MY DEAR C-,

We have been living this month on a volcano. The frost and snow came just in time to cool the ardour of Rochefort's friends, and to let us take breath again, after so much fear and excitement. For four consecutive nights after Rochefort's arrest did his partisans brave the cold and the wrath of the police and of the Guards of Paris, who fumed at being almost frozen to death on their horses, when they might have been comfortably in bed, but for the violence of a set of brawlers more fit for a mad-house than for a political party. For what could these rioters hope, without chiefs to lead them, arms to fight with, or plan, to execute? It is not a few revolvers or "cannes plombées" that could cope with Government's " Chassepots." It makes one shudder in thinking what massacre there would have been had some here had the power to let loose the soldiers with this formidable weapon. Alas! as it is, blood has been shed this time, and several were killed in the fray. Why Government ordered Rochefort to be apprehended at the moment that he was about entering a public meeting, is not clear, when it would have been so easy to seize him in other places when isolated from his party, and thus perhaps have avoided the conflict.

a

The democrats, of course, see in that action a defiance thrown at them by M. Ollivier, and they pretend that he desired the riot. However, let that be as it may, there is one, methinks, who is not sorry to be locked up from his dear electors, and that is Rochefort himself. At least, he is at peace, and can renovate his bodily strength by nights of quiet sleep, which is more than he has been able to do ever since he has had the honour of representing his fellow citizens. His former friends say that he is but the ghost of his former self, so pale and worn-out has his late agitated life rendered him. The poor man is no more fit for a popular leader than a woman: he has not corporeal strength, his nerves are too irritable, besides, his has been horse's work: editor of the " "Marseillaise" in the morning, deputy at the Corps Législatif in the afternoon, orator at the political meetings in the evening, where good lungs are requisite, and the humble servant of his electors whenever they thought fit to exact his services. It is affirmed that the only place where he could get a wink of sleep, was at the Corps Législatif. He has now six months before him for repose, and to enjoy the reputation of a martyr to the cause of liberty.

All the writers in the "Marseillaise" were rrested, but some have since been set at liberty. The most violent, and, they say, the most convinced of these republicans, Gustave Flourens, who gave the signal of revolt after Rochefort's

arrest, has managed to escape to Brussels. Some aver that his patriotism arises from a personal pique he has towards the Empress, he having been professor at the " Sorbonne," and having one day professed, in a lecture, principles that displeased her majesty. M. Duruy, then Minister of Public Instruction, was requested to remove him from his professorship, which he did.

All kinds of reports are current: some say that a great conspiracy has been discovered, tending to destroy the Emperor and the Imperial family; that the Tuileries was to have been blown up by casks of an inflammable substance placed in the sewers; that several officers in private clothes have been arrested at a meeting, &c., &c. Then the workman, Megy, shot the officer who went to arrest him in his lodgings; there also, they say, were papers that proved a conspiracy. By-the-bye, the democrats try to justify this murder just the same as Pierre Bonaparte's friends try to justify Victor Noir's. The poor "Sergent de Ville" leaves a wife and two or three children. Several subscriptions have been opened for them. The Duchess de Mouchy-Princess Anna Murat-went to see the widow in the name of the Empress, and carried her immediate help. Three pensions have also been given to her, so that, in a pecuniary point of view, she is well provided for.

Our new Constitutional Government has had plenty to contend with since in power, and we are anxious to see whether M. Ollivier will get us through without stumbling. Many think he commited a great error in having Rochefort condemned, and the poor man is continually assailed by the republicans for his former doctrines, but methinks he must expect that.

The would-be friends of the Empire cry out that there is treason in the camp, and that the Orleanists are getting too numerous in the Government; that if they accept places, it is only to be better able to recall the princes from England when the times comes.

The report that Provost Paradol is willing to accept a place-that of Ambassador at Washington-very much surprises everyone, he being the most inveterate enemy of Napoleon III. It is also hinted that the Princes of Orleans are not pleased to see their partizans abandon them for the new state of things, while the suspicious cannot believe that the Emperor is sincere in his abandonment of absolute power, but that he will re-seize it again one of these fine days and try to prove to us that " parliamentaryisin" is incompatible with our nature.

