lafly struck; and which I will endea vour to repeat as nearly as possible in the words of the relater. اى him to shoot a fox there. He fired out of the window, as he had said, and we repaired to the spot specified, and there sure enough we found a fox that had just been shot. The son of the head-forester, then quite a youth, was very curious to know by what means this was done; and the old man promised to teach hum the trick, if he had courage to learn it. Charles was desirous of learning, but desisted at the decisive moment, frightened by terrible apparitions. -"Well," said I, "but did Charles never tell you in what way a person was to set about it?" "O yes. You must strive to gain possession of a host already consecrated for the holy communion. With this and a gun loaded with ball, you repair, on the night of Christmas-eve, to the forest, nail the host to a tree, go back to a little distance from it, and with a loud voice renounce the belief in the blessed Trinity. Hereupon you fire at the host, and this done, you STOW © Ulrich*, the servant of Lieutenant Br-r, who was born in a woodland village of the duchy of Gotha, and, as he himself said, had from his youth associated much with gamekeepers, and been accustomed to shooting, began as follows: "Yes, captain, you may think as you please about it, but gamekeepers are up to things that are really astonishing. With Mr. Cr, head-forester at Frith, there lived an old gamekeeper, who could certainly do more than merely eat bread. He had to all appearance an ordinary gun, with which he never used any thing but ball, whether he was firing at hares, birds, or any other sort of game; and he was never known to miss, even at distances exceeding by twice or three times the usual range of such a piece: but this was not done fairly, for 'tis certain Old Nick had a hand in it. We all laughed.-will find upon it three drops of blood. "Laugh as much as you please," said Ulrich," still it is positively true. You shall hear. One evening we were sitting together, the old man I am speaking of, several young keep-into it, and close it up again. When ers, and Charles, the son of the head- all these ceremonies have been duly forester. We were talking of the performed, every ball fired from this excellence of the old man's gun, on piece is sure to hit whatever the which he observed, that what we owner pleases." had hitherto seen was nothing to what he could do; adding, that he would immediately fire out at the window, if we would first decide in what part of the country he should shoot a piece of game, of game it should be. ed incredible to us; mentioned a spot in the forest, about a mile from the house, and desired * As far as I know; he is still fiving,|| and a master-tailor at Gotha. a of These you wipe off with a piece paper, and then make a hole (which may be done at home) in any part of the stock of the gun, put the paper I expressed my surprise that any one could be so silly as to believe such absurd and stupid stuff; but Ulrich persisted in his assertion, that the thing was nevertheless true.and what kind" For," continued he, "Charles This appearThis appear-Cr contrived to procure a host, but for fun we and went out into the forest with the old man on the night of Christmaséve. According to his direction, he nailed the host to a tree, and repeated the oath of abjuration; but when 133 he took aim to shoot, the trees were, I turned the discourse, as if by accident, to the circumstances related by Ulrich that evening in the ancient castle. Cr repeated the story to me in nearly the same words. I was now quite at a loss what to think; for though I shall never be so at all possible, still, as every impartial person must admit, the coincidence of the circumstances was extremely striking. Of the two cases which I had previously assumed as probable, one of course (namely, that Ulrich had invented the story,) fell to the ground; and the other (that C-r had been the dupe of an overheated imagination) lost more and more of its plausibility; for I found him to be nothing less than a visionary, or one who wishes to pass off his own inventions for truth. Ad gone, and he saw nothing but our Saviour, as large as life, hanging on the cross, and innumerable frightful infernal shapes dancing about him; on which he threw down the gun and ran away." The important events of the cam-weak as to believe such things to be paign in Russia, the eleven months which I passed in Danzig, during the siege of that city, and many as well cheerful as melancholy hours which I have spent since that evening, were not capable of erasing Ulrich's narrative entirely from my memory; but whenever the story occurred to my mind, I knew not whether to regard it as a fabrication of Ulrich's, or if it were not so, whether C―r might not have been the dupe of a heated imagination, and fancied he saw things which in reality had no existence. When, at length, after the surren-mitting, however, that all this were der of Danzig, I joined the battalion otherwise, whence the perfect accordto which I belonged in Flanders, and ance between the accounts of C-r assumed the command of a company, and Ulrich (who had not seen one I was strongly reminded of Ulrich's another in the intermediate time), story by the name of a serjeant. concerning the old gamekeeper's gun This serjeant was called Charles and his shooting the fox? Cr, and he was a native of Frth. I inquired if he was the son of the head-forester at that place; he replied in the affirmative: consequently I could no longer doubt that he was the same person whom Ul-lapse of time, my memory may err rich had mentioned. During the next march, after I had conversed a good deal with him, and found him to be a tolerably well-informed man, He is still a serjeant in garrison at Gotha. 