take it ch I have rsuaded to out the size of I passed, was in glass, while the was gracefully tying w bonnet. between shops full of s, warming pans, saws, a region of old and new i jack-boots. Then I got gs, as clean as new; shirts, d. once upon a time, evidently hiefs, washed till the spots had blankets, coloured gowns, that been washed into the pale ghosts .n one of these shops I observed an . an old sheet to another old woman, ger was unkindly pointing to a great ongitude I found myself amidst new milrs, fine gold sprigs: "Qu'est-ce qu'il vous said a pretty milliner, screwing up her i passed her. Then I came to parasols, and rested on a whole world of mattresses. * It fits you beautifully. dozen together, were anxiously inquiring of me what that something was: "Qu'est-ce que c'est que Monsieur désire ?"* The ancient Temple of Paris built in 1222, originally contained-besides the Palace of the Grand Prior of the Order of Knights Templars of Jerusalem, with hotels, gardens, and dwellings in which debtors might seek refuge from arrest -a large tower flanked by four turrets, in which Louis XVI. and his family were not only imprisoned, but from which, on the 21st of January, 1793, he was separated from them for ever, to be murdered on the Place de Louis XV. In 1805 the tower-every dog has its day-was demolished, and in 1809 Napoleon, whose extrordinary mind in the middle of all his victories conceived the formation at Paris of a ragmarket! converted a portion of the ancient Temple into the present" Marché du Vieux Linge," which consists of an establishment of 1888 little low shops, about the size of an English four-post bedstead, covering a space of ground 580 feet in length by 246 in breadth, divided by a cruciform path, in the centre of which, isolated from the hive, is a bureau full of Argus-eyed windows looking in all directions. Besides the four divisions I have mentioned, this rectangular space, covered by an immense wooden roof, is subdivided lengthways into thirtysix alleys or paths, barely broad enough for two persons to walk together; and breadthways into thirteen passages of the same narrow dimensions. Each little shop is usually composed of two large sea-chests, which at night contain its property and by day form its counter. From the name which this market bears I had fully expected to find within it nothing but a sort of rag-fair, instead of which, its little shops contain an infinite variety of cheap millinery, linen, clothes, boots, shoes, and iron-work, old and new. As, like Gulliver, I strolled through the strets of this Lilliputian city, which appeared to be almost exclusively inhabited by females, I was pleased to find as much propriety and politeness within it as could exist in the Rue St Honoré; and accordingly, although everybody was bargaining for rags, &c., with more or less energy, I heard "Oui, Madame !" "Non, Madame "resounding from various directions. In one tiny shop as I passed it I observed a lusty paysanne, with a good deal of agony in her countenance, sitting * What does the gentleman desire? with her sturdy right leg cocked out and up as if it had been of wood. "Ca vous va très bien, Madame!" observed the lady of the shop, who had just succeeded in forcing her customer's big foot into a little narrow shoe, at which, with wellfeigned admiration, she kept bowing her head with delight. As I was sauntering through the next alley I saw a woman all of a sudden dart out of a shop and whip a diminutive, new, bright blue satin cap on the head of an infant in the arms of a very short countrywoman, who for some time had been demurely waddling on before nie, and who, indeed, was so stout that there had been hardly space enough for me to pass her. The poor good mother had no more intention of buying a little bright blue satin cap than I had, but her child looked so beautiful in it that she evidently had not heart enough to take it off. and I left her firmly fascinated to the spot, which I have no doubt she never quitted until she had been persuaded to buy the cap. Again, a milliner had inveigled in a shop, about the size of a sea-steward's cabin, a young lady who, as I passed, was in the dangerous attitude of looking into a large glass, while the woman, with a delightful smile on her face, was gracefully tying under her victim's chin the strings of a new bonnet. For a considerable time I wandered between shops full of old iron, locks, thousands of old keys, warming-pans, saws, sauce-pans, rat-traps; then through a region of old and new slippers, shoes, half-boots, boots, and jack-boots. Then I got into the latitude of darned