glorious examples of the proper use of the gifts of heaven, create every day a greater "lust for riches." To be the "Almoners of God" is the delightful prerogative of the opulent, and all must long for such a lot. Boston can proudly point to her Tuckerman and Channing, her Parker and Lawrences, with a score beside, who are creating for their beloved city, that sitteth on her triple hill, a name monumentum ære perennius, which shall outlive her sumptuous palaces, and the granite shaft on Bunker Hill. My sheet is nearly finished; were it twice as large, I could fill it with recollections of the deeds of her citizens, not only on the battle-field, but in the widow's cottage, and the garret of the sick labourer, often performed with such secresy, that the beneficiaries, ignorant who their earthly benefactors are, can only pay their gratitude to the invisible Parent of all good, whom in this they resemble. Such being the character of my countrymen, there is no need of kings and princes to build hospitals for us, for they are the indigenous and spontaneous growth of the soil.

XXXVIII.

Rachel. Her performance in Virginius. Execution by the Guillotine Jardin des Plantes. Governor of Coney Island. Military Music. The King. Count de Paris.

THE great tragic actress was a short time ago, when I saw her, the only performer of any eminence on the French stage. The close of her engagement was fast approaching, and it was necessary to go immediately, in order to witness a display of her great powers, before her departure for the provinces. With difficulty I obtained a ticket, four days previous to her appearance in the new tragedy of Virginius, written expressly for her, and which has created a furor, which seems unsusceptible of abatement. The fame, which she enjoys, I am convinced, now that I have seen her, is richly deserved, for Mademoiselle Rachel is a woman of no ordinary character. In person she is of medium height, well formed, but slight. Her face, though not homely, is neither a pleasant one, nor marked by any evident traces of uncommon genius. Her eyes are small and black, nose Jewish, mouth small, and possessing that disagreeable expression, very often seen in the company of projecting chins. Her teeth, like those of most of the French, are white and regular, hair dark, complexion light, and extremely pallid. This was ascribed by an old gentleman near me to two causes; a disease of the lungs, under which it is feared she is labouring, and to an imperfect recovery from a late sickness, attendant on childbirth-a frequent accident among young French misses. Nature has not been lavish to her exterior, but she has made up for this parsimony by showering upon her most liberally the choicest gems of intellect.

The play of Virginius is very well written. The old hackneyed portions of the literal history are avoided, as much as possible, and new and natural incidents are with much felicity introduced. In the second act Appius,

accused by the sister of the assassination of Icilius, declares it a falsehood. The words je le crois pronounced by Virginie, is one of the best points in the whole play. This act closes with the interest so highly excited, that I had great fear of its flagging before the consummation. On the contrary, it constantly increased, and I sat half breathing, till exhausted, I gladly saw the fatal stroke, which finished the matter, and gave me an opportunity again to respire without restraint. Refraining from a critical analysis of her acting, I have merely mentioned how I felt. The piece is of a very superior order, though possessing the ever-recurring rhyme, so disagreeable to a foreign ear. I say nothing against this, because I consider the poetry, as well as the particular religious developement of a nation, a sacred thing, to be respected by a stranger, who is unable, for obvious reasons, to appreciate the merits of either. Beside the great part of Virginie, those of Virginius Appius and Fabius, a Roman senator, afford scope for the display of consummate genius.

From the distress of dramatic fiction, and the emotions caused by the "counterfeit presentment" of the Roman girl, let us turn to the world's actual tragedy-a spectacle of terrible reality, where the emotions, if calmer, were yet stronger, and where a vastly larger company assembled to witness the awful catastrophe. It was an expiation made for the violation of the majesty of law, where the retributive death of the guilty closed the affecting scene, and the criminal suffered instead of the innocent. Having a great desire to see the far-famed guillotine, I had taken considerable pains to be forewarned of the first occasion, when it was expected "to perform." Great efforts are used to hinder the publicity of an execution, while, at the same time, those who desire to witness it are not prevented. The criminal, when sentenced to death, is left in ignorance of the day of his dreadful doom. The public are also uninformed. His sentence is made known in the gazettes of the day, but he generally suffers three days afterwards. It is said, that neither the jailor nor hangman know the precise time, till the previous night, when they suddenly receive orders to erect the scaffold. The prisoner is sometimes reprieved, and this for one month only. I had engaged a workman who labours near the barrier St. Jaques-an unfrequented part

of the city-to send me word when he observed preparations going on in the square. The guillotine is always erected between eleven and twelve o'clock on the night previous to the execution.

