Excerpt from Chambers's Miscellany of Instructive and Entertaining Tracts, Vol. 6 One of the most cruel wrongs Sophia had committed on her brother was that of keeping him in ignorance, and surrounding him, at the very age when character is formed, with every temptation to excess and dissipation. It cannot be supposed that he escaped the contamination Of such lures; but most truly has it been said, that 'his virtues were all his own, his vices those of his education and country.' He early evinced one quality of a great mind - the com prehension of his own ignorance, joined to the most ardent thirst for knowledge. His, too, was that faculty inseparable from the man born to be a great ruler - that quick and certain appreciation of the character and talents of others, which always enabled him to know the fit instrument with which to work out his plans. Thus, happening to dine one day at the house of the Danish minister, he was struck with the manners and conversation of the private secretary, at once perceiving the superiority of his mind. This was a youthful Genevese, named Lefort, who had been educated for a mercantile profession; but being of an adventurous disposition, and early displaying decided military talents, had enlisted as a volunteer, and served in the Low Countries. After encountering several dangers, and having a narrow escape of transportation to Siberia, though for what Offence we cannot discover, he found his way to Moscow, and obtained employment in the capacity we have mentioned. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.