THE

Ν Ε Υ Μ ο Ν Τ Η Σ Υ Ι Α G AZI N E

AND

HUMORIS T.

CONTENTS FOR DECEMBER.

PAGS

OF

.

THE KING OF PRUSSIA'S NEW YEAR's Gift. BY THE AUTHOR
CHANTILLY”

379 A POET NATURE. By Join OXENFORD, Esq.

. 395 LIFE AND REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. BY CYRUS REDDING, Esq.

397 JOURNAL OF A Visit to DAHOMEY ; OR, THE SNAKE COUNTRY.

BY ARCHIBALD R. RIDGWAY, M.B., MEDICAL STAFF, GOLD
COAST.

406 AUTUMN. BY WILLIAM BRAILSPORD, Ese.

414 A GRATBEARD'S Gossip ABOUT HIS LITERARY ACQUAINTANCE: No. X.

415 SECRET HISTORY of the Court, MINISTRY, AND TIMES OF GEORGE IV. BY AN OLD DIPLOMATIST

425 THE OUT-STATION; OR, JAUNTS IN THE JUNGLE. BY J. WILLYAMS GRYLLS, Esq.

441 VIENNESE LEGENDS. BY JOHN OXENFORD, Esq.

452 THE MAIDEN'S DREAM. By J. E. CARPENTER, Esq.

455 FRENCH ALMANACS

456 A DEATH-BED. By Mrs. PONSONBY

465 ADRIEN Roux; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF A COURIER. BY DUDLEY COSTELLO, Esq.

466 Love's Logic. BY ANNA SAVAGE JAMES BROOKE, RAJAH OF SARAWAK

474 THE DRAMA IN PARIS. BY CHARLES HERVEY, Esq.

484 THE EXPEDITION OF CYRUS

488 LITERARY NOTICES :— Town and Country.

A Novel.

By Mrs. Trollope.--The Convict. A Tale. By G. P. R. James, Esq.-Rowland Bradshaw. By the Author of " Raby Rattler.”—The Council of Four. Edited by Arthur Wallbridge.—Hours of Day and Spirits of Night. The Slave Captain. By John Dignan.The Musical Bijou. Edited by F. H. Burney.--Miscellaneous Notices

491 to 500

.

• 473

.

.

.

.

TO CORRESPONDENTS. Mr. AINSWORTH begs it to be distinctly understood that no Contributions what

SUBSCRIBERS

TO THE

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE

Are informed that in JANUARY, or in early Numbers, the following

Articles will be given :

THE FLITCH OF BACON. A TALE OF ENGLISH HOME. BY THE EDITOR. SOUTH AFRICAN ADVENTURES. BY AN OFFICER ENGAGED IN THE LATE

CAMPAIGN IN KAFFIRLAND.

TICK : A TALE. BY CHARLES ROWCROFT, ESQ., AUTHOR OF “TALES OF THE

COLONIES.”

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE LATE SAMUEL RUSSELL. BY CAPTAIN

CURLING.

MY SUMMER CRUISE. BY A YACHTSMAN.

“ KING

PAQUERETTE, THE STAR OF A NIGHT. BY THE AUTHOR OF THE

OF PRUSSIA'S NEW YEAR'S GIFT.”

WANDERINGS IN BAVARIA AND SOUTHERN AUSTRIA. BY YOUNG

WALTON.

THE RICHEST COMMONER IN ENGLAND; OR, TOM ROCKETS HUNTING TOUR. A TALE OF SPORTING LIFE.

COLONIES AND THE COLONISTS.
THE JETTATURA : OR, THE EVIL EYE. AN ITALIAN ROMANCE. By

E. V. RIPPINGILLE, Esq.
MR. CYRUS REDDING'S “RECOLLECTIONS OF CAMPBELL.”_Continued.
THE DIARY OF AN OLD DIPLOMATIST.-Continued.
A GRAYBEARD'S GOSSIP ABOUT HIS LITERARY ACQUAINTANCE.

--Continued.
LES RACES MAUDITES;-OR, THE PARIAHS OF THE WEST.

WITH OTHER NOVELTIES, INCLUDING PAPERS BY

DUDLEY COSTELLO, Esq.

