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star, or yellow, red, or variously spotted gem of blossom. Nature is not only bountiful in bestowing the useful and necessary, but profuse in pouring forth beauties to please and gratify the senses. Nature, however, is not profuse in vain-each of those brilliant cups and curiously tinted fibrils has its decided use; and all the parts combine to carry out the great conservative plans of creation. Like animals, plants are possessed of organs necessary to accomplish the purpose of nature-the reproduction and continuation of the species. From remote antiquity, the importance of the organs of the flower in perfecting the seed was known; and although Linnæus did not wholly make this discovery, yet it is to him we owe its complete elucidation about the year 1730. If we take a common wild rose, we may readily perceive the several parts of this structure. The green bulb attached to the flower stem is the ovary, where the seeds are matured. Above this is a green cup or calyx, notched into segments, and which serves to support the parts of the flower above. The flesh-coloured leaves form the corolla, an undivided body in some plants, but in this, as in many others, divided into numerous petals; this corolla, which is generally the showiest part of all flowers, serves as a protection and defence of the parts within. These consist of the pistil or female flower in the centre, and of the stamens or male flowers ranged around the circumference. The stamens carry on their tops an oblong loosely attached body, which is the anther, containing the pollen or fertilizing dust, which in due time bursts and scatters its contents on the stigma of the pistil. In some plants, the blossom contains only the pistils or female flowers, while the stamens grow on other plants, or on separate twigs of the same plant. In such instances, the pollen is borne along by the agency of the wind, or of the bee or other insects, roaming from flower to flower in search of food.

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Such is a rapid glance of the arrangements of nature in even the lowliest plants. From the simple moss or lichen up to the tall cedar or the splendid magnolia, there are of course many diversities of this structure-but all are on one uniform plan, and every plant produces its seed after its kind.' What a field here for the exercise of the attention, and for exciting pleasing and wonderful thoughts of that Being who in wisdom has contrived the whole!' When the celebrated traveller, Mungo Park, found himself alone in the barren wilds of Africa, robbed, maltreated, and then deserted by cruel and savage robbers, he sat for some time gazing around him with amazement and terror at his utter abandonment. Whichever way I turned,' he touchingly relates, 'nothing appeared but danger and difficulty. I saw myself in a vast wilderness, and five hundred miles from any European settlement. At this moment, painful as my reflections were, the extraordinary beauty of a small moss in fructification irresistibly caught my eye. Can that Being, thought I, who planted, watered, and brought to perfection in this obscure part of the world a thing which appears of so small importance, lock with unconcern upon the situation of creatures formed after his own image? Surely not! Reflections like these would not allow me to despair. I started up, and, disregarding both hunger and fatigue, travelled forwards, assured that relief was at hand-and I was not disappointed.'

It was an old opinion, and one which is not quite eradicated even at this day, that the earth, when dug up in any place, will spontaneously produce plants without seed. Nothing, however, can be more fallacious. It is true, the whole face of nature teems with seeds of plants that come floating on the air, and are borne about and scattered by birds and animals and other means; but in situations where no transmission of this kind can occur, experiment has proved that there will be no vegetation, and that every plant must proceed from some seed or graft, or root of a parent plant. Malpighi procured a quantity of earth dug from a great depth, and enclosed it in a glass vessel, whose mouth was covered over with several folds of silk, so as to admit air and water, but to exclude all such seeds as might come from without; the result was, that no plant

grew from this earth. Mr Keith performed a similar experiment. On 15th April, 1811, he procured a quantity of black clay taken from the depth of 100 feet, and exposed it to the action of the air and weather. It was placed upon a slate in one of the quarters of his garden. On the 15th of May, he placed upon another slate a similar quantity of earth taken from the depth of 150 feet, under a hand-glass, which was only removed to give the earth an occasional watering. No symptoms of vegetation appeared in either the one or the other till the 3d of September following, when several plants were found springing from the surface of the exposed clay, and one also from the surface of the insulated clay. The former proved to be plants of the common groundsel, which was then coming up from seed over all the garden, and hence easily accounted for; the latter was a plant of ranunculus sceleratus, the seed of which, he says, was undoubtedly brought to the clay along with the water it was watered with, which was procured from a neighbouring pond, around the edges of which the plant grew in profusion.

