ving capital. The war had paralysed all his speculations; and he declaimed against the war with an indignation which announced a great love of peace.

Every evening the company assembled in the large saloon, where each threw into the common stock the slight contingent of news he had carefully collected during the day; and it may be easily supposed, that it was not generally of a nature to diminish their discontent, or ameliorate the hatred they bore in secret to the Emperor. It was with him, as with those tyrants of the drama, who frighten every one by their entrance-are abused aside, and menaced as soon as they disappear. One person alone courageously took the part of the government-it was the owner of the Chateau, whose nephew had just been made general of division.According to Monsieur Duperre, necessity justified all the operations of the Emperor. He called the occupation of Spain a grand political measure; the campaign of Russia, a hardy conception; and the return from Moscow, a skilful retreat. Certainly his opinions appeared to me to be rather singular, but who dare tell him so? Indeed, so enthusiastic was his admiration, that it was impossible to offer the slightest check to it-the man being, as one might say, evidently destined to die in his original sin.

Such were the various dispositions at the Chateau when I quitted it for Paris. The public events which soon afterwards succeeded each other with such extraordinary rapidity, produced, in less than a year, changes unexampled in the annals of the world. A Bourbon returned, after an interval of 20 years, to resume that crown so long worn by his ancestors. Peace, so often repulsed from the bosom of Europe, hastened to seat herself with him on the throne of France; and the sovereigns of a world united together to put a term to the differences of princes, the agitations of their people, and the mourning of nations.

It was with no slight pleasure, that I once more hailed the return of that period in which I had been accustomed to undertake my pilgrimage, and I promised myself this year to console my poor friend Duperre, even though I should rejoice with his friends.

On the first of September, then, I set off for Belrive.

As soon as Monsieur Duperre caught a glimpse of me, he hastened to me, and, with a countenance full of joy, seized me by the arm, and begged me to take a turn with him in the garden, before I made my appearance in the Chateau. Surprised to find him so gay, when I feared to see him so sad, I could but think that my friend had perhaps received some disagreeable news from the Sovereign of the Isle of Elba, i. e. disagreeable for France. "Well," said I, hesitatingly," your Hero has justified your admiration. Napoleon"-"Don't mention his name," replied he, hastily; "he is a tyrant, whom I always abhorred."-" But I thought I had heard you admire"-" His audacity."-" You considered his successes"-"As so many crimes."—"His elevation"—"As a punishment from Heaven."-"Nay, but, my dear Duperre, I assure you, that in the September of last year, you painted the affair of Spain"" As a perfidy."-"The war of the North"-" As an extravagance"" The retreat from Moscow"-"As the first chastisement of the grand criminal.

It is not that, au fond, I have not here and there recognized some peculiar qualities in this man; he had a certain tact in discovering and recom pensing merit; he granted the cross of honour to my son, who, however, could not endure him. Natural enough, he had imbibed the sentiments of his father; and as to me, I have never had reason to thank him. He sent me the order of Re-union, I confess; but he was forced to that by the public voice: and, besides, it was more for his own credit than mine. He conducted himself shamefully towards my nephew-Would you believe it, that, by abdicating, he deprived him of half of all that he had bestowed on him. I never could have spoken favourably of such a man to you. I may have been careful in my expressions, because, under him, the nets of the police extended far and near, but, in reality, no one thought worse of him than I did."-"What a pity, that one cannot read au fond des cœurs!"—"Yes, doubtless—but enough of this at present. I am charmed to see you again-I want you to preach peace in my family -which is far from sharing my principles"-" How!"-" True, your old friends are all here; but, will you believe it, my dear friend, they actually regret his reign"-" Impossible"-" The human heart is full of such contradictions. M. de Segri has received a letter from his son, who is not put on half pay, and will be here immediately-he is quite in despair about it."-" In despair at seeing his son! he who suffered such grief at his departure?"-"My cousin, who sighed so for peace, is au desespoir that the war is over."-" You jest."- "Madam de Germancy regrets the days when she might have married her niece to an officer, who would probably have left her a widow before she was a motherthese people distract me." As he thus spoke, M. Duperre led me towards the Chateau. At the moment of our entrance, M. de Segri still held his son's letter in his hand-I felicitated him on his return." No, sir," replied he,-"on the contrary, condole with me. I no longer know what to do with this youth-there is his profession gone."-" But was it not against both your and his own inclination, that he was obliged to enter it?""Certainly; but when the thing was done, it was done, and I hoped that through my friends and his own merits, he might have made his way as well as another: did not one of his brothers die Chef de Bataillon?"-"The very reason to rejoice that he has escaped a similar misfortune."-" Ay, say as you will, but show me the man who is sorry to see a general officer among his family."

