152 Luck and Ill-Luck. [FEB. 



other skies, and in different cliraatos. I realised my little fortune, and 

 resolving to speculate upon it, 1 became a voluntary exile from my jeering 

 country. 



" Commerce, the link of nations, the parent of civilization, the perpetual 

 source from which all the blessings and luxuries of life are supplied, is, to 

 a thinking man, an object worthy of the most profound meditation. In 

 spite of the contempt which little people, with great airs, or great names 

 affect to feel for it, it is, said I, to extend or protect commerce that all 

 wars are undertaken, that kings risk the security of their thrones, and 

 shed the blood even of their nobles ; that diplomacy supplies all the re- 

 sources of genius and cunning; that the useful arts are perfected, and that 

 an external correspondence of emulation and activity is kept up in all the 

 civilized world. I became then a merchant : I established myself in the 

 West-Indies, into which I imported the productions of French manufac- 

 tures, and sent back to France in return trans-atlantic commodities, always 

 excepting Jesuit's bark : for, superior to Coriolanus, I did not wish to injure 

 my ungrateful compatriots. My commercial transactions prospered beyond 

 my expectations ; and in a few years, my funds having increased tenfold, 

 permitted me to revisit, with a large fortune honourably acquired, the dear 

 spot where I was born, and to brave the jokes and nick-names of my old 

 rivals. With the hope of making a still more considerable addition to my 

 fortune, I employed the greatest part of my capital in the purchase of India 

 stuffs, then very fashionable in Paris, and embarked immediately for 

 France, with my mind full of the most flattering projects of future happi- 

 ness. The voyage was prosperous : but on disembarking T found that 

 almost all my goods had been pierced and gnawed through by a little 

 worm which had got into the bales. I was ruined. The next day 

 another ship, freighted by that same Bernard, who seemed destined to 

 pursue me every where, arrived with a cargo of the same stuffs he had 

 the market to himself, and for the third time he profited by my disaster. 



" Despair seized on me. A Russian general, with whom I had returned 

 from the West Indies, advised travelling to rally my spirits, and proposed 

 to me to accompany him into his own country, where, he said, I could 

 not fail to obtain an advantageous employment from my varied knowledge, 

 and the protection which, at that time, the Russian government held out 

 to the French. I accepted his proposal, and set out for St. Peters- 

 burg, where I soon became acquainted with the most powerful men of 

 the court. I asked for a professorship a seat in the judicature or a place 

 in the administration ; but a war with Sweden occupied every body's 

 attention, and the only answer I received was, we want soldiers, not pro- 

 fessors ; we want soldiers, not judges ; we want soldiers, not secretaries. 

 J called on my friend the General, and he made me his aide-de-camp. 

 The war broke out. I distinguished myself in some smart engagements, 

 and was fortunate enough to save the li'fe of Marshal Lacy, at the battle 

 of Willmanstrand. From that time, he became my declared patron, and 

 I cherished a hope of acquiring fame in a military career. I commanded 

 the corps which was tho first to penetrate into the Isle of Aliand ; 

 and the Empress Elizabeth, on the conclusion of peace, deigned to write 

 me a letter, with her own hand, expressing of her satisfaction at my con- 

 duct, and appointing me governor of Astracan. 



" Every thing was going on in the most favourable way possible for me : 

 and I had no further ambition but the honour of commanding in chief in an 

 action of sufficient importance to prove my capacity, and to give me a 



