t of the Queen of the Belgians' dowry, which Louis Philippe of
Orleans still resolutely declined to pay. Who would have thought that
in the midst of such festivity danger was lurking rife, in the midst of
such quiet, rebellion?

Charenton was the great lunatic asylum of Paris, and it was to this
repository that the scornful journalist consigned the pretender to the
throne of Louis XVI.

But on the next day, viz. Saturday, the 29th February, the same journal
contained a paragraph of a much more startling and serious import; in
which, although under a mask of carelessness, it was easy to see the
Government alarm.

On Friday, the 28th February, the Journal des Debats contained a
paragraph, which did not occasion much sensation at the Bourse, so
absurd did its contents seem. It ran as follows:--

"ENCORE UN LOUIS XVII.! A letter from Calais tells us that a strange
personage lately landed from England (from Bedlam we believe) has been
giving himself out to be the son of the unfortunate Louis XVI. This is
the twenty-fourth pretender of the species who has asserted that his
father was the august victim of the Temple. Beyond his pretensions, the
poor creature is said to be pretty harmless; he is accompanied by one
or two old women, who declare they recognize in him the Dauphin; he
does not make any attempt to seize upon his throne by force of arms, but
waits until heaven shall conduct him to it.

"If his Majesty comes to Paris, we presume he will TAKE UP his quarters
in the palace of Charenton.

"We have not before alluded to certain rumors which have been afloat
(among the lowest canaille and the vilest estaminets of the metropolis),
that a notorious personage--why should we hesitate to mention the name
of the Prince John Thomas Napoleon?--has entered France with culpable
intentions, and revolutionary views. The Moniteur of this morning,
however, confirms the disgraceful fact. A pretender is on our shores;
an armed assassin is threatening our peaceful liberties; a wandering,
homeless cut-throat is robbing on our highways; and the punishment of
his crime awaits him. Let no considerations of the past defer that just
punishment; it is the duty of the legislator to provide for THE FUTURE.
Let the full powers of the law be brought against him, aided by the
stern justice of the public force. Let him be tracked, like a wild
beast, to his lair, and meet the fate of one. But the sentence has,
ere this, been certainly executed. T