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A LADY CURED OF POLITICAL AMBITION.

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his great snuff-box, slowly swaying the snuff from side to side.1 Knowing this to be a sign that he was in some great dilemma,3 I asked of what 5 he was thinking.

"Of you," said he.

"And what of me?" 7

In his French accent he repeated those two provoking lines

"New wit, like wine, intoxicates the brain,
Too strong for feeble women to sustain."

"To my face?" I said, smiling, for I tried to command my temper.10

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"Better 11 than behind your back, as others do," said he.

"Behind my back! Impossible!"

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Perfectly possible, as I could prove 13 if you were strong enough to bear it.”

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Quite strong enough," I said,11 and bade him speak

"Suppose you were offered 16 the fairy ring that rendered 17 the possessor invisible, and enabled him to 18 hear everything that was said,19 and all that was thought 20 of him, would you throw it away or put it on your 21 finger ?"

1 From side to side, d'un côté à l'autre-2 this to be a sign, que c'était signe-3 he was in some great dilemma, il se trouvait fort embarrassé- I, je lui- of what, à quoi-6"I am thinking of you"-7 and what of me, à moi! et qu'est-ce que vous pensez ?8 for......to sustain, pour que...... puissent le supporter-9 I said, lui dis-je, en—10 to command my temper, de me contenir- better, cela vaut mieux-12 see note ", p. 17- prove it"-14" to him said I"-15 bade him speak on, je le priai de s'expliquer-16 suppose you were offered, si l'on vous offrait (or: supposé que l'on vous offrît)— 17 rendered, rend—18 enabled him to, le met à même de-19 everything that was said, tout ce qu'on dit-20 was thought, "they think”. 21 put it on your, vous la mettriez-vous au.

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"Put it on my finger," I replied; 2 "and this instant, for a true friend is better than a magic ring, I put it on.

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you

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"You are very brave; then shall hear the lines" I heard in a rival saloon, repeated by him who last wafted the censer to you to-night." He repeated a kind of doggrel pasquinade, beginning with 10———

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"Tell me, gentles," have you seen

The prating she, 12 the mock Corinne ?"

Dumont, who had 13 the courage, for my good, to inflict the blow, could not stay to see its effect; and this time I was left alone, not 14 with my nonsense, but with my reason. It 15 was quite 16 sufficient. I was 17 cured my only consolation in my disgrace was, 18 that

1 "I would put"-2 "replied I ”—3 this instant, à l'instant même is better, vaut mieux-5 I put it on, je me la mets (or: la voici) _6 then you shall, eh bien! vous allez (see note, p. 42)—7 see note a, p. 38-8 who last wafted the censer to you, qui vous a le dernier donné de l'encensoir au travers du visage-9" and he "10 with, ainsi-11 gentles, aimables gens-12 the prating she, la babillarde-13 "had had" (see note ", p. 6)-14 not, non plus (i. e., no longer ")-15 it, l'épreuve (see note b, p. 16)—16 quite, pleinement— 17 imperfect-18 18 preterit.

a Lines in prose, "lignes"-in poetry, "vers."

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b I heard in......repeated, j'ai entendu répéter dans......-Notice the change of the passive into the active voice, in conformity with the genius of the French language, as alluded to at note ", p. 50. The English past participle should always be thus rendered by the active infinitive, after entendre and voir, whether it be followed (as it is here) or not by the preposition by with a "complement."-Observe also that in the rendering of our text, the participle entendu is invariable.

• To see its effect, pour en voir l'effet, i. e., "to see the effect of it." The pronouns its and theirs, when referring to things, are thus rendered by the personal pronoun en (" of it," "of them"), and the definite article, and not by the possessive pronouns son, sa, ses, leur, leurs.-Except (1) in such a proposition as this: "the blow had its effect," wherein the possessor (blow) is the nominative case, and the possessed object (effect) is the accusative case of the same verb; or (2), when its or their is construed with a preposition, of, to, in, by, for, against, etc.

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CONSTANTINOPLE.

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I honourably kept Dumont's counsel. The friend who composed1 the lampoon from that day to this 2 never knew 3 that I had heard it; though I must own I often longed to tell him, when he was offering his incense again, that I wished he would reverse his practice,5 and let us have the satire in my presence, and keep the flattery for my absence.

MARIA EDGEWORTH.

CONSTANTINOPLE.

Much as I had heard of the beauties of the Asiatic as well as of the European banks of the Bosphorus,8 I must say that they very much exceeded any 10 description I had ever 11 read, or any panorama I had ever seen of them. The ever-changing character of the hills that rise on 12 each side; the magic variations of colour cast upon them by the travelling sun and by their own shadows; 13 the pendent groves and gardens; the castles and fortifications of the Middle Ages; 14 the old Moorish 15 architecture of the houses and palaces, which extend for 16 five or a six miles under the hills, beside 17 the

1 Pluperf.-2 to this, jusqu'à présent-3 "has never known "4 though I must own I often longed, j'avoue cependant que l'envie m'est souvent venue-5 I wished he would reverse his practice, j'aurais voulu qu'il renversât l'ordre de ses procédés-6 and let us have, et qu'il nous donnât.

