The moment the shutter drew back I
hastened to embrace her, frequently half asleep, in her bed; and
this salute, pure as it was affectionate, even from its innocence,
possessed a charm which the senses can never bestow. We usually
breakfasted on milk-coffee; this was the time of day when we had
most leisure, and when we chatted with the greatest freedom. These
sittings, which were usually pretty long, have given me a fondness for
breakfasts, and I infinitely prefer those of England, or
Switzerland, which are considered as a meal, at which all the family
assemble, than those of France, where they breakfast alone in their
several apartments, or more frequently have none at all. After an hour
or two passed in discourse, I went to my study till dinner;
beginning with some philosophical work, such as the logic of
Port-Royal, Locke's Essays, Mallebranche, Leibnitz, Descartes, etc.
I soon found that these authors perpetually contradict each other, and
formed the chimerical project of reconciling them which cost me much
labor and loss of time, bewildering my head without any profit. At
length (renouncing this idea) I adopted one infinitely more
profitable, to which I attribute all the progress I have since made,
notwithstanding the defects of my capacity; for 'tis certain I had
very little for study. On reading each author, I acquired a habit of
following all his ideas, without suffering my own or those of any
other writer to interfere with them, or entering into any dispute on
their utility.
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