bourg the name of this town; two annual fairs were established, and a market was held on the Thursday of each week. Before 1789, the faubourg St. Marcel was again separated from Paris by the old enclosure of Philippe-Auguste: it is at present one of the busiest and most thickly populated quartiers of Paris, its laborious inhabitants trading principally in tannery, brushes, and spinning cotton and wool. On the carrefour, or cross-way, about to be enlarged, stood the Porte St. Marcel, first called Porte Bordel: it was pulled down in 1683. The place where the remains of Bossuet were interred has been at length discovered. The coffin, with its epitaph, has been found in the Cathedral of Meaux, and recognised; it was opened in the presence of the Evêque and the local authorities. The tomb, still in existence, with its inscription, had been displaced in renewing the flag-stones of the church; and it was only in consequence of examining the documents of the time relating to it, that the place where the coffin had been laid was discovered. On measuring the length of the body it was found not to exceed five feet two inches (French measure, which is quite different from English, five feet two in French being, though not tall, by no means so diminutive as it would be by the English measurement); the face was not quite decomposed; the moustache and the mouche, as then worn, were still to be seen; the front teeth also were preserved, and some of his hair, which was quite white. Bossuet died in the year 1704, one hundred and fifty years ago. A funeral service for Bossuet, and for the other Bishops of Meaux, was celebrated; the coffin was not immediately re-closed, but precautions were taken by placing them under glass, to preserve the illustrious remains from the effects of exposure to the outer air. Monsieur Poujoulat has proposed that ere Bossuet's remains are replaced in the tomb, a grand funeral service should be performed for him in the Cathedral of Meaux, to which all the high clergy, the Academie Française, and all the grands corps de l'Etat should be invited. A most interesting collection of autographs is about to be sold, such a rich and varied collection as has rarely been offered to amateurs of these sort of things; formed with perfect taste, and a rare discernment, there is scarcely an autograph but possesses an intrinsic interest of its own, independent of the name of its author. There are some letters of Henry IV., the first entirely in his own hand, and in a perfect state of preservation: it is from Nerac, 1580, at the time when he was only King of Navarre, and bears the direction, Au roy, mon souverain seigneur. Here is one of his letters to his wife, when he was King of France; I copy it exactly, instead of translating it: 'MON CŒUR-Je fus tout hyer à la chasse; bien quyl fyt assés mauviés tamps. J'ay fort bien dormy ceste nuyte, et uoys monter à cheual pour aller à l'assamble; le tamps donne esperance d'estre beau. Je vous donne le bonjour et cent mylle besers." I must quote a portion of a letter of Jeanne d'Albret, the mother of Henri IV.; it is dated 15th of August, 1571, addressed to Monsieur recommending to him le sieur de Belsunce, Governor of Soulle, in order that the King may maintain him in his Government. She writes: "They say he is of the reformed religion; but the King having pronounced his opinion on this point, and by his edict, ought, it appears to me to close the mouths of those who, more desirous of their interest and ambition than of the peace of the kingdom, only seek to embroil matters." Before citing the letter of Elizabeth of France, daughter of Henri II., I must tell you, or rather remind you, of the circumstances connected with it: the hand of this Princess had been promised to Don Carlos, Infant of Spain. Forced to become the third wife of Philip II, she was thus the step-mother of the fiancé, whom she loved, and by whom she was beloved. When the King of Spain had his son thrown into prison, by a refinement of cruelty he forced the Queen herself to announce the event to the Court of France; the letter in which the unfortunate Princess acquits herself of this sad mission, is one of the most important in the collection; it is dated the 12th of January, and addressed au roi, monsieur, mon bon frère. It is very difficult to translate, but I will try. "The King, my lord, has commanded me to write you this letter; I should have written you already two others by the same courrier, to inform you from him how that he has been constrained by the actions of the Prince his son to put him in prison, and keep him under guards. As for me, I can only tell you that I am inconsolable for this great misfortune, which I consider more mine than that of any