A tap aroused him. "Childe, you made that youth 66 Why, Forde, what would you?-Not a viper's tooth I saw him suffer at the ball; in truth, I care not for my p's and q's, not I, In helping out a youngster; twere but reason I met the general, a known man of spirit, Conversing with our host in his bluff tone. "Your father's nom-de-guerre ;-not know it, boy? Cromwell, who cannot prudently dispense "Wait for the introduction, which our friend Now to our lady-loves; they recommend We should taste this new-fangled drink, which may Prove a good hit; coffee I think they style it, And promise me the true receipt to boil it. "Stay; one more turn,-we've time for't. Walter Childe, Yon used th' old cynic scurvily, I trow, Much worse than when, bit by some crotchet wild, I hoped to get you stuff'd, and reconciled To reason, at my breakfast. Don't you know I wrote a note you should have got by eight? "Well, Walter, as you know, I am right sparing Now you're a county man-thank God for that!- "My good true friend."--" Nay, come, I bear no spite: And manner; persevere; so use your might Of mind and body, that before Heaven's throne You may stand straight, when death shall drop the curtain; Remember, man, like fortune, is uncertain. "Now, come along; give a lame man your arm,— A special strong one: but the days are past. I hope, for using it in mortal harm; Aud now, my lad, you've put in bail at last For good behaviour-'faith, your bride would charm An old Diogenes of my rough cast: (Well, here we are)-what must she be to you? You've won her, Wat, and you deserve her too. "Now go and fight your old campaigns anew; 66 And then again I see my Henry too Do himself justice in the county's eye : He always was a person to be loved, But really he's to-night so much improved!" "I like your son; I always did, good madam: I think he likes me too, though old and bluff. If not the humblest of the sons of Adam, He has a head and heart of sterling stuff. Half of his real pretensions, if they had 'em, Would make one half his censurers vain enough, Which Poyntz is not; and prouder far than he Was, or I think, is ever like to be. "Friendship has drawn him out to-night. I see. The liking he first took to Walter Childe Was a good trait, not thrown away on me. And now his friend's success has driven him wild "You would not think it; he's extremely shy To cut up those they cannot understand. The coach and four was under weigh at last, And a great favourite; conversation's power I fear this indecorum's of a piece With her past talk of agencies and aunts, For that's beyond me,-cater for the wants But, if required, I'll mend it with a cento Nel con non piu lo sento!-bravo! go it!— For travell❜d ladies say, and doubtless know it, That Tuscan speech embodies love sublime Better than accents of our colder clime. Meantime twill haply edify us more To leave the staid and silent trio-true, Silent, because the lady did not snore, As I've heard ladies in their siestas do, And in the festive hall, now flowing o'er With revellers, just trace a cause or two Of the prevailing tale, that our true knight Was, like a Sabine damsel, won in fight. THE SUPPER OF BACCHUS. VENUS and Bacchus of a night Sat tête-à-tête to sup together, The fire beside them blazing bright- Was, "Hang old Care, and let's be merry." I give their very words, like Flaccus, "Ho! Mirth, my gay old boy!" cried Love, By Jove!" said Mirth, "I'm rather dry, Could relish it, I guess, at present." Mirth set them soon in such a roar, That Venus nearly died from laughter.. They sang and joked the goblet o'er, And ne'er more fun the veil of night hid; For never yet assembled four Whom song and frolic more delighted. In vain he sought for help around him- And hold his wine in like aversion. In vain the fools will strive to wean us From nectar glorious Bacchus quaff'd, With laughing Mirth, and Love, and Venus! B. J. M. THE PARISIAN CAFES. BY THE AUTHOR OF 66 A PARISIAN SABBATH." THE traveller may search Europe over, and he will find nothing to correspond throughout with the estaminets, the restaurants, and the cafés of Paris. The general distinctions between them are these: —an estaminet is a place where tobacco is smoked, various sorts of beverages are drunk. and generally cards and billiards played. A res taurant is one where breakfasts and dinners are eaten. A café is another, where breakfasts are taken, dominos played, and where coffee, ices, and all refreshing drinks may, at any hour, be enjoyed. In Paris there are more than four hundred cafes. Of these the most ancient is the Café Procope, which may still be seen in the Faubourg St. Germain. It was established by an Italian named Zoppa. Opposite to it once stood the Comédie Française. This theatre gave place to the studio of Gros, the famous painter; that studio vanished, and now a paper magazine is on its site. The Café Procope still survives. It has, however, somewhat changed in the character of its frequenters. Formerly the resort of Rousseau, Freron, Voltaire, and the epigrammatic Piron, it is now chiefly patronized by students of law, medicine, and literature. There do they assemble in their lofty sugar-loafed hats, republican locks hanging over their shoulders, unwashed beards, and negligent attire, to chat with the damedu-comptoir, joke about the