over; and previous to which Mademoiselle Mars used to take nothing but a consommé, or at the most the wing of a fowl. These social repasts were enlivened by the originality of the author of " Henri III.," of Roger of the Academie Française, of Hippolyte Lucas, the regenerator of the Greek drama, and learned translator, of De Lapelouze, formerly editor of the Courrier Français, of Mademoiselle Aim. D, then a pupil of Mademoiselle Mars, and of the perpetual Doctor Piron. "They drink marvellously well these gentlemen," said Mademoiselle Mars, one morning that she was casting her eye over the wine merchant's account," they drink marvellously certainly, but they are so supremely amiable." In her last illness Mademoiselle Mars said of Dumas and his Théâtre Historique, "That poor Dumas! We are quits now; he has placed me in his heaven." Besides the characters which were originally played by Mademoiselle Mars, and already noticed; La Tisbé in Victor Hugo's " Angelo," Marie in Madame Ancelot's drama of that name, and still more especially Valerie in M. Scribe's comedy, are deserving of mention as among those triumphant successes which every one went to witness. Mademoiselle Mars had an especial affection for the charming though blind Valerie, as she had for her previous character of a deaf and dumb girl. It is said that she studied the peculiarities of a blind person under a Mademoiselle Sophie, sister of Minette of the Vaudeville, who was actually afflicted with that infirmity. Upon the success of the play she presented to her préceptor a bracelet, with the inscription, "Valerie to Sophie." Mademoiselle Mars was no longer in her early youth at the time of the production of Alexandre Dumas's Mademoiselle de Belle Isle, which was the last new character she undertook. This was in 1839. Before the new comedy was brought out, M. Dumas read it in presence of a committee composed of Mademoiselle Mars, Messrs. Firmin, Féréol, Lockroy, and Doctor Piron. The writer had previously communicated to the gentlemen present, that his play contained two female characters, one eighteen years of age, the other thirty-five. During the reading, every body said to himself, "Madame de Prie! Madame de Prie! That is the character suited for her." But the moment the reading was terminated, Mademoiselle Mars anticipated all remarks by saying, "It is very good, and the character of Mademoiselle de Belle Isle suits me very well. I accept it." M. Lockroy was the only person present who ventured to insinuate any thing about " age.' Mademoiselle Mars was then sixty years old! But the success of the play was perfect. Mademoiselle de Belle Isle is almost universally acknowledged to have been one of the most refined and pathetic performances of the great comedian. III.-HER ADMIRERS. THE enthusiasm excited by the acting of Mademoiselle Mars was sometimes manifested in an extraordinary manner. She used to relate that, at the first representation of "Clotilde," by F. Soulié and A. Bossange, in 1832, between the second and third act a man made his way through the crowd, and throwing himself at her feet, seized her hands, which he passionately kissed, while he exclaimed, breathless with agitation," "Oh! you are truly the great woman- -great and superb amongst all." The enthusiast was Paul Delaroche, who at that time had an intimacy with Mademoiselle Anais, and Mademoiselle Mars did The not disguise how much she felt at such a mark of esteem. But these her public triumphs, were not her only ones. She related that she once had recourse to an American dentist, for the relief of toothache. dentist removed fragments of a decayed tooth, which caused the irritation, and when she wished to recompense him, "No, indeed," he said, in the most graceful manner possible, "I am sufficiently rewarded by having been permitted to see the finest teeth in the world." The riches accumulated by Mademoiselle Mars by her professional successes, and by presents from her admirers, were a source of as much trouble and annoyance as they were productive of advantages to her. Her diamonds and jewels appear, indeed, to have haunted her perpetually. The following is her own narrative. "At the time of the occupation of Paris by the allies I was very timid, and I lived in a little apartment in the Rue Feydeau. They had billeted a Cossack chief and his servant upon me. Every morning I saw from my window, which looked upon the yard, a very curious sight; these gentlemen, master and valet, had themselves shaved in the open air. The Cossack barber next placed the basin upon the head of the patient, and its circumference marked the line for cutting his hair. After such barbarous practices, when I saw the chieftain approaching me, with a look which he endeavoured to make as amiable as possible, I felt inclined to exclaim, 'Cossack! what do you want with me?' "At that time, happily for me, I had very few diamonds, but on the other hand I had a constant dread of robbery. One day, walking with Madame N-- in the wood of Boulogne, I pointed out to her a large tree at the bottom of which I thought I would bury my diamonds. “Madame N—— had much difficulty in dissuading me from this resolve, and lucky it was that I followed her advice, for, after the departure of our friends the Cossacks, having returned to the wood, I found the trees burnt down, the ground turned up, the desolation of a bivouac manifest everywhere, and I smiled at the idea of what a hiding-place I should have chosen. "Sometimes I thought of raising up a corner stone in the streets, but then again, the memory of the forty thieves' prevented me. At length, after many doubts, anxieties, reflections, and anxieties here is the expedient that I adopted. I had forty tin boxes made, in which I placed in some my jewels, in others my gold. I had these boxes fastened together by a