196 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR 



15. LETTER PROPOSING TO ENTER INTO BUSINESS 

 EELATIONS. 



New Orleans, Feb. IQth, 1882. 

 Messrs. A. J. Smith Bros. & Co., Havre. 



Gentlemen, Mr. A. Bieu, of your city, whom we were fortu- 

 nate enough to meet in New York, spoke in high terms of your 

 firm, and assured us that we could not entrust our affairs to 

 better hands than your own. We hasten, therefore, on Mr. 

 Rieu's recommendation, to ask you if it will suit you to receive 

 our consignments of tobacco and cotton, and take upon your- 

 selves equally the liquidation of our engagements to the value 

 of the goods so sent 



Should you accept our proposition, be good enough to send 

 us a pro-forma account sale, in order that we may have some 

 notion of the expenses and usages of your place. 

 We are, Gentlemen, 



Most obediently yours, 

 LEWIS FRISBY, MCHENRY & Co. 



La Nouvelle-Orleans, le 10 Fevrier, 1882. 

 Messieurs A. J. Smith Freres & C ie , au Havre. 



Messieurs, M. A. Eieu de votre ville, que nous avons eu 

 le plaisir de voir a New- York, en nous faisant 1'eloge de votre 

 loyaute en affaires, nous a assures que nous ne pouvions mieux 

 confier nos interets qu'a vous. Nous nous batons done, sur la 

 recommandation de M. Rieu, de vous demander s'il vous con- 

 viendrait de recevoir nos consignations de tabac et de coton, 

 et de vous charger egalement de 1'acquit d'engagements pour 

 line somme equivalente a la valeur de nos envois. 



Si vous acceptez notre proposition, veuillez bien, Messieurs, 

 nous remettre un compte de vente simuld, afin que nous puis- 

 eions nous rendre compte des frais et usages de votre place. 



Agreez, Messieurs, 

 1'assurance de notre parfaite consideration, 



LEWIS FRISBY, MCHENRY & C 1 * 



16. LETTER IN EEPLY TO THE ABOVE. 



Havre, March 20th, 1882. 

 Messrs. Lewis Frisby, McHenry & Co., New Orleans. 



Gentlemen, We have to acknowledge the receipt of your 

 favour of the 10th of February, and hasten to reply. 



We willingly accept your proposals, and shall be delighted to 

 see relations established between our two houses that may 

 prove mutually advantageous. You may rest assured we will do 

 all in our power to merit the good opinion Mr. Eieu has inspired 

 you with, and show ourselves worthy of the confidence reposed 

 :,in us. 



We hasten to satisfy your wishes by sending you enclosed a 

 pro-form^ account sale, that may serve you as a basis for future 

 operations. Our own terms are 2 per cent, commission and 

 2 per cent, delcredere. 



We shall be ready to make advances to the extent of two- 

 thirds of the invoice amount of goods consigned to us for 

 sale, on receipt of invoice, bills of lading, and orders for insu- 

 rance. 



It is unnecessary to observe that we shall send you accounts 

 -of the state of the market by all the boats leaving for New 

 Orleans. 



We remain, Gentlemen, 



Your very obedient servants, - 



A. J. SMITH BROS. & Co. 



Le Havre, le 20 Mars, 1882. 

 Messieurs Lewis Frisby, McHenry et C ie , 

 a la Nouvelle-Orleans. 



Messieurs, Nous accusons reception de votre honoree en 

 date du 10 Fevrier, et nous empressons d'y repondre. 



C'est avec le plus vif empressement que nous acceptons vos 

 propositions, et que ndus serons charmes de voir s'etablir entre 

 nos deux maisons des rapports suivis et reciproquement fruc- 

 tueux. Croyez bien qne nous ferons tout ce qui dependra de 

 nous pour repondre dignement a 1' opinion que M. Eieu vous 

 a inspiree, et a la confiance dont vous voulez nous honorer. 



Nous nous empressons de satisfaire a vos desirs en vous 

 remettant sous ce pli un compte de vente simuU, afin qu'il vous 

 puisse servir de base pour vos operations futures. Nos con- 

 ditions sont : 2 pour cent de commission et 2 pour cent de 

 ducroire. 



