remembrance the firmness of my conduct in the affair of the Cross of the Legion of Honour to satisfy him, when I say I was still the same Jolly Green, and that, although my political horizon was obscured by darker clouds than had ever before hung over my fate, my moral thews and sinews were braced up for any emergency. Men and The place to which we were confined for the night was, I regret for the honour of the French nation to say it, a common receptacle for malefactors of the worst description. As a political offender I had naturally expected to have been treated with some distinction-such being the usual practice, but all respect for rank being now, unfortunately, levelled, I was unceremoniously thrust amongst the vilest of the herd, the croquemitaines and loup-garoux of the lowest Faubourgs of Paris. women were promiscuously heaped together; some were drunk, many quarrelsome, and all noisy. They eyed Podder and myself with great curiosity, as if they sought to inquire what crime we had committed in common with them. More than one individual addressed himself to me, to learn the cause of my incarceration, but I was too wise to commit myself to any of these paid agents of government (for such, I have no doubt, several of them were, feigning intoxication to induce confidence), and shrouding myself in a lofty impassability, I simply returned a cold "Non-tong-paw," as if I had not comprehended the meaning of the questions put to me, and thus effectually baffled the curiosity of these familiars. Podder, who had no help for it, as he did not understand what was said, followed my example in this respect, but, with the same apathy that had marked his conduct since we were first taken prisoners, instead of studying his companions, as I did, under the mask of silence, threw himself on a bench and went to sleep. As I witnessed his supineness, I could not help reflecting on the opposite qualities which nature has implanted in different bosoms. On one hand, we behold the men of action, prompt, resolute, and ambitious, fertile in expedients, and daring in the execution of their projects; these are the Hannibals of their species,-at one moment levelling the Alps with vinegar, at another bequeathing his hatred to Imperial Rome, amid the saw-dust of the scaffold; and to this category of men I trust I may, without vanity, claim to belong. On the other hand, there are the men of submission, the Issachars of the human race, whose backs are made for the burden, and who, tame, yielding, and unenterprising, devise nothing, suffer every thing, and allow themselves to be the merest footballs of fate; such a one, I thought, as he lay snoring beside me, was Podder. A prominent object amongst those which influence me in undertaking foreign travel, is to note down the peculiarities of the common people; and a celebrated statesman (Sir R-b-rt P-1), has said that the only way to form an estimate of their character is by paying attention to their songs. There were a great many singers collected in our place of confinement, and they were by no means afflicted by that feeling of false modesty which so often prevents a vocalist from gratifying those who wish to enjoy his melody. On the contrary, they sang one and all without being pressed, and, for the most part, without any care about interrupting others, or being interrupted themselves. It was not very easy to follow them, nor can I recollect more than the burdens of two or three of those which I heard most frequently repeated. Had Podder been sufficiently alive to his duties,—as I must say I think he ought to have been, he might have taken ample notes to my dictation; but, as the case stands, I must ever regret having missed a golden opportunity. At such a moment as this, when insurrections were rife every day, it more than ever behoved the political inquirer to ascertain the sentiments of the canaille. There was one man in a blouse and a casquette with a beard, which, like Dominie Sampson's, had, perhaps, never been trimmed, who, in a deep stentorian voice sang a song which, from the frequent use of the words "Briguedondaine" and "Briguedondé," was, I make no doubt, full of political allusions. It excited a good deal of mirth in those who listened, who laughed, no doubt, at the expense of the government, and as the speaker occasionally pointed to me and winked his eye, at which they laughed still more, I make no doubt he was associating my arrest with some terms of opprobium directed against the authorities of the prison. I am sorry to say, that the dialect in which he sang (it is called Argot, after M. d'Argot, the present Governor of the Bank of France, who invented it) prevents me from retaining more than the words I have mentioned. Another, a very gay-looking young man, amused himself by singing a song, the chorus of which, very often repeated, was caught up by those around him. This song had evidently very little meaning in it, as the reader may judge, when I tell him that the chorus consisted in the constant repetition of the words, " Ca ira, ça ira, ça ira," which merely signify, "That will go," or as we should say, "That will do:" and yet, with true French frivolity, they were echoed as eagerly as "God save the Queen," or "Rule Britannia," which I should infinitely have preferred hearing. A third, a young woman, with a red handkerchief knotted round her head and wearing very short petticoats, kept