," he
goes on, "that I saw you enter parliament with regret, and I think I
was only too good a prophet. I am sure that career has caused you more
privations than joys, more pains than pleasures. Ever since I have
known you I have been convinced that your happiness lay in your study
and in society, and that any path which led you elsewhere was a
departure from happiness." Through nine pages of gentle and friendly
eloquence Deyverdun pursues his argument to induce his friend to
clinch the bargain. "I advise you not only not to solicit a place, but
to refuse one if it were offered to you. Would a thousand a year make
up to you for the loss of five days a week?... By making this retreat
to Switzerland, besides the beauty of the country and the pleasures of
its society, you will acquire two blessings which you have lost,
liberty and competence. You will also be useful, your works will
continue to enlighten us, and, independently of your talents, the man
of honour and refinement is never useless." He then skilfully exhibits
the attractions he has to offer. "You used to like my house and
garden; what would you do now? On the first floor, which looks on the
declivity of Ouchy, I have fitted up an apartment which is enough for
me. I have a servant's room, two _salons_, two cabinets. On a level
with the terrace two other _salons_, of which one serves as a
dining-room in summer, and the other a drawing-room for company. I
have arranged three more rooms between the house and the coachhouse,
so that I can offer you all the large apartment, which consists
actually of eleven rooms, great and small, looking east and south, not
splendidly furnished, I allow, but with a certain elegance which I
hope you will like. The terrace is but little altered ... it is lined
from end to end with boxes of orange-trees. The vine-trellis has
prospered, and extends nearly to the end. I have purchased the
vineyard below the garden, and in front of the house made it into a
lawn, which is watered by the water of the fountain.... In a word,
strangers come to see the place, and in spite of my pompous
description of it I think you will like it.... If you come, you will
find a tranquillity which you cannot have in London, and a friend who
has not passed a single day without thinking of you, and who, in spite
of his defects, his foibles, and his inferiority, is still one of the
companions who suits you best."

More letters followed from both sides in a similar