CHATEAUBRIAND, François-René de (1768–1848).

Regarding the attacks against him and the order to leave Paris. Paris, Thursday at noon [3 September]. ‘I have come to Paris for a short while on urgent business [summoned by the Prefect of Police to be ordered to leave Paris], dear sister, and I am returning at once to Verneuil, where I shall stay longer than I had intended. However, I may also go to La Vallée and shall be there from the 25th to the 30th to receive you; then I shall tell you everything I cannot tell you now. On the 15th or the 17th I shall collect whatever I find at the notary’s, but I shall spend as little time as possible in Paris. Do not comment on this note, do not speak of it, and be patient”… Verneuil. Friday morning, 11 [September 1812]. “I wrote you a note from Paris, dear sister. Here I am in Verneuil, where I found a long letter from you. You had no need to justify yourself. Believe me, in all sincerity, that my affection for you stands the test of time, that nothing can weaken it, and that everything can strengthen it. In my anger, I must have caused you a great deal of trouble with Mme de B[érenger]. Forgive me for all this and love me as I love you.’ He explains a little of the scheming directed against him: ‘excerpts from my first work [Essay on Revolutions] are being printed by Didot, printer to the Institute […] There you have the mystery explained and why I find myself exiled from Paris. You know that, having long foreseen this attack, I have prepared my response. I have been working on it ever since and I believe I have a million-fold advantage over my cowardly adversaries. I shall send this response to all the newspapers and to the Ministry. If they refuse it, as I believe they will, then the injustice will be clearly established and, having done what I ought to have done, I shall remain at peace. In the meantime, it is good that we should be warned of the printing of the extracts (for you realise that the whole work cannot be reprinted: taken as a whole, it is too favourable to me) and that all honest people should be 74648

directed in advance to the preface of The Genius of Christianity. Your poor brother, dear sister, is deeply tormented. He pays dearly for a little nobility and renown. Madame de Ch[ateaubriand] is ill with anxiety and grief. Friends are silent, enemies powerful; the public alone is on my side. But what can it do for my peace of mind? If you guess my position, say nothing. I have promised silence and I intend to keep my word until such time as my word is broken. As for the publication of the extracts, tell everyone. It is better that people be forewarned on this point. Good day, dear sister […] Remember that I shall see you from the 25th to the 30th at La Vallée […] If by chance you were to bring forward your return, I would try to arrange my affairs so as to see you sooner. But for heaven’s sake, dear sister, be cautious and do not compromise yourself for my sake. Let us place all our hope in the government’s justice. It will at last open its eyes to the unjust persecution by my enemies’. Correspondance générale, vol. II, nos. 587 and 589.