children, and, in order to do this easily, he thinks fit to
retain his present instructor, who is not very learned, but who
takes part in their games and joyous sports with wonderful
facility, who points out the letters of the alphabet to the
little girl, who takes the little boys to mass, and who, no less
obliging than the worthy Abbe P. of our acquaintance, would
readily dance for Madame's amusement. Such a profession would
not suit you, you who have a free, proud, and manly soul: you are
refused; let us dismiss the matter from our minds. Perhaps
another time my solicitude will be less unfortunate. I can only
ask your pardon for having thought of thus disposing of you
almost without consulting you. I find my excuse in the motives
which guided me; I had in view your well-being and advancement in
the ways of this world.

"I see in your letter, my comrade, through its brilliant
witticisms and beneath the frank and artless gayety with which
you have sprinkled it, a tinge of sadness and despondency which
pains me. You are unhappy, my friend: your present situation
does not suit you; you cannot remain in it, it was not made for
you, it is beneath you; you ought, by all means, to leave it,
before its injurious influence begins to affect your faculties,
and before you become settled, as they say, in the ways of your
profession, were it possible that such a thing could ever
happen, which I flatly deny. You are unhappy; you have not yet
entered upon the path which Nature has marked out for you. But,
faint-hearted soul, is that a cause for despondency? Ought you
to feel discouraged? Struggle, morbleu, struggle persistently,
and you will triumph. J. J. Rousseau groped about for forty
years before his genius was revealed to him. You are not J. J