oduce the most harmonious effect. This college and church form a noble
establishment, situated in one of the most commanding eminences of the
town. From some parts of it, the flying buttresses of the nave of the Abbey
of St. Ouen, with the Seine at a short distance, surmounted by the hills
and woods of Canteleu as a back ground, are seen in the most gloriously
picturesque manner.

But the printer who does the most business--or rather whose business lies
in the lower department of the art, in bringing forth what are called _chap
books_--is LECRENE-LABBEY--_imprimeur-libraire et marchand de papiers_. The
very title imports a sort of _Dan Newberry's_ repository. I believe however
that Lecrene-Labbey's business is much diminished. He once lived in the
_Rue de la Grosse-Horloge_, No. 12: but at present carries on trade in one
of the out-skirting streets of the town. I was told that the premises he
now occupies were once an old church or monastery, and that a thousand
fluttering sheets are now suspended, where formerly was seen the solemn
procession of silken banners, with religious emblems, emblazoned in colours
of all hues. I called at the old shop, and supplied myself with a dingy
copy of the _Catalogue de la Bibliotheque Bleue_--from which catalogue
however I could purchase but little; as the greater part of the old books,
several of the _Caxtonian stamp_, had taken their departures. It was from
this Catalogue that I learnt the precise character of the works destined
for common reading; and from hence inferred, what I stated to you a little
time ago, that _Romances, Rondelays_, and chivalrous stories, are yet read
with pleasure by the good people of France. It is, in short, from this
lower, or _lowest_ species of literature--if it must be so designated--that
we gather the real genius, or mental character of the ordinary classes of
society. I do assure you that some of these _chap_ publications are
singularly droll and curious. Even the very rudiments of learning, or the
mere alphabet-book, meets the eye in a very imposing manner--as in the
following facsimile.

[Illustration]

_Love, Marriage_, and _Confession_, are fertile themes in these little
farthing chap books. Yonder sits a fille de chambre, after her work is
done. She is intent upon some little manual, taken from the _Bibliotheque
Bleue_. Approach her, and ask her for a sight of it. She smiles, and
readily shews you _Catechisme a l'usage des Grandes Filles pour e