distinguished by the patronage, or labouring under the dis pleasure, of the government, the verbal merits of a new tragedy, a prize-poem, or an inaugural address to the Institute, are the themes upon which it is permitted to the subjects of the great Emperor, to exhaust all their stores of invective and ridicule, and all their powers of research and criticism. It is almost incredible too, with what acrimony and passion, with what mutual acharnement and personal vindictivenesss, with what zeal and ostentation, even the most trivial of these points are discussed. At the same time it is equally curious and lamentable to observe, the total silence which prevails in regard to present, and truly important na tional interests; and how much laborious and pusillanimous caution is practised, to avoid whatever could awaken the jealousy of the government. From the uniform tenor of the productions of the French press, it is literally to be inferred, that not only is the Imperial system endowed with absolute perfection, but that the same perfection attaches to all who have even the most inconsiderable share in administering it; that whoever enjoys the imperial favour, can have no demerit of any description, and like the gracious dispenser himself, should be considered as both infallible and impeccable. Such is the wonderful effect of the police on public opinion.

I know not any trait of French slavery, which more strongly prompted me to exult in the political constitution, of my own country, than the one of which I have been speaking. You need not be informed, that I detest most cordially the scurrilous personal abuse with which many of our American newspapers are filled, and view it, in all cases, as an unerring indication of the utmost vulgarity of taste and malevolence of spirit; that I regard with equal abhorrence, the scandalous libels which are poured forth against the public men and measures of England, by the factious demagogues and desperate adventurers of that country. Yet this very licentiousness, odious and pernicious as it is, would seem something worthy of admiration and desire, compared with the opposite extreme as it prevails in France. When I recollect what I witnessed there with respect to this point, and particularly when I advert to the unvarying strain of fulsome adulation which the French nation is universally condemned to intonate as it were, towards the most contemptible, or the most criminal of mankind, I scarcely know, in what terms of satisfaction and approval, to speak of the privileges secured to us, by our happy form of government.

No free constitution is likely to be well administered, or

to endure long, unless the citizens possess and exercise the right of arraigning publicly the vices, and freely discussing, the capacity, of those, who are candidates for the national favour, or invested with national trusts. The practice of public and formal accusation by one individual against another, which prevailed in the commonwealths of antiquity, is in some sort the original of our modern liberty of the press. Machiavel pronounces it to have been of the utmost importance, to the security and prolongation, of those commonwealths, accompanied as it was, by the strictest regulations, for the suppression and punishment of calumny, the toleration of which, he at the same time declares, to be no less pernicious, than the liberty of just accusation is profitable, to a state. There is a passage concerning the general topic of the present paragraph, in the Discourses of this great master of the science of government, which I have always thought particularly remarkable, if we take into consideration the time at which he wrote. "Because it may happen," he observes, "that the people may be deceived by report or opinion, or perhaps by the actions of a man, believing them to be more meritorious than they are; in order that they may not want monitors, those who have laid the right foundations for a commonwealth, have provided, that when the great and supreme offices of state are to be filled, if the people seem disposed to the election of a person who is known to be incapable or improper, it shall be lawful for any citizen, nay even honourable to him, to publish his defects, that thereby his countrymen understanding him better, may make a better choice."

A stranger on entering France, and especially on arriving at the capital, should imprint deeply in his memory, the Italian aphorism, il viso sciolto, i pensieri stretti, or the lesson contained in the line of Horace,

Quid, de quoque viro, et cui dicas, sæpe videto.

He is constantly surrounded by spies who note down almost every word that he utters, who trace him in all his pleasures, who enregister all his acquaintance, and even the books which he may chance to collect about him, either for his amusement, or his instruction. Through the medium of his valet de chambre, the eyes of the police are upon him in his most private hours. The same vexation pursues indeed every individual, whether stranger or resident, who keeps a native servant, as this class of domestics are suffered to follow their occupation, in the

* Discorsi, lib. 1. cap. vii. tId. lib. 3. cap. 32.

metropolis and large cities of the empire, only upon condition of performing the tasks prescribed by the police. They are all, without exception, enrolled and licensed at the Prefecture.