rope, and suspended by a nail, in a place adjacent to my apartment.' Fear and anxiety, however, do not avert danger. At the instigation of Duchesnois and Talma, Mademoiselle Mars had purchased a small "hotel," Rue de la Tour des Dames. It was in this hotel that Mullon, the husband of her femme de chambre, succeeded in carrying off the objects of all her fears and solicitude. Madame Aclocque relates, that after the performances were over, and when they were about to start for the "petit soupers" of the Rue de Rivoli, Mademoiselle Mars used to give her the box with the jewels, would place her arm within that of one of the gentleman attendants, and say, "Walk on, but be invincible, for you carry the dowery of the 'Fille d'honneur.'" This was in allusion to certain presents which she had received upon the first performance of the piece in question. The double misfortune met with in the Rue de la Tour des Dames, induced Mademoiselle Mars to emigrate to the Rue de la Rochefaucauld, where the success that had attended the first robbery led a certain Garcin, an old servant of Mademoiselle Mars, to effect a second; and upon this occasion a large knife was found under the cushion of an arm-chair in the actress's apartment. Mademoiselle Mars was now exceedingly intimiMay.-VOL. LXXX. NO. CCCXVII. G dated, and she began to entertain fears for her personal safety. Some of her friends recommended her to purchase false diamonds, but she answered, "Molière could do without diamonds, so shall I." She accordingly appeared before the public without aigrette or rivière, and the public appreciated the sacrifice and applauded. In after times, Mademoiselle Mars deposited her valuables in the bank, which led to many extemporised good things, among which was one that concluded by saying, "that in order that nothing should be wanting to the treasure, the charming Mars must take up her abode in the bank with her casket." IV. THE STORY OF THE VIOLETS. MADAME ACLOCQUE ventured, in her intimate conversations, to allude to so delicate a subject as the great actress's friendship for the Emperor Napoleon. She said, that while she was giving lessons of elocution to the Princess Eliza, she experienced feelings of extreme timidity, which she could not overcome, hoping and fearing at the same time to see Buonaparte. Madame A- surmised that this arose from a softer sentiment that had been awakened in the emperor's favour. "If it was love," she answered, "I really cannot tell you. At all events it was a sentiment made expressly for him alone, for I never felt it for any one else, no more than he resembled any one else." The partiality of the great actress for the still greater actor, led to the only public event that chequered the ordinary routine of domestic and theatrical occurrences throughout the whole of her life-an existence which one of her biographers has remarked, was "rich in glory but poor in adventures.' After the restoration of the Bourbons, violets remained the insignia of the Buonapartistes. Mademoiselle Mars, who did not care to disguise her predilections, appeared at that period at the Champ de Mai, with a white dress decorated with the seditious symbol. It has been attempted to explain the act away* as having had its origin in the simple love which Mademoiselle Mars bore to a flower with so sweet a perfume, but this is now perfectly unnecessary. M. de Keratry in his funereal discourse alludes openly to the fact, that the flower of spring bore an emblematic character, and a nation's recollections placed a bouquet of the proscribed flowers upon her coffin. But great was the commotion produced by this indirect, yet eloquent demonstration of feeling on the part of the actress, in 1815. A great lady denounced Mademoiselle Mars to the Duke de Duras, and the whole court was thrown into agitation. At the theatre, for the first time, the public favourite was hissed, and she was called upon to cry out "Vive le Roi." "What do they want?" inquired the actress, with one of her looks of charming ingenuousness. According to some, Fleury,+ according to others, Baptiste, explained that she was requested to exclaim "Vive le Roi." "I have already cried out 'Vive le Roi,'" answered Mademoiselle Mars, saving her popularity without offending her conscience. V.-HER DEATH AND BURIAL. MADEMOISELLE MARS made her last appearance before the public on the 8th of March, 1841, when she played for the last time Célimène (a character she had so identified with herself, that her town residence was often designated as the Hotel Célimène), and her no less favourite cha * Mademoiselle Mars, Notice Biographique, &c. J. Hetzel, Warnod et Co. † Mademoiselle Mars; sa Vie, ses Succès, sa Mort. Marchant. racter of Araminte, in the "Fausses Confidences." Never did a dramatic solemnity produce so deep a sensation. Mademoiselle Mars retired from that period to the enjoyment of domestic peace and happiness. This was further ensured by a valuable appointment conferred by government, that of inspector of dramatic studies at the Conservatoire. The 26th of May, 1844, she was awakened by an extraordinary noise in her head, which she described as if a flight of bees were in the room. Doctor Piron ordered twenty leeches to be applied, but she remained deaf for twelve days afterwards. From that time forward she became thoughtful, and often melancholy. She was much affected by hearing of the death of any of her acquaintances. At length cerberal irritation declared itself, and was followed by persistent delirium, from which she was relieved by death the 20th of March, 1847. Brindeau announced the sad event the same evening at the Théâtre Français in the following words" Gentlemen, it grieves us to have to announce the death of that great actress who was called Mademoiselle Mars." Mademoiselle Mars has left a son who succeeds