nice dishes, and very good wine-We difcovered an evident defign to impofe upon us as Englishmen ; but my honest friend Macgregor restrained them within moderate bounds-We were well diverted with fome circumstances which I fet down-Our landlord affured us we fhould have dinner on the table, dans une bonne demi heur-After waiting an hour and an half, we called -the waiter, fomewhat a wit, and very much a knave, affured us that dinner fhould be ferved in a minute; but he added pertly, une minute ici eft composè d' une bonne quart d'heur. Our friend the Chevalier had before hand fo correctly fixed the rates of every article in our bill of entertainment, that the house had no extraordinary advantage to expect-The mettled waiter, however, tried to remedy this grievance, by whifpering to me that we might have a bottle of excellent Champaigne -I demanded the price-To which he gave an evafive anfwer-I then faid aloud, " Afk Monfieur le Cheva"lier if we fhall have a bottle of Champaigne, without fettling the price." The answer was laconic and decifive" Non." The lively waiter replied " Monfieur, cela eft fort diftin&t." So we had our entertainment for a very moderate reckoning. When I paid the bill, my friend defired me to give the waiter no more than 12 fous. However, I gave him two livres, which he received very thankfully, and acknowledged that he always had four times more from the English and Irish, than from his own countrymen-There are delightful walks at the Palais Royal, furrounded with rich, at least splendid shops, containing all forts of wares. It will be a monument to the memory of the prefent Duke of Orleans, and a great revenue to his family. Here I was conducted one evening, to see a very fingular fpecies of dramatic entertainment, performed by a company, called Les Petites comediens, de fon alteffee, the Duke's fon. The Royal Theatre has an exclusive right to exhibit plays-At this Theatre they have fallen upon a very curious artifice ta

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elude the privilege-The actors who appear on their ftage, do not speak one word; their lips move, and they go on with correfponding action and attitudes. But every word of the play is uttered with furprifing propriety and character by perfons behind the fcenes. The play was near over before this fingularity was difcovered to me, and others of our party. The whole was fo ftrangely managed, that we could have worn the visible actors were alfo the speakers.

The Bibliotheque Royal is a grand building, filled with books, manufcripts, bufts, medals, paintings. The Guard Meuble de Roy is another great building, which contains all the fine, rich, and curious fuperflui

ties of the monarch.

Here we faw, in great variety, armour, arms, ftatues, bufts, Chinese figures, tapestries, and feveral cabinets of precious flones richly ornamented-a mafs of valuable and splendid property, ufelefs to the owner, and only amufing to others--The king was ignorant of these precious ftores, till the emperor, who eagerly went about to fee every thing during his late vifit here, informed him of its exiftence, curiofity, and value;it is now open to be seen on one particular day of every month.-A company of us obtained a special warrant from the proper officer for access to it.-Though I was at no fmall expence for fashionable articles of dress, and kept a handsome carriage, I felt too old and aukward to afpire at, what is called, the best company and high life. Yet I renewed old acquaintances, and made fome agreeable new ones, both French and Britifh-My old acquaintance, Mr. Colbert, now bishop of Rodez, received, and treated me with many marks of liberal kindnefs. He is a man of fuperior talents, and highly esteemed in France.

At this time, Ld B1 bishop of D-y was at Paris ;-he honoured me with very obliging attentions-He is an extraordinary man, and appears to me remarkably pleasant, fpirited, and intelligent-He

has made the tour of Europe moftly on horfeback-He must be very kind and hofpitable to his clergy; one day at dinner he asked his principal fervant," how ma"ny hogfheads of claret did we ufe laft year?" The anfwer was, "Sixteen, please your Lordship."-Such instances prove the great benefit of dignities with high revenues in the church of Chrift, and how much it is advanced and improved fince the days of the apostles.

I became acquainted with feveral English travellers of distinction, particularly Mr. Hly, and Mr. Fs, fenfible and well-informed gentlemen, and both lately from the East Indies. I had the pleasure to be fometimes in company with Lord John Murray, the oldest general in the British fervice, paft eighty, the finest and most agreeable figure of an old man of fashion I ever beheld.

