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of comprehending the full scope of his reasoning. From the dispassionate examination of such a 2 body of sages, he could not but anticipate3 the most triumphant verdict.

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The interesting conference took place at Salamanca, the great seat of learning 5 in Spain.7 It was held in the Dominican convent of St. Stephen, the most scientific college in the university, in which 10 Columbus was lodged and entertained,11 with great hospitality during the course of the examination. The board of conference 12 was composed 13 of professors of the university, together with 14 various dignitaries of the church and 15 learned friars. No tribunal could 16 bear 17 a front of more imposing wisdom;18 yet Columbus soon 19 discovered that ignorance and illiberality may 20 sometimes lurk under the very robes 21 of science. The greater part of 22 this learned junto, it would appear,23 came 24 prepossessed against him, as men in place and dignity 25 are apt to be 26 against poor applicants. There is always

1 Of comprehending the full scope, de saisir toute l'étendue-2 "a such"-3 he could not but anticipate, il ne pouvait qu'attendre4 took place, eut lieu-5 seat of learning, foyer de lumières-6 in, "of" the definite article must be used here-8 it was held, "it held itself"9 Stephen, Etienne-10 in which, "where"-11 entertained, traité-12 the board of conference, ce jury-13 was composed, se composait-14 together with, ainsi que de-15 and, et de-16 no ...could, aucun......n'aurait pu-17 bear, présenter-18 literally : an aspect more imposing of wisdom"-19 see note, p. 3-20 see note a, p. 2- the very robes, les robes mêmes-22 the greater part of, la majorité des membres de- it would appear, à ce qu'il paraît came, vinrent-25 men in place and dignity, des fonctionnaires et des dignitaires-26 to be, à l'être (i. e. "to be so").

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a After an adjective or an adverb in the superlative relative, the preposition in is changed in French into de.

"With a great hospitality." As hospitality is specified, that is, qualified by the adjective great, the indefinite article must be used in French, which otherwise would not be required. Thus we say, "avec plaisir," and "avec un sincère plaisir."

COLUMBUS BEFORE HIS JUDGES.

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a proneness to consider a man under examination 2 a kind of delinquent or 3 impostor, upon trial, who is to 5 be detected and exposed. Columbus, too, appeared 7 in a most unfavourable light before a scholastic bodyan obscure navigator,9 member of no 1o learned institution, destitute of all the trappings and circumstances 11 which sometimes give oracular authority to dulness,12 and depending upon 13 the mere force of natural genius.

The hall of the old convent presented a striking spectacle. A simple mariner standing forth 14 in the midst of an imposing array of clerical and collegiate sages;15 maintaining his theory with 16 natural eloquence, and, as it were,17 pleading the cause of the New World. We are told,18 that when he began to state 19 the grounds of his theory, the friars of St. Stephen alone paid attention to him.20 The others appeared 21 to have entrenched themselves behind one dogged position,22 namely, that after so many profound philosophers had occupied themselves in a geographical investigations, and 23 so many

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1 There is always a proneness to, on est toujours porté à

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2 under examination, soumis à un examen- 3 or of"- upon trial, mis en jugement-5 is to, doit-6 too, d'ailleurs-7 appeared, paraissait (.e. showed himself, see note a, p. 43)—8 in a most unfavourable light, sous le jour le plus défavorable- an obscure navigator, literally: "obscure navigator that he was 10 member of no, n'appartenant à aucune-11 of all the trappings and circumstances, de tout cet apparat et de tout cet entourage-12 which, etc. .....dulness, qui parfois donnent à la voix la moins intelligente l'autorité d'un oracle-13 depending upon, n'ayant d'autre appui que 14 standing forth, debout-15 an imposing, etc......sages, un imposant déploiement de doctes ecclésiastiques et universitaires-16" with a (see note b, p. 44)-17 as it were, en quelque sorte-18 we are told, on dit-19 to state, à établir-20 alone paid attention to him, furent les seuls qui l'écoutèrent-21 imperf.-22 to have entrenched themselves, etc......position, s'être retranchés obstinément derrière ce raisonnement- 23 and, et que.

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a S'étaient occupés de.-" S'occuper à quelque chose" is to spend one's time in a certain pursuit, reference being made to the fact of

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able navigators had been voyaging about the world1 for ages, it was a great presumption in an ordinary man to suppose that there remained such a vast discovery for him 6 to 7 make.

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When Columbus took his stand before this learned body, he had appeared the plain and simple navigator, somewhat daunted, perhaps, by the greatness of his task, and the august nature 10 of his auditory; but he had a degree of religious feeling,11 which gave him a confidence 12 in the execution of what he conceived his great errand,13 and he was of an ardent temperament, that became heated in action by 14 its own generous fires.15 All the objections drawn from ancient philosophers he met 16 boldly and upon equal terms,17 for he was deeply studied 18 on all points of 19 cosmography, and he disproved many 20 by his own experience, gathered in the course of his extensive 21 voyages, in which he had penetrated both the torrid and the frozen zone.22 Nor was he to be daunted 23 by the scriptural difficulties opposed 1 About the world, dans le monde entier-2 for ages, depuis des siècles-3 in, de la part de-4 to, que de-5 such a vast, a so vast" 6 that there remained.. ..for him, qu'il lui restât (mark the subjunctive mood)......—7 to, à— took his stand, était venu se placer- he had appeared, etc......daunted, on n'avait vu en lui que le simple navigateur, un peu intimidé-10 nature, caractère-11 literally: "but he was animated with (de) a fervent piety”—12 which gave him a confidence, qui lui inspirait de la confiance-13 what he conceived his great errand, ce qu'il considérait comme sa haute mission-14 that became heated in action by, qui, une fois en branle, s'échauffait de―15 fires, sing.—16 all......he met, à toutes......il répondit-17 upon equal terms, sur un pied d'égalité-18 studied, versé