one, on account of the friendship I have for the Prince and the obligation I owe him. I can tell you no more." There are numerous letters of Madame de Maintenon's; amongst the rest, is one written from St. Cyr, which gives curious details of the privations of the Queen of James II. of England at Chaillot : "I discovered by chance that the Queen of England could not make a small provision of wood at Chaillot, which cost thirty pistoles; that the curé of St. Sulpice had offered them to her, and that she had refused to accept them. I beg of you to state this to Monsieur Desmareet, in order that he may do what he can. I did not mention it to the King, in the fear of paining him." The misfortune of Latude, his long captivity in the dungeon of Vincennes and in the Bastille, and his escapes, are related in a letter written by him to the King of Prussia: "I am Latude, engineer. I was shut up in the cachots of the Bastille during thirty-five years. In 1758 I had irons on my feet and hands. It was impossible for me to obtain from my persecutors paper, pens, and ink. I became a maker of them. With the crumb of my bread, kneaded with my saliva, I made tablets of six inches square, which served me for paper; and with one of the triangular bones which carpes have under their bodies, I made myself a pen. In place of ink, I use my blood." With these materials he composed a mémoire on the use of a new weapon (of his own invention) for the European armies. When his mémoire was completed, he asked to see a confessor. "The governor," he continues, "sent me le père Griffet, a jesuit, who, at my prayer, took my project under his consideration. Since then it has been impossible for me to obtain another interview with this confessor. On quitting my prison, I learnt that several potentates of Europe had executed my project." The first representation of Madame Emile de Girardin's comedy, "Le Chapeau de l'Horloger," took place on Saturday the 16th, at the Gymnase. Whatever Madame Emile de Girardin attempts she is sure of succeeding in, no matter whether it be tragedy, comedy, a drame, a poem, or a novel. She keeps your attention and interest enchained; and whether she wishes to produce laughter or tears, she never fails. A short time ago, "La Joie fait Peur," a little piece with a very slight plot, which is quite apparent from the commencement, kept a whole audience at the Théâtre Française during its performance sitting in breathless interest, stealthily wiping away the tears that were stealing down their cheeks; and within a few short months the whole house at the Gymnase rings with the peals of laughter called forth by the "Chapeau de l'Horloger.' I can hardly give you a review of the piece, it is so slight a little sparkling thing, full of wit and humour: it is only in one act. The whole thing turns on a servant (admirably represented by Lesueur), who has broken the drawing-room clock: he sends secretly for the clock-maker to repair it. In the midst of the clock-maker's visit, arrives the master of the house, who is violently in love with his wife, and only too much disposed to be jealous; the clock-maker and the clock are hurried into "my lady's chamber," but the chapeau de l'horloger remains on the table of the antechambre; then follow the most ridiculous scenes. Lesueur is an admirable actor. His despair; then his assertion of his dignity as a man when his master dismisses him from his service; the absurd mistakes between the servant, whose thoughts are running on the clock, and the husband, whose thoughts are always on his wife, are irresistible. The house was crowded; and when, after the performance of the piece, Lesueur came forward to announce the name of the author, Madame de Girardin must, though accustomed to brilliant triumphs, have been pleased with the reception of her work. One word before I close my letter: let me recommend to you a charming work of Madame Lecroix's, "Fleurs de Serre et Fleurs des Champs." Nothing can be fresher, purer, than this book; all lovers of the beauties of nature will be delighted with it. Farewell, my dear C., P*. OUR LIBRARY TABLE. ORATIONS BY JOHN B. GOUGH. (London: W. Tweedie, 337, Strand.)