e, acquainted with all that outwardly goes on within the
radius of his Argus-eyed observations. From these people, from the
drivers of fiacres, from the sellers of vegetables, from fruiterers,
and lastly, from the masters of wine-shops, who either from people
sober, tipsy, or drunk, are in the habit of hearing an infinity of
garrulous details, the police are enabled to track the conduct of
almost any one, and, if necessary, to follow up their suspicions by
their own agents in disguises which, practically speaking, render them
invisible.' Sir Francis mentions that he was considered of sufficient
importance to be under surveillance. '"You are," said very gravely to
me a gentleman in Paris of high station, on whom I had had occasion to
call, "a person of some consideration. Your object here is not
understood, and you are therefore under the surveillance of the
police." I asked him what that meant. "Wherever you go," he replied,
"you are followed by an agent of police. When one is tired, he hands
you over to another. Whatever you do, is known to them; and at this
moment there is one waiting in the street until you leave me."'

We need say no more. The people who, under all phases of
government--despotism, constitutional monarchy, and universal-suffrage
republic--coolly tolerate, nay, they admire and vindicate, this
atrocious system of personal restraint and espionage, are totally
unfit for the enjoyment of civil liberty. In conclusion, we can hardly
recommend the book before us, further than to say, that its gossip,
though often prosy to the verge of twaddle, is also sometimes droll
and amusing from its graphic minuteness.

* * * * *

[Footnote 2: _A Faggot of French Sticks_, 2 vols. London: Murray. 1852.]

IVORY AND ITS APPLICATIONS.

The Chinese, from time immemorial, have been celebrated for their
excellence in the fabrication of ornamental articles in ivory; and,
strange to say, up to our own time, their productions are still
unrivalled. European artists have never succeeded in cutting ivory
after the manner of these people, nor, to all appearance, is it likely
they ever will. Nothing can be more exquisitely beautiful than the
delicate lacework of a Chinese fan, or the elaborate carving of their
miniature junks, chess-pieces, and concentric balls: their models of
temples, pagodas, and other pieces of architecture are likewise
skilfully constructed; and yet three thousand yea