1 Leaving each of my readers to form his own opinion of this matter, I can solemnly assure them that it came to my knowledge in the manner related above; for though, in the in regard to some petty unimportant collateral circumstances, still they may rely on its fidelity in regard to the principal facts, as they interested me too deeply to be forgotten or incorrectly retained. THE LOITERER. Ir is only a lover of home, and an || snugly seated in my own parlour on idle man to boot, that can understand my return from my Continental trip. my first feelings when I found myself I looked round with an indescribable Vol. IV. No. XXI. T sort of fondness upon every object which the room contained. There is certainly no want of fauteuils in Paris, and of the most elegant and commodious kind; yet never did I feel myself so much at my ease in one of them as in my old and well worn easy chair. My trusty Rover, who had been the companion of my travels, and who, notwithstanding his name, is as great a lover of home as his master, evidently shared in my feelings. He wagged his tail with an air of uncommon satisfaction, ran about and smelt at the furniture as if to assure himself it was the same he had left behind him, and finally stretched himself on the carpet at my feet, and looked up in my face as much as to say, "Well, master, where else can we be so comfortable?" will not lose sight of that, prevents him from yawning in the face of his better half, but he is forced to seek relief in tric-trac or boston; and it is ten to one that, notwithstanding these auxiliaries, he is at last obliged to look for amusement somewhere else. The French do not deny the charge brought against them of not being a home-loving people, but with their usual ingenuity they contrive to convert what is in fact a reproach into a compliment. We are, say they, a social people; we love society; in1à word, we have no idea of solitary joyment. When they tell you this, they say nothing more than they themselves believe; but such is not the fact: the real truth is, that the life of a Frenchman, and still more that of a Frenchwoman, is a continual exhibition. Possessed of a most ven This sacred and delightful feeling is perhaps almost peculiar to the British bosom: long, long may its pow-comfortable share of self-sufficiency, er remain unimpaired! for it is the guarantee of the virtue, the happiness, and the prosperity of my country. The French, with all their sources of pleasure, have nothing of the kind: a Frenchman's own house is in fact the last place where he thinks of enjoying himself. The only satisfaction which a man of rank derives from his house, is the opportunity it gives him of displaying his taste or his wealth. So long as he can collect a crowd round him to admire these, it is all very well; but dismiss the company, leave him alone, or with madame, to what an Englishman would call the quiet enjoyment of his own fireside, and the scene changes as by the wand of an enchanter; lassitude and ennui succeed to vivacity and enjouement. His habitual politeness, for a Frenchman every individual believes himself or herself the undivided object of attention to the circle in which he or she happens to be placed. Thus, accustomed to act, even in the most trifling things, with a view to being applauded and admired by others, an audience becomes as necessary to the mental aliment of a Frenchman, as food to his bodily support. 97out This vanity, in itself so reprehensible, produces nevertheless some good effects: habitual civility, readiness to oblige in trifles, attention in doing the honours of the nation to foreigners, and, above all, that pride in whatever can contribute to the national glory, which so eminently distinguish the French, have their source in it. Never was the truth of the observation, vanity does a great deal towards making people good, more fully exemplified than in France. 2 Mr. LOITERER, :, I found, as I expected, a good ma- || esprit de corps which has dictated ny letters awaiting my return; I shall the above note, that I lose no time begin with one that contains a com- in publishing it, in order that I may plaint which is perhaps too justly give my fair correspondent the satisfounded, faction of a public apology for the neglect which she complains of. I assure her that it sprang neither from indifference nor contempt, but was purely accidental, and shall be remedied; for I am, as much as a very idle man can be, the devoted servant of that lovely sex, by whose influence we are moulded, and to whom life owes all that it has most valuable and endearing. I hope in my future papers to make the amende honorable; and now I must proceed to give the substance of some of the letters which I have received, for the let→ ters themselves would require more space than I can afford them. 919: When your paper first made its appearance, I expected, as I dare say many others did likewise, that you would have devoted a considerable part of it to the