scheme in hand, tell 2 Jonas what it is, and we discuss it openly. You're not offended, Pecksniff?"

"Offended, my good sir!" cried that gentleman, as if he had received the highest compliments that language could convey.

5

"Are you travelling 6 to London, Mr. Pecksniff?" asked the son.

66

Yes, Mr. Jonas, we are travelling to London. We shall have the pleasure of your company all the way, I trust?" "Oh! ecod," you had better ask father that,” said Jonas. "I am not a going to commit myself.” 9 Mr. Pecksniff was, as a matter of course,10 greatly entertained by this retort. His mirth having subsided, Mr. Jonas gave him to understand that himself and parent were in fact travelling to their home 12 in the metropolis; 18 and that, since the memorable day of the great family gathering,14 they had been tarrying in that part of the

1 'Now I;' Moi, voyez-vous; or, Moi qui vous parle.-'a business scherne;' le plan de quelque affaire. -'in hand; see p. 22, n. 1. 2 See page 43, note 11.

3 de quoi il s'agit; or, ce qui en est, not ce que c'est, here: ce que c'est would correspond to 'what it -or that-is,' in another sense, the sense of 'what that thing (in a vague way) is'-namely a scheme; whereas ce qui en est means, 'what that scheme (mentioned above) is about'. We might also translate by j'en fais part à Jonas. 4 les plus grands; or, les plus beaux; or, again, les plus flatteurs, after the noun. In general, no adjectives, in French, can precede a noun, when in the superlative degree, except those which are allowed to precede it when in the positive degree.

5 Simply, qu'on eût (p. 13, note12, p. 22, note 9, and p. 38, note) pu lui faire; or, les..: compliments possibles—susceptibles d'être exprimés par (or, au moyen de la parole, would be awkward.

11

13

country, watching1 the sale of certain eligible investments," which they had had in their copartnership eye when they came down; for it was their custom, Mr. Jonas said,* whenever such a thing was practicable, to kill two birds with one stone, and never to throw away sprats, but a bait for whales. 6-DICKENS, Martin Chuzzlewit.

THE LITERARY SNOBS."

BUT the fact is, that in the literary profession,8 THERE ARE NO SNOBS. Look round at the whole body of British men of letters,9 and I defy you to point out among them a single instance of vulgarity, or envy, or assumption.10 Men and women, as far as I have known them, they are all 11 modest in their demeanour, elegant in their manners,

spotless in their lives,1 and honourable in their conduct to the world and to each other.2 You may, occasionally, it is true, hear one literary man abusing his brother; but why? Not in the least out of malice; not at all from envy;5 merely from a sense of truth and public duty. Suppose, for instance, I good-naturedly point out a

blemish in my friend Mr. Punch's person, and say Mr. P. has a hump-back, and 10 his nose and chin are more crooked than those features 11 in the APOLLO or ANTINOUS,12 which we are accustomed to consider as our standards 13 of beauty; does this argue malice on my part towards 14 Mr. Punch? Not in the least.15 It is the critic's duty to point out defects as well as merits, and he invariably does his duty with the utmost gentleness and candour.16

That sense of equality and fraternity amongst authors has always struck me as one of the most amiable characteristics 17 of the class. It is because we know 18 and respect each other, that the world respects us so much; that we

1 Use the singular here, on account of the general, the collective meaning of the word.

2 soit entre eux, soit à l'égard du monde.

3 Il n'est pas impossible peut-être que (par hasard) vous; with the subjunctive.

4 dire du mal de. 5 Par malice? Point du tout. Par envie En aucune façon.There are, in French, three degrees of negation, viz., ne by itself (when it can be so used-before a few verbs only), which is the weakest negative expression; then ne with pas, which is the middle negative expression; and, finally, ne with point, which is the strongest. In some cases, like the above, ne is suppressed.

par amour de.