Prince Pierre Bonaparte is to be tried before the high court of justice for the murder of Victor Noir, and attempt to murder M. de Fonvielle. The magistrates, after great researches,

All these disturbances somewhat mar the festivities of the season. It is true that our new Préfet, M. Chevreau, tries to inaugurate his reign with great splendour, and the fêtes at the Hotel de Ville surpass, they say, those of our late Préfet, M. Haussman. The first was a dinner offered to the Prince and Princess Napoleon, to which none but the flower of the nobility were invited, therefore it was very limited, and the splendid costumes had space to show themselves. The Princess Clotilde-the queen of the fête-was all in white, covered with diamonds, and looked charming. It was hinted that the Emperor and Empress were expected, but their majesties did not go. But the monster ball was that given on the 17th: ten thousand five hundred invitations were issued, and it seems almost eleven thousand were there! Such a tumult was never seen in the immense rooms, thrown open to receive the visitors. There were two lines of carriages in the street, conveying the company to the hall: one reached from the Hotel de Ville to the Place Vendome, and the other, on the other side of the river, all along the quays. The Archduke and Archduchess Albert of Austria were present, and remained until midnight. I imagine it was not very difficult for them to get away, but there were sad complaints from the ill-tempered-who perhaps had spent a deal of money to be fine, and who could not show off in such a crowd. Some complained of the presence of ladies of the "demi monde;" those who gave them their letters of invitation were to blame for that, and not the Préfet; he could not be expected to recognise ten thousand guests. Madame Chevreau was very prettily dressed in white silk, with a tuft of white feathers and red velvet in her hair, and a necklace of large diamonds on red velvet round her neck. It was very simple but exquisite in taste. The ball at the Tuileries was countermanded, some say, on account of the agitation of the town, others because the Empress had an attack of iufluenza. What is certain is, that their Majesties and the Prince have had severe colds, as well as half Paris. How can it be otherwise with such weather as this, after almost Spring temperature ?

The small-pox has been very prevalent, and has taken off several persons of rank. It was feared for some days that the Prince Imperial was threatened with this disease, but it was only a cold. For the moment, the most fashionable operation is vaccination. The Prince and Princess de Metternich set the example, and everyone who wishes to be considered comme il faut has a sore arm. Some of the ladies even do not hesitate to appear at the balls with the pimples de rigeur on their arms; they quite replace dimples for the beauty of that member.

The skating club is in high glee. His Majesty was at the Bois de Boulogne the other day, watching the elegant ladies gliding over the ice, but did not join them. The young

re-commenced.

They say that the cause of this gloomy, cold, weather, is the absence of a Director at the Observatory. Perhaps even Monsieur Leverrier, before transporting his penates or household gods elsewhere, played us this little trick to revenge himself on the Parisians, and decreed them red noses for all February; for Leverrier, like his planet, is no longer visible, at least at the Observatory, after having shone there for fourteen or fifteen years. Is it astonishing that the sun veils his face at such a catastrophe ? It is strange how some men contrive to make themselves disliked! I think I never heard such a unanimous shout of pleasure as that with which everyone hailed the fall of this man. He had found means to rouse to revolt the gentlest of natures. Not a single astronomer could keep at the Observatory, so jealous and overbearing was the Director, and every discovery they made belonged to him by right. Monsieur Duruy had caused an investigation to be made during his Ministry, but had not dared to remove him. Our new Minister, M. Segris, urged by the frequent complaints received at the Ministry, ordered a fresh investigation. M. Leverrier, who is senator also, thought he would strike an audacious blow, and save himself, so addressed the Senate on the question. The Minister revoked him from his functions immediately, and all Paris applauded.

We have not only had riots in the streets, but also in the Lycées, the young gentlemen in several public establishments have amused themselves by breaking the windows, and loud yelling. At one they ill-treated the Censor. The spirit of freedom, it seems, prevails in all places.

