EDME CHAMPION went to Paris, as we said in our last. He was guided to the Hôtel de Lauzun, in the Tiguetonne. When he had taken leave of his conductor, he knocked loudly with a joyous heart at the gate. It was instantly opened, and he entered a large court; but not seeing any person to whom he could apply, he was walking forward to the steps of a handsome house that stood before him, when he heard a sharp voice calling after him: "Well, little fellow, what do you want? Are you going to enter people's houses without speaking to the porter?" Edme turned, and observed a woman sitting at the window of a little lodge, which had been concealed by the gate as it opened. She was very plainly attired, but Edme instantly recognized her. "It is I!" said he, entering the lodge, and going up to her with great simplicity. "And who are you?' she replied, looking rather angry at his apparent audacity. "Do you not know me? I remember you quite well; you are the lady I brought over the water in the boat, and that I thought was a princess. Where is the little boy? I have brought him his clothes;" and as Edme spoke he opened a little bundle, and displayed to the astonished portress the hat and dress of her little protégé. The woman's countenance instantly changed. "What is it you, my dear boy?" she exclaimed, pressing him in her arms; "is it you? I am truly glad to see you; and if you will stay with me I will take care of you until the duke returns. He has been suddenly recalled to join the army; and his mother, who had come here to meet him and to see her grandson, had gone back to her château in Vendée, and taken the child with her. But never mind, you shall be my boy for the present, and shall want for nothing. My lodge-boy is leaving me, and you shall have his place. You will not have much to do, only to pull the string of the gate, to sweep the steps in front of the house, and to go of errands; and, never fear, you shall want for nothing." At every word the woman spoke, the countenance of poor Edme became more overcast. Here then was the fulfillment of all his bright visions of wealth and honor. The portress left him to go and call in some of her neighbors, to whom she had related her adventures at Châtel-Censoir. During her absence the little traveler learned from the little lodge-boy whom he was to replace, that the Duchess de Lauzun was dead, that the duke was not expected back to Paris for a long time, and that the hôtel was about to be let to strangers. Notwithstanding the disappointment of poor Edme, he endeavored to fulfill the duties of his new station with alacrity; the portress was very kind to him, and his evenings were generally spent in reading aloud to her and some of her friends. It happened one day that a lady in his neighborhood discovered him in melancholy mood. She interrogated him as to the cause of his distress. Edme at once related his whole history, the adventure in the boat, his journey to Paris, his hopes, and his disappointment. The lady said, "Would you like to be bound to a jeweler ?" "I should like it very much," replied the boy. The lady then gave him her address, and desired him to come to her the next morning. Edme was punctual to his appointment; and the kind lady who took such an interest in him accompanied him to the house of a celebrated working jeweler, to whom she presented her protégé, requesting to know his terms for taking an apprentice. The jeweler said his terms were five hundred livres for three years. The lady signed the agreement with the name of De Tessier, and paid the money; this was all that Edme ever saw or heard of his benefactress. The trials of our poor little hero were, however, by no means at an end. Unhappily the first years of the apprenticeship of children are too often employed in going the messages of the shop; and Edme's master-seeing that he had neither father nor friend to look after him-instead of instructing him in the business which he had pledged himself to teach, allowed him only the occupation of a servant. The poor boy did not know what to do; he had no acquaintance in Paris except the portress; and she advised him to remain where he was until she could communicate with the duke, who she was sure would not allow him to be ill-treated. Edme endeavored to follow her advice; but one day being threatened with a severe punishishment if he failed to attend well at table when a large company was expected, his indignation got the better of his prudence; he was of a strong and independent mind, and feeling the injustice of his master's treatment, and the total neglect of his part of the contract between them, he took the opportunity, when his master was engaged with his company, to escape out of the house. He knew not whither to go; but to get beyond the reach of his unjust and cruel master was all he cared for, and so he fled he knew not whither. Edme left the city, and ran some dis "And what is it you wish to do?" in- tance into the country; when, overcome quired the lady. "To get a trade, madam." "I have no choice, madam; any one by which I could earn enough to bring my brother to me." by fatigue and the dread of pursuit, he threw himself on the ground under som.e trees to rest. He had not eaten anything since early in the morning, and now hunger was added to his other sufferings. There was no dwelling near him, and no prospect of succor for the night; he ventured out of his hiding-place, and having read of people who had sometimes been compelled to subsist on roots and berries, he began to search about to try and discover something of the kind. After a little time he came to a turnip-field, when -without thinking any harm, or even supposing that any person would have the wish to prevent him-he pulled up two or three roots, which with a glad heart he cleared from the earth and commenced eating. He had just finished the first, when, without having heard any one approach, he felt himself suddenly seized by the ear, while a rough voice exclaimed: "So I have caught you stealing the turnips, you young thief! you shall be sent to prison immediately." Surprised and terrified, Edme dropped the turnips on the ground; he made no excuse, no attempt to palliate his fault, for he had not thought that he was