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sleep into 31,588 houses. For its reading, Paris has, first, unimpeded access to public libraries, containing in all over 2,400,000 volumes; secondly, access on easy conditions to other libraries, such as those of the universities, the schools, and of certain corporations; thirdly, an abundant periodical literature, such as the twelve daily general newspapers, numberless literary and scientific, general, and special periodicals, and an

alarming quantity of other printed matter, furnished by numberless authors, and set before them by 1,034 publishers and booksellers. Paris worships the same God in forty-two Catholic, five Protestant, and two Jewish places of devotion.

To close all, 34,000 Parisians die yearly, of whom, according to M. Torchio, more than 400 (another authority says 483) are suicides.

EFFORTS TOWARD A MUSEUM OF FOOLS.

ROMULUS, Remus, and Africanus were three brothers, born into the world upon the same day of the week, the same day of the month, and in the same year of our Lord-so that the reader may perceive there was but small difference in their ages; but not so was it with their lives, for, having agreed in that single particular, and so made their ontrance upon the stage at the same hour, they quickly sought to make amends for such an unseemly unanimity, by the most exemplary dissonance. Find out what suited one, and you learned, at the same time, what did not suit either of the others. It was so, even with their diet, so that the doctors themselves, and the still more sagacious nurses, were for a long time nonplussed by this strange idiosyncrasy. They at times seemed to regret even that single instance of agreement already alluded to it being not unfrequently a subject of debate as to who was the oldest, and how much-the contention waxing all the hotter, as might be supposed, from the extremely slight ground on which it rested.

And this repellancy, which showed itself thus early in the lives of these disputants, by no means subsided as they advanced in years. It rather increased; and the mimic squabblings of the nursery only terminated to make room for the more determined quarrels, and the more serious disturbances of puberty and manhood. The home where they continued to reside was thus rendered an almost constant scene of uproar and confusion, when, as they were about entering their twenty-fifth year, a circumstance occurred which caused the old man, their father, to succumb outright-he having, sooth to say, been

nearly reduced to that point often before. At the time I speak of, there appeared in this scene of strife what should have been an angel of peace, but so far was this from being the case, that the fires of discord blazed more fiercely than ever. This was no other than a fair cousin, who had seen some eighteen summers, or, to speak more correctly, eighteen summers had seen her. She was now, by the death of her parents, become the ward of the young men's father-an office from whose burdens they would gladly have relieved him, so that each could have attained to the coveted guardianship. This, however, being plainly impossible, the strife, of which the young damsel was the occasion, exceeded anything that had preceded it; they, indeed, who were aware of her mental graces and rare personal comeliness, well-nigh excusing, in this instance, the bickerings of the disputatious claimants.

But, as I have said, the old man's patience was now at last quite exhausted; and, in casting about for a remedy against these everlasting clapper-clawings, which so jarred upon his own more tuneful nature, he at length adopted an expedient, suggested to him by a story he had read in his boyhood. Summoning the offenders before him, he addressed them as follows:

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sustenance in your travels. Take each one. Be absent a twelve-month, and he of you who shall return at the end of that time, having found the greatest fool, shall be entitled to the fair hand you each so earnestly covet."

Not a little loth to be so long separated from the fond object of their desire, they received this announcement with great chagrin-each of them, however, consoling himself with the thought, that he only would prove the successful claimant, and thus, in one instance, at least, win an uncontested supremacy over his discomfited brothers.

"There are plenty of fools to pick from," said Romulus, "and it shall go hard but I will find the biggest."

"Among so many, the more difficult the choice," said Remus; "but I doubt not to hunt him out."

"And Flotilda's prayers assist me, while I disappoint you both," said Afri

canus.

Having thus signified their reluctant assent to a decision from which they well understood there was no appeal, and taken each for himself the generous outfit provided for them, they straightway departed, in opposite directions, upon their anxious and curious errand. And first for Romulus. He found, as he had predicted, plenty of fools, but the difficulty of making a selection was far greater than he had anticipated. He had readily gathered some very choice specimens, and made a note of them; but his naturally fastidious temper, now sharpened by the earnestness of his hopes to a severer scrutiny than ever, left him still dissatisfied. At length, however, his doubts were dispelled, and it happened in this wise: Wearied and foot-sore by his wanderings, he seated himself, toward the close of a sultry day, upon the shady side of a large and apparently untenanted building, which stood in the outskirts of the town, still a mile or so distant, where he proposed to pass the night. Hardly, however, had he uncovered his head, that the refreshing evening air might have free access to his temples, and composed himself in a half recumbent position upon the cool door-step, than he became conscious that the building was not as empty as he had at first supposed. To satisfy his curiosity, he gently pushed against the door, already ajar, and, by the dim light which found entrance through the chinks of the