time to her song, which was something about a carman" (her lover, probably), by dancing. The chorus of this ditty was a very innocent one, being simply, "Dansons la carmagnole, Vive le son, vive le son! Vive le son du canon !" It is only necessary, for the most illiterate, to turn to their Tibbins, where they will find that the word "son," means nothing more or less than "bran ;" an article of which the poorer classes in France make their bread; so that, in point of fact, the song was figuratively in praise of the staff of life. The allusion to " canon," I did not clearly comprehend, but people of this description deal so much in allegory that I dare say it is capable of explanation; perhaps, if I may venture a suggestion, son du canon," signifies a finer description of bran, just as we say, "gunpowder tea," to express the best Hyson. 66 I have been led away from the narrative of my own fate, while I am thus amusing myself with philological recreations, but the wisest and best before me have done the same. Sir Thomas More, the famous poet and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the reign of Henry VIII., sported in a similar manner with his own block; Socrates, the Spartan lawgiver and disciple of Plato, jested with the cup of hemlock, which he cooled with his dying breath; Montezuma, the North American Indian chief, smilingly compared his funeral pile to a bed of roses; and to this day a calf's head is a standing dish at the university of Oxford, in commemoration of a facetious expression used on the scaffold by that witty monarch, Charles I., to his dissolute companion and fellow-sufferer, the Bishop of Rochester. In short, I might multiply examples, were they necessary, to show with what impunity great minds may play with the edged tools which are so dangerous to the uninitiated. At length the revelry of the prisoners began to subside; one by one they left off singing and dancing, and chattering in their singular jargon, and dropped off to sleep, some where they sat, others extended upon the floor. Having no further opportunity of observing character-for there is little difference in the snoring of nations (the nose, as it were, speaks but one language, only there is rather more of it in France than in other countries) and being, besides, somewhat tired with the events of the day, I also yielded to the solicitations of the drowsy god, and sunk in his embrace. After a sleep of, I suppose, some hours' duration, I was roused by Podder. "I say, Green," was his first salutation, "what sort of place is this we have got into? How the devil did we get here?" "Have you," I replied, "so soon forgotten the occurrences of the last memorable night ?" 66 Upon my soul," he answered, "my head is in rather a confused state this morning. I think we got into some sort of row, didn't we? I suppose we are in the station-house." "Row! station-house!" exclaimed I; “ yes; but instead of 'row,' what say you to insurrection instead of the station-house,' what think you of the French Newgate?" 6 "You don't mean to say so!" returned Podder, turning very pale: "you don't mean to tell me that we're in Newgate !" "If we are not yet there," said I, calmly, "I apprehend we very shortly shall be. I should say that our destination would be the Bastille in the first instance, and the guillotine afterwards." "I thought there was no Bastille now," suggested Podder: " that pulled down long ago?" 66 was not "Upon my word, Podder," retorted I, provoked at his ignorance, upon my word, I can't be answerable for every historical fact you have forgotten. The Bastille itself may have been pulled down, for aught I know, and now I think of it, I believe it was by Robespierre or Napoleon -you see I can remember events--but that has nothing to do with what I was saying. If there is no Bastille left, there are plenty of dungeons beside; and in one or other of these, mark my words," I observed, with solemnity, "we shall be incarcerated." "But what for?" asked Podder, "we've done nothing that I know of that they should shut us up in that way. I recollect we had a lark after dinner, when the Goddess of Liberty, as you called her, threw a pailful of dirty water over us in the Roo Kincumpaw, and then we had some brandy and water, and had a fight with some fellows, but what that was about I haven't the slightest notion." "It would be well for us both," replied I, "if every body's memory served them on this occasion no better than yours; the ambitious," continued I, in a tone of proud melancholy; "the ambitious have no Lethe !" "Haven't they?" said Podder, upon whom my classical, I might say, sublime, allusion was evidently thrown away; "well, whatever the ambitious may do is their affair-what was it you did last night?" I was disgusted at his want of tact or rather of understanding, but I was resolved he should be made fully aware of the danger in which we stood, and I, therefore, answered : "The fact is, Podder, I made an exciting speech to the French nation last night, and distributed all the money I had about me, and proclaimed myself President of the GREEN REPUBLIC !" "What do you mean by that?" inquired he. Why," said I," this: Paris is divided into factions, which are called after the colours in the national flag; there are the Red Republicans, who are for cutting every body's throat; the Blue Republicans, who call themselves staunch, but look very