ten o’clock in the morning
I have the pride and pleasure to say that all my taxes were approved and adopted , and brought in an immense increase of revenue to the state ; but I have the mortification to be obliged to add , that I never , directly or indirectly , received the slightest pecuniary reward ; and the credit of all I had proposed was snatched from me by a rogue , who had no other merit than that of being shaved sooner than I was one frosty morning . If I had not put off whetting my razor the preceding day , this would not have happened . To such a trifling instance of my unfortunate habit of procrastination , must I attribute one of the most severe disappointments of my life . A rival financier , who laid claim to the prior invention and suggestion of my principal taxes , was appointed to meet me at the house of my great man at ten o'clock in the morning . My opponent was punctual ; I was half an hour too late : his claims were established ; mine were rejected , because I was not present to produce my proofs . When I arrived at my patron 's , the insolent porter shut the door in my face ; and so ended all hopes from my grand system of taxation . I went home and shut myself up in my room , to give vent to my grief at leisure ; but I was not permitted to indulge my sorrow long in peace .