produce half results. The habits of the inhabitants of Paris are not favourable to the adoption of Mr. Hill's system of prepayment. A large proportion of the population live in regions high above the pavement of the streets; and although their letters are left for them with the concierge below, they have no servant whom they could conveniently despatch and intrust with money for prepayment; and as, contrary to our regulations in England, the charge is the same whether the letter be prepaid or not, the consequence is, that, of the letters brought to the General Post-office from the receivinghouses around it, the postage of four-fifths is unpaid.

Collection and Distribution of Letters in Paris.

There are daily in Paris seven collections of letters, corresponding with the seven deliveries.

The hours of the collections are regulated according to the distance between the several offices and the Central Postoffice. The boxes situated at the extremities of the town are taken away at fixed hours, indicated for the commencement of each collection. One may calculate five minutes' delay for every five hundred mètres in approaching the central office. The boxes within a perimeter of 800 mètres from the central office are taken away every half an hour after those of the Fauxbourgs, those of the General Post-office an hour later. In no case does the delivery of a letter of the city for the city require more than three hours. Letters deposited in the box at the precise moment of the departure, or in those of the perimètre, are distributed an hour and a half or two hours at latest after the hour of the Depôt deposit.

The first distribution, which commences at half-past seven, and terminates all over Paris at nine o'clock, comprehends the letters of the departments and of foreign countries, also those of Paris collected in the boxes the night before, from nine to half-past nine at night.

The second comprehends, besides the Paris letters collected in the boxes from half-past seven to a quarter past eight, those of the second English courier.

The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth comprehend, besides the Paris letters collected in the boxes, those which at different

hours of the day have arrived by supplementary couriers, or by the railways.

The seventh comprehends the letters of Paris for Paris, collected in the boxes from five o'clock to forty-five minutes past five at night, the letters of supplementary couriers from Marseilles and Lyons, letters from Italy, Algeria, &c.

Money Letters, or Registered Letters.

In each of the post-offices at Paris, are received money letters and registered letters for all parts of France, for Algeria, and for those places where France possesses postoffices. Pre-payment is obligatory for money letters, and optional (facultative) for registered ones.

Both descriptions must always be presented at the offices. Money letters pay a double postage; registered letters, besides the ordinary charge determined by weight, a fixed and supplementary tax of five sous. They, as well as registered letters, are required to be placed in an envelope, secured at least with two seals in wax, covering the four folds of the envelope; both descriptions of letters are remitted on receipt at the domicile of the person to whom they are directed.

Postage Stamps.

The stamps or figures, sold by the administration, for the franking of letters, represent five different values: the first, colour bistre, two sous; second, colour green, three sous ; third, colour blue, five sous; fourth, orange colour, eight sous; fifth, colour red, twenty sous, or one franc. The public is at liberty to combine these figures or stamps, the franking being complete in all cases where the stamps employed represent a value equivalent to the postage due. The stamps are sold at all the post-offices, by the postmen, receiving-houses, and by the sellers of tobacco.

Charges.

Letters of Paris for Paris are charged three sous (green stamp) when their weight does not exceed fifteen grammes; a supplementary charge of two sous is made for each additional fifteen grammes, or fraction thereof.

On the 1st of January, 1849, the charges for the postage of letters according to distance were abolished, and replaced by a uniform charge of 20 centimes (2d.), which by the loi des Finances of the 18th May, 1850, was raised to 25 centimes (23d.), for every letter not exceeding in weight 73 grammes, addressed to any part of France, Corsica, or Algeria.

The following comparative statement of the amount of work performed by the Post-offices of Paris and London shows how large is the correspondence of France :

There were despatched from Paris per day during the year 1850

There were despatched, during the year 1850, per day, Sundays exclusive, from the London Post-office, for delivery either within or without the London district—

1. Letters, books, and other packets, exclusive of newspapers, despatched by the General Post beyond the London delivery

2. Letters, books, and other packets, including chargeable newspapers, delivered within the 3-mile circle of the London district

3. Newspapers and other documents allowed to be stamped as such and despatched by the General Post, exclusive of non-chargeable newspapers (of which no record is kept), posted and delivered within the London district.

Total

*A kilomètre is 1000 yards English.

162,000

124,000

114,000

400,000

PRÉFET DE POLICE.

A FRENCH gentleman, who for many years had been the prefect of a department, and who had just returned from a visit to England to his peaceful domicil in the neighborhood of * * expressed to me, as we happened to rest together on a stone bench in the Avenue des Champs Elysées, his astonishment at the good order that prevailed in London. "In England," said he, "all people appear to respect the law. Here all evade it. In solidity you English are like the ancient Romans; in vivacity we resemble the Athenians : and yet, although in England you punish crime with great severity, you appear to be ignorant of the means of preventing it; in fact, you require an Act of Parliament to punish notorious evils prevented in Paris by a simple order of police, and in all the smallest commune by a simple order of the

maire !"

"Yes," said I, "but it is to that very simplicity, as you term it, that we particularly objecct."

The system to which he alluded is, I believe, something as follows.

France is divided into eighty-six departments, to each of which there is appointed a préfet.

Every department is subdivided into forty arrondissements, to each of which there is a sous-préfect.

The arrondissement is composed of various cantons, which are headless.

Every canton is composed of from twenty to forty communes (the smallest fractional subdivision), each of which has its maire, who, practically speaking, regulates his little district in whatever way he considers will be most beneficial to the community.

Now the prefect of the police of Paris, the only prefect of the police in France, possesses on an enormous scale the same description of arbitrary power that is confided to every little mayor; and thus, co-existent with the monarchy, the emperor, and the republic, there has existed and there does

still exist in France a despotic authority inconsistent with powers which in theory are declared to be supreme.

The prefecture of police, an organization of enormous action, is composed of various departments of active service, forming a cone of which the apex is the prefect, in whose office of government, as in a hive, upwards of three hundred busy working clerks are constantly employed. The principal person in the department is the "Chef de la Police Municipale,"* under whom there are

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1. The Chef des Services de la Sûreté," commanding a brigade of exceedingly adroit men, many of whom are not only in plain clothes, but, for the purpose of capturing murderers and robbers, &c. often change their disguise three or four times a day, to suit the localities they have to visit.

2. The "Chef d'Attribution des Hôtels Garnies," who, besides suppressing clandestine gaming-houses, watch over all political refugees.

3. The Chef d'Attribution des Maurs," for the regulation of houses of ill-fame, &c.

4. The "Chef d'Attribution des Voitures, for the regulation and observation of all public carriages.

Lastly, "Brigades Centrales," composed of sergents de ville, who, in uniform and in various disguises, besides other duties, perform those intrusted to the London police.

In addition to the above there are, under the direction of the "préfet of police,"

A "Chef de Service de la Navigation," possessing authority over every boat in the Seine, with power to regulate what it shall bring, and in what manner it shall disembark its cargo.

A "Chef de Service de la Salubrité," who has dominion over drains of every description, with power to visit all closets, which can only be emptied by people authorized to do so, and which must be inspected as soon as emptied; also the inspection of all gas-lights and gas arrangements.

A "Chef de Service des Halles et Marchés," who takes care of the provisions of Paris, grain, flour, &c.

Every one of the twelve arrondissements of Paris is subdivided into four "quartiers," or sections, each superintended

* Chief of the Municipal Police.