En l'an quatre cent vingt, Pharamond, premier roi, Est connu seulement par la salique loi. * Clodion, second roi, nommé le Chevelu, Au fier Aétius cède, deux fois vaincu. * Francs, Bourguignons et Goths triomphent d'Attila. Chilpéric fut chassé, mais on le rappela. * Clovis, à Tolbiac, fit vœu d'être chrétien; Il défait Gondebaud, tue Alaric, arien; Entre ses quatre fils partage ses États, Source d'atrocités, de guerres, d'attentats. * Childebert, en cinq cent, eut Paris en partage; Les Bourguignons, les Goths éprouvent son courage." And this went on up to Louis-Philippe, of whom this is the distich-- "Philippe d'Orléans, tiré de son palais. Succède à Charles-Dix, par le choix des Français." There was in these quatrains and distichs, instructive though they were, one singular feature which, indeed, distressed me somewhat: amongst all these verses, there were only two to be found which were feminine. There must verily be a reason for that: as the _History of France_ was specially intended for schools, it was necessary, doubtless, to bring before the notice of school children as few evil ideas as possible, that might even indirectly remind them of a _genus_ which brought destruction upon the human race. I apparently took my notes with desperate seriousness, and deemed that I already knew enough history to teach it to others when, by good fortune, Delanoue came to my study. Quick as I had been in hiding my Abbé Gauthier, revised by M. de Moyencourt, Delanoue saw the action. "What are you reading there?" he asked. "Nothing." "Nothing? Why you had a book in your hand!" "Oh! a book ... yes." No doubt he imagined it was some obscene book which I wished to conceal from him. He insisted in such a manner that it was impossible to resist him. "There," I said to him, rather humiliated at being surprised reading such an elementary subject as a history of France. "Oh! Abbé Gauthier's history ... well, upon my word!" And, without needing to cast a glance at the book, he repeated-- "Neuf cent quatre vingt-sept voir Capet sur le trône. Ses fils ont huit cents ans conservé la couronne!" "Oh, you know it by heart?" "It is the companion to _Racine's grecques_-- 'O, se doit compter pom septante; Ὀδελός la broche tournante.'" Delanoue assumed in my eyes fabulous proportions of learnedness. "What! do you not know the Abbé Gauthier's _Histoire de France_ and the _Jardin des Racines grecques,_ by M. Lancelot?" "I know nothing, my dear fellow!" "It must make you laugh." "Not very much." "Then why do you read it?" "Because I want to get exact details about the early centuries of our history." "And you are looking for them in the Abbé Gauthier?" "As you see." "Ah! You are funny! Did you get your details for _Henri III._ from this?--