(avoir accès) except the three hundred persons who had received tickets of admission (carte d'entrée). I was therefore outside the room, and could only distinguish a few words; that was all. Here I am, Sir! after the report that is spread, you will require of me a strict account of my apparently culpable actions. Here is my excuse in a few words; it was the only means which I had of saving a friend. That is all that I can say to justify my conduct. I shall willingly submit to any punishment which you shall inflict upon me. It will, in any case, be a light thing to me in comparison with the sorrow of having offended you. Accession, avènement; la retraite; léger. Before a man writes (inf.) the history of his life, he ought to (il faut) make it worthy of being related; that is what so many authors of memoirs ought to take more to heart.-How many of those writings have not appeared (impers.) within twenty years? From (the moment of) their publication they met with (trouver) the reception which they deserved.-Toward the end of the year 1813, when France had to fight against nearly all Europe, and when its enemies were marching from all sides toward its frontier, it sincerely desired peace; the former feeling of the Emperor Alexander toward Napoleon, gave him hope that it would be possible to separate him from his allies, but all his endeavors were fruitless against the strong will of the Russian emperor, whose friendship for the allied monarchs, and particularly for the unhappy king of Prussia, could not be shaken.-Go this afternoon to Augustus, who is obliged to remain the whole day at home; or if you prefer it, go to our uncle, who is busy in the garden near the fountain; help him to water his flowers, which are almost all (some excepted) half withered (up) by the heat of the sun. You cannot remain with me, for you know that I spend all my afternoons with my invalid friend.The picture gallery of the Louvre is near the Tuileries. In southern France the climate is milder than in the north of Spain, although the average (moyen) temperature in Spain is higher than in France.--The journey to Bordeaux, which I have already made several times, has little charm for me; a journey to Marseilles or Italy would be much more to (de) my taste. It is not in Paris that you ought to stay if you wish for quiet.-It was known indeed that the conspirators had concealed themselves in Paris, but in the absence of a good police, and in the midst of the disorders in which the capital was then placed, it was not possible to seize (en) them.-For nearly three years they have been at work on the railway which will unite the two capitals; now we hope it will be finished in a year, and we shall have made a line of more than 100 leagues in length in less than four years.-Living in Paris is not nearly so dear as in England; a sojourn in London for three months has cost me above 3,000 francs, though I was not always in town, but spent a few weeks in the country with some friends. This tradesman is seldom at home; he is nearly always in town, or travelling on business.-One sees in St. Peter's at Rome the most magnificent paintings of the greatest masters of Italy.-You will not find my brother at home, he is at church as usual on Sunday. The minister went at 8 o'clock to the palace to congratulate the king on his birth-day (à l'occasion de l'anniversaire de sa naissance).-The thief had fled into the house and was taken only with difficulty. Thèmes sur les conjonctions. The emperor determined to return quickly into France, to accelerate the levy of new troops, when he saw at Smorgoni the miserable remains of his army.There are more critics than artists; as (comme) art is much more difficult than fault-finding (le blâme).— As soon as Columbus had discovered America, and the news had spread in Europe, the envious pretended that this part of the world had been known to the ancients in former times.-When one looks at (contemple) the Egyptian pyramids, when one recalls the immense labor they must have required, and when one considers that they are only empty tombs, one cannot suppress a painful feeling.-You remarked to me, wrote Voltaire to Lord Harvey, that Peter the Great has as much merit as Louis XIV., that he was the creator of a nation, that he civilized his people, protected the arts and sciences, and triumphed at last over all his enemies; you tell me, however, that his century is not called the century of the Czar Peter, and that I therefore should not call the previous century, that of Louis XIV., but you will yet admit that Peter formed himself on the model of other nations, and transplanted their arts into his empire, and you must confess that Louis instructed the nations, and became useful to them even by his faults. So says Voltaire, but it is very doubtful whether these reasons will be conclusive (convaincant) to other nations. Thèmes sur les conjonctions. Cæsar was general, orator, and author. He had extraordinary courage; and a gentleness (douceur), which is seldom combined with that quality, tempered its effects. Those who find fault with his ambition render full justice to his benevolence. He never allowed himself to be discouraged by obstacles, nor frightened by dangers. He neither feared nor esteemed his enemies sufficiently, and his self-confidence was perhaps one of the principal causes of his ruin, as he would neither punish his adversaries nor banish them from Rome. When Tacitus speaks of fame, he confesses that it is the passion of the wise, and if he had fully expressed his mind, he would certainly have told us, that it was his own (passion).-When we hear a man boasting that he despises glory and everywhere publishing his opinion, this is a good reason for not believing him. Even though he should repeat it a hundred times to me, I should doubt it only the more. To boast, se vanter. Men pass (away) like flowers which flourish (in) the morning, and fade (in) the evening.-Life is short; let us then endeavor to make good use of the present, for we should never count upon the future.-Can the moment of death ever seem far from us, seeing that we are not certain of to-morrow? We are mortal, and therefore death threatens us every hour.-As all my representations have been vain, and as you would not follow my advice, it is necessary for me take more I shall do so, because I unhappily see too distinctly that longer indulgence may have the most melancholy (funeste) consequences, and particularly because I should violate the most sacred duty, which I imposed upon myself when I received you into house. If then I have recourse to what is disagreeable to you, this is because I have no other means of bringing you back again to the right path. So be not astonished at (de) the change of my conduct toward you. It is you that have compelled me severe measures. my to it. By what I tell you, you will easily perceive that nothing but a sincere repentance and a firm resolution to reform yourself, can inspire me with other feelings. Thus I act, because I wish to fulfil my duty toward you in its whole extent. See how the flowers droop, and how the grass fades when the sun has scorched (dessécher) the earth during several weeks with his burning rays; but see also how vegetable life revives and displays its finest treasures, when a gentle rain refreshes the earth as well as the air. We cannot conceive how the whole earth should revive in so short a time.-How can men embitter the few days they have to spend on earth by (such) passions as hatred and envy? As christians, they violate the laws of their divine master; as intellectual beings, they act against the laws of reason.— It was only through war that Alexander's burning wish for (de) glory could be fulfilled.-If we could only in our youth possess somewhat of the experience which years bestow, at our own expense, we should not only think otherwise, but also act differently.-Only tell me openly the whole truth. You have only that means of repairing your offence. The most entire avowal can alone disarm the just anger of your father. -If men had only the conviction that vice gives nothing but imperfect and disturbed enjoyments, they would not buy them at the price of the remorse which is sure to follow them. If man had only a physical nature (corps) and instinct like animals, death could put an end (mettre fin) to his existence; but he has a soul which is conscious of a divine origin and cherishes the hope of one day living again. |
