Yes, monsieur, I am." "I should have known you from your likeness to your sister. When I left, she and your mother were well. They beg you to be patient for their sakes." The poor man bowed his head. "The mayor of your village instructs me to say that when you return you will be well received and find plenty of employment." He looked up, touched by the assurance, but also, I fear, a little disappointed, having, probably, hoped for still better news. The curious group showed no signs of retiring, so I determined to make what use I could of their presence. "And Maitre Le Beau," I continued, raising my voice and looking round, "a distinguished advocate, who has carefully followed your case from the outset, is convinced of your innocence, that you did not commit the crime for which you are detained here." Sensation amongst the bystanders. "I never did any harm to any one," was all he answered, in a low, clear voice. "Have you anything to say to me before I leave?" Nothing, monsieur." 66 "I shall see your mother and your sister on my return. Have you anything you wish me to say to them?" 66 Nothing, monsieur." "Good by, then, till we meet again." I subsequently learned, through a letter to my friend, that he had a deal to say, but refrained from saying it for fear of the surveillance of spies and informers. Possibly, at the Bagne, the slightest whisper is re-echoed to a distance with the loudness of a speaking-trumpet. When about to retire, I remember the sister's request to pass on to the brother her shake of the hand. Impossible. I could not, for the life of me, do it. His innocence had not yet been officially acknowledged. And, if I had, it might have done more harm than good. Suspicion there is easily excited. I had permission to speak to, but not to convey anything to him. There had been an attempt to escape that very morning. Had I not seen a guardian examine the straw at the bottom of a forçat's wooden shoe, as he returned from work? So I cast a last look at the pale-faced man, and leave the lookers-on to make their comments and guesses. "Is there anything more you wish to see?" the adjutant obligingly inquires. "I thank you, no; no more to-day." So I slowly make my way out of the Bagne, and relieve my chest with a long, long breath. be implied by the petition and the consequent report. Second P. S. Returned some weeks from my travels, I hear a rattling knock at my door; not at all like a French knock (though it is one), but a triumphant imitation of an English rat-tat-too. I peep out of window, like Shakespeare's apothecary, to put the question, "Who knocks so loud?" Behold! It is No. 9999, loose, free, at large, come to return my visit, and conducted hither by my friend the avocat. We last met on the shore of the Mediterranean, and here he is within sight of the English Channel. He has been "gracié," pardoned by the Emperor. But, that the sacredness of a sentence once pronounced may suffer no diminuation of prestige, he is at liberty under the surveillance of the police. A residence is assigned to him, the very place where he wishes to dwell. I wonder how he contrives to walk without irons after having worn them for two-and-twenty years; and I must ask him how he liked his first night in a bed between a pair of sheets. Third P. S. This is a true story, and not a subtle fiction of the brain. Strange as it may seem, 9999 is the actual number the convict bore, and not another form of **** He is living happily, in the solid flesh, and not in your imagination merely, with a real mother and a real sister, whose real children, whom he had never seen, are now the objects of his affection. FOREIGN NOTES. A MOT, attributed to a well-known capitalist on the Paris Bourse, in reference to the Emperor's late speech at Auxerre, is now circulating in Paris among the classes opposed to war. It is that the Emperor has carried deceit to such a point of refinement that one cannot even believe the contrary of what he says. FRASER says of "Ecce Homo": "It does not, in our judgment, show any considerable range or depth of study. The book is a novel - and not a good novel-under a critical disguise. It gives the impression of being written by a sheep in wolf's clothing." M. NOBEL, so well known for his researches on of the late terrible explosion at Colon. He states nitro-glycerine, denies that this agent was the cause that the blasting oil requires a temperature of 300° before exploding, and that had it been on board the P. S. A petition has since been sent to the min-vessel which was recently destroyed, it would have ister that Fourrier should be medically examined blown the bottom out, a result which did not occur. and his condition reported on. He has been exam- THE Spectator says there is going to be a scarined, and, according to the report, he is a walking complication of disease, a phenomenon of morbid affections. One would say the only wonder is how a creature so afflicted can continue to live. His vital spark must be unusually hard to extinguish. He would be worth engagement by a medical lecturer as an encyclopædic illustration of human complaints! But is such an invalid worth keeping in prison? No. All he is good for is to consume wholesome food, puzzle the doctors, and give worthy jailers the trouble of locking him up. He is just as well outside as indoors. You may as well let him go for a poor broken-down, good-for-nothing encumbrance. Such is the train of reasoning which would seem to city of ivory. The demand for Sheffield alone, it is said, now kills 20,000 elephants a year, the supply is limited, and the animal does not multiply very fast. An American firm has offered a reward of £1,000 for an effective substitute, especially for billiard balls, and it is possible that one may be found, though the toughness and durability