chips of exotic metaphor :-by me, too, their inventive faculties were called forth. Yes, sir, by me they were instructed to clothe ideal walls with gratuitous fruits;2 to insinuate obsequious rivulets into visionary groves; to teach courteous shrubs to nod their approbation of the3 grateful soil; or, on emergencies, to raise upstart oaks, where there never had been an acorn; to create a delightful vicinage without the assistance of a neighbour; or fix the temple of Hygeia5 in the fens of Lincolnshire !6 Dan. I am sure you have done them infinite service; for now, when a gentleman is ruined, he parts with his house with some credit. 7 8 Sneer. Service! If they had any gratitude, they would erect a statue to him; they would figure him as a presiding Mercury, the god of traffic and fiction, with a hammer in his hand instead of a caduceus -But pray, Mr. Puff, what first put you on 10 exercising your talents in this way? Puff. Egad! sir, sheer necessity-the proper parent of an art so nearly allied to invention.11 You must know, Mr. Sneer, that from the first time I tried my hand at an advertisement,12 my success was such, that for some time after, I led a most extraordinary life indeed! Sneer. How, pray ? Puff. Sir, I supported myself two years entirely by my misfortunes! Sneer. By your misfortunes? 1 Use the plural. 2 de fruit idéal des espaliers absents. 3 to teach,' &c., à courber des berceaux dociles sur un. + ou à faire dans l'occasion sortir de terre des chênes sourcilleux. 5 de la santé. 6 See page 26, note". 7 they would,' &c.; simply, under the figure of Mercury' Mercure). 8 et des ruses ingénieuses. 9 Leave out with.' of a;' see page 92, note 4. 10 vous a conduit à. 'instead 11 C'est la nécessité, mère d'invention, et mère conséquemment d'un art où l'invention entre pour beaucoup.-The French proverb also runs thus: Nécessité (or, in more modern style, La nécessité) est mère d'industrie (or, de l'industrie). Observe that, in proverbs, the use of the definite article is often dispensed with before nouns thus employed in the whole extent of their signification, which custom is in opposition to the grammatical rule. 12 Turn, 'my talent in advertisements.' Puff. Yes, sir; assisted by a long sickness, and other occasional disorders; and a very comfortable living I had of it.1 Sneer. From sickness and misfortunes! You practised as a doctor and an attorney at once? Puff. No, egad! both maladies and miseries were my own. Sneer. Hey! what the plague !2 Dan. 'Tis true, i' faith. Puff. Harkye!-By advertisements- To the charitable and humane!' and 'To those whom Providence hath blessed with affluence !'4 Sneer. Oh! I understand you. Puff. And, in truth, I deserved what I got; for I suppose never man went through such a series of calamities in the same space of time! Sir, I was five times made a bankrupt,5 and reduced from a state of affluence, by a train of unavoidable misfortunes!7 Then, sir, though a very industrious tradesman, I was twice burnt out, and lost 8 my little all, both times! I lived upon those fires a month. I soon after was confined by a most excruciating disorder, and lost 10 the use of my limbs! That told very well; for I had the case strongly attested,12 and went about to collect the subscriptions myself. 11 Dan. Egad! I believe that was when you first called on me Puff. In November last ?-O no! I was at that time 1 'and other,' &c., et d'un certain nombre d'afflictions diverses, et sur ce revenu-là, j'ai vécu fort à mon aise, je vous jure. 2 Quelle diable d'histoire nous contez-vous là ? 3 Turn, To humane and charitable persons.' 4 tune. 5 a gratifiés des dons de la for j'ai fait cinq fois banqueroute. 6 Translate, and have seen myself reduced as many times.' 7 Turn, ... affluence to the deepest misery, after having experienced a number (foule) of un foreseen and unavoidable misfortunes (désastres).' 8 Turn, 'I have had the misfortune of seeing twice burn my house and to lose thus.' 9 toute ma petite fortune; or, tout mon petit avoir; and leave out 'both times,' which has been expressed above, by 'thus.' 10 Turn, '... disorder confined me (me força à garder le lit) and made me lose.' 11 Ce moyen-là me réussit à merveille. 12 Turn, for I obtained attesta tions in due form (en règle).' a close prisoner in the Marshalsea,1 for a debt benevolently contracted to serve a friend. I was afterwards twice tapped2 for a dropsy, which declined into a very profitable consumption. I was then reduced to-0 ro-then, I became a widow with six helpless children,1 — after having had eleven husbands pressed,5 and without money to get me into an hospital. 6 Sneer. And you bore all with patience, I make no doubt ? 