Christian and surname, age, height, and address of the applicant. This must be left, one day in advance, at the house or office of the embassy. The applicant must appear in person the following day to receive his passport, which will be delivered to him, without fee, by the ambassador of France. A shilling, properly administered to the porter at the door, will often materially shorten the time during which the applicant is generally compelled to kick his heels in the ambassador's

anteroom.

Besides the ambassadors, the consuls of the different foreign powers issue or sign passports at their offices in the city, for which a charge of five or six shillings is made. The consuls deliver their passports at once, without requiring that the application should be made the day before; their offices are also open earlier than the ambassador's, usually from 10 or 11 to 4, thus much time is saved, which with many will be more than an equivalent for the payment of 5s.

Addresses of Foreign Consuls in London.

France, 4. Tokenhouse Yard; Belgium, 3. Copthall Court, Throgmorton Street; Holland, 123. Fenchurch Street; Prussia and the Rhine, 106. Fenchurch Street. English consuls abroad and French consuls at British sea-ports (Dovor, Brighton, Southampton, &c.) can likewise issue passports.

The different members of a family can have their names included in one passport, but friends travelling together had better provide themselves with distinct passports. Male servants should also have separate passports, distinct from their masters'.

N.B.-The signature, which the bearer of a passport must attach to it when it is delivered to him, ought to be written as clearly and distinctly as possible, that it may be easily read by the numerous functionaries through whose hands it is destined to pass, who are sometimes half an hour in deciphering an ill-written name, while the owner is wasting his patience at the length of the scrutiny. By this slight precaution the loss of many a quarter of an hour may be saved.

Much delay and inconvenience may also be avoided, by causing the full description of the person to be inserted in the passport at once: the want of it will excite suspicion in some foreign passport offices.

French Passport.

The only foreign passport which a British subject can obtain gratuitously is that of the French ambassador, issued at the office, 6. Poland Street, Oxford Street, on the day after the first application has been made for it. The French passport must be backed by the ministers of Holland, Belgium, and Prussia, in order to be valid in those countries, and is taken away from the bearer on entering the Prussian dominions, to be exchanged for a Prussian passport, which sometimes occasions delay to the traveller.

Prussian Passport.

The Prussian minister, residing in London, will not give passports to Englishmen, unless personally known, or especially recommended to him. There is no difficulty, however, in procuring one from the Prussian Consul-general, at his office, 106. Fenchurch Street, open every day from 10 to 4, upon payment of a fee of 6s., or even less in certain circumstances. Upon the whole, the passport of the Prussian Consul is the best that the English traveller, about to proceed to Germany and the Rhine, through Holland, or Belgium, or the Hanse Towns, can carry with him; above all, it is not liable to be taken away at the Prussian frontier, which is the case with a French or Belgian passport, and neither Dutch nor Belgian ministers will refuse to countersign it.

Austrian Passport.

The Austrian Ambassador in London will neither give a passport to an Englishman, nor countersign any, except that issued by the British Secretary of State.

For the traveller bound to any part of the Austrian dominions, or to Italy, the Austrian signature is absolutely indispensable, and it is therefore a matter of necessity to obtain it, if not in London, at one of the great capitals on the Continent-at Paris, Brussels, the Hague, Frankfort, Carlsruhe, Berlin, Dresden, Berne in Switzerland, or Munich-where an Austrian minister resides. The traveller must even go out of his way to secure it, or else, when he arrives at the Austrian frontier, he will either be compelled to retrace his steps, or will be kept under the surveillance of the police, until his passport is sent to the nearest place where an English and Austrian ambassador reside, to be authenticated by the one, and signed by the other.

An Englishman's passport ought also to be signed by his own minister at the first English embassy.

British Secretary of State's Passport.

