_La Princesse Minutie et le Roi Floridor_ is written in a spirit of
playful satire, which reminds one of those sprightly caricatures of
fairy tales which flowed so pleasantly from the pen of Count Hamilton;
but, unlike _Le Belier_ and _Fleur d'Epine_ of that accomplished
satirist, _Princess Minute and King Floridor_ presents us with a
sound and serious moral, which at this moment, when the sacrifice
of important interests to routine and etiquette has caused so much
animadversion, is singularly _apropos_. It also reads a pleasant lesson
to those who neglect or misuse the great means and opportunities
which it has pleased Providence to bestow upon them, and amidst all
its whimsical extravagances, never ceases to whisper in the words of
Solomon--
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise.
Floridor was the name of a celebrated French actor of the seventeenth
century. In _Le Temple du Destin_, written by Le Sage, and acted at
the Fair of St. Laurent in 1715, the High Priest of Destiny observes
upon the vanity of an actor--
Tout ce qui reluit n'est pas or
Ils out tous ce génie,
Chacun se croit un Floridor
La plaisante manie!