for their laziness. An hour's attention to the same object is too laborious for them; they take every thing in the light in which it first presents itself,3 never consider it in all its different views, and, in short, never think it through.5 The consequence of this is, that when they come to speak upon these subjects before people who have considered them with attention, they only discover their own ignorance and laziness, and lay themselves open to answers that put them in confusion.-(CHES- . TERFIELD, Letters to his Son.) ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.10 ENGLAND is the southern 11 and Scotland the northern part of the celebrated island called Great Britain. England is greatly larger than Scotland, and the land is 12 much richer, and produces better crops. There are also a great many more men in England,13 and both the gentlemen and the country people 14 are more wealthy,15 and they have better food and clothing, than those in Scotland.16 The towns, also, are 17 much more numerous, and more populous. Scotland, on the contrary, is full of hills, and huge moors and wildernesses, 18 which bear no corn, and afford 1 afin de justifier. 2 Ils envisagent chaque chose du seul point de vue où. 3 See p. 254, n. 1; and p. 19, n. 5. 4 sous ses différents aspects. 5 en un mot, ils ne voient le fond de rien (or, n'examinent rien à fond-or, n'approfondissent rien). 6 Il s'ensuit naturellement que, lorsqu'ils abordent de tels. 7 ils dévoilent leur (see page 8, note 1). 8 s'exposent à des réponses. Remember the rule, which requires the partitive article (du, de la, des, 10 As a rule, in French, the definite article is used before names of countries. However, when en ('in,' 'to') precedes the name of a country, the article is never used; and when de (from,' 'of') precedes, it is sometimes used and sometimes not. 11 la partie méridionale. 13 Les hommes y sont aussi en bien plus grand nombre. 14 et les gens de la ville, comme ceux de la campagne. 15 17 y jouissent de plus d'aisance. 16 'some,' or 'any') to be always expressed, in French, before a substantive taken in a partitive sense. 9 qui les couvrent de. 18 wildernesses,' déserts stériles. but little food for flocks of sheep or herds of cattle.' But the level ground that lies along 2 the great rivers is more fertile, and produces good crops. The natives of Scotland 3 are accustomed to live more hardily in general than those of England. The cities and towns are fewer, smaller, and less full of inhabitants than in England. But, as Scotland possesses great quarries of stone, the towns are commonly built of that material, which is more lasting, and has a grander effect to the eye, than the bricks used 9 in England. Now, as these two nations live in the different ends 10 of the same island, and are 11 separated by large and stormy seas from all other parts of the world,12 it seems natural that they should have been 13 friendly to each other,14 and that they should have lived 15 as one people under the same government. Accordingly, about two hundred years ago,16 the king of Scotland becoming king of England, the two nations have ever since been joined in one great 17 kingdom, which is called Great Britain.(WALTER SCOTT, Tales of a Grandfather.) 1 et où les bestiaux trouvent à peine de quoi se nourrir. 2 les terres basses qui avoisinent. 8 Les habitants (or, natifs) de l'Ecosse;-natifs is said of all natives whatever, and naturels of those that do not belong to European countries. Les villes y sont moins nombreuses (or, en moins grand nombre); -moins ('less,' and also 'fewer') could not be used here thus alone: but we could say, 'fewer towns,' moins de villes. 5 et d'une population moindre. 6 carrières. 7 bâties en pierre, cette espèce de matériaux étant. The substantive matériaux has no singular. 8 et faisant plus d'effet. 9 dont on se sert. 10 aux deux bouts.-'live' see, page 142, note 14 I et qu'elles sont; or, et sont.— The ellipsis of comme ('as'), quand ('when'), si ('if'), &c., is not allowed before the subsequent member of the sentence, if a noun or a pronoun is used with the verb; but, instead of repeating these adverbs and conjunction, we generally use que to supply their place. 12 To avoid ambiguity in French, 14 See p. 10, n. 9.-' to,' de. 16 il y a environ deux cents ans. Cent takes s when multiplied by another number and not followed by another numeral. 