The various methods which nature employs to disperse the different varieties of seeds over the earth are truly wonderful. Many plants, when the seed is fully ripe, discharge it from the seed-cover or pericarp with a jerk or elastic spring. The common oat is thrown out in this way; and the loud crackling of the pods of the broom in a dry sunshiny day, which is caused by their bursting and scattering about the contained seeds, must have been frequently noticed. The cones of fir-trees remain on the tree till the summer succeeding that on which they grow; when the hot weather commences, the scales of which they are composed burst open, and the seeds are scattered to a considerable distance. Then, there are the downy appendages which buoy up the smaller seeds, as the thistle and dandelion, carrying them through the air to great distances-the currents of rivers, floating down seeds from one district to another—and even the tides and currents of the ocean, which bear along the germs of vegetation from separate regions of the globe. Birds, too, by feeding on particular seeds, carry them to great distances, where being often voided entire, they vegetate. This is particularly the case with stone fruits, as cherries and plums.

The seed of a plant, as the common bean, consists of the outer skin or covering, within which is contained a starchy substance divided into two halves, called cotyledons. At the place where these two join, just opposite to the outer eye or black spot of the bean, is situated the germ or rudiment of the future plant. When the bean is put into the earth and subjected for a few days to heat, moisture, and air, it begins to germinate. The starch of the cotyledon is converted into sugar, and affords a nutritious juice for the sustenance of the germ, till this latter is old enough to push out roots into the soil and provide for itself. The cotyledons thus resemble the white and yolk of a bird's egg, or the milk supplied by a mammiferous animal. The springing germ consists of two parts-the rootlet, which invariably takes a downward course into the earth, and the leaf-bud, which as invariably aspires upwards. This is an admirable provision in nature; for in whatever position a seed may fall into the soil, the leaf always reaches the surface, and thus is preserved, and vegetates; whereas, had it not received this fixed determination, it might have remained in the soil and rotted.

Some seeds have only one cotyledon, as the commen oat, while the germinating buds or sporules of the inferior classes of vegetables cannot be said to possess a true cotyledon at all.

Besides propagation by seeds, many plants may be raised from slips or cuttings, roots, and buds, taken from parent plant and placed in the soil. The reproductive power of most plants is generally very great. Some, it is true, produce only one, two, or three seeds, but others again an inconceivable number. A single capsule of tobacco often contains a thousand seeds. The head of the

white poppy has produced eight thousand; and the capsule of the vanilla from ten to fifteen thousand. A plant of elecampane will produce altogether three thousand seeds; and a plant of the great cat's tail ten thousand; while a single stalk of spleenwort produces a million.

THE FORTUNES OF PAUL DUBOIS.*
A TRADITION OF FRANCHE-COMTE.

THOSE who have passed any time among the poetical mountains of Franche-Comté, and assisted at the winter evening gatherings within the rustic abodes of the peasantry, have no doubt heard of the Vouivre, a magical winged serpent, which, according to tradition, glides rapidly through the air like a faint ray of light, bathes herself in the fountain like a naiad, and carries on her forehead a diamond more precious than all the gems in the crown of France. The admirers of old traditions are not agreed upon the symbolical idea represented by this marvellous creature; and M. D. Monnier, who has written so many curious pages upon the old superstitions of our forefathers, has not himself been able, with all his knowledge and ability, to solve the important question. Many people think that the Vouivre is simply the emblem of fortune; the fleeting nature of which she represents by her wings, its brilliancy by her diamond, its capricious turnings by her snake-like rings. Tradition affirms, that the Vouivre, before diving into the solitary springs and hidden rivulets of which she loves to gain the liquid depths, lays down upon the bank that splendid jewel which is her eye, her star, her light. If, at the moment when she thus abandons herself to voluptuous repose, some one should be able adroitly to seize the inestimable gem, which she carefully hides in the grass on the margin of the stream, he would instantly become immensely rich; for neither the mines of Brazil nor the mountains of the Ural have ever disclosed to the eager eyes of mankind a diamond of such priceless value.

