Qui ne sait pas dissimuler ne sait pas régner; si mon chapeau savait mon secret je le brûlerais. (Who knows not how to dissimulate knows not how to reign; if my hat knew my secret, I would burn it).

Favourite saying of Louis XI (1423-83). Cf. Sir Walter Scott, Quentin Durward, ch. i. The

French proverb "Ta chemise Ne "sache ta guise," (Let not thy shirt know thy mind) is said to be founded on a mot attributed to the wise Captain Metellus, to Peter III, King of Arragon, and to Pope Martin IV: "Si ma chemise savait "mon dessein, je la brûlerais." (If my shirt knew my design, I would burn it.) See Qui nescit dissimulare &c.

Qui quitte la partie la perd. (Who leaves the game loses it).-Also a proverbial expression. Remark made by the ARCHBISHOP OF LYONS to the DUC DE GUISE (1550-88) when he seemed to have decided to leave Blois. He replied: "Mes affaires sont réduites "en tels termes que quand je "verrois la mort entrer par la "fenêtre, je ne sortirois point par la "porte pour la fuir." (My affairs are reduced to such a state that if I saw death enter by the window, I should not go out at the door to avoid it.)

Qui sait si je ne serai pas obligée

de donner du pain à tous ces rois. (Who knows whether I shall not be obliged to give bread to all these kings).

Saying of MME LAETITIA BONAPARTE (1750-1836) Napoleon's mother, alluding to the dignities conferred upon her children and sons-in-law and her own economy.

Qui t'a fait comte ?-Qui t'a fait roi? (Who made thee count? Who made thee king?) Adalbert, comte de Périgueux, who had usurped the titles of comte de Poitiers and de Tours, received a message from the king, Hugues Capet (d. 996) "Qui t'a fait comte?" to which he replied "Qui t'a fait roi ?” Ralliez-vous à mon panache blanc. (Rally to my white

crest).

Words used by HENRI IV (15531610) in his harangue to his troops before the battle of Ivry (Mar. 14, 1590). Wearing a plume of white feathers in his helmet, so as to be recognised by all, enemies as well as friends, he said: "Mes compagnons, Dieu est pour nous ! "Voici ses ennemis et les nôtres ! "Voici votre roi! A eux ! Si vous perdez vos cornettes, ralliez-vous "à mon panache blanc: vous le "trouverez au chemin de la victoire

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et de l'honneur!" (Companions, God is on our side! Here are his enemies and yours! Here is your king! Upon them! If you lose your standards rally to my white crest, you will find it in the path of victory and honɔur).

At one time the king was believed to be dead and the leaguers having seen an officer bearing, like the king, a white crest, fall, deemed the victory theirs. Suddenly Henri reappeared, covered with blood and dust, and cried out to his wavering troops: Tournez visage, afin que "si vous ne voulez combattre, pour "le moins vous me voyiez mourir." (Turn your faces, so that if you will not fight, you may at least see me die). See Ostez-vous de devant moi &c.

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Rendez-moi mon père et mes enfants, et vous me guérirez.

(Give me back my father and my children [6] and you shall cure me).

MARIE-LECZINSKA (1703-68) wife of Louis XV (1710-74) when dying, -to the doctors who sought a remedy for her ills.

Revanche pour Speierbach. (Re

venge for Speierbach.)

The Germans were defeated at the battle of Speierbach, Nov. 14, 1703; but they were victorious at Hochstedt (Blenheim), Aug. 13, 1704.

When MARSHAL TALLARD (16521728), a prisoner at the latter battle, was taken before the Erbprinzen von Hessen, he said :"Ah, monsieur le maréchal, vous "êtes très bien venu, voilà de là "revanche pour Speierbach." (Ah, monsieur le maréchal, you are very welcome, there is some revenge for Speierbach.)

Rien ne manque à sa gloire, il manquait a la nôtre. (Nothing is wanting to his glory, he was wanting to ours.)

