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understanding of his hearers, and acquires their love and esteem.1

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There is, however, a great difference between modesty and an awkward bashfulness, which is as ridiculous as true modesty is commendable. It is as absurd to be a simpleton as to be an impudent fellow; and one ought to know how to come into a room, speak to people, and answer them, without being out of countenance, or without embarrassment.5 The English are generally apt to be bashful, and have not those easy, free, and at the same time polite, manners which the French have."7(CHESTERFIELD, Letters to his Son.)

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THE ART OF PLEASING.

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THE art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess, but a very difficult one to acquire. It can hardly be reduced to rules;9 and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can. 10 Do as you would be done by,11 is the surest method that I know 12 of pleasing observe carefully what pleases you in others, and probably the same things in you will please others. If you are pleased with 18 the complaisance and attention of others to your humours,14 your tastes, or your weaknesses, depend upon it,15 the same complaisance and attention 16 on your part to theirs will equally please them.17 Take the tone of the company that you are in,18 and do not pretend to give it; be serious, gay, or even trifling,19 as you find 1 'such a man,' &c.; simply, de le soumettre) à des règles. gagne les esprits et se fait estimer et aimer.

2 et la mauvaise honte. 3 Simply, un effronté.

4 savoir se présenter; see p. 224, note 13

5 sans être décontenancé ou embarrassé.

6 sujets à la mauvaise honte. 7 Translate, 'which are natural to the French.'

8 est d'un grand secours à qui le possède; mais il n'est pas aisé de l'acquérir.

9Il est difficile de l'assujettir (or,

10

20

que je ne (p. 30, note 11) pourrais vous en dire.

11 Agissez envers les autres comme vous voudriez que les autres agissent envers vous.-'method;' moyen.

12 The subjunctive is generally used, in French, after a superlative. 13 sensible à.

14 Use the singular.
15 comptez que.

16 Translate, and the same attention.'

17 See page 31, note 7.
Ï, n. 12.
p.

18 See

19 folâtre

20 as, for according as,' sui

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the present humour of the company: this is an attention due from every individual to the majority. Do not tell stories in company; there is nothing 2 more tedious and disagreeable if by chance you know a very short story, and exceedingly applicable to the present subject of conversation, tell it in as few words as possible; and even then throw out that you do not love to tell stories, but that the shortness of it tempted you. Of all things, banish egotism7 out of your conversation, and never think of entertaining people with your personal concerns, or private affairs; though they are interesting to you, they are tedious and impertinent to everybody else,s besides that one cannot keep one's own private affairs too secret. Whatever you think your own excellences may be,10 do not affectedly display them 11 in company; nor labour, as many people do,12 to give that turn to the conversation which 13 may supply you with an opportunity of exhibiting them.14 If they are real, they will infallibly be discovered,15 without your pointing them out yourself,1 and with much more advantage. Never maintain an argument with heat and clamour, though you think or know yourself to be in the right,17 but give your opinion. modestly and coolly, which is 18 the only way to convince; and, if that does not do,19 try to change the conversation by saying with 20 good humour: "We shall hardly con

vant (or selon) que; or, more concisely, as well as more elegantly, 'as you find,' simply selon (according to).

Translate, which every individual must have for.'

2 See page 9, note 12.

16

11 n'en faites point parade.
12 See p. 3, n. 3.-nor labour;'
ne cherchez point.

13 See page 10, note 3.
14 de les faire briller.
15 See page 8, note 15.

16 This turn is not French; we

3 qui puisse fort à propos s'ap- use sans que with the personal pro

pliquer.

4 donnez à entendre.

5 de celle-ci.

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noun (vous, here), and the subjunctive.-'to point out,' here, prendre la peine de faire valoir.

quand même vous seriez (p. 252, n. 6) persuadé que vous avez raison. 18 c'est; or, but less elegantly here, in the way pointed out at page 8, note 6.

19 si cela (or, s'il-'if it') ne réussit pas.

20 en disant d'un ton de.

vince one another,1 nor is it necessary that we should ;2 so let us talk of something else." 3

At last, remember that there is a local propriety to be observed in all companies, and that what is extremely proper in one company may be, and often is, highly improper in another.

These are some 5 of the arcana necessary for your initiation in the great society of the world. I wish I had known them better at your age; I have paid the price of three and fifty years for them, and shall not grudge it if you reap the advantage. Adieu.(CHESTERFIELD, Letters to his Son.)

THE LAZY MIND.

THE lazy mind will not take the trouble of going to the bottom of anything; 10 but, discouraged by the first difficulties (and everything worth knowing or having is attended with some),11 stops short, contents itself with easy and, consequently, superficial knowledge, and prefers a great degree of ignorance to a small 12 degree of trouble. These people either think or represent most things 14 as impossible, whereas few things are so to industry and activity.15 But difficulties seem to them impossibilities, or at least they pretend to think them so,16 by way of excuse 1 See page 38, note 13. 9 Use vouloir in the pres. indicat. 10 des choses.

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2 Translate as if the English were, besides, that is not necessary,' or, and that is not necessary.' The conjunct. ni, in French, is only used to connect together two negative propositions, not a negative with an affirmative, as 'nor' does in English, and nec in Latin.

3 d'autre chose.

4 à observer.

5 Voilà (p. 97, n. 8) une partie. 6 dans le grand monde. 7 Je voudrais les avoir mieuc connus (page 19, note 5).

8 cette science m'a coûté cinquantetrois années. Je ne regretterai pas rix.

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(et tout ce qui mérite d'être su ou possédé a les siennes); or, (. . . mérite-vaut la peine-vaut-est digne d'être su ou possédé, or, qu'on le sache ou qu'on le possède, a... &c.).

12 'great,' haut; 'small,' faible. 13 Les paresseux considèrent. 14 la plupart des choses; or, presque toutes choses.

15 are so see p. 5, n. 14. Yet here, we shall render the whole phrase more elegantly by, au lieu qu'il y en a très peu dont le travail et l'activité ne viennent à bout.

16 ils feignent de les croire telles.

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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. 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 8 that put them in confusion.-(CHESTERFIELD, 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, 'some,' or 'any') to be always expressed, in French, before a substantive taken in a partitive sense. 9 qui les couvrent de.

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.
12 le sol en est.

13 Les hommes y sont aussi en bien plus grand nombre.

14 et les gens de la ville, comme ceux de la campagne.

15

y jouissent de plus d'aisance. 16 que dans notre Ecosse.

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but little food for flocks of sheep or herds of cattle.1 the level ground that lies along 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 5 than in England. But, as Scotland possesses great quarries of stone, the towns are commonly built of that material, which is 7 more lasting, and has a grander effect to the eye, than the bricks used9 in England.

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Now, as these two nations live in the different ends 10 of the same island, and are 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 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 great17 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. 3 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.

4 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

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,
invert here the order of these two
regimens, thus :—. 'from all,'
&c., 'by large,' &c.
13 il semblait naturel qu'elles
fussent.

14 See p. 10, n. 9.-' to,' de.
15 vécussent.

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.

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