That is where the mischief comes in,--or so I think. Judge for
yourself!" And in a few words he gave the gist of the interview which
had taken place between the King and the emissary of the Jesuits that
morning.
"Nothing surprises me as a rule,"--said the Professor, when he had
heard all--"But if anything could prick the sense of astonishment anew
in me, it would be to think that anyone, king or commoner, should take
the trouble to speak truth to a Jesuit. Why, the very essence of their
carefully composed and diplomatic creed, is to so disguise truth that
it shall be no more recognisable. Myself, I believe the Jesuits to be
the lineal descendants of those priests who served Bel and the Dragon.
The art of conjuring and deception is in their very blood. It is for
the Jesuits that I have invented a beautiful new verb,--'To
hypocrise.' It sounds well. Here is the present tense,--'I hypocrise,
Thou hypocrisest, He hypocrises:--We hypocrise, You hypocrise, They
hypocrise.' Now hear the future. 'I shall hypocrise, Thou shalt
hypocrise, He shall hypocrise; We shall hypocrise, You shall hypocrise,
They shall hypocrise.' There is the whole art of Jesuitry for you, made
grammatically perfect!"
De Launay gave a gesture of impatience, and flung away the end of his
half-smoked cigar.
"Ach! That is a sign of temper, Roger!" said Von Glauben, shaking his
head--"To lift one's shoulders to the lobes of one's ears, and waste
nearly the half of an exceedingly expensive and choice Havana, shows
nervous irritation! You are angry, my friend--and with me!"
"No I am not," replied De Launay, rising from his chair and beginning
to pace the room--"But I do not profess to have your phlegmatic
disposition.
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