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but, after all, do not depend too much upon your own industry and frugality, and prudence, though excellent things; for they may be blasted 2 without the blessing of Heaven and therefore ask that blessing humbly, and be not uncharitable to those that at present seem to want it, but comfort and help them.3 Remember Job suffered, and was afterwards prosperous. "And now, to conclude,

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Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other, and scarce in that; for it is true, we may give advice, but we cannot give conduct,' as poor Richard says. However, remember this, They that will not be counselled, cannot be helped, as poor Richard says; and, further, that 'If you will not hear Reason, she will surely rap your knuckles.””s

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Thus the old gentleman ended his harangue. The people heard it, and approved the doctrine, and immediately practised9 the contrary, just as if it had been a common sermon; for the auction opened, and they began to buy 10 extravagantly, notwithstanding all his cautions, and their own fear of taxes. I found 11 the good man12 had thoroughly studied my Almanacs, and digested all I had dropped 13 on these topics, during the course of twenty-five years. The frequent mention he made of me must have tired every one else ;14 but my vanity was wonderfully de

1 Supply the ellipsis.

2

it, instead of higher up (after

they would be quite useless 'helped'). to you.'

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3 See page 90, note 7.

4 'a school that costs dear; or, a school where lessons are dear.' Do not confound cher, adverb, with cher, adjective: the adverb, of course, is always invariable.

5 and yet they do not learn (page 32, note 1) much (grand' chose) in it.'

6 Use savoir, in preference to vouloir.

7 do not listen to.'

8 she will not fail to rap your knuckles (de vous donner sur les doigts).'-This being a quaint saying, it will be better to put as poor Richard says,' at the end of

9 Use faire.

10 et chacun enchérit.-'auction;' simply vente, here, instead of vente à l'enchère, as, by using the latter expression at the beginning of this extract, we thus stated, once for all, what kind of sale it was: besides this, we have used here enchérit, together with which word enchère would form a pleonasm.

11 'to find,' in this sense, voir, or s'apercevoir.

8.

12 brave homme (page 188, note

13 had said.'

14 The frequent quotations which he made must have tired (avaient dû fatiguer-page 38,

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lighted with it, though I was conscious that not a tenth part of the wisdom was my own, which he ascribed to me, but rather the gleanings that I had made of the sense? of all ages and nations. However, I resolved to be the better for the echo of it ;4 and though I had at first determined to buy stuff for a new coat, I went away, resolved to wear my old one a little longer. Reader, if thou wilt do the same, thy profit will be as great as mine.7

I am, as ever, thine to serve thee,8

RICHARD SAUNDERS.

THE OLD MAN AND HIS ASS.9

AN old man and a little boy were driving an ass to the next market 10 to sell. "What a fool is this fellow,"11 says a man upon the road,12 to be trudging it on foot 13 with his son, that this ass may go light!" 14 The old man hearing this set his boy upon the ass, and went whistling by the side of him. " Why, sirrah!" 15 cried a second man to the boy, "is it fit for you to be riding, while your poor old father is walking on foot?" The father, upon this rebuke, took down his boy from the ass, and mounted himself. "Do you see," says a third," how the lazy old knave 16 rides along 17 upon his beast, while his poor little boy is

note 3) all present (tous les assis-
tants) except the author quoted.'
1 See page 14, note 5.
2 bon sens, here.

3 Quoi qu'il en soit.

4 de mettre cet écho à profit pour moi-même.

5 stuff for,' de quoi me faire. 6 to make the old one (leave this last word out) last.'

7 si tu peux en faire autant (p. 88, n. 7), tu y gagneras autant que mor. 8thine,' &c. ; turn, at thy

service.'

9 See the LA FONTAINE, pages 31-34.

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almost crippled with walking?1 The old man no sooner heard this, than he took up his son behind him.3 "Pray, honest friend," says a fourth, "is that ass your own ?' "Yes," says the man. "One would not have thought so,' replied the other, "by your loading him so unmercifully. You and your son are better able to carry the poor beast than he you." 98 66 Anything to please,"9 says the owner; and alighting with his son, they tied the legs of the ass together, and by the help of a pole endeavoured to carry him upon their shoulders over the bridge that led to the town. This was so entertaining a sight, that the people ran in crowds 10 to laugh at it, till the ass, conceiving a dislike to the over-complaisance of his master, burst asunder the cords that tied him, slipped from the pole, and tumbled into the river. The poor old man made the best of his way home,11 ashamed and vexed that,12 by endeavouring to please every body, he had pleased nobody, and lost his ass into 13 the bargain.—(World.)

1 n'en peut plus à force de marcher (i.e., is tired out-off his legs-by dint of walking').

2 had no sooner heard (page 27, note 15).

3 behind him,' en croupe; thus leaving out him:' en croupe means 'behind,' on a horse, an ass, &c.

4 Tell me, my friend' (or as at page 131, note 6).

One would say so (page 15, note 9) but little (ne... guère).' 6 by (a) seeing you load;' see page 21, note 3.