17 ever since,' depuis lors.have been joined,' &c.; n'ont plus formé qu'un seul. с of the two countries still continue peculiar.1 The common law 2 and the judicial establishments of England differ much from those of Scotland; the prevailing religion and the church establishment 3 of the former are also materially different from those of the latter, and the manners and customs of the two countries, though gradually assimilating, still preserve many distinguishing features.(J.R. M'CULLOCH, Statistical Account of the British Empire.) 66 DESCRIPTION Of England. FEW Countries exhibit a greater variety of surface than England, or have been more highly favoured by nature." Although," says Dr. Aikin, "its features are moulded on a comparatively minute scale, they are marked with all the agreeable interchanges which constitutes picturesque beauty. In some parts, plains clothed in the richest verdure, watered by copious streams, and pasturing innumerable cattle, extend as far as the eye can reach :10 in others,11 gently rising hills 12 and bending vales, fertile in corn, waving with woods,13 and interspersed with flowery meadows, offer the most delightful landscapes of rural opulence and beauty.1 14 Some tracts furnish prospects of the more romantic and impressive kind; lofty mountains, 6 See page 2, note 15. 1 sont, de nos jours encore, propres à chacun d'eux. 2 le droit coutumier. 'Law,' in the sense of the Latin jus, is, in French, droit, while loi corresponds to 'law' in the sense of the Latin lex. 3 l'Eglise (or, l'église établie). us ct coutumes. 5 quoique se rapprochant (or, more strictly according to grammar, but by no means elegantly here, quoiqu'elles-ils- se rapprochent) graduellement. The adverb, in French, usually follows the verb, in a simple tense; in a compound sense, it usually stands between the auxiliary and the participle. 7 Quoique les points de vue, dit que dans de petites proportions. ..., ne s'y montrent relativement 8 able et alternative de sites variés. par toute cette succession agré9 Ici. We also say, tant (or, aussi loin) 10 jusqu'où la vue peut porter. same verb, s'étendre, coming just que la vue peut s'étendre; but this before, an awkward repetition must be avoided. Farther than the eye can reach,' would be à perte de vue. 11 Là. 12 des coteaux à pente douce. 13 couverts de bois ondoyants (or, ondulants). 14 Bad.-'Some tracts,' Plus loin. THE BRITISH EMPIRE. THE British Empire, exclusive of its foreign dependencies,1 consists 2 of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the smaller islands contiguous and subordinate to them.3 Great Britain, the largest, and by far 4 the most important of the British islands, is divided into 5 the kingdoms of England and Scotland; the former occupying its southern, most fruitful, and extensive, and the latter its northern, more barren, and smaller portion. After the withdrawal of the Romans 8 from Great Britain, these two divisions became separate and independent states, between which the most violent animosities frequently subsisted. In consequence of the marriage of Margaret, daughter of Henry VII. of England, to James IV., king of Scotland, in 1502, James VI., king of Scotland, ascended the English throne upon 10 the demise of Queen 11 Elizabeth in 1604 But, notwithstanding this union of the crowns, the two kingdoms had 12 distinct and independent legislatures till 1707, when,13 under the auspices of Queen Anne, a 14 legislative union of England and Scotland was completed.15 In many respects, however, the institutions 1 non compris ses colonies. 2 se compose. 3 iles qui y sont contiguës et en dépendent. de beaucoup. comprend. 6 le premier de ces royaumes en оссире la partie méridionale, qui est la plus fertile et la plus étendue. When speaking of things, not of persons, the French often use the personal pronoun en (of it,' 'of them') and the definite article, instead of the possessive pronouns son, sa, ses, leur, leurs. 7 la; en is no longer to be expressed here, but must be understood elliptically, together with the verb. 8 Après que les Romains se furent retirés (or, s'en furent allés). Observe that reflective verbs, in French, are conjugated in their compound tenses with être; notica 9 12 eurent, not avaient, this fact being only as one point in history, and having happened at a definite period. See page 1, note 6. 6 13 où; or, époque à laquelle. The French do not use quand for 'when' in the sense of 'at which time,' but only in that of 'at what time?' (interrog.) and at the time that.' You will always have, therefore, in such a case as this, to use another turn, which may vary according to the context. 14 Use 'the.' We should say, une union entre... et...; but, l'union de... avec ... 15 s'effectua (page 8, note 15.) |