LETTER FROM HIS FATHER. 69 



fulfill the condition. But let me say that the 

 more clearly a man sees the road before him, 

 the less likely he is to lose his way or take the 

 wrong turn, — the better he can divide his 

 stages and his resting-places. . . . 



FROM HIS FATHER. 



Orbe, March 25, 1828. 

 ... I have had a long talk about you 

 with your uncle. He does not at all disap- 

 prove of your letters, of which I told him the 

 contents. He only insists, as we do, on the 

 necessity of a settled profession as absolutely 

 essential to your financial position. Indeed, 

 the natural sciences, however sublime and at- 

 tractive, offer nothing certain in the future. 

 They may, no doubt, be your golden bridge, 

 or you may, thanks to them, soar very high, 

 but — modern Icarus — may not also some 

 adverse fortune, an unexpected loss of popu- 

 larity, or, perhaps, some revolution fatal to 

 your philosophy, bring you down with a som- 

 ersault, and then you would not be sorry to 

 find in your quiver the means of gaining 

 your bread. Agreed that you have now an 

 invincible repugnance to the practice of med- 

 icine, it is evident from your last two letters 

 that you would have no less objection to any 