There is another person who, maybe, feels the same dislike to bondage, and that is Monsieur Vrain Lucas, the learned gentleman who last year caused great commotion in the scientific world by selling to M. Charles authentic letters written by Pascal, which letters clearly proved that Newton was a plagiarist, an assertion which raised a hubbub amongst the learned, and those who had always been accustomed to consider Newton not only a great genius, but also the personification of modesty and truth. Well, this person (Vrain Lucas) is now in prison, accused of fraud. He had sold to M. Charles, Professor at the Sorbonne, and Member of the Institute, for 140,000 francs (nearly £6,000), manuscripts, letters of Pascal, Galileo, one from Cleopatra to Cæsar, and one of Mary Magdalene-yes, you read right, Mary Magdalene-Lazarus after his resurrection, and many other persons as far from us in distant ages. In fact, nothing was too impossible for M. Charles to believe: he took all in for gospel, and, strong with such proofs, he pronounced Newton a plagiarist! The letters of Galileo were sent to Florence, where they were soon declared false, which at last opened M, Charles's eyes, and the impostor is now in

golden" of Madeira a week after losing sight of the white cliffs of England. A steamer, in calm weather, doing her best, might in that time get over the 1,060 miles of ocean that lies between London and that flowery isle. We had thought that the last of the Della Cruscan school of writers had died out, but there are passages in this narrative worthy of its original.-" And when the burning day was done, it was pleasant in the soft tropic evening to gather beneath the stars, and while her duenna coquetted primly with our bachelor captain, to listen while Elise sang to her guitar some quaint ballad of the middle ages, or some thrilling romance of undying love and knightly daring, that made our hearts bound, and our eyes flash, with a wild desire to emulate their deeds; but the opportunity was wanting."-We are very sorry for this. A tournament upon the main-deck would have broken the monotony of the voyage, and have afforded the author an opportunity for even finer writing. There are sufficiently exThe citing incidents without this, however. idea of the two men kneeling on two spars, thrashing the water energetically with two loose ends of rope to scare off the approach of a blue shark, which had appeared in the shape of "a long black object feathering the gleaming sea,' is sufficiently striking; but we prefer the good sense and good English of the next paper-Mr. H. Owgan's essay on "The Picturesque." The writer observes :

There are few words in common use in which the conventional acceptation and the etymology more strictly coincide than the "Picturesque," not less in its allegorical than its literal sense. One usual criterion of the picturesque element, in any special object, is the degree in which it is suited to, and which look well in a picture; and if we apply this test to the manifestations of the artificial life which surround us

we shall be disappointed to find how very small a proportion of it is really picturesque, either morally or physically.

Passing over a few paragraphs we come to the following:

The reason why our present and past costumes are so hopelessly unsuited to purposes of high art is, of course, the enormity of their ugliness, which is the reason also, why, when they cease to be fashionable, and lose the familiarity which gradually reconciles the eye to their deformity, they constitute such hideous and pitiable caricatures. A man or woman, for instance, dressed in the extreme of any superannuated fashion is probably one of the most ridiculous and humiliating exhibitions that can be easily witnessed. On the other hand, those costumes which are always picturesque, because they are intrinsically ornamental-such as that of the old Greeks, the Scottish Highland (which is the ancient Gallic or Keltic dress), that of the Spanish, Swiss, and Italian peasants, the old English Vandyke costume, most varieties of Oriental dress, and a few others-all these for the purposes of art survive every transient caprice of fashion, and, as they always look well in a picture, are the universal refuge of the artist when he wants a human figure, and at the same time wishes to avoid the suspicion of designing a tailor's pictorial advertisement. There is nothing new in all this; but it is simply and well stated, and by the force of these quali ties is likely to arrest the attention of every of reader. The Editor (Mr. C. Hardwick) goes as usual for utility, and gives a most useful paper on an important subject-"How to Select an Insurance Company."

class

The second annual Report of the Executive committee of the Manchester National Society for Women's Suffrage speaks hopefully of the progress made towards the realization of its purpose.

building Mr. Sullivan a new theatre, or in creating a fund for the encouragement of the high drama. It was said that a rich ladyphilanthropist helped the late Mr. Charles Kean to keep open the PRINCESS's against the apathy and non-support of the public evinced towards the regular drama at that theatre, but we know not how true the story may be; for, indeed, the ways of theatres are devious, and strange tales are told of the fortunes of the brethren of the

6.6

sock and buskin" and their aspen-tree supported Olympus. There may have beenthere may be still-liberal patrons of the drams in existence; but, be it so or not, it is our own impression that it is yet possible to keep at least one theatre open profitably with high-class plays. However, we have more immediately