girl prostitutes, or by the indecent masquerading of a great number
of women in men's garments," issued a rigorous decree against all women
who were found disguised as men, and very many arrests were made in
consequence.

When Louis XVIII made his solemn entry into Paris on the 3d of May,
1814, it was in the midst of the popular acclamations; a numerous and
very enthusiastic crowd swarmed in the Carrousel, the court of the
chateau, the garden and the terraces, "this same crowd which, on the
10th of August, 1792, filled the air with its imprecations against
Capet, which, on the 2d of December, 1804, acclaimed the Emperor and the
Empress, and which, on this occasion, welcomed with cries of joy the
orphan of the Temple after having applauded the decapitation of his
father and his mother." When this same populace, turned Republican
again, thronged along the boulevards and into the Place Vendome in 1831,
singing the _Marseillaise_, Marechal Lobau, unwilling to fire on them,
contented himself by ordering the hose of the fire-pumps turned on them,
and deluging indiscriminately conspirators, orators on the public place,
and spectators. "The Republicans had demonstrated on many occasions that
they did not fear fire. But, like all Parisians, they detested water.
Surprised at these unexpected douches, they fled in every direction, and
the Place Vendome was immediately cleared."

Well might Napoleon declare, repeating Rabelais's word, on one of the
many occasions of popular manifestation: "This is not the first time
that I have had occasion to remark that the population of Paris is only
a _ramas de badauds_."

The _poissardes_, or fish-women of the Halles, those "_commeres fortes
en gueule_" (shrill-voiced gossips), appear almost as frequently in
these police and scandalous chronicles as the courtesans. They are
frequently mentioned in the mediaeval records; under Louis XIII, they and
their resort were considered worthy of the following description: "You
will see at the Halles a multitude of rascals who amuse themselves only
by pillaging and robbing each other, sellers as well as buyers, by
cutting their purses, searching in their _hottes_ and baskets; others,
in order to better secure their prey, will sing dishonest songs and
dirty ones, sometimes one and sometimes the other, without any regard
for either Sundays or fete days,--things deplorable in a city of Paris!
In the Halles and other usual markets, you may see women who sel