Mr. Depew has not a very high opinion of English sense of humour.
This is an anecdote which he tells on the subject.
Mr. Depew and General Porter were present one evening at a dinner in London. The General had just terminated a speech, and Mr. Depew was called upon for one in his turn.
"Gentlemen," said he, rising, "I am in a great state of embarrassment. I had prepared a speech which General Porter, to my great surprise, has just given you word for word. The General and I occupied the same cabin on board the boat which brought us to England, and I strongly suspect he must have stolen my notes."
At this, it appears Mr. Depew heard an Englishman say to his neighbour:
"It is not the act of a gentleman."
I have sometimes heard it said that no man is really great who has no sense of humour and cannot see through a joke. If this is a rule, the French form an exception.
Corneille was one night looking on at a representation of Racine's "Plaideurs." When he heard the fine verse from the Cid, parodied, and applied by Racine to an old lawyer: