credit and means had been, ever since tho Dircctoirc, at the ser vice of Nupolf on I. M. t.—, faithful to his traditions, con tinued, under the Bourbons and the Go vernment of Louis Philippe, to favour the Bonapartifts. It was he ■« ho decided M Theirs to become the partisan of Louis Napoleon, by recalling to him tbe admira tion his had vowed to the man of i'rumuire It was also M. L who, toward the end of the reign of Louifl Philippe, detached M. de Morny from the July politician to become tho strongest supporter of his half brother.

I, too, owe to this same person the fact that I was enabled to pass through all the dangers of this lime safely. Thanks to him, t was enabled to become, in my foraya against thieves and assassins, one of tho most usolul supporters ot a government in whose principles I did not sympathise, and yefc for whose sake I was called Bonapartist by the adversaries of the Empire. It is now Hiiro, before 1 enter on the de tails of tho different criminal affairs by which I became well known, to tell how it was that I entered on the career which was opened for me by M. L— and nl. Thiere, a career in which I wsa fortunate enough to win tho affections of my chiefs and the gratitude of my victims

{To be continued.)

Artificial None-Making.

Ai/iuouaii the making of a new nose for a. person deprived of his natnr&l organ of atnelliDg has been repeatedly undertaken with success, it is a nice and difficult opera tion ; and an attempt just madn in Vionna by Professor Billiroth, one of the ruo-t dis linguiahed snrpeons of Austria, to supply a soldier who had been frightfully mutilated in Bosnia, with im aviilicial no-e, has at tracted much attention. The material for the new organ was taken from the skin of the forehead. 'I he operation is repotted to have been entirely successful, and with a supplementary shaping process, Is expected to result in a nose that cannot be dis tinguished from a natural one,

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

(From Our London Cokkespondent.)

liets of £300 to £200 and £150 to £100 were laid at Tattersall'a on the English men against the Colonials before the match All England v. Australia.

John Ander on, chief mat« of the Cutty £ark, was accused at the Central Criminal Court trie other day ot thi murder of a negro named John Frjncis, during the voyage from Cbii a. There had been some quarrel between the mcD, and Anderson hit Francin with the capstan bar. The latter died almost immediately. The jury found a vir.lict of manslaughter, and the prisoner was sentenced to seven years' penal seivitude. Mr VV. Coull, of Duuedin, New Zealand, who has been revi.ii bg hi< native land, leaving " wife, child'cu, nnd friends " on the otber side of the ocean, invited his old acquaintances of the O.tfo'd itoad Chape], Barnsbury to take tea with him the otber evtniug, and entertained them most hospitably. Mr Coull, who was very enthusiastically received, said he would cany 'h ir greetings back with him to New Zea'and, tor he knew his dear ones would be glad to know how kindly he had been treated.

The tender of Mcsrs Topbam, Argus and Co., has been accepted for the con struction of the Gnulburn to Caonia rail- Why, New South Wnles. The distance is 39 miles 32 cha<us74 links. There were nine tenders, the lowest being £232,508, which was tccepted.

The Maori mission has from the fitst been impecunioiu. 'Ihey get their board and lodging found, of course,and have also received >oru<! presents from guiltless stranger*. Tbis iarsess", however, Sydney Tawlianofa didu't consider enough, and the consequeuc is he has levied tribute on variom persons, g.viog them to understand i];.it they would bu repaid out of the sale ot 300,000 acres of land whi h be avera he owns in si me part of the colony. Captain > ahby (of all pc pie) has been let in for a loan of £20 on sonic such pretence, and the other day tbe Miorls calle 1 in on him a^ain in oMer to borrow £150 to buy presents for their brethren in tbe c lor.y. I need scarcely say that the fallant captain declined to part on thin occasion, but it (peaks in differently lor the common sense of tho church that the lie/. Mr Grace should have accompanied them on their borrowing mission.

