CAR. Sir, it is an unseasonable time to do myself the honour of waiting upon you; morning would be more fit for performing such a duty, but it is not very easy to meet you, for you are always asleep, or in town. At least your servants so assure me. I have chosen this opportunity to see you. And yet this is a great happiness with which fortune favours me, for a couple of moments later I should have missed you. ER. Sir, do you desire something of me? CAR. I acquit myself, sir, of what I owe you; and come to you ... Excuse the boldness which inspires me, if... ER. Without so much ceremony, what have you to say to me? CAR. As the rank, wit, and generosity which every one extols in you... ER. Yes, I am very much extolled. Never mind that, sir. CAR. Sir, it is a vast difficulty when a man has to introduce himself; we should always be presented to the great by people who commend us in words, whose voice, being listened to, delivers with authority what may cause our slender merit to be known. In short, I could have wished that some persons well-informed could have told you, sir, what I am... ER. I see sufficiently, sir, what you are. Your manner of accosting me makes that clear. CAR. Yes, I am a man of learning charmed by your worth; not one of those learned men whose name ends simply in _us_. Nothing is so common as a name with a Latin termination. Those we dress in Greek have a much superior look; and in order to have one ending in _ès_, I call myself Mr. Caritidès. ER. Caritidès be it. What have you to say? CAR. I wish, sir, to read you a petition, which I venture to beg of you to present to the King, as your position enables you to do. ER. Why, sir, you can present it yourself! ... CAR. It is true that the King grants that supreme favour; but, from the very excess of his rare kindness, so many villainous petitions, sir, are presented that they choke the good ones; the hope I entertain is that mine should be presented when his Majesty is alone. ER. Well, you can do it, and choose your own time. CAR. Ah, sir, the door-keepers are such terrible fellows! They treat men of learning like snobbs and butts; I can never get beyond the guard-room. The ill-treatment I am compelled to suffer would make me withdraw from court for ever, if I had not conceived the certain hope that you will be my Mecaeænas with the King. Yes, your influence is to me a certain means ... ER. Well, then, give it me; I will present it. CAR. Here it is. But at least, hear it read. ER. No ... CAR. That you may be acquainted with it, sir, I beg. "TO THE KING. "_Sire,--Your most humble, most obedient, most faithful and most learned subject and servant, Caritidès, a Frenchman by birth, a Greek_