of ivory are qualities it is difficult to communicate. Civilization would not lose much if the supply ceased, but art would. A CORRESPONDENT of the Natal Witness draws attention to the fact that, in a new hymn-book which Dr. Colenso has published, with the view of shutting out the use of "Hymns, Ancient and Modern," he has carefully mutilated the hymns whenever in the June 30, originals he found the words "Jesus" and "Christ." | been worded, are simply disgusted by a long string God" is substituted for the latter, and wherever either cannot be replaced by a colorless name of the Deity, the verse is omitted altogether. The correspondent believes that the alterations are significant of Dr. Colenso's change into pure Deism. AN Anglo-Saxon cemetery, of the pagan period, and of considerable extent, near Market Harbor ough, in Leicestershire, England, has been lately the scene of extensive excavations, which have produced a considerable number of the usual objects, such as spear-heads, knives, umbos of shields, beads, etc., found in Anglo-Saxon graves. Among them was found a fine example of the double-edged Teutonic sword, thirty-four inches and a half in length, and rather more than two inches broad. The graves were laid in rows, disposed east and west, with the feet towards the east. THE French papers speak of a new system of embalming, the invention of M. Audigier. It differs from the systems hitherto in use in the manner of introducing the preservative liquid. Heretofore it has been necessary to make incisions in the body for this purpose, but M. Audigier introduces it by the mouth, and also rubs the skin with a vegetable powder impregnated with the same liquid. The latter part of the process is not absolutely necessary, and the embalming may be performed after the body has been placed in the coffin. The official report states that after the lapse of twelve months bodies which had been submitted to the process were in a perfect state of preservation, the flesh having become as hard as wood. ANOTHER book for "advanced thinkers," as they are styled, those who read such works as Professor Renan's "Les Apôtres," and the recently-published, mysterious "Ecce Homo," is announced for immediate publication. The title is "Apollonius of Tyana, the Pagan -or False-Christ of the Third Century," an essay, by Albert Réville, D.D., friend and literary associate of Professor Renan, and pastor of the Walloon Church, in Rotterdam. The book relates the attempt made to revive Paganism in the third century by means of a false Christ. "The principal events in the life of Apollonius," it is stated, " are almost identical with the Gospel narrative. Apollonius was born in a mysterious way, about the same as Christ. Like flim, he went through a period of preparation; afterwards came a passion, then a resurrection, and an ascension. The messengers of Apollo sang at his birth, as the angels did at that of Jesus. He was exposed to the attacks of enemies, though always engaged in doing good. He went from place to place, accompanied by his favorite disciples; passed on to Rome, where Domitian was seeking to kill him, just as Jesus went up to Jerusalem and to certain death. In many other respects, the parallel is equally extraordinary." of egregious exaggerations put into fine sentences. Nothing can be further from our desire than to pipe an accompaniment to the song of self-gratulation which members of Parliament and newspaper writers are forever singing in the public ear, or else we might England in 1766, or England in 1666. But the dwell on a contrast between England in 1866 and The prevalent ideas are susceptible of almost imstock of happiness is still low enough, and too low. measurable elevation, the prevalent practices of an almost indescribably closer approximation to even a commonplace ideal. The only comfort is, that so many men are found in all orders of activity-in. theology, in legislation, in pure thought, in the fine arts-zealously doing something to exalt the character of knowledge, and to promote its wider diffusion. A member of Parliament who gets a Bill passed for the regulation of Irish dogs, or a vestryman who agitates for the compulsory cleansing of cesspools in Little Pedlington, is doing better work in his day and generation than the author of all Mr. Ruskin's wordy and unjust declamations and random onslaughts directed indiscriminately against the worst and the best features in modern English life." UNDER the heading of "A Sharp Trick," the London correspondent of the Manchester City News tells the following story. Certain it is that none of the other London morning papers noticed the suicide of Colonel Hobbs until four-and-twenty hours after its details had appeared in the columns of the Daily Telegraph. When "The unhappy suicide of Colonel Hobbs gave rise to an incident which I will mention, although in doing so I may be open to the charge of telling tales out of school.' The vessel that brought home Mrs. Hobbs and her children brought also some legal gentlemen who had been concerned with the commission, and the newspaper correspondent who, in the columns of a London daily, exalted the planters, tried to excuse the murders committed by English soldiers and sailors, vilified the blacks simply because they were black, and apologized for nay, advocated-the flogging of women. the vessel arrived at Southampton this gentleman proposed to suppress the news of Colonel Hobbs's suicide until the following day. He touchingly represented that it would be very painful to Mrs. Hobbs to see the railway stations placarded with staring headlines of her husband's death, and equally painful for the children, who as yet knew only that their father was dead, to learn so roughly how that death had occurred. The telegraphic agent and all concerned