The Sun.
London, England, 1841-09-15 00:00:00

'1

PARIS CORRECTIONAL POLICE

It was three o'clock in the afternoon, the rain fell in
torrents, there was no possibility of the petit pierl
mignon of a pretty woman trusting itself to the pe'rilous
navigation of the streets ; equally impossible was it to
adventure the gossamer textures of a graceful, light,
and fashionable toilet in the teeth of a weather the most
brutally intemperate, the least gallaut and considerate
in the world. To remain at home was, alas! inevita-
ble ; and, at the very hour when fashion sanctions the
promenade of elegasit Parisians, the fairest dames of
the Chaussee d'Antin were compelled to remain stretch-
ed at full length -on a rasesseuse, and seek in the demi
sommeil of the boudoir, or the profoundly lethargic
perusal of the last new novel, oblivion of the horrid
weather and the enjoyments which it rendered impos-
sible. Such was the resolution taken on one
of those unnatural days which have upset the seasons
of late by a charming young widow, net yet ads anced
beyond her 20th year, as in Ler own eyes, and the re-
flection of her mirror, she looked the fairestflower tha-
adorned her elegant boudoir in the Rue Ilauteville.
Too young to has e recourse to vapours, megrims, or
books of piety, when the sky was thick and overcast,
the genlille widow took refuge, from the assaults of the
demon ennui, in a languid Oriental siesta, and a new
romance. which had become with much complaisance iin
accomplice in the designs of Morpheus, had fallen on
the carpet :rom the rose-tipped fingers of the belle
doemense.

She had slept thus for about half an hour, when
a young and pretty so hbrette (none else figure in ro-
mances or police reports) get,tly opened the door,
and penetrated noon the extremities of her toes,
like Mademoiselle Taglioni in La Sylphide, into the in-
terior of the boudoir.; the rustling of her garments was
sufficient to awaken the exquisitively sensitive mistress,
" You were sleeping, Madame ?" " What is it you
want, Annette?" " A gentleman, Madame. wishes to
speak to you." " A genilman ? Do I know him ?"
" I don't think you do, Madame. He calls himself
Monsieur Caesar, and says that he has an affair of the
utmost importance to communicate to you." "Is he
young?" " From seven-and-tsenty to thirty years old,
sports primrose kids, rather a fine figure—" " Show
him in."

While the soubrette proceeded to announce to the
visitor that he had permission to present himself to the
mistress of the mansion, the buxom widow threw a
rapid glance at the mirror before her, drew her 'morning
gown jauntily over her shoulders, retouched her auburn
ringlets, and soon appeared sufficiently sitisficd with
herself to dare to expose her person to the inquisitive
looks of a stranger. At last she assumed a graceful
pose on the divan, and exclaimed " Failes entree."
A gentleman dressed in the most outrageous stela of
fashion, cravatted, pinched up, ringleted, and perfumed,
entered the boudoir with something of an embarrassed
air, saluted the 14cly with the most profound respect,
and expressed himself in these terms :—" I cannot be
deceived, Madame, it was certainly you that I had the
honour of seeing yesterday in the Tuilleries garden"—
" Monsieur, en efet, I was yesterday at the Tuilleries?
hut may I ask —?" " I was perfectly certain I was not
mistaken. It is impossible, ti.ough one should have
seen it but for a moment, to forget that enchanting
grace, that"--" Pardon me, Monsieur, it is surely
cot for the purpose of paying compliments tiiat you
have taken the trouble to"--" No, Madame, it
is a genuine service that I am about to render
you." " A moi, Monsieur ?" " Did you lose no-
thing yesterday in the course of your promenade ?"
Ido not think it." " Pardonnez moi, you lost
this charming little beast." With these words the
strange gentleman drew from his coat pocket a very
pretty little white poodle, with a long silken coat, a
love of a little darling. and a true chien de Marquise.
"Monsieur," said the lady, though her teeth watered
the while, " you are deceived ; this dog does not be-
long to me." "Eh Neu ! Madame, he belongs to you
from this moment, if you will only permit me to do you
the homage of presenting him to you." " You are too
good, Sir. Not having the honour of your acquain-
tance, I cannot think--"

" Madame, it depends only on yourself whether I
shall have the felicity of being known to you ; if you
should but deign to authorize my occasional visits "
" Monsieur,"taid the young widow, rising with a pretty
pout, " your visit and your request are both extremely
singular ; I trust that this pleasantry may not be
further prolonged."
The lady rang for ber femme de "chambre, who
straightway appeared, having probably taken liberties
with the key-bole, and ordered her to show Monsieur
Caesar to the street-door. The latter, however, burn-
ing with shame, and irritated by his discomfiture, was
very far from being zealous in yielding obedience to the
lady's orders. " Madame," he exclaimed, throwing
himself on his knees, a l'Opera Comipe, "pardon a
ruse, which was dictated by tht most violent love, the
most sincere affection. For many a long month I have
adored you, and to secure the happiness of being but
for a few moments in your presence, l have conceived
the plan of offering you this charming little dog. Oh,
for the love of --, do not refuse him !"

