l'ordre des chevaliers de Malte : this was the name

taken by the Hospitaliers when, after being driven from Rhodes by Soliman II. , they received Malta from the Emperor Charles V.

,, 21. jamais créature : see note on p. 20, 1. 26.

, , 27. comme une liane . . , and farther on, les pâles violettes de la mort : in spite of his modest disclaimer, Maître Jolibois, for a poor country notary, speaks a very flowery language.

24. 10. hélas was formerly spelt in two words, hé ! las (Lat. lassus) ;

the s is always sounded.

,, 16. à témoin : in this locution, and at the beginning of a sentence, témoin is always invariable — té^noin ses dernières paroles.

,, 21. dans Plutarque : Plutarch's Lives were first translated into French by Amyot in 1558. The first English translation, based on Amyot's, appeared in Queen Elizabeth's time, and was largely used by Shakespeare for his plays.

,, 24. finira par se marier : see note on p. 2, 1. 16.

29. il les a tous refusés : when tous is used as a pronoun the s is always sounded.