gress in the French language. I rather liked that
exercise he read us the other day, though I must confess I should hardly
dare to translate it, for fear some people in a remote city where I once
lived might think I was drawing their portraits.

----Yes, Paris is a famous place for societies. I don't know whether the
piece I mentioned from the French author was intended simply as Natural
History, or whether there was not a little malice in his description.
At any rate, when I gave my translation to B.F. to turn back again into
French, one reason was that I thought it would sound a little bald in
English, and some people might think it was meant to have some local
bearing or other,--which the author, of course, didn't mean, inasmuch as
he could not be acquainted with anything on this side the water.

[The above remarks were addressed to the schoolmistress, to whom I
handed the paper after looking it over. The divinity-student came
and read over her shoulder,--very curious, apparently, but his eyes
wandered, I thought. Seeing that her breathing was a little hurried and
high, or _thoracic_, as my friend, the Professor, calls it, I watched
her a little more closely.--It is none of my business.--After all, it
is the imponderables that move the world,--heat, electricity,
love.--_Habet_.]

This is the piece that Benjamin Franklin made into boarding-school
French, such as you see here; don't expect too much;--the mistakes give
a relish to it, I think.

LES SOCIETES POLYPHYSIOPHILOSOPHIQUES.

Ces Societes la sont une Institution pour suppleer aux besoins d'esprit
et de coeur de ces individus qui ont survecu a leurs emotions a l'egard
du beau sexe, et qui n'ont pas la distraction de l'habitude de boire.

Pour devenir membre d'une de ces Societes, on doit avoir le moins
de cheveux possible. S'il y en reste plusieurs qui resistent aux
depilatoires naturelles et autres, on doit avoir quelques connaissances,
n'importe dans quel genre. Des le moment qu'on ouvre la porte de la
Societe, on a un grand interet dans toutes les choses dont on ne sait
rien. Ainsi, un microscopiste demontre un nouveau _flexor_ du _tarse_
d'un _melolontha vulgaris_. Douze savans improvises, portans des
besicles, et qui ne connaissent rien des insectes, si ce n'est les
morsures du _culex_, se precipitent sur l'instrument, et voient--une
grande bulle d'air, dont ils s'emerveillent avec effusion. Ce qui est
un spectacle plein d'instruction--pour ceux qui