138 PKOSB HALIEUTICS. 



all family affection in the ' anchovy ' that smothered the 

 fish! 



Ce Senfeque, Monsievir, etait excellent homme ; 

 Etait-il de Paris ? 



asks a valet of his master^ a ruined gambler, to whom he 

 has been reading Seneca's Moral Philosophy, by way of 

 consoling him for his losses. 



Non, 

 is lejoueur's reply, 



II etait de E^me ; 



which reminds us of our other ' excellent homme,' ci- 

 toyen Lacepede, who has also penned some virtuous re- 

 publican sentiments in the service of these same red 

 mullet. There are few things out of the ' Sentimental 

 Journey' more eminently sentimental than the following 

 passage, which we quote in the original Prench, for what 

 other language could do justice to it? — 'Avec quelle 

 magnificence la nature n'a-t-elle pas decor^ ce poisson ! 

 de quelles reflexions, de quels mouvements, de queUes 

 images, son histoire n'a-t-eUe pas enrichi la morale, 1' elo- 

 quence, et la poesie ! La beaute a ete I'origine de la 

 captivite de ces mulles : eUe a done ete pour eux, comme 

 pour taut d'autres etres, d'un inter^t bien plus vif, une 

 cause de contrainte, de gene, et de malheur ; mais elle 

 leur a ete bien plus fiineste encore, par un efiet bien 

 eloigne de ceux qu'eUe fait naitre ordinairement ; eUe 

 leur a condamne a toutes les angoisses d'une raort lon- 

 gue et douloureuse; elle a produit dans I'&me de leur 

 possesseurs ime cruaute d'autant plus revoltante qu'eUe 

 etait froide et vaine.' Lacepede then proceeds to speak 

 in detail of these fish orgies, in the same strain which 

 Seneca had done; and having finally exhibited to his 

 readers in a very graphic manner a martyr mullet, pass- 

 ing fi"om bright scarlet through every succeeding hue, 

 till the pallor of death steals on, continues quite as 



