The Expedition of Humphry Clinker — Page 1
I have received your esteemed favour of the 13th ultimo, whereby it appeareth, that you have perused those same Letters, the which were delivered unto you by my friend, the reverend Mr Hugo Behn;
J'ai reçu votre estimée faveur du 13 du mois dernier, par laquelle il apparaît que vous avez parcouru ces mêmes Lettres, lesquelles vous ont été remises par mon ami, le révérend M. Hugo Behn ;
and I am pleased to find you think they may be printed with a good prospect of success;
et je suis heureux de constater que vous pensez qu'elles pourraient être imprimées avec de bonnes perspectives de succès ;
in as much as the objections you mention, I humbly conceive, are such as may be redargued, if not entirely removed--
d'autant que les objections que vous mentionnez, j'ose humblement le penser, sont de celles qui peuvent être réfutées, sinon entièrement levées —
And, first, in the first place, as touching what prosecutions may arise from printing the private correspondence of persons still living,
Et, premièrement, en premier lieu, en ce qui concerne les poursuites qui pourraient résulter de l'impression de la correspondance privée de personnes encore en vie,
give me leave, with all due submission, to observe, that the Letters in question were not written and sent under the seal of secrecy;
permettez-moi, avec tout le respect qui vous est dû, de faire observer que les Lettres en question n'ont pas été écrites et envoyées sous le sceau du secret ;
that they have no tendency to the mala fama, or prejudice of any person whatsoever;
qu'elles ne tendent nullement à la mala fama, ni au préjudice de quelque personne que ce soit ;
but rather to the information and edification of mankind:
mais plutôt à l'information et à l'édification du genre humain :
so that it becometh a sort of duty to promulgate them in usum publicum.
de sorte qu'il devient en quelque sorte un devoir de les promulguer in usum publicum.
Besides, I have consulted Mr Davy Higgins, an eminent attorney of this place, who, after due inspection and consideration, declareth, That he doth not think the said Letters contain any matter which will be held actionable in the eye of the law.
De plus, j'ai consulté M. Davy Higgins, éminent homme de loi de cette ville, qui, après examen et considération appropriés, déclare qu'il ne pense pas que lesdites Lettres contiennent quoi que ce soit qui serait jugé répréhensible aux yeux de la loi.
Vocabulary
- J'
- Contracted form of 'je,' meaning 'I'
- ai
- First person singular of 'avoir,' meaning 'have'
- reçu
- Past participle of 'recevoir,' meaning 'received'
- votre
- Possessive adjective meaning 'your' (formal/plural)
- estimée
- Adjective meaning 'esteemed' or 'valued'
- faveur
- Noun meaning 'favor' or 'kindness'
- du
- Contraction of 'de le,' meaning 'of the'
- mois
- Noun meaning 'month' or 'months'
- dernier
- Adjective meaning 'last' or 'most recent'
- par
- Preposition meaning 'by,' 'through,' or 'per'
- laquelle
- Relative pronoun meaning 'which' (feminine singular)
- il
- Personal pronoun meaning 'he' or 'it'
- apparaît
- Third person singular of 'apparaître,' meaning 'appears'
- que
- Conjunction or pronoun meaning 'that,' 'which,' or 'what'
- vous
- Personal pronoun meaning 'you' (formal or plural)
- avez
- Second person plural of 'avoir,' meaning 'have'
- parcouru
- Past participle of 'parcourir,' meaning 'read through' or 'perused'
- ces
- Demonstrative adjective meaning 'these' or 'those'
- mêmes
- Adjective or pronoun meaning 'same' or 'very'
- Lettres
- Noun meaning 'letters' (written correspondence)
- lesquelles
- Relative pronoun meaning 'which' (feminine plural)
- ont
- Third person plural of 'avoir,' meaning 'have'
- été
- Past participle of 'être,' meaning 'been'
- remises
- Past participle of 'remettre,' meaning 'handed over' or 'delivered'
- mon
- Possessive adjective meaning 'my' (masculine singular)
- ami
- Noun meaning 'friend' (masculine)
- le
- Definite article meaning 'the' (masculine singular)
- M.
- Abbreviation for 'Monsieur,' meaning 'Mr.'