willingly complied with this humane suggestion, and the item that would have been so interesting to every metropolitan and provincial paper was omitted in the telegraphic summary. The humane gentleman meanwhile sent a private message to his own paper, which next morning made the most of its exclusive intelligence." THE Saturday Review is very severe upon Mr. AMONG the professional London thieves there is Ruskin's new volume, "The Crown of Wild Olive." said to be a remarkable class having the singular It closes a long criticism on the book with this par-name of licensed thieves. These licensed rogues are agraph: "The delicate Socratic irony of which Mr. Arnold is so excellent a master may do something to open our eyes to our national weaknesses. But the arrogant injustice of Mr. Ruskin excites a natural reaction, and the people who might have been wholesomely affected by a substantially just remonstrance against the too sordid leanings of the modern spirit, however sternly and scornfully it might have said to be in the employment of the police, the detectives especially. Strange tales are told about them. It is said that a detective, anxious for fame, and nothing scrupulous as to the means of its accomplishment, will perhaps see a wire busily employed at his nefarious trade of picking pockets in the streets. By chance the wretch does his work cleverly, and so the policeman embraces the opportunity of making his acquaintance. He frightens the thief| by telling him what he has seen, and hints that he can bring so and so against him; but if he will render him some private assistance, he shall be let alone for the present. If the thief agrees, he thus gets his license; and dearly he has to pay for it. When the policeman wants a case for the sessions or the assizes, the thief must work. By discovering and furnishing secret information, he puts the policeman upon the right track of obtaining information sufficient to get up a case. The more of this work the spy does, the more he has to perform, and the further he becomes involved. At length the licensed thief quarrels with his employer, or refuses to do his bidding. Then comes his own doom. His license is taken from him, something is brought against him, and he is probably condemned to penal servitude for years. many We tell the following story as it was told to us. A robbery of plate had been committed; the suspicions of the police guided them to the delinquent, but they could obtain no clew by which to prove the charge they had against him. He was, however, apprehended, and thrust into the cell. Another thief, known to the police, was thrust into the same cell, with secret instructions to act the spy. The spy had not been long in the cell before he began to speak very bitterly of the police, because of what he alleged to be their bad usage of himself. Presently he took half a crown out of his boot, and thrust it into the fire, saying, " There; that evidence is gone." "What evidence?" said the suspected man. "That I am a maker of money," answered the spy, who proceeded to describe in glowing colors his lucrative method of manufacturing base coin. The two became very confidential, and the spy began to bewail his want of silver with which to continue his business when he obtained his liberty. The bait took. The suspected man confessed that he had some silver which he had stolen. They at once agreed to partnership, and the next morning they were both set at liberty. The spy was furnished, it is said, by the police, with moulds, &c., and he fixed the time with his new friend to commence the manufacture. They were soon at work. One evening while they were melting the plate, the police, as previously arranged, suddenly rushed in. The spy was allowed to escape, but the real thief was caught. The career of the spy did not last long. The police became tired of him, he was beginning to know too much, and it was necessary to get rid of him. For anything we know to the contrary, this licensed thief is now undergoing penal servitude. To what extent this kind of service is rendered to the police can never be completely known, but sufficient is known to lower the popular estimate of the skill of the detectives. They do exceedingly little in the way of actual and direct discovery by means of their own independent and individual intelligence. Compared with the great bulk of undetected crime the success of the detectives is significantly small. "In consequence of information received" is a convenient formula for the police, the full meaning of which is best known to themselves and their (sometimes criminal) assistants. The morality of setting a thief to catch a thief passes muster in the English force; but they do these things better in America. Mr. Pinkerton's system for the detective police in America is vastly superior to the British system. He sets no thief to catch a thief, but works by pure and honorable means, and keeps his entire force of agents beyond the reach of the temptations which arise from rewards and unfair means. Somebody walked with me, light was her tread Shall I repeat them? No, ever so long And the nest they deserted is white with the snow, Shall I with censure link somebody's name For the note and the walk and the fly-away birds? No, the dear creature was never to blame, She had no heart to give value to words, Sweetly as Hybla her accents may flow, Mais, c'est le cœur qui fait valoir les mots. THE COMING IN OF THE "MERMAIDEN." And they hang wide asunder,- I am not satisfied with sleep, When dusk and dawn are blended! A vessel! To the old pier-end Her happy course she's keeping; O now with fancied greetings blest, In their blissful breaking. The stars are gone, the rose bloom comes, Shall be the first to greet her: Their lost they have, they hold; from pain JEAN INGELOW. |