Until then, he lived from hand to mouth, mainly on the hospitality of people who gave him board and lodging in exchange for the pleasure of the conversation for which he was famous. Madame Helvétius entertained him at Sèvres for some years. In 1770, another comedy, "Le Marchand de Smyrne", brought him further notice, and he seemed on the road to fame and fortune, when illness struck. A generous friend gave him a pension of 1200 livres, charged on the "Mercure de France". Thus assisted, he was able to go to the baths of Contrexéville and to spend some time in the country, where he wrote an "Eloge" on La Fontaine which won the prize of the Academy of Marseilles in 1774.