A crowd of ambitious Franche-Comtans have revelled in the hope of acquiring this treasure, and have watched for the Vouivre at the sides of every lake and stream. I remember myself, that in the days of childhood-in that credulous age, that age without pity, as the good Fontaine has said-I have more than once wandered along the banks of the river Doubs, in the hope of seeing the Vouivre descend, and with the guilty thought of stealing from her her singular eye. But apparently the good old wives who undertook to teach me the haunts and habits of the Vouivre, were not so well informed as they pretended, or did not wish me to profit by their instructions; for I confess that I have never seen the serpent; and I have never been able, to my great regret, I avow, to rob her of her diamond. But Paul Dubois once got hold of it, more than a hundred years ago, and I am now about to relate how it happened.

born, wished that he should receive the education of a clerk; and, in her dreams of maternal love, she saw him already clothed in the cassock, chaplain to some great lord; or, should his inclination not lead him towards the church, she figured him to herself invested with the honourable functions of notary, and perhaps even judge of the district. At her earnest desire the curate of Mouthier had been induced to give some lessons in Latin to this little Benjamin; and the good dispositions of the lad contributed not a little to keep alive in the heart of his mother a natural degree of pride and ambitious hope.

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But one evening, as Paul entered beneath the paternal roof, carrying in triumph a fine large page, which he had written with all the accessories of the most elegant caligraphy, a problem of arithmetic which he had himself solved, and a book which his master had given him as a testimonial of his satisfaction-Enough, enough,' said the father Dubois, Paul shall go back to the school no more; I am very well pleased that he can handle the pen so well, and that he is able to set down figures upon paper in good order; that will serve his turn well enough. But he already knows a great deal more than ever I learned. I do not wish to make him a gentleman, sporting silk breeches, and perambulating the pavements of great towns, whilst his brothers work as labourers. family have been vinedressers from father to son for many generations-all honest and irreproachable people, God be praised! I am resolved that Paul shall be a vinedresser too, and to-morrow I shall put the mattock into his hands.'

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The poor mother suffered much on hearing this formal decision. However, she perceived that she could not equitably establish a distinction so marked among her children, as to devote one to the easy tasks of the schoolroom and leave the others exposed all the year through to hard labour. She knew, besides, that when her husband expressed a resolution in terms so decided, it was of no use attempting to make him change it. She held down her head, therefore, in silence, stifling at the bottom of her heart a heavy sigh; and, resigned in the mean time, waited till events should offer a means of reviving and carrying out her darling projects.

Paul took up the pruning-knife and the mattock, and went with his brothers to work among the vines. But it was easy to see that this was a labour which caused him extreme annoyance, and that he only engaged in it in obedience to his father's will. This degree of resignation very soon attracted the respect of all. His brothers themselves, who had not hitherto been able to get quit of a certain portion of jealousy, were affected at seeing him accomplishing with such docility a task seemingly so difficult; and when they found themselves alone with him, out of sight of their father, they persuaded the poor boy to lay down his heavy instrument and take some reFaul Dubois was the youngest son of an honest vine- pose, promising to make up among themselves by indresser of Mouthier, who, by his habits of order and in- creased efforts the labour that had been assigned to him. dustry, had brought himself into rather easy circum- Paul was of a delicate constitution, which would not perstances. Of the six fine children with whom Heaven had mit him with impunity to rest like them for many hours blessed him, four sons and two daughters, the first five reclined upon the turf. He, however, yielded to their had been, from their carliest years, taught to share the affectionate entreaties, sat down on a grassy hillock by labours of their parents. While the boys went with the the side of a small stream, fronting the magnificent father to work in the fields and to plant the stocks of the masses of verdure and the majestic ramparts of rock vine, the young girls assisted their mother in her domes- which encircled the delicious valleys of Mouthier, and tic occupations: they took care of the cattle, prepared passed a part of the day in gazing and in dreaming. At food for the servants of the house, and spun flax to be night, when seated at the family hearth, he leaned his woven into clothing. Paul was born at a time when the head upon his hands, listening in silence to the popular family began already to enjoy the little fortune thus gradu- traditions of the village, as detailed by a garrulous old ally acquired, and great pains were taken in his upbringing. female servant of the family, and wandering in thought More fortunate than his brothers, in place of being re- through those castles in the air-through that magical stricted to rude everyday tasks, he was intrusted to the world, the marvels of which those traditions so quaintly care of a tutor, who was regarded as a great scholar, for depicted. The Vouivre, above all, often occupied his he ran up columns of addition with a glance of the eye, mind-the serpent with the inappreciable treasure which and read with facility old acts written upon parchment. it carried in its forehead-with all the ideas of happiness The worthy Madame Dubois, who doated on her latest-attached to its acquisition, and which were very naturally seductive to the imagination of a young man. That night

