It was this delineation, worthy of Virgil, which first raised a doubt
as to Delille's superiority over Gourdon. The word "disc," contested
by the opinionated Brunet, gave matter for discussions which lasted
eleven months; in fact, until Gourdon the scientist, one evening when
all present were on the point of getting seriously angry, annihilated
the anti-discers by observing:--

"The moon, called a _disc_ by poets, is undoubtedly a ball."

"How do you know that?" retorted Brunet. "We have never seen but one
side."

The third canto told the regulation story,--in this instance, the
famous anecdote of the cup-and-ball which all the world knows by
heart, concerning a celebrated minister of Louis XVI. According to the
sacred formula delivered by the "Debats" from 1810 to 1814, in praise
of these glorious words, Gourdon's ode "borrowed fresh charms from
poesy to embellish the tale."

The fourth canto summed up the whole, and concluded with these daring
words,--not published, be it remarked, from 1810 to 1814; in fact,
they did not see the light till 1824, after Napoleon's death.

'Twas thus that I sang in the time of alarms.
Oh, if kings would consent to bear no other arms,
And people enjoyed what was best for them all,
The sweet little game of the Cup and the Ball,
Our Burgundy then might be free of all fear,
And return to the good days of Saturn and Rhea.