without knowing what it is to lose.  Far from losing the money you brought hither, as you have done in other places, you have doubled it, trebled it, multiplied it almost beyond your wishes, notwithstanding the exorbitant expenses you are imperceptibly led into.  This, without doubt, is the most desirable situation in the, world:  stop here, Chevalier, and do not ruin your affairs by returning to your old sins.  Avoid love, by pursuing other pleasures:  love has never been favourable to you.

["Saint Evremond and Bussi-Rabutin, who have also written on the life of the Count de Grammont, agree with Hamilton in representing him as a man less fortunate in love than at play; not seeking for any other pleasure in the conquest of a woman but that of depriving another of her; and not able to persuade any one of his passion, because he spoke to her, as at all other times, in jest:  but cruelly revenging himself on those who refused to hear him; corrupting the servants of those whom they did favour, counterfeiting their handwriting, intercepting their letters, disconcerting their rendezvous; in one word, disturbing their amours by everything which a rival, prodigal, indefatigable, and full of artifice, can be imagined to do.  The straitest ties of blood could not secure any one from his detraction.  His nephew, the Count de Guiche, was a victim:  he had in truth, offended the Count de Grammont, by having supplanted him in the affection of the Countess de Fiesque, whom he loved afterwards for the space of twelve years.  Here was enough to irritate the self-love of a man less persuaded of his own merit.”  Hamilton does not describe the exterior of the count, but accuses Bussi-Rabutin of having, in the following description, given a more agreeable than faithful portrait of him:  “The chevalier had laughing eyes, a well-formed nose, a beautiful mouth, a small dimple in the chin, which had an agreeable effect on his countenance, a certain delicacy in his physiognomy, and a handsome shape, if he had not stooped.”]

“You are sensible how much gallantry has cost you; and every person here is not so well acquainted with that matter as yourself.  Play boldly:  entertain the court with your wit:  divert the king by your ingenious and entertaining stories; but avoid all engagements which can deprive you of this merit, and make you forget you are a stranger and an exile in this delightful country.

“Fortune may bow weary of befriending you at play.  What would have become of you, if your last misfortune had happened to you when your money had been at as low an ebb as I have known it?  Attend carefully then to this necessary deity, and renounce the other.  You will be missed at the court of France before you grow weary of this; but be that as it may, lay up a good store of money:  when a man is rich he consoles himself for his banishment.  I know you well, my dear Chevalier:  if you take it into your head to seduce a lady, or to supplant a lover, your gains at play will by no means suffice for presents and for bribes:  no, let play be as productive to you as it can be, you will never gain so much by it as you will lose by love, if you yield to it.