t young man take off and stake his neckcloth: fortune
favoured him, and he had the uncommon fortitude to retire, and play no
more. There was another booth of rather a singular kind--a temporary
pawnbroker's, and who appeared to have a good brisk trade.

My attention, however, was more peculiarly attracted by a marquee, open
on all sides, and with an elevated floor: a chair, covered with green
velvet, was here placed, and occupied by a man of much apparent gravity.
I found, upon inquiry, that this was the president, judge, or
magistrate of the fair; that he was elected by votes of the
booth-holders, and determined all disputes on the spot; that his
authority was supported by the police, and his sentence enforced by the
municipality. He was a portly man, wore a three-cocked hat, and an old
scarlet cloak, which had served the same purpose time out of mind.

I returned to my hotel to dinner; and being informed that there was a
_table d'hote_, and that it would be very numerously attended, I
preferred it to dining in my own apartment, and at the appointed hour
took my seat. The company was indeed numerous--men, women, girls, and
children; officers of the army, exhibitors of wild beasts, actors and
actresses of the booth-theatres. A separate table was set for the
officers of the army. I had here a specimen of the manners of the French
revolutionary officers. A party of them, to the number of fifteen or
twenty, had already placed themselves at table, when the commandant, or
at least a superior officer, entered the room. They all immediately got
up to make room for him, and handed him a chair in a manner the most
servile and fawning. "I hope I disturb no one," said he, at the same
time throwing himself into the chair, but not offering to move his hat.
He continued during the whole of the dinner the same disgusting
superiority, and the subordinate officers several times called out
silence to the adjoining table, that they might better hear the vapid
remarks of their commander. The waiters, and even the whole _table
d'hote_ seemed in great awe of these military gentlemen; and one fellow
excused himself for leaving a plate before me by hastily alleging that
the commander was looking around him for something. I was still more
disgusted by one of the officers rising, and proposing this important
gentleman's health to both tables; and my surprise was greater by
recognizing, in the tone of this proposal, the barbarous twang of an
Iri