day I received persons of almost every degree in the social scale and perhaps a few anecdotes of these interviews, dinners, and assemblies, may not be uninteresting to the reader, especially as I shall relate only the simple facts.

One morning a little man came to see me, in a blue blouse, with a sort of helmet on his head. He had red pantaloons, great clumsy shoes, and a white cotton cravat. His complexion was very tawny, his eyes were black and piercing, and his hair resembled a Spaniard's; he looked exactly like a waggoner. "Why, Monsieur Appert, don't you remember your little Bonaparte of the Rochefort bagnio? I promised to come and see you, and here I am at last. You recollect that I was sentenced to be imprisoned for life. I have managed to escape, but let me tell you, there is no slight risk of being seized in travelling from Rochefort to Paris." I soon recognised him, for I had talked to him a great deal when I visited the prison of that town. He was considered a desperate character, and the name of Bonaparte, given to him by his companions, shews at any rate that he was enterprising and courageous in carrying out his plans. I asked him if he had firmly resolved to lead a better course of life. He gave me the word of a galley slave, and I have never been deceived in trusting them, though I have sometimes been disappointed when I wished to reform them, by their refusal to make me any promise. People who have a more honest reputation are not always so scrupulous in keeping their word. "I shall want twenty or five and twenty francs," added he; "another pair of pantaloons, for these will surely betray me, and a hat in place of this prisoner's cap. A shrewd gendarme would discover it immediately, even at some distance." I made one condition with him, that if I granted him all these things, he must leave off stealing, and try to gain an honest living in another country. When he had agreed to all I required, I desired my valet to give him a pair of trousers, a hat, and some of my old waistcoats, and as soon as he had received thirty francs, he took his departure. A short time afterwards he wrote to me from Strasburg, telling me of his safe arrival there, after several adventures with the gendarmes. He declared that his promise should be religiously kept, and that he had fixed upon the Duchy of Baden for his new country.

This visit brings to my mind a curious circumstance about another prisoner, who made his escape from a bagnio at Brest. He did not dare to enter Paris, so he very quietly proceeded to my country house in Lorraine, and when he found that I was absent, he begged my steward to give him a room next to mine, "for I am engaged by Monsieur Appert as his head-cook," said he, "and he has sent me forward in order that I may make preparations with you to receive him. You see, my good fellow, our master possesses a great deal of forethought." I arrived at night, and perceiving a stranger advance to offer me assistance in alighting from the carriage, I was about to ask who he was, when he whispered in my ear, "I am your head-cook; I will explain everything to you by and by." This rogue took nothing from me during his unceremonious stay in my house. The next day I gave him ten francs, in order that he might return to Vosges, where he was born.

Among the people who frequently dined with me on Saturdays in Paris or at Neuilly, were the Archbishop of Malines, the Viscount

VOL. XXIII.

Y

de Lascazes, Count Lanjuinais, Generals Schrams, Feistharmel, Guillabert, Gemeau, de Wielbans, Deputies Etienne, Marchal, Carnot, Gosse de Gorre, Gaugnier; Messieurs Arnault, De Jouy, Admiral Laplace, Eugene de Pradèle, De Crusy, Dutrone, De Gérente, Oudard Lamy, Guillaume, of the house of Orleans, Professors Valette, Casimir Broussais, Messieurs Fourrier, Considerant, Doctors Hutin, Chapelain, Maldigny, Destouche, Lord Durham, Dr. Bowring, peer and member of the English parliament; Alexander Dumas, Balzac; the painters Allaux, Roqueplan, Schnetz, Picot, Flandin, Lépaule, Borget, Dumoulin; Garnier, the engraver, the friend of my boyhood; Huet. Camille Jubé, Gourjales Gentilhomme; young authors, Captains Peney, De Cartousière, Mons. Jullien of Paris, my excellent friend and notary, M. Ancelle; M. Labie, the mayor of Paris; the much esteemed and regretted Monsieur Amet.

