Bayard thanked them for their kindness in enlivening him with their company. "I should be glad," said he, "to have it in my power to convince you of my gratitude; but we soldiers are seldom possessed of jewels worthy the acceptance of your sex. Your amiable mother has presented me with two thousand five hundred ducats; I make a present to each of you of one thousand, for a part of your marriage portion, the remaining five hundred I give to the poor sufferers of this town, and I beg you will take on yourselves the distribution."

The Chevalier having at another time learnt that the great captain, Gonsalvo de Cordova, who commanded the Spaniards in the kingdom of Naples, was in expectation of receiving a considerable sum of money for the payment of his troops, resolved to intercept it. As the treasure could not reach the place of its destination, except by two narrow passes, the Chevalier and twenty of his men lay in ambush in one of them, and he placed Tardieu with twenty-five men in the other.

Chance happened to lead the Spaniards through the pass in which Bayard lay in ambush, when he fell upon them sword in hand. The enemy, without considering by what a small number they were attacked, were so frightened, that they precipitately fled, and left the treasure behind them. The chests were carried to a neighbouring village, and on being opened, and the contents counted on a large table, the victors found themselves in possession of fifteen thousand ducats.

Tardieu arrived at this instant, and viewing the mountain of gold with greedy eyes, he said that one half of it belonged to him, as he had a share in the enterprise. "I agree," replied the Chevalier, who was not pleased with Tardieu's tone of voice, that you had a share in the

enterprise; but you were not at the taking of the money. Besides, being under my orders, your right is subordinate to my pleasure." Tardieu, forgetting what he owed to his benefactor and chief, went immediately to complain to the general.

Every one was surprised to see a friend of the Chevalier accuse him of injustice and avarice-a man whom even his enemies extolled for his justice and generosity. The matter was heard, and Tardieu was censured for his conduct. Indeed, he became himself ashamed of what he had done. "I am more unhappy," said he to Bayard, "for this proceeding against you, than I am for the lossof what I attempted to gain. How could I be unhappy in seeing you rich? Did I not know that your fortune is always an advantage to your friends, and has been so to me in particular?"

The Chevalier smiling, embraced him, and a second time counted over the ducats in his presence. Tardieu was not master of his transports on the sight of so much money. "Ah, you enchanting pieces!" he exclaimed, "but you are not my property! had I but one half of you, I should be happy all the rest of my life!" "God forbid," said Bayard, "that for so small a matter I should make a gentleman unhappy! Take half the sum. joy I voluntarily give you that which you should never have extorted from me but by force." The Chevalier then assembled the garrison, and distributed the other half among them.

With

The Spanish treasurer who was taken in company with the convoy, and in whose presence all this passed, could not but admire so much disinterestedness; but he feared that the conqueror, after having given away every thing, would reserve to himself the price of his ransom, and

would consequently make him pay extravagantly. Bayard, who perceived his inquietude, soon relieved his mind. "My trade," said he, "as a soldier obliged me to take you. I will not dissemble, but assure you, that I am happy on the occasion, since that success has enabled me to be of service to my companions, and what I took from you belonged to your master, who is the enemy of mine. As to every thing regarding yourself, I release you with joy; you are at liberty, and may depart as soon as you please." At the same time he ordered a trumpet to attend him to the enemy's quarters.

GOOD CURATE OF LANEBOURG.

THE celebrated Mrs. Miller of Batheaston, who travelled in Italy in the years 1770, 1771, gives the following interesting account of Pere Nicolas, whose purity of manners and charitable conduct, so endeared him to the inhabitants of Lanebourg, that they looked on him as their common father, and spoke of him only by the enviable title of the Good Curate of Lanebourg.

"Pere Nicolas, who is now far advanced in years, had lived for some time in the mountains of Savoy, when his sanctity of life, his charitable and moral disposition, at length reached the ears of his sovereign, who sent for him to court. The king took such a liking to him, that upon his entreaty, he granted a perpetual exemption to the Lanebourgians from the quartering of troops, and from furnishing either men or money for the militia even in time of war. So little did Pere Nicolas consult his own interest, that he never asked any thing for himself; and

although he goes to court from time to time, and is always exceedingly well received by the king, he has never, in any instance, sought his own promotion, but employs all the interest he has to relieve his poor neighbours and parishioners from any difficulties they may be exposed to, either by the accidents of bad seasons, storms, or above all, a threatened tax, which, by his interposition, they are free from to this day. The Lanebourgians, through gratitude, immediately after the first favour the king was pleased to bestow on Pere Nicolas, presented him with the rent of the lake for seven years. By this he made a considerable sum; but, in the year 1737, he augmented his fund, and served his country at the same time, by selling cattle to the Swiss army; which cattle he bought up cheap from the Savoyards, who with difficulty could prevent their being taken from them by the Spaniards, and were glad to get rid of them at any price.

"Pere Nicolas dedicates his money entirely to the use of the Lanebourgians and his other neighbours, as far as it can go, in lending it to them whenever they want, in small sums, particularly at the season for purchasing cattle. He never takes any interest, nor ever requires payment till they can with ease return it to him: which they rarely fail to do at the ensuing season for disposing of their corn and cattle. It is scarcely credible of how much use this one man has been, by thus devoting himself and his interests to the public good."

MONKS OF ST. BERNARD.

THE following is a recent instance of those charitable offices which the pious Monks of St. Bernard, from a sense

on,

of duty, as well as from the locality of their establishment, are in the habit of performing. A poor soldier travelling from Siberia to the place of his nativity in Italy, set out from the village of St. Pierre in the afternoon, in the hope of reaching the monastery before night fall; but he unfortunately missed his way, and in climbing up a precipice, he laid hold of the fragment of a rock, which separating from the mass, rolled with him to the valley below, which the poor man reached with his clothes torn, and his body sadly bruised and lacerated. Being unable to extricate himself from the snow, and night having come he remained in that forlorn situation till morning. The weather was uncommonly mild for the season, or he must have perished. He spent the whole of the two following days in crawling to a deserted hovel, without having any thing to eat. Two of the Monks of St. Bernard, on their way to the village about sun-set, being warned by the barking of their dog, descried the man at a distance, and hastened to his succour. They found him at the entrance of the hovel, where he lay as if unable to cross the threshold, and apparently in a dying state, from hunger, fatigue, and loss of blood. They raised him on their shoulders, and carried him to the village, a distance of five miles through the snow. The man was above the middle size, and robust; so that, independent of his helpless condition, it required a considerable portion of strength, as well as management, in the brethren, to reach their destination. At the village of St. Pierre, the poor traveller received every attention and assistance, that his situation required.

THE hospitality of the convent of St. Bernard, and the