an industrial exhibition. The candelabra, the fire-dogs, the fender,
the chandelier, the clock, were all in the most unmeaning style of
scroll-work; the round table, a fixture in the middle of the room, was
a mosaic of fragments of Italian and antique marbles, brought from Rome,
where these dissected maps are made of mineralogical specimens--for all
the world like tailors' patterns--an object of perennial admiration
to Crevel's citizen friends. The portraits of the late lamented Madame
Crevel, of Crevel himself, of his daughter and his son-in-law, hung
on the walls, two and two; they were the work of Pierre Grassou, the
favored painter of the bourgeoisie, to whom Crevel owed his ridiculous
Byronic attitude. The frames, costing a thousand francs each, were quite
in harmony with this coffee-house magnificence, which would have made
any true artist shrug his shoulders.

Money never yet missed the smallest opportunity of being stupid. We
should have in Paris ten Venices if our retired merchants had had the
instinct for fine things characteristic of the Italians. Even in our own
day a Milanese merchant could leave five hundred thousand francs to
the Duomo, to regild the colossal statue of the Virgin that crowns the
edifice. Canova, in his will, desired his brother to build a church
costing four million francs, and that brother adds something on his own
account. Would a citizen of Paris--and they all, like Rivet, love their
Paris in their heart--ever dream of building the spires that are lacking
to the towers of Notre-Dame? And only think of the sums that revert to
the State in property for which no heirs are found.

All the improvements of Paris might have been completed with the money
spent on stucco castings, gilt mouldings, and sham sculpture during the
last fifteen years by individuals of the Crevel stamp.

Beyond this drawing-room was a splendid boudoir furnished with tables
and cabinets in imitation of Boulle.

The bedroom, smart with chintz, also opened out of the drawing-room.
Mahogany in all its glory infested the dining-room, and Swiss views,
gorgeously framed, graced the panels. Crevel, who hoped to travel in
Switzerland, had set his heart on possessing the scenery in painting
till the time should come when he might see it in reality.

So, as will have been seen, Crevel, the Mayor's deputy, of the Legion
of Honor and of the National Guard, had faithfully reproduced all the
magnificence, even as to furniture,