7 Much as I had heard of, bien que l'on m'eût fort vanté_8" the beauties of the banks of the Bosphorus, as much (tant) on (de) the side of Asia as on the side of Europe" I must say, etc.......exceeded, "I have found that they exceeded assuredly by (de) much" 10 any, "all the"-" I had ever, que j'en avais jamais-12 on, de13 cast upon them, etc., "which the sun ("in its course may be left out) and their own shadows give them by turns (tour á tour)"14 the Middle Ages, le Moyen-Age-15 Moorish, no capital (see note ", p. 59)-16 for, sur un espace de-17 beside, "along."

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a Or between two numbers will be expressed literally by ou, when the noun which follows admits of no fraction, no interval be

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blue waters; the splendid new residences, built on either shore, by the present 2 Sultan or his ministers, with their light Oriental fronts, their latticed windows, their bronze doors, and snow-white marble steps; the towering 5 Turkish ships of war, anchored off the arsenal; the merchant brigs of all nations, sailing up or down the waves; the innumerable boats bent on business or pleasure, urged by the oar or wafted by the wind in every a direction; the costume of the Frank, mingling with 10 that of the Turk, the Albanian, the Greek, the Tartar, the wild mountaineer from 11 Caucasus, the slave from Circassia, the horse-dealer from Arabia, the silk and carpet merchant from Persia, the Dervish 12 from India, and the veiled form of woman wherever she appeared, spread out a picture of human life 13 and industry, and of natural grandeur before me,11 such as no other part of the world could disclose.15

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QUIN, "Steam Voyage down the Danube."

1 "On the two shores"-2 present, actuel-3 light Oriental fronts, façades orientales dégagées-4 and snow-white marble steps, et leurs gradins de marbre aussi blancs que la neige-5 towering, hauts— anchored off, à l'ancre près de-7 sailing up or down the waves, montant ou descendant le Détroit-8 bent on business or pleasure, en route aux affaires ou en train au plaisir-9 wafted, may be left out-10 mingling with, se mêlant à-11 "from the"-12 no capital -13 life, mouvement-14 spread out......before me, tout cela étalait devant moi......-15 such as......could disclose, tel que n'en pourrait montrer......

tween the exact numbers, as: 66 cinq ou six hommes," "cinq ou six fois." Otherwise, or should be expressed by à, as: "cinq à six mois," cinq à six francs."-For the same reason, we say: hommes," "10 à 12 fois."

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"40 à 50

a In every direction, dans toutes les directions. Every thus used in the absolute and general sense of all, should be translated by "" 'tout," or "toute" in the singular, and without any article, or by "tous les," or "toutes les"-and not by "chaque," which would imply each taken separately.

NATIONAL PREJUDICES.

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NATIONAL PREJUDICES.

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I respect knowledge; but I do not despise ignorance. They (the people1 of Rome) think only as their fathers thought, worship as they worshipped. They do no more; and, if ours had not burst their bondage, braving imprisonment and death, might not we, at this very moment, have been exhibiting,7 in our streets and our churches, the same processions, ceremonials, and mortifications?

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Nor should we require from those who are in an earlier stage of society what belongs to a later.10 They are only where we once were;11 and why hold them in derision? It is their business to cultivate the inferior arts before they think of the more refined; 12 and in many of the last, what are we as a 13 nation, when compared to 14 others that have passed away? Unfortunately, it is too much the practice of Governments to nurse and keep alive 15 in the governed their national prejudices. It withdraws 16 their attention from what is passing at home,17 and makes them 18 better 19 tools in the hands of ambition. Hence 20 next-door neighbours 21 are held up

1 People, gens-2 only, simplement-3 "as thought their fathers" (see note 4, p. 13)-4 worship as they worshipped, et leur culte est le même-5 no, rien de 6 burst their bondage, brisé leurs entraves-7 might not we, etc... ...exhibiting, ne pourrions-nous pas être en ce moment même en train d'exhiber-8 nor should we, nous ne devrions pas non plus (i. e., "and we should not either"-(see note ", p. 5)—9 who are in an earlier stage, qui se trouvent placés à une époque plus reculée-10 to a later, à une époque plus rapprochée- they are, etc.......were, ils en sont tout simplement où nous en étions autrefois-12 before they think of the more refined, avant de songer aux plus élevés-13 a, to be left out- 14 when compared to, en comparaison de-15 it is too much, etc...... alive, il arrive trop souvent aux gouvernements d'entretenir et d'aviver-16 it withdraws, cela détourne-17 what is passing at home, ce qui se passe chez eux-18 makes them, en fait-19 better, plus souples-20 hence, c'est ainsi que-21 next-door neighbours, nos plus proches voisins.

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