21 FEBRUARY 1829, Page 9

tainly read.something like the following before : nevertheless the reproduc..

short in accuracy of metre. was praying in the church with great devotion : when she arose fiorn kueel- Further— ing, she perceived a letter lying before her. It announced that the Apostle " Upon being questioned respecting his property, he said, he had about Peter would sup with her that night, and bring her intelligence respecting a thousand guineas, and when he could obtain possession of it he should her husband, who was lately dead. The good lady dared not entertain the spend it in purchasing his wife ; and he intended to provide for her an ex- least suspicion of fraud. She prepared a splendid entertainment ; and scarcely cellent establishment, horses, carriages, 4c. which would cost him many mil- ions a year." was it ready when a knock at the door announced the arrival of the saint. With a capital of a thousand guineas he intended to set up es- A robust form made his appearance, wearing a long beard, and having a tablishments which would cost many millions a year ! Good. If great iron key suspended by his side. The Apostle saluted the old lady with an air of benignity, sat flown, and told her several extraordinary things of this man be mad, then take up the West end of the town, and forth- the other world, and more particularly painted in glowing colours the felicity with clap it in Bedlam. We never saw a resolution more com- of her late spouse. They seated themselves at table, and the servant was pietely accordant with the way of the world and the usages of only permitted to bring the dishes to the door of the apartment. good society. The Commissioners ought indeed to have seen from " The servant on the same evening happened to have an apostle of her it alone, that the gentleman was a subject for Almacks instead of a own : he was a gendarme. Surprised to see the activity which reigned in lunatic asylum. . the cooking department, he asked the cause. ' We have a very extraordi- Lastly— nary person to supper,' said she. ' Who is he ?" I don't know, only he " He persisted that his writings surpassed Shakspearc ; and taking up wears a long beard : but I have only had a glance at him, for they forbade the paper with the above lines on it, he said, `they are Milton's." How me to enter.' The gendarme followed the servant when she went to the can they be Milton's (said the Commissioner) when Milton has been dead chamber, pushed open the door, and entered. ' Who are you, Monsieur,' so many years ?'—' Sir, (said he,) they are Milton's—I wrote them, and without ceremony, ' where is your passport ?' "The saints,' answered

I am a second Milton.' " the stranger, ' need no passport. I am St. Peter—here is my key." Oh, Here is what is called the confidence of genius, accompanied that will do,' said the gendarme, and retired—but only to inform his chief with an ingenuous wit. He has but betrayed nature in undress, of the . adventure. The brigadier, accompanied by several of his followers, and said, what oft is thought, but not so plain expressed. concealed themselves in the house of the old lady. A few minutes afterwards The ablest critic (need we name the Rev. SYDNEY SMITH ?) in another knock was heard : the door opened, and four more apostles entered. the Edinburgh Review has remarked, that the surprise of an un- The gendarmes, however, immediately laid hold of them, as well as upon St. Peter himself. They were searched; each of the saints was armed with expected comparison or association of ideas is essential to wit; poniards, knives, pistols, and whistles. The whole of the five apostles were

it to a great pitch of perfection. Two different kinds of manufacture are The picture he draws of the domestic influence of the priesthood is highly curious : He objects to the service of the virgin on the score of indecency.

and if we may judge from a long passage quoted in the Courrier Francais, is

and they may perhaps be driven out amidst the well-wishes of all men. It is difficult in England to form an idea of the hatred of the French for our WELLINGTON Administration : it is difficult to understand the relish which the French have for Irish disturbance : it is curious to see how they hail the naval rivalry of America with England: All these things strike an English- man in France who reads the journals or talks politics with the natives.

— The speech of the King of England to the Parliament was carried to Paris in twenty-nine hours.

— Prince POLIGNAC, in the French House of Lords, has paid a homage to the press, which in England would be thought the depth of humiliation for a Peer. He has answered the attacks of the French news- papers openly and directly; and in order to undeceive those who have mis- taken him, he made a profession of faith in the Charter. Some of the Parisian journals have made this declaration the subject of some detest- able jokes. The Prince certainly took a singular line of argument. After alluding to the public journals, he says, " If the editors of them could only penetrate into the interior of my abode, they would meet with the best of all possible refutations : they would find me surrounded with the fruits of my continual, and I hope not useless, labours, all of which have for their object and end, the defence, if necessary, the consolidation, of our present liberal institutions, the desire to make them an inheritance for our children," &c. The Courrier observes with truth, that the journalist knows his business better than to follow a public man into his house; he must judge alone from acts. And of these M. de POLIGNAC has given no satisfactory specimens. His declaration is in fact throughout a mere sign of the times : the French still think him a Jesuit,—which with them is another name for the Devil.

