e discipline of a ship. He was afterwards placed with
the Jesuits at Caen, with whom he made immense progress in his studies.
But, it is to be feared, he did not conform too well to the regulations
of the college, for he conceived, from that time, the greatest
detestation for places of public education. And this aversion he has
frequently testified in his writings. While devoted to his books of
travels, he in turn anticipated being a Jesuit, a missionary or a
martyr; but his family at length succeeded in establishing him at Rouen,
where he completed his studies with brilliant success, in 1757. He soon
after obtained a commission as an engineer, with a salary of one hundred
louis. In this capacity he was sent (1760) to Dusseldorf, under the
command of Count St. Germain. This was a career in which he might have
acquired both honour and fortune; but, most unhappily for St. Pierre,
he looked upon the useful and necessary etiquettes of life as so many
unworthy prejudices. Instead of conforming to them, he sought to trample
on them. In addition, he evinced some disposition to rebel against his
commander, and was unsocial with his equals. It is not, therefore, to be
wondered at, that at this unfortunate period of his existence, he made
himself enemies; or that, notwithstanding his great talents, or the
coolness he had exhibited in moments of danger, he should have been sent
back to France. Unwelcome, under these circumstances, to his family, he
was ill received by all.

It is a lesson yet to be learned, that genius gives no charter for the
indulgence of error,--a truth yet _to be_ remembered, that only a small
portion of the world will look with leniency on the failings of the
highly-gifted; and, that from themselves, the consequences of their
own actions can never be averted. It is yet, alas! _to be_ added to
the convictions of the ardent in mind, that no degree of excellence in
science or literature, not even the immortality of a name can exempt
its possessor from obedience to moral discipline; or give him happiness,
unless "temper's image" be stamped on his daily words and actions. St.
Pierre's life was sadly embittered by his own conduct. The adventurous
life he led after his return from Dusseldorf, some of the circumstances
of which exhibited him in an unfavourable light to others, tended,
perhaps, to tinge his imagination with that wild and tender melancholy
so prevalent in his writings. A prize in the lottery had just do