Very true," exclaimed Madame de Germancy, hastily; " and there is my niece deprived of any such happiness. Formerly we might look to marry generals, colonels, counsellors of state, and, above all, auditors. I don't say that happiness is always the wedding gift on these occasions, but the title, the rank, flatter us, and this is a gratification such as we women do not disdain.

"Besides, even though one did begin by marrying only a captain, there was no telling but that from widowhood to widowhood we might at last arrive at a general of division. These changes undoubtedly had their advantages; at present, one must pass life with the first spouse.-Ah!"

said madam, with a sigh," the career of ambition is for ever closed to women."

It was in vain that in her system of elevation, her ladies could be promoted only at the expense of their husbands. She persisted not the less in considering the thing as very natural, and deploring the disagremens of a century, where a wife might die without ever having been a widow. Her niece did not seem to me to be of her opinion. I thought I overheard her murmur-" At least, I may now choose, which is always a great pleasure to a female."

"Yet, what signify honours, in comparison with fortune?" said M. Clement, rising from his arm-chair. "Under the seventeen or eighteen governments we have had here, I have made and unmade mine five or six times, with a facility I shall never again experience. Great misfortunes lead to great sacrifices! The land-owners, the merchants, have recourse to us in speculations which often swallow up their property, but bring us from fifteen to twenty per cent. Alas! this is now over, the beaten path is open to all; and, turn ever so little out of it, law stares you in the face. No, commerce is no longer the road to riches-there is nothing to be gained now."

"All true, master," said M. Duperre's gardener, twisting his hat in his fingers as he entered to ask for orders" there is nothing to be gained now in truth—and we poor folks are going to ruin as fast as we can. "To ruin!" exclaimed M. De Segri, with vivacity.-"Just so, in truth, my good master-this abolition of the conscription has knocked me up."

"What, Jacques! this that constitutes the happiness of ten millions of families"-"Makes the misfortune of mine."" Explain yourself." -"You know, monsieur, that I had the good luck to sell my eldest boy for two thousand crowns to the son of monsieur the mayor; and I may honestly say, it was going for nothing, for he was a proud fine youth. I gave the second to monsieur your nephew, for a dozen sacs of a thousand francs-cheap enough-but then he was a neighbour. Well, just at the moment that the last sac began to grow light, and that I had still three comely lads, well fed, and well taught, that I had brought up with all the care in the world, away goes the conscription-I have my trouble for my pains and three great boys on my hands to provide for. Boys, that, under the Emperor, would have brought me at least 15,000 francs, apiece. Now this is what I call a hard case, my good monsieur.

The observations of Jacques made on all present a more sudden and profound impression, than could all my arguments; each mentally blushed at having regretted a government, under which demorilization had reached the point of a father's rearing his sons for sale.

The young De Segri, who arrived next day, was received with open arms-and Madame de Germancy promised her niece that she should choose her own husband; which choice I could discover, from certain glances between the fair Eliza and the animated young lieutenant, was already decided.

A Ball at the Opera-House.

"Chacun le decrie-chacun y va."

