at thinking how much he must have learned himself while so doing; but what people now say is that all he learned was to faire bonne mine à mauvais jeu—to make the best of bad luck, and to think entirely too much of money. The glory from his head hath passed away, and all men see in it is but a pear.
That pear is always the permanent standing joke of the people in sarcastic publications and caricatures. The former, especially Le Revenant, Les Cancans, Le Brid'Oison, La Mode, and whatever such Carlistic vermin may be called, maltreat the King with an insolence which is the more revolting because it is well known that the noble Faubourg pays their expenses. It is said that the Queen often reads them and weeps. The poor lady receives them through the unwearied zeal of those worst of enemies who are to be found as good friends in all great families.[1]
The pear, as before said, is a standing joke, and hundreds of caricatures in which it is seen hang everywhere. In one is depicted Perier on the platform, holding in one hand a pear, which he offers at auction to all seated round, and knocks down to the highest bidder for eighteen millions. There again is a monstrous
- ↑ The nineteen lines following are omitted in the French version.
