The Sun.
London, England, 1851-11-29 00:00:00

ONE WAY TO NULLIFY A BAD LEASE.

There is a shrewd and wealthy old Yankee
landlord away down in Maine, who is noted
for driving his " sharp bargains"—by which he has
amassed a large amount of property. He is the
owner of a great number of dwelling-houses,
and it is said of him that he is not over-
scrupulous in his rental charges, whenever he
can find a customer whom he knows to be
responsible. His object is always to lease his houses
for a term of years, to the best tenants, and get the
utmost farthing in the shape of rent. A diminutive
Frenchman called on him last winter to hire a dwell-
ing he owned in Portland, and which had long re-
mained empty. References were given, and the Yankee
landlord ascertaining that applicant was a man " after
his own heart" for a tenant, immediately com-
menced to "jew" him. He found that the tene-
men' appeared to suit the little Frenchman, and he
placed an exorbitant price upon it; but the lease was
drawn and duly executed, and the tenant mewed into
his new quarters. Upon the kindling of fires in the
new house, it was found that the chimnies wouldn't
" draw," and the building was filled with smoke.
The window sashes rattled in the wind at night, and
the cold air rushed through a hundred crevices
about the house, until now unnoticed. The snow
melted upon the roof, and the attics were drenched
fromr, leaking. The rain pelted, and our Frenchman
fund a "natural" bath-room uoon the cellar floor—
but
the lease was signed and the landlord chuckled.
hay
ben vat you sal call humbug vis zis dam mai-
son" muttered our victim to himself a week after wards,
" but n'importe, ye sal see vot ve sal see 1" Next
m maing he rose bright and early, and passing down
town he encountered the landlord.' "
Aha Bonjour,
monsieur' " saidhis '
How do
you happiesti manner,
heu in
" Good day, sir.your houser ?"
" Ah, Monsieur—elegant, beautiful—magnificent;
one re rmeta—g n, 1, eAn th ;
Eh bien, Monsieur ; I hay but za
What is that ?" " Monsieur, I sal liveg in zat house
but tree little year. " How so ?" " I hay find,
by vot you sal call ze leese, zat you hay give me ze
house for but tree year, an' I hay ver' mooch sor-
row for zat." " But you can have it longer if you
wish—" " Ah, monsieur—l sal be ver' mooch glad
if I can hay' zat house so long as I please—eh,
monsieur ? Oh, certainly—certainly, sir. " Tres
bien, monsieur ! I sal valk rite to your offices—an'
you sal give me vot y ,
ou call ze lease for zat maisonn
jes so long as I sal vast ze house. Eh, monsieur .
" Certainly, sir. You shall stay there your life-time,
if You like." " Ah, monsieur, I hay' ver mooch tanks
for zis accommodation." The old leases were
deatroyed, and a new one was de'ivered in form to
th
French gentleman, giving him possession of the
premises for " sush period as the lessee may desire
the
&c• The
paying the rent therefore promptly, &c•
houseext morning our crafty landlord was
passing the
of furniture was jst as the Frenchman's last load
beinga started from the door, and an
hour afterwards,rent
tnfger called on him with a
" legal tender" for tbnierees
.Ir,eight days, accompanied
with a note as follows 'aMonsieur, I hay' bin
shmoke—l hay' bin dro. I hay' bin frees to
death in ze house vot I havw' nheirienoyzydout; ',for ze period
a'; I may desire.' I hay' stay
long as I please,' an' #s bearer of zisa ylillga9se you zeso
kt-v !—Bon jour, Monsieur!" It is needless to
to
that ,lur Yankee landlord has never since been known
add
to give up 3 bird in the hand for one in the b h "
Front the American Magazine.

Sir Horace St. Paul, Bart., of E wart-park, High
Sheriff of .Northumberland, who recently built schools for
his own estate at Ewart, in Doddington
parish, near Wooler,
at his own cost, has now presented Mt. to the incumbent,
the Rev. William Proctor, in aid of the erection of paro-
chial schools, with residence for the teacher.—Gateshead
Observer.
At the Chelmsford sessions, on Tuesday, a man
named Ellis was sentenced to seven years' transportation for
stealing books from the Baptist chapel at Earl's Colne.