EENCONTRES IN PARIS. 303 



will prove sucli a boon to all, more especially 

 to men of business and in trade, that the 

 streets will be more frequented, much to the 

 discomJQture of thieves and vag-abouds. To 

 nightly depredators, the darkness of the streets 

 must have been very favourable, as we our- 

 selves know it is in London during a dense fog. 

 Thus we see Boileau makes one of the torments 

 of a town life the dread of thieves : 



" Que dans le marche neuf tout est calme et tranquille, 



Les voleurs a I'instant s'emparent, 

 Le bois le plus funeste, et le moius frequente, 



Est, au Prix de Paris, un lieu de siirete, 

 Malheur done a celui qu'une affaire imprevue 



Engage un peu tard au detours d'une rue, 

 Bientot quatre bandits lui servant les cotes, 



La bourse, il faut se rendre." 



It will thus be seen that the roads in 

 France, and streets in Paris, in bygone 

 days, were as bad as those of England and 

 London; for we find that frequent and fatal 

 rencontres took place from disturbances in the 

 streets. 



The Prince de Conti and the Comte de 

 Soissons' coaches meeting in a narrow place 

 near the Louvre, by the bad driving of their 



