, the fame of which has not yet faded
from the memory of some survivors. The splendor of his retinue was the
astonishment of foreign courts; and the journals of the time constantly
chronicled the princely magnificence of his entertainments, and the
costly extravagance of his household. Wagers were the fashionable
pastime of the period; and to the absurd extent to which this passion
was carried, are we in all probability now indebted for that character
of eccentricity by which our countrymen are known over all Europe.

The most perilous exploits, the most reckless adventures, ordeals of
personal courage, strength, endurance, and address, were invented as
the subject of these wagers; and there was nothing too desperately
hazardous, nor too absurdly ridiculous, as not to find a place in such
contests. My father had run the gauntlet through all, and in every
adventure was said to have acquitted himself with honor and distinction.

Of one only of these exploits do I intend to make mention here; the
reason for the selection will soon be palpable to my reader. At the time
I speak of, Paris possessed two circles totally distinct in the great
world of society. One was that of the Court; the other rallied around
the Duc d'Orleans. To this latter my father's youth, wealth, and
expensive tastes predisposed him, and he soon became one of the most
favored guests of the Palais Royal. Scanty as are the materials which
have reached us, there is yet abundant reason to believe that never, in
the most abandoned days of the Regency, was there any greater degree
of profligacy than then prevailed there. Every vice and debauchery of
a corrupt age was triumphant, and even openly defended on the base and
calumnious pretence that the company was at least as moral as that of
the "Petit Trianon." My father, I have said, was received into this set
with peculiar honor. His handsome figure, his winning manners, an easy
disposition, and an ample fortune were ready recommendations in his
favor, and he speedily became the chosen associate of the Prince.

Amongst his papers are to be found the unerring proofs of what this
friendship cost him. Continued losses at play had to be met by loans
of money, at the most ruinous rates of interest; and my poor father's
memoranda are filled with patriarchal names that too surely attest the
nature of such transactions. It would seem, however, that fortune
at last took a turn,--at least, the more than commonly wastefu