on of an apologue. Those of La Fontaine are often very short,
as, for example, "Le Coque et la Perle." On the other hand, in the
romances of Reynard the Fox we have medieval apologues arranged in
cycles, and attaining epical dimensions. An Italian fabulist, Corti, is
said to have developed an apologue of "The Talking Animals" to the bulk
of twenty-six cantos. La Motte, writing at a time when this species of
literature was universally admired, attributes its popularity to the
fact that it _menage et flatte l'amour-propre_ by inculcating virtue in
an amusing manner without seeming to dictate or insist. This was the
ordinary 18th-century view of the matter, but Rousseau contested the
educational value of instruction given in this indirect form.

A work by P. Soulle, _La Fontaine et ses devanciers_ (1866), is a
history of the apologue from the earliest times until its final
triumph in France.

APOLOGY (from Gr. [Greek: apologia], defence), in its usual sense, an
expression of regret for something which has been wrongfully said or
done; a withdrawal or retraction of some charge or imputation which is
false. In an action for libel, the fact that an apology has been
promptly and fully made is a plea in mitigation of damages. The apology
should have the same form of publicity as the original charge. If made
publicly, the proper form is an advertisement in a newspaper; if made
within the hearing of a few only, a letter of apology, which may be read
to those who have heard what was said, should be sufficient. By the
English Libel Act 1843, s. 2, it was enacted that in an action for libel
contained in a newspaper it is a defence for the defendant to plead that
the libel was inserted without actual malice and without gross
negligence, and that before the commencement of the action and at the
earliest opportunity afterwards he inserted in the newspaper a full
apology for the libel, or, where the newspaper in which the libel
appeared was published at intervals exceeding one week, he offered to
publish the apology in any newspaper selected by the plaintiff. The
apology must be full and must be printed in as conspicuous a place and
manner as the libel was.

The word "apology" or "apologia" is also used in the sense of defence or
vindication, the only meaning of the Greek [Greek: apologia], especially
of the defence of a doctrine or system, or of religious or other
beliefs, &c., e.g. Justin Martyr's _Apology_ or J.H. Newma