ous and important production:--

"MONSIEUR LE PRESIDENT,--I promised to give you the exact details of all
that passed in this gay metropolis, and 'tis with much pleasure I sit
down to fulfill my engagement. Things go on much as usual, or, perhaps,
I should be speaking more correctly, were I to say they are rapidly
progressing from bad to worse. We have no longer a king in France;
all power is lodged in the hands of one sprung from the most infamous
origin; who, in conjunction with others as intriguing as herself,
seeks only to ruin the kingdom, and to degrade it in the eyes of other
nations.

"The noble firmness of sovereign courts is odious to people of this
class; thus you may imagine the detestation in which they regard the
candid and loyal conduct of the duke. I n the hopes of procuring the
dismissal of my brother, they have chosen for his successor wretch
loaded with crimes, a coward, an extortioner, a murderer--the duc
d'Aiguillon. As for you gentlemen, who now constitute our parliament,
your places will soon be filled by a magistracy drawn from the dregs of
society; a troop of slaves, deaf and blind, except as he who pays them
best will have them exercise those powers.

"This is no time for indolent repose; we must at once courageously and
unanimously defeat the guilty schemes of our enemies. So long as my
brother retains his present post he will support you with his best
interest; but, should he be dismissed, your business will soon be
finished.

"I beg my best remembrances, first, to your excellent lady, and after
her, to madame B. and madame L., not forgetting the marquise de Chalret,
whose wit is truly Attic; nor the marquise de P--s, who conceals beneath
the graceful exterior of a Languedocian the soul of one of Corneille's
Roman matrons. For yourself rely upon my warmest friendship and
endeavours to serve you. My brother is most anxious to know you, after
the flattering manner in which I have mentioned you to him. When will
you gratify us both by visiting Paris?

"Ever yours,"

Nothing could have arrived more _a propos_ for our purpose than this
letter. I was still engaged in its perusal when the king was announced;
I wished to hurry it back into the hands of M. de Maupeou; but he, more
crafty than I, requested I would keep it.

"It is fitting," said he, "that it should be seen by the right person."

Louis XV, astonished at the strange scene, inquired what it meant.

"A most shameful piece of sca