ion of
political morality and universal benevolence--_bienfaisance_ and
_gloriole_. He invented _gloriole_ as a contemptuous diminutive of
_glorie_; to describe that vanity of some egotists, so proud of the
small talents which they may have received from nature or from accident.
_Bienfaisance_ first appeared in this sentence: "L'Esprit de la vraie
religion et le principal but de l'evangile c'est _la bienfaisance_,
c'est-a-dire la pratique de la charite envers le prochain." This word
was so new, that in the moment of its creation this good man explained
its necessity and origin. Complaining that "the word 'charity' is abused
by all sorts of Christians in the persecution of their enemies, and even
heretics affirm that they are practising Christian charity in
persecuting other heretics, I have sought for a term which might convey
to us a precise idea of doing good to our neighbours, and I can form
none more proper to make myself understood than the term of
_bienfaisance_, good-doing. Let those who like, use it; I would only be
understood, and it is not equivocal." The happy word was at first
criticised, but at length every kind heart found it responded to its own
feeling. Some verses from Voltaire, alluding to the political reveries
of the good abbe, notice the critical opposition; yet the new word
answered to the great rule of Horace.

Certain legislateur, dont la plume feconde
Fit tant de vains projets pour le bien du monde,
Et qui depuis trente ans ecrit pour des ingrats,
Vient de creer un mot qui manque a Vaugelas:
Ce mot est BIENFAISANCE; il me plait, il rassemble
Si le coeur en est cru, bien des vertus ensemble.
Petits grammairiens, grands precepteurs de sots,
Qui pesez la parole et mesurez les mots,
Pareille expression vous semble hazardee,
Mais l'univers entier doit en cherir l'idee!

The French revolutionists, in their rage for innovation, almost
barbarised the pure French of the Augustan age of their literature, as
they did many things which never before occurred; and sometimes
experienced feelings as transitory as they were strange. Their
nomenclature was copious; but the revolutionary jargon often shows the
danger and the necessity of neologisms. They form an appendix to the
Academy Dictionary. Our plain English has served to enrich this odd
mixture of philology and politics: _Club_, _clubiste_, _comite_, _jure_,
_juge de paix_, blend with their _terrorisme_, _lanterner_, a verb
active,