What could excite in you any
curiosity as to my affairs? You once knew
me a simple lad, plying the file and tweezers
at the bench of a watchmaker, with
no prospect before me but of labouring,
for a few years, at least, as a petty and
obscure journeyman, at the same bench
where I worked five years as an apprentice.
I was sprung from obscurity, destitute
of property, of parents, of paternal
friends; was full of that rustic diffidence,
that inveterate humility, which are alone
sufficient to divert from us the stream of
fortune's favours.
Such was I three years ago! Now am I
rich, happy, crowned with every terrestrial
felicity, in possession of that most
exquisite of all blessings, a wife, endowed
with youth, grace, dignity, discretion.
I do not, on second thoughts, wonder
at your curiosity. It was impossible for
me to have foreseen, absurd to have hoped
for such a destiny. All that has happened,
was equally beyond my expectations and
deservings.
You ask me how all these surprising
things came about? The inclosed letters,
which I have put into a regular series,
contain all the information you wish.
The pacquet is a precious one; you will
find in it, a more lively and exact picture
of my life, than it is possible, by any other
means, to communicate. Preserve it,
therefore, with care, and return it safely
and entire, as soon as you have read it.