closed shutters, he discovered a man moving about to and fro-now slowly, now with a quicker motion, and altogether in a somewhat mysterious and fantastic manner. He noticed, too, that ever and anon the strange individual approached a large cage which stood upon the floor, and he imagined he could, from time to time, distinguish the fluttering of wings against its wires. At length, his curiosity getting the better of his prudence, he was, contrary to his purpose, obtruded rather suddenly into the presence of the singular person whose movements he had been thus watching. Somewhat surprised, but not apparently offended by the disturbance, the solitary tenant accosted the intruder in friendly terms-a show of Foodhumor instantly welcomed by Romulus, since the peculiar countenance and the general demeanor of the man he had interrupted greatly strengthened an already inchoate presentiment, that the specimen he was in search of stood before him. Excusing himself for having thus inadvertently become a spy upon his movements, Romulus came at once to the point which was now uppermost in his mind, and inquired the object of the cage, which, resting upon the floor a few feet from the spot where they were now standing, showed no want of tenants, whatever might be said of the building which contained it.

"The cage, eh? You are a close observer, I see, and for a young man that is well. This cage, as you perceive, is not empty. It is now nearly full of bats. They have been put there by my agency-I might say by my own hands. To you, the imprisonment, doubtless, seems cruel. But it is not so; or if cruel for this handful, it is not so for the race-I mean the race of bats. It is for them I am working. To improve their condition-to elevate them in the scale of humanity, I was about to sayI mean of the brute creation, I spend my days. But it is growing late. I live in the town yonder. Come and see me to-morrow, and I will unfold to you my plan more fully."

Thus saying, he withdrew further into the building, signifying by his manner that he wished to be no longer interrupted; and Romulus, more than ever assured that he had at last stumbled upon the object of his search, readily accepted the invitation thus hastily extended. At an early hour on the fol

lowing day, he failed not to keep his appointment, and once more found himself in the presence of the acquaintance he had formed in so unexpected a man

ner.

"Punctual, I see. That is well. Nothing in a young man like punctuality. Please be seated. You find me with my implements about me. So you will always find me. So I like to be found. It is the business of my life, and it is the pleasure of my life. These poor bats! But, perhaps, you are not acquainted with their nature, or have not considered the deprivation under which they labor. I will explain it. There, you see, is a bat, in what I call his natural state. Come with me. I let him loose. The poor fellow, you see what sad work he makes of flying. There, he has dashed himself against yonder wall. Now, what is wanting is, these bats should be made to endure the sunlight, and my grand project is to give them sunlight-sunlight to the bats. What is light for but to see by? and what are eyes for but to see with? You see these delicate needles, this even thread, these salves, these ointments. These explain my grand design. These eyelids must be kept open, and when these poor bats are made equal to endure the broad light of noon-day, instead of groping miserably in the dull twilight, my final triumph will be achieved, and I shall be hailed as their benefactor-the deliverer of an entire race. It is true, some few cages of them have perished in the course of my undertaking, but what signifies? They will come to it at last. A wonderful discovery, to be sure, but this is the glorious nineteenth century. Haven't we the magnetic telegraph? Haven't we steam? And why not this?"

Encouraged by the close attention of his visitor, who drank in his words like nectar, the speaker continued, in an ever rising strain of eloquence, to set forth the glorious scheme.

"Light dawns upon the benighted bats; the day of their deliverance draws nigh!" passionately exclaimed the oper

ator.

"Flotilda is mine; the day of our betrothal is at hand!" mentally exclaimed Romulus.

