Litchfield enquirer., 1872-04-25

All s s ss4s sE E4sH nlent Correspondence is. sent? that the post aark was Versailles ?'' and that the seal bore the private crest of an extremely 9raat personase ant;er the republic? Ht enc A&sd color slightly. What could 1t be. The Assembly asas not sitting then. so ii could not enclose a letter of consocation sFhs extrsn1Aly great personage was noi ssss;s I0 be issaaslss cards for a dinner party It that season Of the year; so Il could not be that He mnsed and unused and the clouds gathered over his brow as over sunny sky in April. Then he pour. cd himself out glass of water and drank 1t; and as strong men, in moments of emo ton. like to be standing, he stood up and leaned against the mantle e-shelf whilst he broke the seal
 This IS what the whitey brown envelope contained:-
 VERSAILLES, Oct. =, 1871. My DEAR CoUNT DE RIs,-
 Asyou have heard, the ministership fol the Cochin China colonies has just be come vaeant, and write without delay tC offer you the post It has given me very great satisfaction to observe how, amid the interested strife of parties, you have acknowledged no flag but patriotism and have constantly seconded the govern ment by your firm and enlightened votes 1t has also been no small source ofpleas- ure to me to perceive that your excellent example has been followed by other mem bers of the Assembly, who have grouped themselves round you, and now look ur to you as their leader. In this time o1 national mourning, when the efforts of all good citizens should be directed towards the regeneration of their country the qual- ities which recommend a minister are es- sentially those which you possess, i'm partiality, amiability, and zeal for the public good; also, antecedents free from ties to any political factions orindividual. I am well aware that in asking you to un- dertake duties fraught with great respon. sibiity, and entailing a large sacri. fee of daily time and anxiety, am making heavy demand, without having any adequate return to offer save the opportunity of widening your sphere of public usefulness. But do not hesi- tate; because the more arduous the labor and fine less the reward, so much the greater know will be your tendency to acceEt. Trusting, therefore, that I may have the qualification of hearing an affirm ative reply from your own lips at Yer sailles tomorrow, 1 beg you to believe, my dear Count de Ris, inf the assurance oi my high regard. ...
 And here followed the signature.
 Nov, this was pleasant. As the crown ing result oftWenty years careful strategy, 1t was worth commenting to those who believe in the science of life The coun; stood for moment like a man who has turned up the two Of spades when he wanted the ace of diamonds, and the un- lucky letter weighed down his hand to his side ss If it had been written on sheet lead. He looked so stunned, that, on NJ Narcsse re-appearing with the suit that had never been worn and the medium boots, that domestic gave start, and ex- claimed, s'Dear me! Is there anything the matter? Is M. le Comte ill?''
 ''To which the count, shaking off his torpor, replied with an abrupt vehemence which made M. Narcisse's eyebrows stand mp more circumfexly than ever, Matter Yes: every thing is the matter. Do you know what minister is?''
 M. Narcisse stood dangling the boots in his right hand, and pressing the clothes to his heart with his left arm. He ap. peared to turn the matter over in his mind, and then answered, "A minister, M. le Comte, lives in mansion with sen tries at the door; the newspapers cut jokes at him; he has a salary of a hundred thou sand francs year; and when revolution comes he is obliged to escape in disguise. '
 "Yes, that's it,-escape in disguise, , answered the count grimly, as this new feature in minister's privileges recurred to him. 'tJoked at by the papers, and escape in disguise, there you have it ill ten words. We'll, Narcisse, they want to make minister of arE!''
 NJ. Narcisse dropped both the boots, and in trying to recover them let go the clothes. When he had picked them ur he looked very red, and with wonderful eyes said, sThey want to make minister of M. 1e Comte? Welp' there his voice broke into an excited gallop); s'well, hope monsieur will not neglect this op- portunity of seeing that my brother Hya- cinthe gets that post of Garde Chsmpetre which he has long been asking Then there is my other brother, Jasmin, who was promised the military medal; and, as I often say, for a Government to promise and not to keep is to make men revolu- tionary: though, for the matter of that, ] have no sympathy with the Commune no1 M. Gambetta, who I think is just as bad for, ements of popular discord, which ought ernment, and places himself at their head, And don't think, either, that the wife o1 my cousin Jacques was well served by the Indemnity Commission: for it is certain that the largest of her two pigs, weighing a hundred and eighty-seven pounds, and perfect picture, was eaten by the Prus. sians, who never paid, being thieves; and, as often say, for Government to stand such things"
 ssGo to the devili" burst in Count de Ris "At least, go and order the phaetoI round in half an hour, and fetch me some visiting clothes" :"
 Less than fifty minutes after the per. usal of his letter, the count was driving mp the avenue that led to the Chateau. de Beaupre, the residence of his neighbo1 Mime. de Claire: He had taken the most -irrevocable resolution not to accept the post offered him; and during the ten min. utes' ride between his own house and Beaupre Park, he had pondered over . dozen different forms of declinatory re plies to the great personage's despatch What did they mean by offering hin a post for which he was unftted by taste, nature, and social training? He whipped his horses with such vigor, that John, his English groom, who sat behind him and was unused to this way of deal. ing with high-mettIed cattle, wondered what had come over the 'sguv'nor." Ger. tainly there was no other answer possible to such proposal but courteous and decided-yes, that was it, courteous and decided mo. Nevertheless the count wanted somebody to tell him he was quite right in the resolve, to pat him morally on the back, as it were, and assure hin that nothing could be more reasonable and proper than his conduct: and this if