A Start in Life [65]
that looked
as though the rats had gnawed them; also, the gilt edges were
tarnished with surprising perfection. As soon as the book was duly
prepared, the entries were made. The following extracts will show to
the most obtuse mind the purpose to which the office of Maitre
Desroches devoted this register, the first sixty pages of which were
filled with reports of fictitious cases. On the first page appeared as
follows, in the legal spelling of the eighteenth century:--
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, so be it. This
day, the feast of our lady Saincte-Geneviesve, patron saint of
Paris, under whose protection have existed, since the year 1525
the clerks of this Practice, we the under-signed, clerks and sub-
clerks of Maistre Jerosme-Sebastien Bordin, successor to the late
Guerbet, in his lifetime procureur at the Chastelet, do hereby
recognize the obligation under which we lie to renew and continue
the register and the archives of installation of the clerks of
this noble Practice, a glorious member of the Kingdom of Basoche,
the which register, being now full in consequence of the many acts
and deeds of our well-beloved predecessors, we have consigned to
the Keeper of the Archives of the Palais for safe-keeping, with
the registers of other ancient Practices; and we have ourselves
gone, each and all, to hear mass at the parish church of Saint-
Severin to solemnize the inauguration of this our new register.
In witness whereof we have hereunto signed our names: Malin, head-
clerk; Grevin, second-clerk; Athanase Feret, clerk; Jacques Heret,
clerk; Regnault de Saint-Jean-d'Angely, clerk; Bedeau, youngest
clerk and gutter-jumper.
In the year of our Lord 1787.
After the mass aforesaid was heard, we conveyed ourselves to
Courtille, where, at the common charge, we ordered a fine
breakfast; which did not end till seven o'clock the next morning.
This was marvellously well engrossed. An expert would have said that
it was written in the eighteenth century. Twenty-seven reports of
receptions of neophytes followed, the last in the fatal year of 1792.
Then came a blank of fourteen years; after which the register began
again, in 1806, with the appointment of Bordin as attorney before the
first Court of the Seine. And here follows the deed which proclaimed
the reconstitution of the kingdom of Basoche:--
God in his mercy willed that, in spite of the fearful storms which
have cruelly ravaged the land of France, now become a great
Empire, the archives of the very celebrated Practice of Maitre
Bordin should be preserved; and we, the undersigned, clerks of the
very virtuous and very worthy Maitre Bordin, do not hesitate to
attribute this unheard-of preservation, when all titles,
privileges, and charters were lost, to the protection of Sainte-
Genevieve, patron Saint of this office, and also to the reverence
which the last of the procureurs of noble race had for all that
belonged to ancient usages and customs. In the uncertainty of
knowing the exact part of Sainte-Genevieve and Maitre Bordin in
this miracle, we have resolved, each of us, to go to Saint-Etienne
du Mont and there hear mass, which will be said before the altar
of that Holy-Shepherdess who sends us sheep to shear, and also to
offer a breakfast to our master Bordin, hoping that he will pay
the costs.
Signed: Oignard, first clerk; Poidevin, second clerk; Proust,
clerk; Augustin Coret, sub-clerk.
At the office.
November, 1806.
At three in the afternoon, the above-named clerks hereby return
their grateful thanks to their excellent master, who regaled them
at the establishment of the Sieur Rolland restaurateur, rue du
Hasard, with exquisite wines of three regions, to wit: Bordeaux,
Champagne, and Burgundy, also with dishes most carefully chosen,
between
as though the rats had gnawed them; also, the gilt edges were
tarnished with surprising perfection. As soon as the book was duly
prepared, the entries were made. The following extracts will show to
the most obtuse mind the purpose to which the office of Maitre
Desroches devoted this register, the first sixty pages of which were
filled with reports of fictitious cases. On the first page appeared as
follows, in the legal spelling of the eighteenth century:--
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, so be it. This
day, the feast of our lady Saincte-Geneviesve, patron saint of
Paris, under whose protection have existed, since the year 1525
the clerks of this Practice, we the under-signed, clerks and sub-
clerks of Maistre Jerosme-Sebastien Bordin, successor to the late
Guerbet, in his lifetime procureur at the Chastelet, do hereby
recognize the obligation under which we lie to renew and continue
the register and the archives of installation of the clerks of
this noble Practice, a glorious member of the Kingdom of Basoche,
the which register, being now full in consequence of the many acts
and deeds of our well-beloved predecessors, we have consigned to
the Keeper of the Archives of the Palais for safe-keeping, with
the registers of other ancient Practices; and we have ourselves
gone, each and all, to hear mass at the parish church of Saint-
Severin to solemnize the inauguration of this our new register.
In witness whereof we have hereunto signed our names: Malin, head-
clerk; Grevin, second-clerk; Athanase Feret, clerk; Jacques Heret,
clerk; Regnault de Saint-Jean-d'Angely, clerk; Bedeau, youngest
clerk and gutter-jumper.
In the year of our Lord 1787.
After the mass aforesaid was heard, we conveyed ourselves to
Courtille, where, at the common charge, we ordered a fine
breakfast; which did not end till seven o'clock the next morning.
This was marvellously well engrossed. An expert would have said that
it was written in the eighteenth century. Twenty-seven reports of
receptions of neophytes followed, the last in the fatal year of 1792.
Then came a blank of fourteen years; after which the register began
again, in 1806, with the appointment of Bordin as attorney before the
first Court of the Seine. And here follows the deed which proclaimed
the reconstitution of the kingdom of Basoche:--
God in his mercy willed that, in spite of the fearful storms which
have cruelly ravaged the land of France, now become a great
Empire, the archives of the very celebrated Practice of Maitre
Bordin should be preserved; and we, the undersigned, clerks of the
very virtuous and very worthy Maitre Bordin, do not hesitate to
attribute this unheard-of preservation, when all titles,
privileges, and charters were lost, to the protection of Sainte-
Genevieve, patron Saint of this office, and also to the reverence
which the last of the procureurs of noble race had for all that
belonged to ancient usages and customs. In the uncertainty of
knowing the exact part of Sainte-Genevieve and Maitre Bordin in
this miracle, we have resolved, each of us, to go to Saint-Etienne
du Mont and there hear mass, which will be said before the altar
of that Holy-Shepherdess who sends us sheep to shear, and also to
offer a breakfast to our master Bordin, hoping that he will pay
the costs.
Signed: Oignard, first clerk; Poidevin, second clerk; Proust,
clerk; Augustin Coret, sub-clerk.
At the office.
November, 1806.
At three in the afternoon, the above-named clerks hereby return
their grateful thanks to their excellent master, who regaled them
at the establishment of the Sieur Rolland restaurateur, rue du
Hasard, with exquisite wines of three regions, to wit: Bordeaux,
Champagne, and Burgundy, also with dishes most carefully chosen,
between