* Translated from the French, expressly for the INSTRUCTOR. he saw the fairy diamond glittering in his dreams, and

in the morning, in going to the fields, he searched for it by the margin of the Loue. This idea speedily took entire hold of his imagination, and became with him a constant and overmastering thought. In fine, he ended by persuading himself that he should succeed in obtaining the precious gem; and he did succeed. One night in autumn, no one knows how, he arrived just at the place where the Vouivre was bathing in the waves of the river, beheli the diamond glittering in the foam at its side, seized it, and fled with haste. Hardly had he grasped the prize, when he heard a lamentable cry, without doubt proceeding from the poor blind Vouivre. This token of profound grief arrested his attention for a moment; he even stopt and went back a few paces, led by a sentiment of compassion; but the wish that he had so long indulged -the ardent desire to possess this precious stone-again mastered him. He entered his father's dwelling all breathless and aghast, and hastened to lock himself in his chamber. His anxious mother came and knocked at the door; he affected to be asleep, though he slept not. He held the diamond in his hands, gazing on it with attention; and as he gazed, he felt awakening within him impetuous desires, strange visions, of which he had never been conscious before. In the dazzling rays of the diamond he thought he beheld opening before him a new world, glittering with gold and jewels, and peopled with ideal creatures, who danced and sung under a sky of azure lighted by innumerable suns. He still heard resounding in his retreat the desolate voice of the Vouivre; but he had already shut his ears to the tender accents of his mother, and closing them also to the lamentations of the unfortunate victim of his cupidity, he threw himself upon his bed, and indulged, half-sleeping, half-waking, the most fantastic fancies.

The morrow was a Sunday. From an early hour all the family prepared to go to mass. The young girls took from the walnut-wood cupboard their most becoming dresses and most tasteful handkerchiefs; the boys plunged their heads in a bucket of water, then combed with care their flowing locks. Their father, old Dubois himself, dis played no little satisfaction in performing his rustic toilet. He was churchwarden of his village, and required to appear in suitable style in the chief seat of the church. Paul declined going with the rest under pretext of a violent headach. For more than two hours he had been seated on his bed, turning the diamond over and over in his hands, and revolving successively in his imagination an array of the most fantastic visions. Throughout this feverish hallucination, and these vague and floating chimeras, one idea took obstinate hold of his mind-the idea of departing, of abandoning the humble rural dwelling where his diamond would be a useless treasure, and going to some great city in search of those joys of fortune which its price could procure. In a short time this idea became a project, and the project a decision. For a moment he felt disquieted at the thought of the solicitude which his mysterious departure would cause to his parents, especially the anguish which it would create in the mind of his mother. But,' said he to himself, 'I shall write them from the place where I shall sell my diamond; I shall send them enough of money to buy vineyards and fields, and I shall revisit them when I have seen the world.' But he did not say, he was not himself conscious, that the possession of this long-coveted treasure had already changed his heart. At night he had concealed the diamond from all eyes as he would a theft; in the morning he had told a falsehood; and he now proceeded coolly to commit a heartless cruelty in deserting the pa

ternal roof.

