fession of collector of apple-peels, of inspector of May-bugs, and of picker-up of ends of cigars, and this year another has been added to the list, in the person of an Auvergnat, who has been convicted of having exercised the profession of the "kissed," or, if you like it better, the "kissable."

It appears that there exists in Paris a superstition, the origin of which is lost in the obscurity of the past, that nothing brings so much misfortune to a pretty woman, and even indeed to an ugly one, than to be embraced the first time on New Year's Day by one of her own sex.

It is especially in the quarter of Notre Dame-de-Lorette (which must not, from its name, be supposed to be the quarter of Paris most favoured by lorettes) that this superstition is acted upon in all its integrity. A Bredastreet, a Saint George's-square, a Pigale city (?) would prefer boxing the ears of a hundred intimate friends than not to embrace un gentleman the first thing in the morning of the new year, no matter if this "gentleman" should be a coalheaver, a porter, a shoeblack, or even his supernumerary; this explains how it is that the water-carriers of the quarter in question often realise in the space of a few years fabulous fortunes, for when one has embraced a watercarrier one cannot give him a pitiful New Year's box. But if it should so happen that the porter should not be bad-looking, if his velvet waistcoat were of a brilliant bottle-green; if upon great occasions he should actually employ part of his merchandise in performing the ablutions commanded by law in the East, and by cleanliness in the West, then the proceeding engendered in superstition is not so unpleasantly put into execution, and the New Year's box assumes oftentimes miraculous proportions!

Here is Pierre Rasquet, a strapping, good-looking Auvergnat, with a sparkling eye, white teeth, and dark hair, who has taken upon himself the mission of carrying water to his female customers the very first thing on a New Year's morning.

Unfortunately there is a porteress in the case-there is always a porteress at the bottom of these catastrophes; they are pitiless, and even revengeful, when, like Madame Chabou, they are urged on by jealousy. Madame Chabou was waiting for Rasquet at the foot of the staircase; she was waiting, but armed with a broom-handle. The handsome Auvergnat was coming down stairs singing. She placed herself before him like the statue of the commander.

66

Bonchour, petite mère," said the Auvergnat Don Juan to her; “je vous la chouette bonne et hureuse."

"Back," exclaimed the porteress;

get myself kissed."

"I have not the means of paying men to

"Never mind," said the liberal water-carrier, “it is like the log of wood," and he politely offered to embrace the porteress free of expense; but Madame Chabou, stepping back, administered the broomstick with considerable effect, calling her lover at the same time a name generally applied only to the other

sex.

Under these circumstances Peter was obliged to act on the defensive, which he did with so much energy, that Madame Chabou had him summoned before the correctional police, as being guilty of acts of violence towards her. "If you do not condemn him," she said to the court, "I will abdicate my functions."

The court, however, considering that Madame Chabou had been the first to break the peace, nonsuited the plaintiff with costs.

Within the last twelve years balconies have become a passion with the Parisians. An architect dare not venture upon a new house without the indispensable balcony or terrace. The front elevations present a succession of balconies, from the first to the fifth story; to the right and to Nov.-VOL. XCVI. NO. CCCLXXXIII.

Z

the left. The Parisienne is now enabled to enjoy life constantly in the open air. There is not a great lady or a lorette who has not her hanging gardens like Semiramis. How charming it is to embroider, to work, to read, to look out, and to be looked at on a balcony! It was on a balcony that M. Onisoie had placed the kennel of his dog Kingdom.

This dog was of English breed-its name attests it. "Madame Moussillon," said M. Onisoie to his porteress on starting for London, "I leave my dog in your charge, I shall be a month away; it weighs a pound and a half; if on my return it has increased in weight a single drachm, if its breath is tainted, you shall not have a single sou; but if it has preserved its perfume and its small size, I shall make you a present of fifty francs. So let it have no meat, no bones; only bread, nothing but bread, and you shall be rewarded, and more than that, I will bless you."

4

"All right, said I to myself" (Madame Moussillon is now addressing the court)" all right, said I to myself; if your dog gets fat he will be a clever fellow; so, monsieur le president, I went up every day to see Chien d'homme, and I took him a little water, nothing but water, but on the Tuesdays and Saturdays I took him a halfpennyworth of bread. Yet, notwithstanding these precautions, what did the brute of a dog do, but get as fat as the Porthos of M. Alexandre Dumas, and his breath was pestiferous as ten thousand men.

6

"This is not natural, said I to myself, so I stopped the allowance of bread; but lo! he continued to fatten till he looked dropsical, and his breath grew worse and worse. I took counsel upon the matter with my good man, who said to me There's something under this.' He was mistaken; it was above, not under it. A countrywoman of Chien d'homme's lived in the balcony above; I examined the kennel, and what did I find in it? Seventeen bones of legs of mutton, that madame, milady, had treated this beast of a dog with. Is it not disgusting thus to throw away the food of the poor? I accordingly spoke my mind to this corrupter of dogs, and she replied to me, Oôôh! pourquoi vô faire périr dogue de faim?'

