t if he
were fortunate enough to persuade them, in the first instance, to pay a
visit to the Ecole Militaire, the curiosity of the king perhaps would be
excited by the narrative of what they had seen, and would lead him to do
that which he would never have been prompted to do by justice. He
accordingly represented to the princesses not only the equitable side of
the question, but also the immense interest which he himself had in
obtaining this favor for a man who might be of great use to him. The
princesses consented to visit the Ecole Militaire, and Beaumarchais was
granted the honor of accompanying them. The director received them with
great splendor; they did not conceal from him the great interest they
took in their young _protege_, and some days afterward Louis XV., urged
by his daughters, visited it himself, and thus gratified the wishes of
old Duverney.

"From this moment the financier, grateful for Beaumarchais' good
services, and delighted to find a person who could assist him as an
intermediary in his intercourse with the court, resolved to make the
young man's fortune. He began by giving him a share in one of his
speculations to the amount of sixty thousand francs, on which he paid
him interest at the rate of ten per cent.; after this, he gave him an
interest in various other affairs. 'He initiated me,' says Beaumarchais,
'into the secrets of finance, of which, as every one knows, he was a
consummate master.'"

Such was government in the good old times! I like to think of it when
things go amiss in Washington or Albany. Let our rulers do as badly as
they may, they cannot do worse than the rulers of the world did a
century and a half ago. If any good or great thing was done in those
days, it was done in spite of the government.

SIR ROWLAND HILL.

The poet Coleridge, on one of his long walks among the English lakes,
stopped at a roadside inn for dinner, and while he was there the
letter-carrier came in, bringing a letter for the girl who was waiting
upon him. The postage was a shilling, nearly twenty-five cents. She
looked long and lovingly at the letter, holding it in her hand, and then
gave it back to the man, telling him that she could not afford to pay
the postage. Coleridge at once offered the shilling, which the girl
after much hesitation accepted. When the carrier was gone she told him
that he had thrown his shilling away, for the pretended letter was only
a blank sheet of paper. On the out