THROUGH FRANCE AND ITALY

145

an honour, the other was only doing him a charity; —and he made me a bow down to the ground for it.

....Here! said I to an old soldier with one hand, who had been campaigned and worn out to death in the service, here's a couple of sous for thee.-Vive le Roi! said the old soldier.

I had then but three sous left: so I gave one, simply pour l'amour de Dieu, which was the footing on which it was begged..... The poor woman had a dislocated hip; so it could not be well upon any other motive.

Mon cher et tres-charitable Monsieur..... There's no opposing this, said I.

My Lord Anglois !—the very sound was worth the money-so I gave my last sous for it. But, in the eagerness of giving, I had overlooked a pauvre honteux, who had no one to ask a sous for him, and who, I believe, would have perished ere he could have asked one for himself; he stood by the chaise, a little without the circle, and wiped a tear from a face which I thought had seen better days.

-Good God! said I, and I have not one single sous left to give him..... But you have a thousand! cried all the powers of nature, stirring within me ;-so I gave him no matter what,-I am ashamed to say how much now, and was ashamed to think how little

then; so if the reader can form any conjecture of my

disposition, as these two fixed points are given him, he may judge within a livre or two what was the precise

sum.

I could afford nothing for the rest, but Dieu vous benisse. Et le bon Dieu vous benisse encore, said the old soldier, the dwarf, etc. The pauvre honteux could say nothing, he pulled out a little handkerchief, and wiped his face as he turned away;—and I thought he thanked me more than them all.

THE BIDET

HAVING Settled all these little matters, I got into my post-chaise with more ease than ever I got into a post-chaise in my life; and La Fleur having got one large jack-boot on the far side of a little bidet,* and another on this (for I count nothing of his legs), he cantered away before me as happy and as perpendicular as a prince.

-But what is happiness! what is grandeur, in this painted scene of life! A dead ass, before we had got a league, put a sudden stop to La Fleur's career; -his bidet would not pass by it,- a contention arose betwixt them, and the poor fellow was kicked out of his jack-boots the very first kick.

La Fleur bore his fall like a French Christian saying neither more nor less upon it than Diable ! so presently got up and came to the charge again astride his bidet, beating him up to it as he would Ihave beat his drum.

The bidet flew from one side of the road to the

* Post-horse.