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Ah! je vous vois venir. Vraiment je vous regarde,
Oui, sans doute, attendez qu'ici je me hasarde
A vous offrir un tiers ou moitié de rabais
Que j'aille innocemment donner dans vos filets,
Et séduit par votre air, qui me gagnera l'ame,
Convenir plus ou moins des droits que je réclame;
Tandis que, mot à mot, du cabinet voisin
Des témoins apostés en tiendront magasin;
Tandis que finement deux habiles Notaires
Y dresseront un texte à tous vos commentaires.
Je vous le dis, Monsieur: mais pour vous faire voir
Que je connois la ruse autant que mon devoir.
Au reste le billet est bon, la cause est bonne.
Tablez bien là dessus, et je ne crains personne.

THE ATTORNEY. In consequence of a Note of yours, Sir, which I found at my house, I, who always am kind, open-hearted, and loyal, have condescended, in spite of what has happened to me here, to have an interview with you. Let us sec. What do you want of me? Explain yourself. The Barrister. Are you, Sir, acquainted with the probity, good faith, conduct, morals, and means, of the individual who this day claims such a large sum? The Attorney. That is no concern of mine; my voucher is sufficient. The Barrister. If the writing should be proved a forgery . . . The Attorney. We shall see The Barrister. I have infallible samples of this Robert's cunning. The Attorney. And though you had an hundred proofs of it, what is it to me whether he be an honest man or a rogue? I do not care for it, if the Note be a good one. The Barrister. It is not. The Attorney. Idle Stories! The Barrister. In spite of you, and men of your kin, we shall let you see. The Attorney. Pshaw! I have seen plenty. The Barrister. And I'll engage to prove. The Attorney. You? The Barrister. Yes, I. The Attorney. What is the meaning of all this? Pray, is the matter to be decided according to law? Did I come here for any thing else? Tell me, explain yourself; I am in haste. In one word, if I came, it was to be paid, and not to hold conversations. The Barrister. Well, Sir; speak; tell me what you think. The Attorney. Who? I! I say nothing, if you are in a hurry. The Barrister. Well and good! but you have no doubt full powers. Make your proposals, Sir, we'll see. The Attorney. Proposals? The Barrister. Yes, certainly. The Attorney. Nonsense; you joke. The Barrister. What do you mean? The Attorney. Forbear, I beg. You take, I think, unnecessary pains. The Barrister. How so? The Attorney. You are cunning: but you may be outwitted. The Barrister. I do not understand you. The Attorney. O fie! you are joking. The Barrister. Upon my honour. The Attorney. Fiddle faddle! The Barrister. How, Sir? The Attorney. I am gone.

The Barrister. One word more, Sir ; I can assure you there is no deceit in me. Why should you hesitate to open yourself to me, and to acquaint me with the expedient you intend to resort to, after all, in this affair. The Attorney. I never resort to expedients, in any case, and I plainly tell you, as I should to a hundred Barristers, were they a thousand times more cunning, that I never was the dupe of any stratagem. You have hit upon the wrong man, if you intend to lay snares to my candour. Oh! I see what you would be at; indeed! I see through you. Yes, you no doubt expect that I shall venture to offer you a third or a half of the sum as a discount; that I shall innocently fall into your snares, and that captivated by your manners, which are to win my heart, I shall resign more or less of what I claim as my dues, whilst witnesses concealed in the adjacent closet are to register word for word what I say, and two clever Notaries are cunningly to prepare a text for your comments. I tell you all this, Sir, to shew you that I am as well acquainted with cunning, as I know my duty. As for the rest, the note is a good one, our cause is good. You may depend upon it, I fear no one.

Un billet, m. a note, a short letter; and also a note, a promissory note, a ticket for admission, a ticket in a lottery. Un billet à ordre, is a regular promissory note to the order of; ún billet au porteur, is a cheque to the bearer; un billet de santé, a certificate of health; un billet de souffrance, a sufferance of the Custom-houses in England; un billet de cargaison, or, better, un connoissement, a bill of lading.

En ces lieux. See page 245, No. XVI. Il y a lieu, there is occasion for; il n'y a pas lieu, there is no occasion for. When either of these expressions is construed with a verb, it takes the particle de. Il y a lieu de croire, there is occasion for thinking, we are warranted in thinking; il n'y a pas lieu de craindre, there is no occasion for fear, there is no cause of apprehending. Whenever the said expressions are construed with a noun substantive, they take the particle à. Il y a lieu à réflexion, there is occasion for reflection, it is a matter fit to reflect upon, to be well considered; il n'y a pas lieu à récrimination, there is no occasion for recrimination, we have no occasion to recriminate. But in the modern legislative assemblies of France, the previous question is always moved by the words, il n'y a pas lieu à délibérer.

Un tête-à-tête, m. a private conversation, a private interview between two individuals only. It is also an adv. face to face, cheek by jole. Quelqu'un entrant chez un gourmand qui dinoit seul d'une tête de veau (a calf's head) lui dit : Pardon, Monsieur, je ne savois pas que vous fussiez en tête-àtête.

Un titre, m. a title, a title page, a voucher, a deed or writing to prove one's right, as here; the standard of a coin. All the words in itre are m., except une épitre, a letter; une mitre, a bishop's mitre; and une vitre, a glass window, apane of glass.