No sooner had he seen his parents on the road to the church, than he dressed himself, shut the door, and circling the village by a road which skirted the plantation of Hautepierre, he directed his course towards Besançon. Arrived at the summit of a hill whence the valley of Mouthier could be seen in all its fresh and picturesque beauty, with its magnificent girdle of wood and rocks, and the plain of Lods, with its forests of fruit-trees, he turneu

to gaze once more on the scenes he was about to leave. The bell in the old church-tower was still ringing, and some good people, on whom time had stolen a march, carrying their prayer-books in their hands, quickened their steps to arrive in time for the sacred duties of devotion. For a moment his soul melted within him at this spectacle, which awoke so many sweet remembrances; but again the dreams of fortune put an end to the pious emotion. He turned his head as if to shake off a dangerous temptation, began his journey anew, and, towards the evening, he entered by the sculptured gateway within the walls of Besançon.

Once there, he stopt, not knowing well to what side to turn himself. With his diamond in his hand, indeed, he imagined, with the confidence of a young man, that he was rich; but yet it was necessary to find a merchant, and especially a lodging where he might pass the night. Whilst he dosed about from place to place, his eyes in the air, counting the storeys of the houses, and seeking for a sign of good augury, he was stopped by a little black man, whose face, in attempting a smile, grinned after a frightful fashion. The old women of Mouthier who detail this veritable history, insinuate the darkest suspicions as to the character of this personage. But the fact is demonstrable, from the testimony of Paul, that he had neither a great pair of horns, a flaming eye, nor a cloven hoof. He was, in fact, dressed very decently, and his language and manners indicated a man perfectly well brought up and rather polished. He approached Paul hat in hand, and inquired with great appearance of interest the object of his search; offered to conduct him himself to a very good hotel, where they only received, he said, persons of respectability; then, marching alongside of our hero, describing to him the monuments of Besançon, the promenades, and the public spectacles, he gained his confidence so completely, that the young adventurer hesitated not to disclose to him who he was, what discovery he had made, and what motive had now brought him to the ancient capital of Franche-Comté.

Really, my young sir,' exclaimed the unknown, 'you ought to bless your stars which have thrown me in your way you could hardly have been more lucky; for know that I am Master Finlappi, celebrated throughout the province as one of the most expert jewellers in existence. There is not a pair of ear-pendants, a valuable bracelet, a collar of pearls, which does not pass through my hands; nor do I circumscribe my enterprises within the limits of the towns of Franche-Comté. I have a magazine in Paris itself, and you must go there if you desire to avail yourself properly of the treasure which fortune has thrown in your way. Plague it! the diamond of the Vouivre! Long have I desired to see that wondrous jewel; and I shall give you for it, without higgling, a sum large enough to stupify you. Ah! you are happy, young man! you enter life by a splendid door-by the door of gold; and it now only remains for you to cut a high figure in the capital of France, to move on a level with the richest lords, and to see the king.'

To see the king!' cried Paul, who had listened to this harangue of the jeweller with growing enthusiasm. You think I may hope for the honour of approaching the king?'

'Yes, certainly,' replied Finlappi; and I am the man to give you the means, if you choose to confide in me. Don't think of thanking me; in acting thus, I merely follow the bent of my own inclination. Your appearance interests me; and then, I may tell you, I love generous souls--people who are born under a friendly star, and who, from their first step in life, find themselves fondled by fortune. There is pleasure in obliging these people, for one knows that services rendered to them fructify like seed sown in fertile soil. As for those unfortunates who labour-who waste their lives in trying to amass day by day, by the sweat of their brows, what will buy them s cabin and the corner of a field, these are wretches whom I cannot look on without profound contempt.'

'Alas!' sighed Paul to himself, my father works thus, and he is nevertheless a worthy man.' But he

dared not utter this reflection aloud, for fear of appearing before his new friend unequal to his situation.

'Thus, then,' added Finlappi, if you desire to have my assistance, I shall charge myself with disposing of your jewel; and, in fact, I know a very high personage, who would gladly give several of his castles for such a diamond. You shall set out for Paris; I myself require to go thither in a few days, and I shall meet you there.'

ing shown him into his chamber, had only demanded a sight of the diamond, with the splendour of which he seemed quite dazzled.

'You shall see me to-morrow,' he had said, 'and shall be satisfied with me.'

