“But I must not forget to tell you of a well-known individual whom I happened to meet at this time; an interesting encounter that reconciled me for some days longer to my wandering life. The person to whom I refer is a very remarkable man, who still holds a most respectable position in Paris, and whose name is no doubt known to you: I mean Philip Ledru, commonly called Comus.”
“Certainly,” said M. Goefle; “I have seen it stated in my scientific journal that this skilful prestigiator was a profound physicist, and that his researches upon the magnet had enriched science with various new instruments of rare perfection. Is it the same person?”
“The same, M. Goefle. Comus has been appointed professor to the young French princes; he has prepared a set of nautical charts upon a new system, the result of an immense series of researches, undertaken by the king’s order, and has furnished M. de la Perouse with a set of manuscript copies of these charts. Indeed, ever since the time when I first encountered him travelling about the country, in the character of a poor but learned man, furnishing the public with instruction in the form of amusement, he has steadily and rapidly risen in the public esteem, in the favor of the ministry, and in the command of means for making practical the results of his profound knowledge.
“I first met this really great man, not exactly in the public streets of Lyons, but in a hall intended for the representations of wandering performers, and which we both wished to hire for our several purposes. As I was used to a good deal of absurdity or else coarseness on the part of such competitors, I was quite on my guard; but as soon as Comus addressed me, I was struck by his charming and even distinguished manners. He was a man of about thirty-five years of age, and had a magnificent constitution. Equally vigorous in body and in mind, equally quick in his movements and ready and agreeable in conversation, he was, in a word, one of those admirably endowed human beings who must from necessity emerge from obscurity. He inquired about my employment, and seemed astonished to find that I was sufficiently educated to be able to converse with him. I told him about my circumstances, and he conceived a friendship for me.
“After coming to one of our performances, with which he was greatly diverted, he invited us, in his turn, to attend his exhibition. This I witnessed, much to my advantage, for Comus possessed various secrets known only to himself; which, however, consisted merely in some single application, out of a thousand, of his own profound discoveries. He was very willing to explain them to me, and finding that I was not without intelligence, he invited me to be his associate—to share with him his projects and adventures. I declined this proposition with regret, and to my own loss; with regret, because Comus was one of the best, the most disinterested, and the most sympathetic men I have ever known; and to my own loss, because, although then a travelling exhibitor in natural science, he was a person who could not fail before long to find some serious and useful employment for his great talents. I had sworn to Massarelli not to desert him, and he had no taste for the sciences.
“This meeting, which I was not wise enough to turn to account as far as regards my material interests, was so beneficial to me in a moral point of view, that I shall always thank God for it. Allow me to repeat to you, as briefly as possible, the advice which this judicious and excellent man was so kind as to give me—in the pleasantest and most friendly way, and without a tinge of pedantry—during a quiet supper that we took together at the inn, amongst the chests that contained our baggage; for we were ready to start on the next morning.
“‘My dear Goffredi,’ he said, ‘I am sorry to part with you so soon; the grief that you feel I share with my whole heart. We have been together only for a few days, but in that time I have learned to know and to appreciate you. But do not be uneasy or discouraged about your future life. It will be prosperous, if it is useful. You see that my advice is very different from what is usually given; but, if you follow it, you will find that it is dictated by sound common sense. Others will tell you to sacrifice everything to ambition; I tell you to give all your true interests precedence before ambition—as it is commonly understood. I mean to say this: be perfectly indifferent both to fortune and fame, and pursue only one single object, that of enlightening your fellow-men, no matter by what means, and no matter in what condition they may be. All means are good and noble which seek this end. You are only a buffoon, and I am only a sorcerer! Very good; we will laugh at our pursuits, and persevere in them, as long as the marionettes and the juggling can be made subservient to good ends. What I tell you now is the secret of being happy in spite of everything. For my part, I understand only two principles, and these constitute but one and the same precept: to love mankind, and to take no account of their prejudices. Contempt for error is esteem for man, is it not? Possessed of this secret, you will always be sufficiently rich and sufficiently famous. As for the lost time that you have been regretting, you are quite young enough to make up for it. I, also, at one time, was a little frivolous; a little vain of my youth, a little proud of my strength! But, after wasting rather foolishly my patriotism and enthusiasm in the flower of my age, I retrieved my errors, and since then have advanced steadily. My organization is vigorous, and so is yours. I work twelve hours a day, and any one can do as much who is not feeble or ill. Apply yourself to study, and leave silly minds to seek after pleasure. They will not find it where they look for it, and you will find it where it is; that is, in a quiet conscience and the exercise of your nobler faculties!’
“Having thus spoken, Comus divided his receipts into two different sums, the one large and the other small: the latter he kept for himself; but the former he sent as a gift to the hospitals of the city. I was very much struck with the simplicity and cheerfulness with which he made this disposition of his money, as if performing an habitual and indispensable duty, and one so natural that it did not even occur to him to conceal it. I reproached myself also for having forgotten for so long a time the precepts and examples of my dear friends, the Goffredis; for all that M. Comus said and did reminded me of them. Thus it was, M. Goefle, that a wandering juggler preached to and converted a highway improvisatore.
“We reached Paris after a journey that had lasted three months, and which I recall as one of the most agreeable experiences of my life. I had not wasted my time on the road, for I had studied carefully both nature and society, as far as they were accessible to one who, without claiming remarkable perspicacity, is not more obtuse than his neighbors. I had taken notes, and fancied, since I had something to say and felt competent to say it, that I would have no sort of difficulty in living by my pen in the centre of letters and of arts.
“It was a sombre and melancholy autumn day when we entered the great city. I found it hard to imagine that any one could become accustomed to such a climate, and Guido, from the very first, showed visible signs of gloom and discouragement. We hired a miserable little furnished room at a very high rate, and having taken possession, we adjusted our toilettes somewhat, dismantled our theatre, and locked the burattini in a box. It was our purpose to sell the establishment to some mountebank; and for a few days we devoted ourselves to studying the language, and visiting the monuments, exhibitions, and curiosities of the French metropolis.