Le faux, m. that which is false, a forgery. La faux, f. a scythe, and de la chaux, f. lime, are the only two words in aux which are f.; all the others are masc.

J'ai de sures épreuves, I have undoubted samples. Une épreuve, f. a trial, proof, test, experiment; une seconde épreuve, with Printers, a revise.

des tours de ce Robert, of the tricks of this Robert. Un tour, m. a trick, a wile, a bad turn, signifies also a turn, a trip, an excursion, a walk, a turner's lathe, the turning box at the gates of Nunneries, a circuit. But une tour, f. is a tower, a steeple, a rook at chess, page 87, No.VI. Le Gros de Tours, the rich silk worn by our ladies, takes its name from Tours, a beautiful town in France, the capital of the Department d'Indre et Loire, between the rivers Loire and Cher. This kind of silk stuff is also called Damas de Tours. Chansons! is an interjection, meaning idle stories, nonsense, I do not believe you. Une chanson, f. a song. See pp. 38, 39, No. III.

Malgré, prep. in spite of, notwithstanding. Malgré que, conj. is used only familiarly in the expression, malgré qu'il en ait, whatever he may do, whatever he may think of it; malgré vous, in spite of you; malgré lui, in spite of him, notwithstanding his opposition.

Les vôtres, the pron. poss. absolute, used as a substantive, means, your relations, your friends; or, as here, people of your kin, of your party, those who are like you.

C'est ce qu'il faudra voir, on vous fera bien voir, are threat

ening expressions answering to the English, we shall see, we shall let you see, we shall show you.

Bah! Pshaw! is an interjection expressing surprise, and proceeding sometimes from silliness, and sometimes from good-nature momentarily provoked, which was the case with the unfortunate Louis XVI., who used it habitually. It is frequently to be met with in all modern French Comedies, but particularly in the Optimist, and all the other plays of Collin d' Harleville, the great rival of the author of the piece from which this scene is extracted.

Bien

J'en ai vu bien d'autres, I have seen many others. d'autres appears an exception to the rule laid down by Mr. Cobbett, and others, that bien, as an adverb of quantity, employed in the sense of beaucoup, much or many, is always construed with the real genitive of the article definite. Il y avoit bien du monde à la Comédie, whilst you ought to say beaucoup de monde; vous avez bien de la peine; beaucoup de peine. Nous avons bien des pommes; beaucoup de pommes. But Mr. Cobbett has not correctly stated this rule. It is not the article definite in those sentences, but the article partitive. Bien, employed as an adverb of quantity, does not change its character of an adverb merely expressive of intensity, which adverbs never alter the government of the verb. You say, j'ai faim, I am hungry; j'ai bien faim, I am very hungry; j'entends les cloches, I hear the bells; and j'entends bien les cloches, mais, I hear the bells indeed; but... Nous avons de l'argent, we have money; de l'argent here is the accusative of the article partitive; the addition of bien does not disturb the construction. Nous avons bien de l'argent, we have indeed money, we have much money. Il y a du papier sur la table. Du papier here is the nominative of the article partitive; add bien, and the construction is the same. Il y a bien du papier sur la table, there is indeed (much) paper on the table. Vous avez de la bière dans votre cave. De la bière is the accusative of the article partitive; add bien, and you still say, vous avez bien de la bière. The fact is, that d'autres is the nominative and accusative of autres, when used with the article partitive, which is employed in French whenever the English speak without any article. Others (other persons than myself,)

will tell you the same, d'autres que moi vous diront la même chose. And in the accusative, vous avez de beaux chevaux, mais j'en ai vu d'autres qui me plaisent mieux, you have fine horses, but I have seen others that I like better. J'en ai vu d'autres, I have seen others, undergoes no change by the addition of bien; j'en ai vu bien d'autres, I have seen many others.

Je me fais fort de prouver, I make myself strong to prove, I'll engage to prove. Se faire fort de, to take upon one's

self to do a thing, to engage to do it.

J'ai hâte, I am in haste: the familiar expression is, je suis pressé.

à la bonne heure is an adv. expression, well and good, let it be so. It generally denotes a reluctant consent, or a tardy approbation. De bonne heure, early, in good time. Remember that this is very different from bonheur, good luck, happiness. An ignorant French female, Miss Justine, wrote to M. Caze, in February 1781, je t'attends demain de bonne heure; le mien est de te voir. And a French youth said by way of a pun, j'ai eu du malheur de bonne heure.

Allons, and nine lines lower down, allons donc, are a kind of interjection which sometimes answers the English come! come! let us go on; and sometimes, as here, Pshaw! Nonsense! Fiddle faddle!

Un biais, m. an expedient, a shift, a method, a way, a slope, a slanting. All the words in ais are m.: pronounce bi-é in verse, but in prose bié.

Biaiser, r. a. 1. to shuffle, to equivocate, to have recourse to expedients; to slope, to go a slanting; applied to the loadstone, to decline.

Je vous vois venir, page 134, No. IX.

Que j'aille innocemment donner, instead of que je donne innocemment dans vos filets, page 180, 181, No. XII. fell Donner dans, to fall into. Il a donné dans le panneau, he into the snare, page 5, No. I.

Tablez bien là dessus, rely firmly upon it, depend upon it. Tabler, r. a. 1, to place the men at Trictrac, the French Backgammon, according to the rules of the game; but it is now obsolete, and caser is used in its stead. The figu

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