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than we imagine.1 But the family are 2 to be here this evening, so you may as well dine where you are, and we shall have an opportunity of observing farther: in the meantime, I'll go and plot mischief, and you shall study sentiment.5 [Exeunt.

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BYRON TO THOS. MOORE.

[A familiar Letter.]

August 12, 1814.

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I was not alone, nor will be while I can help it.6 stead is not yet decided. Claughton is to make a grand effort by Saturday week to complete,—if not, he must give up twenty-five thousand pounds and the estate, with expenses, 10 &c. &c. If I resume the Abbacy,11 you shall have due notice, and a cell set apart for your reception," with a pious welcome. Rogers I have not seen, 13 but Larry and Jacky came out a few days ago.14 Of their effect I know nothing.15

1 Je crains bien qu'elle ne (page 37, note 14) l'aime plus (or, qu'elle n'ait engagé ses affections plus avant) que nous ne (page 30, note 11) l'imaginons.

2 See page 41, note 8; and observe that I am,' 'thou art,' &c., followed by another verb in the infinitive, in the sense which it has here, is rendered into French by the verb devoir.

3 vous ferez donc tout aussi bien de diner où vous êtes; or, dinez avec moi, puisque vous êtes tout porté.

de plus près; or, avec plus

d'attention.

5 je vais comploter de nouvelles malices, et vous repasserez votre rôle sentimental.

6 Je n'étais point (p. 71, note 5) seul, et je ne le serai pas (p. 15, note 2, and p. 31, note 1) tant que je pourrai faire autrement (or, et je ne le serai qu'autant que je ne pourrai-p. 48, note faire autrement). 'Newstead,' L'affaire de N7 See note 2.

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The student may translate here literally, or use the idiomatic and familiar expression donner un (grand, or bon, here-'grand,' in the text) coup de collier, which, however, always means, or implies, a new effort.

9 afin d'avoir terminé samedi i e., terminé le contrat-or, more exactly still, la passation du contrat-d'acquisition, 'completed the purchase').

10 sinon, il renonce à la propriété, et consent en outre à payer la somme de... &c., plus les frais.

11 Abbatial.

12 je vous en donnerai avis comme il convient; et je vous promets en même temps une cellule réservée pour vous.

13 As we have repeatedly seen before, this construction is not allowed in French.

14 came out,' ont paru; 'ago,' see page 17, note 16.

15 See above, note 13their effect;' l'effet qu'ils (or, que ces

4

If,

There is something very amusing in your being au Edinburgh Reviewer. You know, I suppose, that Thurlow is none of the placidest, and may possibly enact 2 some tragedy on being told that he is only a fool.3 now, Jeffrey were to be 5 slain on account of an article of yours, there would be a fine conclusion. For my part, as Mrs. Winifred Jenkins says, he has done the handsome thing by me,' particularly in his last number; so, he is the best of men 10 and the ablest of critics, and I won't

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écrits) auront produit (or, ont pu
produire). The future, or its
compound (auront produit, here) is
often used in French, instead of
the present indicative, or its com-
pound (ont produit), to imply a
conjecture, instead of setting forth
an affirmation, with regard to the
existence of a fact; in the same
way that the conditional (auraient
produit to take the same verb
as an example) is used, also,
for the indicative, to imply only
a conditional belief. See page 147,
note 12. This is one of the many
niceties of the French language
which are extremely difficult to
foreigners, and it is therefore well
worth dwelling upon once for all.
If we said here, qu'ils ont produit,
we might affirm, perhaps, more
than has actually taken place-
more, at least, than is positively
known or professed to be known.
Let us now choose an example
of the conditional SO used :-
"D'après les avis que nous
cevons de Trieste, des troubles
auraient eu (not ont eu) lieu," &c.;
-that is, . . . 'have taken place
('are said to have,' &c.), but this
fact to be credited only so far as
the intelligence (les avis) which
has been received is itself worth
belief. The latter kind of phrase
is very frequently to be found in
French newspapers, but is seldom

re

86

understood as it ought to be, except by natives. See the LA FONTAINE, page 128, note, and page 131, line 19.

I dans l'idée que vous êtes, vous, un des rédacteurs de la Revue d'Edimbourg. See page 21, note 1, and page 37, note 14.

2 et il pourrait bien exécuter (or, jouer). When we pass from affirmation to negation, and vice versa, a pronoun is necessary before the second verb, although the noun or pronoun which is the subject of both verbs has been expressed before the first.

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6 Translate as if the English were 'one of your articles.' The construction in the text is not French: thus we say, un de mes amis, a friend of mine;' some times, also, familiarly, un mien ami, or, cousin, &c. See the LA FONTAINE, page 52, note 2.

7 dénoûment (or, dénouement),masc.; or, catastrophe,-fem.; in this sense.

See page 3, note 3.

9 il en a bien usé (or, il a bien agi) avec moi. 10 See p. 72, n. 13.

* A critique on Lord Thurlow's poems had recently appeared in the Edinburgh Review.

have him killed1-though I dare say many wish he were, for being so good-humoured.2

Before I left 3 Hastings I got in a passion with an inkbottle, which I flung out of the window one night with a vengeance; 4-and what then? Why,5 next morning I was horrified by seeing that it had struck, and split upon, the petticoat of Euterpe's graven image in the garden, and grimed her as if it were on purpose.8 Only think of my distress,-and 10 the epigrams that might be engendered 11 on the Muse and her misadventure. 12

I had an adventure almost as ridiculous, at some private theatricals near Cambridge—though of a different description since I saw you last.13 I quarrelled with a man in the dark for asking me 14 who I was (insolently enough to be sure),15 and followed him into the green-room (a stable) 16 in a rage,17 amongst a set 18 of people I never saw before. 19 He turned out to be a low comedian,20 engaged to act with the amateurs, and to be a civil-spoken man enough,21 when

1 et je ne veux pas qu'on le tue; 'have one killed,' or, &c. is not a French construction.

