Chapter CCCXXXI: PARIS, August 29, 1870

DEAR FRIEND: I thank you for your letter. I am still very ill and nervous. One would be so with less cause. The situation looks black to me. For a few days, however, it has mended slightly. The military men manifest confidence. The soldiers and the militia are fighting perfectly together; it appears that the army of Maréchal Bazaine has accomplished prodigies of valour, although it has always fought one against three. Now, to-morrow, perhaps to-day, another great battle is looked for. These last engagements have been frightful. The Prussians conduct war by hand-to-hand fighting. Until the present, this method has been successful for them, but it seems that near Metz the carnage was such as to give them cause for reflection. It is said that the young ladies of Berlin have lost all their partners in the dance. If we could escort the rest back to the frontier,--or bury them here, which would be better--we should not have reached the limit of our troubles. This terrible butchery, we must not deceive ourselves, is but the prologue to a tragedy of which the devil alone knows the catastrophe. A nation is not shaken like ours has been without suffering for it. It is inconceivable that from our victory, as from our defeat, a revolution will not come. All the blood which has been shed, or which will be shed, is to the profit of the Republic--that is, of organised disorder.

Good-bye, dear friend. Remain at P.; there you are safe. We are still very calm here, awaiting with great composure the arrival of the Prussians; but the devil will not be the loser thereby. Again good-bye....

CCCXXXII

CANNES, _September 23, 1870_.[49]

DEAR FRIEND: I am very ill--so ill, that it is a difficult matter to write. There is a slight improvement. I will write to you soon, I hope, more in detail. Send to my house in Paris, for the _Lettres de Madame de Sévigné_, and a Shakespeare. I should have had them taken to you, but I went away. Good-bye. I embrace you.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] One would suppose that in Saint Clair, a character in _The Etruscan Vase_, he has drawn himself: “He was naturally tender-hearted and affectionate, but at an age when lasting impressions are too easily formed, his over-transparent sensitiveness subjected him to the derision of his companions.... From that time he made it his business to conceal all appearances of what he regarded as a contemptible weakness.... In society he gained the unfortunate reputation of being unfeeling and indifferent.... He had travelled widely, and read much, yet he spoke of his travels and reading only when it was absolutely necessary.” Darcy, in _The Double Mistake_, is another character resembling his own.

[2] The following is one of his generous and delicate actions; Béranger, in a similar experience, did the same: “When I went to Spain, I was on the point of falling in love. It was one of the beautiful acts of my life. The woman who was the cause of my voyage never suspected it. Had I remained, I might have committed, possibly, a great blunder--that of offering a woman worthy of enjoying every happiness that one may have on earth, in exchange for the loss of all that was dear to her, an affection which I realized was far inferior to the sacrifice that she would probably have made.”

[3] The Résident in _The Spaniards in Denmark_, the Count and other gentlemen in _The Conspirators_, Kermouton and the Butter Merchant in _The Two Heirs_. But on the other hand, what true analyses are the characters of Clémence, of Sévin, and of Miss Jackson!

[4] _Letters to an Unknown_, Vol. II, p. 294.

[5] _Letters to an Unknown_, I, p. 7. “Abandon your optimistic ideas and realise that we are in this world to struggle and contend with our fellows.... Learn, also, that nothing is more common than to do wrong merely for the pleasure of doing it.”

[6]

No man knows the gods so well,
That he may be sure of living until to-morrow.

[7] Mr. Sutton Sharpe, a highly distinguished English advocate.

[8] Upon the occasion of his nomination to membership in the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres.

[9] His election to the French Academy occurred the 14th, two days after this letter was written.

[10] His election to membership in the French Academy.

[11] The occasion of his reception at the French Academy.

[12] This letter was written originally in English. It is given unchanged.--TRANSLATOR.

[13] The trial of the suit relating to Libri.

[14] M. Nogent Saint-Laurens.

[15] _Loa_, a sort of conversational dithyramb, in honour of the person for whom the celebration is given.

[16] Implicated in the Orsini affair. The French Government requested his extradition, which England refused to grant.

[17] Marshal Pélissier, the duc de Malakoff.

[18] The Princess Clotilde had just married Prince Napoleon.

[19] The war in Italy.

[20] The address of the emperor, on his return from Italy.

[21] The last _Letters of Madame du Deffand_, which had just been published.

[22] The visit of the emperor and empress.

[23] On the occasion of the burial of Prince Jerome.

[24] To Scotland.

[25] The emperor of Austria.

[26] They were bored with the melodies. It is impossible to translate the pun into English.--TRANSLATOR.

[27] The Senate.

[28] The Libri matter, and the sessions of the Senate.

[29] _Le sel pour le pain_: Salt for the bread.

[30] _Bogdan Chmielnicki_, published in the volume entitled _The Cossacks of the Past_.

[31] _Troplong_--Too long.--TRANSLATOR.

[32] _Bousingots._ Slang expression: wineshop, “lush-crib.” Also, a Republican or Literary Bohemian of the first years of Louis Philippe’s reign.--TRANSLATOR.

[33] Report on musical copyright, which he was appointed to present to the Senate.

[34] _Le Lion Amoureux._

[35] On his nomination as Grand Officer in the Legion of Honour.

[36] _Une Passion dans le Grand Monde._

[37] On popular libraries, at the session of the Senate, June 25, 1867.

[38] Distribution of prizes to the exhibitors.

[39] The death of Maximilian.

[40] For Biarritz.

[41] This is the novel which was afterwards published under the title of Lokis.

[42] Lokis.

[43] The sessions of the Senate were going to be public.

[44] Adoption of the plan of the Senate Council, session of September 6, 1869.

[45] Victor Noir.

[46] For the French Academy.

[47] The vote of the plebiscite.

[48] The war with Prussia.

[49] Last letter, written two hours before his death.

* * * * *

Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:

vol. I

kiss your hands must humbly=> kiss your hands most humbly {pg 55}

a heard of American bison=> a herd of American bison {pg 313}

vol. II

beautiful Greeek literature=> beautiful Greek literature {pg 117}

I can not concieve=> I can not conceive {pg 124}

Bagnéres-de-Bigorre=> Bagnères-de-Bigorre {pg 172}

his views of Napoleon and and his comparison=> his views of Napoleon and his comparison {pg 177}

I have even seen=> I have ever seen {pg 169}

Saturady=> Saturday {pg 170}

Antionette=> Antoinette {pg 272}

I am begining=> I am beginning {pg 305}

End of Project Gutenberg's Letters to an Unknown, by Prosper Mérimée