Note 191 — Chapter XII

"You know they pique themselves much upon their Jewish name, and call cousins with the Virgin Mary. They have a picture in the family, where she is made to say to the founder of the houses, 'Couvrez-vous, mon cousin.' He replies, 'Non pas, mas très sainte cousine, je sais trop bien le respect que je vous dois.' There is said to have been another equally absurd picture in the same family, in which Noah is represented going into the ark, carrying under his arm a small trunk, on which was written, 'Papiers de la Maison de Lévis.'"—Walpole's Letters to Sir H. Mann, August 17th, 1749.