Turn we now to Remus. Unlike Romulus, who contended that fools were to be met with everywhere, and unlike Africanus, who maintained they were to

be found only in the country, it was his theory that they chiefly abounded in cities. Accordingly, having selected one of the largest of these, he directed his steps thither. And, as he had foreseen, there was no scarcity of the article he was in quest of, but his perplexity arose from its abundance. He met with the fool religious, who, making a mock of sects in whose ritual forms and ceremonies predominated, yet trusted to forms himself for salvation; with the fool political, who thought to effect a moral and social revolution by his precious dogmas; with the fool mercantile, who, when ninety-nine gallant barques foundered and were lost, made sure that his would be the hundredth that should escape. And, passing from these, whom he termed the professional or classified fools, he found, outside of their ranks, what he designated as the individual fools-the fool pretender, who, glorying in a character he had worn so long as to imagine it belonged to him, supposed others were equally deceived with himself; with the self-sufficient fool, who, with his head only in the sand, forgot that his nakedness was exposed; the moneyed fool who, gathering only of that kind of riches which take to themselves wings and fly away, was often left without riches of any sort; the fool gluttonous; the fool licentious; and so on to the end of the chapter.

In short, in such variety and abundance did the tribe present themselves, that he began to doubt whether he was not himself the greatest fool of all, for attempting to determine, among so many competitors, which should be allowed the precedence. But he remembered the prize he had left behind, and, while he had not thus far "made a note of" a single specimen, he redoubled his exertions, ever holding to the belief, that as nature had formed one such inestimable jewel as Flotilda, to outshine all others, so, being ever equal in all her departments, she must have somewhere created one such incomparable fool as should outtop every other. And such a fool-a fool whose folly was as unfathomable as her loveliness was ineffable-a fool whose lack of wisdom could be measured by her bounteous endowments, he felt assured he had not yet found.

The standard his imagination thus furnished, was evidently a very lofty one, and of difficult attainment, so that

the time allotted for his search had nearly expired, leaving him as far from the object of his pursuit as ever. But his perseverance was at last to find its reward. The eleventh month was rapidly approaching its close, when, upon one of its last days, he found himself almost the sole occupant of the room in his hotel, where he often stationed himself, as being a spot seemingly well suited to his purpose. As he sat there, rather uneasily revolving in his mind his rapidly diminishing chances of success, he was approached by a gentleman whom he felt sure he had often met before, but to whom he was an entire stranger. His step was gentle, and suggestive of slippers. His manner was dove-like. His face, swelling and rounded with benignity, seemed to have been lately washed in the milk of human kindness. It was radiant with, and fairly radiated, benevolence. As he now approached the spot where, as I have said, Remus was sitting, he gracefully presented a paper which he had just gracefully unfolded, and, in dulcet tones, with a voice that seemed always to have fed upon the oil of olives, he proceeded to explain his errand.

"Excuse me, sir, but, finding you here, and supposing you to be a traveler, and possibly not altogether ignorant of the subject I desire to introduce to your notice, I make bold to address you. You have probably heard of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. Possibly you have taken it in the course of your travels. If so, you are aware, doubtless, that a river pursues there its subterranean course, in whose dark waters are found sightless, or, as some contend, eyeless fish. A 'ladies' relief society' is about to be organized for their benefit. As the authorized agent of that society, it becomes my privilege to solicit such aid as may be found necessary to put this most important and glorious enterprise upon a safe and permanent foundation. I need hardly allude to the importance of the undertaking, nor hint at the magnificent results it may be expected to produce; nor need I speak of the advantages of association, so essential to the successful accomplishment of these great enterprises. Allow me to hand, for your inspection, a copy of our constitution and by-laws. you will perceive, a subscription of fifty dollars constitutes you a director for

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life, or half that sum entitles you to be enrolled among its honorary members. That," continued he, pointing to the paper, now in the hands of Remus, is the column, should you choose the former; and this, should you prefer the latter."

Such was the exultant joy that poured like a tide into the heart of Remus, during the utterance of these remarks, that, upon a slight lull in their delivery, he was, for the moment, inclined to inscribe his name not only in one column, but in both. He, however, asked time to reflect a little upon a matter of such importance, and, pleading a pressing engagement, that he might withdraw, to give loose to the immoderate joy which now possessed him, he bid the stranger adieu, whose shining countenance, to his mind, now beamed with a more overflowing benevolence than ever.

