[19] In the old Greek legend the Atreidae, or children of Atreus, were doomed to punishment because of the abominable crime of their father. The Agamemnon of Aeschylus is based on this legend.
[20] The performance of the civil marriage.
[21] In Molière’s comedy, Le Misanthrope.
[22] Literally, “the basket,” because wedding gifts were originally brought in such a receptacle.
[23] Germain Pillon was a famous French sculptor (1535-1598). His best known work is “The Three Graces,” now in the Louvre.
[24] Frédérick Lemaître—French actor (1800-1876). Robert Macaire is the hero of two favorite melodramas—“Chien de Montargis” and “Chien d’Aubry”—and the name is applied to bold criminals as a term of derision.
[25] The Spahis are French cavalry reserved for service in Africa.
[26] Savate: an old shoe.
[27] Guilbert de Pixérécourt, French dramatist (1773-1844).
[28] Gaspard Puget, the sculptor-architect, was born at Marseilles in 1615.