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less he gave up Dendermond, though he had already made a lodgment upon the counterscarp, and bent his whole thoughts towards the private distresses at the inn; and, except that he ordered the garden gate to be bolted up, by which1 he might be said to have turned the siege of Dendermond into a blockade, he left Dendermond to itself, to be relieved or not by the French King, as the French King thought good; and only considered how he himself should2 relieve the poor lieutenant and his son.

3

That kind Being, who is a friend to the friendless, shall recompense thee for this.

"Thou hast left this matter short," ,"4 said my uncle Toby to the corporal, as he was putting him to bed; "and I will tell thee in what, Trim: in the first place, when thou madest an offer of my services to Lefevre, as sickness and travelling are both expensive, and thou knowest 5 he was but a poor lieutenant, with a son to subsist as well as himself out of his pay, that thou didst not make an offer to him of my purse; because, had he stood in need, thou knowest, Trim, he had been as welcome to it as myself.' "Your honour knows," said the corporal," I had no orders."- 66 True," quoth my uncle Toby, "thou didst very right, Trim, as a soldier, but certainly very wrong as

a man.

"In the second place, for which, indeed,10 thou hast the same excuse," continued my uncle Toby, "when thou offeredst him whatever was in my house, thou shouldst have offered him my house too. A sick brother officer 11 should have the best quarters, Trim; and if we had him with us, we could tend and look to him. Thou art an excellent nurse 12 thyself, Trim; and what with thy care of

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him 1 and the old woman's, and his boy's, and mine together, we might recruit him again at once, and set him upon his legs.2

"In a fortnight or three weeks,"3 added my uncle Toby, smiling, "he might march." "He will never march, an please your honour, in this world," 4 said the corporal.—" He will march," said my uncle Toby, rising up from the side of the bed, with one shoe off. 5 "An please your honour," said the corporal," he will never march but to his grave."- -"He shall march," 6 cried my uncle Toby, marching his foot which had the shoe on, though without advancing an 8 inch," he shall march to his regiment."" He cannot stand it," said the corporal.—“ He shall be supported," said my uncle Toby.-" He'll drop at last," said the corporal, "and what will become of his boy?" "He shall not drop," said my uncle Toby, firmly."A-well-o'-day, do what we can for him," said Trim, maintaining his point, 12" the poor soul will die." 13" He shall not die, by G―d!" 14 cried my uncle Toby.

10 י

The accusing spirit 15 which flew up to heaven's chancery with the oath, blushed as he gave it in ;16 and the recording angel,17 as he wrote it down, dropped a tear upon the word, and blotted it out for ever. 18

My uncle Toby went to his bureau, put his purse into

this substantive is of both genders, but is more used in the feminine than in the masculine.

1 Simply, et avec tes soins.

2 le ravitailler tout de suite et le remettre sur pied (page 182, note 12). This word, ravitailler, means, properly, to revictual' (a besieged place, especially), and is here used, jocularly, as a military term, by the captain; just, as above, he spoke to Trim of advancement' in the next world.

3 See page 130, note 9. Here either preposition may be used, as both senses are equally suitable to

the case.

4 He will

in this world

turn, 'Never in (de) his life he,' &c.

5

sur le bord de son lit, avec un soulier de moins.

6 Si fait (fam.), il marchera.
7 du pied qu'il avait de chaussé.
8 d'un.

9 Turn, 'He will not have the strength of it.'

10 Turn, 'I tell thee that he shall not drop (simple future).'

11 Hélas! nous aurons beau faire.

12 son dire.

13 le pauvre homme n'en mourra pas moins (lit. 'none the less for that').

14 nom de D- (vulgar).

15 Ľ

ange accusateur.
16 en l'y déposant.
17 l'ange greffier.

18

pour jamais; this word, ja

his breeches pocket, and having ordered the corporal to go early in the morning for1 a physician, he went to bed2 and fell asleep.

The sun looked bright the morning after to every eye in the village but Lefevre's and his afflicted son's; the hand of death pressed heavy 3 upon his eye-lids, when my uncle Toby, who had rose up an hour before his wonted time, entered the lieutenant's room, and without preface or4 apology, sat himself down upon the chair by the bedside, and, independently of all 5 modes and customs, opened the curtain in the manner an old friend and brother officer would have done it, and asked him how he did, how he had rested in the night,7—what was his complaint, where was his pain, and what he could do to help him? and without giving him time to answer any one of the inquiries, went on and told him of the little plan which he had been concerting with the corporal the night before for him.

"You shall go home, directly, Lefevre," said my uncle Toby," to my house, and we'll send for 10 a doctor to see what's the matter,11 and we'll have an apothecary, and the corporal shall be your nurse; and I'll be your servant, Lefevre."