-More than once we have had occasion to draw the attention of our readers to these orations-or, rather, a few of them; for the present volume contains many which are new to us, and which, thanks to the short-hand writer and the printing-press, lose little of the spirit and vigour which render the utterance of them so intensely interesting. We miss the changing expression brightening or saddening the countenance of the speaker, as a quick smile like a flash of light irradiates the worn face, and then leaves it in the shadow of a rapid transition to the profoundest pathos; we miss the humorous accents and clever action that render some of his illustrative-anecdotes so full of irresistible comedy, when the orator for an instant merges in the actor, and vivifies some little scene or incident conducive to the amusement of his audience while it insensibly helps on the moral of his discourse. But wanting these accessories, shorn of whatever force they derive from the speaker's voice, action, and gesture from the fervour of his expressive delivery, and the impetuous outpouring of unhesitating eloquence-they lose nothing of their persuasive pathos or convincing arguments. Now we find ourselves laughing at a description which fixes the attention to the ludicrous characteristics of the drunkard, only to contrast them with the deep anguish of his inner-life, or to carry us in imagination from the reckless hilarity of the tavern to the disfurnished home, the hopeless wife, the trembling children fearing the return of "father." His powerful and graphic descriptions glow on the pages, as we read them, with all the effect of visible images. It is true, as it has been said, that he repeats himself; but it is also true, as he has himself observed, that he repeats no one else. Favourite illustrations occur again and again; but they are so forcible, so apt, and frequently so beautiful, that a sort of innate freshness appertains to them wherever we meet them. As a piece of word-painting let us take the following passage: "Look at the effects of drunkenness upon a man. God made man in his own image. What mars that image, and stamps it with the counterfeit die of the devil? Drink does it. Man by nature walks erect, and lifts his forehead to the stars, and he is crowned lord of creation. What breaks his sceptre, tears his crown from his brow, and degrades him beneath the level of the beast? Drink does it. What sears his heart, and dams up the fountain of pure and holy affection? It is the drink. What fills our almshouses and our gaols? What hangs yon trembling wretch upon the gallows? It is the drink, And we might almost call upon the tomb to break forth. Ye mouldering victims! wipe the grave-dust crumbling from your brow, stalk forth in your tattered shrouds and bony whiteness, to testify against the drink! Come, come from the gallows, you spiritmaddened man-slayer; grip your bloody knife, and stalk forth to testify against it! Crawl from the slimy ooze, ye drowned drunkards, and with suffocation's blue and livid lips, speak out against the drink! Unroll the record of the past, and let the recording angel read out the murder-indictments written in God's book of remembrance. Aye, let the past be unfolded, and the shrieks of victims wailing be borne down upon the night blast! Snap your burning chains, ye denizens of the pit, and come up sheeted in fire, dripping with the flames of hell, and with your trumpet-tongues testify against the deep damnation of the drink!" What a succession of terrific images rise up as this paragraph advances, sentence by sentence, to its culminating point! And yet in all that has reference to the living man, can we gainsay the truth of the colouring, or complain that the details are out of drawing? In one of his addresses to "young men" we find him apostrophizing Man as "Nature's King," and then exclaiming : In this way Mr. Gough proceeds, setting picture after picture before his audience, and using them as Rienzi did his on the walls of St. John Lataran, to awaken attention to the one great object which he has in view, and in the ultimate triumph of which he shares by faith. No one who glances at the police-reports, or reads the criminal cases at assizes, can shut out the knowledge that in nine cases out of ten the incentive to guilt has been drink. Every magistrate, every judge in our land, bears testimony to this fact; while only life-wearied hearts and wretched homes are cognizant of much of the misery with which the vice is chargeable. Looking back on the great reformation in the drinking usages of society within a comparatively short space of time, no one need despair that the time will come when the nation shall be assoiled of this sin; and in the meanwhile all honour to those who are earnestly and zealously leading the van in this crusade against intemperance, and helping to win a battle, the golden spoils of which will fall upon the heads of the unborn. To such of our readers as have not had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Gough we most sincerely recommend the purchase of the orations; while to those who have, their perusal will recal that pleasure-a privilege for which thousands besides ourselves will feel grateful to the collector and publisher. A BRIEF SUMMARY ON THE MOST IMPORTANT LAWS