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19 on all points of, dans toutes les questions de (or simply: dans) 20 many, un grand nombre de ces objections-21 extensive, lointains-22 both, etc......zone, les zônes torride et glaciale-23 nor was he to be daunted, il ne se laissa pas non plus effrayer (or: il n'était pas homme non plus à se laisser effrayer-see note a, p. 5).

being occupied somehow, rather than to the mode of occupation; whilst "s'occuper de quelque chose" is to attend to something, to bestow one's thought or care upon it, allusion in this case being made solely to the nature of the actual pursuit.

HOW RABELAIS GOT OUT OF TROUBLE.

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to him,1 for here 2 he was peculiarly at home.3 His contemporaries have spoken of his commanding person,5 his elevated demeanour,7 his air of authority, his kindling eye, and the persuasive intonations of his voice. How must they have given majesty and force 10 to his words," as,11 casting aside 12 his maps and charts, and discarding for a time 18 his practical and scientific lore, his visionary spirit took fire,14 and he met his doctrinal opponents upon their own ground, pouring forth15 those magnificent texts of Scripture, and those mysterious predictions of the prophets, which, in his enthusiastic 16 moments, he considered as types and annunciations 17 of the sublime discovery which he proposed!

WASHINGTON IRVING, "Life of Columbus."

HOW RABELAIS* GOT OUT OF TROUBLE.18

This celebrated wit 19

was once 20 at a great distance

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1 Opposed to him, qu'on lui opposa-2 see note, p. 13-3 at home, sur son terrain-4 have spoken, "speak' -5 commanding person, extérieur imposant-6" of his" (see note a, p. 37)-7 elevated demeanour, port distingués kindling, plein de feu-9 intonations, accents-10 literally: "what (quelle) majesty and what force those physical qualities (see note, p. 16) must have given" (use devoir in the preterit-see note ", p. 27)-11 as, lorsque -12 casting aside, laissant là-13 discarding for a time, mettant pour un moment de côté 14 his visionary spirit took fire, il s'abandonna aux ardents transports de son esprit visionnaire-15 and he met his......upon their own ground, pouring forth, et se plaçant sur le terrain même de ses..... ......il récita avec abondance-16 enthusiastic, d'enthousiasme -17 annunciations, précurseurs.

18 How R. got out of trouble, comment R. se tira d'embarras— 19 wit, bel-esprit-20 was once, se trouvait un jour (see note ", p. 33).

a Words, paroles.-Parole is the word of mouth, and refers to the actual utterance, whilst mot is, generally speaking, the written word. Again, parole may imply a whole speech, whilst mot generally means nothing more than a stated word.

* See Biographical notice No. 2 in the Appendix.

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from Paris, and without money to bear his expenses thither.1 The ingenious author, being thus sharp set,2 got together a convenient quantity of brick-dust, and having disposed of it into several papers," wrote a upon one, Poison for Monsieur;* upon a second, Poison for the Dauphin ;† and on a third, Poison for the King. Having made this provision for the royal family of France, he laid his papers so that the landlord,10 who was an inquisitive man and a good 11 subject, might get a sight of them.12 The plot 18 succeeded as he desired; the host gave immediate intelligence 14 to the secretary of state. The secretary presently sent down 15 a special messenger, who brought up

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1 To bear his expenses thither, pour payer les frais de son retour 2 being thus sharp set, ainsi serré de près-3 got together, ramassa 4 a convenient, "a certain"-5 having disposed of it, l'ayant distribuée-6 into, en- -7 papers, "small paper parcels"--8 one, l'unpapers, "parcels"-10 the landlord, le maître de l'hôtel-11 good, loyal-12 might get a sight of them, pût les apercevoir-13 plot, stratagème-14 the host gave immediate intelligence, l'aubergiste donna immédiatement avis de l'affaire-15 presently sent down, envoya aussitôt sur les lieux.

a "He wrote." As the two verbs, got and wrote, are far apart, and moreover a present participle, having disposed of, intervenes, the pronoun "il" must be added, as nominative case to the second verb.

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b As he desired, comme il le désirait (see note «, p. 17). The pronoun "le" (it) is often construed by way of a "complement" or accusative case, where none is expressed in English, with a verb preceded by "aussi......que," plus......que," comme," ," "ainsi que." Ex.: "It is not so far as I thought,' Ice n'est pas aussi loin que je le pensais." "More than you imagine," 'plus que vous ne vous l'imaginez." "As you say," comme vous le dites." It is not absolutely necessary, and we may say, que je pensais," comme vous dites," etc. But the sentence is more precise, more pointed, with "le," which stands here for "cela," and answers to the Latin illud.

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* Monsieur, thus absolutely used, was said of the eldest brother of the Kings of France, before the Revolution of 1830.

+ Dauphin was the title borne, under the old monarchy, by the eldest son of the Kings of France, since 1349, when Humbert II. gave up his principality of Viennois or Dauphiné to the crown.

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