Page:Memoirs of a Huguenot Family.djvu/30



I the narrative with what I know of my father, the youngest child and only son of James de la Fontaine, who received his own name, James. He was of delicate constitution, and he was from the earliest age very fond of books, which circumstances decided his father not to bring him up to a trade of any kind, but to make every possible effort to cultivate his taste for study, and to give him an education to fit him for one of the learned professions. He was assisted by several friends in this undertaking, but most effectually by Mr. Merlin, a sincere and worthy servant of God, a Protestant minister in Rochelle, who gave James gratuitous instruction in various branches of knowledge.

My father's inclination towards the office of the holy ministry soon evinced itself, and he did not hesitate to follow the pious impulse, though fully aware of the dangers incident to the vocation. When his education was somewhat advanced, his pious and generous friend, Mr. Merlin, further assisted him by recommending him to the Countess of Royan as a suitable tutor to a young relation of hers. In that capacity he