As I

These réunions of remarkable people were extremely interesting. Sometimes I invited Vidocq and Samson, the chief executioner of Paris, the son of the man who executed the king and Marie Antoinette and other illustrious victims in 1793. All my friends begged to join my party when these two last persons were to be my guests. never received more than twelve at dinner, it will be readily imagined, after the long list of people I have mentioned as being in the habit of dining with me, that I was obliged to give a succession of entertainments, in order to pay attention to everybody, like the ministers, when they wish to bring over the House of Peers to their side of the question. The Archbishop of Malines, and Monsieur Arnault, were the only two of my friends who refused to meet Samson, and I honestly confess that I shared in their prejudice. The following is a description of one of my dinners, it was the first to which Samson, the executioner, was invited, and took place on Good Friday. The manner in which I secured him for my party was rather singular. Vidocq, whom I had known some time before, was dining with me, and we were unanimously expressing our desire to get up another merry meeting as soon as possible. We determined that Samson should be of the party, at least if he would accept the invitation, and we we not quite certain that we could induce him to join us, for, from ne nature of his character and employment, he visited very few people. "It shall be my business to invite him," said Vidocq; "leave it to me, I'll take care that he comes." About the middle of the following day, a tall, gaunt man, dressed in black, and wearing the old fashioned frill, and a huge gold watch and chain, inquired if he could see me, but refused to give his name. When my secretary mentioned that somebody wished to speak to me, he added, that he thought my visitor was a person of condition, he appeared very much like the mayor of some district, who was going to preside at a marriage at the mayoralty, or who was about to place himself at the head of a municipal deputation to the king. I desired that he might be introduced, and after I had offered him a chair, I asked whom I had the honour of receiving. "Monsieur Appert," said he, "I have long entertained great respect for you, but if I had not been assured of your kind invitation for next Friday, I should never have taken the liberty of calling upon you, for I am the chief executioner." I could not help feeling a slight repugnance when I gazed upon this man. Since I first visited the prisons he had

executed the chief part of the unfortunate criminals whom I had attended in their last moments. "I have invited you for next Friday, Mr. Samson, and I hope I may depend upon the pleasure of seeing you." "As your invitation was brought me by Vidocq, with whose tricks I am well acquainted, I thought I would come and ascertain the truth of it from you. I live generally so quietly, and am only in the habit of mixing with my colleagues, the chief number of whom are my relations, that I did not exactly know how to trust Vidocq's story, but I shall be most happy to accept your invitation, Monsieur Appert, for, as I said before, I have been long anxious to make your acquaintance." This piece of politeness on the part of an executioner, appeared to me rather original. I permitted him to take his leave, for I knew I should have plenty of time to talk to him on Friday.

When Friday arrived, all my guests were punctual to a minute. My party consisted of Lord Durham, Messrs. Bowring, De Jouy, Admiral Laplace, Etienne, Gaugnier, Muel, Doublat, Hector Davelouis, Vidocq, and Samson. I placed the last on my right hand, and Vidocq on my left; my other friends disposed themselves as they pleased. Samson looked very grave, and did not seem quite at his ease with all these great people, as he called them, for he whispered his opinion in my ear. Vidocq, on the contrary, was full of life and wit, making all sorts of epigrams, and joining with spirit in the conversation. He said jestingly to the executioner, "You are not aware, perhaps, Mr. Samson, that I often gave you employment when I was commander of the safety brigade." "I know that too well, Mr. Vidocq," replied the executioner; and then putting his head down to my ear, he observed, "I would not have met that fellow any where but at your house: he is a good-for-nothing rogue." Vidocq whispered to me almost at the same time, "That Samson is a good fellow, but it seems very odd to me to dine at the same table with him." My guests soon entered into conversation with the executioner.

M. de Jouy." Yours is a very terrible office, Mous. Samson, yet, in shedding blood, you only carry out the extreme penalty of the law."

Samson." You are right, sir; I am only the strument, it is the law which condemns."

Lord Durham.-"How many persons have you already beheaded, Mr. Samson ?"

Samson." About three hundred and sixty, my lord."

Dr. Bowring."Do not your feelings frequently overcome you when you are on the point of securing the poor creatures to the block ?"

Samson.-"' -"That is the business of my assistants, as well as to cut the hair and place the baskets ready to receive the body and head; I have only to see that everything goes forward as quickly as possible, and to slip the cord which suspends the axe."

M. de Jouy." Do you think that they suffer at all after the

stroke?"

Samson." Undoubtedly; the face is distorted with convulsions, the eyes roll, and the head appears violently agitated. I was near my father when he was compelled to execute poor Louis the Sixteenth, to whom our family was much attached. He was obliged, according to the directions he hadreceived, to take up the head by

its hair, and show it to the people; but when he beheld the calm and benevolent expression which the features still retained, he was completely overwhelmed by his feelings. Fortunately I was close at hand, and being rather tall and large, I succeeded in sheltering him from the gaze of the multitude; for if his emotion had been perceived, Soon after we should have been certainly guillotined in our turn. these sad events, I became captain in the artillery; but my father said to me very sensibly one day, Samson, my office will fall to your lot; it has brought us more than twelve thousand pounds-an enorYou will do well to take it, my boy, for mous sum at that time. there will always be certain prejudices which will prove obstacles to your rising beyond a certain point; and they may even prevent you from remaining captain. Our ancestors have exercised the office of executioner for more than a century: you will be able to live quietly and comfortably, and, at all events, nobody will have any right to interfere with your

affairs.'"

