656 
and even to madnefs, But, Ludolf, 
your folly pleafes me, as it announces 
a frank and Joyal charaéter. Come and 
fee me fometimes while you remain at 
Affen ; perhaps it may be in my power 
to ferve you. 
Ludolf, Cfurveying Sophia.) I thall 
take advantage of this permiffion with 
extreme pleafure, but I beg leave to 
inform you, before hand, that it will 
never be in your power to do any thing 
for me, as I am determined to be the 
artifan of my own fortune; . ~dOEE 
‘fllould dread, were I to obtain any thing 
from another, it would be at the ex- 
pence of my own liberty.” 
The Barox. ‘* Oh, oh, you are quite 
an original! ... . Good night, my 
friend... . anddo not forget your 
romife.” 
Ludolf#. * No, no, M. le Baron, but 
I am greatly afraid that our friend{hip 
will not be of long duration.” 
The Baron. ‘Our friendfhip!.... 
but why fhould it not continue?” 
Ludolf. “+ Becaufe in me you would 
never wifh to contemplate any thing 
elfe but the fon of a {fchoel-mafter ; 
while in my eyes a baron wiil appear 
no more than a man.” 
On this the Baron attempted to re- 
turn to his caftle; but as his legs trem- 
bled with age, he was fcarcely able to 
move alone; on which Ludolff inftantly 
advanced, and prefented him with his 
arm. Cn this, the other exclaimed, 
with an air half offended and half jocu- 
Jar, ** How can you, Mr. Philofopher, 
ferve your equal, and, what is ftill 
worfe, a baron.’’—*< Life,” replies Lu- 
dolf, *‘is merely a commerce of reci- 
procal fervices; one contracts a debt 
during infancy, which, at a diftant pe- 
riod, we are bound to repay to old age; 
and, in confequence of this, I would 
have prefented _my arm to old Max, 
your gardener.” 
Notwithfanding fome fentiments 
which were uttered during this inter- 
view, could not but appear offenfive to 
2 noble educated in thé old fchool, the 
gates of the caftle were always open on 
the approach of the young philofopher, 
who foon became enamoured with the 
fair Sophia, notwithitanding ail his 
prejudices. ‘* Sophia,” fays he, ‘* isa 
barone!s; fhe is rich, and as tar me, I 
am at once deftitute of title and of for- 
tune! Ff we marry, TV ihall be folely in- 
debted.to her former opulence, and, in 
fome meafure, defpoil her both of her 
rank and her riches. Our children, 
Retrofped of French Literature.—Novels. 
perhaps, will one day blufh for their, 
father! Such a cruel idea would haunt 
me even in the arms of my wife, for 
the companion of my life ought to be 
my equal. ‘A hufband might raife to 
his own rank the woman “adopted by 
his heart; but, on the contrary, when 
love makes a lady defcend from an 
elevated ftation into the arms of an ob- 
{cure hufband, the order of things is 
inverted, and he cannot gratify his at- 
tachments but at the expence of her 
liberty and dignity. Sophia! for thy 
happinefs, as well as my own, it be-. 
comes neceffary that I fhould ftifle the 
love that begins to prey upon my 
heart .... Were thy father himfelf, to 
make me an offer of thy hand, I would 
refute it.” 
Notwithftanding thefe fine fentiments 
and proteftations, Ludolff at length 
declares his paffion for the young ba- 
ronefs, and is difcovered by her father 
at her feet. On this, he is forbid to 
appear in her prefence again, and the 
approach to the caitle is from this mo- 
ment interdiéted. Unable to derive 
any cenfolation from his philofophy, - 
Ludolff leaves Germany, which he 
confiders the favorite region of preju- - 
dices, and arrivesin France. On en- 
tering the city of Strafburg, he enjoys 
the novelty of the fcene around him, 
and rejoices to find himfelf exempt 
from thofe humiliations which his lowly 
birth had fubjected him to in his native, 
country. 
After a variety of adventures, and a 
fucceflion of good and bad fortune, he 
at length returns, at the end of twelve 
years, to the village of Affen, where he 
remains fome time without being re- 
cognized by any of the inhabitants, 
and hears a great deal about Ludolff, 
the young philofopher, who had for- 
merly lived there. On enquiry after 
his miftrefs, he learns that fhe had mar- 
ried a cont aa th who was lately dead, 
and that fhe was in want of a tutor for 
her fon, a fine fprightly boy. He ac- 
cordingly prefents himfelf m this ca- 
pacity ; his fervices are accepted, and 
he at length becomes the hufband of. 
the baronefs, who is ftill young and 
handiome. 
‘¢ Le Chevalier de Blamon, ou quel- 
gues Folies de ma Jeunefic.”"—The . 
Chevalier de Blamon, or a few of the 
Follies of my Youth, by the Author of , 
the ‘ Forzes Myierieutes,” the,‘ Ca- 
puchins,” &c, &e. 3 vols. in 12mo, 
with plates. 
The 
