4: EXPLANATION. 



man is absent-minded ! but more may say : that en- 

 thusiast of good wine has absorbed too much what- 

 ever may be said I shall accept and I shall, I will 

 laugh myself of my witticism, but my laugh is of an 

 awful Hue shade and not at all " celestial ! " but the 

 reverse. I hope for my comfort that my confession 

 will be found sincere, in as much that I do not ask for 

 absolution, I shall inflict myself an adequate penance 

 if I live long enough. 



I shall alter my motto and substitute another better 

 appropriated, that will afterward legitimate any stupidi- 

 ties that come out of my head. Here it is : " Breotiim 

 in crasso jurares aere natum," English : You would 

 swear that he was born in the thick air of the 

 Boeotians, the people of the Greek province of 

 Boeotia were proverbially remarkable for their stu- 

 pidity. 



L. MENAND. 



