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ved they were poison, and forced him to drink off both in his presence.

XXVII. M. SACHOT.

M. Sachot was pleading for a baker, whose nose, or part of it, had been pulled off by a neighbour in a quarrel in the street. The advocate on the other side, who scarcely possessed a nose at all, in the course of his speech, attempted to turn the whole matter into ridicule. "My brother," said Sachot, in his reply," seems to treat the matter lightly Very probably he thinks a nose is of no consequence."

XXVIII. THE ARCHBISHOP OF LYONS.

The Archbishop of Lyons had his hands completely distorted and disfigured by the gout. He was once engaged in play at cards, and had gained a thousand pistoles. "I should not mind it," said the losing party, "if my money had not got into the ugliest hand in the kingdom." "That is false," said the Archbishop; "I know one that is still uglier." "I'll wager thirty pistoles you don't," said the other. The Archbishop immediIately drew off the glove which covered his left hand, and the gamester acknowledged he had lost ■his wager.*

XXIX. MADAME DE BOURDONNE.

Madame de Bourdonne, Canoness of Remiremont, had been present at a discourse full of fire and eloquence, but deficient in solidity and arrangement. One of her friends, who felt an interest in the preacher, asked her, as she came out of church,

A similar story is related of Quevedo, by his biogra pher, Don Pablo Antonio de Tarsia, p. 106. Vida Madrid, 1683.

C

how she liked it?"Is it not full of spirit ?" said she. "So full," replied Madame de Bourdonne, "that I could not perceive any body."

XXX. WHERE TO LIVE AND DIE.

If we were allowed to choose our birth-place, Italy should be our choice, on account of the mildness of the climate. After being born there, we must come to France to live, for there alone is the science of good eating fully understood. And when we have enjoyed enough of life, were we to choose a spot to die in, it should be in Spain, which is a gloomy and dreary country, peculiarly fitted to inspire us with reflections suitable to such an event. The Spaniards themselves express this sentiment thus: "Italia para nacer, Francia para vivir, Espana para morir."

XXXI.

To mark the character of the Italians, Spaniards, and Greeks, it has been said, That one ought to write in Italian, boast in Spanish, and cheat in Greek.

XXXII. RETURNING THANKS.

Nothing is more difficult than to return thanks neatly.

XXXIII. JULIUS CÆSAR.

John of Salisbury, Polydore Virgil, and Lipsius, believed that Julius Cæsar was not the author of the Commentaries which bear his name, and have attributed them to Julius Celsus, who lived about eight hundred years ago. The cause of this error was, that Julius Celsus was the author of the Life of Julius Cæsar, which is prefixed to some copies of the Commentaries.

XXXIV. CICERO.

We have great reason to regret the loss of the

Treatises of Cicero, De Gloria, and De Legibus. What we do possess of that great man, only serves to convince us of the extent of our loss. The fragments of the last Treatise which remain, leave no doubt that the work must have been excellent.

The Treatise De Gloria was found entire by Philelphus. He considered this fortunate discovery only as a means of gaining credit in the world, and acquiring reputation. With this view, he first contemplated publishing it as his own work; but, apprehensive that this imposture would in time be discovered, he wrote a Treatise, De Contemptu Mundi,* composed entirely of fragments from the work of Cicero, patched together as he could, and then threw the original into the fire; thus depriving the republic of letters, by this odious action, of a work, where there is every reason to conclude that Cicero was not less eloquent or admirable than in his other productions.

Raimond Soranzo, a celebrated Jurisconsult at the Papal Court at Avignon, about the middle of the fourteenth century, was in possession of the two books of Cicero de Gloria. He presented them to Petrarch, who valued them highly, and perused them with care. Unfortunately, a countryman of his own, an old man, in very poor circumstances, who had formerly been his preceptor, having borrowed them of him, pledged them, and having left the country without redeeming them, died shortly afterwards, without giving Petrarch any in

The whole of this story is proved to be a mistake by Bayle; Article Alcyonius. Varillas, in his Louis XI., was the author of this calumny. Philelphus never wrote a Treatise De Contemptu Mundi.

how she liked it? "Is it not full of spirit ?" said she. "So full," replied Madame de Bourdonne, "that I could not perceive any body."

XXX. WHERE TO LIVE AND DIE.

If we were allowed to choose our birth-place, Italy should be our choice, on account of the mildness of the climate. After being born there, we must come to France to live, for there alone is the science of good eating fully understood. And when we have enjoyed enough of life, were we to choose a spot to die in, it should be in Spain, which is a gloomy and dreary country, peculiarly fitted to inspire us with reflections suitable to such an event. The Spaniards themselves express this sentiment thus: "Italia para nacer, Francia para vivir, Espana para morir."

XXXI.

To mark the character of the Italians, Spaniards, and Greeks, it has been said, That one ought to write in Italian, boast in Spanish, and cheat in Greek.

XXXII. RETURNING THANKS.

Nothing is more difficult than to return thanks neatly.

XXXIII. JULIUS CÆSAR.

John of Salisbury, Polydore Virgil, and Lipsius, believed that Julius Cæsar was not the author of the Commentaries which bear his name, and have attributed them to Julius Celsus, who lived about eight hundred years ago. The cause of this error was, that Julius Celsus was the author of the Life of Julius Cæsar, which is prefixed to some copies of the Commentaries.

XXXIV. CICERO.

We have great reason to regret the loss of the

Treatises of Cicero, De Gloria, and De Legibus. What we do possess of that great man, only serves to convince us of the extent of our loss. The fragments of the last Treatise which remain, leave no doubt that the work must have been excellent.

The Treatise De Gloria was found entire by Philelphus. He considered this fortunate discovery only as a means of gaining credit in the world, and acquiring reputation. With this view, he first contemplated publishing it as his own work; but, apprehensive that this imposture would in time be discovered, he wrote a Treatise, De Contemptu Mundi, composed entirely of fragments from the work of Cicero, patched together as he could, and then threw the original into the fire; thus depriving the republic of letters, by this odious action, of a work, where there is every reason to conclude that Cicero was not less eloquent or admirable than in his other productions.

Raimond Soranzo, a celebrated Jurisconsult at the Papal Court at Avignon, about the middle of the fourteenth century, was in possession of the two books of Cicero de Gloria. He presented them to Petrarch, who valued them highly, and perused them with care. Unfortunately, a countryman of his own, an old man, in very poor circumstances, who had formerly been his preceptor, having borrowed them of him, pledged them, and having left the country without redeeming them, died shortly afterwards, without giving Petrarch any in

The whole of this story is proved to be a mistake by Bayle; Article Alcyonius. Varillas, in his Louis XI., was the author of this calumny. Philelphus never wrote a Treatise De Contemptu Mundi.

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