I was therefore aroused by his messenger at six o'clock A. M. I made such good haste, that I was dressed and on the spot at twenty minutes past six-having arrived there by running all the way, about two miles. I found quite a crowd already assembled, but it being some time before the fatal hour, I had leisure to inspect the instrument minutely. On a platform erected four or five feet above the ground, supported by legs and surrounded by a railing, was a frame-work rising to the height of between eight or ten feet. Those who have witnessed the operation of a spile-driver, will conceive a very good idea of its action and appearance. The whole was painted red. The cutting instrument resembled a Yankee hay-cutter, except that it was much larger. One corner, being placed lower down than the other, facilitated its operation. The axe, or knife, was fixed into a heavy block of metal, and drawn up nearly to the top of the frame. There it remained dull and sullen, like revenge awaiting its opportunity. Two companies of mounted municipal guards, and one of foot, with some twenty Sergents de ville, kept the square open till eight o'clock, the fixed hour. In the meantime the crowd augmented, and the women began to be quite numerous. One old woman was peddling a biography of the victim, and another endeavouring to let her stands and chairs, both screaming their merchandize at the top of their voices.

At eight o'clock precisely came the guard of cavalry at a fast trot, surrounding the covered cart, which contained the prisoner and a priest. The vehicle was backed up to the scaffold, the door behind was opened, the priest descended, and after him the criminal. The latter mounted the scaffold, accompanied by two officers, with a firm step. He was clothed in his usual dress, a blouse of blue cloth, but without a hat. The hair was cut short, that it might form no impediment to his speedy exit from the world. The officers quickly drew the blouse over his head, and he stood exposed with naked shoulders. He then began to scream with the intention of making himself heard by the crowd, as I thought, but like many un

accustomed orators, ignorant how to use his voice. It might have been an ebullition of either anger or fear. In France the liberty of speech is not permitted, and he was interrupted by the officers bending his neck, and placing his head in the groove destined to receive it. The collar, which was intended to check the least movement, was adjusted, and like the weight in the spile-driver on our wharves, the axe was drawn up to the top by the officers. It was instantly disengaged, and dropped: the head, dissevered completely, fell into a basket; and this officer's duty being finished, he descended. Two minutes did not elapse from the time he arrived, till his head was detached from his body. Without the smallest loss of time it was tumbled into a vehicle, similar to a hay-cart, his body tipped in after, a small guard escorted it beyond the barrier, and in five minutes from the entrance of the prisoner he was borne away, and the place left nearly vacant.The body was conveyed away for interment without the city for some hour or two, to be dug up again, and carried to the dissecting-room for anatomical purposes.

There are many methods of leaving the world, but I cannot imagine one which could be less painful and more agreeable than this-if any method of dying may be styled so;-with the single, but rather unpleasant exception of the scaffold, none certainly could be more expeditious. How much superior to hanging, where the criminal struggles long and hard often from the ignorance or carelessness of the hangman! From the guillotine, no pain can possibly be experienced.

Amateurs can see the operation of this celebrated instrument on a dog for twenty francs, on giving notice of their desire to the officer a week in advance. Jack Ketches of other countries have free admittance.

In regard to the victim on this occasion, he most richly merited his doom. It is true, as you will surmise, he was sentenced for an attempt to murder. The French law is in this respect much better than our own, which does not hang, unless the homicide is actually committed. In this case, I think it best "to take the will for the deed." The deceased was a species of pedlar, and had a boutique ambulent. He had several times attempted his wife's life, by hanging cords with nooses attached in blind passages,

R