8th. The French seem particularly well pleased with the expression of praise in the King of England's speech bestowed upon the conduct of their army in Greece. The two countries, as they become mare connected by similar views and similar institutions, grow more sensitive as to the opinions mutually entertained and expressed of each other. -- The Duke of Rovioo, in his second edition, has erased the unfavourable passages in his work regarding the Duke of REGGIO, and published in the journals an acknowledgment of error, which in England would be considered the utmost stretch of candour. The unfortunate connexion of this brave, de- voted, and successful soldier (for such undoubtedly was General SAVARY) with the mysterious murder of the Duc d'Emouteri, has cast a shade on his cha- racter which has extended to his memoirs—undoubtedly the most curious and the most authentic memoirs of modern times.

— It has been made a matter of charge in the Chambers by an Ultra, that certain Deputies had subscribed to pay the fine lately imposed upon the poet BERANGER by the court for his libellous songs. Several letters from the Deputies alluded to. have appeared, which set this matter in the true light. The letter of M. KERATNY is a noble one. The only alloy of this as well as those from B. CONSTANT and ALEX. LANIETH, is a certain looking up to royalty, that smacks of the stern Imperial rule. The able men of France (and the number of able public men is wonderful) lack the sturdy indepen- dence of the Englishman when he chooses to go his own way. GAIL the Hellenist is dead. He was one of those men who are al- ways missed—a devotee to a particular subject. His life was spent among Greek MSS. and Greek literature : he translated Thucydides and Xenophon, and published them with the Greek text. He was the author of several ele- mentary works and editions of Greek classics, which were generally valuable for their collections of MSS. He was keeper of the MSS. in the Biblico thaque du Roi. — An affair took place the other dav at St. Genies, which the French papers truly remark is without example day folly. Some gentlemen dining with M. Roveity, the Mayor of the place, began to talk morality by the mere force of champagne. At last M. A— said to M. T—, apropos of liberality—." As for you, M. T , you are a skinflint." M. T retorted, and defied his accuser to equal him in generosity : and seeing the child of the person who had served the coffee, playing in the dining-roomehe said—" Do you see that child ? I will make her a present of an estate worth forty-flee thousand francs." " I will do as much," replied M. A de- termined not to be outdone by the man he had called a miser; and a bumper was drunk in confirmation of the bargain. A notary was sent for ; but the host interfered, and insisted that no such folly should be registered in his house. Whereupon the parties withdrew to the house of the notary : the child was sent for, and the deeds of gift duly drawn and executed. The next day, the champagne had evaporated, and the parties presented a petition to the Court of Espalion to be relieved from their engagement. — An old gentleman of birth and fortune, who lives at Chaumont, was walking out the other day, and having wandered further than usual, he be- came fatigued, and seated himself by the road-side, on a heap of stones. He dresses with remarkable plainness—perhaps shabbiness would be the better word a carriage passed him shortly after, and the travellers, seeing a ve- nerable old man, apparently overcome with fatigue, sitting in a petitioning at- titude, threw him a five-franc piece. The old gentleman smiled when he saw the coin ; and taking it up, he saw at the same moment two peasant women coining out of a neighbouring wood with sticks : he is known as the father of the poor in the neighbourhood, and they saluted him with reverence. "My good women," said he, "I have just been taken for a beggar ; I am not sorry for it, since it gives me an opportunity of dividing this (showing the crown) between you. Here, take it and share it." This reminds me of a story told of Arseusrm no PERRON, the celebrated Orientalist, who used to dress like the most wretched pauper. One of the Fellows of the Academy of Inscriptions to which ANQUETIL DO PERRON also belonged, met him in the street, and taking him for a beggar, gave him alms, and did not recognize him till he was in the act of giving him money. " You do neither surprise nor humiliate me," said ANQUETIL DO PERRON: "you wish to do a good deed—you shall not be disappointed, and I will share your pleasure. There is a poor old man a few steps from hence, who seems very wretched. As for myself, I gin not so, and I cannot be so." 10th. The journals of to-day are extended by supplements, some of two and some of one sheet ; so that the Courtier of this date is about equal to one number of the Times. It contains the speech of the Minister of the In- terior on the most important of questions, the creation of a municipal govern- ment: it was accompanied by a bill for the establishment of a new, uniform, and vital internal government. The speech is one of admirable clearness, and great liberality. It reads like a speech in the Convention or the National Assembly, while it is evidently meant, and will probably answer its object, to secure a fair share of power to the monarch. France is in the high road to true legal latrty ; the Revolution is now coming into plays