blue at the proceedings of the others; and the White Republicans, who are no republicans at all, but daren't call themselves any thing else; and I," I continued, with marked emphasis; "have established a new category, which embraces all threethat of the Green Republicans, to whom I have given my own name and attributes!" Well-but," said Podder, "it does not seem to me as if your party was likely to get on, for you are hardly proclaimed before you find yourself in quod." "You speak coarsely, Podder," returned I, "and take but a very matter-of-fact view of the question. The best way to thrive in a revolution is to do something to get arrested for; it keeps you out of harm's way in the first instance, and when the popular cause has triumphed the martyrdom you have endured for the people's sake, makes you their idol at once, and they immediately place you at the head of affairs." "But suppose," said Podder, pertinaciously, "the popular cause does not triumph ?" "I should ill deserve the name I bear, Podder," replied I, "if I entertained any other conviction than that of its success; but the fact is— you can't understand these things, they are a little beyond your comprehension, you needn't mind, you can't help it." "I wish I could help being here," returned my secretary, in a grumpy tone; "if I hadn't been a fool I shouldn't.” "True," said I, with mild irony; "but as you have committed yourself so far, and don't see your way out of the noose into which you have thrust your head, I beg you will leave that matter to my guidance. I believe," continued I, drawing myself up to my full height (a favourite movement of mine when I am satisfied with myself,) "I believe there is not another man in France who could extricate you with greater dexterity than myself." Why,' said Podder, "it's only a few minutes since you were threatening me with the Bastille and the gulletine." There is something in the character of my secretary (as the reader may have noticed) which makes it difficult for me sometimes to put myself right with him; his imagination does not "get on," if I may indulge in such an expression; he is one of that slow class of persons who are always harping on the same theme, perpetually "tying that shoe;" they lack briskness and vividity, and cannot understand contra dictions. I contented myself, therefore, in lieu of explanation, with merely turning off his last remark. "I said that, Podder, to try the strength of your nerves; you have stood the test manfully. No, my friend, we are Britons, and as such, believe me, however much we may be threatened, not a hair of our heads will be injured." I had scarcely made this observation when a tall, grim-looking man entered the depôt, and after casting a scrutinising glance all round, singled me out from the crowd and beckoned me towards the door. I folded my arms and moved forward with a firm, determined air, followed by Podder, who, I should imagine (for it was not consistent with my dignity to look round), must have imitated me as closely as laid in his power. Our guide led the way silently along a narrow passage, at the further extremity of which was a strong door; he unlocked it, and we passed into an anteroom, from which we were introduced into a square chamber where two or three persons were seated at a large table with writing materials before them. The principal amongst these gentlemen-I should say citizens (there being no longer any gentlemen left in France), was the juge d'instruction, a personage who, I conceived from his title, must unite the functions of judge and schoolmaster; the others were his clerks. As soon as we entered he addressed some words to our conductor, the purport of which I soon perceived was to ascertain whether we were Parisians or not, for the latter shrugged his shoulders and muttered the word "Anglais," which is always employed to signify the English. "Parlez vous Français, monsieur ?" said the judge, looking at me. "Oui, monsieur. Comment-vous portez-vous?" was my prompt reply. "Ce n'est pas là l'affaire, monsieur," returned the judge, with a frown, instead of courteously acknowledging my polite inquiry; "je me porte comme je me porte. Il suffit que vous parlez Français. Et vous, monsieur?" continued he, turning to Podder. Podder stared at him without making any reply. "Nong-tong-paw," said I, with a significant gesture, once more making use of that useful figure of rhetoric. "In that case," observed the juge d'instruction, speaking to my astonishment in very good English, 66 as what I have to say concerns you both equally, I must address you in your own language. Attend to what I say, and be particular in what you answer, as it may afterwards be used in evidence against you." He then said something to the clerks, of which I caught the words "procès verbal" and "traduction;" the satellites of justice flourished their pens, and the examination (as I suppose I must call this tyrannous investigation) began. "What is your name, sir?" said the judge to me. "Jolly Green," I answered laconically, "the head of the family of the Greens, who have been settled in the neighbourhood of Peckham since the period of the Roman conquest." "Enough, sir,-I have no desire to be made acquainted with any other members of your family. You speak of Peckham,-that is in England, you are then an Englishman ?" This was either cunning or stupidity on the part of the judge,—I am |