On Sunday afternoon, August 20th, the " Maori Mission " were taken by the Lord Chancellor of Kngland (Lord Selborne) to St. Paul's Cathedral to hear the famous Canon Liddon preach, and subsequently they took afternoon tea with tbe tev. gentleman,

The three Maoris were taken over the House cf Lords on August 18, their cicorone being no less a person than the Lord Chan cellor.

In the House of Commons the other night, Sir Henry Holland atked the I'nder Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any reply had been returned to the petition of colonists and landownerß in Fiji com plaining of tho Land Commission, and pnying that a competent tribunal, uncon nct'd with tbe Government, might be appointed. Mr E. Ashley said he was not yet prepared to answer the quc-tion, but he ■night state that tbe Act under which a barrister went ont from this country to adjudicate on these land claims provided that auch decision was to be final.

The P. and O. steamship Carthage, n >w being used as a hospital ship for 'he troops on service in Egypt, hai been fitted with a Bell-Coleman cold air refrigerator, for the purpose of preserving provisions, cooling water, and making ice, This is the first time that one of ilie.se machines has r>ccn used for hospital purpose*, and it will no doubt prove a source of great luxury to the invalids on board in enabling them to ob t in untainted meat and cooling drinks in a tropical climute.

Admiral Sir F. W. Sullivan, K.C.B. C. M.G., who has been appointed second in command of the British licet at Alexan dria, shruld bo wc'l known in Auckland. According to the "Times," he was pivon the New Zealand medal, and promoted for valuable assistance tendered, during the successful operations of Her Majesty's troops in New Zealand in 1859; vra» alao present at the at'tick on the rebel positions at Kanniriii on November 29, 1863 ; was specially mentionrd for having for live months commindcd the flo'Ula up the rivers during the New Zealand War of 1863, and for four months acted as chief of the stall' to Commodore Wiseman in ISG3-64, being promoted and made a CD. on February 25 of tho latter year.

In the Probate and Divorce Court the other day a ino'.ion was made for an order for presumption of tho death of Sir W. A. Congrevc, arid his brother, W. F. CoDgrcve, E-icn brother bad passed by the feigned name of "William Cooko;" the elder had resided in New Zealand, and the last letter from him had been received in 1860. The youDger bad, in April, 1860, stated that ho was going to Halifax and few Brunswick, and bad not been beard of since. Sir J. llannen said the death of the jounßar brother mieht bo reasonably presumed, but for the elder tho matter must ttsud over.

MrMalloch, tho'well-known writer, has published a ne>v work on "Social Equity." "The Fern World," by Mr Francis George Ileath, author of "Autumnal Leaves," has just reached its seventh edition.

2he Neiv Zealand Land System,

A ficw Zealand colonist, who dates his letter, Taramki, June 12, writes ai fol lows to tbo "Daily News":-"The doforred payment system of purchasing land of the GoTernment very often l?ads \ man into extending hU estate fur bej ond bis available capital and labour, and this leads to hi) eventual ruin. I incline strongly to thiuk that the system of loßg leases, say of 21 years, at a rental from 2s an acre and compensation for improvements, would work better for the small farmer, and wmi'd moreover—what is a most important con sideration in a new country whoro the value of land i» rapidly rising—enable the Government to enter on pns«ession of tho land every generation. Still oar sj stem is vastly superior to your clumsy and aniquatod land tenure, and tbe working man iv New Zealand, if only steady and opablc, is sura of a competence, a labonrer and 'his wife receive £70 to £80 a year, with ' all fund, if able to look after a farm, An ordinary labouror ba? 6s a day of 7J bours. Rent is very dear, clothing dear, bread and milk the same as in England, meat 3d to Sd per pound. What is so dear to the pooreit here is his perfect independence ; no State Church, manhood suffrage, vote by ballot, triennial Parliament?, paid members, and education seculnr, compulsory, and free. I can sec evil us well as good in all these, still, on the whole, they worn fairly. The working men aie—drunkenness apart— admirahly behaved, most civi', yet not servile."

Political Aspect of the Maori

Mission.