8 Puff. Why, yes, though I made some occasional attempts at felo de se;7 but as I did not find those rash actions answer, I left off killing myself very soon. Well, sir, at last, what with bankruptcies, fires, gouts, dropsies, imprisonments, and other valuable calamities, having 10 got together a pretty handsome sum, I determined to quit a business which had always gone rather against 1l my conscience, and, in a more liberal way, still to indulge my talents for fiction and embellishments, through my favourite channels of diurnal communication ; 12 and so, sir, you have my history. Sneer. Most obligingly communicative indeed; and your confession, if published, might certainly serve the cause of true charity, by rescuing the most useful channels of appeal to benevolence from the cant of imposition.18 But surely, Mr. Puff, there is no great mystery in your present profession? 13 Puff. Mystery! sir, I will take upon me to say, the 1 Simply, 'I was then in prison.' 2 See page 21, note 6. 3 See p. 76, latter end of note 8. 4 à force de; and see p. 8, note 1. un peu répugné à. 11 ayant six enfants sur les bras, sans un sou pour les nourrir. 5 après avoir onze fois convolé en secondes noces et avoir vu mes onze maris enlevés l'un après l'autre pour le service maritime. 6 See p. 6, n. 13; 'an,' use 'the.' 7 quelques tentatives de suicide. 8 not to answer,' in this case, ne pas rapporter grand' chose; and use me (to me) together with the verb, here. Well,' &c., enfin, après avoir, 12 de suivre une carrière plus noble, où je pusse (page 5, note 18) cultiver mon talent pour la fiction et le pouf, et mettre ainsi à profit mes moyens de communications journalières avec le public par l'entremise des journaux, moyens qui m'avaient si bien réussi. 13 en interdisant à l'imposture ces utiles moyens de communication entre le malheur et la bienfaisance. matter was never scientifically treated, nor reduced to rule1 before. Sneer. Reduced to rule? Puff. O lud, sir! you are very ignorant, I am afraid.2 Yes, sir; puffing is of various sorts: the principal are, the puff direct-the puff preliminary-the puff collateralthe puff collusive, and the puff oblique, or puff by implication. These all assume, as circumstances require, the various forms of 'letter to the editor'-'occasional anecdote'-'impartial critique'-'observation from a correspondent' or 'advertisement from the party.' Sneer. The puff direct I can conceive 5 Puff. O yes, that's simple enough. For instance: a new comedy or farce is to be produced at one of the theatres, (though by-the-bye they don't bring out half what they ought to do.) The author, suppose Mr. Smatter, or Mr. Dapper, or any particular friend of mine.7 Very well; the day before it is to be performed, I write an account of the manner in which it was received. I have the plot from the author, and only add-'characters strongly drawn-highly coloured-hand of a masterfund of genuine humour-mine of invention-neat dialogue attic salt! Then for the performance-Mr. Dodd was astonishingly great in the character 10 of Sir Harry; that universal 11 and judicious actor, Mr. Palmer, perhaps never appeared to 12 more advantage than in the Colonel; but it is not in the power of language to do justice to Mr. King; indeed, he more than merited those repeated bursts of applause which he drew from 14 brilliant and judicious audience! As to the scenery—the 13 a most miraculous powers of Mr. De Loutherbourg's pencil are universally acknowledged. In short, we are at a loss which 2 to admire most,-the3 unrivalled genius of the author, the great attention and liberality of the managers, the wonderful abilities of the painter, or the incredible exertions of all the performers !' Sneer. That's pretty well indeed, sir. 4 Puff. O cool-quite cool-to what I sometimes do." Sneer. And do you think there are any who are influenced by this? Puff. O, dear! yes, sir ;7-the number of those who undergo the fatigues of judging for themselves is very small indeed !10 Sneer. Well, sir,—the puff preliminary ? SWIFT TO LORD TREASURER OXFORD. (Letter of condolence on the death of the Marchioness of Caermarthen, daughter of the Lord Treasurer.) MY LORD,-Your Lordship is the person in the world to whom 11 every body ought to be silent upon such an occasion as this, which is only to be supported by the greatest wisdom and strength of mind: wherein, God knows, the wisest and best of us,12 who would presume the following: 'it (il) is not great the number of those who,' &c. 11 de tous les hommes celui envers lequel. 12 Simply, les meilleurs d'entre nous; custom does not aliow the preposition de to stand by itself between a superlative and one of the personal pronouns, thus used alone: but we may say le plus sage de vous tous, though we must not say le plus sage de vous (it should be d'entre vous). Likewise after plusieurs: plusieurs d'entre eux, not plusieurs d'eux. |