of Penthièvre, with the then coveted Cross of
St. Louis. His double honours were thus
commemorated—

"Courageous pen, and coward sword—
Due fame to Florian see decreed—
The warlike cross his wit's reward;
The peaceful chair his valour's meed."

Penthièvre, the patron of Florian, gave so
splendid a repast to the members on the day
of his protégé's election, that he was afterwards
known by the name of " Restaurateur
to the French Academy."

No. two had du Chastelet for its original
occupant. It is now filled by Mignet, the
historian, elected in 1836.

No. four has been honoured by the occupancy
of Racine and the elder Crebillon. Monsieur
Scribe is their successor.

No. five is now the academic seat of M.
Guizot.

In 1811 Chateaubriand was elected to
No. six; and, lest he might perpetrate some
eloquent " escapade " in honour of legitimacy,
was excused from making the usual
introductory oration.

No. seven has been occupied by Boileau.

No. eight has been voted to no person of any
literary eminence. One Lormian-Balurd—
a man who had neither birth nor brains to
recommend him, and whose only title to such
a distinction was his fanaticism for the
Bourbons—was elected to this chair in 1815.
The following doggrel lines commemorated
the choice of the Academy—

"A man so stupid and absurd
  As Monsieur Lorirdau-Balurd—
  So stupid and absurd a man
  As Monsieur Balurd-Lormian—
  In fitting company to be,
  Is named of the Academy."

The ninth chair was successively occupied
lay the brothers Corneille, and afterwards by
Foncemagne and Chabanon. Of the latter,
an excellent fiddler, it was commonly said that
he was chosen to infuse a little harmony into
the meetings of the Academy. Victor Hugo
was elected to this chair in 1841.

Bougainville, the circumnavigator of the
globe, was elected to number eleven in the
year 1754.

Number twelve was the chair occupied by
Voltaire.

The Duke de Montesquiou-Fesenzac, a
man of illustrious descent, of which he was
ridiculously proud, was elected in 1784 to
chair number thirteen. His claim to it was
thus described—

"'Tis ruled a man a book should make
   Before elected he can be,
   So Montesquiou his place may take,
   For he has writ his pedigree."

The Duke was so proud of his alleged
descent from Clovis "that it was a lucky
thing," said de Maurepas, " he had not taken
it into his head to lay claim to the crown of
France."

The honest and courageous Malesherbes
was elected, in 1774, to chair number fifteen.
Monsieur Thiers has occupied it since the
year 1833.

D'Alembert was chosen to number seventeen
in 1754, and held it for the long period
of thirty years.

Chair number eighteen, the seat of Fénélon,
was subsequently disgraced by the election of
the stupid, haughty, and vindictive Count
de Clermont, of the blood-royal of France.
Several anecdotes have descended to us of
this man, all greatly to his disgrace. Lecourbe,
a poet of the day, having written some
verses on his election to the Academy
beginning thus—

"Fat cousin of Louis
So lean your wit,
The chair still is vacant,
In which you sit,"

he was so brutally beaten by the Count's
servants, that he died of his injuries; " a
lesson," said the offended Count, " of which
this sort of writing-people stand in much
need; that princes are not to be lampooned
with impunity, and that cudgels hit at least
as hard as couplets." Clermont made
himself conspicuous at the time of his nomination
(1754), by omitting in his introductory
discourse all mention of Barbier d'Aucourt,
his predecessor. "He had invariably made
it a rule," he said, "never to utter anything in
praise of Roturiers; " but the Academy, for
once, was independent, and he was compelled
by the general indignation to introduce into
his speech, when printed, a few unmeaning
compliments to the memory of his
predecessor.

Cardinal Dubois, the reverend scamp of
the Orleans regency, was chosen in 1722 to
fill chair number nineteen. It has since been
occupied by Casim Delavigne, the Alfieri
of the French drama.

Fontenelle, the clever old glutton, and
Bernardin de St. Pierre, whom Napoleon
pronounced to be " the greatest scoundrel
in all my empire," have sat in chair number
twenty-two.

Perrault, author of " The Hives," and
la Condamine have filled chair twenty-three.
The latter, who was exceedingly deaf, at a
supper which he gave to his brother
Academicians on the evening of his election,
produced the following verses:—

"La Condamine this day to greet,
  The Louvre's gates have opened wide,
  With joyful mien he takes his seat
  The Academic gods beside;
  So hard of hearing, thanks to Fate,
  No nonsense to his ears can come,
  But when his colleagues hear him prate,
  Instead of deaf, they'll wish him dumb."

La Bruyère, the sketcher of characters,