Although the success of the so-called Maori Mission has been altogether extra ordinary nud unexampled from a soc'a! point of viow.it is comforting to reflect that they have not achieved anything very great politically. Certainly Mr Gorst, M.P., has presented a petition to the House contain ing a long rigmarole about To Whiti and tho Treaty of Wai'angi, but it excited liltloorno interest, and would baraly bo worth referring to but for a letter signed "Observer " which appeared in the "Daily Nows " next day. The writer of this com munication is a firm believer in the Treaty of Waitangi, nnd acked the editor to give publicity to the following striking: woros fpoken by no less a person than Mr Glad stone himself in the Ilou.*e of Commons on February, 1818:-"As far as England is concerned, there is not a more strictly and rigorously binding treaty in existence than that of Waitangi," '»n the same oc casion Mr CardweU said that, as the Houro had " ascertained from the Government the spirit in which they intended in future to carry out the t'eaty, he thought it would not re proper to offer any further opposition to going into committee." "Observer" adds :—" We are in the future of which Loid Card well t poke. He and Mr Glad stone yet live. The prayer of the Maoiis ia that tho Tieaty of Waitangi may be res pected. Will Lord Card well treat the pre sent day as a part of the future of which be spoke in 1848 ?" Ihe yeiv Zealand Budget. Tho "Australian and New Zealand Gazotte," a journal of colonial news, pub lished in London, has the following ra. marks about Major Atkinson's iinancial statement-tbe full report of which only came to hand tbe other day :—" Tfie New Zealand Budget recently delivered by the .Colonial Treasurer in, we may at once say, one of the most reassuring and gratifying financial statements that It baa fallen to till) lot of any New Zealand Minister U

luakn. Too much has beeasiid and written in certain quarters regarding that wave of transitory commercial depression, which certainly did pats over the colony some few yo»rs aa;o{ but in the face of tho facts and figures now published by the Colonial Treasurer it must be abundantly «vtdent that of this depression, which was generally greatly exaggerated, no traces now remain. Prosperity of areal and ixpinsive character has been univer sally res'ored, trade is active and cons tantly flowing into fresh channel", while the finances ot the colony are now conclu >ively thown to be firmly established on a solid and legitima'e basis. During the in terval, too, it is not too much to assert that extensive and wise ratreechment has been carried out by the Government iv very many departments."

Mr. Edger on Conditional Immortality.

We havo been requested by an intimate friend of the late cUv. S. Ed^er at Poit Albeit to publih tbe following private letter on the subji ct of conditional immor tality, written a short time before Mr Kdg r's departure for Europe:—

My Dear Martin,—l was prepossessed in favour of Mr Brnvu, ai d went to hear him several times, hop'ng to learn simethiug. He talks well (s metfrae-J and plausibly, but that is all. I went several times till I found him shirk que.-tions he could not ans«er, and escape by rais'ng a laugh, &c. Then I knew he was nor. conscientious. He trie 3to c ci| c from difficulties by pa'. pab'e sopbistrcs and misrepresentations -o I went no mo:e. He plays with an igaoraat audience; he thrown Greek at cnem of which, of course, they know nothing; prretenda to be a Greek and talks about the ego, which no scholar evtr did or could, because the Greek has two e's—long and short—which no Greek scholar could confound, and ego is 4go, not

eg*, &c. So », I believe in conditional immortality, oceanse, to a responsible bei»g, a free agent, eve-ythinj; is conditional; must be. Life here is conditional on using the means of life. But if 1 were to gay, man has not life naturally, in himself, because its continu ance or rea'isation is conditional, I should talk non-enie. Yet my argument would be as eucd as his, The very fact' that it is conditional on my conduct is itself'proof that its elemen's are in me; that I have capacity for it; which is all we ought to mean when we say man is immortal. To force|that or anything on him would destroy his freedom and responsibility. Mr Brown cannot tea so far.

