14 AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND 



down the plan the foundation of my religious 

 and political creed, with that aphorism : " No kings I 

 No Medium between Man and Heaven ; every one his 

 own arbitrator, free will ! in spiritual affairs." 



That year, 1830 to April, 1831, closed what 1 would 

 call the first phase of my life. Then I left Paris and 

 went to take possession of a situation as a gardener in 

 the province " Champagne," the classical land of the 

 wine so-called, where I lived over six years, the quietest 

 period of my life. There I could study without being 

 sneered at, but on the contrary I was encouraged to do 

 so. But, alas ! as before, I could not understand the 

 meaning of Latin and Greek names of plants, and at 

 that time we had not such a valuable work as Mr. Nich- 

 olson's " Dictionary of Gardening. 1 ' Somewhat as by 

 intuition I understood or guessed that such adjectives 

 as grandiflorus, grandiflora and grandiflorum meant 

 large flowers, but I was perplexed about the termination 

 in us, a and um. How I sighed at my ignorance, and 

 no way, I thought, to learn, for I was as most young 

 men were, and still are to-day. If you have not re- 

 ceived a collegiate education when young, you can 

 never get it after, especially when you are deprived of 

 means. Notwithstanding that drawback I felt that I 

 could do something. I was determined to try. One 

 day I heard of a certain gentleman a notary public. 



