AMERICAN JOURNEY IMPOSSIBLE. 363 



by to obtain a little freedom, for if my posi- 

 tion here is not changed I shall be forced to 

 seek the means of existence elsewhere. Mean- 

 time, extravagant projects present themselves, 

 as is apt to be the case when one is in diffi- 

 culties. That of accompanying you to the 

 United States was so tempting, that I am bit- 

 terly disappointed to think that its execution 

 becomes impossible in my present circum- 

 stances. All my projects for further publi- 

 cations must also be adjourned, or perhaps 

 renounced. . . . Possibly, when my work on 

 the fossil fishes is completed, the sale of some 

 additional copies may help me to rise again. 

 And yet I have not much hope of this, since 

 all the attempts of my friends to obtain sub- 

 scriptions for me in France and Russia have 

 failed : because the French government takes 

 no interest in what is done out of Paris ; and 

 in Russia such researches, having little direct 

 utility, are looked upon with indifference. Do 

 you think any position would be open to me 

 in the United States, where I might earn 

 enough to enable me to continue the publica- 

 tion of my unhappy books, which never pay 

 their way because they do not meet the wants 

 of the world ? . . . 