Those who do not grudge the considerable expense of 21. 7s., the price of an English Secretary of State's passport, may obtain one at the Foreign Office in London, provided they be personally known at the office, or can procure a written or personal recommendation from a banker, or other person of respectability who is well known there. The chief advantage attending it is that the bearer may obtain the Austrian Ambassador's signature before leaving England, and can thus obviate delay and trouble.

At the same time it ought to be understood, that an ordinary passport, visé by the Prussian Minister in England, and by some Austrian minister abroad, is, with the above exception, as good as a Secretary of State's, and those who have travelled with both have experienced little, if any, difference between them, deriving no extra benefit from the expenditure of 21. 7s.

As however, there is much difference of opinion as to the value of the English Secretary of State's passport, the following note, from a traveller of great experience, is subjoined :

" I travelled with a Secretary of State's passport, visé by every ambassador, and I must say, I fancied I perceived an advantage. On the Rhine, at Frankfort, in Belgium, and Rhenish Prussia, a common passport will answer every purpose; but on the frontiers of Hanover, Bohemia, and Bavaria, and, generally, in all places remote from the stream of English travellers, I think it was useful, both at the Posthouse and searching place."-J.

N.B. It is taken away on entering France, like any other passport, and the same in Russia; indeed, for a traveller in Russia it is totally useless.

Passport of Consuls at British Seaports and Foreign Seaports.

The consuls of France residing at Dovor, Brighton, Southampton, and other British seaports, and his Britannic Majesty's consuls abroad, at Calais, Boulogne, Ostend, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg, &c., can give a passport to a British subject, but it is prudent to provide one in London before setting out.

The writer has been thus minute and precise in his details respecting the passport, because he knows how essential it is to the traveller to have this precious document en règle, and he has experienced the serious inconvenience to which those who are not aware of the necessary formalities are constantly exposed.

e. COURIERS.

It is notorious that English servants taken for the first time to the Continent, and ignorant of every language but their own, are worse than useless-they are an encumbrance. The traveller who requires a servant at any rate, had better take a foreign one; but he who speaks the language of the Continent himself, and will submit to the details of the coinage and the post books, may save himself much expense, by dispensing with a servant altogether. Thus the knowledge of language becomes a great source of economy. A courier, however, though an expensive luxury, is one which conduces much to the ease and pleasure of travelling, and few who can afford one will forego the advantage of his services. He relieves his master from much fatigue of body and perplexity of mind, in unravelling the difficulties of long bills and foreign moneys, sparing his temper the trials it is likely to endure from disputes with innkeepers, postmasters, and the like. A courier, if clever and experienced, and disposed to consult the comfort of his employer, is a most useful person. His duties consist in preceding the carriage at each stage, to secure relays of post-horses on those routes where horses are scarce, or where the number of travellers renders it difficult to procure them. This, however, is seldom necessary, except where the travelling party is very large, occupying several carriages, and requiring six or eight horses, which may take an hour or two to collect at a post-house, and must often be brought in from the fields. He must make arrangements for his employer's reception at inns where he intends to pass the night; must secure comfortable rooms, clean and well-aired beds, and order meals to be prepared. He ought to have a thorough knowledge of every thing that relates to the care of a carriage; he should examine it at the end of each day's journey, to ascertain whether it requires any repairs, which should be executed before setting out; and it is his fault if any accident occur en route, from neglect of such precautions. He should superintend the packing and unpacking of the luggage, should know the number of parcels, &c., and be on his guard against leaving any thing behind. It falls to the courier to pay innkeepers, postmasters, and postboys, and he ought to take care that his master is not overcharged. Besides this he performs all the services of waiting and attendance, cleaning and brushing clothes, &c. He ought to write as well as speak the language of the countries he is about to visit, so as to be able to communicate by letter with innkeepers, if it be necessary to bespeak accommodation beforehand.

From what has been stated above, it will be perceived that the master is greatly at the mercy of the courier, and that he ought, therefore, by all means to be " sharply looked after." As a further caution, we quote what follows from the Road-Book of Mr. Brockedon, an excellent guide.

