up a muck-fork, and throwing it across his should-
er, walked in a stately manner before Mr Crom-
well, who was then in the yard, wondering at the
number of his visitors, and still more so at this ce-
remony, which even surprised the laughter-loving
Charles, who enquired its meaning. "Sire," said
the muck-fork bearer, "the gentleman before
whom I now carry this implement of husbandry,
is Mr Henry Cromwell, to whom I had the honor
of being mace-bearer when he was in Ireland."
The monarch smiled; but Mr Cromwell thrilled
with confusion. This, however, was soon remov-
ed by the ease and gaiety of his royal guest; and
the hungry company having been treated with
much hospitality by the generous Henry, departed
from his table with expressions of gratulation and
pleasure.
Noble's Memoirs of the Pro-
tectorate House of Cromwell.

AT the commencement of the troubles in France, it is a curious fact, that the lieutenant-general of the national police, as well as that of the Metropolis, had upon his registers the names of not less than twenty thousand suspected and depraved characters, whose pursuits were known to be of a criminal nature; yet, by making this part of police the immediate object of the close and uniform attention of one branch of the executive government, crimes were much less frequent than in England; and the security extended to the public, with regard to the protection of life and property against lawless depredation, was infinitely greater. To elucidate this assertion, and to shew to what a won

derful height the system had advanced, the reader is referred to the following anecdotes; which were mentioned to the author by a foreign minister of great intelligence and information, who resided some years at the court of France.

"A merchant of high respectability in Bourdeaux had occasion to visit the metropolis upon commercial business, carrying with him bills and money to a very large amount.

On his arrival at the gates of Paris, a genteel looking man opened the door of his carriage, and addressed him to this effect:-Sir, I have been waiting for you some time; according to my notes, you were to arrive at this hour; and your person, your carriage, and your portmanteau, exactly answering the description I hold in my hand, you will permit me to have the honour of conducting you to Monsieur de Sartine.

The gentleman, astonished and alarmed at this interruption, and still more so at hearing the name of the lieutenant of the police mentioned, demanded to know what Monsieur de Sartine wanted with him; adding, at the same time, that he never had committed any offence against the laws, and that he could have no right to interrupt or detain him.

The messenger declared himself perfectly ignorant of the cause of the detention; stating, at the same time, that when he had conducted him to Monsieur de Sartine, he should have executed his orders, which were merely ministerial.

After some further explanations, the gentleman permitted the officer to conduct him accordingly. Monsieur de Sartine received him with great po

liteness; and after requesting him to be seated, to his great astonishment, he described his portmanteau; and told him the exact sum in bills and specie which he had brought with him to Paris, and where he was to lodge, his usual time of going to bed, and a number of other circumstances, which the gentleman had conceived could only be known to himself.-Monsieur de Sartine having thus excited attention, put this extraordinary question to him-Sir, are you a man of courage?-The gentleman, still more astonished at the singularity of such an interrogatory, demanded the reason why he put such a strange question, adding, at the same time, that no man ever doubted his courage. Monsieur de Sartine replied,-Sir, you are to be robbed and murdered this night!-If you are a man of courage, you must go to your hotel, and retire to rest at the usual hour: but be careful that you do not fall asleep; neither will it be proper for you to look under the bed, or into any of the closets which are in your bed chamber; (which he accurately described;)-you must place your portmanteau in its usual situation, near your bed, and discover no suspicion:-Leave what remains to me.-If, however, you do not feel your courage. sufficient to bear you out, I will procure you a person who shall personate you, and go to bed in your stead.

After some further explanation, which convinced the gentleman that Monsieur de Sartine's intelligence was accurate in every particular, he refused to be personated, and formed an immediate resolution literally to follow the directions he had re

ceived: he accordingly went to bed at his usual hour, which was eleven o'clock.-At half past twelve (the time mentioned by Monsieur de Sartine) the door of the bed-chamber burst open, and three men entered with a dark lantern, daggers, and pistols.-The gentleman, who of course was awake, perceived one of them to be his own servant. They rifled his portmanteau undisturbed, and settled the plan of putting him to death.The gentleman hearing all this, and not knowing by what means he was to be rescued, it may naturally be supposed, was under great perturbation of mind during such an awful interval of suspense; when, at the moment the villains were preparing to commit the horrid deed, four police officers, acting under Monsieur de Sartine's orders, who were concealed under the bed, and in the closet, rushed out and seized the offenders with the property in their possession, and in the act of preparing to commit the murder."

Another anecdote was mentioned to the author by the same minister, relative to the emperor Joseph II.: that monarch having in the year 1787, formed and promulgated a new code of laws relative to criminal and civil offences; and having also established what he conceived to be the best system of police in Europe, he could scarcely ever forgive the French nation, in consequence of the accuracy and intelligence of Monsieur de Sartine, having been found so much superior to his own; notwithstanding the immense pains he had bestowed upon that department of his government.

"A very notorious offender, who was a subject

of the emperor, and who committed many atro cious acts of violence and depredation at Vienna, was traced to Paris by the police established by his majesty, who ordered his ambassador at the court of France to demand that this delinquent should be delivered up to public justice.

Monsieur de Sartine acknowledged to the imperial ambassador, that the person he enquired after had been in Paris; that, if it would be any satisfaction, he could inform him where he had lodged, and the different gaming-tables, and other places of infamous resort, which he frequented while there;-but that he is now gone.

The ambassador, after stating the accuracy and correct mode by which the police of Vienna was conducted, insisted that this offender must still be in Paris; otherwise the emperor would not have commanded him to make such an application.

Monsieur de Sartine smiled at the incredulity of the imperial minister, and made a reply to the following effect:

Do me the honour, sir, to inform the emperor, your master, that the person he looks for left Paris on the 10th day of the last month; and is now lodged in a back room looking into a garden in the third story of a house, number 93, in

street, in his own capital of Vienna; where his majesty will, by sending to the spot, be sure to find him.

It was literally as the French minister of police had stated. The emperor, to his astonishment, found the delinquent in the house and apartment described; but he was greatly mortified at this