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238 Biographical 
returned to the paternal manfion, and thus 
cherifhed an early and an ardent tafte for 
rural affairs. It appears, that he was 
anxious from his youth to guard himfelf 
againft the fedu&tions of the metropelis ; 
for neither the example of thofe young 
farmers, who repaired thither on purpofe 
to conceal the ftation, and difguife the 
name, of their parents; nor the frequent 
opportunities of procuring rapid and bril- 
liant fortunes, nor even the odium attached 
at that period to thofe who cultivated the 
earth,could avert the inclinations of young 
Cretté from the modeft career purfued by 
his anceftors. 
He accordinely left Paris precifely at 
that period when a great city prefents fo 
many allurements to youth; and fearcely 
had he forfook the benches of a {chool, 
before he refigned himfelt to agricultural 
labours. He was confcious, indéed, from 
the firt moment, that to cultivate the 
earth with utility, and enfure fuccefS, it 
was neceflary, above all things, to become 
acguainted with the details of rural eco- 
nomy. To accomplifh this, he neither 
atfected to be the rival nor the mafter of 
the labourers employed by his father, but 
their difciple; he himfclf handled the 
plough, and, not content with that, he 
made himfelf acquainted even with the, 
ftru€&ture of this inftrument, with a view 
of being ableto repair it on the fpot, in 
cafe of accident. A fingle year had not 
paffed away, before he was able to trace 
thofe lone and rectilinear furrows, the 
neatnefs and ftraightneis of which confti- 
tute the triumph ‘of the hufbandman. 
Often, with his fhare did he overturn the 
direction-poles, and he always poinied 
out with a joyful remembrance thofe 
fields that ‘had been the theatre of his ap- 
prenticefhip*, 
He was no more than feventeen years 
of age when his father, who was poftmaf- 
ter of St. Denis, entrufted him with the 
fuperintendance of his farms at Dugny 
and Bourget. Such an extraordinary de- 
gree of confidence on the part of a pa- 
rent, the aftonifhed countenances of the 
neighbouring inhabitants, the remarks of 
the young men of his own age—fo much 
care and fo many details were perhaps 
too much for him, and he became more 
ferious, and far lefs communicative than 
béforé. He was, however, fully compe- 
tent to the tafk he had undertaken, and 
* *¢ Pluficurs fois il avait foulevé avec le foc 
Je jalon 2 epreuve, et i] montrait toujours 5 avec un 
“ae - : i re tn 
Goux jouventr les terres, qui avaient été le theatre 
Pe aT Sea gf Be Mad 
de jon ap} rentifjuges 
Notice refpedting. Palluel. 
uid 
ae 
‘ 
[OGober 1; 
ae 
difplayed fo much juftice and mildnefS 
that he had the good fortune,notwithftan 
ing his extreme youth, to be beloved and 
refpeéted by all ander him. 
He, who was fo edger to quit Paris, 
was not likely to be deftrous of feleéting a 
partner from that metropolis. Cretté 
very prudently chofe one front a family 
addicted, like his own, to hufbandry; and 
this circumftance proved his good fenfe. 
His wife cheerfully participated in: all his 
plans, and refigned herfeif, with equal 
zeal and intelligence, to the details and 
occupations of rural life. Her name alfo 
is infcribed in the annals of French agri- 
culture, on account of having conceived, 
and brought to perfection, many 1mpfove- 
ments in refpect to domeftic economy. 
Two fons and a daughter were the fruits of 
this marriage. 
Cretté, become a hufband and‘a father, 
perfevered in his labours with additional 
ardour and fuccefs. He laid it down ag 
a principal duty to employ all his gains 
in perfecting and ameliorating the earth ; 
he accordingly created the fine farm of 
Dugny, and is among the {mall number 
of thofe who can be gmoted, as having 
augmented his patrimonial fortune by the 
labours of hufbandry. ey 
Dugny is fituated at the confluence of 
two little ftreams, and, before his time, 
that towards the eaft was accuftomed, af- 
ter a flight fhower, to overflow the ad~- 
joing meadows; and form a junétion 
with the other on the weit, which came 
from Garges, they, in confequence of 
this, had created a large marth. Cretté 
immediately conceived the defign of ren- 
dering the meadow fertile, and the {pot 
which he inhabited falubrious. . 
He had obferved the good effects of the 
plan adopted by the celebrated Bradley, 
to drain the plain between Bourget and 
St. Denis, which, at the commencement 
of the prefent century, formed an immenfe 
morafs ; and he conceived that the fame 
fcheme could be employed advantageoufly 
in his own neighbourhood. If he could 
vot, on this occafion, lay claim to the 
glory cf invention, he, at Jeaft, had the’ 
merit of bringing the idea to its utmoft 
poflible fate of perfection, and of having 
triumphed over a variety of obftacles. 
In the execution of this plan, he caufed 
an arch to be conftruied under the bed of 
the River.of Garges; and he contrived to 
give fuch a degree of ceclivity to the wa- 
ters as to prevent them from returning. 
He alfo caufed parallel ditches to be dug ; 
‘and rendered. the foil mere firm, as well 
as more falubrious, by means of planta- 
gap . tions, 
