By a turn in the wheel of fortune Girardin lost his place with the secretary, and went upon the exchange and solicited an humble office for the purpose of studying the chances there.  As soon as he considered himself fit to decide, he ventured in buying very heavily certain stocks, and lost nearly all his little property.  He was in despair and wrote to his father, who sent back an unfeeling letter.  It is told of him that he presented himself before his father with a loaded pistol in either hand, and threatened to shoot him, and then himself, if he would not give him his name.  This tale was undoubtedly invented by his enemies.  He tried to enter the army but was rejected on account of his sickly appearance.  He was go discouraged at this, that he attempted to commit suicide, and was saved from death as it were by a miracle.  He resolved never again to give way to a similar rashness, and tried once more to succeed in life.  He boldly took the name of Girardin, and though it was against law, yet his father feared scandal too much to institute legal measures against him.  He now offered his book—­Emile—­to the publishers.  It was eagerly caught up and sold rapidly.  In the midst of his success he went to the minister and demanded employment, naming his father as reference!  This bold application was successful, and he had a sinecure given him, as a kind of inspector of the fine arts.

He started a weekly journal with a friend, which was made up of selections.  It was called The Voleur, and at the end of a month had a circulation of ten thousand.  It was a dishonest mode of getting money, as no original writing was given.  The name, Voleur, means thief.  One of the authors whose writings were often quoted from in the Voleur, loudly remonstrated against the injustice of the procedure, and gaining no satisfaction, he fought a duel with Girardin, who was wounded in the shoulder, but the wound was not dangerous.  It was not his first duel—­he had fought with pistols in 1825.  He withdrew from the conductorship of the Voleur, and under the patronage of the duchess de Berri, started a new journal, called la Mode.  It had a great success, but as it waxed more and more liberal, the duchess repented her patronage, and finally withdrew it.  The act gave the journal three thousand new subscribers.  He foresaw the revolution of 1830, and sold out both his journals, thus taking excellent care of his property.  Under the new regime he started a weekly paper, which acquired a circulation of one hundred and twenty thousand copies.  He soon fell in love with Madamoiselle Delphine Gay, a talented and beautiful young woman, and married her.

After his marriage Girardin for several years turned his attention more particularly to philanthropic projects, which should benefit the people.  He advocated savings banks, and gave much of his time to their establishment.  He also founded an agricultural school.  His wife turned him somewhat from his political and speculative plans, to more practical ones of this kind.