I HAD passed the evening with a rich literary amateur, who had assembled round him a crowd of persons, under the pretext of a party of pleasure, and who had occupied the entire time in the reading of a fiveact tragedy of his own, with which he had been threatening the managers of the Francais these last seven years. The reading of the work, and the pompous eulogies lavished on it, over an immense bowl of the most delicious punch, prodigally dispensed round by the young wife of our tragic author, had contributed to heighten the gaiety of my humour. Fearing to dull it, I stole off at the moment that the author's gratified vanity was attempting to waive the praises he was so sure of having merited, and modestly soliciting useless criticisms and superfluous advice. Some lamps, placed at the corner of the Rue Neuve des Petits-Champs, and the long pile of carriages which embarrassed the Rue de Richelieu, informed me that there was a ball at the Opera-house. They are singular enough those Opera balls. This impost levied on slumber is but seldom worth the repose it deprives us of. Few are amused there-numbers are annoyed there; and yet every body goes there. Like the rest, I must pay my tribute to custom; and, stimulated by the desire of observing en philosophe the various amusements to be enjoyed in it, I crossed the threshold of this Temple of Arts-where they dance now, as they sung formerly. On entering the vestibule, I saw a young man, whom I immediately recognized as one of the company at the reading party. Probably he had not noticed me, but I had remarked him from the circumstance of a long whispering conversation with the mistress of the mansion, in the very deepest part of the tragedy, when the husband's eyes were fixed on the book, and from his having adroitly slipped away before the wearisome conclusion.

He was now precipitately moving backwards and forwards, drawing out his watch at each instant, and at intervals slightly striking his foot against the ground, as one impatient of waiting. At the arrival of every carriage, he softly approached the door, glanced anxiously at the people who descended from it, followed with his eyes each white domino that appeared, and, after two or three useless turns, sorrowfully resumed his post. This little manege had continued somewhere near a quarter of an hour, when I observed two masks enter; one of which, after looking at me for an instant, took flight with the terror of one fearing to be recognized; while the other, placing a finger on her lips, and leaning towards the ear of the young man, drew him away to the opposite side, while inviting him to silence and discretion. The little mask who had so rapidly flown off, appeared to me to be charming. The figure, the gracefulness, a slight motion of the head which was familiar to her, induced me to believe that I recognized the pretty whisperer of the evening-the youthful wife of the elderly tragic poet. There was but one thing to destroy this idea that they had spoken of these opera balls in the earlier part

of the night, and that Madam de G- had been loudest in her disapprobation of them. Indeed, to take her word for it, nothing less than an assignation could induce any woman, of a certain rank, to visit such a scene; and she had given up an acquaintance for vaunting that she never missed one of them.

After so decided a declaration, so severe an opinion, it was impossible to imagine that Madame de G would dare the dangers of a Bal d' Opera-particularly in the moment of triumph for her husband's success. Occupied with this little adventure, I slowly mounted the stairs. The ball was but commencing.

In the anti-room, several masks, tranquilly seated before the two fireplaces, whispered to each other, pointing out mysteriously some personages, who, already yawning widely, promised themselves a gay night. The Salle was almost a desert. The orchestra, placed at the extremity of the stage, was occupied by a band of old musicians, disguised as Spanish gallants. This masquerade struck me as the most diverting of the whole. By degrees the masks thicken--the salle begins to fill. An insupportable babble succeeds the wearying silence-men, women-masked and unmasked-all speak at once. This general conversation naturally recals to mind the epoch of the construction of Babel.

Every mask had its occupation. This to commence an intrigue-that, to terminate one. Here, a rich banker was agreeably tormented by two opera-dancers, who astonished him by their esprit-there, a musquetaire anxiously pursued a mask; who, laughing as she flew, seemed better pleased to be captured, than earnest to escape. Farther on, a young provincial, newly arrived, stood utterly confounded by the wonderful things related by a droll domino; whom, a little later, he discovers to be an aunt who had reared him. I stopped for a moment to listen to the rather animated conversation of two spouses, who had recognized each other unwittingly enough, when a fairy figure, seizing me by the arm, as she whispered my name, gaily proposed to me to m'ennuyer en compagnie. The offer was at least humble, and seemed to guarantee to me the contrary. I accepted it with gratitude.

A glance at her elegant foot-the ensemble of her person-the tone of her voice-the vivacity of her eyes, which were very fine, and of which she took good care to give a full view, through the aid of an opening she had artfully enlarged in her mask-all concurred to persuade me that I should have cause to felicitate myself on this unexpected ren

counter.

In a few minutes I perceived that my companion must be much in the world-for she knew, at least by name, a prodigious number of persons of distinction. She painted each in a single expression, with an originality which was amazingly piquant-scarcely a single mask escaped her recognition. The more bizarre the degrees, the more interesting the scrutiny; and it never was long at fault. After witnessing several instances of her skill, all truly surprising in their way, I expressed a wish to learn the names of some individuals whom I pointed out to her, and who, for

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