"When she answered me thus, I had unfortunately my house-broom in my hand, and I was so indignant that I allowed myself to break one of her teeth with it-only one, I assure you. I ask for a hundred francs damages, because not only M. Onisoie did not give me the fifty francs, but he left the house, and the landlord dismissed me from my situation as porteress."

Madame Wilson explained to the court, how, hearing poor Kingdom howl with hunger all day and all night, she took pity on the dog and threw it a stray bone. She then detailed the violence to which she had been subjected on the part of Madame Moussillon, and produced a medical certificate in proof of the mischief that had been done to her.

Monsieur le President to Madame Moussillon-To sum up, what do you complain of?

“I complain, I complain," replied the concièrge, "that madame did me an injury by throwing over her bones upon the balcony of Chien d'homme. I ask a hundred francs damages."

The court dismissed the accused, Madame Wilson, and condemned Madame Moussillon to eight days' imprisonment for acts of violence.

Madame Moussillon-What! eight days' imprisonment for damages! Well, that is pretty! Who would take care of another person's dog?

The sketch that follows, taken from the same fruitful repository, is one that may be truly said to exhibit maternal love carried to excess. M. le President-Widow Trottin, you are accused of being a swindler; you have had upwards of 6000 francs of goods supplied to you, deceiving the tradespeople by false promises.

The Accused-Sir, my excuse lies in my profession; I am a mother.
M. le President-Do you call that a profession?

The Accused-Sir, the depths of a mother's heart can never be measured. M. le President-That is not the question. You have had 250 francs' worth of charcoal supplied to you.

The Accused-My children were cold, monsieur le president.

M. le President-You owe 570 francs to the butcher for meat.

The Accused-They were hungry.

M. le President-But I find, also, the accounts of two dealers in umbrellas and parasols; you have had 150 francs of umbrellas, and 180 francs of parasols; you will tell me, no doubt, it was to shelter your children from the rain and the sun; in such a case your maternal solicitude must have been slightly exaggerated.

The Accused-The heart of a mother is an abyss. The depths of the ocean have been sounded; they will never find the bottom of my heart.

M. le President-I find another account for 220 francs' worth of the "History of Tom Thumb."

The Accused-It is such an amusing work!

M. le President-But I find also, 157 francs' worth of ices, and 48 francs' worth of punch à la romaine, expended in a week.

The Accused-Poor little things! It gladdened their hearts. Ah! I am another Cornelia; my children are my treasures, monsieur le president

M. le President-Your children! your children! Why, then, did you carry the greater part of this property to the pawnbroker's?

The Accused-It was not me, sir; it was my children's tutor, and that notwithstanding my earnest supplications to the contrary.

But the balls at the

M. le President-He seems to have been well chosen, this tutor.
The Accused-Oh, sir, a most distinguished man.
Mabile were his ruin.

M. le President-You must feel that such excuses will be of no avail before the court.

The Accused-Men are incapable of judging me. I appeal to all who are mothers.

Notwithstanding this appeal, widow Trottin was condemned to six months' imprisonment.

On hearing the verdict she raised up both her hands, and exclaimed, sobbing aloud:

My poor children! When I am in prison, who will be a father to you!!" The attentions which have been paid by the Emperor-elect to the Dames de la Halle, their receptions, the compliments exchanged between the ladies in question and the future Emperor of the French, the public balls and festivities of which they have been in recent times the objects, have awakened interest in other countries as to the character and manners of these previously little regarded dames. In Paris they have had the "Poissarde" at the Porte St. Martin, and the "Dames de la Halle" at the Ambigu, and those who felt a little timid at the idea of seeking personal acquaintance with the ladies in question at their own classical abodes, have been enabled to study them at their ease on the boards of these rival theatres. But these representations of Parisian manners have not yet been transported to England, so we may venture to give a brief but characteristic sketch from the more positive arena of a police-court. Madame Pidou has, let it be understood, insulted Madame Grabuton; Madame Grabuton has scourged Madame Pidou; Madame Pidou has obtained a summons against Madame Grabuton, and Madame Grabuton appears under the double accusation of acts of violence and outrages to decency.

Madame Pidou, being duly sworn, attests as follows:

It is an infamous shame. But La Grabuton has always been the same. M. le President-The same as what?

Madame Pidou-She is from Marseilles. That is saying everything. She pretends that, à la Cannebière, every one whips the other for nothing at allit is their way of doing things. She calls that manners! But in a country of pigs, it is not surprising.

M. le President-Come, make your complaint.

Madame Pidou-Well, then, she took me by the middle of the body, and then-before more than two hundred spectators-it began at three o'clock, and at a quarter past three she was still whipping me. Ever since that day I have had the shivers, and I still tremble even at the sight of her.

A Vendor of Salad-Madame Pidou had indulged a little in drink, so that she was somewhat illuminated. And then I do not know why she used such words to Madame Grabuton; but such words-oh! such words!