7 It is easier for (a) you and your son.' Adopt, for the sake of emphasis only, here, the same turn which is used, for the sake of grammatical accuracy, at page 24,

note 2, (where the case, grammatically speaking, is different from the present one). See also page 49, note 8.

8 This ellipsis would be considered somewhat too strong, in French.

9 Monsieur, je suis tout à votre service.-In the same way we say, Qu'y a-t-il pour votre service? What is your pleasure?'

10 Use the singular.

11 returned home (page 78, note 5) as fast as he could;' or, hastened to reach again his home (logis).'

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12 de ce que (elliptical for de ce fait que, of that fact, viz., that'). 13 par-dessus.

LOUIS XVI. IN PRISON. (1792.)

THE doors of the Temple were closed1 on Louis Capet : he was a dethroned king and a prisoner. Removed from the cares of government for which he was not fitted, from an ambiguous and dangerous position in which he com

note 10

1 At this stage of the present work, a résumé of the rules concerning the past participle, in French, cannot fail to be very useful and very acceptable to the anxious learner; for they constitute a real difficulty, even to French students.-1st, When a past participle is joined with the auxiliary avoir, it agrees (in gender and number) with the object (accusative, or régime direct) of the verb, but only when that object precedes the verb. See page 32, note ; page 15, notes 1 and 2; page 23, ; page 125, note 2; &c. The only exception to this rule is, the participle fait, which never agrees when followed by a verb in the infinitive (see page 100, note 11). If, on the contrary, the object should follow the verb, no agreement will take place (see page 28, note 11 ; page 31, note ; page 39, note 6; page 79, note 1; &c.). Another consideration is, that the pronoun en is looked upon by grammarians as being always an indirect regimen (not an accusative), meaning simply de cela, 'thereof;' and, consequently, a participle can never agree with en preceding it (see page 158, notes 2, and 10; page 176, note 12; and page 198, note 5). 2nd, The agreement of a past participle with the preceding object also takes place, when the participle is joined with the auxiliary être, but only in reciprocal, and in pronominal or reflective verbs, formed from active verbs (it agrees with the subject in those formed from neuter verbs which are always conjugated with

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être in their compound tenses, as s'en aller, s'en venir, &c.). See page 18, note ; page 60, note 9 ; page 65, note 2; page 131, note 5; page 152, note 13; &c. But we should say, ils se sont parlé (not parlés), elles se sont plu (not plues), elle s'est nui (not nuie), as parler, plaire, and nuire are neuter verbs, in French. We should also write, ils se sont donné (invariable) la main, i. e., ils ont donné à euxmêmes la main, because here the pronoun 'se' which precedes is not the object: la main,' which follows, is the object (see p. 101, n. 4, and p. 170, n. 13). We should also write, ils se sont laissé (invariable) surprendre (ils ont laissé surprendre eux), because 'se' is the régime direct (or object) of the active verb surprendre, which infinitive is the régime of laissé; but we should write, ils se sont laissés (agreeing) mourir (ils ont laissé eux mourir), because 'se' is here the régime direct of laissés,-mourir is a neuter verb. 3rd, A participle joined with the auxiliary être, in passive, and in some neuter verbs, agrees with the sujet (nominative, or subject) of the verb. See page 27, note 13 ; page 7, note 12 ; page 34, note 6; page 58, note 6; &c.,and page 66, note 12 ; page 57, note 3; page 93, note 2; &c. 4th. and finally, A past participle joined with a substantive without any auxiliary, agrees like an adjective. See page 49, note 5; ; page 62, note 9; page 63, note 10; &c. I may also add, that été, the past participle of the auxiliary être, is itself always invariable.

mitted many errors, separated from false friends and foolish advisers, he was restored to himself and to his own thoughts. Solitude and suffering try the temper1 of a man's soul, but solitude and suffering are not the greatest trials of his virtue. High station and luxurious ease will corrupt 2 the best disposition, if it is not chastened by religion or strengthened by philosophy. Prosperity assails. a man's virtue by the blandishments of pleasure and the possession of power; adversity by the stings of pain and the contumely of base men. But he who has not yielded to the soft seduction of power and pleasure, will not fear the rude gripe of poverty, of imprisonment, of death. Louis escaped the corrupting influence of power by his native goodness and his religious faith: Aurelius by his excellent education and the discipline of philosophy. The Roman was a philosopher, a soldier, and a statesman : the Frenchman had only the virtues that befit a private station. On a 3 throne the king of France was feeble, irresolute, contemptible. Louis Capet in a dungeon is firm, courageous, heroic. His abasement is his exaltation: the triumph of his enemies is their eternal shame and degradation; immeasurable becomes the distance between the oppressors and the oppressed. One man in France now commands our sympathy and respect; one man only, 5 the prisoner in the Temple, the crownless king, the victim preparing for the sacrifice.

The prison of Louis and his family was the ancient residence of the Knights Templars,7 situated not far from the site of the Bastille: it was a spacious edifice, which contained many large apartments, but the royal captives were confined, by the order of the Commune, to whose cares they were entrusted, in the small tower which adjoined the large tower, but had no internal communication with it. This tower consisted of four stories :

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