MISS SAVAGE. SIGNOR L. MARIOTTI.

J. W. CARPENTER, Esq.
J. WILLYAMS GRYLLS, Esq.

MRS. PONSONBY.
W. FRANCIS AINSWORTH, Esq. W. H. G. KINGSTON, Esq.
THOMAS WRIGHT, Esq., M.A. MRS. WHITE.
CHARLES HERVEY, ESQ.

ROBERTSON NOEL, Esq., LL.D. JOHN OXENFORD, Esq.

THE AUTHOR OF “AZETH, THE THOMAS ROSCOE, EsQ

EGYPTIAN.”
W. KNIGHT, ESQ., &c. &c. &c.

CHAPMAN AND HALL, 186, STRAND.

WHEN I next beheld the light (I do not reckon the moment of impertinent examination by the douaniers upon the frontier as anything), I found myself in the great metropolis of the civilised world, the head-quarters of human understanding, of human enterprise, Paris! I had no reason to complain of my treatment by theGogo, for I was placed, as she had foretold, in her museum, a small boudoir, filled with every rare and costly ornament which the caprice of the danseuse, or the desire to please in her admirers, could collect from every quarter of the globe. Here I had leisure to observe. Many were the scenes illustrative of the manners of the day which came under my notice; I may, indeed, safely say, that I beheld more of life, and of the means whereby it is possible to live in one single year, than I had done during the whole of my previous existence in the quiet boudoir of the Princess Amelia. If I could but have forgotten her I should have been almost happy, for I had now the opportunity of studying men and manners, which I had so often longed for in my

solitude. The Gogo was not of a bad or heartless nature, she was violent and vain, but generous to a fault, and both her money and her heels were ever at the service of public charity, or a distressed fellow artiste. She had accepted the life she led with an aim truly original, and was governed by the Arab law, robbing the rich to bestow upon the poor. The depredations she thus committed upon the purses of her admirers, were something almost fabulous. She had been fortunate enough to secure, on her first appearance on the boards of the Opera, the favour of the old Duke de Nivernais, a great connoisseur in the art which she professed, so that when his presents were exhausted, there yet remained for her the artist reputation, which his notice had gained for her. She thus became the idol of the young seigneurs who frequented the coulisses of the Opera, and the favour she had acquired by her grace and spirit on the boards, for real beauty she had none, was maintained by the fascinating caprice, the inexhaustible gaiety and good-humour which nature had bestowed

upon her. It was the reign of the demoiselles de l’Opera, and the Gogo became at once one of the most fashionable of them all. She would soon have become one of the most wealthy also, if it had not been for the fatal principle, “Light come, light go,” which governed her domestic

Dec.-VOL. LXXXI. NO. CCC.XXIV.

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economy. She prided herself, however, upon perfect disinterestedness in one peculiarity, she would suffer none but company of the very best order to frequent her boudoir, which system did more towards maintaining her in favour than even her own fascinations. Her nick-name of “ the Gogo" had been given her in consequence of her fancied likeness to a favourite guinea pig of Madame de Pompadour, which bore the same appellation, and she had accepted it with her usual good-humour, little caring for what brought her neither poverty nor disgrace, and was therefore so little worth a moment's trouble or uneasiness.

At the time when I first made my appearance among the curiosities of her museum, she ruled the heart and fortune of the Marquis de Sorgerac, an old Gascon nobleman of great wealth and some little wit, and the house was the rendezvous of all that was fashionable and gay in the metropolis. What conversations have I listened to in that snug and silent retreat! The most subtle philosophy, the most ingenious repartees, the most delicate bon mots were thrown right and left. They seemed to have no value in these assemblies, they were the property of each and all, and none thought it worth while to pause to pick up the most brilliant sayings of their brother wits.

In these encounters the Gogo shone conspicuous. Her adventure at the court of Prussia was told and retold amidst the cheers and shrieks of laughter of her thoughtless listeners. And it may be said to have laid the foundation of the great fortune she since acquired, for the Duke de Lauzun came on purpose to hear it, and was so enchanted with the relater, that he immediately seconded her petition for an increase of a thousand crowns to her salary, which was of course immediately granted.