There was a frankness in my uncle Toby, not 12 the effect of familiarity, but the cause of it,13 which let you at once into his soul,14 and showed you the goodness of his nature; to this, there was something in his looks, and voice, and manner, superadded,15 which eternally beckoned to the

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'you shall come.'-' home,' chez moi.

10 To send for,' envoyer chercher, or, faire venir.

11 See page 122, note 12, and page 188, note 7.

12 which was not ;' and see page 14, note 5.

13 mais bien la cause.

14 et qui vous faisait voir tout d'abord le fond de son âme; or, et qui vous faisait tout d'un coup (page 148, note 2) pénétrer dans son âme. See page 6, note 5.

15 Begin, A cela se joignait ("To this was superadded '), &c.

unfortunate to come and take shelter under him; so that before my uncle Toby had half finished the kind offers he was making to the father, the son had insensibly pressed up close to his knees,1 and had taken hold of the breast of his coat, and was pulling it 2 towards him. The blood and spirits of Lefevre, which were waxing cold and slow3 within him, and were retreating to their last citadel, the heart, rallied back; the film forsook his eye 5 for a moment, he looked up wistfully in my uncle Toby's face, then cast a look upon his boy, and that ligament, fine as it was,7 was never broken.

Nature instantly ebbed again; the film returned to its place, the pulse fluttered, stopped, went on,10 throbbed: stopped again, moved, stopped: shall I go on ?11 No.(STERNE, Tristram Shandy.)

SCENE FROM "SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER."

[Young Marlow and his acquaintance, Hastings, are travelling together to visit Mr. Hardcastle, an old friend of Marlow's father, who expects them, but is personally unknown to both of them. Marlow is intended as a husband for Hardcastle's daughter. They lose their way after dusk, and are directed to Mr. H.'s house, where, on being told by a mischievous boy that it is the nearest inn, they at once make up their minds to pass the night, with the intention of continuing their journey on the next day. It is well known that Goldsmith once made this same blunder, of taking an old friend of his father for an innkeeper, under circumstances somewhat like those which he has here so cleverly portrayed.]

Hard. Gentlemen, once more you are heartily welcome. Which is Mr. Marlow? [MAR. advances.] Sir, you're heartily welcome. It's not my way, you see, to receive my friends

1 contre les genoux du vieillard. 2 l'avait saisi aux revers de l'habit, et l'attirait.

3 to wax cold,' se refroidir; 'to wax slow,' se ralentir.

4 See page 6, note 5; turn, 'rallied and retraced their steps.'

5 the film which covered his

eyes forsook them.'

6 he raised them wistfully (avec anxiété) on.'

7 et ce lien, tout faible qu'il était.
8 eut un nouveau reflux.
9 tressaillit.

10 se remit en marche.
11 Poursuivrai-je ?

with my back to the fire! I like to give them a hearty reception, in the old style,1 at my gate; I like to see their horses and trunks taken care of.

Mar. [Aside.] He has got our names from the servants already. [To HARD.] We approve your caution and hospitality, sir. [To HAST.] I have been thinking, George, of changing our travelling dresses in the morning; I am grown confoundedly ashamed of mine.

Hard. I beg, Mr. Marlow, you'll use no ceremony in

this house.

Hast. I fancy, Charles, you're right: the first blow is half the battle. We must, however, open the campaign. Hard. Mr. Marlow-Mr. Hastings-gentlemen- pray be under no restraint in this house.2 This is Libertyhail, gentlemen; you may do just as you please here.

Mar. Yet, George, if we open the campaign too fiercely at first, we may want ammunition before it is over. We must show our generalship by securing, if necessary, a

retreat.

Hard. Your talking of a retreat,4 Mr. Marlow, puts me in mind of the Duke of Marlborough, when he went to besiege Denain. He first summoned the garrison

Mar. Ay, and we'll summon your garrison, old boy.7 Hard. He first summoned the garrison, which might consist of about five thousand men

Hast. Marlow, what's o'clock?

8

Hard. I say, gentlemen, as I was telling you, he summoned the garrison, which might consist of about five thousand men

Mar. Five minutes to seven.9

Hard. Which might consist of about five thousand men, well appointed with stores, ammunition, and other

1 à l'antique.

2 je vous en prie, ne vous gênez pas.

3 C'est ici le palais de la Liberté.

4 Ce mot de retraite.

5 me rappelle.

7

mon vieux.

8 'I say,' &c.; simply, Comme je vous disais, messieurs.

9 Sept heures moins cinq minutes (or, simply, cing). The word minutes (from five upwards) is often understood, in French; but heures

6 nous aussi, nous, &c.; see page is never so, as 'o'clock' frequently

43, note 12,

is in English.

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