Eusebe Martin was neither astonished nor mistaken. He had dreamed, in his country home, of a city built of gold and paved with rubies and emeralds. He saw only a mass of stones and mud. He walked for some time without raising his eyes, and then, looking about him, without giving serious attention to any thing, he decided that the best thing he could do was to go and consult his Voltairian friend, the merchant, who would not fail to give him good advice.
Lansade received the young man with open arms, and detained him to breakfast. As soon as they were seated at the table, the porcelain-dealer began to question him earnestly.
“You see, my young friend, I did not wish, last evening, to be intrusive, or to aggravate your annoyances, by inquiring into the precise object that brought you to Paris. But I hope that now, since you seek counsel of me, you will tell me truly what are your intentions, and what is your aim.”
“I have already told you that I have come to visit the capital of the civilized world, to see life, study civilization, and, if possible, to distinguish the true from the false; and, finally, I have come here in obedience to my father’s wishes.”
“Verily,” responded Lansade, “I do not comprehend a word of what you tell me. To see life there is but one way, and that is, to live. To study civilization you had no need to come so far: it is everywhere. Do you believe Limoges is peopled by savages? They traffic there as well as elsewhere, and perhaps better. Civilization, you see, is commerce, and nothing else. Work is truth.”
Eusebe responded,—
“Then I will work.”