erstition is now
as much out of date as a heavy coach upon the Great North Road. Spectres
may occasionally be seen at the Gymnase, but they are very material,
flesh-and-blood sort of goblins, well known as impostors, even to the
scene-shifters. This need not prevent any aspiring young novelist,
desirous of coming out in the ghastly and ghostly line, from profiting
by our hint, and producing, after a little preparatory cramming with
Mrs. Radcliffe and the Five Nights of St. Albans, what the newspapers
call "a romance of thrilling interest" on the subject of the gay Gymnase
and its grave foundation.

Built in 1819, the Gymnase "was originally intended, as its name
denotes, to be a kind of preparatory school for dramatic aspirants,
whence the most promising actors and actresses were to be occasionally
transferred to the different royal theatres." For some years--from 1824
till the July Revolution--it was known as the _Theatre de Madame_, and
was under the special patronage of the Duchess of Berri, whom the
manager had propitiated by sending a part of his company to amuse her
when bathing at Dieppe. At that time it ranked immediately after the
theatres royal, taking the precedence of the Vaudeville and other
minors. Shorn by the Revolution of its honours and privileges, its
favour with the public suffered little diminution. For many years Bouffe
performed there, and there achieved his greatest triumphs. At the
Varietes he has not been so well catered for by the dramatists. The
present company at the Gymnase is very good. Bressant, Ferville, Numa,
Klein, and Achard, are excellent actors. In actresses, also, the theatre
is well provided, and the whole tone of its company and performances is
such as to render it one of the most correct and agreeable in Paris. But
the gem of the Gymnase, its grand attraction, to our thinking, is that
delightful little actress, Rose Cheri. Never, assuredly, was a pretty
name more appropriately bestowed. Her plump, fresh, pleasant little
face, reminds one of the _Rose_, and _cherie_ she assuredly is by the
hundreds of thousands whom her graceful and tasteful performance has
enchanted. Mademoiselle Cheri, who is only one-and-twenty, made her
"first appearance upon any stage" at the somewhat early age of five
years. "She acted the part of _Lisette_, in the _Roman d'une Heure_, for
the amusement of her parents, (the other two characters being sustained
by two of her playmates;) and the talent displa