fair sex. Every essayist, from Addison and Johnson down to Solomon Sagephiz himself, considered us entitled to his attention, lashed our follies, praised our virtues, and, in short, shewed himself fairly sensible of our importance in the creation. You, and you only, of all the tribe, treat us with a sort of insolent contempt, as if you inagined it was beneath your lazy dignity to bestow upon us either praise or abuse.I cry you mercy! I do recollect now, that you have favoured us with a little of the latter; that is, indirectly and very sparingly. Now, sir, I am deputed by a very numeTous body of the female readers of the Repository to inform you, that this mode of proceeding will not do. We consider your neglect of us in the light of a gross affront; and as we are very sure that the editor has more gallantry than to be a party to such unhandsome proceedings, we are determined to send a petition, in the form of a round robin, against the insertion of your paper. We think it right to give you this fair warning, and to shew the placability of our dispositions, we assure you, that in the event of your altering your conduct, you shall find us tamong your friends and supporters. We remain, Mr, Loiterer, bo elgence Yours as you behave. Dick Dashaway hopes that the antiquated topics which formed the subjects of my papers from Paris, were not the only objects of my attention there, but that I have bestowed due pains upon the investigation of others more important; and that I have at least brought home with me a smattering of cookery, an improved judgment in claret, and a wardrobe modelled in the very newest Parisian fashion, which he hints he should be disposed to take a survey of the very first morning he could be sure to find me at home. I am sorry to inform this gentleman, that I cannot give him any of the information he considers so valuable, on wine and made dishes. As to my wardrobe, I am afraid he would find the cut of my coat, like that of my paper, too antiquated to suit his taste. Lucy Lovemode thinks it a pity that. I have not said a word about the dress of the French ladies; and wishes very much to know whether they are as much addicted to gallantry and as fond of rouge as they were formerly. In reply to this fair lady, I beg to observe, that the difference, if any, in the female costume of London and Paris, could not be very visible to a novice in these mysteries like myself. Had I been disposed to moralize indeed, I might have said something about the bare necks and shoulders of the pretty Parisians; but as I could not in conscience declare that they went greater lengths in that respect than my own dear countrywomen, I thought it as well to say nothing on the subject. As to rouge, it is entirely exploded; at least, if it is used, it is so put on as to have the appearance of nature. And with respect to gallantry, all I can say is, that if the dear creatures are so disposed, it is not visible to a stranger, for they observe a strict decorum; their behaviour in society is perfectly delicate and correct; and I am too good-natured, as well as too idle, to pry into matters that do not at all concern me. Samuel Snarl informs me, that he never means to read my paper again. He did not think it good for much before I went to France, but he is certain that it must be good for nothing now I have been there. Harry Henpeck tells me, that his wife, who has already nearly ruined him by her other follies, is now possessed with a travelling mania; and he implores me to write a paper to persude people to stay at home, because, he says, he thinks that my opinion is likely to have some weight with her. Marian Migrate as earnestly requests me to write a Loiterer on the necessity of going abroad, as she thinks it will have the effect of strengthening her arguments on that subject with her papa. Now though my inclination would lead me to oblige the lady, yet my conscience takes the side of the gentleman; but as it is pretty clear that I cannot please one without offending the other, I have prudently determined to remain neuter. There are a good many other correspondents, to whom at present I must recommend patience; for the subject of the following letter requires an immediate reply. I shall therefore postpone the consideration of my other letters till my next paper, in order to give insertion to this very pressing application. Dear Mr. LoITERER, Will you be so good as to inform me, without a moment's delay, whether people do now marry so very, very young in France, Mamma says that it is not the case at present, though it was formerly, but that, like other bad customs, it was abolished at the time of the Revolution. I don't know whether this is true, but if so, I think the Revolution must have been a very terrible thing. Mr. Simper assures me that mamma is quite mistaken, and that it is still the fashion, so much so indeed, that as soon as a young lady enters her teens she is considered marriageable, and an unmarried lady at twenty-five is set down as a decided old maid; and to be sure, as Mr. Simper says, since we do follow the French fashions in every thing else, why should we not in that too. I don't speak altogether on my own account, Mr. Loiterer, because you must know I am not so very young, since I shall be fifteen next Christmas, though mamma won't acknowledge it; but between ourselves, she wants to keep me always |