Perhaps the same argument holds in Paris as in London, against totally suppressing the haunts of these depredators on society, That if there were no thieves there would be no thief-takers; and the police are content to keep within moderate bounds, a set of men who often contribute to their emolument, and whom they fear to exterminate.  It must, however, be allowed, that in all large towns, however great may be the vigilance of the police, there still must be abundance of the followers of Macheath.  Perhaps Paris most abounds in sharpers who cheat with finesse, and London in the number of pick-pockets and robbers.  The nightly police of Paris is admirably conducted; and during my stay there I never experienced the smallest molestation in the streets.

The Palais Royal consists of six squares, the chief of which is large and handsomely built on piazzas.  There are rows of trees in the centre, but they by no means contribute to its beauty.

The shops under these arcades are many of them the most shewy in Paris; and, as the owners pay a heavy rent for them, they take care to enhance the price of their goods, so as not to carry on a losing concern.  The number of coffee-houses and restaurateurs for dining, in this square are very numerous, and most of them are by no means moderate in their prices, at least when we compare them with others in a different part of Paris, or even near the Palais Royal; but it is not under these piazzas that economy is to be practised.  The Cafe de Foi is one of the most celebrated for newspapers and politicians; but one is considered as having seen nothing of the manners of the place, if the Cafe des Aveugles is not visited.  This is situated under the Italian Coffee-house, and has its name from the large orchestra which performs here continually, being composed wholly of blind persons.  I visited this place with a friend for a few moments after its opening, which is never till five o’clock in the afternoon, as its frequenters tolerate only the light of candles.

The subterranean situation of this apartment renders it difficult of ventilation; and the noise of the musicians and their audience contending for the supremacy, added to the extraordinary heat of the place and the density of the air, occasioned us to make a speedy retreat to what, after leaving such a place, might be considered as a pure atmosphere.

Often as the Palais Royal has been described, and forcibly as the scenes which it exhibits have been depicted, yet I confess I do not think the descriptions I have read of it by any means overcharged; and it may be safely affirmed that there is no place in the world where the scene varies so often in the twenty-four hours as it does here.  I was attracted by a notice, that the English newspapers were taken in at the Cabinet Litteraire of M. Rosa; and, having paid my subscription, was conducted into a spacious reading room, exclusively