''Looked at from the other side, it is scientifically absurd to say : That any nee of man's present faculties can cause him 11 possess some new faculty. It can only devdopd them in their own lines. What so changes man's constitution as to develope out of it, that of which the germs do not therein exist? 8.-lief in tome truth 1 Nothing can be more absurd. Or a really powerful faith in Christ ? Nothing in the whole raDge of human thought and experience could >ug gest that it would do anything more than perfectly developed what is iv the man. Triat is go»pel as well as science There are only two ways of escaping this; make immertility aa endless continual ion of tbis life, prolonged by the higher s(.iritu<l 'nlluences of oneness wi>h Chrwt, Mr Bnwn will not do this, because he makes all die utterly, and the believer live again, therefore, he must say, that one life is ended, thoroughly and. utterly, and God gives another. The outcome of that is, tbat it is not the smie being who lives again. All clo-e thinking will teach that continuity of being (wbich real death destroys) is essential to the preservation of indentity.

Now, if you come to Scripture, it unmis takably teaches conditioual immortality, bet not in the least each as Mr Brown te.iches. Conditional on our accepting the uieher spiritual iuiiuences, which are them 3flve» eternal, and acting upon our im mortal, or rather non-mortal, elements ol being, develop them to their ultimate capa bilities Mr Brown's great Scripture argu ninth: "Maudietb as the brastJ die." Yes! when roan lives only as the beasts live, which nu one will dare to affirm. Science and Scripture alike teach tbat everywhere aufi always the death corres ponds with the life. Brown and . his friend?, Ike the " Brethren," run their heads against the arrant nonsense tbat the Bible must be taken literally when it can, as though the cipurcs had not warned us against • hat very thing, apparently ignorant tbat ail l'iDgiiaßo 11 neces.i.vily symbolic except to the stupid; the difference between the stupid and the intelligent being in the capacity to understand symbols of thought. Ooe very palpable evidence of Mr Brown's inconustency you may notice in his constantly telling his audience (as ignorant in this matter as in Greek) that tbo ordinary ministers teach Pagan ide&>, using that as an unanswerable) argument against them in bis own favour. Now, either Mr Brown is grossly ignorant himself, or he knows that all the idoas he advances were held by Pagans ages before Christ. Flo barbarously makes what he calls the ntnncmcfct "a mercantile transaction" (bis own phrase); which is so essentially Pagan that it is nothing else. —1 am, Sic, CAMUEIi KUOBK.

A Story of Mr Pitt.

HOW THK PRIME MINISTER FOILED AH

ASSASSIN,

Sno tly after the breaking out of the French revolution, its advocates de nounced our Premier as " an enemy to the human race; that maa "bo easy to live with," who saDg the song about himself called " Billy Pitt, the Tory." His secre tary one day told him that a foreigner, who spoke English tolerably well, had twice or tbrice asked to coo him, but not looking like a proper applicant, bad been sent away, the great man's time being too precious for him to admit every stranger who, on frivolous pretexts, might seek to tratify an idle curiosity. Ihia person, however, bad said be should return m an hour; the secretary tberefore thought it bi« duty to inform Mr Pitt of such intention and ask his further orders in the affair.

" Have the goodness," said the Minister, " lo open the top left-haud drawer in that cabinet, and bring me its contents."

There were a pair of pistols and a morocoo case. Opening the latter he pro duced a. snuff-box, in which was set a portrait. "Is that like our visitor ?" asked Pitt.

" ltii tin man, sir," answered the boc rctaiy. '• iia ! I have expected him for some days. He is sont over to assas.'inate me ; to -when he calls again let him be shown up." " S'r I" exclaimed the attached retainer, "will you expose to danger your life, on which so much depends." "There will be no danger, I thank you; but you may bo within call, if you pleaso " Accordingly the F.enchnian, on his re turn, was ushered into the room where William Piit sat alone, a loaded pistol in one hand, the miniature in another. "Monsieur Mohce de la Toucho," said Pitt, calmly, " you see I am in every way prepared fur you, thanks to an agent em ployed by this Goyomtncafc. Attempt my life and your own instantly pays the forfeit. In a»y c»se 1 shall bavo yon secured and given over to the law," The intended aesas'ia stood paralysed and dumb at this cool reception.

