ches from Nature,' which
are not only very pleasant to read, but which it is quite evident are
exceedingly faithful. 'The condition of the people,' in short, 'occupies
more space than the condition of art, simply because the latter is well
known, while the former is almost wholly neglected.' Briefly, for 'brief
must we be,' the book affords what Mrs. RAMSBOTTOM would call 'a supreme
_cow-dyle_' (coup d'oeil) of 'Italy and the Italians,' and is presented in
a dress worthy of its internal merits.

EDITOR'S TABLE.

OUR old friend and correspondent 'HARRY FRANCO' cometh late, but he can
never arrive too late to be welcome. Let us hope only that he will not
object to being placed as it were 'below the salt,' instead of being
seated with his peers at the more conspicuous board of the 'regulars.' He
has deftly touched a fruitful theme, at which we have more than once
hinted in this department of the KNICKERBOCKER.

THE IMPUDENCE OF THE FRENCH.

KEEP your tempers, Messieurs; we shall not quarrel. There is a difference
between Impudence and Impertinence. The two words are often used
synonymously by the vulgar, but they are no more alike than any other two
words that begin with an I. 'When we behold an angel, not to fear is to be
IMPUDENT,' says DRYDEN: 'We should avoid the IMPERTINENCE of pedants,'
says SWIFT. These two great masters of the English tongue have well
defined the difference between the two words. There is always an air of
confident greatness about impudence that wins respect, and not
infrequently success. ALEXANDER was assuredly the most impudent man of his
time; so was CAESAR; so was LUTHER. Even now, when half the human race has
grown impudent, we cannot but wonder at the impudence of that obscure
monk. GALILEO, too, was a very impudent fellow until the well-bred 'Rev.
and dear Sirs' of his time taught him modesty. And CROMWELL! what an
Arch-Impudence was he! And NAPOLEON! he put Impudence itself to the blush.
And have there been no Impudences among us? It cannot be denied that our
Fourth-of-July-men made a very impudent declaration, to say the least of
it. But these were all individual instances. The French are impudent as a
nation. They have no sense of modesty. They insist that all the world
shall eat French, drink French, talk French, dance French, and dress
French. Did ever any traveller visit a city or town in any quarter of the
globe in which a Frenchman had not set up a restaurant? FANNY ELLS