AUDUBON 



II 



Bayonne, and, I believe, had a large family, none of whom I have 

 ever seen or known. ^ 



In personal appearance my father and I were of the same 

 height and stature, say about five feet ten inches, erect, and with 

 muscles of steel ; his manners were those of a most polished 

 gentleman, for those and his natural understanding had been care- 

 fully improved both by observation and by self-education. In tem- 

 per we much resembled each other also, being warm, irascible, and 

 at times violent ; but it was like the blast of a hurricane, dreadful for 

 a time, when calm almost instantly returned. He greatly approved 

 of the charge in France during the time of Napoleon, whom he 

 almost idolized. My father died in 1818, regretted most de- 

 servedly on account of his simplicity, truth, and perfect sense of 

 honesty. Now I must return to myself. 



My stepmother, who was devotedly attached to me, far too 

 much so for my good, was desirous that I should be brought up to 

 live and die " like a gentleman," thinking that fine clothes and 

 filled pockets were the only requisites needful to attain this end. 

 She therefore completely spoiled me, hid my faults, boasted to 

 every one of my youthful merits, and, worse than all, said fre- 

 quently in my presence that I was the handsomest boy in France. 

 All my wishes and idle notions were at once gratified ; she went 

 so far as actually to grant me carte blanche at all the confection- 

 ery shops in the town, and also of the village of Cou^ron, where 

 during the summer we lived, as it were, in the country. 



My father was quite of another, and much more valuable 

 description of mind as regarded my future welfare ; he believed 

 not in the power of gold coins as efficient means to render a man 

 happy. He spoke of the stores of the mind, and having suffered 

 much himself through the want of education, he ordered that I 

 should be put to school, and have teachers at home. " Revolu- 

 tions," he was wont to say, " too often take place in the lives of 

 individuals, and they are apt to lose in one day the fortune they 

 before possessed; but talents and knowledge, added to sound 

 mental training, assisted by honest industry, can never fail, nor be 



* This brother left three daughters ; only one married, and her descen- 

 dants, if any, cannot be traced. 



