Having quite abandoned literature, all I now thought of wasleading a quiet life, and one as agreeable as I could make it.Whenalone, I have never felt weariness of mind, not even in completeinaction; my imagination filling up every void, was sufficient to keepup my attention.The inactive babbling of a private circle, where,seated opposite to each other, they who speak move nothing but thetongue, is the only thing I have ever been unable to support.Whenwalking and rambling about there is some satisfaction in conversation;the feet and eyes do something; but to hear people with their armsacross speak of the weather, of the biting of flies, or what isstill worse, compliment each other, is to me an insupportable torment.
That I might not live like a savage, I took it into my head to learnto make laces.Like the women, I carried my cushion with me when Iwent to make visits, or sat down to work at my door, and chattedwith passers-by.This made me the better support the emptiness ofbabbling, and enabled me to pass my time with my female neighborswithout weariness.Several of these were very amiable and not devoidof wit.One in particular, Isabelle d'Yvernois, daughter of theattorney-general of Neuchatel, I found so estimable as to induce me toenter with her into terms of particular friendship, from which shederived some advantage by the useful advice I gave her, and theservices she received from me on occasions of importance, so thatnow a worthy and virtuous mother of a family, she is perhapsindebted to me for her reason, her husband, her life, and happiness.
On my part, I received from her gentle consolation, particularlyduring a melancholy winter, throughout the whole of which, when mysufferings were most cruel, she came to pass with Theresa and melong evenings, which she made very short to us by her agreeableconversation, and our mutual openness of heart.She called me papa,and I called her daughter, and these names, which we still give toeach other, will, I hope, continue to be as dear to her as they are tome.That my laces might be of some utility, I gave them to my youngfemale friends at their marriages, upon condition of their sucklingtheir children; Isabella's eldest sister had one upon these terms, andwell deserved it by her observance of them; Isabella herself alsoreceived another, which, by intention, she as fully merited.She hasnot been happy enough to be able to pursue her inclination.When Isent the laces to the two sisters, I wrote each of them a letter;the first has been shown about in the world; the second has not thesame celebrity: friendship proceeds with less noise.
Amongst the connections I made in my neighborhood, of which I willnot enter into a detail, I must mention that with Colonel Pury, whohad a house upon the mountain, where he came to pass the summer.I wasnot anxious to become acquainted with him, because I knew he wasupon bad terms at court, and with the lord marshal, whom he did notvisit.Yet, as he came to see me, and showed me much attention, Iwas under the necessity of returning his visit; this was repeated, andwe sometimes dined with each other.At his house I became acquaintedwith M.du Perou, and afterwards too intimately connected with himto pass his name over in silence.
M.du Perou was an American, son to a commandant of Surinam, whosesuccessor, M.le Chambrier, of Neuchatel, married his widow.Left awidow a second time, she came with her son to live in the country ofher second husband.
Du Perou, an only son, very rich, and tenderly beloved by hismother, had been carefully brought up, and his education was notlost upon him.He had acquired much knowledge, a taste for the arts,and piqued himself upon his having cultivated his rational faculty:
his Dutch appearance, yellow complexion, and silent and closedisposition, favored this opinion.Although young, he was already deafand gouty.This rendered his motions deliberate and very grave, andalthough he was fond of disputing, he in general spoke but littlebecause his hearing was bad.I was struck with his exterior, andsaid to myself, this is a thinker, a man of wisdom, such a one asanybody would be happy to have for a friend.He frequently addressedhimself to me without paying the least compliment, and thisstrengthened the favorable opinion I had already formed of him.Hesaid but little to me of myself or my books, and still less ofhimself; he was not destitute of ideas, and what he said was just.
This justness and equality attracted my regard.He had neither theelevation of mind, nor the discrimination of the lord marshal, buthe had all his simplicity; this was still representing him insomething.I did not become infatuated with him, but he acquired myattachment from esteem; and by degrees this esteem led tofriendship, and I totally forgot the objection I made to the BaronHolbach: that he was too rich.
For a long time I saw but little of Du Perou, because I did not goto Neuchatel, and he came but once a year to the mountain of ColonelPury.Why did not I go to Neuchatel? This proceeded from achildishness upon which I must not be silent.