Vidocq.-"Your father ought to have added, Except those people whose throats you cut.'"

Samson." No jesting, Mr. Vidocq; I am relating facts."
Vidocq." Yes, alas !"

These words wounded the executioner to the quick.

"That man

is very coarse," whispered he: "you may see that he is not accustomed to good society; he has not my deportment."

M. de Jouy.-"Before the invention of the guillotine, M. Samson, your ancestors made use of a sword which struck off the head at a single blow, did they not?"

Samson. "I have the terrible weapon still in my possession, M. de Jouy; it is a Damascus blade, and was worth twelve hundred pounds at the time it was bought at Constantinople. My father marked the side with which he cut off the Marquis de Lally's head with a piece of thread, as well as that which beheaded the Chevalier de la Barre. When I was much younger than I am now, and rather more fond of adventure, I remember going out one night with this long weapon concealed under my great-coat. Some men attacked me for the purpose of emptying my pockets, and indeed I might have been murdered. They were at least eight in number, and I knew it would be impossible for me to struggle with so many rogues; I darted upon them with so I had recourse to a little daring. my huge sword, shouting out in a croaking voice, Don't you know that I am the executioner of Paris?' They all took to their heels at these terrible words, as if I had been a thunderbolt to grind them to powder."

Lord Durham." I should like very much to see the guillotine in operation, Mr. Samson."

Samson." You have only to fix a day with M. Appert, my lord, and I will have it put together by my assistants in the coach-house, where it is kept; for it is always taken to pieces after every execution. The coach-builder, in whose house it is at present, lives not far from my house, in the Rue des Marais du Temple."

The conversation, which had been more particularly addressed to Samson, now became general, and for the rest of the evening Vidocq shared our attention, and, as is his wont, he was very agreeable and amusing.

THE YANKEE AMONGST THE MERMAIDS.

A YARN, BY A CAPE COdder.

Do I b'leve in the sea-sarpint? You might as well ax me if I b'leved in the compass, or thought the log could lie. I've never seed the critter myself, cos I hain't cruised in them waters as he locates himself in, not since I started on my first voyage in the Confidence whaler, Capting Coffing; but I recking I've got a brother as hails from Nahant, that sees him handsome every year, and knows the latitude and longitude of the beast just as well as I knows the length o' the futtock shrouds o' the foretops.

Brother Zac's pretty 'cute, and kalkilates from actil observation how much the sarpint grows every year; and then he gets sifferin', and figgerin', and reckonin', till he makes out how tarnal long it took the sarpint to extensify himself to that almighty size-offerin' to prove that the critter was one o' them ar' creeping things what Commodore Noah took into his boat at that ar' big rain as the Bible tells on; and perhaps, as Zac says, he is the real, original, etarnal sarpint, as got the weathergage of Mrs. Eve, and gammoned her to lay piratical hands on her husband's stock of apples jest as he was gettin' his cider fixins ready in the fall. And, by gauly, old fellers, there aint nothin' agin natur' in that yarn, nyther-for brother Zac says, he can prove that that ar' sarpint must have partaking o' the tree o' life as growed in the garding of Eding, afore them first squatters what had located themselves thar' was druv' off by the angel Gabriel for makin' free with the governor's trees. Well, there was a nigger as I knowed once down south, 'mongst them cotting plantashings-and this here darkey used to get his rum aboard rather stiff-so, one night, havin' stowed away a soakin' cargo, he found the navigation pretty considerable severe, and after tackin' larbord and starbord, makin' short legs to winderd, and long uns to lewerd, he missed stays, and brought up in a ditch. While the darkey was lettin' off the steam and snorin' himself sober, a mud tortle, about the size of our capting's epillitts, crawls right slick into his open mouth, and wriggles stret down into his innerds. Waell, the nigger felt the effects o' too much tortle to his dying day -and that's the case, I guess, with the sarpint-for havin' fed in his infancy on the fruit o' the tree o' life, he was obligated to keep on livin' ever arter, and can't die no how he can fix it. And so he keeps on a gettin' longer every week, like a purser's account, and nobody can't guess what for, nyther.

Did you ever see a marmaid? Waell, then, I reckon you'd best shut up, cos I have-and many on 'em; and marmen too, and marmisses and marmasters, of all sizes from babbies not bigger nor mackrels to regular six-feeters, with starns like a full grow'd porpus. I've been at a marmaids' tea-party, and after larnin' the poor ignorant scaly critters how to splice the main brace, I left the hull bilin' on 'em blazin' drunk.

You see when our craft was cruisin' up the Arches, we cast anchor one mornin' in pretty deep water just abrest of a small green island as wasn't down in the chart, and hadn't got no name, nyther. But