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apprenez nous ce que vous avez vu; et il leur fit de longs récits. Ecoutez, leur dit-il un jour: vous savez que le pays des Hurons est bien loin de chez nous. Trois mille trois cents lieues derrière eux il y a des gens qui m'ont paru fort singuliers. On les voit souvent à table jusques bien avant dans la nuit, mais il n'y a rien à manger ni à boire. Le tonnerre gronderoit autour d'eux, deux armées se choqueroient en battaille rangée, le Ciel même menaceroit de tomber sur eux avec fracas, qu'ils resteroient tranquilles et immobiles, car ils sont sourds et muets. Cependant de tems à autre on leur entend prononcer à demi voix des paroles tronquées, sans liaison et sans signification, quoique ce soit en roulant les yeux d'une horrible manière. Je me suis souvent tenu à côté d'eux, avec surprise, car c'est l'usage d'aller les voir quand ils sont ainsi assemblés. Croyez moi, mes amis, je n'oublierai jamais les terribles contorsions que je leur ai vu faire. Le désespoir, la fureur, une joie malicieuse, et des angoisses mortelles, se peignoient tour à tour sur leurs visages. Leur rage me paroissoit, je vous le jure, celle des Furies, leur gravité celle des juges du Tartare, et leur trouble égaloit celui des malfaiteurs. Mais quel étoit leur objet ? lui demanderent ses amis. Peutêtre ils s'occupoient du bien public.-Oh non!-Ils cherchoient la pierre philosophale.-Vous n'y êtes pas.--Ils s'efforçoient peutêtre de trouver la quadrature du Cercle Nenni.---Ils faisoient pénitence pour leurs nombreux pêchés.---Non, ils ne faisoient rien de tout cela.---Ils avoient donc perdu l'esprit. Puisqu'ils étoient ensemble sans parler, sans entendre, sans voir, et sans sentiment, à quoi pouvoient-ils s'occuper ?---Ils jouoient.

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THE distinction between ce and il, as corresponding with the English" IT," is so important, and yet so very difficult and nice, that we hope we shall be readily excused for dwelling a little longer on its elucidation, particularly with regard to its construction, when the English "it is" precedes an adjective, followed by an infinitive. We condemned Mr. Cobbett's example, C'est bon de se lever de bonne heure, as incorrect, and so it is; but under the seventh rule, page 390, XXV., we observed, that C'est is used before an adjective construed with the dative, or with the particle à, and for this reason the French say, C'est bon à savoir, C'est aisé à dire, which literally is in English, "it is good to know, it is easy to say." This seems to invalidate the first rule laid down for il est, page 391, XXV., which we mentioned in the beginning of this paper: but on investigating the point more fully, the student will find that this apparent contradiction confirms our statement respecting Ce being demonstrative, and il being a pronoun personal neuter. The French expressions c'est bon à savoir, c'est aisé à dire, are really demonstrative; they point at something mentioned before, and mean, "that is good to be known, it is well to know that; that is easily said, that is easy to be said, it is easy to say that." If they signified the English "it is good to know, it is easy to say," followed by another idea, they would be in French, il est bon de savoir, il est aisé de dire. It is good to know the language of our neighbours; il est bon de savoir la langue de nos

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voisins. It is easy to say that one knows a language; il est aisé de dire que l'on sait une langue. The following two lines of La Fontaine will keep the rule in your memory :-“Il est bon d'être charitable,

Mais envers qui? C'est là le point.

The difference between ce and il is farther proved by the circumstance, that the French impersonal verbs are construed with il, because the agent is a vague mysterious invisible cause, which cannot be pointed at: il pleut, it rains; il neige, it snows, &c.; and so in speaking of the weather or of the temperature. Il fait beau tems, it is fine weather; il fait chaud, it is hot. But the instant you point at something that is hot, though it would be again in English "it is hot," you must say, c'est chaud, that is hot.

As we have to continue our remarks on the extract from Molière's Femmes Savantes, we subjoin a very short French Tale.

Une femme fidèle aux règles du bon ton,

Un jour voulut être chaussée

Par un Cordonnier, dont le nom,

Synonime à perfection,

Attiroit la foule empressée.
Mais notre belle courroucée
S'apperçut dès le lendemain
Que sa chaussure étoit percéc.
L'ouvrier est mandé soudain,
Il arrive, et dans sa pensée
Après avoir longtems cherché,
L'oeil baissé, la bouche mi-close:
De l'accident je vois la cause,

Dit-il, Madame aura marché !

