Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1863-09-05
Foreign Literarx Gossip.

In the excellent literary correspondence of
the American Publishers Circular, dated at
Paris, July a, we find the following pleasant
bit of gossip about men and books:
THE la BEDoYERE COLLECTION.
We have been trembling for many months
lest the de La Bedoyere Collection should be
dispersed, and when we heard that the French
government had agreed 10 pay eighteen thou
sand dollars for it, and when we saw eighteen
"moving' vans (each as capacious as the
largest railway freight carr enter the court
yard of the Bibliothcque Imperial, with the
100000 or 100000 objects which form the
valuable collection, our satisfaction was very
great. The heirs of the late bibliopholist
acted literally to prevent the dispersion Of
these treasures. The collection is worth at
least thirty thousand dollars but they sold it
for the aforementioned sum, stipulating only
one condition, which was that the collection
should be placed in separate room, to be
called de La Bedoyere's Room.
The history ofthis collection is singular. The
count de La Bedoyere inherited a considerable
estate, and in the earlier years of his manhood
he was fond of travcling-even in lis own
country, region travellers always negect
no country is a prophet in its own meii's eyes.
One morning, while visiting some inSigni IL
cant town in the southern provinces of France
he discovered i'll some sordid shop Of media
val street large pile, (iteraly pile upon
the tlo0r,) of pamphlets and newspapers
which appeared during the first French revo-
luton. lie had nothing to do; he was in
quest of curiusities; he turned over the pile
with hisstck to see what was in il; he discov-
cred a title page which struck his attention;
he read it, and another, and another--in fine,
dinner was forgotten, and sunset found him
still porting over the contents of that huge pile
When the tradesman told him the hour for
closing was at hand, the Count de La Bedoy-
ere begged the former TO delay it a moment
He went to the inn where he was staying, took
his pocket-bDok from his trunk, hired cart
which accompanied him to the shop, bought,
l believe, by the pound, the heap which had
consumed his day, and carried it back to his
tavern. He spent the whole night over his
new purchase, had it packed the next day,
and as soon as the last nail was driven into
the last box he set off to Paris, followed by all
his cases.
Count de LaBedoy ere never travelled
again, though he lived long past threescore
and ten years. These projections had tine
tured him with a passion for the history of the
French revolution. This passion begot an
other He grew DESTROYS of forming a COM
plete collection of engravings and documents
TeldunS 10 lnOSe 0lCUnOTdOlc DuL ueplOraDle
years in which the human intellect and the
human heart seemed to strive which should
exhibit the greatest alteration. He ransacked
every hole and corner of Paris for materials,
and as he was then almost alone in the mine,
his delvings were very productive. When
this capital seemed exhausted he established
commerce of letters with all the chief book
sellers of Europe to obtain from them every
work relating to the French revolution, which
succession sales or some other of those in
Vulnerable vicissitudes of human life might
bring on sale. When any celebrated library
was brought to the vendue merchant, the
Count de La BedOyere would hasten to at.
tend it, whether the auction room was in Lon
don or at Messina, in the Highlands or in the
Carpnthian Mountains. Count de LaBedoy-
ere tasted many of those delights which the
prOtane cannot even conceive, but which Of
ten reward the Jealous huntsman who knows
the full force Of those hallowed words ''Seek
and we shall find"
THE FIRST NAPoLEoN's SECRET SERVICE FUND.
An interesting suit has been brought before
our courts of justice. During the empire
and restoration, notary named Michel Au-
mont possessed the confidence of great many
considerable people of those periods of time,
such men, for example, as Marshal Mar
mont Duke de Reguse, Count Parregaux
(the latter's father-in. Law, and celebrated in
story, too, for the astute banker who discov-
cred In the simple act of picking up pin
that the lad rejected by him as a clerk pos
sessed those talents which made him Jacques
Laffitte the famous banker), Savary, Duke
de Rovigo, Count d'Argou, ETC. Michel Au-
mont died recently. His heirs, upon examin-
ing his papers, discovered collection of ac-
counts which proved to be the daybook of the
secret police fund during the empire, when,
you will remember, Savary was minister OF
pellce. The notary's representative commu-
ncated intelligence of this discovery to the
Duke de Rovigo's heirs and to the govern
ment: Each of the latter contested the 9TH
ers right OF possession, and appealed to the
courts, which decided in favor of the latter
These accounts are row the only records of
the expenditure of the secret service money
OF that epoch, for, when Maria Louise fled to
Blois, in 1914, she ordered the accounts filed
by Savary to be burned in order to avoid
compromising persons with the Bourbon gov
eminent
NAPOLEON III AND NJ. vILLEMAIN,
Let me repeat to you an anecdote told in