Inscription on a statue of MOLIÈre (1622-73) at the French Academy (1773) and suggested by B.-J. SAURIN (1706-81). Cf.

"Intrépide, et partout suivi de la victoire,

Charmant, fidèle; enfin rien ne manque à sa gloire." (Intrepid, and everywhere followed by victory,

Charming, faithful; in short nothing is wanting to his glory). Andromaque, act 3, sc. 3, 11. 21-2. - Racine.

--

Racine's line probably suggested part of the inscription. Rien ne prépare mieux à la

diplomatie que l'étude de la théologie. (There is no better preparation for diplomacy than the study of theology). Saying of TALLEYRAND (17541838).

Rien n'est plus adroit qu'une conduite irréprochable. (Nothing is more adroit than irreproach able conduct.)

Maxim of MADAME DE MAINTENON (1635-1719).

Rien! rien ! rien ! (Nothing

nothing nothing!)

Words used by M. DESMOUSSEAUX DE GIVRE, deputy for Eureet-Loir, April 27, 1847, in the French Chamber, alluding to the Conservative policy of L.-A. Thiers. Saint-Arnaud de café-concert. (Saint-Arnaud of the musichalls).

Words by which JULES FERRY GENERAL (1832-93) alluded to BOULANGER (1837-91) in a speech at Epinal, July 24, 1887. -Le Matin, July 26, 1887.

Note. St. Arnaud was a famous French general (1798-1854).

Sans peur et sans reproche.

See Le chevalier sans peur &c.

Santé, donc elle peut; gaieté, donc elle veut. (Health, then she can; gaiety, then she wishes to).

Remark made by D'ORLÉANS DE LA MOTHE, (1683-1774), bishop of Amiens, three years before his death, to a young woman who had just taken the vows.

Seigneur, je vous

demande pardon, je ne l'avais pas fait pour vous. (Lord, forgive me, I did not do it for you). G.-B. LULLI (1633-87) on hearing sung at a mass an air that he had composed for the opera.

Se soumettre ou se démettre.

(Submit or demit [resign].) Journal des Débats, Aug. 18, 1877.

Phrase used by LEON GAMBETTA (1838-82) at a banquet at Lille, Aug. 15, 1877, alluding to the government of Marshal MacMahon.

near as

Se tenir le plus près possible du roi. (To keep as possible to the king.) Advice given to the MARECHAL DE VILLARS (1653-1734) by his mother.

Si ce n'est pas là Dieu, c'est du moins son cousin germain. (If that is not God, it is at least his cousin german).— Carlyle, The French Revolu tion, 1837, vol. 2.

Last words of MIRABEAU (174991)-referring to the sun. He afterwards wrote a request for opium, and on the doctor shaking his head wrote Dormir!" (to sleep), pointing to the word. Carlyle refers to

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Fils adoptif, viii, 450. Journal de la maladie et de la mort de Mirabeau, by P. J. G. Cabanis, 1803."

Si ces messieurs qui causent ne

faisoient pas plus de bruit que ces messieurs qui dorment, cela accommoderoit fort ces messieurs qui écoutent. (If those gentlemen who are talking made no more noise than those who are asleep, it would be a great convenience to those gentlemen who are listening.)

Rebuke by ACHILLE DE HARLAY, (1639-1712) comte de Beaumont (great nephew of the grand Harlay), chief president of the Paris Parliament, to those councillors who were sleeping and those who were talking. Si c'est possible, c'est fait; si

c'est impossible, cela se fera. (If it is possible, it is done; if it is impossible, it shall be done). C.-A. DE CALONNE (1734-1802) to MARIE ANTOINETTE (1755-93) on being asked to obtain a large sum of money for her. The exact words, however, were: "Madame, "si cela n'est que difficile, c'est fait ; "si cela est impossible, nous ver

"rons." (Madame, if that is only difficult, it is done; if that is impossible, we will see).