CONCERNING WOMEN. WITH OBSERVATIONS THEREON. (London: John "Is that thing that stands there in all the gibber-This is a short but excellent résumé of an imChapman, 8, King William Street, Strand.)ing idiotey of drunkenness a man? Young men in portant subject. It is calculated to do much your pride, look at him, and learn to hate, with a good, through its simplicity of statement and perfect, burning, and eternally-increasing hatred, wise spirit of restraint; and we trust its circulathe instrumentality that can thus mar God's image, and bring a man down below the level of the beasts tion will be large. Many will read it, who would that perish. Every man has ambition, and naturally be deterred by more copious information more looks for something higher. Is there then such a elaborately conveyed; and this is of moment, as vast difference between you and the man who lies in increasing the amount of public opinion with the ditch? In the starting of life he had ambition, respect to many vital questions upon which law How is it then, that he has become so debased? No and the necessities of advanced civilization are man becomes a drunkard intentionally. No man strikingly at variance. This is felt in every lawstarts with the glass in his hand and a determination that the first drink shall be the first step to ruin the bench. Women in the present day need court of the land, and by every magistrate upon and disgrace. No man holds it in his hand and justice rather than protection, and amended laws says, I have a fair reputation; I have good which would simplify and cheapen the process health; I have a wife-I brought her from her of divorcement, legalize marriage in some prayedgirlhood's home, and promised to love her and cherish her and protect her; I have little children for directions, hand seduction over to the punishthat clamber upon my knee, and put their loving ment of the criminal tribunal, and enlarge the arms round my neck, and lay their fair cheeks to control over, as well as the retainment of promine. Now with this I am taking the first step perty, would be amongst the best improvements to ruin all that is so beautiful. I will make that of advanced legislation. More than one of these wife of mine a pale-faced thing upon whose brow subjects is included in the proposed "reformathe lean finger of agony shall trace burning cha- tion of the law," and a little brochure of this I will leave those children a heritage of sort, which states simply these laws as they now misery, and want, and woe, I will make this healthy stand, cannot be otherwise than acceptable. We frame of mine, 'fearfully and wonderfully made,' a wish no enforcement of what some style the mass of disease more loathsome than the leprosy of " Naaman, so that it shall be a carcase that a demon would scorn to inhabit, and that the shivering soul shall by-and-bye quit in disgust; and I will do it all for the sake of the drink. And here goes the first step down the fatal sliding-scale!' No man intends it,' Well then, how do men become drunkards? Perhaps that is a question it may be as well to answer as fully as the time will allow." racters. rights of women," but we wish that advance of civilization which happily necessitates women to labour for their own maintenance, to aid their endeavours by the abolition of enactments which go far to nullify the best efforts after independence. The concluding remarks are simply and admirably written, and show a highly cultivated and thoughtful mind. May we have to notice other productions from the same graceful pen! There is room enough and need enough for this class of female intellect. Grace could prove more useful than this volume, abounding as it does with healthful and practical teaching upon points too often overlooked, but "Our Willie;" OR, HOME TEACHING, which are of the utmost consequence in forming By Mrs. W. H. Coates, Author of the character, and displacing fanciful refinement Dermott," &c. (Binns and Goodwin.) There and false sentiment by real feeling and commonsense. Let us take, for instance, the following are five tales in this little volume, the youthful hero of each being an individual Willie." One paragraph from the chapter on accomplishments: can readily guess why a beloved name is thus fêted "Not for a moment would I undervalue any acand made much of; the memory of a revered complishment. Every art, every language, every father-the knowledge of a tender husband- acquirement of whatever sort, is valuable to a perhaps the recollection of an absent brother-woman, not only because it gives her occupation or, still more probably, the cherished image of a darling child-may have stirred the womanheart within the author-bosom, justifying her desire to celebrate "the