very
good time, but I know poor creatures whose lives have been spent in a
constant struggle for existence. They should have some reward hereafter.
They have worked here; they should be rewarded after death. The only
doubts that I have about the future are whether I have not had too good
a time on earth.'"

He died in April, 1883, from a severe cold which he had not the strength
to throw off. His end was as peaceful and painless as his life had been
innocent and beneficial.

[2] A noted philanthropist of that day, devoted to the improvement of
the public schools of the city.

PARIS-DUVERNEY.

FRENCH FINANCIER.

Some one has remarked that the old French monarchy was a despotism
tempered by epigrams. I take the liberty of adding that if the despotism
of the later French kings had not been frequently tempered by something
more effectual than epigrams, it would not have lasted as long as it
did.

What tempered and saved it was, that, occasionally, by hook or by crook,
men of sterling sense and ability rose from the ordinary walks of life
to positions of influence and power, which enabled them to counteract
the folly of the ruling class.

About the year 1691 there was an inn at the foot of the Alps, near the
border line that divided France from Switzerland, bearing the sign, St.
Francis of the Mountain. There was no village near. The inn stood alone
among the mountains, being supported in part by travelers going from
France to Geneva, and in part by the sale of wine to the farmers who
lived in the neighborhood. The landlord, named Paris, was a man of
intelligence and ability, who, besides keeping his inn, cultivated a
farm; assisted in both by energetic, capable sons, of whom he had four:
Antoine, aged twenty-three; Claude, twenty-one; Joseph, seven; and Jean,
an infant. It was a strong, able family, who loved and confided in one
another, having no thought but to live and die near the spot upon which
they were born, and in about the same sphere of life.

But such was not their destiny. An intrigue of the French ministry drew
these four sons from obscurity, and led them to the high places of the
world. Pontchartrain, whose name is still borne by a lake in Louisiana,
was then minister of finance to Louis XIV. To facilitate the movements
of the army in the war then going on between France and Savoy, he
proposed to the king the formation of a company which should contract to
supply the army with provision