" But," continued Pitt, "there ia another alternative—porsonal safety and high re wards are m your power. Sell your ser vicos to Great Britain; make your market of whatever secret information you can procure that may guard us against the machinations of your country; be, in fact, one of tbe necessary evils which policy forces us to use iv desperate cases ; do what no honourable man could do to save your self from speedy death; your conscience is stained by purposed murder, Comply, per force, with these conditions, and you shall be as liberally paid as you mtut, by all parlie?, be despised." The secretary used to repeat his illus trious master's wo'da, which were, 83 nearly as possible, to the foregoing effect.

The clever n>i*cre*nt joyfully accepted these terms, and for many years earned tbe bribes of a spy in our behalf.

No doubt a tnuff-box wai the safest medium for the warning portrait, as fancy heads frequently adorned such a thing; while, had the miniature been set as a lockst, whoever nt\v it must have been sure that it depicted some real individual. — London Society.,

A cable despatch that "a mine was di« corcred in a.street in Moscow, liussia," was beaded by an ■ innocent journalistic head-writer as " A bonanza in Moscow."

A SEMI-ROYAL AMOUR.

A Lovely Princess Becomes Skobeloff's Page. The Gallant General's Fickle Love. AMONG the startling hints that hare found their way into the public press io Europe over the mysterious death of the late Gen eral Skobsloff is a tale that revives one of the late General's eeroi-royal amours. Young Skobeloff >as known as the hand somest man in the Kussian army dr emp're before he was known as a great General In tha iccipiency ot his career he was attached for a few months to a great em b isay sett', to Paris. His family h3d 1 >og, nlaJe the French capital its headquarters, and the eclat given the younj? man by bis position iv the embassy increased the social importance of the family. The Skobeloff pilace during that winter was a centre,in deed "of almost royal entertaining. Among the most remarkable persons who gave celebrity to the salons was a Hungarian Prince of vast wealth, allied to the home ef S'ob'eiki, the warrior King of the dual em pre. Hi* wealth was equal to a King s. His enuipag°s in Paris rivalled the Imperial Court. A man of 50, he had marntd a youoc Princess of au ancient Polish house, whom be bai mtt at Carlsbad. The bride wa« barely 20, jounger indeed than the profligate s>n of the Prince, her husband, to whom she was stepmother. A STEI'SOK LOVES HIS MOTHER. The stepson was a youth of string will and uncontrollable passion. He bad, it was generally rumoured, striven to break the nutch bet*ist bis father and the young g rl. He had e»en gone far thur -he had striven to abduct her and force her to accept him instead of the father. But the girl, if she did not love the old Prince, respected and trusted him, while the s>u she loathed and feared. He had led a wild and dissolute careeer, in en-perned with duels and flights from home. Whether' the presence of this young man in Paris had an affect on the Princess the gossips could never determine, but one fine day she was missing. At Erst everybody attributed the disappearance to the stepson ; but he still remained in Fari», and ibe closest surveillance gave no cine to any collusion on bis part with the missing bride. The poer old Prince re tired to his estates, heartbroken and humiliated. The stepßOu swore to be avenged on the man who had disgraced hit father, and cause the girl to regret her con duct bitterly. For a time there was no suspicion as to the whereabouts of the ran* away or her paramour.

A BHAVTIFUL PAGE.

Shortly afterwards the Embassy, of whicn Skobeloff was a member, returned to tfu-siu. At one of the stations be tween Paiis and the Rhine Skobeloff was joined by a youth wbo was presented as a cousin. Tbe lad was slim and delicate, vi.d remained in retirement during tha journey. It w»« remarked that the ) oung soldier was solicitously attentive to his young kinsman, and never allowed him out of his sight Henceforth tbe cousin was tbe constant companion of the General, and while it became known among bis bro.her officers that the boy was really a young woman in disguise, she was not identified as the lovely Prince-s wh/>se Hungarian husband had committed aulude on reaching bis estate. Rumours of the fury of tbe stepson and his vow Cached kusmu, and t-kebeloff must bavu been ap prised of tbe vendetta; but as no one could identify him as the lover of the Princess he probably give himself little trouble. In time, however, the secret was betrayed. On the birth ef bcr baby Bko belofi'B mistress could not forego sending for her old family nurse. This disclosed here whereabouts. Her stepson, tbe Hun garian, was, it seems, calculating on finding toe runaway by keeping watch on her family. At any rate, he was in St. > etera burg almost as soon as the Princess's nurse. He discovered the truth just as General Skobeloff was ordcrtd to ode ot those frightful campaigns in the wilderness of Northern Amu, and was, of course, com pelled to forego whatever plans he may have matured, as he could not accompany th« army. He wrote the Princess, how ever, warning her that he had found her out, and iufurmiog her that he had hi* tamily honour to avenge.

