The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-03 00:00:00

[FROM OUR OWN CORRESrONDENT.)

PARIS. TUESDAY, March 2.
Lamartine and the late President of the Senate, says
sn Imperial decree, are to be interred 'at the expense of
the State. It is strange that such men as the poet and
historian should be taken care of only after they are dead.
They are allowed to pine in a garret during life, but they
become heroes directly the grave opens for them. The
death of the central figure of the Revolution of 1813 has
produced as much regret as anything of the kind does
in Paris. It can hardly be said that the nation has sus-
tained a great loss, for, as M. de Girardin observes, Lamar-
tine has only "ceased to survive himself," but
everybody is of one mind as to the place he will
occupy in history. His life and character have had an
enormous influence on the destiny of his country.
But for him indeed the last revolution would
have been little different from the first. The Journal
des Dads, in an eloquent article, mentions
two facts, which are creditable both to the Emperor and'
the deceased poet. The Emperor, aware of M. Lamartine's
impoverished condition, offered him the Presidency of the
Senate, now vacant by M. Troplong's death. The
emoluments of the office, although far from inconside=
rable, would have been doubled, in order that he
might rid himself of his embarrassments. But he
declined the appointment, and then an uncondi-
tional offer was made to free him from his debts. This he
also declined. His self-denial was honourable in each case,
and the dignity of his declining years will add not a little
to his lasting fame.
Whilst M. Troplong was living I forbore to mention
the speculations as to his successor. M. Laroche is most
spoken of, and, I should think, is a very probable
selection.

11f. Emile 011ivier's book, " Le 19 Janiver," is, pending►
the cessation of the Haussmann debate, one of the prin-
cipal topics of talk. It is an apology, a narrative, or a
review of the deputy's own doings, and is a generally
egotistical production. Lovers cf plain mathematical
problems will find an interesting task in counting the
number of times the pronoun " I" occurs in this volume.
It must be excessive.

The Duke and Duchess d'Aumale, says the Liberte, are
about to leave England. They purpose taking up their
residence in Sicily, where they have a very large property.
A curious story, aprorcs of the late riots, comes from
the island of Rtunioh. A journal entitled the Cri d'Alarme,
devoted to exciting the colonists, had given much trouble
to the authorities who were unable to suppress it. They
could seize the copies, but could not stop the issue, for all
their efforts to discover the printing-office failed. At
length the police got exceptional lowers to search the
house of a young mulatto lawyer, whence it was suspected
the paper issued. The house was searched, but nothing
found. At last the cellar was dug up, and then, and deeply
buried beneath the surface, were found a printing press, and
a large quantity of type. The mulatto protested his inno-
cence, declaring that the printing material had been there
since the time of the English occupation ; but, unfortu-
nately for this theory, a little further search disclosed a
form containing the type of the last obnoxious issue.
Nantes is a prey to a horde of Thugs. These miscreants
practise a form of garotting by sending a woman to accost
travellers in secluded streets, and whilst the passenger is
vainly endeavouring to get away from this decoy, two or
three men fall upon him and pass a noose round his neck.
In that position he is helpless; he cannot struggle without
running the risk of being strangled. He is then plundered.
One of this troop has been arrested, but this check has in
no way intimidated the rest.
St. Nicholas is one of the greatest of saints. The
popular tradition is that young ladies whose progress on
the difficult and narrow way that leadeth to matrimony is
not reassuring may be materially aided by the good offices
of this benign saint. his virtue in this direction has been
put to a most triumphant test during the last few days.
A young brunette in one of the communes of Mane
treuil—a charming girl, with sparkling eyes antt
tainoTseitilonaj—liad found that the beau who was toguidd
her future career was tardy in mal;ing his appearance..
Hearing of the St. Nicholas tradition, she procured a
very decent statue of the lover-making saint, and set it up
in her chamber. But the graven image did not prove effi-
cacious ; she invoked it daily, hut the desired suitor, who
was to be the chrysalis of a husband, did not come. One
gloomy day the saint fell into complete disfavour, and in a
fit of rage the brunette threw the plaster cast out of the
window. Raymond, a sprightly youth of 20, was passing
by, and was just in the nick of time to receive the
disgraced saint upon his bead. The weight was not
great, and the head of Raymond was thick, but still he
was rendered uncomfortable by the visitation. He took
the number of the house, and soon the luckless brunette
was summoned before a justice of the peace. But when
Raymond beheld the defendant, ho very speedil3
reflected that it would be decidedly ungallant to exact
reparation from the lady ; he therefore withdrew his
plaint, and the two returned to the village together.
What conversation they had on the route nobody
knows, but it is certain this one interview was not the last.
Four weeks afterwards Genevieve and Raymond were one,
the former henceforth a firm believer in the virtues of St.
Nicholas.

THE WEATHER TABLE.-TIIIS DAY.