ess instead of a Dutch
peasant?' 'Sire,' said the Duchesse, very gravely, 'Nature gave this
hand to a German princess for the purpose of boxing the ears of her
ladies in waiting!'"

"Ha! ha! ha!" said Madame de Cornuel, laughing; "one is never at a loss
for jokes upon a woman who eats _salade au lard_, and declares that,
whenever she is unhappy, her only consolation is ham and sausages! Her
son treats her with the greatest respect, and consults her in all his
amours, for which she professes the greatest horror, and which she
retails to her correspondents all over the world, in letters as long as
her pedigree. But you are looking at her son, is he not of a good mien?"

"Yes, pretty well; but does not exhibit to advantage by the side of
Lord Bolingbroke, with whom he is now talking. Pray, who is the third
personage that has just joined them?"

"Oh, the wretch! it is the Abbe Dubois; a living proof of the folly of
the French proverb, which says that Mercuries should _not_ be made _du
bois_. Never was there a Mercury equal to the Abbe,--but, do look at
that old man to the left,--he is one of the most remarkable persons of
the age."

"What! he with the small features, and comely countenance, considering
his years?"

"The same," said Hamilton; "it is the notorious Choisi. You know that he
is the modern Tiresias, and has been a woman as well as man."

"How do you mean?"

"Ah, you may well ask!" cried Madame de Cornuel. "Why, he lived for
many years in the disguise of a woman, and had all sorts of curious
adventures."

"_Mort Diable_!" cried Hamilton; "it was entering your ranks, Madame, as
a spy. I hear he makes but a sorry report of what he saw there."

"Come, Count Antoine," cried the lively de Cornuel, "we must not turn
our weapons against each other; and when you attack a woman's sex you
attack her individually. But what makes you look so intently, Count
Devereux, at that ugly priest?"

The person thus flatteringly designated was Montreuil; he had just
caught my eye, among a group of men who were conversing eagerly.

"Hush! Madame," said I, "spare me for a moment;" and I rose, and mingled
with the Abbe's companions.

"So, you have only arrived to-day," I heard one of them say to him.

"No, I could not despatch my business before."

"And how are matters in England?"

"Ripe! if the life of his Majesty (of France) be spared a year longer,
we will send the Elector of Hanover back to his principality."

"Hi