M. le President-What words?

The Vendor of Salad-Oh! do not ask me to repeat them.

M. le President-Speak them out.

The Vendor of Salad (with an expression of great resolution)-Never! I am in your hands, I am prepared for anything, take my head, but I shall not repeat them. (Collecting herself.) But stop, if you attach importance to it, give me a pen and ink and I will write them. That is all I can do for you. M. le President-Well, that will do; go on.

The Vendor of Salad (much relieved)-Ah! well, I never could have uttered them. Madame Grabuton, in answer to these words, said: "You do not deserve that I should spit in your face, and wipe it with my good man's shoes." Upon which Madame Pidou threw some potatoes at her face, whereupon Madame Grabuton seized her round the waist, and administered such a whipping-oh! a whipping at fifteen francs a head without wine!

M. le President-You may sit down.

The Vendor of Salad (still more relieved)-Ah! that is very lucky! (Addressing the usher anxiously.) Shall I not be paid?

The Usher-Yes, but go in the mean time and take a seat.

M. le President-Accused, what have you to say?

The Accused-It is the custom in my country; you are not a Marseillais, and, therefore, you cannot understand it.

The court condemned Madame Grabuton to fifteen days' imprisonment.
The Accused (raising her hands to Heaven)-Oh! Marseilles!

The points of the Almanach Prophétique are few in number this year. The most curious is from a work by Pierre Matisac, called "Spectacle merveilleux et edifiant de l'Avenir," published in Paris, 1608, and refers to England and America, and which, according to the Almanach Prophétique, foretels the invasion of Japan.

373. The haughty son (English America) and the harsh and greedy mother separate with looks of blood. The rivers are reddened with blood.

374. The leopard (England) roars terribly. A just man, a saint, strong as David, when his sling, directed by a divine hand, cast down the Philistine Colossus, raises up the azure standard sown with stars like the firmament. (Washington.)

375.-His powerful voice throws back the sanguinary monster into the sea.

376.-And causes peace, equity, commerce, and industry to flourish. A new world arises beyond the seas. A flourishing world possesses the future. May the name of the just and the holy be three times blessed!

Pierre Matisac strangely enough honours the struggle between Napoleon and England with a mere passing notice: "The claws of the terrible bird are worn out by the patience and the cunning of the leopard."

He devotes his whole attention to the prodigious invasions of the Anglo-Saxon race in the New World and the Asiatic Continent.

After having spoken of the development of English India, he exclaims: 420.-Is poison then an arm permitted to a great nation? The land of idols, of rivers, with waters unknown to foreign ships, are invaded by fire. (This is supposed to allude to the opium war.)

421.-But thy justice is eternal. Worlds arise from their ruins. Children recognise their mother.

422.-There is the azure banner again, and there the terrible and conquering leopard. They are meeting beyond the seas.

423. But times are changed. The harsh and greedy mother and the rebellious son meet in a common embrace at the limits of the Old World.

424. And barbarism and idolatrous worships disappear before them. Blessed be thy name?

Prophecies like these which come out when the circumstances they allude to are looming in the future, or after they have actually taken place, are safe materials for publication; but it would be desirable to verify them by actual reference to the pages of Pierre Matisac, who is said, at the head of the article above quoted, to have prophesied in 1661, and his work which contained the prophecies to have been published by one Abraham Saugrin, in 1608.

Of a somewhat similar character is the prophecy of Father Boniface Cerrachi, an Italian Jesuit, to the following effect:

"In the middle of the nineteenth century, Europe will witness the accomplishment of a real miracle. It will take place in the air, will upset the whole face of the earth, and change the relations, the commerce, and industry of nations."

The Jesuit Cerrachi came to France in the suite of Cardinal de Bernis, some time ambassador at Venice. M. Jules Desgenettes, who communicated the above prophecy to the Almanach Prophétique, thought that he possessed an unique copy of the father's work, which was entitled, "Prophéties Mathématiques pour la fin du dix-huitième Siècle,' and of which only a hundred copies were printed for private distribution; but M. G. Wagner, the editor of the Almanach, says that a notice of the Jesuit's pamphlet is met with in another pamphlet, entitled, "Correspondance secrète d'un Observateur, Danvio," printed at Rotterdam in 1771, and that a distinguished Parisian collector, M. Gde Pt, possesses a copy of the original pamphlet, adorned with three vignettes, by Carle Eisen. Both writers agree in considering the prophecy in question to refer not to any ravages to be effected by collision with a celestial body, but to the discovery of a means of navigating the air and directing balloons, which they say cannot fail to take place before 1860.

It appears from the testimony of an anonymous prophet, that as certain names represented by certain numbers are unfortunate and even fatal, and still more so when two numbers are united in marriage, so number 3 has always had a decisive influence in the fate of nations. The examples given are not very felicitous; for example, in 1373 the English were expelled from Poitou, which it is difficult to look upon, as it is here put forth in the light of a misfortune to France; or 1763, peace of Paris;