ANOTHER SCENE FROM "THE GOOD-NATURED MAN."

MR. CROAKER, MRS. CROAKER, and HONEYWOOD.

Mrs. Croak. Speak,1 Mr. Honeywood: is there anything more foolish 2 than my husband's fright upon the occasion ? 3

Hon. It would not become me to decide, madam; but doubtless, the greatness of his terrors now will but invite them to renew their villany another time.5

Mrs. Croak. I told you, he'd be of my opinion.

Croak. How, sir! do you maintain that I should lie down under such an injury, and show neither by my tears or complaints, that I have something of the spirit. of a man in me ? 9

1 Dites.

8

2 See page 9, note 12. It might be added to the note here referred to, that de is used in the same way after aucun, personne, quelqu'un, and after numeral adjectives, as well as after quoi, &c., when an adjective or a participle follows. 3 en cette circonstance. 4 de décider là-dessus.

5 plus il aura peur aujourd'hui, plus ils se sentiront encouragés (or, enhardis) à l'avenir dans leur scélératesse; plus, repeated, corresponds to the more' repeated.

6 Je te disais bien; or, Quand je te disais. The latter phrase, which is colloquial, exclusively, is elliptical, for j'avais raison quand, &c.

7 subir (or, souffrir) tranquille ment une pareille insulte (or, un pareil outrage), au lieu de montrer. 8 See page 8, note 1. Yet, the prepositions à, de, and en, are the only ones that must always be repeated before each noun or pro

noun. Elegance, conciseness, and other considerations, often allow a writer to dispense with the repetition of the other prepositions: here, the repetition of par would be too emphatic, it might imply by my tears, or, if not, then by my complaints.'

9 que je porte (or, que j'ai) un cœur d'homme; or, . . un cœur d'homme et non un cœur de poule (familiar).-We also use, familiarly, the expression une poule mouillée, to designate a coward, or a weak, irresolute man; and we might well translate here, simply, by que je ne suis pas une poule mouillée.Un cœur d'homme means more particularly, and strictly speaking, a sensitive heart; un cœur de lion applies exclusively to grea courage, but this expression would obviously be here in bad keeping with the rest of the sentence, and would, besides, imply more than in implied in the English text.

A

Hon. Pardon me, sir. You ought to make the loudest complaints, if you desire redress. 2 The surest way3 to have redress, is to be earnest in the pursuit of it.5

Croak. Ay, whose opinion is he of? now?

Mrs. Croak. But don't you think that laughing off our fears is the best way ? 8

Hon. What is the best, madam, few can say ;9 but I'll maintain 10 it to be a very wise way.

Croak. But we are talking of the best. Surely the best way is to face the enemy in the field,11 and not wait till 12 he plunders us in our very 13 bed-chamber.

Hon. Why, sir, as to the best, that—that's a very wise way too. 14

Mrs. Croak. But can anything be more absurd, than to double our distresses by our apprehensions, and put it in the power of every low fellow, that can scrawl ten words of wretched spelling, 15 to torment us?

Hon. Without doubt, nothing more absurd.

Croak. How! would it not be more absurd to despise the rattle till we are bit by the snake? 16

7 See p. 1, n.18; 'whose,' quelle. 8 que le meilleur moyen est-c'est -de, &c.; or, que ce qu'il y a de mieux à faire, c'est de, &c. When the pronoun ce is placed at the beginning of a sentence, it must be repeated in the second part of the sentence when that second part begins with the verb être, unless the verb être is followed by an adjective or a past participle. But, however, if the verb être is followed by a noun in the singular, the repetition of the pronoun ce is not strictly necessary. This case, it may be seen, is not the same as the one pointed out at

que often elegantly stands for jusqu'à ce que.

13

jusque dans notre. 14 Dame, monsieur, le meilleur le meilleur celui que vous recommandez est aussi, &c.

15 et de mettre le premier goujat venu, capable tout au plus de griffonner quelques mots d'une détestable orthographe (or, sans orthographe aucune), à même de.

16 le bruit (or, les sinistres grelots -an expression used, in this sense, by B. DE ST. PIERRE) du serpent

Hon. Without doubt, perfectly absurd.
Croak. Then you are of my opinion?
Hon. Entirely.

Mrs. Croak. And you reject mine?

