beats his neighbour, is adjudged to have the pre-eminence. kitchens; it is not a long time since a foreigner at Naples made his coachman a duke. Custom, in these cases, has more power than royal authority. If you are but little known at Paris, you may there be a count or a marquis as long as you please; if you are connected with the law or finance, though the king should confer on you a real marquisate, you will not, therefore, be monsieur le marquis. The celebrated Samuel Bernard was, in truth, more a count than five hundred such as we often see not possessing four acres of land. The king had converted his estate of Coubert into a fine county; yet if on any occasion he had ordered Philip II. was the first majesty in Spain; for the serenity of Charles V. was converted into majesty only on account of the empire. The children of Philip II. were the first highnesses; and afterwards they were royal highnesses. The Duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XIII, did not take up the title of royal highness till 1631; then the Prince of Condé claimed that of most serene highness, which the Dukes de Vendome did not venture to assume. The Duke of Savoy, at that time royal highness, after wards substituted majesty, The grand Duke of Florence did the same, except-himself to be announced as Count Bering as to majesty and, finally, the czar, who was known in Europe only as the grand duke, declared himself emperor, and was recognised as such. nard, &c. he would have excited bursts of laughter. In England it is different; if the king confers the title of earl or baron on a merchant, all classes address Formerly, there were only two mar-him with the designation suitable to it, quises in Germany, two in France, and without the slightest hesitation. By pertwo in Italy. The Marquis of Branden-sons of the highest birth, by the king himberg has become a king, and a great { self, he is called my lord. It is the same king. But, at present, our Italian and in Italy; there is a register kept there of French marquises are of a somewhat monsignori. The pope himself addresses different species. them under that title; his physician is monsignor, and no one objects. In France, the title of monseigneur, or my lord, is a very serious business. Before the time of Cardinal Richelieu, a bishop was only "a most reverend father in God." If an Italian citizen has the honour of giving a dinner to the legate of his province, and the legate, when drinking, says to him, "monsieur le marquis, to your good health," he suddenly becomes a marquis, he and his heirs after him, for ever. If the inhabitant of any province Before the year 1635, bishops did not of France, whose whole estate consists of only not assume the title of monseigneur a quarter part of a little decayed castle- { themselves, but they did not even give ward, goes to Paris, makes something of it to cardinals. These two customs were a fortune, or carries the air of having { introduced by a bishop of Chartres, who, made one, he is stiled in the deeds and in full canonicals of lawn and purple, legal instruments in which he is con- went to call Cardinal Richelieu moncerned, "high and mighty seigneur, mar-seigneur; on which occasion Louis XIII. quis and count;" and his son will be de-abserved, "That Chartrain would not nominated, by his notary, "very high mind saluting the cardinal au derriére." and very mighty seigneur," and, as this It is only since that period that frivolous ambition is in no way injurious bishops have mutually applied to each to government or civil society, it is per- other the title of monseigneur. mitted to take its course. Some French lords boast of employing German barons in their stables: some German lords say they have French marquises in 'their The public made no objection to this application of it; but, as it was a new title, not conferred on bishops by kings, they continued to be called sieurs, in CERTAIN-CERTAINTIES. edicts, declarations, ordinances, and all { grieve for posterity: they will find it official documents; and, when the coun- extremely difficult to add to these very beautiful formulas. The Duke d'EperThe dukes and peers have encountered far from being the first of statesmen, non, the first of Gascons in pride, though more difficulty in acquiring possession of wrote, on his death-bed to Cardinal the title of monseigneur. noblesse, and what is called the grand "Your very humble and very obedient." The grand Richelieu, and ended his letter withrobe, decidedly refuse them that dis--Recollecting, however, that the carditinction. The highest gratification of {nal had used only the phrase "very afhuman pride consists in a man's receiving fectionate," he dispatched an express to titles of honour from those who conceive { bring back the letter (for it had been acthemselves his equals; but to attain this tually sent off) began it anew, signed is exceedingly difficult: pride always finds pride to contend with. 66 very affectionate," and died in the bed of honour. ... CERTAIN-CERTAINTY. When the dukes insisted on receiving the title of monseigneur from the class of servations elsewhere. It is well, however, We have made many of these obgentlemen, the presidents of the parlia- to repeat them, were it only to correct ments required the same from advocates some pompous peacocks, who would and proctors. A certain president actu- strut away their lives in contemptibly disally refused to be bled, because his sur- { playing their plumes and their pride. geon asked-"In which arm will you be bled, monsieur?"