"The faults of many of the couriers who offer their services to travellers are numerous and serious: though the usual wages of ten or twelve Napoleons a month, to find themselves, be paid them, they live at the cost of the traveller, that is, they pay nothing at the inns; but if this were all, it would be unimportant; the fact is, that they regularly sell their families to certain innkeepers, to whom they are known on the road, and demand a gratuity proportioned to the number and stay of their party: this is recharge in some form upon the traveller. On the road, if a dishonest courier pay the postilions, he pockets something at each relay, generally from their remuneration, which in the course of a long journey becomes of a serious amount. The author, after having long submitted to systematic and customary peculation until it passed endurance, found, from the hour that he parted with his courier, that the bills at the inns fell above twenty per cent. without previous arrangement; and that the postilions were grateful and pleased for less than the courier said he had paid for their services when they were dissatisfied. Upon the author's remarking upon the difference in the amount of the bills at the inns, when he had a courier, and when he travelled with his family without one, he was assured by the innkeeper of Mayence, where the difference was first observed, that he hated and feared the couriers as a body, and infinitely preferred receiving a family without one; for, after paying the courier's usual demand for bringing a family to his hotel, he was obliged to charge it in the amount of the bill, which often proved unsatisfactory to travellers: that if he refused to comply with such

demands of the couriers, as they always preceded the arrival of the families they travelled with, they took them to other hotels, and reported to the association of couriers, which exists in Paris and other cities, the innkeeper who had refused compliance with their demands, and they punish him, by uniformly avoiding to recommend his house, or take there the families with whom they travel. However well a courier may know a city or place, he never acts as valet de place, unless his family make purchases, when he never fails to be in attendance, to receive, afterwards, from the tradesman, a per centage, which he claims as agent, and which is charged indirectly in the bill."

" It will scarcely occur once in the course of a week's journey that the peculiar service of a courier will be felt, that of obtaining relays of horses to be in readiness at the post station by the time the family arrive; and he will rarely have opportunities of securing the progress of his employers by anticipating other travellers; and when he does, it is by no means an uncommon thing for him to take a bribe to forego his claim to the horses which he has ordered. It is notorious that couriers are often smugglers, who conceal contraband articles about the carriage, and thus risk the property and liberty of their employers. There are, however, honest couriers; and when their services can be obtained they are truly valuable, especially to those who have never travelled before." - Brockedon's Road Book to Naples.

"It is manifest, from the duties of a courier, that he has the temptation and opportunity of being dishonest; but so has every servant in whom confidence is placed, and to whom property is intrusted; but it is as repugnant to our feelings, as it is at variance with our experience, to condemn couriers or any other class. There are honest and faithful couriers who not only protect their employers from the impositions of others, but vigilantly and indefatigably perform their duty in other respects. For the sake of servant and master we advise travellers to settle their couriers' accounts regularly and at short intervals, and to examine minutely the book of expenses. We have no hesitation 'in saying that, especially to a family, a good courier is invaluable in saving time, trouble, money, and loss of temper to his master." - Dr. S.

The usual wages of a courier while travelling are from 8l. to 10l. a month, - if he be engaged for less than two months, he will probably expect 121.; if his services be retained while his master is stationary in a place, he ought not to expect more than 6l., supposing his engagement to last for ten or twelve months.

Couriers are to be heard of at No. 7. Old Compton-Street, Soho, and No. 11. Panton Square, &c., &c., London; at Paris, Geneva, and most of the great capitals of Europe. They ought on no account to be engaged without producing unexceptionable testimonials as to character, such as would be required of any other servant. A less expensive, and sometimes very honest domestic, may often be found among the Swiss, Piedmontese, and Germans in continental cities, but caution must be exercised in receiving such. In some countries of the Continent, such as Norway, and Sweden, Russia, Holland, Poland, and Hungary, a servant acquainted with their languages is quite essential