"
He was followed by the Comte de la Porte, a gentleman in bearing
and of a good deal of dignity. The Count was asked one day
by Nat Perry, a member of the class from New Hampshire who
was very proud of his native State and always boasting of
the exploits in war and peace of the people of New Hampshire,
what sort of a French scholar M. Viau, his predecessor, was.
The Count replied: "He was not a fit teacher for young gentlemen.
He was an ignorant person from the Provinces. He did not
have the Parisian accent. He did not know the French language
in its purity. It would be as if somebody were to undertake
to teach English who came from New Hampshire or some such
place." The Count said this in entire innocence. It was
received with a roar of laughter by the class, and the indignation
and wrath of Perry may well be imagined.
Another instructor in modern languages was Dr. Bachi. He
was a very accomplished gentleman. His translations of Italian
poetry, especially of Dante and Tasso, were exquisite. It
was like hearing a sweet and soft music to hear him read his
beloved poets, and he had a singular gift of getting hold
of the most sweet and mellifluous English words for his rendering.
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