The next day, in fact, at an early hour, he entered Paul's room, carrying under his arm a sack of money. 'Behold,' said he, five hundred crowns, which I now pay you to account of the bargain I hope to see very soon concluded between us. You can set out this very evening, and you may wait for me at the Hotel du Faucon, Rue Dauphine.'

'But-for getting there- stammered Paul. "Ah! I guess what you wish to say. You have come from our village of Mouthier, where one sees doubtless more pebbles than pence, and your purse is probably hardly so well lined as you could wish. Well, well; I Paul shook his friend's hand with an expression of most myself shall advance the money necessary to convey you ardent gratitude. He employed the rest of the day in comfortably to Paris; and in order that you may not sup- exchanging his simple peasant's attire for a more distinpose I wish to take advantage of your youth and confi-guished dress, and that same evening was on the road to dence, you shall carry the diamond with you, and you will Paris. only give it up to me there in exchange for a whole pile of money.

At this liberal proposal, Paul well nigh flung himself into the arms of the jeweller, and felt as if he could clasp him to his heart.

Oh! the generous man!' thought he; what energy of character! what an enlightened mind! and what greatness of soul! And our good curé, who told me so often, that in the towns it was needful to be on our guard against thieves and rogues! My debut has been most fortunate; for here is a gentleman who sees me for the first time, and yet treats me with unequalled kindness.'

What are you thinking about?' demanded Finlappi. Ah! my worthy sir,' replied Paul, I think that I cannot sufficiently prize the chance which has brought me in contact with a man like you; and I should much wish, before going to Paris, to write to my parents, and tell them all my good fortune.'

Wait a few days. When you have seen the capital, when you have been presented at court (for it is necessary you should be presented at court), when, in fact, you are actually in the enjoyment of the splendid fortune which you hold in your hands, you will be much better able to gladden the hearts of your parents in recounting so many marvels.'

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"You say well, sir,' replied Paul; and I shall be able to send them from Paris many rich presents, which cannot perhaps be procured in Besançon.'

That is quite true. You shall send to the good lady your mother robes of velvet, laces to the young ladies your sisters, and damask arms and gold chains to your brothers.'

This time Paul regarded the jeweller with something more than suspicion; but the countenance of Finlappi betrayed not the slightest appearance of irony.

All right,' said Paul to himself, 'he speaks seriously, and it is certain that I am at this moment immensely rich.

Meantime the youth and his conductor had arrived at the middle of the Rue Battant, one of the most populous and bustling streets in Besançon.

'Look,' said Finlappi, showing to his companion a large house, the walls of which were blackened by time, 'there is the Hôtel du Croissant, the hotel of all the rich people and of all the gentlemen in the province. I shall myself introduce you; and to-morrow, if you wish to follow my advice, I shall send you a sum of money which will enable you to journey at your ease.'

Paul was no longer disposed to make the least objection to anything the jeweller said. He felt himself subdued, fascinated, by the look, by the tone of voice of this man, whom he regarded as the most noble and generous being that it was possible to find on the face of the earth. At night, when alone in the chamber that had been assigned to him in the hotel, after having made a hearty supper, like a man who does not need to restrict himself by any vulgar calculations of economy, he set himself to review in his mind all that he had beard; and as each word successively recurred to him, he felt penetrated with a delight altogether inexpressible. The jeweller, after hav

Two hours after his arrival in the capital, Paul was sauntering leisurely through the streets of the city, of which they talked at Mouthier as of a fabulous region. From the Rue Dauphine, where he had gone to lodge according to the directions of Finlappi, he very naturally directed his steps towards the Pont Neuf; and what was his astonishment, when, at the corner of that bridge, he perceived, in the midst of a chaos of people, horses, and carriages, the jeweller himself, who he believed to be yet at Besançon.

Eh, what!' cried he, overjoyed at the rencounter; 'my dear sir, is this you?'