ONE day a lady, complying with the laws of fashion, had her shoes made by a shoemaker, whose name, synonimous with perfection, attracted eager crowds. But our fair lady angrily perceived the very next day that her shoes were in holes: the shoemaker was instantly sent for; he came, and after having long revolved the matter in his thoughts, he said, with cast-down eyes and a half-open mouth, I now see the cause of the accident, your ladyship has probably walked.

Le bon ton, the manners of great people, fashion. Ton, s. m. is a tone, tune, sound, note, accent, language, manners. Donner le ton, properly signifies, to indicate the key in which a piece of music or a song is to be performed, which formerly was done by means of a whistle, also called le ton; hence, figuratively, donner le ton à la conversation, to lead a conver sation, to introduce the topics which are to be spoken of; and thence again, donner le ton in general, to lead the fashion, and le bon ton, the manners of fashionable people. But a French poet wittily observes, that sometimes

"Quand le bon ton paroit, le bon sens se retire."

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Thon, s. m. spelt with an h, but pronounced like ton, is a fish, "tunny," which pickled is called thon mariné. Une Dame de Paris trouvoit que le Capitaine Jeau Bart avoit un mauvais ton (vulgar manners.) Dans son état, lui dit quelqu'un, on ne peut avoir qu'un ton mariné.

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Chausser, r. a. 1..to put stockings and shoes or boots on; to make boots and shoes; to make them so as to fit. Hence the French say, ce Cordonnier chausse bien, the boots and shoes of that shoemaker fit well; and passively, elle est toujours bien chaussée, she always has very neat shoes and stockings. Chaussure, f. (which is six lines lower) means, whatever covers the leg and foot; but here it denotes the shoes only. Une chaussée, s. f. is a causeway: a very fine street at Paris, which goes from the Boulevard Italien towards Montmartre, is called La chaussée d'Antin.

Un Cordonnier, s. m. a cordwainer, a shoemaker.

Dès de lendemain, the very next day, not later than the next day, page 149, X. Mander, r, a. 1. to send for, as here; and also to write, to inform, to send news: mon frère m'a mandé cette nouvelle ; je n'ai rien à vous mander; and as a n. v. you may say, je lui ai mandé de venir.

Soudain, adv. suddenly, instantly. It is more poëtical than tout à coup, page 374, 375, XXIV.

Mi-close, half-shut. Mi is the abbreviation of demi, half; and enters as an indeclinable particle into the composition of several words, which do not change their genders, except

minuit, midnight, which becomes masculine, though nuit is f. and micarême, half of Lent, which becomes feminine, though carême, Lent, is m.; the names of the months likewise become feminine when joined with mi. Nous sommes à la miSeptembre, we have got over half of September; la mi-mai, la mi-août. Mi clos, adj. half shut, is derived from clos, part. p. of clore, impf. a. v. to shut; used only in je clos, tu clos, il clot. The future je clorai, the condit. je clorois, and in the comp. tenses with the participle clos. J'ai clos, Bouche close! is an interjection, keep it secret!" say nothing.

Aura marché, is properly the compound of the future of marcher, to walk; but the French frequently use this compound of the future, or future past, to denote that a thing has probably been done. Madame aura marché, your ladyship must have walked, has probably walked. Elle est malade aujourd'hui, elle aura trop dansé hier, she is unwell to-day, she must have danced too much yesterday, she probably has danced too much yesterday.

We now return to our French extract of the last number. Hors, prep. (the s is heard only before a vowel) out, without. In that sense it applies to both time and place, and governs the genitive. Nous ne sommes pas encore hors de l'hiver; il ne faut pas encore songer à demeurer hors de la ville. Whenever it means except, as here, it governs the accusative, hors un gros Plutarque, except a thick volume of Plutarch. Hormis, which has the same signification, is generally preferred in speaking of persons: hormis vous et ma mere, tout le reste m'est indifférent.

Un rabat, s. m. a band for the neck, particularly such as clergymen are still wearing when officiating. But the clergy of the Roman Catholic church call it preferably collet or petit collet. As a mercantile term, rabat means a discount for prompt payment, or an abatement of price. All the French words in at are masculine without exception.

Vous devriez bruler, you should burn, you ought to burn, page 229, XV. Du grenier de céans, from the garret of this house. This word céans is grown obsolete, as we observed incidentally, page 315, XX. Cette longue lunette, is a poëti.

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