7 et par; see page 49, note 8 Par must be repeated here, both on account of the two things mentioned being considered distinctly from each other, and, for the sake of elegance, by reason of the length

3

hold such a good position in society, and demean our selves so irreproachably when there.2 Literature is held in such honour in England, that there is a sum of near twelve hundred pounds per annum set apart to pension deserving persons following that profession. And a great compliment this is, too, to the professors, and a proof of their generally prosperous and flourishing condition. They are generally so rich and thrifty, that scarcely any money is wanted to help them. THACKERAY, The Book of

Snobs.

6

8

SCENE FROM "THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL."

Lady Sneerwell; Mrs. Candour; Joseph Surface; Maria, Crabtree; Sir Benjamin Backbite.

Crab. Lady Sneerwell, I kiss your hand. Mrs. Candour, I don't believe you are acquainted with 10 my nephew, Sir Benjamin Backbite? Egad, ma'am,12 he has a pretty wit, and is a pretty poet too. 13 Isn't he,14 Lady Sneerwell?

Sir Ben. Oh, fie, uncle!

11

of the pronouns recommended in note 18, of page 38.

1 rang.

gated negatively. See page 35, note 20, for another example of this. We might also very well

2 and... when there,' &c., et translate the English phrase by

que nous nous y, &c.

3 est si fort en.

4 livres sterling.

5 Simply, les personnes (or, les membres) de.

6 C'est un grand honneur pour elles-eux, et aussi.

7 qu'il n'y a presque pas besoin d'argent.

8 de,-with the article, of course. 9 See page 11, note ; use, besides, the plural ('hands') here, in French.

10 to be acquainted with,' connaître; see page 1, note 8, and use the subjunctive, here, as penser 'to think,' 'to believe') is conju

permettez-moi de vous présenter.
11 Parbleu (familiar).

12 madame. The abbreviation of this word, in French, belongs to very vulgar language.

c'est un garçon d'esprit, et, qui plus est, un poète.-c'est, instead of il est: the demonstrative pronoun ce is generally used, instead of il, elle, ils, elles, as the subject of a proposition whose attribute is not an adjective; the attribute is here the substantive garçon. See the LA FONTAINE, page 10, note 3.

14 n'est-ce-pas; literally, is it

not (understood, true,' vrai.) This is the usual French phrase

Crab. Nay, egad it's true;1 I back him at a rebus or a charade 2 against the best rhymer in the kingdom.3 Has your ladyship heard the epigram he wrote last week" on Lady Frizzle's feather catching fire ? 7-Do, Benjamin, repeat it, or the charade you made last night extempore 9 at Mrs. Drowzie's conversazione.10 Come now; 11 your 12 first is the name of a fish, your second a commander, and—

Sir Ben. Uncle, now-pr'ythee-14

13

great naval

Crub. I'faith,15 ma'am, 'twould surprise you to hear how ready he is at all these sort of things.1

16

Lady Sneer. I wonder, Sir Benjamin, you never publish any thing.

Sir Ben. To say truth,17 ma'am, 'tis very vulgar to print; 18 and, as my little productions are mostly satires and lampoons on particular people, 19 I find they circulate more by giving copies in confidence to the friends of the parties. 20 However, I have some love elegies, which,

corresponding to 'am I not,' 'art thou not,' is he (she, or it) not,' 'are we (you, or they) not,' or 'do I not,' &c. &c., whatever may have been mentioned in the foregoing part of the proposition.

1 Pardieu (famil.), rien de plus vrai. Put a full stop here (page 24, note 3).

2 En fait de (lit. 'in point of') rébus et de charades, je parierais pour lui.

3 See page 32, note 6. 4 Milady connaît-elle. 5 See page 1, note 12.

6 he wrote;' use the indefinite preterite 'he has written,' the time at which the fact took place not being precisely stated, and not being far distant; and see, besides, page 32, notel2.-'last week' la semaine dernière; la dernière semaine is French, too, but it means 'the last week' (of the month, or year, or &c.).

7 à propos des plumes de lady Frisure, qui avaient pris feu?

8 Benjamin, récitez-nous cela,