Très peu quand je me considère ; beaucoup quand je me compare. (Very little when I look at myself; much when I compare myself [with others]). Reply of the ABBÉ MAURY (17461817) to Regnault (or Regnaud) de SAINT-JEAN-D'ANGÉLY (1736-1820) when asked by the latter if he did not think a great deal of himself. Œuvres de A.-V. Arnault, Melanges, P. 431. Trois tronçons.

ments).

(Three frag

In a speech by EUGÈNE ROUHER (1814-84) in the Corps législatif, March 16, 1867, alluding to the alliance of Austria, Prussia and Germany. "Au lieu de cette "cohésion puissante qu'avaient "créée les traités de 1815, nous "n'avons plus en face de nous qu'une "confédération divisée en trois 64 tronçons." (Instead of this powerful coalition which the treaties of 1815 had created, we have now before us only a confederation divided into three fragments). Le Moniteur universel, March 17, 1867, p. 309. Tuez-les tous, car le Seigneur connaît ceux qui sont à lui. (Kill them all, for the Lord knows his own).

Attributed (but contested) to the legate ARNAULD AMALRIC (died 1225) or MILON, when asked by the Crusaders how they should distinguish heretics from the faithful ones, at the massacre of Béziers (1209). "Caedite eos, novit enim "Dominus qui sunt ejus." (Kill them, for the Lord knows who are his).-Pierre-Césaire d'Heisterbach. Dialogimiraculorum distinctio 5, ch. 21, p. 139 (edition B. Tissier). Bibliotheca Patrum Cistercensium, vol. 2. Another version. "Tuez

les tous; Dieu reconnaîtra les siens." (Kill them all; God will know his own).

Tu montreras ma tête au peuple ; elle en vaut la peine. (Thou wilt show my head to the people; it is worth the trouble).

Request made by DANTON (175994) on the scaffold to the executioner (April 5, 1794). Preceded by: "Oh, ma femme! oh, ma bien "aimée! oh! mes enfans! je ne

vous reverrai donc plus!" (Oh, my wife! oh, my beloved! oh, my children! I shall never see you more then!) Then, interrupting himself, he said, "Danton, point de faiblesse." (Danton, no weakness). Derniers momens, p. 202. See Allons, Danton &c. Tu trembles, Bailly ?-J'ai froid. (Thou tremblest, Bailly?-I am cold).

Question asked of JEAN SYLVAIN BAILLY (1736-93) by one of his executioners (Nov. 12, 1793) and his reply. See If I tremble with cold &c. L. A. Thiers, in his Hist. de la Révolution (vol. 5, p. 411, 1832) says: "Tu trembles, "lui dit un soldat. Mon ami,

répond le vieillard, c'est de froid." (Thou tremblest, said a soldier to him. My friend, replied the old man, it is with cold).

Un ancien Grec avait une lyre

admirable; il s'y rompit une corde; au lieu d'en remettre une de boyau, il en voulait une d'argent, et la lyre, avec sa corde d'argent, perdit son harmonie. (One of the ancient Greeks had an admirable lyre; he broke one of the strings; instead of replacing it with one of catgut he wanted a silver one, and the lyre, with its

silver string, lost its harmony). OLIVIER PATRU, (1604-81) in 1675, at the Academy, when a candidate presented himself, whose only title to consideration was his noble birth.

Un courtisan doit être sans humeur et sans honneur. (A courtier must be without temper and without honour). Definition by the Regent PHILIP OF ORLEANS (1674-1723). Une cour sans femme est un printemps sans roses. A court without a woman is a spring without roses).

Attributed to FRANCOIS Ier. (1494-1547).

Une idée par jour. (One idea per day).

Saying attributed to ÉMILE DE GIRARDIN (1806-81), and appearing as a heading in "la Presse" of Feb. 29, 1848.

Une révolution ne peut se faire géométriquement. (A recannot be made

volution

geometrically).

Saying of DANTON (1759-94). Une seule loi, une seule langue, une seule croyance. (One law, one language, one belief). Maxim of NICHOLAS I of Russia (1796-1855). See One country, one constitution &c.

Une tempête dans un verre d'eau.

(A storm in a glass of water). PAUL I of Russia (1754-1801)— with reference to the troubles in Geneva towards end of 18th century. Dutens, Dutensiana, 40. See A tempest in a tea-pot. Un je ne sais quoi, qui n'a plus

de nom dans aucune langue. (An "I don't know what," which has no name in any language).

JACQUES BOSSUET (1627-1704)— in his funeral sermon on HENRIETTE D'ANGLETERRE (1644-70), Aug. 21, 1670. The words: "Madame se meurt ! Madame est morte!" (q.v.) occur in the same sermon. Un jour vous regretterez de ne

pas mourir comme moi au champ des braves. (One day

you will regret not having died like me on the battle-field). Said to NAPOLEON (1769-1821) July 27, 1799, at the battle of Aboukir, by COLONEL FUGIÈRES, when dying.

