word would describe him as well as a thousand; he was a French dog, taking the bread out of the mouths of the English.
Any one who had heard their accusation, would have supposed I was as rich as a Jew. I attended, to make my own defence, without the assistance of an attorney, and I had no fear for the result.
Mr. Mayor came to the point at once, and said to me, "Have you served an apprenticeship to all these trades?"
This question was quite to the purpose; for by law no man can carry on a trade to which he has not served an apprenticeship.
I rose without embarrassment to reply, and spoke in a tone loud enough to be heard throughout the court: "Gentlemen, in France a man is esteemed according to his qualifications; and men of letters and study are especially honored by every body, if they conduct themselves with propriety, even though they should not be worth a penny. All the nobility of the land, the lords, the marquises, and dukes take pleasure in the society of such persons. In fact, there, a man is thought fit for any honorable employment, if he be but learned; therefore, my father, who was a worthy minister of the Gospel, brought up four boys, of whom I was the youngest, in good manners and the liberal arts, hoping that wherever fortune might transport us, our education would serve instead of riches, and gain us honor among persons of honor. All the apprenticeship I have ever served, from the age of four years, has been to turn over the leaves of a book. I took the degree of Master of Arts at the age of twenty-two, and then devoted myself to the study of the Holy Scriptures. Hitherto, I had been thought worthy of the best company
