The Nineteenth Century 115 



estabhsh, and from the operation of which my resolution shall exempt me. 

 No; I would not have paid obeisance to Gessler's hat or to Cahgula's horse; 

 no, I will not be baptized. What right have you to attack, on his ovra hearth, 

 a man whose every moment is devoted to the happiness of his fellows, who 

 dehghts their palates, who is ever bmning for their welfare with a fire 

 which ought to secure him from so unlooked-for an attack, from so gross an 

 insult? And thou, proud Chaumont, thou whom I see the most eager in 

 persecuting me, say, ingrate, canst thou, without blushing, join this coward 

 herd, and fall foul of him whom gratitude should teach thee to respect? 

 How often, in spite of the orders I had received (for who can boast of being 

 the first in the world), how often have I permitted thee to dip thy pitchy 

 fingers into the concavity of my stewpans! Unthankful vsretchl is this the 

 reward for my kindness — is this the recompense which thy gratitude re- 

 served for me? Alas! that virtue of great minds has not found a place in thy 

 obdinrate heart. Insensible to my favours, thou now burnest with impatience 

 to plimge me in an ignominious tub. In return, I wiU set thee an example 

 of generosity. Come thou — come all ye, who, like him, have shared my 

 boimty, though not so frequently — come, bind these imresisting arms: I 

 wiU neither fight nor defend myself. Let him among you, who has not par- 

 taken of my profusion, stand forth, and be the first to lay hands on one, 

 whom neither chains nor dungeons can dishonom!' He spake, and rehn- 

 quished his long spit, which quivered, till the rage of Mars and the weight 

 of the turkey had ceased to operate upon it. 



The assailants were thunderstruck: they looked at each other, cast down 

 their eyes, blushed, and slunk away. Thus did the great Germanicus of old, 

 by firm and generous language, overawe his mutinous troops; and thus did 

 the Grecian orator move at pleasure the hearts of the Athenians, when, timid 

 and pusillanimous, they were afraid to encounter Phihp, their conqueror 

 and implacable enemy. 



The crowd has dispersed, and order is restored. Lucifer has again become 

 a good devil; the monarch an active boatswain; the priest a jolly tar, who 

 is fond of good cheer; each of the actors has re-assumed his real character. 

 The atmosphere is covered with thick clouds; they are stimulating each 

 other to the performance of their duties, and counteracting, by their pru- 

 dence and activity, the violence of the winds. 



P. S. Lauri sacra fames! to what dost thou not expose feeble mortals! 

 Truth compels me to inform you, that inflated with such glorious success, 

 our illustrious cook, on our arrival at Rio Janeiro, felt his heart inflamed 

 anew with military ardour; and that in the plains of La Plata he is perhaps 

 now seeking nobler victims than those which he has hitherto immolated. 

 How often is it the case that a single moment makes a hero! 



(Jacques Arago. Narrative of a voyage round the world, in the Uranie 

 and Physicienne corvettes, commanded by Captain Freycinet, during 

 the years 1817, 1818, 1819, and 1820; on a scientific expedition under- 



