The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1866-11-17 00:00:00

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A ROMANCE OF PARIS.

The yeti. correepoodent of the Court Journal sends ever

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One of the old, old Paris romances which were
wont in former times to be considered peculiar to
this place, bezause impossible of occurrence else Where,
furniehee the story of the week. It would be easy to
dramatise it, and perhaps more effective in the
telling were the subject treated in a dramatic' form.
But we prefer romance, and jhus we might say, The
lamp were all lighted for the recaption if guests at
one of the moot fashionable hotels in Faubourg St.
Honore. The dinner had been fixed at an earlier hour
than usual in consequence of the determination of the
fair hostess to chow all due honour to Patti on bee:first
appearance in the Tranata. The lady eat thus await-
ing her invitee, without impatience or anticipation.
She was stilendidly attired in the very height of the
mode, and ever and anon gave an admixing glance at
the jewels with which she was adorned, fir it we upon
the.e that ohe reckoned most of all for producing the
striking tffect she hod in view for that evening's dis-
play at the opera. The lady had passed the eruni.ter
on the coast of Brittany, and having been struck with
the singular and eccentric form of the °momenta worn
by the native women, had been at some pains tai form
a collection upon which ohe felt certain that the
fashion would be founded during the coming winter,
Thus Me was ,covered with old Celtic remains in pure
gold and Airs uncut precious 'Ware, ornaments of
uncouth ehape and myrerious attribution., and this,
too, with the short fourerau skirt and trim petticoat
of the time of Crreuze and the foie Bonaparte& She
bad taken up one of the novels of the day, full of
crime and terror, which almost make one believe that
murder itself elute become in fashionable accompli-h-
-ment ere long. As she read on her fancy wandered
from the bo,lc to her own ei,uveuirs, and she returned
hearty thank. to Fate for having inspired her with
the happy Ws of sending her own scapegrace
son to his uncle in the colonies, or he, too, might
have turned out exactly like the hero of whom
she had been reading, and, like him, noi4ht have
come to condemnation and the bane. What if she
had not heard of his arrival at Montaigne ? It Wee
natural enough that he should be sulky and punish
her for the decree which had sent him an exile from
the Boulevards; but, pohaw, no news is good news,
and the lady examined for the hundredth time the
singular inecrintions in the Celtic language on her dim,
niyotei iou&looking bracelet, wondered what her rival
fashionablee would think of the novelty, and, flinging
care to the winds, sank back upon the ...fa, and began
to reckon the t ime which had yet to elapse before depart.
jag for the opera. One by one the guestsbeeant.aeeice.
The men were gallant and amiable, the woman admiring
and envious, consequently all were agreeable. The
Celtic jewele were examined and commented upon, and
between admiration and envy. furnished the convene-
tion during two courses of the dinner, which is certainly
as great a SUCCti as can possibly be obtained by any
novelty whatever. Just as the dessert WM being dis-
cussed the footman in waiting approached the lady.
whispered something in her ear, the effect of which was
to make her turn pale and red by turns, and then to
cause her to beg permiesion to absent herself from the
dining-room for a single moment, and then abruptly
to ilieapt•ear. The dessert went on as men ily lal ever,
while the hostess herself, with alarm and anguish at
her heart, stole to the little study near the dining room,
and sank fainting into the armchair by the Sire, for
the agent of the police, announced by the footman, was
standing there awaiting her entrance! The communi-
cation he had to make was not lengthy. He merely
stated that of the three vagabonds condemned that
day by the Tribunal of the Seine for highway
robbery and attempt to murder, one—the one who had
refused to give hie real name, and had done all in his
power to incriminate himself on the trial—was supposed
to be her son, for sewn in the lining of his jacket had
been found • letter from herself, writing in • mother's
admonitory strain agatnot the evil courses the person
addressed was punning in Pfeil., and promises of for.
givenese on conviction of amendment. "But no, that
cannot be," gasped the lady, " my boy must be by
this time safe with his uncle in Martinique. My ser-
vant saw him embark o. board the —, and did not
leave the ship until compel], 1 to do no at the moment
of starting." 'the police agent shook his head and
smiled with pity. " Bnt the vein' went round to
fieriest's, and we have already ascrtained before
Applying to you that your son had then escaped. Look
at this letter, and tell me if you know the writing.
The boy is stubborn, and refuses to confetti, his name:
you alone can save turn." The lady could not chooae
but own the hand ;other signs served to convince her of
the awful truth, and before the agent had left the house
no doubt could romans upon her mind that the young
convict condemned only to five years' imprisonment,
while his companions in guilt were eentenced to the
bagne for life, could be other than her own son!

