A portion of Bienville's March 26, 1742 resignation letter from Grace King's 1892 JEAN BAPTISTE LE MOYNE DE BIENVILLE

" If success had always responded to my application to
the affairs of this government, and to my zeal for the service of the king,
I should willingly have consecrated the
rest of my days to him ; but a species of fatality, for some
time, pursuing and thwarting most of my best-concerted
plans, has often made me lose the fruit of my labours, and
perhaps a part of the confidence of your Highness in me.
I have not thought, therefore, that I should strain myself
any longer against my misfortune.

I wish that the officer who will be chosen to succeed me may be happier than I."

A portion of Bienville's March 26, 1742 resignation letter from A.J. Pickett's 1851 HISTORY OF ALABAMA :

"If success had always corresponded with my application to the affairs of the government and administration of the colony, and with my zeal for the service of the King, I would have rejoiced in devoting the rest of my days to such objects ; but, through a sort of fatality, which, for some time past, has obstinately thwarted my best concerted plans, I have frequently lost the fruit of my labors, and, perhaps, some ground in your excellency's confidence : — therefore have I come to the conclusion, that it is no longer necessary for me to struggle against my adverse fortune.

I hope that better luck may attend my successor." http://dauphinislandhistory.blogspot.com