THB PiINCKSS C-TTUBED.

Krowine SkobelofTa prowess ia da cling, instead of challenging him he scot him &o insulting letter, which should force a chal lenge from him, and then he the Hungarian, wbou'd hive the choice of weapons. But it so happened that the letter did not reach the General until he had crossed the empire and was on Urn confines of Asia, He then tent a messenger back informing the Prince that be shoulu expect satisfaction as soon as ha returm d to civilisation. Tiro years later Skobeloff was back in St. Petersburg. He waitod weeks for the appearance of his antagonist, and finally wrote to bim at hU Hungarian estate. He received no answer Meanwhile the Priuce.<s had returned her female attire and accompanied the General in all his expeditions. In 1878, while skobeloff was besieging Plevna, no women being allowed in the army, the Princes m&de a visit to her people. She bad barely arrived home when she as suddenly and inexplicably disappeared Her people couldn't imagine what bad befallen her, frantic search was made in ail directions. The oolyclae was the story of -a peasant, wbo hoard screams and saw two hortemea flying toward the Polith frontier with what seemed a large sack on bis saddle. A member of tho family at once set oat for the Hun garian's castle. But the Prince was not at home, nor had he been for some months.

THS DUEL.

Skobeloff was then apprised of the dis appearance, and he at once fixed the abduc tion upon the revengeful stepson. But the war was too critical to give him a* chance to set out ia the quect of the lost love even if he had been disposed, to. .Indeed the lass ef the young woman does not seem to have made much impression npon Skobeloff, for he had grown tired of her. Passion and infidelity were the General's characteristics. Be readily fell in love, and as readily felt out.. A pretty woman was for him an object of strategic approach, like an enemy's bulwark, and he never rested until he received a surrender. Intimate friends of the Io«t Princess assert that jshe wrote tbe General informing bim of her plight; that her raptor was her tteo soo, who insisted upon her marrying him— bat that she wai seeking means of escape. To that she never received a response. Un the contrary, h>r gaoler showed her proof of Skobelofl's liaifon with a French Countess, which was the talk of all Europe. The next th'ng that excited astonishment was the marriage of the Princess with her stepsoD. Wben Skobeloff heard it be laughed. Then, «he Princess securely his own, the arbitrary wooer sent frieuds to Skobelolf to let him know that he would be at his service whenever he chose. The duel came oS near Cracow, and tha Prince had his arm shattered.

A MOBDRRE'J.'B RRVENGB.

Pubic gos<ip, however, associates the Hungadaa and bis wife with the murder of General SkobelofTs mother, which hap pened in Bulwark* a few years ago, the crime having evidently been paiff for, and tbe assassins clearly thinking Skobeloff himself in the carriage. It was do secret that General SkobelofT bad formed a liaison with a Polish lady of rank and wai in Cracow tor the purpose of feeing this beauty, when be came to nis sudden death. No two accounts of the event agree, Every Euro pean journal that discussed it pointed oat the contradictious in the official version of the affair. An obscure German journal revives tbe scandal of the Hungarian liaion, the unconcealed purpose of the prince to avenge 'the disappointment and death of his father, and the curious series of chances that brought the rivala tigother. The Princess hcrstlf is not counted wholly guiltless, as wounded vanity stands for something in the mysterious affair.— "Philadelphia Times."