Un mauvais quart d'heure.

See Je voudrois bien voir &c. Un prince est le premier serviteur et le premier magistrat de l'Etat. (A prince is the first servant and the first magistrate of the State).

Motto (written in French) of FREDERICK THE GREAT'S (171286) political testament. Mémoires de Brandebourg, p. 234 (1751). The expression also occurs several times in his works. Cf. "Ce n'est pas le souverain, c'est la loi, Sire, 'qui doit regner sur les peuples. "Vous n'en êtes que le ministre et le

premier dépositaire.' (It is notthe sovereign, but the law, sire, [Louis XV] which should govern nations. You are only its minister and first depository).—Massillon, Le Petit Carême, Sermon pour le jour de l'Incarnation. “[Rex] pro'bavit, non rempublicam suam esse, "sed se reipublicæ. ([The king] declared that he belongs to the state, not the state to him.)--Seneca, De Clementia I, 19.

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(A

Un roi de France peut mourir ; il n'est jamais malade. king of France may die; he is never ill).

Reply of LOUIS XVIII (17551824) to those who begged him to take care of himself. He insisted on performing the official functions of royalty to the last, although in a deplorable state of health. Hist. des deux Restaurations (1858) vol. 7, pp. 73-4. Another version gives the words as: "Un "roi de France meurt, mais il ne "doit pas être malade;" (A king of France dies, but he must not be

ill) and says that they were used to the COMTE D'ARTOIS (1757-1836), his brother (afterwards Charles X) Aug. 25, 1824. See Decet imperatorem stantem mori.

Un roi non lettré est un àne couronné. (An illiterate king is a crowned donkey).

Written by FOULQUES II (died 958), sovereign Count of Anjou, to LOUIS IV D'OUTRE-MER, king of the Franks. The latter one day surprised the Count occupied in musical composition, which provoked a smile. Foulques wrote: "Sachez, Seigneur, qu'un roi non lettré est un âne couronné. Cf. also Philippe de Comines (14451509) Mémoires, bk. 2, ch. 6. Cf. "Roy sanz lettre est comme asne couronné. (An unlettered king is like a donkey crowned).-Eustache Deschamps, Balades, mccxliv.

Cf.

Venez voir comment meurt un

maréchal de France sur le champ de bataille. (Come and see how a marshal of France dies on the battle field). MARSHAL NEY (1769-1815) at Waterloo, June 18, 1815. V. Hugo, Les Miserables: Cosette, bk. 1, ch. 12. Condemned to death and shot Dec. 7, same year. See I have sent for you that you may see &c. Also Come, my son, and see how &c.

Vive la nation! (Long live the nation!)

the Republic!)

(Long live

Reply made by JOSEPH BARRA, (1780 93) a child of thirteen, when told that his life would be spared if he would say Vive le roi! (Long live the King!) According to the report by Admiral J. F. Renaudin (1750-1809), then commanding the Vengeur, these words were uttered by the sailors as the vessel sank, June I, 1794, but cf. Carlyle's essay On the sinking of "The Vengeur." Renaudin was taken a prisoner to England.

Vivre libre ou mourir. (Live free or die).

Motto of Le Vieux Cordelier, a journal (1st No. appeared Dec. 5, 1793) edited by CAMILLE DESMOULINS (1762-94). Voici l'Empire. Empire).

(Here is the

COMTE DI CAVOUR (1810-61)—as soon as he heard of the French Revolution.-Sir M. E. Grant Duff, Notes from a diary, vol. I, p. 303. Authority of Charles Lever. Voilà bien du bruit pour une

omelette ! (What a noise about an omelette!)

Attributed to the poet DES BARREAUX (1602-73) when throwing an omelette out of window during a storm on a Good Friday. -Voltaire, Letter to M. Thiriot, Dec. 24th, 1758. The words "au

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(Braving the vain thunderbolts of the air, and speaking of God to us in des Barreaux' tone?) BoileauLa Satire des Femmes, 1. 79 from end. Another version: Violà "bien du bruit là-haut pour une "omelette" (What a noise up above about an omelette). -Tallement des Réaux, Historiettes, vol. 9, p. 37 (1840).

Voilà ce que c'est l'histoire !

(That's what history is !)

Exclamation of HENRI IV (15531610)-after the battle of Aumale (1592) in which he was wounded, on finding that no two of the generals agreed in their accounts of the engagement in which they had taken part. See Anything but history, for history must be false. Voilà donc le prix de ce que j'ai fait pour la liberté. (This then is the price of what I have done for liberty).

ANTOINE BARNAVE (1761-93)— on the scaffold, Nov. 18, 1793. Sometimes attributed, erroneously, to CAMILLE DESMOULINS (176294).

