among
so mocking a people as the French; the result was, that the
_Constitutionnel_ diminished wonderfully in point of circulation. Yet
the old man wrote and spoke well, and had, from 1824 to 1829, as an ally
the sharp and clever Thiers, and the better read, the better informed,
and the more judicious Mignet. It was during the Vitelle administration
that the _Constitutionnel_ attained the very highest acme of its fame.
It was then said to have had 30,000 subscribers, and to have maintained
them with the cry of "Down with the Jesuits!" In 1827-28, during its
palmiest days, the _Constitutionnel_ had no _Roman feuilleton_. It
depended then on its leading articles, nor was it till its circulation
declined, in 1843, to about 3500, that the proprietors determined to
reduce the price one-half. They then, too, adopted the _Roman
feuilleton_, giving as much as 500 francs for an article of this kind to
Dumas or Sue. From 1845 or 1846 to 1848, the _Consitutionnel_ had most
able contributors of leading articles; Thiers, De Remusat, and Duvergier
d'Hauranne, having constantly written in its columns. The circulation of
the journal was then said to amount to 24,000. When the
_Constitutionnel_ entered into the hands of its present proprietor,
Docteur Louis Veron, it was said to be reduced to 3000 subscribers. How
many subscribers it has now we have no very accurate means of knowing,
but we should say, at a rough guess, it may have 9000 or 10,000. It
should be remembered, that from being an anti-sacerdotal journal it has
become a priests' paper and the organ of priests; from being an opponent
of the executive, it has become the organ and the apologist of the
executive in the person of M. L. N. Buonaparte, and the useful
instrument, it is said, of M. Achille Fould. Every body knows, says M.
Texier, with abundant malice prepense, that Dr. Veron, the chief editor
of the _Constitutionnel_, has declared that France may henceforth place
her head on the pillow and go quietly to sleep, for the doctor
confidently answers for the good faith and wisdom of the president.

But who is DOCTOR VERON, the editor-in-chief, when one finds his
excellency _chezelle_? The ingenuous son of Esculapius tells us himself
that he has known the _coulisses_ (the phrase is a queer one) of
science, of the arts, of politics, and even of the opera. It appears,
however, that the dear doctor is the son of a stationer of the Rue du
Bac, who began his career by studying me