The offended widow repeated her command to the
gentleman to quit her apartments, and carry his " nasty
beast" with him. Words were exchanged between
them with some vivacity, and with not a little spite.
Tha dog took part in the quarrel, and began to hark
with an importunate zeal, which provoked the lady to
such a degree, that she presently invited him, with her
mignon foot, to pats to the other side of the door. But
the spunky little annimal, turning round upon her in
wrath, recklessly attacked her debonnaire person, and
speedily made his escape, carrying with him a conside-
rable fragment of her exquisite robe of mousseline de
laine. M. Caesar followed his dog, and the soubrette
followed Caesar, lustily insisting on being paid the price
of her mistress's " ruined robe."
The affair came at last before the correctional tri-
bunal. Monsieur Ccesar's defence was curious. He
alleged that his reason for not paying the price of the
robe was that he was desirous of being " pulled up" for
the exnress purpose of seeing once more the inhuman
fair. Proud as his Roman namesake, the defendant
volunteered to pay for a whole wardrobe, and even to
give both his hand and his name to his fair antagonist.
But the latter repulsed with cold disdain the advances
of a man who condescended to take his seat on the de-
fendant's bench of a public tribunal.
The unfortunate M. Caesar was himself condemned
to 25 francs damages and 25 francs costs, as well for
violating his neighbour's domicile a; for being an accom-
plice in the degradation of her garments. Having de•
posited his rouleau of 5 franc pieces with an air, he
announced his determination of registering an appeal
against the judgment of the Court, not because he
considered it too severe, but solely to have the happi-
ness of one more peep at the cruel widow in the Cour
Royale.

STEAM COACHES ON COMMON

ROADS.

On Monday afternoon a steam coach, belonging to
Mr. Hills, proprietor of the Chemical Works at Dept-
ford, and which has for some time past been running on
the Kentish roads, took a trip to Seven Oaks. The
steam coach in question is 16 feet in length, weighs
about four tons, and has two engines, each of six-horse
power. The cylinders are 10 inches in diameter, with
18 inches stroke, and the engine works at between
601bs. and 701bs. to the square inch. At thirty-one mi-
nutes atter one o'clock the steam was announced to be
" up," and Mr. Hills, wbo manarred the machine, pro-
ceeded to thread the mazy ins and outs which lead from
his factory to the Deptford main road, stopping, start-
ing, and guiding the vehicle with great precision and
facility. In consequence of the numerous vehicles pass-
ing to and fro, the rate was necessarily very slow until
the coach passed the Eltham-road (a little beyond the
five mile stone), which it did at seventeen minutes
before two o'clock, when the steam was put on, and the
rate increased to about fifteen miles per-hour. At
Bromley Common and the Polhill Arms, where Mr.
Hills has stations, water was taken in, a stoppage of
about two minutes being made at each place, and at
eight minutes past three o'clock the coach arrived at
Seven Oaks, making the journey, about twenty miles,
in one hour and thirty-seven minutes, stoppages in-
cluded. At seventeen minutes after three o'clock the
coach started on its return for Mr. Hills' factory at
Deptford, which- it reached at twelve minutes be-
fore five o'clock, making the return journey in one
hour and thirty-one minutes. This line of road,
it will be recollected, presents many very heavy
hills, some of which have, it is stated, a rise of one
foot in ten. In ascending these hills, which it did at
the rate of from six to twelve miles per hour, the
coach came thrice to a dead stop. The first of these
stoppages took place at the short but sharp ascent
which commences immediately after leaving Greenwich-
hill for Lewisham, the second in ascending Seven Oaks-
hill, and the third (in returning) at the abrupt ascent
which presents itself at the diverging of the Lewisham-
road towards Greenwich-hill. Neither of the stop-
pages exceeded two minntes, and they were stated to
have been occasioned by the imperfect working of one
of the pumps, and the consequent insufficiency of water,
in the boiler. The speed was, on some portions of the
level road, upwards of 21 miles per hour, and the only
apparent difficulty was where the ascents presented a
loose sandy soil. The consumption of coke is a ton
per 100 miles, and the cost of a steam-coach of this de-
cription was stated to be 8001.

Sin R. PEEL'S TAILS.—At a dinner of Mr.
Georgo Byng the other day, Sir Thomas Wilde made
the following observations :—Sir Robert Peel and his
party were very fond of taunting the late Ministry upon
the subject of its tail, but had the Right Hon. Baronet no
tail ? He had scveral. He had an Orange tail, a tim-
ber tail—(A laugh)—a corn tail, and a sugar tail—(A
laugh)—and in crossing to the Treasury benches, the
different tails wagged most gloriously.—(A laugh.)
They had heard of the story of the man•who advertised
for show a horse with his tail where his head should
be.—(A laugh.) The wag had reversed the usual posi-
tion of his horse in the stable, and had placed him with
his tail to the manger.—(A laugh.) It appeared to him
that the tail of Sir Robert Peel was too powerful for
him, and would soon, also, get to the manger in spite.of
them.—(A laugh.)