A stranger, as soon as he comes within the limits of the empire, is reported, by various channels, to the head-quarters of Espionage at Paris, and there accurately known antecedent to his arrival. The extent of the system may be illustrated by a genuine anecdote on this head, which is related of one of our countrymen. The person to whom I allude, a thoughtless youth of twenty-two, reached the French metropolis, which he then visited for the first time, at about five o'clock in the afternoon, and was conducted by his postilion to a principal hotel, with the name and position of which, he himself was utterly unacquainted. Having learned from a newspaper which he had read on the road, that a piece was to be performed that evening at the grand opera, and being impatient to witness this spectacle, he merely gave himself time to change his dress, before he sallied forth under the guidance of the porter of the hotel, without leaving his name with the master, or making any inquiry concerning the mansion at which he had alighted. He arrived at the opera in good time, and procured a seat in the pit; but such was his eagerness, on the subject of the miraculous exhibition, of which he had heard so much, that he even neglected to instruct his guide to remain in waiting, in order to conduct him back. The issue will be readily foreseen. At the end of the representation, he found himself in the centre of Paris, at a late hour of the night, an utter stranger to every thing about him, and without any clue whatever to his lodg ings, where, in addition, he had left the whole of his baggage. He wandered for some time about the rue Richelieu, and the neighbouring streets, and at length in despair, entered a large hotel, which proved to be a public one. He called for the master, and made out, with the smattering of French which he possessed, to explain to him his situation. The lat ter could suggest no better expedient for his relief, than that he should remain where he was that night, and the next day apply to the records of the police, for information concerning his own address. Our traveller acquiesced, and in the morn. ing at an early hour, proceeded accordingly, with his new host, to the Prefecture, not a little abashed at his ridiculous situation. On mentioning his name and errand to the director of the proper" bureau," he immediately obtained the particulars he wanted, and was good-naturedly advised to be more cautious on another occasion. He was at the same time convinced, by the minute description which was shown to him of his

person, that had he even forgotten his name, the police officer would have had no greater difficulty in finding it, than in indicating his lodgings.

On the entrance of a stranger into any part of France, the passport furnished by his own government is taken from him, and transmitted to Paris. Within three days after his arrival in that metropolis, he is to appear at the Prefecture of police, in order to withdraw this passport, and to procure a permit either of residence or departure, according to his intentions. As he is liable to be interrogated at any time, or in any situation, by the public authorities, with respect to his personal concerns, he does well to have constantly about him, the carte de sureté, or "protection," which he obtains from the police. For the renewal of this, he is compelled to make frequent visits to the Prefecture, as it is generally given but for a short term. When he is about to leave the capital, he must provide himself with passports both from the department of police, and that of foreign affairs. In no case is any thing of the kind given to him, in less than twenty-four hours after his application; within which time, a more particular scrutiny is instituted into his character and views. The inhabitants of every part of the empire, not domiciliated in Paris, are subject to nearly the same regulations. The Parisians themselves are all enregistered on the lists of the police, and entirely at its mercy. There is neither appeal, nor hope of redemption, from any extraneous aid, where its authority is interposed. No Frenchman can travel in the interior without a passport; nor even journey from one department to another. The youth particularly, on account of the conscription laws, must be guarded by voluminous certificates.

All housekeepers of the metropolis who receive under their roof, strangers of any description, whether foreigners or Frenchmen, relations, friends, or common lodgers, are enjoined to give in their names, and passports within twenty-four hours, to the Commissary of police for their particular district, the metropolis being divided into a number of police-districts, each of which has its commissary, its brigade of peace-officers, &c., who make a daily and regular report of what they have "done, seen and heard," both verbally and in writing. Persons arrested in consequence of not being able to produce a passport or permit of residence, or from any other cause, are conducted to what is called the dépot of the Prefecture,-a vast suite of cells for provisional imprisonment. They are there interrogated, and either dismissed, or detained, as the case may seem to require. By an order from the police, any

"----མ

private individual whatever, may be dragged from his bed, at any hour of the night, and buried beyond the reach of succour or inquiry, in these gloomy recesses of despotism. At the instigation of a foreign minister, the same power is ready to take any one of his countrymen into like custody, to hold him in imprisonment for the length of time required, or to banishe him from the empire. The foreign minister, however, is ut terly unable to afford protection or to administer relief, in cases where the police acts from its own proper motion.

During my residence in Paris, I was twice particularly summoned before this tribunal, and subjected to interrogatories. On the second occasion,-after my return from England to France, the order was handed to me by a soldier, while I was sitting at breakfast. It required my immediate presence at the Prefecture, pour affaire pressée. I accompanied the bearer thither without delay, and after waiting for some time, in the dark passages, leading to the lower apartments of the edifice, was at length admitted into one of them, wherel found a principal officer of the establishment,-un commis saire-interrogateur-prepared to examine me. No person can be introduced into a "bureau" upon any consideration whatever, but by virtue of a special order to that effect, from the superintendant.

The ostensible motive of the summons in my case, was the circumstance of my having neglected to demand a permit of residence, within the period prescribed to travellers. I was, however, questioned on matters of a more general nature, at first, with an air of some severity. My inquisitor at length said something incidentally, concerning the literature of Eng land. This led to an easy conversation between us on the subject. His brow was soon smoothed, and I was dismissed with some civil phrases, and an injunction to fulfil immediately the duty I had omitted. Thus was I, to use a French phrase, quitte pour la peur, for I must confess, that I was not a little uneasy at the first steps of the process, and by no means under the expectation of being so speedily liberated.

If the interior of the Palais royal deeply affected my ima gination, that of the Prefecture of police exerted over it an influence still more harrowing. I never entered the latter edifice without experiencing un serrement de cœur, an immediate contraction, and for some time after a heavy oppression, of the heart, arising not from apprehension,-for which there could be no cause at the time when I went thither, in order to obtain a renewal of my permit of residence, but from the disgust with which the place inspired me, and the train of misanthropic reflections to which it gave rise. I left it uni