nd with pity for the
blinded and unenlightened individuals who indulge therein.

The day being fine, or as they say in France, _ce est une beau journal_,
I lounged along the Boulevards, and remarked that human nature was the
same in every climate. I then went down the Rue de la Paix--you will
observe that I am now quite familiar with the old parts of the City of
Paris--and after some turnings came to the Cathedral of Notre Dame,
which is certainly fine, although devoted to a false religion, which,
however, does not alter the architecture, and I hope I am too candid not
to draw the distinction between the external and the internal aspects of
an edifice. To adopt a metaphor, the sign of a tavern may be well
painted, although the beer sold within may not be good; but in saying
this, I wish to be understood to speak generally, and not with reference
to any particular establishment, far less to swell that illiberal cry
against hotel-keepers (many of whom are most worthy and honourable men)
which my antagonist--whom it is my mission to crush--in Printing House
Square continually raises.

But, _revenions a nous moutions_, ("to return to business") I was
greatly pleased, or shall I say amused, with a highly dramatic scene
which occurred in the course of my walk. I shall never forget it, and it
may take its place "in this distracted orb" (SHAKSPERE'S _Hamlet_)
beside that other joke, which, as I have already told my readers, will
throw me into paradoxes of laughter at any hour or time. Wake me and
tell me the house is on fire, assure me there is an earthquake, let me
hear that a printer's unpardonable carelessness has made a newspaper
under my charge say a reverend clergyman reached before PRINCE ALBERT
instead of preached before H. R. H., and that the Court refuses to
receive my published apology; still, if you tell me the joke in
question, I shall laugh. But I think the following dialogue is as rich
as the other, _Arcades ambo_, (the fair sex must excuse me if I do not
translate this). I saw a respectable gentleman's handkerchief protruding
from his coat pocket, and knowing the disagreeableness of finding that
humble but useful article missing, especially in the influenza period, I
thought I would waive ceremony, and though unintroduced, suggest to him
the advisability of a precautionary measure. So, touching my hat with
some playfulness, I said, "_Monsieur, vous voulez perdre votre
parapluie_." (I must not translate this, or