2 contrairement, sans doute, à (or, au contraire, sans doute, de) bon nombre de gens, qui le voudraient bien (or, qui ne demanderaient pas mieux), vu l'excellence de son carac

tère (ironically). 3 See p. 7, n. 7. 4 je me mis un soir en colère contre une bouteille d'encre, que je jetat (or, lançai) violemment par la fe

nêtre.

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he found out that nothing very pleasant was to be got by rudeness. But you would have been amused with the 2 row, and the dialogue, and the dress-or rather the undress of the party, where I had introduced myself in a devil of a hurry, and the astonishment that ensued I had gone out of the theatre, for coolness,6 into the garden;-there I had tumbled over7 some dogs, and, coming away from them in very ill humour, encountered the man in a worse,10 which 11 produced all this confusion.

Well-and why don't you 'launch?' Now is your time.12 The people 13 are tolerably tired with me, and not very much enamoured with Wordsworth, who has just spawned a quarto 14 of metaphysical blank verse, 15 which is nevertheless only a part of a poem.

Let me hear from and of you and 16 my godson. If રી daughter, the name will do 18 quite as well.

17

homme au parler assez civil (or, poli-honnête).

1 du moment (or, dès) qu'il vit (or, s'aperçut) qu'il n'y avait pas grand' chose à gagner.

2 Mais vous eussiez (or, auriez) bien ri, et du.-eussiez; another form of the conditional of avoir, peculiar to that verb, as je fusse, &c., is to that of être. J'eusse, &c., is frequently used instead of j'aurais, &c. This form, which belongs exclusively to the two auxiliary verbs, is also elegantly made use of instead of the imperfect tense of the indicative, either with si ('if'), or in elliptical phrases wherein that conjunction is suppressed. See p. 24, note, and p. 29, note 11. may be added, that this form is only used together with a past participle, and never by itself, as a simple tense.

3 et de l'habillement-ou plutôt du déshabillé—. 4 compagnie.

5 ahuri en diable comme je l'étais. 6 pour prendre le frais; or, pour prendre l'air; or, pour respirer le

Ever, &c.19

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11 See page 8, note. We might very well, however, and more elegantly, translate here, which produced,' simply by d'où.

12 Ah çà, mais pourquoi ne vous lancez-vous donc pas ? C'est maintenant pour vous le bon moment.

13 Le public. See page 41, note8. 14 lequel (which is somewhat more pointed than qui) vient d'engendrer un (or, d'accoucher d'un) in-quarto. The verb frayer, which is the proper word for 'to spawn,' would not do here.

15 Plural, in French.

16 Ecrivez-moi pour me donner de vos nouvelles et de celles de. 17 See p. 29, n. 13. 18 ira. 19 Croyez-moi bien toujours, &c.

THE LAST MEETING1 OF WAVERLEY AND FERGUS MAC-IVOR.

"4

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AN officer now appeared, and intimated that the High Sheriff2 and his attendants waited before the gates of the castle, to claim the bodies of Fergus Mac-Ivor and Evan Maccombich: "I come," said Fergus. Accordingly, supporting Edward by the arm,5 and followed by Evan Dhu and the priest, he moved down the stairs of the tower, the soldiers bringing up the rear. The court was occupied by a squadron of dragoons and a battalion of infantry, drawn up in a hollow square. .9 Within their ranks was the sledge, or hurdle, on which the prisoners were to be drawn 10 to the place of execution, about a mile distant 11 from Carlisle. It was painted black 12 and drawn by13 a white horse. At one end of the vehicle sat 14 the executioner, a horrid-looking fellow, as beseerned his trade,15 with the broad axe in his hand ;16 at the other end, next

1 entrevue.

the logic of language, which is not

2 grand sherif,-to make this generally observed in English; and French as much as possible.

3 personnes.

4 J'y vais.

5 donnant le bras à Édouard. 6 il descendit.

7 Ipuis des soldats qui fermaient la marche. Construct So, in French :-... by the arm, he moved down &c., followed by and the soldiers,' &c.

....

8 Here it is necessary to repeat the preposition, if we wish to establish in our expressions that connexion which exists in our ideas: here, 'battalion' and 'drawn up' are more closely connected together than 'squadron' and 'battalion' are with each other. If, on the contrary, 'squadron' and 'battalion' were considered together, and 'drawn up' related to both (instead of to the last only, as here), the preposition should not be repeated. This is a common rule in

this, together with many other such neglects, accounts for the great obscurity which pervades the works of even the best English writers. See again page 8, note 1, and page 49, note 8.

9 formé en carré.

10 were to be;' see page 79, note 2.-'to draw,' here, conduire.

11 à environ un mille.
12 en noir.

13 attelé de.

14 vehicle,' voiture; see page 66, note 5.-'sat,' était assis. 15 homme hideux comme son emploi.

16 et tenant sa hache à la main (page 27, note 3). The closest connexion of ideas (as recommended at page 3, note 18) is not observed in the English construction of the above sentence; mend that construction in the French.

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