one loved name" by an appeal to such pure and fond affections as, it is to be hoped, are wanting in few breasts. Mrs. Coates, remembered as "Elizabeth Youatt," has done the child-world fresh service by providing it with the present gift-book for Christmas. The stories are told with a simple earnestness that is calculated to attract the youthful reader, while each exhibits a distinct claim to be considered exponent of early faults to be corrected, or laudable habits to be studied. We might indeed suggest that the moral of the first tale is more prominently addressed to mothers than to children; but in all "home teaching" is conspicuous; and the quiet, marked, but not obtrusive strain of religion which runs through the whole renders the book admirably fitted for sober or even Sabbath reading in the parlour or nursery. Our favourite is decidedly the "Young Sculptor," which is a charming sketch; whilst the "Angel in the House," by its simple pathos, will touch many a mother's spirit with mournful yet not gloomy recollections. and home enjoyment, but also because it is another The author's disquisition on charity is excellent. "The sick and suffering have ever peculiar claims on the tenderness of woman. Whilst urging all to provide by their own exertions for the day of sorrow and affliction, we are in the interim bound to do our utmost to succour those who are in trouble. Here the visitor's field of exertion is a wide one; and she needs much discretion and good sense to become really the friend the suffering poor need. But let her not imagine that while she is bestowing such comforts as the invalid requires, or reading a chapter to her who is unable to read for herself, that the good done is not quite mutual. How many a young girl has learned in the humble cottage lesdom also, for which she will be a better woman all sons of patience and resignation, aye, and true wis her life." MATERNAL COUNSELS TO A DAUGHTER. By Mrs. Pullan, Author of "The Ladies' Library," "The Court Partial," &c. (London: Darton and Co., Holborn Hill.)-The fact that the writer of this work does not come before us as a mere theorist on female-training and education, but brings to her task the experience resulting from many years of intimate knowledge with youthful character, must give additional weight to the important and interesting subjects on which it treats. Few thinkers but will allow that the hands and heads of young women are too generally accomplished at the expense of the heart: its impulses are left undirected; her understanding little strengthened or matured, in the language of the author, the mind is left undeveloped, the principles far from settled or defined, and in this condition the young lady leaves school, and shortly takes upon herself the responsibilities of womanhood, as utterly ignorant of them, in their true and holiest sense, as her grind the faces of the poor," by demanding piano is of life and its duties. In the volume their labour at a lower rate than is just, or before us Mrs. Pullan takes up the subject than it is worth under ordinary circumstances. where education conventionally ceases, and Through the entire volume the author discovers addresses "maternal counsels" to an age when, much keenness of observation, and an earnestif not wholly spoiled by ignorance and self-ness of purpose in her "Counsels," whether conceit, the thirst and conscious necessity for the subject be the management of Time, of self-education commences; to such few gifts Health, of Dress; or whether the chapter be MORAL HONESTY is another section of the work which deserves general attention; we £re all too prone to advantage ourselves of the bargains of labour and its productions, which necessity brings into the social market, not with any inclination to be personally unjust, but the virtue of economy is apt to degenerate into sordidness; and good housewives, in the exercise of thrift, are tempted to carry the principle from things to individuals, and, without reflection, to 66 addressed to Mothers, Governesses, or the Young. Hints on the "Art of Teaching" are admirable, and so is the chapter to mothers. Who shall deny the truth of the following passage? "The duties of children and parents are reciprocal; but those of parents begin the first, as they have incurred the responsibility. That great and keen observer and daring denunciator of conventional errors, Charles Dickens, never took a bolder step than when he made a daughter address her mother with Have you ever been dutiful to me?' How many parents would be puzzled to answer the query! for to judge by their conduct we must conclude that they consider they have done sufficient in giving existence to their children; that the debt for life is so