'You fellows are very happy under the present government!–the women of the time are well mannered' (in order to appreciate the exclamation of the old gentleman, the reader should have heard the atrocious stories which the captain had been relating). 'And this,' he went on, 'is one of the advantages resulting from the Revolution. The present system gives very much more charm and mystery to passion. In former times women were easy; ah! indeed, you would not believe what skill it required, what daring, to wake up those worn-out hearts; we were always on the _qui vive_. But yet in those days a man became celebrated for a broad joke, well put, or for a lucky piece of insolence. That is what women love, and it will always be the best method of succeeding with them!'