172 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



future, which has often made me anxious. 

 You know your mother's heart too well to 

 misunderstand her thought, even should its ex- 

 pression be unacceptable to you. With much 

 knowledge, acquired by assiduous industry, 

 you are still at twenty-five years of age living 

 on brilliant hopes, in relation, it is true, with 

 great people, and known as having distin- 

 guished talent. Now, all this would seem to me 

 delightful if you had an income of fifty thou- 

 sand francs ; but, in your position, you must 

 absolutely have an occupation which will enable 

 you to live, and free you from the insupport- 

 able weight of dependence on others. From 

 this day forward, my dear child, you must 

 look to this end alone if you would find it pos- 

 sible to pursue honorably the career you have 

 chosen. Otherwise constant embarrassments 

 will so limit your genius, that you will fall 

 below your own capacity. If you follow our 

 advice you will perhaps reach the result of 

 your work in the natural sciences a little later, 

 but all the more surely. Let us see how you 

 can combine the work to which you have al- 

 ready consecrated so much time, with the pos- 

 sibility of self-support. It appears from your 

 letter to your brother that you see no one in 

 Paris ; the reason seems to me a sad one, but it 