committing a fault, he could only repeat in a frightened tone: "A thief! I a thief!" "Tell me the exact truth as to what brought you here; and then I shall know whether you deserve any indulgence or not." Edme related his story with so much candor and simplicity that the watchman, who was moved by the real sorrow of the boy, and the apparent truth of his statement, took him home with him, and gave him his supper and a bed for the night. In the morning Edme returned to the protection of his friend the portress, who having communicated with the duke, he was by the duke's desire bound to M. Martial de Poilly, one of the most celebrated jewelers in Paris. His agreement with his former master was canceled. In a short time Edme became a general favorite in the establishment of M. de Poilly. Honest and intelligent, active and devoted to his business, he soon obtained the entire confidence of his master, while his obliging manners gained him the good-will of every one. He was now in as great a state of happiness as his most sanguine wishes could have anticipated. Honored by the patronage of the Duke of Lauzun, who, having at last recognized his services to his child, allowed him a small salary for his personal expenses; "Well, then, what business had you to apprenticed to a kind and benevolent masit ?" ter, who had the discrimination to perceive "You saw what I was doing, sir; I in the little orphan committed to his charge, pulled a few turnips to eat." the seeds of a noble character, Edme had little to wish for. He kept up a constant correspondence with his brother, and anx "O! then you are not ashamed to acknowledge it!" 66 it ?" Why, sir, what harm was there in iously looked forward to the time when he should be able to bring him to live with "The harm was to steal," replied the him; nor did he neglect to send him asman roughly. "To steal!" repeated Edme in a voice of terror. "O, sir! do not say I stole; I would rather die than steal." "I do not know what else to call taking other people's things without leave." sistance whenever he had it in his power. Edme was thus happily circumstanced, when one day, as he was walking very quickly over Pont-Neuf, on his return from executing a commission, he observed a wretched-looking little boy lying on the “O! I was so hungry!" said the child, | side of the pavement, whom every one bursting into tears. "I had not eaten any-passed by without notice. Edme was thing since early this morning; and indeed, sir, I did not think that I was doing wrong; however, I beg your pardon for touching them; I have only eaten one, sir; and if you will wait for a few days I will write to my brother in the country, and he will pay for what I have pulled." Edme felt the hand that held him relax its grasp; and trusting he should find forgiveness for his involuntary fault, he said: "You will not punish me as a thief, sir, I hope." VOL. II, No. 6.—QQ hastening on like the rest, for it was a cold winter's day, when it occurred to him that perhaps the poor boy might be hungry. He recollected the day of his own flight from his first master, and all that he had suffered, and he turned back again to the boy. At first he thought he was asleep; but on a closer examination he perceived that his countenance exhibited an unnatural paleness, and he appeared to be in a faint. Edme stooped down and took his hand, which was deadly cold. "Poor little fellow!" said he; "you are suffering from cold and hunger." The boy opened his eyes and looked at him, but was unable to rise. Edme recollected that there was a restaurateur just at the other side of the bridge; and lifting the boy in his arms, he carried him into the shop, and desired some drink to be warmed for him. When the little boy had swallowed the drink he became much revived and no longer feeling the exhaustion from which he had suffered, he refused to eat the food which was afterward given to him, but turned from it and burst into tears. Delicate minds have an instinctive insight into the feelings of others, and Edme rightly conjecturing those of the child, whispered to him, "You would rather carry this food home with you, would you not?" The boy made no answer, but a gleam of satisfaction brightened up his pallid countenance. She was able to follow his trade again. in bad health, and having two young children, was unable to do anything for their support; she had sold one article after another to procure food, till she was reduced to her present state of destitution. Antoine did what he could for them, and went out every day in hopes of being able to pick up some odd jobs, such as going messages or holding a gentleman's horse; but these opportunities seldom occurred, and he as well as the rest suffered from want of sufficient food. Edme promised to give them a little help every week, until her husband was able to return to his work; but the little boy exclaimed: "O, sir! let me earn it, else my mother will not like to take it.” "Very well," said Edme, "henceforth you are my servant, and I shall expect you to attend me daily." He then told the lad where he lived, and took his leave. Strange as these incidents will sound, "How many have you in family?" in- they are in strict keeping with the future quired Edme. remarkable career of Edme Champion; "Three besides myself,-my mother but we must not anticipate. As he deand two little brothers." "Have you no father ?" said Edme. "He is sick in the hospital," replied the poor little boy. "Show me where your mother lives," said Edme; telling the shop-boy to follow them with a little basket of provisions, he accompanied the boy to his home. In a garret of an old dilapidated house, in one of those wretched streets of the capital where dirt and misery abound, lay a poor sickly-looking woman and two children, on a bed of straw on the floor,-the little ones looking as pale and emaciated as their mother. The first words uttered by the poor woman, on seeing her son enter, followed by a well-dressed young gentleman, and a boy carrying a basket of provisions, were: “O, Antoine, I fear you have been begging!" No, indeed, he has not," said Edme, taking the things from the basket, and placing them beside her; "but I saw that he was in need himself, and I asked