great, it can never be cancelled by any subsequent mismanagement or ill-treatment. Even the love of parents is too often selfish; their children are a part of themselves, and as such are petted, and dressed, and taught; but the moment a child wishes to do anything contrary to the parent's will, or evinces a character not consonant with her notions, he or she is ungrateful, rebellious, and undutiful." A little farther on in the same chapter we find the following passage, in the sense of which we perfectly agree : "It is as essential that the teacher of an infant should be well informed, as that she should be well principled; but parents have yet to discover that accomplishments are not information, and that a young woman may play brilliantly, and draw superbly, and yet be entirely ignorant of everything she ought to know. A moment's thought must assure us, that if a girl of eighteen be highly accom plished, she must have devoted herself to the ornamental parts of study at the expense of the useful; and these are the indispensables in the acquirement of a governess, because we cannot supply the deficiency by the aid of any master whatever." As some of our readers may not recognise in Mrs. Pullan, the author of "Maternal Counsels," the Aiguilette of our pages, and the projector and carrier-out of the "Training Institution" in Albany Street, to which a month or two since we drew the attention of our subscribers, perhaps no better guarantee could be desired for Mrs. Pullan's fitness for the task, than will be found in the pages of the book before us, which, though it contains no fine writing, is full of useful suggestions and valuable truths, the results of much personal experience acting upon a mind of no ordinary energy, and replete with We are glad sound practical common sense. to be able cordially to recommend it, satisfied that in every house, especially where there are daughters, it is calculated to do much good. We HILDRED THE DAUGHTER. By Mrs. Newton Crosland, author of "Lydia," Memorable Women," &c. (London: G. Routledge and Co., Farringdon Street.)-We regret that this pleasing volume has only come to hand at the last moment of our going to press. have only space to acknowledge its receipt, and to promise ourselves a long review of it next month. In the meantime we have seen sufficient of it to be able to recommend it heartily to our subscribers as one of the most interesting Gift-Books of the season. Mrs. Crosland could not write otherwise than excellently. AMUSEMENTS OF THE MONTH. The lull which always precedes the merry tempest that arises in the theatrical atmosphere after Christmas is of more than customary profoundness; and though notes of preparation are being sounded from the various fields of histrionic encounter that are cultivated in the metropolis, a certain unusual reserve seems to pervade the playbills, which deny us, for some no doubt excellent reason, the names and titles of forthcoming novelties-in former years somewhat too prominently proclaimed. Nevertheless we have to record the opening of the LYCEUM by the unconquerable Mathewses, where already three new pieces have been ushered into existence under favourable aspects. 66 Aggravating Sam" is exactly one of those lively adaptations from the French which depend upon the vivacity and aplomb of a clever actor for success. Mr. Charles Mathews is the very-and only-actor in London capable of obtaining popular renown for such a being as Sam Naggins; and to a piece in itself slender enough he lends the weight of a talent which is never heavy, but which renders all he touches rife with fun. In this piece Miss Harriet Gordon, from the Olympic, has made her debut at the Lyceum; which, in truth, in the absence and indisposition of Madame Vestris, is sadly weak in its female department. Miss Gordon will be a welcome and agreeable addition. The piece is ascribed to the adapting pen of Mr. L. S. Buckingham. "The Comical Countess" is the second novelty, and also from the French; a lively piece also, thanks be to the Chevalier de Vilibrac (Mr. Charles Mathews), although there is little of the vis comico in the character of the Countess, which is perhaps fortunate, inasmuch as Miss Talbot, with all her claims (which are indisputable) to "fine womanhood," has much to study and learn ere she become qualified to receive plaudits as an actress. The third and last succès is called "Two heads are better than one"-a tiny one-act joke, which owes its attraction to the absolute nonsense of its slight, but very ludicrous plot, which we do not mean to detail, bidding all who want a hearty laugh to go and see it, and laugh accordingly-as we did. At the ADELPHI we have had a nice and wholesome dish set before us by Dion Bourci |