Nous sommes prets h faire dea avancea pour lea deux 



tiers du montant des consignations qui nous seront adressees 

 en recevant facture, connaissement et 1'ordre de faire 1' assu- 

 rance. 



Inutile de vous dire que nous profiterons de tous les navires 

 en partance pour la Nouvelle-Orleans pour vous tenir au couran'u 

 de 1'etat de notre marche. 



Agreez, Messieurs, 



1'assurance de notre estime, 



A. J. SMITH FRERES & C 11 . 



LESSONS ON ENGLISH LITERATURE. I V. 



CHAUCER AND HIS TIMES. 



GEOFFREY CHAUCER, the great poet of this period, the greatest 

 indeed whom England produced down to the age of Elizabeth, 

 was recognised as such during his life no less than after his death. 

 Naturally, therefore, from the notices of him in the writings of 

 his contemporaries, and from public documents, we know many 

 details of his later life, enough to enable us to form a very fair 

 picture of his circumstances and mode of living. But of hia 

 early life and the circumstances of his birth we can learn little. 

 As to his parents, nothing is known. We can only infer that 

 they must have been moderately wealthy, from the education 

 which their son's works show that he must have received. To 

 the place of his birth we have no clue. Even the date of it 

 cannot be ascertained with any certainty. Most writers state 

 that Chaucer was born in 1328, but there is no positive evidence 

 in favour of this date. Other accounts place his birth as late 

 as 1344, but also upon insufficient authority. Probably of the 

 two the earlier date is the more likely to be the true one or 

 near the true one. Nor is there any more certainty as to his 

 education. Some have said that he received his education at 

 Cambridge, on the authority of a passage in his early poem, the 

 " Court of Love," in which a visit to the court of Venus is 

 related by one who calls himself " Philogenet of Cambridge, 

 Clerk," by which title Chaucer is assumed correctly to describe 

 himself. Some have said that he was educated at Oxford, 

 but no evidence of this has come down to us. Others 

 again have declared that he was both at Oxford and at Cam- 

 bridge. It is commonly asserted, too, that he studied law as 

 a student in the Inner Temple. But this is very unlikely ; 

 for it is at least extremely doubtful whether the lawyers had 

 yet obtained possession of the Temple when Chaucer was a 

 young man. All that can be said with confidence about his 

 education is that every page of his works shows him to 

 have been a man not only of rare genius, but of high culture, 

 possessing an extensive acquaintance both with literature and 

 science. 



Chaucer, like almost all gentlemen of his day, spent some 

 time in military service. In 1359 he was serving in France 

 under Edward III., and was made prisoner. But he probably 

 returned to England the following year. He soon afterwards 

 married Philippa de Eoet, daughter of Sir Payne Eoet, a gentle- 

 man of Hainault, in the service of the Queen. Chaucer's wife 

 had been a maid of honour to the Queen, and afterwards entered 

 the service of Constance, the second wife of John of Gaunt, 

 Duke of Lancaster. Thus probably began Chaucer's connection 

 with the court, and particularly with John of Gaunt. But this 

 connection was no doubt strengthened by the fact that Chaucer's 

 wife was a sister of the notorious Katherine Swyneford, first 

 the mistress, and afterwards the wife of John of Gaunt. It is 

 certain that throughout nearly his whole career Chaucer attached 

 himself steadily to the party of the Duke of Lancaster, and 

 became his intimate friend and trusted adviser ; and his fortunes 

 rose and fell with the influence of his patron. In 1367 Chaucer 

 was appointed a valet of the Kind's Chamber, an office com- 

 monly held by young men of birth and position. Soon after- 

 wards we find him employed on a public mission to Italy ; and 

 during this visit there is some reason to think that he became 

 acquainted with Francis Petrarch, the great poet of Italy. In 

 1374 Chaucer was appointed Controller of the Customs for the 

 port of London. But, notwithstanding his holding this post, 

 he still continued to be employed abroad from time to time 

 upon various diplomatic missions, the precise nature of which 

 cannot for the most part now be determined. In 1386 he sat 

 in the House of Commons as a representative of the county of 

 Kent. But in the same year, the party hostile to John of 