Somebody of my acquaintance informed the famous old natural philofopher, Monfieur Buffon, that I had a dog begot by a wild fox on a terrier bitch in the mountains of Scotland; He fignified, by a meffage, his defire to be fatisfied as to the truth of this matter.-I was not able to wait on him, as I intended; but I communicated to him the grounds of my belief." That the "original owner, a person of credit, affured me of the "fact:-I ftated his fierceness and furly temper, and his "conftant practice in the early part of every spring, to "commit fome depredation on young poultry, and to "hide his prey, till reftrained by fevere correction, as "indications of his parentage-That the figure of this "dog was very fingular, with a ftriking and hand"fome resemblance to the fox, in fhape and colour, "and other circumftances."-Had he lived to publish a new work, I fuppofe my dog would have made a figure in Natural Hiftory. At coffeehouses, and other places of public refort, this creature drew many curious perfons to converse with me-For fome hours in the forenoon, I had levees even from perfons of diftinction to vifit him, and I began to apprehend, that if I had

ftaid longer at Paris, he would have introduced me to too much good company of both fexes.

I have heard many fevere complaints against the Parifian tradesmen and inn-keepers for undue advantages upon ftrangers, of which I did not experience one inftance. Mr. Mary my banker, used me in the most liberal and candid manner; from my bookfeller Laureat, Rue Turrennou, I made many purchases of books, maps, &c. at very moderate prices. His wife, remarkably handsome, as well as good humoured and polite, furprised me indeed; when I made fome compliment on her beauty and blooming looks, fhe told me she was the mother of twenty children. My merchant taylor, was Henry Mitman, Rue de Sien; he served me unexceptionably. Mr. Courhon, au Palais Marchand, fupplied me with very fine, and indeed, coftly laced ruffles, without any fort of impofition. I had several wigs a la mode, from Monfieur at half the price they would have coft either at Edinburgh or London. I muft not omit fincere acknowledgements to my landlord and hoftefs at the hotel, for their civil treatment and moderate charge. In fhort, I am convinced, that no traveller is in danger of being impofed upon at Paris, if he is at due pains to inform himself concerning the character of the persons with whom he deals. Dealers at random with tradesmen and fhopkeepers, are no doubt in hazard of being cheated, but always in a more polite and obliging manner than any where else.

Though I believe Paris is the most agreeable place of refidence for young and gay people, or even for literary men in perfect health; yet I do not think it a proper place for valitudinarians. While there, I found my health declining-The air cannot be wholesome, where one is offended, in almost every quarter, with difagreeable or bad fmells-This, I believe is occafioned by the narrow dirty streets, and the universal practice of frying cookeries, which about dinner time of day, in feveral quarters, is almoft fuffocating.

To be continued.

Characteristical Sketches.

Lord North.

An

Of all the paffions that actuate the human mind, the love of power, especially after its fweets have been experienced, is perhaps the most difficult to fubdue. ex minifter, an antiquated beauty, and an orator who has fallen into neglect, are perfons whom the world take pleasure to mortify, without adverting to the pitiable fituation in which thefe perfons are placed. This is perhaps the greatest mark of barbarity that exifts in the manners of the prefent age. It is the highest eulogy of urbanity and civilization, that it tends to mitigate the evils of life, to pluck the thorn from the wound of the afflicted, and to foothe the mind, while under the preffure of misfortune: But in the cafes here fpecified, mankind seem to depart from a rule that ought to be univerfal, and are emulous in preffing forward, to add the wantonefs of infult to the load of distress, which, of itself, fits very heavy on the depreffed mind.

Few instances can exemplify the above remarks more fully than the fate of Lord North. This nobleman long occupied the place of first minifter in this kingdom; and during the time he held it, he had as unlipower, and met with as unbounded applaufe, and obtained an adulation as fervile from his adherents, as any other minifter ever experienced. He was, at last, like others, forced to relinquish the helm, and, like others too, has been fince obliged to experience the most degrading infults. Thefe infults, however, are not more degrading to him than the adulation he formerly received. They both equally tend to leffen the perfon who offers them, rather than him to whom they are offered.