Education in Spain.

la education, Spain is behind niher European countries. A congress huld a shott time ago to discuss the best mode of farthering education broke up after holding a great many sittings and pasting pftveral resolutions, the moat important of which was that prinmy education should be gra tuitous and compulsory, and that manual labour should be taught in all primary schools, A resolution' allowing women to become candidates as teachers in the higher schools was rejected. The number of primary schools show that there has been an increase of 5,000 since 1860, when there were 24,000. The teachou are badly and. irregularly paid, and the consequence is that they are, as a class, very unfit for their positions. •

A Record of Three Years' Research by Tyndall.

ESSAYS OX FLOATING MATTER IK THE

THE germ theory is developed with great ingenuity and with a wealth of experimen tal proof by Professor Tyndall in bia "Essays on the Floating Matter in the Air in Relation to Putrefaction and Infec tion," The essays ia thU volume on "Dust and Disease," "Putrefaction and Infection," "The Vitality of Putrefactive Organisms," "Fermentation," and "Spon taneous Generation," represent three years of patient research, many of the experi. ments being complicated and expensive. It is proved pretty conclusively that most of the observations on spontaneous generation hate been misleading. What Tyndall does prove is that th« atmoiphere is tilled with a great number of small particles many of them too minute for detection by the micro cope, which, b-onght under the proper conditions, develop into the germs of disease. he most common of these ate known as bacteria, which produce putre faction of organic substances and that most fatal of all hospitil diseases, gangrene. To show the rapidity of this process, Pro fessor Tyndall gives a personal instance from his own experience in the Alps. The story is interesting enough to be quoted at length in his own words, especially as it shows the carefulness of his methods and the perfect clearness of his style: A' few years ago I was bathing In sn Alpine stream, and retnrning to my clothes from the cascade which had been my showe? bath, I flipped on a block of granite, tha sharp crystals of which stamped themselves inti my naked skin. The wound was an. awkward one, but beiDg in vigorous health at the time I hoped for a speedy recovery. Dipping a clean pocket-handkerchief into the atream,l wrapped it around the wound, limped home and remained four or five days in bed. There was no pain, ana at the end of this time I thought myself quite fit to quit my room. The wound, when un covered, was found perfectly clean, unin flamed and entirely free from pus. Placing over it a bit of gold-beater's tkin, I walked about all day. Towards evening itching and heat were felt; a large accumulation of matter followed, and I was forced to go to bed again. The water bandage was restored, but it was powerless to cbeck the action now set up; arnica was applied, but it "made matters worse. The inflammation incased alarmingly until finally I had to be carried on men's shoulders down the mountain and trans ported to Geneva, where, thanks to the kindness of friends, I was immediately placed in the best medical bands. On the morning after my arrival in Geneva, Dr. Gautiet discovered an abscess in my instep, at a distance of five inches from the wound. The two were connected by a channel, or sinus, as it is technicaly called, throngh which he was able to empty the abscess, without the application of the lance. By what agency was that channel formed—what was it that lore asunder ths sound tissue of my instep and kept me for six week* a prisoner ia bed ? In the very room where the water dressing had been ramoved from my wound, and tbe gold beater's skin applied to it, I opened this year a number of tubes, containing per fectly clear and sweet iofus: orjs ot fish, a\su and vegetable. These hermetically sealed infusions had been exposed ior weeks, bo-.h to the sun of the Alps and tha warmth of a kitchen, without showing the slightest turgidity or sign bt life. But two days *.fter they were opened the greater number of them swarmed with the bacteria of putrefaction, the germs of which had been contracted from the dust-laden air of he room. And had the matter from my abscess been examined, my memory of its appearance leads me to infer that it would have been found equally Bwarming with those bacteria-that it was iheir germs which got into my incautiously opened wound, and that they were the subtle workers that burrowed dowa my shin, dug the abscess in my instep and produced effects which might. easily have proved fatal. At first sight it may teem that undue time and effort were given to many of tbe experiments recorded Here, but in his sum ming up of results attained, Professor Tyndall show* that nothing has been done without a definite purpose, and that the cooclusious reached have a direct bearing on the pnblic health. For this laborious work Tyndall was superbly equipped. His mastery of tbe physical sciences gave him a great advantage, and his insenuity in overcoming obstacles is repeatedly shown. He first made use of n team of light in de tecting impurities ia the air, and he simpli fied and gave accuracy to many of the necessary experiments. The entire credit of the explosion of tbe old theory of sponta neous generation h due to him—one of the most impor ant discoveries of the day. The germ theory, which he proves by so many nicely arranged experiments, is at tbe root of all sanitary acience. Once well understood by physicians, it would grea'ly lessen the death rate 'in our large cities. All the large class ot disease* known as zymotic spring from the activity of these g»rms in the atmosphere. They slay their thousands in every large city. Nothing more remarKable is exhibited in the whole round of scientific research than the dis covery of the exciting cause of splenic fever in certain parts of the Continent. It was found by M. Pasteur to be due to a formidable bacterium, which possessed the property of storing npde»th and producing virulent effects in a few hours. Many of the most dangerous of those organisms are practically indestructible, heat having little effect on them. Tyudall demonstrates, however, that certain germs which are pecularly fatal may be robbed of life and rendered sterile by discontinuous heating in far less time than would .be required by continuous boiling.