-An old counsellor treated this matter somewhat more gaily. A pleader was saying to him-"mon- tune is secure; my relations will never I AM certain; I have friends; my forseigneur, monsieur, your secretary" He stopped him short:-"You have ut-me; my work is good, it will be well re..abandon me; I shall have justice done tered three blunders," says he, "in as ceived; what is owing to me will be paid many words. I am not monseigneur ; my secretary is not monsieur; he is my sworn it; the minister will advance me→→→ me; my friend will be faithful, he has clerk." To put an end to this grand conflict of these are words which a man who has he has, by the way, promised it ;-all vanity, it will eventually be found neces-lived a short time in the world erases from sary to give the title of monseigneur to his dictionary. every individual in the nation; as women, who were formerly content with mademoiselle, are now to be called madame. In Spain, when a mendicant meets a brother beggar, he thus accosts him:-"Has your conrtesy taken chocolate?"-This politeness of language elevates the mind, and keeps up the dignity of the species. were called in the senate, Cæsar and Cæsar and Pompey Pompey. Bu these men knew nothing of life. They ended their letters with vale-adieu. We, who possess more exalted notions, were, sixty years ago, "affectionate servants;" then, humble and very obedient;" and now, "very we" have the honour to be" so. I really lade, Le Brun, Calas, Sirven, Martin, that of erring like a man of genius, and men of genius in the affair of L'Anglade : that L'Anglade had committed a theft, is dispersed, his little property is confiswhich he certainly had not committed;cated, and scarcely are his broken memand on this miserable uncertain certainty bers exposed on the great road, when the of the human mind, a gentleman was put assassin who had committed the murder to the ordinary and extraordinary ques- and theft is put in prison for another tion; subsequently thrown, without suc- crime, and confesses on the rack, to cour, into a dungeon, and condemned to which he is condemned in his turn, the gallies, where he died. His wife was that he only was guilty of the crime for shut up in another dungeon, with her which Martin had suffered torture and daughter, aged seven years, who after-death. wards married a counsellor of the same parliament which had condemned her father to the gallies, and her mother to banishment. It is clear that the judges would not have pronounced this sentence, had they been really certain. However, even at the time this sentence was passed, several persons knew that the theft had been committed by a priest named Gagnat, associated with a highwayman; and the innocence of L'Anglade was not recognised till after his death. They were in the same manner certain. when, by a sentence in the first instance, they condemned to the wheel the innocent Le Brun, who, by an arrêt pronounced on his appeal, was broken on the rack, and died under the torture. } Montbailli, who slept with his wife, was accused with having, in concert with her, killed his mother, who had evidently died of apoplexy, The council of Arras condemned Montbailli to expire on the rack, and his wife to be burnt. Their innocence was discovered, but not until Montbailli had been tortured. Let us cease advertence to these melancholy adventures, which make us groan at the human condition; but let us continue to lament the pretended certainty of judges, when they pass such sentences. There is no certainty, except when it is physically or morally impossible that the thing can be otherwise. What! is a strict demonstration necessary to enable us to assert, that the surface of a sphere is The examples of Calas and Sirven are equal to four times the area of its great well known: that of Martin is less so. circle ;-and is not one required to warHe was an honest agriculturist, near Barrant taking away the life of a citizen is Lorraine. A villain stole his dress, by a disgraceful punishment? and in this dress murdered a traveller If such is the misfortune of humanity whom he knew to have money, and that judges must be contented with exwhose route he had watched. Martin treme probabilities, they should at least was accused; his dress deposed against consult the age, the rank, the conduct of him: the judges regarded this evidence the accused the interest which he could as a certainty. Not the past conduct of have in committing the crime, and the inthe prisoner, a numerous family whom he terest of his enemies to destroy him. had brought up virtuously, neither the Every judge should say to himself,-Will little money found on him, nor the ex- not posterity, will not entire Europe contreme probability of his innocence-no- demn my sentence? Shall I sleep tranBing could save him. The subaltern quilly with my hands tainted with innoadge made a merit of his rigour. He cent blood? ondemned the innocent victim to be roken on the wheel; and, by an unappy fatality, the sentence was executed the full extent The senior Martin is ken alive, calling God to witness his ence to his last breath: his family Let us pass from this horrible picture to other examples of a certainty, which leads directly to error. Why art thou loaded with chains, fanatical and unhappy Santon? Why hast thou added a large iron ring on thy miserable scourge? It is because I am certain of being one day placed in the first heaven, by the side of our great prophet. Alas, my friend, come with me to the neighbourhood of Mount Athos, and thou wilt see three thousand mendicants, who are as certain that thou wilt go to the gulf which is under the narrow bridge, as that they will all go to the first heaven! Stop, miserable Malabar widow, believe not the fool who persuades thee that thou shalt be re-united to thy husband, in all the delights of another world, if thou burnest thyself on his funeral pile!