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If, instead of this remark, my father had taken the pains to

explain to me that the principles of Agrippa had been entirely

exploded and that a modern system of science had been introduced

which possessed much greater powers than the ancient, because the

powers of the latter were chimerical, while those of the former

were real and practical, under such circumstances I should

certainly have thrown Agrippa aside and have contented my

imagination, warmed as it was, by returning with greater ardour

to my former studies. It is even possible that the train of my

ideas would never have received the fatal impulse that led to my

ruin. But the cursory glance my father had taken of my volume by

no means assured me that he was acquainted with its contents, and

I continued to read with the greatest avidity.