to all her wealth. Twenty years before she had lost a beloved daughter, who had followed an elder brother to the grave. Upon that sad occasion she withdrew herself from the stage during a whole year. A thousand anecdotes have been published, illustrating the private character and disposition of one so celebrated. It is certain that Mademoiselle Mars was any thing but illiterate, and it is well known that she studied, and was partially acquainted with both the English and Italian languages. Her whole life was one of almost classical simplicity. Her great pleasure was to live in the midst of a small circle of men of letters, artists, and persons of distinction, whose conversation improved her mind Her feelings of propriety were instinctive. She was much shocked at a benefit for the young Rachels, seeing a brother and sister playing the parts of lovers. Of Madame Lafarge she used to say, "That woman fills me with horror, with her twenty-four years of age, and her gangrenous nature!" Mademoiselle Mars was of an exceedingly charitable disposition, notwithstanding her predominant anxiety about her diamonds. Madame Aclocque relates, that she has often seen her wrap twenty francs in a bit of flannel, and send them to a friend in distress. The funeral of Mademoiselle Mars was a great public solemnity. Service was performed at La Madeleine, the chief mourners being Messrs. Keratry, Viennet, Liardères, Baron Taylor, Auber, and Samson. The companies from all the principal theatres in Paris were there in a body. A crowd of men of letters, artists, musicians, and other public characters were also there. Upwards of forty carriages, conveying ladies, joined the procession that followed the coffin to the grave. M. Samson expressed in the name of the Comedie Française, the regrets experienced at the heavy loss which art had sustained in the person of Mademoiselle Mars. M. de Keratry, Peer of France, and Vice-President of the Commissions of the Royal Theatres, pronounced a lengthened panygeric on the talent, genius, and goodness, of the deceased. The Baron Taylor delivered for M. Viennet, in the name of the dramatic commission, a grateful farewell to one, who had more than any other, contributed to the success of dramatic authors; and, finally, it was resolved that, as with Talma, her name shall be Mademoiselle Mars' sole monumental memorial. ་ ་་ ་ * £ = } ¥ * CHINA ITS PRESENT CONDITION AND' PROSPECTS:bers PL Ir the Chinese were to suddenly take a literary and wandering turn, they would no doubt find and describe things in London and Paris quite as singular to them as their gentlemen's pig-tails and their ladies' small feet are to us. If the abilities thrown into the manufacture of josses, bronzes, and porcelain, and the dexterity shown in dwarfing trees, and concocting green teas out of black, was to take an inquisitive turn, as to what was going on beyond the great wall, there would indeed be no end to the discoveries to be made by so intelligent a race. gfood Geographical discovery is but a relative thing. Enterprize makes known a city in Central Africa, whose inhabitants unknown to Europeans, were themselves familiar by their travels, with the "white faces.” Congregations of men in repute in ancient times, have in some cases only recently been brought into contact with Europeans. Even in Asia Minor, only four or five years ago, a populous town, surrounded by villas and country houses, inhabited by rich proprietors of large corn and saffron districts, was not known even by name to us, although in that town itself, all kinds of European manufactures and objects of art were to be obtained as readily as at Constantinople. R ABUSE 1 1979-jdo ac So it is in regard to civilisation. The Chinese are as skilful as Germans in agriculture or horticulture, as dexterous in thieving as any Neapolitan, as versed in the manufacture of silk or cotton as the French, as perfect in most of the handicrafts, as tailoring or carpentry, as any European nation, and they beat England in what that country takes most pride in—in success in mercantile speculations. But the Chinese have a false notion of their own importance, they are ruled by at once an alien and an inefficient government, they worship idols, are intellectually stationary, and above all, reject all overtures of friendship and alliance on the part of other nations. The national flag should be the wolf and the lamb, a fable which appears never to be absent from their thoughts. I་ The west of Europe and North America, it must be remembered have perfected their civilisation pon the ruins of empires; and modern languages and literatures have sprung from the dying embers of extinet nationalities. The Chinese, on the contrary, have been nearly always the same. They are indebted to themselves for what progress they have made, and they have themselves to blame for their comparative imperfections, by not cultivating intercourse with other nations. But then again they have existed, it is possible, from ages of civilisation almost contemporaneous with those of Egypt and Assyria, or with Greece and Rome. This is more than all those nations to whom the love of lucre has dictated a boundless commerce, or whom ambition has soiled with the blood of foreign conquest, can now boast of. It is tiresome to hear it repeated by every new writer upon China-Mr. Fortune among the last-that we know nothing of the Chinese. We know every thing almost, that is requisite to be known to regulate our conduct, and guide us in our intercourse with those whom a high authority has proclaimed to be "an industrious, sober, obedient, pacific, and educated people." It is not altogether true that it is "the wonderful astuteness of a people who unite an Oriental subtlety of design to an English appreciation of technicalities, who are cool, far-sighted, stubborn, |