up, too, a pittance from their wages, to expend in a souvenir
for 'Dinah' or 'Pompey,' the never-to-be-forgotten belle or
sweetheart."

CHRISTMAS IN FRANCE.

The following account of Christmas in France, in 1823, is given by an
English writer of the period:--

"The habits and customs of Parisians vary much from those of our own
metropolis at all times, but at no time more than at this festive
season. An Englishman in Paris, who had been for some time without
referring to his almanac, would not know Christmas Day from another
day by the appearance of the capital. It is indeed set down as a _jour
de fete_ in the calendar, but all the ordinary business life is
transacted; the streets are as usual, crowded with waggons and
coaches; the shops, with few exceptions, are open, although on other
_fete_ days the order for closing them is rigorously enforced, and if
not attended to, a fine levied; and at the churches nothing
extraordinary is going forward. All this is surprising in a Catholic
country, which professes to pay much attention to the outward rites of
religion.

"On _Christmas Eve_, indeed, there is some bustle for a midnight mass,
to which immense numbers flock, as the priests, on this occasion, get
up a showy spectacle which rivals the theatres. The altars are dressed
with flowers, and the churches decorated profusely; but there is
little in all this to please men who have been accustomed to the John
Bull mode of spending the evening. The good English habit of meeting
together to forgive offences and injuries, and to cement
reconciliations, is here unknown. The French listen to the Church
music, and to the singing of their choirs, which is generally
excellent, but they know nothing of the origin of the day and of the
duties which it imposes. The English residents in Paris, however, do
not forget our mode of celebrating this day. Acts of charity from the
rich to the needy, religious attendance at church, and a full
observance of hospitable rites, are there witnessed. Paris furnishes
all the requisites for a good pudding, and the turkeys are excellent,
though the beef is not to be displayed as a prize production.

"On _Christmas Day_ all the English cooks in Paris are in full
business. The queen of cooks, however, is Harriet Dunn, of the
Boulevard. As Sir Astley Cooper among the cutters of limbs, and
d'Egville among the cutters of capers, so is Harriet Dunn among the
professors of one of the most necessary, an