—No, I persist in burning myself, because I am certain of living in felicity with my husband: my brahmin told me so. Let us attend to less frightful certainties, and which have a little more appearance of truth. A young man who is beginning to study geometry, comes to me; he is only at the definition of triangles. Are you not certain, said I to him, that the three angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles? He answered, that not only was he not certain of it, but that he had not the slightest idea of the proposition. I demonstrated it to him. He then became very certain of it, and will remain so all his life. This is a certainty very different from the others; they were only probabilities, and these probabilities when examined have turned out errors; but mathematical certainty is immutable and eternal. I exist, I think, I feel grief—is all that as certain as a geometrical truth? Yes, sceptical as I am, I avow it. Why? It is that these truths are proved by the same principle that it is impossible for a thing to exist and not exist at the same What is the age of your friend Chris- time. I cannot at the same time feel and topher? Twenty-eight years. I have not feel. A triangle cannot at the same seen his marriage contract, and his bap-time contain a hundred and eighty detismal register: I knew him in his infan-grees, which are the sum of two right ancy; he is twenty-eight-I am certain of it. gles, and not contain them. Scarcely have I heard the answer of this man, so sure of what they said, and { of twenty others who confirmed the same thing, when I learn that for secret reasons, and by a singular circumstance, the baptismal register of Christopher has been antedated. Those to whom I had spoken as yet know nothing of it, yet they have still the same certainty of that which is not. The physical certainty of my existence, of my identity, is of the same value as mathematical certainty, although it is of a different kind. It is not the same with the certainty founded on appearances, or on the unanimous testimony of mankind. But how, you will say to me-are you not certain that Pekin exists? Have you not merchandise from Pekin? People of If you had asked the whole earth, be- different countries and different opinions fore the time of Copernicus, Has the sun have vehemently written against one anorisen? has it set to-day? All men would{ther, while preaching the truth at Pekin have answered, We are quite certain of then are you not assured of the existence it. They were certain, and they were in { of this town? I answer, that it is extremely probable that there may be Witchcraft, divinations, and posses-city of Pekin, but I would not wager sions, were for a long time the most cer- my life that such a town exists; and I tain things in the world, in the eyes of would at any time wager my life, that the society. What an innumerable crowd of three angles of a triangle are equal people who have seen all these fine two right angles. things, and who have been certain of error. In the Dictionnaire Encylopédique to them! At present, this certainty is a little very pleasant thing appears. It is there shaken. maintained that a man ought to be species of plants and animals have been entirely destroyed-We have no murex---The Jews were forbidden to eat griffin and ixion: these two species, whatever Bochart may say, have probably disappeared from the earth. Where, then, is the chain? certain that Marshal Saxe rose from the CHAIN OF CREATED BEINGS. THE gradation of beings, rising from the lowest to the Great Supreme-the scale of infinity-is an idea that fills us with admiration; but when steadily regarded, this phantom disappears, as apparitions were wont to vanish at the crowing of the cock. Supposing that we had not lost some species, it is evident that they may be destroyed. Lions and rhinoceroses are becoming very scarce; and if the rest of the nations had imitated the English, there would not now have been a wolf It is probable that there have been races of men who are no longer to be found. Why should they not have existed, as well as the whites, the blacks, the Caffres to whom nature. has given an apron of their own skin, hanging from the belly to the middle of the thigh; the Samoyeds, whose women have nipples of a beautiful jet, &c. Is there not a manifest void between The imagination is pleased with the the ape and man? Is it not easy to imaimperceptible transition from brute mat-gine a two-legged animal without feater to organized matter-from plants to thers, having intelligence, without our zoophytes-from zoophytes to animals-shape or the use of speech-one which from animals to men-from men to genii we could tame, which would answer our -from these genii clad in a light aërial signs, and serve us? And again, bebody, to immaterial substances of a thou-tween this species and man, cannot we sand different orders, rising from beauty imagine others? to perfection, up to God himself. This Beyond man, divine Plato, you place hierarchy is very pleasing to young men, in heaven a string of celestial substances, who look upon it as upon the pope and in some of which we believe, because cardinals, followed by the archbishops the faith so teaches us. But what reason and bishops, after whom are the vicars, had you to believe in them? It does not curates and priests, the deacons and sub-appear that you had spoken with the deacons, then come the monks, and the genius of Socrates; and though Heres, capuchins bring up the rear. good man, rose again on purpose to tell But there is, perhaps, a somewhatyou the secrets of the other world, he told greater distance between God and his you nothing of these substances. most perfect creatures, than between the Holy Father and the dean of the sacred college. The dean may become pope; but can the most perfect of the genii crested by the Supreme Being become God Is there not infinity between them? Nor does this chain, this pretended gradation, any more exist in vegetables and animais; the proof is, that some In the sensible universe, the pretended chain is no less interrupted. What gradation, I pray you, is there among the planets? The moon is forty times smaller than our globe. Travelling from the moon through space, you find Venus, about as large as the earth. From thence you go to Mercury, which revolves in an ellipsis very different from |