Si cette canaille n'a pas de pain, elle mangera du foin (or qu'elle mange du foin). (If the rascals have no bread they will eat hay [or let them eat hay]).

Saying attributed to J.-F. FOULON (1715-89)—alluding to the people during the famine. See Si le peuple n'a pas de pain &c.

Si, dans le siècle dernier, on eût fait enfermer Luther and Calvin, on aurait épargné bien des troubles et bien du sang à l'Europe. (If, in the last century, Luther and Calvin had been imprisoned, Europe

would have been spared many troubles and much bloodshed). Answer made by CARDINAL RICHELIEU (1585-1642) to the DUCHESSE D'AIGIULLON (died 1675) and others who interceded for the abbé de Saint-Cyran, arrested in 1638 as a Jansenist.

Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer. (If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.)-Voltaire, A l'auteur du livre des Trois Imposteurs, 1. 22.

Phrase quoted in a speech by ROBESPIERRE (1758-94) Nov. 21, 1793.-Le Moniteur universel, Nov. 26, 1793, p. 508. Mentioned by Carlyle in his essay "Voltaire" (Critical and Miscellaneous Essays, vol. 2, p. 146, 1888 ed.) Si j'avais connu un plus homme de bien et un plus digne sujet, je l'aurais choisi. (If I had known a better, man and a worthier subject, I should have chosen him). LOUIS XIV (1638-1715) GUILLAUME DE LAMOIGNON (161777) on his being selected to replace

to

Bellièvre as chief president of the Paris parliament (1658).

Si j'avance, suivez-moi; si je recule, tuez-moi ; si je meurs, vengez-moi. If I advance, follow me; if I retreat, kill me ; if I die, avenge me).

COUNT HENRI DE LA ROCHEJAQUELEIN (1772-94) to the men who had placed themselves under his orders during the insurrection of La Vendée (1793). See Tibi istum ad munimentum &c.

Si j'avois fait pour Dieu ce que

j'ai fait pour cet homme-là, je serois sauvé dix fois, et maintenant je ne sais ce que je vais devenir. (If I had done for God what I have done for that man, I should be saved ten times over, and now I don't

know what will become of me.) J. B. COLBERT (1619-83) on his death-bed-referring to LOUIS XIV (1638-1715). "Je ne veux plus "entendre parler du roi; qu'au "moins il me laisse mourir tran

quille. C'est au roi des rois que "j'ai maintenant à répondre. "Si j'avois fait pour Dieu ce que "j'ai fait pour cet-homme-là, je "serois sauvé dix fois, et maintenant "je ne sais ce que je vais devenir." (I don't want to hear the king spoken of; let him at least leave me to die in peace. It is to the king of kings that I now have to answer. . . . If I had done &c.)-Racine, Œuvres diverses. See Had I served God &c.

Si je me courbais, c'est que je

cherchais les clefs du paradis. (If I stooped, it was because I was looking for the keys of Paradise.)

Attributed (but denied) to Pore SIXTUS QUINT (1521-90) - who is said to have thrown away his crutches on being elevated to the

papacy-speaking to the CARDINAL DE MEDICIS (1551-1609). — Cf. Gregorio Leti, also V. Ranke, Hist. of the Popes, Bk. 4, sec. 4. The crutches of Sixtus-Quint are often spoken of in connection with the idea of all further disguise being thrown aside when an object is attained.

Si je n'y suis pas, Dieu veuille m'y mettre; et si j'y suis, Dieu veuille m'y retenir. (If I am not, may God make me so; and if I am, may God keep me so.)

Reply of JOAN OF ARC (1412-31) at her trial, to the question "Savezvous être en la grace de Dieu ?” (Are you in God's grace?) Another version: "Si je n'y suis, Dieu m'y "mette! et si j'y suis, Dieu m'y "maintienne!" (If I am not, God make me so! and if I am, God keep me so.)

