of Versailles are much finer."

"Yes, sire, but that is chiefly on account of the fountains."

"True, but it is not my fault; there is no water here. I have spent more
than three hundred thousand crowns to get water, but unsuccessfully."

"Three hundred thousand crowns, sire! If your majesty had spent them all
at once, the fountains should be here."

"Oh, oh! I see you are acquainted with hydraulics."

I could not say that he was mistaken, for fear of offending him, so I
simply bent my head, which might mean either yes or no. Thank God the
king did not trouble to test my knowledge of the science of hydraulics,
with which I was totally unacquainted.

He kept on the move all the time, and as he turned his head from one side
to the other hurriedly asked me what forces Venice could put into the
field in war time.

"Twenty men-of-war, sire, and a number of galleys."

"What are the land forces?"

"Seventy thousand men, sire; all of whom are subjects of the Republic,
and assessing each village at one man."

"That is not true; no doubt you wish to amuse me by telling me these
fables. Give me your opinions on taxation."

This was the first conversation I had ever had with a monarch. I made a
rapid review of the situation, and found myself much in the same position
as an actor of the improvised comedy of the Italians, who is greeted by
the hisses of the gods if he stops short a moment. I therefore replied
with all the airs of a doctor of finance that I could say something about
the theory of taxation.

"That's what I want," he replied, "for the practice is no business of
yours."

"There are three kinds of taxes, considered as to their effects. The
first is ruinous, the second a necessary evil, and the third invariably
beneficial."

"Good! Go on."

"The ruinous impost is the royal tax, the necessary is the military, and
the beneficial is the popular."

As I had not given the subject any thought I was in a disagreeable
position, for I was obliged to go on speaking, and yet not to talk
nonsense.

"The royal tax, sire, is that which deplenishes the purses of the subject
to fill the coffers of the king."

"And that kind of tax is always ruinous, you think."

"Always, sire; it prevents the circulation of money--the soul of commerce
and the mainstay of the state."

"But if the tax be levied to keep up the strength of the army, you say it
is a necessary evil."

"Yes, it is necessary and yet evil, for war is a