Having thus set forth the adventures of these two, who claimed to be the elder brothers, let us now devote our attention to those of Africanus, the younger. As has been already intimated, he had always been driven, in the arguments on the subject, between himself and his brothers, to maintain that fools chiefly abounded in the country; and now, that he found himself called upon to act in the matter, to preserve an appearance of consistency, he was in some sort compelled, as others have been before him, to square his conduct accordingly; though, if the truth must be told, it was against his real inclination-his secret opinion being the opposite of that he had been forced to advocate. And, as, intent upon his errand, he traveled over the wide circuit his choice had rendered necessary, he constantly found new reason to regret his folly. He found fools, it is true, and plenty of them; but there were few or none he could classify among the sublime or transcendent fools. There was no scarcity of specimens, but they all lacked that full, perfect development -those decided marks, always so welcome to the collector of a cabinet.

He had, however, escaped one disadvantage which his brothers had so early and so constantly encountered in their travels-the perplexity of choice. He was not harassed by the thought that he had left the best locality behind him. He remembered, too, how, in their former controversies, he had at heart leaned very strongly to the doc

trine advocated by Romulus-that fools, both great and small, were to be found everywhere; and, thus strengthened in his purpose, he held bravely on his way. And whether or not it was owing to any special efficacy in Flotilda's prayers, he had invoked at starting, doth not appear; but certain it is that, after many weary wanderings, some propitious influence directed his steps to a fortunate issue. Traveling for the most part on foot, he had at length reached a thinlysettled district, where the scattered farm-houses were separated from each other at a more unsocial distance than ever. Foot-sore, and oppressed by the heat of the day, which now approached its meridian, he chose a favorable spot by the wayside, beneath a spreading tree, whose thick foliage excluded the noontide rays, and, making use of his knapsack as a pillow, he threw himself lengthwise upon the inviting

sward.

While he thus occupied this recumbent position, and while he strove, as was his wont, to revive his sinking spirits by recalling to mind the bright image he had left behind, his attention was awakened by certain sounds that seemed to proceed from a field, which he now discovered, not far in advance of the spot where he had been resting. Refreshed somewhat in body and mind by the operation above described, he now rose to renew his journey, and, coming up in a few moments to the field, he perceived, on the other side of the wall, a man engaged in digging about a tree, which stood a short distance from the road. Careful to avail himself of whatever might chance to favor his enterprise, and thinking, too, that the farm-house could not be far distant, where the demands of his appetite might be satisfied, he leaped over the wall, and approached the individual whom he had found thus engaged. Having, with little loss of time, settled the point as to the necessary refreshment for the body, he began to look about him more attentively. In addition to the spade, which the man was industriously plying, he seemed to have brought with him a large vessel, which now stood there, filled with some substance bearing a strong resemblance to molassesor, if we follow Webster's orthography, melasses-the application of which substance to the newly turned up soil occasionally interrupted the man's oth

erwise unintermitted labor with the spade.

Having extended his observations thus far, Africanus at once became curious to know more of the operation going on before him; and great was his surprise to learn, in reply to his inquiries, that the substance to which his attention had been drawn, was no other than that it resembled.

"Them's molasses, as sure's yer born," said the man, with emphasis, as his visitor seemed slow to receive the truth thus communicated. "Them's molasses; and if yer want to know what I'm a puttin' 'em round this tree for, I can soon tell ye. This 'ere is an appletree, and a almighty thrifty tree at that, as yer can see for yerself; but prehaps the apples as comes from it arn't sour, which, if I had one by me, yer might see for yerself, too. Now, I sort o' run of an idee, that by a puttin' these 'ere molasses round it, mebbe't might have sweet apples on't, and that's the whole on't."

With a great effort, and only partial success, repressing his mirth, Africanus inquired of the man if he did not think grafting would be a better remedy.

"Not a bit on't," he replied. "None o' yer top works for me. I'm for going to the root o' the matter. I believe that's Scriptur', and if 'tain't Scriptur', it stands to reason and common sense, and that's what I go in for."

It is unnecessary to add, that here the journeyings of Africanus were brought to a termination. Hitherto, and more especially during the latter portion of his travels, he had been tormented by ever increasing doubts as to the result of his labors; and as, from time to time, the chances for his success seemed to diminish, so did the absent object of his desire present itself to his thoughts with ever increasing attractions; and, now that his doubt was suddenly exchanged for certainty itself, only transporting joy took possession of his heart. He, therefore, proceeded at once to retrace his steps, that he might, without loss of time, bring himself again into the angelic presence, there to make known his triumph, and, for his hitherto fainting hopes, substitute a glad and perfect fruition.

And now the allotted twelve-month drew near to its close. The decisive day-loiterer as it seemed to the impatient and sanguine rivals-at length is

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