Bataille de dames
Page 3.
[Footnote 10: #Talleyrand# (1754-1838), a politician whose skill in
unprincipled intrigue made him a power under every form of government,
from the States-General that inaugurated the First Revolution until his
death. Many epigrams like this testify to his cynicism, which
anticipated remarkably the modern blague, as we find it, for instance,
in "Le Gendre de monsieur Poirier."]
ACT I. SCENE 2
[Footnote 11: See preceding note and, for historical details, any
biographical dictionary.]
[Footnote 12: The use of the imperfect subjunctive is far more
restricted in French conversation than our school grammars would imply.
Persons of little education hardly use it at all, and persons of refined
culture avoid its ill-sounding forms; while even such classical authors
as Voltaire sometimes substitute the present for it. Cp. my note to "Le
Gendre de monsieur Poirier," p.29, note 2.]
ACT I. SCENE 3.