a fourth, arrived at Cheltenham. He was guarded by a couple of dragons in the shape of unmarried daughters, who watched him with the utmost circumspection. They were, however, obliged to enter society, and to renew an acquaintance with Lady Jane Tollemache, notwithstanding their secret dread of Isabella, who, quite as anxious to be married as Geraldine could be, smoothed her brow, and enlivened her usually sour aspect with a smile. Notwithstanding all her misfortunes, smiles were more naturally familiar to the lips of Geraldine; and Lord Wreldesworth, just as he was beginning to wish that Miss Tollemache did not look quite so precise and oldmaidish, encountered his old acquaintance Miss Bragge. His eyes might have been a little dim, but it appeared to him that she did not seem a month older than on the night when, in his second wife's lifetime, he had been so enchanted with her waltzing at a fashionable London assembly. Lord Wreldesworth, who had been for some time exceedingly manageable, now broke through all control. He would go and visit the Bragges; lent the father L.100, just for old acquaintance' sake; and, finally, in despite of the rage and vexation of his daughters, and the talk of all Cheltenham, he married Geraldine Bragge. It would be preposterous to say, that this late alliance possessed a single redeeming feature. On both sides, it was like most marriages in what are called the higher ranks-perfectly heartless, and was attended with the usual heartless results.

[In the preceding paper, the reader will probably recognise the lively descriptive power of an English female writer, who has contributed many equally entertaining and correct sketches of provincial manners. We cannot allow the Bragge family to pass from under our notice without expressing our deep regret-living, as we 'do, and feeling, like Singletonians-that, in the superior spheres of English society the love of splendour and distinction should be so absorbing a passion. With all the advantages of the present advanced state of things, it is to be feared that the more generous and unselfish

To quote

feelings have yet but little play amongst us. the language of a work, of which a short critical notice has chanced to fall under our attention :*-The very arts which seem most to raise and embellish life, introduce in their train habits of effeminacy and self-indulgence. They create new wants, which become, in turn, from servants, masters. They concentrate the entire being within self; they render self-sacrifice an absurdity; duty, a difficulty; they add to riches a fictitious value, measured by the lowest passions of our nature. These are sad truths; nor do we see, in existing institutions, the means of giving a different current to mind in the superior circles of society. From causes, however, now in operation, it is not improbable that the light of a superior morality will soon dawn in the lower departments of our community, whence it can scarcely fail in time to ascend to the higher.]

THE MYSTERIOUS ROBBERY.

THE following remarkable narrative occurs in the famous French work Les Causes Célèbres, or Celebrated Trials :

Francis, Count de Mongommery, and M. d'Anglade, lived in the same mansion in the street Royale, in Paris. The house consisted of four floors, the two lowermost of which were occupied by the count, his wife, and family, and the two upper by M. and Madame d'Anglade, with their only daughter and servants. The two families visited each other, and were altogether upon good terms, though there existed no strong or sincere friendship between them. Count de Mongommery was wealthy, and had an establishment corresponding to his rank and means. He even kept a domestic chaplain, or almoner, a person found only in houses of the highest distinction.

* Education Reform, by Thomas Wyse, Esq., M.P.

M. d'Anglade, on the other hand, though he made a decent appearance in society, and was received into the best company, was understood to be rather straitened in his circumstances. Such was the condition, individually and relatively, of the principal parties in the following unfortunate affair.

Count de Mongommery and his lady having projected a visit to their country-house of Villeboisin, invited M. and Madame d'Anglade to accompany them. The invitation was at first accepted, but afterwards it was declined, upon some slight plea. The count and countess accordingly set out for their estate, attended only by their chaplain, François Gagnard, and other domestics, on Monday the 22d of September 1687, proposing not to return till the evening of the succeeding Thursday. During their absence, the town-house was left under the charge of a female servant, named Formenie, with whom a page, and four girls who worked at embroidery, also remained. Some trifling presentiment of evil having occurred to Count de Mongommery, who was somewhat superstitious, he returned with his suite to town on the Wednesday a day earlier than he intended. Nothing unusual was observed about the count's apartments at first, excepting that the door of a chamber on the groundfloor, in which some of the servants slept, was found to be unlocked, though the chaplain had locked it, and taken the key with him on his departure. Formenie and her companions had never touched the door, and had believed it always to be locked. This circumstance, however, did not excite much notice at the time. The count and countess took supper after their arrival, and had just finished their repast, when M. d'Anglade entered by the door common to his apartments and those of the count. This was about eleven o'clock. M. d'Anglade had been supping out, and finding the Mongommeries to have returned, he went into the chamber where they were, and chatted with them for a time; after which, Madame d'Anglade came down likewise, and joined in the conversation. The domestics of the count afterwards