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Yes, my young friend,' replied the jeweller, in a merry tone, it is myself in person as you see-same coat, same hat, same figure. I have found means of transport more rapid than yours. It is already two days since I came to town, and I have done something to the purpose. In the first place, I have seen the person of whom I spoke to you, and who I expect will buy the diamond. In the second place, I have found you a convenient residence, for you can only remain at the hotel for a short time. You shall live near the Palais Royal, the most elegant quarter of the world, with a house, servants, and carriage of your own; and this very day, if you please, you may commence the life of a gentleman. I have only to request you to confide the diamond to me, that I may show it to the person who wishes to purchase it. I shall immediately send you some thousand crowns for your present expenses spend your money freely, and when you require more, there is my address-write me or come and see me-my purse is open to you.'

Paul had experienced so many strange emotions in the space of eight days, that these words of the jeweller no longer surprised him. He accepted without any reflection the proposition that had been made to him; received the money transmitted to him without even looking at it; and freely installed himself in the dashing house procured for him by Finlappi. There is nothing in the world to which people habituate themselves so easily as a favourable change of fortune. From the moment that we come to have wealth, we seem to have been born for it, so speedily do we find ourselves at our ease-so soon, as if by a species of intuition, do we get accustomed to the manners and language of the rich man. At the moment of entering within the gilded and carved apartments where he was to reign as master, Paul, the innocent child of the village, felt himself instantaneously transformed. He assumed a tone high and sharp, and a gesture superb and imperious. At first he hesitated to ask certain services from his domestics; but he soon came to treat them without regard and without pity; he scolded, he fretted himself every moment, at the insolence of the one and the awkwardness of the other, at the meagre invention of his cook, or the laziness of his coachman. He was speedily surrounded with friends, all young men of the first distinction, swaggering in spangled dresses, with plumes in their hats and swords at their sides, and holding it an honour to cultivate the esteem of Paul and make themselves agreeable to him. At first they called him, in his own house, and in the circles which he gathered roun

the jeweller, to demand from him fresh bags of gold, he was at the very first stupified with the strange physiog || nomy of Finlappi.

Ah! Mr Gentleman,' said the old merchant, with an air of merciless mockery, you go it at a fine rate! I did think you a little simple and inexperienced, but certainly not to this point. In two words, you have devoured the fortune of a count. No doubt you are a marquis; but see-behold your receipts.' (The jeweller had been careful to obtain from Paul a receipt for each sum that he had given him.) For myself, however, I have not yet sold your famous diamond, and till it.is disposed of, I have nothing more to give you.'

"Nothing more!' cried Paul, who that very day had several obligations to meet.

'Nothing more!' repeated Finlappi, with a tone of mockery.

him, M. le Chevalier; but this was soon after changed, with unhesitating liberality, for the style of Baron. That one of his associates, however, who displayed for him the greatest devotion, declared that he could never reconcile himself to see his best friend restricted to so modest a title; that he knew from unquestioned sources, by researches made with D'Hosier himself, that Paul was a marquis, and that from henceforth it was incumbent on every one to call him by that title-and Paul, nothing loath, immediately assumed the designation of the Marquis du Bois. But if these friends offered each day striking proofs of their respect and admiration, and of their desire to see him figuring honourably in the world, he treated them on his part with superb generosity. Balls and spectacles, promenades and suppers, followed each other in rapid succession; the simple Paul paid for all the parties of pleasure that his friends conducted him to without a grumble; at the gaming-table and the bazaar, these agreeable gentlemen found themselves quite unembarrassed-this one had forgot his purse, the other had lost at cards his income for a year; but Paul, though losing himself, yet deemed he had wealth enough to gratify all the wishes of his companions, and redeem all their disasters. A respectable old man, who lived near him, and who met him from time to time, said to him one day: Take care, sir; these people are deceiving, robbing, and laughing at you. I have not the honour of your acquaintance, and you may perhaps think it strange that I I know that you are a young man of the highest propresume to give you this advice; but I do so from a charit-mise, and that you have the most noble friends in the able motive, and I hope it will not be thrown away.' world. Go and demand from them the few hundred thousand pounds that you owe me, and we shall be at one. Have they not sworn a hundred times that they were devoted to you in life and in death? and what is this but a miserable trifle for friends who so ardently love you P

'Indeed!' cried Paul; how dare you question the honour and delicacy of half-a-dozen perfect gentlemen? And he precipitated himself with fresh ardour into the tumult of enjoyments towards which he was beckoned by the plaudits of his allies.