I had already been some little time an inmate of this temple of the Graces, when I perceived a sudden change in the tone and manners of the Gogo. She grew more capricious than was her wont-sometimes when alone she would weep without a cause—then again when surrounded by her usual coterie of gay young seigneurs, her spirits would be most exuberant, almost riotous, and she would dazzle and astonish by her free speech and ready wit, until some one of her adorers, intoxicated with admiration, would lay at her feet his heart and fortune, his influence and protection to advance her in her profession, his love and devotion to soothe and comfort her in private life. But it was all without avail, the Gogo remained steadfast to her old affection, he who had raised her to the position she now occupied, so free, so independent; she would not have changed it for that of the Queen of France, nor even for that of the Pompadour herself!

This constancy and firm principle in a person of her class, of course excited great astonishment and some suspicion, and a strict watch was set over the poor Gogo in order to discover the real cause of this fidélité phénomenale. But long before they had ceased their wondering and speculation I had discovered the real secret-the Gogo was in love. Among the numerous crowd of busy admirers who buzzed around her was a young sub-lieutenant of the regiment of Gascony, a cadet of noble family and a distant nephew of the Marquis de Sorgerac himself. This youth was for a long time the only one of all the tribe whom the Gogo refused to receive when alone, and it was this circumstance which first excited my suspicions. She would blush, and tremble, and stammer in her speech whenever his name was announced, and then appoint another hour for his reception, when she knew that her salon would be filled with strangers,

and when he appeared in the midst of the circle, she would grow triste and pre-occupied, forgetful of the subject of conversation, and evidently no longer in the enjoyment of that freedom of spirits which rendered her so charming

Things had proceeded in this state for some months, when, all at once, without warning, without prevision, I found myself the confidant of an episode of love as guileless and as true on the part of the danseuse as could ever have had existence in the bosom of the most artless and secluded maiden growing up in solitude beneath her mother's eye; and I discovered that in the human race the softer sex is certainly by many grades the nearest to Heaven. I know not where nor how the first declaration took place, nor in what terms the first avowal was pronounced, I was only witness to the consequence of this passion and to its sad, sad sequel. It was in the boudoir that their stolen interviews took place, and from my gilded pedestal did I witness the whole development of this extraordinary drama, and being thus behind the scenes had the advantage of beholding not only the dressing and preparation, but the acting and effect upon the audience also. The whole line of conduct of the Gogo became altered. Her whole care had now for subject the enriching of her lover. From the poor cadet of a decaying house, he grew to outshine in splen. dour and in extravagance the most wild and careless of the spendthrifts who frequented her society.

I could not help being surprised that this change did not excite suspicion in the minds of his rivals. If it had occurred with the poor dancer, of course, scandal and calumny would have been busy on the instant, but how could they suspect a young seigneur of baseness ?—a noblemanone of themselves - Oh fie! She gave him all she earned-she gave him all that she had saved. She loved to see him bravely attired-she rejoiced to see the diamond ring of Hesse-Hockelberg sparkle on his finger, and the priceless ruby of the breast-pin flash amid the recesses of his Mechlin jabot-she loved to hear him quoted as one of the most brilliantly mounted of the officers of his regiment, and one of the most magnificent players at the reversis of Trianon-she heard without envy, without emotion, all the congratulations of which he was the object-she smiled with him at all the hints which were thrown out about his bonne fortune, and to the prognostics of wealth and advancement which must inevitably be his now that his foot was so evidently on the ladder, and then, amid laughter and innuendos, for was there no end to the mad

speculations of the joyous troop as to the source from whence sprung

his favour and advancement; the greatest ladies of the court were passed in review, and even the Pompadour herself did not escape without investigation and suspicion. There was one individual, however, who had long ago divined the truth, and, contrary to the usual theory in cases of this nature, it was the very person whom it concerned most, the Marquis de Sorgerac, and he was determined to watch narrowly the conduct of his nephew, of whom, for reasons of which I was ignorant, he seemed to entertain but a poor opinion. He uttered not a word to the Gogo, for whom I am inclined to think he entertained a true affection, and there was more pity for her useless lavishing of her generous feelings upon one whom he knew to be unworthy, in the trouble which the discovery gave him, than of jealousy at the loss of her love. He was, as we have said, a wit, and, moreover, something of a philosopher into the bargain.