in the Rue Saint Jacques, the guests formed a circle round him, nay, even mounted upon the seats and upon the tables, in order to catch the remarks and anecdotes which this celebrated observer of human nature could tell in society, with the same grace and effect with which he recorded them in his works.

Le Sage's circumstances, though very moderate, seem always to have been easy, and his domestic life was quiet and happy. Its tenor was somewhat interrupted by the taste which carried upon the stage his eldest and youngest sons. Nothing could be more natural than that the theatrical art should have invincible charms for the sons of a dramatic author; but Le Sage, who had expressed the greatest contempt and dislike of that profession, which he had painted in the most ridiculous and odious colours, felt great pain from his sons making choice of it, which probably was not lessened when the eldest obtained an honourable station among those very Romans of the Théâtre François, with whom his father had waged for so many years a satirical war. This eldest son of Le Sage was a youth of great hopes, and a most amiable disposition. He had been educated for the bar. Upon embracing the profession of a comedian, he assumed the name of Montmenil, under which he became distinguished for his excellence in the parts of valets, peasants, and other characters in low comedy. He was not less remarked for the worth of his private character, and his talents for society; and having early attained a situation in the Théâtre François, he mixed with the best company in Paris. Yet his

father could not for a long time hear of Montmenil's professional merit, or even of his private virtues, and the general respect in which he was held, without showing evident symptoms of great and painful emotion. At length a reconciliation was effected betwixt them, and, passing from displeasure to the most affectionate excess of parental fondness, it is said Le Sage could scarce bear to be separated from the son whose name he had hardly permitted to be mentioned before him. The death of Montmenil, which happened 8th September, 1743, in consequence of a cold caught at a hunting party, was such a blow to his father, then far advanced in life, that it determined his total retirement from Paris, and from the world.

The youngest son of our author also became a player, under the name of Pittenec; and it seems he was also a dramatic author, but made no distinguished figure in either capacity.

On the other hand Le Sage's second son showed a more staid character than either of his brothers, became a student of theology, and took orders. By the patronage of the Queen, (wife of Louis XV.) he became a canon of the Cathedral of Boulogne, and had the benefit of a pension. The moderate independence which he enjoyed, enabled him, after his father had been entirely broken down in spirits, by the death of Montmenil, to receive both him, his sister, and his mother, under his roof, and to provide for them during the residue of their lives. The sister was eminent for her filial tenderness, and dedicated her life to the comfort of her parents.

It was after his retreat to Boulogne, and while

residing under the roof of his son the canon, that we obtain an interesting account of Le Sage, then extremely aged, from the pen of the Comte de Tressan, to whom the ancient romances of France owe the same favour which has been rendered to those of England by the late ingenious and excellent George Ellis. The reader will feel interested in receiving the communication in the words of the Count himself.

"Paris, 20th January, 1783. "You have requested from me some account of the concluding period of the celebrated author of Gil Blas. Here follow the few anecdotes which

I am able to furnish.

"In the end of the year 1745, after the battle of Fontenoy, the late King having named me to serve under the Maréchal de Richelieu, I received counter orders at Boulogne, and remained there, commandant of the Boulenois, Poitou, and Picardy.

"Having learned that Mons. Le Sage, aged upwards of eighty years, with his wife nearly as old, resided at Boulogne, I was early desirous of visiting them, and of acquainting myself with their situation. I found that they lived in family with their son, a canon of the Cathedral of Boulogne ; and never was filial piety more tenderly occupied than his, in cheering and supporting the latter days of parents, who had scarce any other resource than the moderate revenue of their son.

"The Abbé Le Sage enjoyed the highest respect at Boulogne. His talents, his virtues, his social affections, rendered him dear to Monseigneur de

Pressy, his worthy bishop, to his fraternity, and to the public.

“I have seen few resemblances more striking than that of the Abbé Le Sage to his brother Mons. de Montmenil; he had even a portion of his talents, and of his most agreeable qualities. No one could read verses more agreeably. He possessed the uncommon art of that variation of tone, and of employing those brief pauses, which, without being actual declamation, impress on the hearers the sentiments and the beauties of the author.

“I had known, and I regretted, Mons. Montmenil. I entertained esteem and friendship for his brother; and the late Queen, in consequence of the account which I had to lay before her of the Abbé Le Sage's situation, and his narrow fortune, procured him a pension upon a benefice.

“I had been apprized not to go to visit Mons. Le Sage till near the approach of noon; and the feelings of that old man made me observe, for a second time, the effect which the state of the atmosphere produces in the melancholy days of bodily decline.

"Mons. Le Sage awaking every morning so soon as the sun appeared some degrees above the horizon, became animated, acquired feeling and force, in proportion as that planet approached the meridian; but as the sun began to decline, the sensibility of the old man, the light of his intellect, and the activity of his bodily organs, began to diminish in proportion; and no sooner had the sun descended some degrees under the horizon, than he sunk into a lethargy, from which it was difficult to rouse him.

"I took care only to make my visit at that period of the day when his intellect was most clear, which was the hour after he had dined. I could not view without emotion the respectable old man, who preserved the gaiety and urbanity of his better years, and sometimes even displayed the imagination of the author of the Diable Boiteux and of Turcaret. But one day, having come more late than usual, I was sorry to see that his conversation began to resemble the last homilies of the Bishop of Grenada, and I instantly withdrew.

"Mons. Le Sage had become very deaf. I always found him seated near a table on which lay a large hearing-trumpet; that trumpet, which he sometimes snatched up with vivacity, remained unmoved on the table, when the nature of the visit which he received did not encourage him to hope for agreeable conversation. As I commanded in the province, I had the pleasure to see him always make use of it in conversation with me; and it was a lesson which prepared me to sustain the petulant activity of the hearing-trumpet of my dear and illustrious associate and friend Mons. de la Condamine.1

"Monsieur Le Sage died in winter 1746-7. I considered it as an honour and duty to attend his funeral, with the principal officers under my command. His widow survived him but a short time; and a few years afterwards, the loss of the Abbé

1 Mons. de la Condamine, very deaf and very importunate, was the terror of the members of the Academie, from the vivacity with which he urged enquiries, which could only be satisfied by the inconvenient medium of his hearing-trumpet.