It is hardly necessary to say, that such a mode of life caused the money he had received from the jeweller to pass very rapidly out of his hands. Three weeks had hardly glided away ere he again felt compelled to fall back on the coffers of Finlappi.

'Bravo! my young gentleman,' said the jeweller, seeing him enter his shop. I observe with pleasure, that if fortune has treated you generously, you are not one of those stupid beings who believe themselves obliged to hide from the eyes of the world the wealth they ought gaily to enjoy. I have not yet sold your diamond, but the affair, I expect, will very soon be settled. Meantime, to continue the course of your amiable existence, take this bag of gold, and do not spare it.'

While thus speaking, the jeweller had in his look, and in his voice, an expression of sarcasm, cold, wicked, which struck Paul as singular. The young adventurer, how ever, made no remark; he threw the gold carelessly into the pocket of his coat, and went with a light step to rejoin the cohort of his gay companions.

sum,

The week following he returned to demand the same and that demand he repeated some days after; for the society in which he lived attracted him more and more, and each new flattery of his pretended friends was like a new letter of credit drawn upon him, which he hastened to honour with a confidence quite unequalled. They, of course, loaded him with praises-lauded his exquisite taste, his polite conversation, his greatness of soul-every thing, from the tie of his cravat to the cut of his coat, which ought, they maintained, to attract the attention of the greatest lords, and make a revolution in the fashions. Already the king had noticed him in passing, and had testified a desire to see him. Ladies of high birth wished to draw him within their circles. They expected every instant the arrival of a gentleman of the bedchamber, who should come to request his appearance at a private levée at Versailles. At these unmeasured praises, Paul reared his head haughtily, viewed himself in the glass, assumed the attitudes of a fool, and handed over to his panegyrists, with a liberal hand, all that he possessed.

But when he presented himself for the last time before

Very well! then return me the diamond that I have intrusted to you.'

'I wish for nothing else, if you will have the goodness to reimburse me the sums that I have advanced to you.' 'Scoundrel!' exclaimed Paul, with an accent of fury. "That matters little, my young sir; each of us has his own business to mind. I have your diamond in my hands, it is true, but you have my money; return it to me with the legal interest, and every thing shall be settled.' But you know that is impossible.'

At these last words, pronounced with an air of most insulting irony, Paul could no longer contain himself; he flew upon the jeweller, seized him by the collar, and threw him on the floor.

'Help! help!' cried Finlappi, with a choked voice. At this moment a detachment of the watch appeared before the door; and hearing the outcry, the archers burst into the house, where they found the old jeweller on his knees, trembling and struggling under the vigorous hand of his youthful antagonist. Without deigning to listen to any explanation, they put an end to the scule by carrying both parties to prison.

As soon as Paul, crushed and frightened by such a catastrophe, had recovered his powers of reflection, he demanded pen and ink, and wrote to each of his faithful friends a letter in which he recounted the indignity that had been put upon him, the odious machinations of which he had been the victim, and concluded by calling for prompt relief. This correspondence finished and dispatched, he waited every moment to see appear in his dungeon all those worthy young men who had so often made to him such magnificent protestations. But one day, two days passed away, and no one came. On the evening of the third, while reclining wide awake on his couch of straw, his ear open to every sound, he heard the voice of a turnkey, who, thinking him asleep, said to one of his companions:

Would you believe that the young man in this cell, who has so simple a look, is a daring robber? He has stolen one of the richest diamonds from a magazine in Paris, and cheated an honest jeweller out of more than a hundred thousand pounds!'

'Really!' cried the other; 'is it possible P'

'Oh, yes! I can assure you of the fact; for that slashing thief, who has already been in prison for I don't know how many bad actions, and who calls himself the Vicomte de Basan, said so positively to our comrade Auguste, who carried a letter to him from this youngster.'

This scoundrel, this sham viscount, was the identical gay and smiling cavalier who had seemed most ardently attached to the fortunes of Paul, and whom the poor youth of Franche-Comté regarded as his most powerful and devoted friend. On learning this frightful truth of

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