EGO. "'Nevertheless, Sire, if one join to them the Calvinists, and all the little bastard Sects, it would not be so bad a post. [The King appeared to kindle at this; his eyes were full of animation. But it did not last when I said:] If the Kaiser were Patriarch of the Catholics, that too wouldn't be a bad place.'

KING. "'There, there: Europe divided into Three Patriarchates. I was wrong to begin; you see where that leads us: Messieurs, our dreams are not those of the just, as M. le Regent used to say. If Louis XIV. were alive, he would thank us.'

"All these patriarchal ideas, possible and impossible to realize, made him, for an instant, look thoughtful, almost moody.

KING. "'Louis XIV., possessing more judgment than cleverness (ESPRIT), looked out more for the former quality than for the latter. It was men of genius that he wanted, and found. It could not be said that Corneille, Bossuet, Racine and Conde were people of the clever sort (DES HOMMES D'ESPRIT).'

EGO. "'On the whole, there is that in the Country which really deserves to be happy, It is asserted that your Majesty has said, If one would have a fine dream, one must--'

KING. "'Yes, it is true,--be King of France.'

EGO. "'If Francis I. and Henri IV. had come into the world after your Majesty, they would have said, "be King of Prussia."'

KING. "'Tell me, pray, is there no citable Writer left in France?'

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