him about you." The woman told her story, and the cause of her distress. Her husband was a mason, who had some weeks since fallen from a scaffolding and broken his leg; he was then in the hospital, and she feared it would be a long time before he would be scended the stairs of this miserable dwelling, he could scarcely help exclaiming aloud: "O! how happy are the rich, who can give when they please and what they please!” The next morning M. de Poilly entered the workshop, followed by the boy. "Edme," said he, "here is a boy who declares that you have engaged him as a servant." "He says the truth, sir," replied Edme, blushing the deepest crimson. "And when did you begin to require the assistance of a servant, my boy?" inquired his astonished master. "It is not I that require his assistance, sir," said Edme, "but he that requires mine." "That makes a difference certainly," replied M. de Poilly, in a tone of so much kindness that Edme, who had hitherto kept his eyes upon the ground, now ventured to look up in his master's face. "You did quite right, Edme; and in future let me be a sharer in your works of charity, as you shall from this day be in my business." the place where he had first enjoyed the happiness of being able to relieve a fellowcreature. The name of Edme Champion will long live in the hearts of thousands Some years after this, M. de Poilly whom it has been his privilege to relieve; retired from business, and went to reside and if it has not acquired a brilliant celebin England. Edme Champion then be- rity, it has obtained what must have been came head of one of the first establish- more satisfactory to his own feelings, and ments in Paris, and married Mademoiselle more acceptable to his Divine Master,— Jobbé, the daughter of a jeweler in Ver-"the blessing of him that was ready to sailles, who, though she did not bring him perish." The man in the little blue manmuch worldly wealth, was possessed of tle was at his post but a short time since; many estimable qualities both of mind and unlike the swallows, that appear in spring heart. By a series of those vicissitudes and depart with the fine weather, it was to which commercial people are always the severe weather that brought him out. exposed, and which the Revolution of It was not at the parties of the rich, or the 1793 rendered almost universal, Cham- houses of the great that he was to be pion lost all that it had taken him years of found, but amid those who were suffering labor to acquire. Summoning religion and and who required his aid; it was on Pontfortitude to his aid, he determined to com- Neuf, surrounded and blessed by those mence the world again, without applying whose misery he was relieving. He purto any person for assistance. He was chased all the woods which surround surprised one morning by a visit from Châtel Censoir, and the cuttings of these M. Bellancourt, the engraver, a person woods were distributed to the poor. In with whom he had scarcely any acquaint- 1832 he was presented with the cross of the Legion of Honor.* ance. "Monsieur Champion," said he, "I understand you have shared in the general ruin-are become a bankrupt. You will require capital to recommence your business. I have eighty thousand francs which are at your service." "Sir," replied Champion, much astonished, "I have no security to offer you for such a sum." "Pardon me, sir, you have the very best that I could get-your character; and for the interest of my money, I solicit your friendship." Monsieur Champion died in the early part of June, 1852, after a few days' illness, aged eighty years, deeply and deservedly lamented. His little blue mantle, so wellknown to the people of Paris, decorated his coffin. An idea of Edme Champion's charities may be formed from the following account of him which appeared a short time ago in a cotemporary periodical :— "The ragged prowling wretches who ulcerate Paris would wait patiently for hours on his track, and catching sight of his well-known blue cloak in the distance, would say, 'Ah, here comes the little blue-mantle. We are going to get something to eat! Waistcoats and shoes were, however, his specialities. A benumbed wretch would be shiver with his shrunken arms: Little Blue Mantle would collar him flercely; force him severely into a warm woolen waistcoat, and before the man could thank him, Little Blue Mantle would be a hundred yards away, brandishing his soup-jugs. A little half-congealed atomy of a girl would be crying on a doorstep, her poor shoeless feet quite violet with the pitiless cold: incontinently she would be caught up from behind, seated on a pair of friendly knees, told half a merry story; and, a minute after, left The brilliant court of Bonaparte brought precious stones and jewelry of every description into such request, that Championing in a gateway, tightly embracing his bare chest speedily more than recovered his losses. To exemplary probity, indefatigable industry, and strict economy, Champion was indebted for that fortune of which he made so noble a use. There can be few in Paris who have not heard of that mysterious person who for so many years was desig-staggering in the unwonted luxury of a whole pair nated by the title of the man au Petit Manteau Bleu; that person whom the first frosts of winter brought upon PontNeuf, with boilers of hot soup and vegetables, cart-loads of wood, and many other comforts for the poor, which he distributed with his own hands. He selected this spot as the scene of his benevolent exertions, in commemoration of its being shoes. I need not say that this man was adored by the poor; that mothers brought their children to him for a benediction; that, in the awful habitations he almost alone ventured into, thieves and murderers would have rent each other in pieces be touched. I have conversed with a gentleman who assured me that, on one occasion, a great hulking eavage giant of a horse-slaughterer, the terror even of his savage quarter, fell on his knees before him, and exclaimed, with perfect French bombast, but with perfect sincerity, And is it possible that such a man can walk on earth? He expected to see full-fledged wings sprout from the Little Blue Mantle." before they would have suffered a hair of his head to |