Pandects, and play at dominos. For this last sport they seem to have a perfect passion. The custom is to play for breakfasts. The losers then play among themselves, and it is not unusual for him who at ten o'clock entered, and merely called for his petit pain, and café au lait, to retire at the hour of four, having first deposited some fifty francs with the divinity of the place, or at least obtained from her a tick for that small sum. This is the genuine frequenter of the Café Procope. Sometimes, however, you will there see authors and artists, as Gustave Planche, Gigoux, the young painter, Henri Fournier, Eugene Renduel, and others, but no dramatists. The theatre has abandoned St. Germaindes.Prés. The other noted cafés on this side the Seine, are the Voltaire, the Moliere, and lastly the Desmares, an aristocratical resort, where silent and stern deputies from the extreme droit often congregate. But if you would see the Parisian cafes in all their peculiarities and magnificence, go over the Seine into the vicinity of the Palais Royal, or walk along the Boulevards. There is a café, peculiar, though not very magnificent,-in a little dark street near the Halle au blé, I mean the Café Touchard. At a certain season of the year, all the provincial actors and actresses, who, coming up to this wide theatre of human exhibition, desire to engage their professional abilities for the winter, assemble at this cafe. It is then a sort of foire aux comédiens. The directors of operas and theatres, in huge white cravats folded consequentially about their chins and mouths, here meet, and converse with them in significant and majestic mode. They scan them up and down, listen attentively to their pronuncia. tion, read over their recommendations, and if the adventurer be a female, 'scrutinize carefully her teeth, gait, and smile. If in these last three items she be unexceptionable, you will see her, a fortnight hence, at the Variétés. If she have a strong arm, a stentorian voice, and can look the termagant, the director of the Theatre Porte St. Martin is sealing an engagement with her. If she have a spiritual face, and a polished, lady-like bearing, she stands a chance for a place among the third and fourth-rate artists at the Théâtre Français. In the Place du Palais Royal is the Café de la Régence. This is the great resort of chess-players. Formerly it was much frequented by Jean Jacques, and other distinguished men. Here was likewise the scene of Philidor's triumphs. The garçon, if you ask, will show you the very spot where the world-renowned player was wont to sit, and marshal kings, bishops, and knights. Enter the café at midday-there are some fifteen or twenty matches playing. What universal silence!--what intent expression! The automaton of Maelzel himself could not look more gravely or ponderingly. Observe that venerable man in the corner, his bald head protected by a black day-cap; his face reposes between his two hands, resting on his elbows. There does not seem to be much significance in his gaze upon the board before him. He is indeed a picture of abstraction; he has actually forgotten with whom he is playing. In vain the garçon reminds him of the bavaroise he ordered. Before his fleshy eye is that small battle-ground, with those stationary armies; but in his men. tal vision these ranks are all in motion. Look-those pawns have now been swept from the field. That knight is in possession of yonder castle. The queen, dashing to the right and to the left, has cried havoc; and those fearless old bishops with a single pawn have checked and then checkmated the king. His design now springs into the hand of the player, and quick as a flash it is embodied in his move. There are still good players at the Café de la Rêgence, but its grand players have passed away; and, with many a once-famed but now deserted favourite in Paris, may it exclaim, in the words of Charles V. at his convent,-"Ah, mes beaux jours, où êtes vous ?" At one end of the Palais Royal is the Café des Aveugles et du Sauvage. It is subterranean. You descend, too, in more senses than one, when you visit it. Its name is derived from the fact that its orchestra is composed of half a dozen blind men, thither every evening led from the Hôpital des Quinze-Vingts, to accompany with their instruments a man costumed like a savage, while rolling horribly his eyes, and still horribly grinning, he plays the battle of Wagram on a drum. This is evidently a low resort. Nothing is demanded for admission; but when you have entered, you are expected to take something, and, on paying for it, you find your coffee costing twenty sous, instead of eight. The scene of youths, and even old men, with arms in loving proximity to certain necks, may not be strictly evangelical; but yet you who wish to study every phase of Parisian life, will hardly pass under the Arch of the Columns without for a few moments dropping in to see the blind musicians, and hear the battle of Wagram. In the Place de la Bourse, and immediately behind the Exchange, is the little Café du Report. It is the Exchange for women. From the grand Bourse they are excluded by a decree of the Tribunal of Commerce. Their passion for speculation, however, is not to be thus quenched. They gamble away fortunes, sipping orgeat in the |