replied Voisenon, " and I know you never do so to your enemies." Conti smiled; could he do otherwise?

(a) See Rule 16. il n'en est rien.

(b) See Rule 24.

(c) It is not the case,

10.-Never Talk about Princes.

Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, the son of Duke John the Fearless (a) who was assassinated at a conference with the Dauphin Charles, at Montereau, in 1419, was in the habit (b) of frequenting the common public-houses, for the purpose of finding out the disposition of his people towards him. During one of the expeditions, he heard a man censuring him with great severity. Philip, having made himself known (c), his censor was in a great fright, giving himself up for lost (d); but the duke contented himself with saying: "Never speak about princes; for, if you speak well of them, you will probably say what is not the truth; and, on the other hand, if you speak ill of them, you will expose yourself to their resentment."

(a) See Rule 2. (c) See Rule 200.

(b) To be in the habit, avoir coutume. (d) To give oneself up for lost, se croire perdu.

11.-Equality of Men.

At

One day when Dr. Johnson was dining at Mrs. Macaulay's, the conversation turned upon (a) the equality of men. The hostess maintained with energy that all men were equal, and forced the subject upon the attention of Dr. Johnson, who made very laconic replies, in the hope of being able to give another direction to a conversation that annoyed him. length, when he saw that all his efforts were useless, and that Mrs. Macaulay was resolved to go deeper and deeper (b) into the subject, he hastily finished his dinner, and rising precipitately from the table, he requested one of the footmen to take his place. "What is the meaning of this, doctor ?" said the astonished

hostess. 66 My dear madam," answered Johnson, “I am anxious to put in practice what you have been (c) preaching for the last two hours."

(a) Turned upon, tomba sur. approfondir de plus en plus.

(b) To go deeper and deeper, (c) See Rule 180.

12.—Mme. de Sévigné and Louis XIV.

You have certainly heard (a) of Madame de Sévigné, one of the most distinguished French writers of the 17th century. Though endowed with a great deal of penetration, this lady did not rise much above the level of her age and sex in her tastes and principles. Louis XIV. (b) having done her, one day, the honour of dancing with her, this lady said to her cousin Bussy, when she resumed her place by his side after the dance: "It must be confessed that the king has great qualities (c); I think he will eclipse the glory of his ancestors." Bussy could not help smiling, seeing on what occasion this praise was bestowed upon the king. He answered: My dear Madam, nobody can doubt it, since he has just danced with you." Whether Madame de Sévigné was satisfied with this answer is more than I can say.

66

(a) To hear of, entendre parler de. (b) See Rule 131. (c) See Rule 13.

13. The Lost Spectacles.

The rector of one of the largest parishes in the east of London calling one day on an old woman whom he had not seen at church for some time, asked her if she had a bible. "Do you take me for a heathen, sir, that you ask me such a question?" cried out the old woman; "most certainly I have one, and I never allow a single day to pass without reading a chapter or two in it." Then addressing a little boy eight or nine years old, who was playing in a corner of the room, "Go and fetch my bible," she said, "I want to show it to the gentleman: You know where it is, don't you? (a) in

Elements of Fr. Comp.

K

the mahogany chest of drawers in the bed-room." The bible was brought down carefully wrapped up in a newspaper to (b) preserve the binding, and the old woman, opening it at random, cried out: "Oh! Sir, how glad I am you spoke about the bible; here are my spectacles which I have been looking for these six months (c)." (a) See Rule 228. (b) See Rule 203. (c) See Rule 180.

14. The Sorcerer.

A dervis was journeying alone in the desert, when two merchants suddenly met him. "You have lost a camel," said he to the merchants. "Indeed we have," (a) they replied. "Was he not blind in his right eye, and lame in his left leg?" said the dervis. "He was," replied the merchants. "Had he not lost a front tooth?" said the dervis. "He had," rejoined the merchants. "And was he not loaded with honey on one side, and wheat on the other?" "Most certainly he was," they replied; "and as you have seen him so lately, and marked him so particularly, you can, in all probability, conduct us unto him." "My friends," said the dervis," "I have never seen your camel, nor ever heard of him but from you." "A pretty story, truly," said the merchants; "but where are the jewels which formed a part of his cargo ?" "I have neither seen your camel, nor your jewels," repeated the dervis. On this they seized him, and forthwith hurried him before the cadi, where, on the strictest search, nothing could be found (b) upon him, nor could any evidence whatever be adduced to convict him either of falsehood or of theft.

(a) See Rules 229 and 230.

(b) See Rule 151.

15.-Same Subject Continued.

They were then about to proceed against him as a (a) sorcerer, when the dervis, with great calmness, thus addressed the court:-"I have been much amused

with your surprise, and own that there has been some ground for your suspicions; but I have lived long, and alone, and I can find ample scope (b) for observation, even in a desert. I knew that I had crossed the track of a camel that had strayed from its owner, because I saw no mark of any human footstep on the same route; I knew that the animal was blind in one eye, because it had cropped the herbage only on one side of its path; and I perceived that it was lame in one leg from the faint impression which that particular foot had produced upon the sand; I concluded that the animal had lost one tooth, because, wherever it had grazed, a small tuft of herbage had been left uninjured in the centre of its bite. As to that which formed the burden of the beast, the busy ants informed me that it was corn on the one side, and the clustering flies that it was honey on the other." The cadi praised his extraordinary perspicacity, and ordered that he should be immediately set at liberty.

(a) See Rule 26. (b) I can find ample scope for observation, j'ai mille occasions de faire des observations.

16.—The Humming Bird.

Of all animated beings, the humming-bird is the most elegant in form and the most brilliant in colours; our precious stones cannot be compared in lustre to this jewel of Nature, who has bestowed on it all the gifts which she has only shared among other birds. Lightness, swiftness, grace, and the most splendid clothing all belong to this little favourite.

The emerald, the ruby, and the topaz sparkle in its plumage, which it never defiles with the dust of the earth, for rarely he deigns to touch the green turf, even for a moment. It is always on the wing (a), fluttering from flower to flower, and possesses all their freshness as well as their brilliancy. It lives on their nectar, and only inhabits those climates where flowers never cease to bloom.

It is in the warmest regions of the New World that all the species known of these birds are found (b), for those which advance in summer to the temperate zones only remain there a short time. They seem to follow the sun, to advance and retire with him, and to fly on the wings of zephyr, in the train (c) of an eternal spring. (a) Always on the wing, toujours en l'air. (b) See Rule 154. (c) In the train, à la suite.

17.-Locust-Eaters.

Admiral Drake, in his "Voyage Round the World," mentions a fact which is very singular. On the frontiers of the Desert of Ethiopia, he remarks, there are (a) men called Acredophagi, or Locust-eaters, who are black, meagre, extremely nimble, and of small stature. In the spring season, infinite numbers of locusts are transported into their country by certain hot winds which blow from the west. Having neither cattle nor fish, they are obliged to live upon (b) these insects, which they amass in vast quantities. They cure them with salt (c), and preserve them for food during the whole year. This wretched nourishment produces very strange effects. The people hardly reach the age of forty years, and, when they approach to this period of life, winged insects are engendered under their skin, which at first create a violent itching, and soon multiply so amazingly that their whole flesh swarms with them. They begin with (d) devouring the stomach, then the breast, and proceed in their ravages till they eat the whole flesh from the bones. Thus are these men, whom Nature forces to feed upon insects, devoured in their turn by other insects.

(a) See Rule 123. (b) To live upon, se nourrir de. cure with salt, faire saler. (d) With, par.

18.-The Clouds.

(c) To

The clouds consist of masses of vapour, more or less condensed, and are composed of drops of water of ex