one of my boyhood mates, though not nearly so old as myself. We have
always loved each other tenderly, and have shown too many proofs of
mutual affection not to count upon one another. He is a brother to me.
You know all I mean by that expression. Well--a few days ago, he wrote to
me from Toulouse, where he was to spend some time: 'If you love me, come;
I have the greatest need of you. At once! Your consolations may perhaps
give me the courage to live. If you arrive too late--why, forgive me--and
think sometimes of him who will be yours to the last.' Judge of my grief
and fear on receipt of the above. I seat instantly for post-horses. My
old foreman, whom I esteem and revere (the father of General Simon),
hearing that I was going to the south, begged me to take him with me, and
to leave him for some days in the department of the Creuse, to examine
some ironworks recently founded there. I consented willingly to this
proposition, as I should thus at least have some one to whom I could pour
out the grief and anxiety which had been caused by this letter from
Bressac. I arrive at Toulouse; they tell me that he left the evening
before, taking arms with him, a prey to the most violent despair. It was
impossible at first to tell whither he had gone; after two days, some
indications, collected with great trouble, put me upon his track. At
last, after a thousand adventures, I found him in a miserable village.
Never--no, never, have I seen despair like this. No violence, but a
dreadful dejection, a savage silence. At first, he almost repulsed me;
then, this horrible agony having reached its height, he softened by
degrees, and, in about a quarter of an hour, threw himself into my arms,
bathed in tears. Beside him were his loaded pistols: one day later, and
all would have been over. I cannot tell you the reason of his despair; I
am not at liberty to do so; but it did not greatly astonish me. Now there
is a complete cure to effect. We must calm, and soothe, and heal this
poor soul, which has been cruelly wounded. The hand of friendship is
alone equal to this delicate task, and I have good hope of success. I