s along the street, he hears people whisper: "There's a
Frenchman!" But, far from objecting to that, he rather likes it, and he
is right.

He speaks bad English, and assures you that you require very few words
to make yourself understood of the people. He does not go so far as
Figaro, but his English vocabulary is of the most limited.

Without making any noise about it, he sends his guinea to all the
French Benevolent Societies in England, and wherever the tricolor
floats he is of the party.

He likes the English, and recognizes their solid qualities; but as he
possesses many of his own, he keeps to his native stock.

* * * * *

How this good Frenchman does shine by the side of another type, a type
which, I am happy to say, is rare--the one who drops his country.

The latter, when he speaks of England, says: "_We_ do this, _we_ do
that, in England," not "The English do this, the English do that." He
would like to say, "We English," but he hardly dares go that length.

He dresses _a l'anglaise_ with a vengeance, makes it a point to
frequent only English houses, and spends a good deal of his time in
running down his compatriots.

He does not belong to any of the French societies or clubs in England.
These establishments, however, do not miss him much more than his own
country.

I once knew one of this category. His name ended with an _e_ mute
preceded by a double consonant. The _e_ mute was a real sore to him,
the grief of his life. Without it he might have passed for English. It
was too provoking to be thus balked, and, as he signed his name, he
would dissimulate the poor offending little vowel, so that his name
should appear to end at the double consonant.

He was not a genius.

* * * * *

Acting under the theory of Figaro, "_Qu'il n'est pas necessaire de
tenir les choses pour en raisonner_," I have heard an Englishman,
engaged in teaching French, maintain that it was not necessary to be
able to speak the French language to teach it.

On the other hand, I once heard an eminent Frenchman hold that the less
English a French master knew the more fit he was to teach French.

Both gentlemen begged their audience to understand that they made their
statements on their own sole responsibility.

* * * * *

I never met a French master who had made his fortune, nor have you, I
imagine.

I