Written Remains of the Egyp tians.

Most of the written remains of ancient Egypt are religious. Many consist of hymns lo the aods, and have a pathos of their own. Others are lists of oblations or of spoils taken in war. These bave no more literary pretensions than an auctioneer's catalogue, or an inventory of furniture. They give v«, howe/er, a vivid idea of Egyptian belongings. The manifold pro ductions and riches of ancient Epypt ate nowhere at forth in more detail than in what is known as the "Great Harris Papyrus," which, contains divers of these summaries. It was found in a tomb, and measures 133 feet loog by 16f inches broad. Here we read of the barge of cidar with rivets of gold-plated brass and cabins adorned with precious stones ; of houses with doors and lintels of gold surrounded by gardens planted with ail kinds of fruits and tanks for water-fowl and fish. Beside these, are granaries of corn and trea suries filled or temples presented with a surprising amount of miscellaneous .pro perty, paint, spidts of wine, hocey, oil, linen ovetcoats, omb o.dcred caps, incense, silver dishes and ladles, rings, onions, cedar harps, bandits of writing, reeds, wax, leather sandals, turquoises, perfomes, images, necklaces wine, coloured bed clothes, etc The most carefel inventory was made of the several items, and in every c*se the exact amount of the articles in store seems to be set down. For in stance, in one placa we find a record of 825,840 crystal beads; in another of 23,008 pots of 'frankincense, while one " cedar pio " figures itself. Besides these dead or dry goods, we havo astonishing lists of cattle and birds, especially pigeon;, ducks, and geese. Here we are struck by much that was eminently business like and prostac among the old Egyptians. It is true that their religion especially, at least so tar as the offerings made by the King represented the generosity of the people, was marked by marvellous and abundant devotion ; the adornments of the temples not being brought to a focus in some inner shrine, but shown in tho capping of sacred obelisks with solid gold, and the coveting of huge boly walls inside and out with costly sculpture. But though this indi cates a certain profits en eas of (expenditure, nothing is more striking than the minute economy and attention to details exhibited iv what may be called the sacred rent roll, summaries of oblations, and the like. The chronicler carefully distinguishes between tho " duck " and the " ducklings," offered to Ka, the sliced, salted, and prepared fish, the crowns, nosegays, chains and handfuls of flowers, and the exact amounts of these several items are set down. In the " Great Harris Papyrus," now iv the British Museum, and [translated in the " Becotds of the Past," there are many of these entries, and in every case the totals of the goods i% question are precisely recorded. There are, e.g., 1,975,800 nosegays of vegetables—it does not say what propor t on of these were ouions - as against 11,000 nosegays of corn, and 3410 of lotus. Thus ,in these chronicles we have evidence of 'both extreme profusion and precise economy, of tha nicest reckoning and tliq most liberal abundance,—"jGood Word»,"

STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT, OCTOBER 28, 1882.