alleged, that both the D'Anglades appeared struck with surprise on learning the count's arrival.

On the evening of the following day, Count de Mongommery gave information to the authorities that he had been robbed. The lock, he stated, of his strongbox had been forced during his three days' absence, and there had been taken away thirteen bags, containing each 1000 livres in silver coin, 11,500 livres in two-pistole gold pieces, a twisted rouleau of 100 new louis-d'ors, and a pearl-necklace, valued at 4000 livres. On the announcement of this enormous loss, M. Deffita, one of the heads of the criminal department, and other officials, went to the count's apartments. The first impression on the mind of every one was, that some person about the house had committed the robbery, and therefore a search was resolved upon. M. d'Anglade and his wife came forward at once, and requested that their chambers might be first examined. This was assented to. The lowermost of the two floors occupied by the D'Anglades was begun with, the master and mistress of the house themselves conducting the officers through all parts of it. Coffers, cabinets, beds, and, in short, everything, were turned over and examined, without any vestige being found of what was sought. After the first floor was investigated, M. d'Anglade led the way to the upper story, his wife declining to go, on account of an attack of faintness. In the upper flat, on examining an old trunk full of clothes and linens, a twisted rouleau of seventy louis-d'ors was found in it, wrapped up in a paper which contained a printed genealogy. On opening this rouleau to count the money, the hand of M. d'Anglade was seen to tremble, and he himself said: 'I tremble.' Count de Mongommery declared the paper containing the genealogy to be his, and said-what he had not said before-that his louis were of the coinage of 1686 and 1687, the same as those found in D'Anglade's rouleau. Suspicion once thrown, as it now was, upon this unhappy man, other circumstances were not long in occurring to increase it. On descending to the chambers

of Count de Mongommery, Madame d'Anglade observed to the judge or officer, M. Deffita, that one room, she had heard, had been found unlocked, and that in it something might perhaps be found; adding unguardedly, that some of the servants were probably the authors of the act. When, on searching that same room, five of the missing bags of livres were discovered, with a sixth, in which the sum of 1000 livres was incomplete, Madame d'Anglade's pointing out the room, and her readiness to accuse others, increased vastly the suspicion against herself and her husband. Moreover, the count declared that he would answer for the honesty of his servants, and seemed firmly persuaded that the D'Anglades were the actors in the robbery. So strong also was the impression against them on the mind of M. Deffita, that he made the remark to M. d'Anglade, shortly after the discovery of the louis-d'ors in the trunk: Either you or I has committed this robbery. The result of the search was, that at the requisition of the count, with the consent of the public prosecutor, M. and Madame d'Anglade were thrown into prison, confined in separate places, and prevented from seeing any one. Their effects were all sealed up at the same time.

The following are the chief circumstances, in addition to the discovery of the louis and the genealogical paper, and other grounds of suspicion mentioned, that came out against the prisoners on further inquiry, and led to their condemnation :-The D'Anglades knew that the count had large sums of money by him; they made a frivolous excuse to break up the engagement to go to the country; on the Tuesday night, which, in all probability, was the night of the robbery, M. d'Anglade supped in his own house, which was rarely or never the case at other times; he sought and obtained from Count de Mongommery the keys of the street-door before the latter's departure, which keys were necessary for the carrying away of the stolen property; and, when interrogated separately about the seventy louis-d'ors, the two prisoners contradicted each other-the husband saying that he did not