COST OF A. ROYAL BOROCOBMONGER.—An estimate has been made of
the expense to France of the elder branch of the Bourbons, from the Restoration to the month of August 1830. By this it appears, that the cost has been 5,466,725,722 francs, or about 220,000,0001. sterling ! Among the items, we find the debts of Louis XVIII. and the Princes, 30,000.000 f. ; restitution in 1814 of the property of the Emigrants, 1300,000,000 f.; support of the emigrants in 1816 and 1817, 1,800,000 f. ; expense of the three years' occupation of France by the Allies, 450,000,000 f. ; the Spanish war, 400,000,000 f. ; indemnity given to the Emigrants, 100,000,000 f.; marriage of the Duke of Berry, 1,500,000 f.; funeral expenses of Louis XVIII., 6,000,000 f. ; money distributed to the Swiss and other troops to massacre the people in July 1830, 371,051 f.
Too DEAR.—A Yankee schoolmaster, a teacher of chirography, not long since located himself in Rensselaer county, New York, and com- menced a school under the most favourable auspices. He gathered round him a score of pupils, most of whom were of the fairer order of crea- tion. One, in particular, was a very angel in features—one of your beautiful country maidens, which spring up in their seclusion, fair as the wild flowers of their native valleys. As might have been expected, she played iniquity with the heart of the schoolmaster. Day after day he sat by her side—guided her taper fingers, and felt her dark tresses lightly sweeping his cheek, as she leaned with him towards the manuscript. It was too much—human philosophy could not stand it. In a luckless mo- ment he pressed his lips to her cheek, and imprinted upon it one of those kisses, in which
"The lip will linger, like some bee Sipping a favourite flower."
And what think you, gentle reader, was the result of all this ? Why, the unfortunate chirographer was prosecuted for his lecture on kissing, and turned adrift with a fine of 1,000 dollars hanging over his shoulders, like the pack of Bunyan's pilgrim ! "Far be it from us," adds the American narrator of the anecdote, " to undervalue the charms of the young lady ; but, really, if she sets such an exorbitant price upon her Airek, it will be a long day, we opine, before she has another opportu- ity of exactingit."
Previous page