Si j'étais accusé d'avoir volé les

tours de Notre-Dame, je commencerais par me cacher. (If I were accused of having stolen the towers of NotreDame, I should begin by hiding myself.)

ACHILLE DE HARLAY, comte de Beaumont (1639-1712)—to show what little protection there was for an accused person. Another version: "Si j'étais accusé d'avoir "volé les tours de Notre-Dame, et

que j'entendisse crier derrière moi "au voleur' je me sauverais à "toutes jambes." (... and I heard "stop thief" called out after me, I should run away as fast as I could.) Si je tenais toutes les vérités dans

ma main, je me donnerais bien de garde de l'ouvrir pour les découvrir aux hommes. (If I held all the truths in my hand, I should take good care not to open it to discover them to mankind.)

FONTENELLE (1657-1757)-not because he disdained truth, but because he did not like his peace disturbed. Alluded to by Grimm, Correspondance littéraire, Feb. 15, 1757. Another version : "Si j'avais la main remplie de vérités, je me garderais bien de l'ouvrir." (If I had my hand full of truths, I should take care not to open it.) Voltaire (édition Garnier, vol. xlii, p. 570) in his letter to Helvetius, Sep. 15, 1763, explains the reason of Fontenelle's mot as being that he had let truths escape him and been made to suffer for it.

Si l'abbé nous avait parlé un peu de religion, il nous aurait parlé de tout. LOUIS XVI (1754 93) — after hearing a sermon by the ABBE MAURY (1746-1817). Grimm's

Mémoires.

Si la bonne foi était bannie du reste de la terre, elle devrait se retrouver dans le cœur et dans la bouche des rois. (If good faith was banished from the rest of the earth, it ought still to remain in the hearts and mouths of kings.)

Attributed to JEAN II, surnamed le Bon (1319-64)—on the occasion of the return of his son, the Duke of Anjou, to France, having escaped from Calais (1363) without waiting for the ratification of a treaty (1362). Authenticity doubtful, and Froissart makes no mention of the phrase in connection with the event. (Cf. Froissart, bk. I, pt. 2, ch. 159.) A similar saying is attributed, perhaps justly, to FRANÇOIS Ier (14941547)- Recueil d'apophthegmes et bons mots, 1695, pp. 83-4. Si l'argent est, comme on dit, le nerf de la guerre, il est aussi la graisse de la paix. (If money is, as they say, the

Sans

guerre; mon enfant, cela n'appar"tient qu'à vous," &c. (... but to undertake considerable expense, without knowing where to find the sinews of war; my child, that only belongs to you, &c.)— Mme. de Sévigné, Lettres, Feb. 19, 1690. (1836 edit., vol. 2, p. 582.) "Les nerfs des batailles sont les pécunes." (The sinews of war is money.) Rabelais, Gargantua, bk, I, ch. 46. Victuals and ammunition, "and money too, the sinews of "the war, are stored up in the magazine."-Fletcher, The Fair Maid of the Inn, Act 1, sc. 2. (Licensed 1625-6, after the death of Fletcher). "I would wish that everything I touched might turne to gold: this is the sinews of war, and the sweetnesse of peace. -John Lyly, Midas, act I, sc. I. Moneys are the sinews of war ;"-T. Fuller. The Holy State (The Good Soldier), 1642-58. "Neither is money the sinews of war, (as it is trivially said,) where the sinews of men's in base and effeminate people are failing.". Bacon's Essays, On the true greatness of kingdoms and estates (1813, p. 131). "Primum nervos belli, pecuniam "infinitam, qua nunc eget." (In the first place the sinews of war, unlimited money, which is wanting.)-Cicero, Phil. v, ch. 2. "Pecuniæ belli civilis nervi sunt. (Money is the sinews of civil war.) -Tacitus, Hist., bk. ii, ch. xxiv. “Ἐν μὲν εἰρήνῃ παρέχῳ τὰ τέρπνα, ἐν δὲ πολέμοις νεῦρα τῶν πράξεων

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now