stockings, as clean as new; shirts, old and new; empty stays that had, once upon a time, evidently been brimful; faded handkerchiefs, washed till the spots had almost disappeared; gloves, blankets, coloured gowns, that had-as if in the river Styx-been washed into the pale ghosts of what they had been. In one of these shops I observed an old woman trying to sell an old sheet to another old woman, whose shrivelled forefinger was unkindly pointing to a great hole in it. On changing my longitude I found myself amidst new millinery, artificial flowers, fine gold sprigs: "Qu'est-ce qu'il vous faut, Monsieur?" said a pretty milliner, screwing up her mouth, to me as I passed her. Then I came to parasols, and my mind finally rested on a whole world of mattresses. * It fits you beautifully. On entering the little isolated glass "bureau," or office, in the middle of the establishment I had just visited, I found two officers, one of whom, to a question that I put to him, briefly replying, "Je ne sais pas, Monsieur,"* walked out. As soon as he was out of sight the other officer, with great politeness, expressed to me his regret that, as a stranger, I should have received an answer si malhonnête ;"t he begged me to pardon it, to give myself the trouble to sit down, and to allow him to afford me every information in his power. Accordingly, he told me that the 1888 shops committed to his surveillance, and open from sunrise to sunset throughout the year, are let by the week at one frank and forty centimes each, with an extra charge for insurance of five sous a-week, for which the chef of the establishment not only furnishes guards by day and four watchmen by night, but holds himself responsible for theft, which he added had, although a large portion of the goods are left on the counters at night, scarcely ever been committed ; indeed, the demand for these shops is so great that there are many respectable people who have been applying for one to the police for upwards of three years. He added, that the four squares formed by the two cruciform roads, which in each direction bisect the establishment, are 1. The "Palais Royal," containing modistes, soieries, robes de bal in short, said he, it contains "tout ce qu'il y a de beau!" 2. Le Carré-Neuf, containing "modistes et lingeries."§ 3. Le Carré, containing "batteries de cuisine en lingerie.”|| 4. The Forêt Noir, containing shoes, with old ironmongery of all descriptions. He informed me that in the establishment many persons had occupied their stalls since they were originally constructed by Napoleon in 1809, and that several had made "fortunes colossales."** Lastly, he told me that underneath the "Marché du Vieux Linge," in the centre of which we were sitting, are subterranean vaults which for many ages had been used as prisons. At a short distance eastward from the market just de * I don't know, Sir. + So uncivil. Milliners, silks, ball dresses, every thing that is beautiful. Milliners and linen. The Black Forest. Kitchen utensils and linen. **Colossal fortunes. scribed is a circular building, erected in 1788, when the Temple was a sanctuary for debtors, called the "Rotonde," composed of arcaded shops overflowing with all sorts of old uniforms, from that of a drummer to a field-marshal. In one I saw piles of old epaulettes, belts, and shakos; in others, knapsacks, pouches, and red tufts; in another, bales of dragoons' old leather-lined trowsers, neatly folded; in another, a medley of military gloves, cocked hats, and gaiters; in another, heaps of blue trousers; in another, a quantity of old trunks, also balls, two feet in diameter, of broad woollen list. With brains almost addled by the variety of old clothes I had been visiting on leaving the Rotonde I stood for a few moments before the only part of the Temple that now exists, namely, the ancient palace of the Grand Prior; which, built in 1566, was converted in 1814 into a convent belonging to the "Dames Bénédictines de l'Adoration du St. Sacrement." Over the entrance-gate of the ancient chapel of the Temple I observed, deeply engraved, the words Venite adoremus:" and strangely mixed up with this sacred invitation there appeared on each side, painted in large black letters, 66 LIBERTÉ, ÉGALITÉ, FRATERNITÉ.” LA CRÈCHE. IN the Rue St. Lazare, over a gateway, No. 148, leading into a small yard, I observed, printed in letters of various sizes. the following inscriptions: Lastly,-- "Le Roy, Peintre."* "Lis. Ride, Serrurier."+ “Fleury, Tourneur sur Bois en tous genres." ‡ "Crèches St. Louis d'Antin." On the right of the gateway, on a board, was written, “A * Le Roy, Painter. |