Hon. Heavens forbid,1 madam. No, sure no reasoning can be more just than yours. We ought certainly to despise malice if we cannot oppose 2 it, and not make the incendiary's pen as fatal to our repose as the highMrs. Croak. Oh! then you think I'm quite right? Hon. Perfectly right.

wayman's pistol.

Croak. A plague of plagues, we can't be both right. I ought to be sorry, or I ought to be glad. My hat must be on my head, or my hat must be off.5

Mrs. Croak. Certainly, in two opposite opinions, if one be perfectly reasonable, the other can't be perfectly right.

8

Hon. And why may not both be right, madam: Mr. Croaker in earnestly seeking redress, and you in waiting the event with good humour? Pray let me see the letter again. I have it.9 This letter requires twenty guineas to be left 10 at the bar of the Talbot Inn. If it be indeed an incendiary letter, what if you and I, sir, go

1

there; and, when the writer comes to be paid his expected booty, seize him.

Croak. My dear friend, it's the very thing; the very thing. While I walk by the door, you shall plant yourself in ambush near the bar; burst out upon 5 the miscreant like a masked battery; extort a confession at once, and so hang him up by surprise.6

Hon. Yes; but I would not choose to exercise too much severity. It is my maxim, sir, that crimes generally punish themselves.7

Croak. Well, but we may upbraid him a little, I suppose? [Ironically.]

Hon. Ay, but not punish him too rigidly.

Croak. Well, well,10 leave that to my own benevolence, 11

Hon. Well, I do: 12 but remember that universal benevolence is the first law of nature.13 [Exeunt HONEYWOOD and MRS. CROAKER.]

Croak. Yes; and my universal benevolence will hang the dog,14 if he had 15 as many necks as a hydra.

1 que dites-vous (or, que vous semble) d'aller, vous et moi, monsieur, au lieu indiqué.

2 et, quand l'auteur de cette lettre se présentera pour toucher (or, recevoir-se faire payer) la somme qu'il convoite. We always use the future, in French, not the present of the indicative, as in English, after quand, or lorsque (when), dès que, or, aussitôt que (as soon as), &c., when reference is made to a time to come; and we always use, likewise, in the same case, the compound of the future, where the English use the compound of the present.

3 c'est cela même, c'est on ne peut

mieux.

4 Same remark as above, note 2. -'to walk,' here, se promener, which implies going about leisurely.by.' devant, in this -Sonse. 5 Simply, tombez sur.

arrachez-lni un aveu tout

16

[Exit.17]

d'abord (or, sur-le-champ-à l'instant même sans désemparer), et, de cette façon, faites-le pendre avant qu'il ait le temps de se reconnaître (or, en un tour de main-fam.).

7

...

avec soi).

portent généralement (p. 19, n. 5) en eux-mêmes leur châtiment (or, généralement leur châtiment 8 A la bonne heure. 9 Soit. 10 Bon, bon! 11 remettez-vous-en (or, rappor tez-vous-en) là-dessus à ma bonté. 12 Eh bien, c'est entendu. 13 See page 2, note 15.

14 vous fera pendre ce gredin-là; vous, thus used here, is a familiar and expressive way of saying simply, fera pendre. See the LA FONTAINE, p. 32, n. 9, p. 39, n. 4, and others.

15 quand même il aurait; or, eût-il. 16 têtes. 17 Exeunt H. and Mrs. C.,' H. et Mme C. sortent;-'Exit,' Il sort.

FIRMNESS OF ALEXANDER SEVERUS.

WHILST Alexander Severus lay at Antioch, in his Persian expedition, the punishment of some soldiers excited a sedition in the legion to which they belonged. Alexander ascended his tribunal, and, with a modest firmness,3 represented to the armed multitude the absolute necessity, as well as his inflexible resolution, of correcting the vices introduced by his impure5 predecessor, and of maintaining the discipline, which could not be relaxed without the ruin of the Roman name and empire. Their clamours interrupted his mild expostulation. "Reserve your shouts," said the undaunted emperor, "till you take the field against the Persians, the Germans, and the Sarmatians.7 Be silent in the presence of your sovereign and benefactor, who bestows upon you the corn, the clothing, and the money of the provinces. Be silent, or I shall no longer style you soldiers, but citizens; if those, indeed, who disclaim the laws of Rome, deserve to be ranked among the meanest 10 of the people." His menaces inflamed the fury of the legion, and their brandished arms already threatened his person. "Your courage," resumed the intrepid Alexander, "would be more nobly displayed in a field of battle: me you may destroy, you cannot intimi