nd that travelling in wintry weather would be dangerous to his
life. He even made the most extraordinary request that any man in
similar straits ever did make. "In this extremity," he wrote to their
representative, "I only see one resource for me, and however frightful
it may appear, I will adopt it, not only without repugnance, but with
eagerness, if their excellencies will be good enough to give their
consent. It is that it should please them for me to pass the rest of
my days in prison in one of their castles, or such other place in
their states as they may think fit to select. I will there live at my
own expense, and I will give security never to put them to any cost. I
submit to be without paper or pen, or any communication from without,
except so far as may be absolutely necessary, and through the channel
of those who shall have charge of me. Only let me have left, with the
use of a few books, the liberty to walk occasionally in a garden, and
I am content. Do not suppose that an expedient, so violent in
appearance, is the fruit of despair. My mind is perfectly calm at this
moment; I have taken time to think about it, and it is only after
profound consideration that I have brought myself to this decision.
Mark, I pray you, that if this seems an extraordinary resolution, my
situation is still more so. The distracted life that I have been made
to lead for several years without intermission would be terrible for a
man in full health; judge what it must be for a miserable invalid worn
down with weariness and misfortune, and who has now no wish save only
to die in a little peace."[170]

That the request was made in all sincerity we may well believe. The
difference between being in prison and being out of it was really not
considerable to a man who had the previous winter been confined to his
chamber for eight months without a break.[171] In other respects the
world was as cheerless as any prison could be. He was an exile from
the only places he knew, and to him a land unknown was terrible. He
had thought of Vienna, and the Prince of Wuertemburg had sought the
requisite permission for him, but the priests were too strong in the
court of the house of Austria.[172] Madame d'Houdetot offered him a
resting-place in Normandy, and Saint Lambert in Lorraine.[173] He
thought of Potsdam. Rey, the printer, pressed him to go to Holland. He
wondered if he should have strength to cross the Alps and make his way
to Corsica. Eventually