e
Palais Royal brimful of mirthful reminiscences.

In this imperfect sketch of some of the leading French theatres and
actors, we have taken little opportunity of censure. We could notice but
a few, and have selected from the most worthy. In Paris, as elsewhere,
_pumps_, to use a green-room term, are plentiful. But in the higher
class of theatres they are in the minority; and moreover there is a
neatness and _tact_ in the performance of French actors, which, in the
less prominent characters, at least, goes some way to atone for the
absence of decided talent. A French comedian may be tame, he may be
incorrect in the conception of his part; he is rarely vulgar or
ridiculous. We refer, of course, to the actors allowed to figure on the
boards of the half-score good theatres in Paris. There is no lack of
inferior ones, where the laugh is more often at the performer than at
the performance. But most even of these will repay a visit, if not for
the sake of the actors, for that of the audience. Despised by the
fashionable and pleasure-seeking, they afford a rich field to the
observant man. He must not, it is true, be squeamish, and fear to let
the unsavoury reek of _tabac-de-caporal_, or the odours of potato brandy
and logwood wine come betwixt the wind and his nobility. Neither must he
dread contact with the mechanic's blouse, with the cotton gown of the
grisette, or the velveteen vest of the _titi_ of the Boulevards; he must
even make up his mind to see his neighbour, dispensing with his upper
garment, exhibit his brawny arms in shirt sleeves of questionable
purity. If he dare encounter these little imaginary contaminations, he
will find entertainment in the humours of the Boulevard du Temple; in
the pantomimes of the Funambules--once the scene of poor Debureau's
triumphs--and in the ten-franc vaudevilles of the Petit Lazari.

* * * * *

THE REIGN OF GEORGE THE SECOND.[16]

[16] "Memoirs of the Reign of George the Second; by Horace Walpole."
Edited by the late Lord Holland. 3 vols. Colburn: London.

Walpole, in giving his history to the world, renounces the title of an
historian. He proclaims himself simply a compiler; his volumes,
_Memoires Pour Servir_; and his chief purpose, simply, to give his own
recollections, day by day, of the men and things passing before his
eyes. Yet what historian has ever told his story with more spirit, ever
sketched his characters with more li