early friends, married at Amiens,
where Roland then carried on the functions of inspector of manufactures.
"You will receive this letter," wrote her friend, "by the hand of the
philosopher of whom I have spoken to you already, M. Roland, an
enlightened man, of antique manners; without reproach, except for his
passion for the ancients, his contempt of his age, and his too high
estimation of his own virtue. This portrait," she adds, "was just and
well depicted. I saw a man nearly fifty years of age, tall, careless in
his attitude, with that kind of awkwardness which a solitary life always
produces; but his manners were easy and winning, and without possessing
the elegance of the world, they united the politeness of the well-bred
man to the seriousness of the philosopher. He was very thin, with a
complexion much tanned; his brow, already covered by very little hair,
and very broad, did not detract from his regular but unattractive
features. He had, however, a pleasing smile, and his features an
animated play, which gave them a totally different appearance when he
was excited in speaking or listening. His voice was manly, his mode of
speech brief, like a man with shortened breath; his conversation, full
of matter, because his head was full of ideas, occupied the mind more
than it flattered the ear. His language was sometimes striking, but
harsh and inharmonious. This charm of the voice is a gift very rare, and
most powerful over the senses," she adds, "and does not merely depend on
the quality of the sound, but equally upon that delicate sensibility
which varies the expression by modifying the accent." This is enough to
assure us that Roland had not this charming gift.

X.

Roland, born of an honest tradesman's family, which had held magisterial
offices and asserted claims to nobility, was the youngest of five
brothers, and intended for the church. To avoid this destiny, which
disgusted him, he fled from his father's roof at nineteen, and went to
Nantes. Procuring a situation with a ship-builder, he was about to
embark for India in trade, when an illness at the moment he was to
embark prevented him. One of his relations, a superintendent of a
factory, received him at Rouen, and gave him a situation in his office.
This house, animated by the spirit of Turgot, made experiments in the
details of its business with all the sciences, and by political economy
with the loftiest problems of governments. It was peopled by
philos