And pray where is the moral of this story, and why
do you consider it. elements so pectrliar to Psrie
Oh ! let us see! only because—The agent dismissed,
the lady returned to her guests. Her eyes were
swollen, and her look haggard and distressed, but she
was told that no sickness, or nerves, or headache
should prevent her from going to the opera, and, by
our most sacred word of honour, she did go, and what
is more, the Celtic jewels which she wore made the
greatest hit of the evening, and were begged the next
day to serve as a model for a set to be worn by the
highest lady in the land, who had heard of the effect
produced 6," the contrast of the pure dead gold
and the dim uncut stones. The next day she was
denied to her friends, who thought she was preferring
to enjoy her triumph all alone, while all the while
she was hurrying from judge to advocate, from gaol to
penitentiary, broken-hearted and despairing; and
when she returned home that evening it was with the
additional weight of many years' burtherg upon the
face and form, and a deep aorrow.in her heart which
Co triumph of fashion or beauty san• ever have power
to soothe.

THE PROSECUTION OF MR. EYRE.
--
The Jamaica Committee having been advised that
the facts disclosed in the report of the Royal Commis-
sioners afford • proper ground for an indictment for
murder to be preferred againat Mr. Eyre and the
other persons concerned in the trial and execution of
Mr. Gordon, and that no other mode of vindicating
the law in reference to those facts is open to them,
have instructed their solicitors to proceed forthwith
with an indictment agatust Mr. Eyre.
the Attorney•Getieral has decided that the retainer
which the Jamaica Committee t.ffered to Mr. Cole-
ridge, Q.C., and which was accepted by that gent'e-
man, is informal, and that Mr. Eyre's retainer is
coOiatiintly good. The Attorney-General, it to said,
-has decline* to state the grounds on which his decision
is based, • •-t-

In cannection with the shove we may remark that
the Jamaica newe Iwinight by the Atrat6 inform on
that all the prosecutions of civilians hitherto instituted
by the Goverment have broken down. It may be to.
membered that before the Royal Commissioners left the
island the magistrates at Spanish Town dismissed a
chargeo& , murder made against Provost-Marehai
Ramsey, for hanging summarily and of his own
1 motion 4 negrOnamed Mirehall whom a court-martial
had sentenced to be flogged., Thereupon Sir Henry
Storks at once directed the AttornerGeneral to
indict Ramsay at the next meeting of the circuit
court to be held at Morant Bay. We now learn the
result. The grand jury hare thrown out the bill, not
only in the csse of the pr vost rnanthal, but in that of
the two Cotiringtons, notorious in connection with wire
whips and floggings at Bath and of a Mr, Woodrow, &leo'
charged with excesses committed during the ontbeesk.
The feat Stlet.llB to be (remarks the Pall Mall Pew tte) that
public %anion among the ruling clams in Jamaica.
has overborne toe good intentions of the home and
col.meal government, who were nations that -strict
josfice should he done between the negro and the
white man. But if a local newspaper is to be orniitsti,'
the negroes themselvee are •leased with the provost-
marshal's acquittal; for when the result Was known
they are said to have "repeatedly cheered" him, both
at Morant Bay and in Kingenn. The temper of the t
people has changed, then. When the public
ease ppp-
d Mr Qin iateemO. Now.