Voilà le premier chagrin qu'elle m'ait causé. (This is the first grief she has caused me). LOUIS XIV (1638-1715)—on the death of his wife, MARIE-THÉRÈSE (born 1638) July 30, 1683, but of doubtful authenticity. Another version is. "Le ciel me prive "d'une épouse qui ne m'a jamais "donné d'autre chagrin que celui de

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sa mort." (Heaven deprives me of a spouse who has never caused me any other grief than her death). Cf. the following lines by F.

Maynard (1582-1646) (Œuvres, p. 25):

"La morte que tu plains fut exempte de blâme,

"Et le triste accident qui termina ses jours,

"Est le seul déplaisir qu'elle a mis dans ton âme."

(The dead for whom you weep was blameless,

And the sad accident that ended her days,

Is the only chagrin that she has ever caused you).

Voilà le seul jour heureux de ma vie. (This is the only happy day of my life).

Dying words of MARIE-THÉRÈSE (1638-83) wife of LOUIS XIV. Voulez-vous donc qu'on vous

fasse des révolutions à l'eau rose. (Would you have revolutions made with rose-water, then ?)

SÉBASTIEN ROCH NICOLAS CHAMFORT (1741-94) to MARMONTEL (1723-99), the latter regretting the excesses of the French Revolution. - Marmontel, Mémoires.

Vous allez voir comment on meurt pour vingt-cinq francs par jour! (You shall see how one dies for 25 francs * a day !) Attributed (but contradicted) to J. B. V. BAUDIN (1811 51) just before being shot dead at a barricade, Dec. 3, 1851.

Vous avez bien fait, sire. (You have done well, sire).

Reply made by JEAN BART (16511702) to Louis XIV (1638-1715), on being appointed vice-admiral. Vous avez donc parole d'épouser

Dieu le père ? (You have been told then to marry God the father?)

The pay of members of the Corps Législatif.

Said to MME. DE MAINTENON (1635-1719) by her brother, the COMTE D'AUBIGNE, on the former wishing that she were dead.

Vons avez fait, monsieur, trois fautes d'orthographe. (You have made, sir, three mistakes in spelling)

Remark made Feb. 18, 1790, by the MARQUIS DE FAVRAS (1745-90) to the official who brought the order for his execution. (C. V. Hugo's Marion Delorme, act 5, sc. 7). See your warrant is written in fair characters &c.

Vous avez la plaie et moi la douleur. (You have the wound and I the pain).

Words used to ADMIRAL COLIGNY (1517-72) by CHARLES IX (155074), when visiting him after being informed of the wounds inflicted by his assailants (Aug. 22, 1572). Two days later the assassins effected their object, and the admiral's mutilated remains were hanged by the populace to the gibbet at Montfaucon. It is said that the king remarking that some courtiers stopped their noses owing to the odour, alluded to the mot of Vitellius* saying: "Je ne le bousche comme vous "6 'autres, car l'odeur de son ennemi 66 est très bonne." (I don't hold my nose like you, for the odour of one's enemy is very good.) Brantôme, Hommes illustres, &c., Bk. IV, Charles IX. On hearing of the crime Charles said that it was 'he himself who was wounded.' On seeing Coligny, he said, "Mon

66

père, vous avez la plaie et moi la "douleur ; mais je renie mon salut

66

que j'en ferai une vengeance si "horrible que jamais la mémoire "s'en perdra." (... but I'll forfeit my salvation if I do not wreak such a terrible revenge that the memory *See Optime olera occisum &c.

cœur.

of it will never die). One account (de Thou) gives "La blessure est pour vous, la douleur est pour moi." (The wound is yours, the pain is mine). Another (Le Laboureur): "Vous avez reçu le coup au bras, et moy je le ressens au (You have received the wound in the arm, and I feel it in my heart.) A third: "A vous la douleur de la blessure; à moi l'injure et l'outrage." (The pain of the wound is yours; mine the insult and the outrage.) Cf. "If you live to be an honest "and loyal servant of your Prince,

666

'my good youth,' answered the Frenchman, ". 'you will know there "is no perfume to match the scent "of a dead traitor." Sir W. Scott, Quentin Durward, ch. 3. Cf. also "Et sur le Carrousel, au monarque Bourbon

"Porté ces corps pourris qui sentent toujours bon."

("And at the Carrousel, to the Bourbon monarch

Carried those dead bodies which always smell good.)

-Barthélemy Douze Journées de la Révolution.

Vous avez quatre mots contre une idée. (You have four words against one idea) ANTOINE RIVAROL (1753-1801), to a stupid person who boasted of knowing four languages. "Je vous en félicite: vous avez,' &c. (I congratulate you: you have, &c.) Cf.

"He that is but able to express "No sense at all in several languages, "Will pass for learneder than he that's known

"To speak the strongest reason in his

own."