Page:A French Volunteer of the War of Independence.djvu/187

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OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.
163


man whose talents were only surpassed by his good qualities.

A consultation was held as to the best means of gaining a livelihood, and the plan agreed upon was strictly followed. Adversity is the touchstone of resolute minds, and men of resolution rarely fail to win in the long run. My brother and his wife afford an instructive and encouraging example of what can be done by a father and a mother having united aims, and trust in God and in their own efforts. To vanquish evil fortune, they called in the aid of resignation, courage, employment, and perseverance, and joined to those qualities, fore-sight, economy, and natural, or acquired, aptitude.

It is with admiration mingled with respect that I think of their continual labour day and night, and its gradually widening results, and that I remember the more or less fortunate attempts, which marked the reconstruction of my brother's fortune. Though he had possessed rich estates, and houses in Paris, he had lost all, and his total resources, in a strange country, did