- et
- Conjunction meaning 'and'
- je
- Personal pronoun meaning 'I'
- suis
- First person singular of 'être,' meaning 'am'
- heureux
- Adjective meaning 'happy' or 'glad'
- de
- Preposition meaning 'of,' 'from,' or 'to'
- constater
- Verb meaning 'to note,' 'observe,' or 'ascertain'
- pensez
- Second person plural of 'penser,' meaning 'think'
- qu'
- Contracted form of 'que,' meaning 'that'
- elles
- Personal pronoun meaning 'they' (feminine plural)
- pourraient
- Conditional of 'pouvoir,' meaning 'could' or 'might'
- être
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to be'
- imprimées
- Past participle of 'imprimer,' meaning 'printed'
- avec
- Preposition meaning 'with'
- bonnes
- Adjective meaning 'good' (feminine plural)
- perspectives
- Noun meaning 'prospects,' 'outlooks,' or 'perspectives'
- succès
- Noun meaning 'success'
- d'
- Contracted form of 'de,' meaning 'of' or 'from'
- autant
- Adverb meaning 'as much,' 'so much,' or 'all the more'
- les
- Definite article meaning 'the' (plural)
- objections
- Noun meaning 'objections' or 'concerns raised'
- mentionnez
- Second person plural of 'mentionner,' meaning 'mention'
- j'
- Contracted form of 'je,' meaning 'I'
- ose
- First person singular of 'oser,' meaning 'dare'
- humblement
- Adverb meaning 'humbly'
- penser
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to think'
- sont
- Third person plural of 'être,' meaning 'are'
- celles
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'those' (feminine plural)
- qui
- Relative pronoun meaning 'who,' 'which,' or 'that'
- peuvent
- Third person plural of 'pouvoir,' meaning 'can' or 'are able'
- réfutées
- Past participle of 'réfuter,' meaning 'refuted' or 'disproved'
- sinon
- Conjunction meaning 'if not,' 'otherwise,' or 'except'
- entièrement
- Adverb meaning 'entirely' or 'completely'
- levées
- Past participle of 'lever,' meaning 'lifted' or 'resolved'
- Et
- Conjunction meaning 'and'
- premièrement
- Adverb meaning 'firstly' or 'first of all'
- en
- Preposition meaning 'in,' 'on,' or 'by'
- premier
- Adjective meaning 'first' (masculine singular)
- lieu
- Noun meaning 'place'; 'en premier lieu' means 'in the first place'
- ce
- Demonstrative adjective or pronoun meaning 'this' or 'that'
- concerne
- Third person singular of 'concerner,' meaning 'concerns'
- poursuites
- Noun meaning 'legal proceedings' or 'prosecutions'
- résulter
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to result' or 'to follow from'
- l'
- Contracted definite article meaning 'the' before a vowel
- impression
- Noun meaning 'printing' or 'impression'
- la
- Definite article meaning 'the' (feminine singular)
- correspondance
- Noun meaning 'correspondence' or 'letters exchanged'
- privée
- Adjective meaning 'private' (feminine singular)
- personnes
- Noun meaning 'persons' or 'people'
- encore
- Adverb meaning 'still,' 'yet,' or 'again'
- vie
- Noun meaning 'life'
- permettez
- Second person plural of 'permettre,' meaning 'allow' or 'permit'
- moi
- Stressed pronoun meaning 'me' or 'myself'
- tout
- Adjective or adverb meaning 'all,' 'every,' or 'quite'
- respect
- Noun meaning 'respect' or 'deference'
- est
- Third person singular of 'être,' meaning 'is'
- dû
- Past participle of 'devoir,' meaning 'owed' or 'due'
- faire
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to do' or 'to make'
- observer
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to observe' or 'to note'
- question
- Noun meaning 'question' or 'matter at hand'
- n'
- Contracted negative particle, part of 'ne...pas'
- pas
- Negative particle used with 'ne' to mean 'not'
- écrites
- Past participle of 'écrire,' meaning 'written' (feminine plural)
- envoyées
- Past participle of 'envoyer,' meaning 'sent' (feminine plural)
- sous
- Preposition meaning 'under' or 'beneath'
- sceau
- Noun meaning 'seal,' as in a wax seal of secrecy
- secret
- Noun or adjective meaning 'secret'
- ne
- Negative particle used with 'pas' to negate a verb
- tendent
- Third person plural of 'tendre,' meaning 'tend' or 'aim'
- nullement
- Adverb meaning 'not at all' or 'in no way'
- à
- Preposition meaning 'to,' 'at,' or 'in'
- ni
- Conjunction meaning 'nor' or 'neither'
- au
- Contraction of 'à le,' meaning 'to the' or 'at the'
- préjudice
- Noun meaning 'prejudice,' 'harm,' or 'detriment'
- quelque
- Adjective meaning 'some,' 'any,' or 'a certain'
- personne
- Noun meaning 'person'; also used as 'nobody' in negation
- soit
- Subjunctive of 'être,' meaning 'be' or 'may be'
- mais
- Conjunction meaning 'but'
- plutôt
- Adverb meaning 'rather' or 'instead'
- information
- Noun meaning 'information' or 'knowledge provided'
- édification
- Noun meaning 'edification' or 'moral instruction'
- genre
- Noun meaning 'kind,' 'type,' or 'gender'
- humain
- Adjective or noun meaning 'human'
- sorte
- Noun meaning 'sort,' 'kind,' or 'type'
- devient
- Third person singular of 'devenir,' meaning 'becomes'
- un
- Indefinite article meaning 'a' or 'one'
- devoir
- Noun or verb meaning 'duty' or 'must/to owe'
- promulguer
- Verb meaning 'to promulgate' or 'to make publicly known'
- De
- Preposition meaning 'of,' 'from,' or 'about'
- plus
- Adverb meaning 'more'; 'de plus' means 'furthermore'
- consulté
- Past participle of 'consulter,' meaning 'consulted'
- éminent
- Adjective meaning 'eminent,' 'distinguished,' or 'prominent'
- homme
- Noun meaning 'man' or 'human being'
- loi
- Noun meaning 'law'
- cette
- Demonstrative adjective meaning 'this' (feminine singular)
- ville
- Noun meaning 'city' or 'town'
- après
- Preposition or adverb meaning 'after'
- examen
- Noun meaning 'examination' or 'review'
- considération
- Noun meaning 'consideration' or 'deliberation'
- appropriés
- Adjective meaning 'appropriate' or 'suitable' (masculine plural)
- déclare
- Third person singular of 'déclarer,' meaning 'declares'
- pense
- Third person singular of 'penser,' meaning 'thinks'
- contiennent
- Third person plural of 'contenir,' meaning 'contain'
- quoi
- Pronoun meaning 'what,' used after a preposition
- serait
- Conditional of 'être,' meaning 'would be'
- jugé
- Past participle of 'juger,' meaning 'judged' or 'deemed'
- répréhensible
- Adjective meaning 'reprehensible,' 'blameworthy,' or 'objectionable'
- aux
- Contraction of 'à les,' meaning 'to the' or 'at the' (plural)
- yeux
- Noun meaning 'eyes'; 'aux yeux de' means 'in the eyes of'
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →