"And now, friend," said Elliot, as the unreasonable dwarf indicated another stone larger than any they had moved, "Earnscliff may do as he likes; but be ye man or worse, the devil be in my fingers if I break my back with heaving those stones any longer like a barrow-man, without getting so much as thanks for my pains."

"Thanks!" exclaimed the dwarf, with a motion expressive of the utmost contempt,-"There-take them, and fatten upon them! Take them, and may they thrive with you as they have done with me-as they have done with every mortal worm that ever heard the word spoken by his fellow reptile! Hence, either labour or begone!"

PART THE THIRD.

ANECDOTES, EXTRACTS, ETC.,
FOR TRANSLATION.

Sagacious Replies.

THE Duke of Luxembourg, who had so often defeated King William the Third, was a man of ungracious figure, having a protuberance on his back. King William, enraged at the loss of a great battle, exclaimed, in the presence of his officers, when retreating, "What! shall that hunchback always beat us?" This expression being repeated to Luxembourg, "How is it possible," said he, smiling, "that King William should know that I am hump-backed? He never saw my back; but I have often seen his."

Α

young Prince being on a journey, and feeling himself cold, said to his preceptor, "Give me my mantle:" the gentleman answered, "My lord, great princes, when speaking of their persons, express themselves in the plural number; therefore you should have said, Give us our mantle." The prince remembered his lesson exactly, and one day said to him, "Our teeth ache." Mine, I am sure," replied his governor, with a smile, "do not ache in the least, my lord." The prince was much chagrined at this answer, and said to him, "I see that the mantle must be ours, but the toothache mine alone."

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وو

Louis XIV, while playing at backgammon, had, as he thought, a doubtful throw. A dispute arose, and all the surrounding courtiers remained silent. The Count de Grammont happened to come in at the instant. "Decide the matter,' said the king to him. "Sire," replied Grammont, "you are in the wrong." "How can you thus decide without knowing the question?" Because," said the Count, "had the matter been doubtful, all these gentlemen present would have given it in your Majesty's favour."

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Alexander the Great, being wounded in battle by an arrow, said to those who were about him: "Every one calls me immortal, and the son of Jupiter! What do you think of it? Does not this wound give the lie to all those flatterers? This blood that flows is of the same colour as that of my subjects, and reminds me that I am but a man.

Diogenes, being asked the bite of what beast was most dangerous, answered: "If you mean wild beast, 'tis the slanderer's; if tame ones, the flatterer's.

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Dean Swift.

A friend of Dean Swift one day sent him a turbot, as a present, by a servant who had frequently been on similar errands but who had never received the most trifling mark of the Dean's generosity. Having gained admission, he opened the door of the study, and abruptly putting down the fish, cried very rudely, "Master has sent you a turbot." Hey-day! young man," said the Dean, rising from his easy chair, "is that the way you deliver your message? Let me teach you better manners: sit down in my chair; we will change situations, and I will show you how to behave in future." The boy sat down, and the Dean, going to the door, came up to the table, with a respectful pace, and making a low bow, said, "Sir, my master presents his kind compliments, hopes you are well, and requests your acceptance of a small present.' "Does he," replied the boy; "return him my best thanks,—and there's half a crown for yourself." The Dean thus drawn into an act of generosity, laughed heartily, and gave the boy a crown for his wit.

The Duke of Lauzun and Louis XIV.

The Duke of Lauzun was the greatest favorite of Louis, although, from the impetuosity of his temper, he, at times fell under the severe displeasure of his royal master. He once broke his sword in the presence of the king, and exclaimed in the height of passion and disappointment, that he would no longer serve a prince who could not keep his promise. Louis, with great dignity approached the window, threw up the sash, and cast his cane, which he held in his hand, into the garden; then turning to Lauzun, he with great coolness said, "I should be sorry to strike a man of quality!" he then immediately retired, leaving the astonished nobleman in a state of despair.-It should be observed that the king's promise had been conditional, and that Lauzun forfeited it himself by his own imprudence.

Filial Love.

While Octavius was at Samos, after the famous battle of Actium, which made him master of the universe, he held a council to examine the prisoners who had been engaged in Antony's party. Among the rest there was brought before him an old man named Metellus, loaded with years and infirmities, disfigured by a long beard and a neglected head of hair, but especially by his clothes, which by his misfortunes had become very ragged. The son of this Metellus was one of the judges, and he had great difficulty in recognizing his father in the deplorable condition in which he saw him. At last, however, having recollected his features, instead of being ashamed to own him, he ran to embrace him, crying bitterly. Afterwards, turning towards the tribunal: "Cæsar," says he, "my father has been your enemy, and I your officer: he deserves to be punished, and I to be rewarded. The favour I desire of you is either to save him on my account, or to order me to be put to death in his stead." All the judges were touched with compassion at this affecting scene; Octavius himself relented, and granted to old Metellus his life and liberty.

The Duke of Guise.

The Huguenots had long sought the death of the Duke of Guise, who commanded the armies of the Catholics in France, in the time of the civil wars of that kingdom. At Bowen, he narrowly escaped being put to death by a soldier, who was apprehended and taken before the duke. When the soldier had confessed, the duke asked him, “what had influenced him to attempt his life?" "I had determined to kill you," said he, "that I might deliver my religion from one of its greatest enemies." "If your religion," replied the duke, "teaches you to assassinate me, who never injured you, mine, agreeably to the genius of the Gospel, commands me to pardon you. Go, and judge which of the two religions is the most perfect!"

The Duke de Berry, son of Louis XIV.

An old discharged officer, incumbered with a large family, one day met the young Duke de Berry (then twelve years of age) in the Orangerie of Versailles; as he was alone, and at a distance from the pages, who usually attended him, the old soldier presented a paper to him, in which he had briefly stated his long services, and the miserable situation in which he had been for a long time past.

"I have nothing about me at present," replied the young prince, affably and compassionately, "but contrive to meet me to-morrow at the hunt, and I will procure you some relief."

The poor soldier, as may be supposed, was very punctual at the rendezvous, and succeeded in placing himself near the young duke, who no sooner perceived him, than he retired a few paces, and, taking advantage of a moment when no one observed him, he drew from his pocket a purse which contained thirty louis, and slipped it into the soldier's hand.