DE CANDOLLE. ICQ 



But it was done at the expense of his clothes, 

 which got torn off from him in many parts, by the 

 rocks, so that he had to slink home to avoid being 

 seen. Working hard at botany, the young en- 

 thusiast had very agreeable hours of relaxation. 

 He was in the midst of a charming homely society; 

 and there is no doubt that his purity of character 

 and thorough honesty of disposition were fostered 

 and intensified, by his having the friendship of 

 several young married and single women of good 

 education and position. They made him a polished 

 gentleman, and he used to say that that was the 

 happy time of his life; he had no cares or anxieties, 

 everything smiled on him, yet he was conscious 

 that it must end, and that he must prepare for 

 work and the struggle of life. 



Politics were always the trouble of the De 

 Candolle family, and they settled the future career 

 of the young botanist. Geneva was about to 

 become a portion of the French Republic, the 

 father of De Candolle lost one-half of his fortune, 

 and the young man went to Paris to learn how to 

 earn his bread after preliminary study. He had a 

 sad parting from the father who had been so good 

 to him, and who loved him so well, and arrived 

 at Paris, being received by an uncle, in March, 

 1798. After a few days of quietude, which he 

 spent in calling on his former friends, he deter- 

 mined to go into lodgings near the Jardin des 

 Plantes, and to work, leaving pleasure behind him, 

 and to be sought for when he could afford it. He 



