[41] See note, page 360.
[42] The "Académie Française," for which Cardinal Richelieu
obtained letters patent, January, 1635. The number of members was fixed
at forty, and they were called "_les immortels_."
[43] This opera, founded on the well-known episode in Tasso's
_Gerusaleme Liberata_, and produced at Paris in 1686, is considered the
_chef-d'œuvre_ of Quinault.
[44] The necklace must also have preserved the Queen from the
tigers, or (according to the Author, page 420) one with so wicked an
object for her visit must have fallen their prey.
[45] The crowing of a cock was supposed by the ancients to
terrify the lion exceedingly. This idea is alluded to in Mademoiselle
D'Aulnoy's story--"The Pigeon and the Dove."
[46] _Gris-de-lin_, Englished into Gridelin, was an
exceedingly fashionable colour, both in France and England, at this
period. It is variously described, but appears to have been a reddish
grey--"gris tirant sur le rouge"--not unlike lilac.