Sur la matière = sur le sujet

27. The distinction between unité and ordre is not easily defined. Unité =ux\'\\y of design, the relation of the whole or governing idea to the parts of the discours, and ordre = order of arrangements of the parts, their relation to one another. Unité supplies the basis for ordre, the ground-plan on which the parts of the literary structure may be built. Cf. Trois unités : Sévigné, V., Note 2.

28. In his Republic Plato compares men who are not yet able to see and understand things in the light of Philosophy to prisoners bound in a cavern, with their back to the entrance. They cannot see realities, but only the shadows that pass on the wall before them. See Book VII.

29. Colisée = Colosseum, called first of ail amphitheatrum Flavitim, then Colosseum or Colisaum, a name said to be derived from the colossal statue of Nero which stood close by. It was used for combats of gladiators, wild beasts and other exhibitions. It is said to hâve provided room for more than 80,000 spectators.

30. Couper dans le vif = to eut to the quick ; ' le vif means hère ' la chair vive/

FÉNELON xliii