Mr. Villiers, British Ambassador at Madrid, has been suffering from
an attack of ague; but is convalescent. Not long since, he discharged his cook ; whereupon a rumour was circulated that an attempt had been made to poison him.
Thiers has been making some purchases of works of art in Italy; the cost of which the Moniteur, now Doctrinaire, exaggerated, as well as his travelling expenditure generally, with the view to create the im- pression that he had amassed an immense fortune in office. The Jour. nal de Paris says, that those who know what fortune Thiers really has, laugh at such lies.
Mademoiselle Taccani made a successful debut on Tuesday, in La tivamambula, at the Italian Opera in Paris. She is said to have a voice of great flexibility and sweetness, but deficient in power.
The Chronique de Paris relates the following extraordinary scene as having taken place at the Court of Assizes. A youth of about nine-
teen was brought to trial for having broken the window of a baker's shop and stolen a two-pound loaf. The President—" Why did you steal the loaf ?" Prisoner—" I was driven by hunger." " Why did you not buy it ? " " Because I had no money." "But you have a gold ring on your finger ; why did you not sell it?" " I am a foundling : when I was taken from the bank of a ditch, this ring was suspended from my neck by a silken cord, and I kept it in the hope of thereby dis-
covering at last who were my parents : I cannot dispose of it." The Procureur de Roi made a violent speech against the prisoner, who was
found guilty, and sentenced to imprisoment for five years. Immediately upon this, a woman more worn down by poverty than age, came for- ward and made the following declaration—" Gentlemen of the Jury,
twenty years ago, a young woman was seduced by a young man of the
same town, who after deceiving, abandoned her. Poor and distressed, she was obliged to leave her child to the care of Providence. The child has since grown up, and the woman and her seducer have grown older. The child in poverty, the woman in misery, and her seducer in prosperity. They are all three now in court. The child is the unfor- tunate prisoner whom you have just pronounced guilty ; the mother is myself ; and there sits the father !" pointing to the Procureur du Roi. —Galignani.
On Sunday afternoon, a female was seen floating down the Seine, borne on the surface by her dress. A man from the crowd which the sight collected on the Quai de la Conference, jumped into the river, and succeeded in bringing the unfortunate lady, for such she proved to be, safe on shore. She was young, handsome, fashionably dressed, and had ornamental jewellery of value on her person. On recovering her senses, the Commissary of Police demanded her name this she at first refused to give ; but on being told that if she did not she must be sent to an hospital, she confessed herself to be the wife of a gentleman holding a distinguished office in the department of the Finances. In- formation was sent to her husband ; and an elega -t carriage soon after arrived, and she was conveyed home, wrapped up in blankets. The cause of this extraordinary occurrence is not known.—Galignanits Messenger.
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