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• 1 media/letter_thumbnail_generic.jpeg term 2016-12-16T23:27:52-08:00 Voltaire to Comte and Countess d'Argental - 1764 April 25 6 plain 2017-11-19T10:46:24-08:00 1764 April 25  
  60[1] To M. D’Argental                              25 April 1764
  
  1          I am in receipt, my divine angels, of the letter dated April 19, which
  2          is not at all a scribble, and which my beautiful scarlet eyes
  3          have read very well. We are overwhelmed,
  4          Maman and me, by your angelic kindness, and those of
  5          Monsieur le Duc De Praslin.  Admittedly we
  6          are in a somewhat difficult situation with the parliament of Dijon,
  7          because if we tell it that our case is with the Council,
  8          we will set it against us; if we ask for delays, we
  9          will seem to submit to its jurisdiction; M. the 1^st
  10        Presi[dent] cannot refuse any longer to put the
  11        case on the court register; I surrender myself to
  12        God's mercy.
  13                    As for the case of those broken on the wheel, it is all ready, and I dare
  14        to believe that they will be worth more than they deserve. I await
  15        your copy to add huge notes, from
  16        the beginning to the end.
  
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  17                    Honor and glory to the authors of the Gazette Littéraire.
  18        Let them delete, let them add, let them soften,
  19        let them observe the proprieties that I cannot know
  20        being so far; all that I send belongs to them, and not
  21       to me. I communicated with Cramer about Spain and
  22       Italy, but I have nothing.
  23                   I am always delighted with the discretion of Mr.
  24       De Chimène; but I assure you that his charming attentions
  25       diminish in no way my great
  26       appreciation for my angels. If I dared to beg them
  27       to convey my most affectionate thanks to the gentlemen
  28       of La [Gazette] Littéraire, I would be most obliged to them. 
  29                    This Duchêne is like most of his colleagues, he
  30        prefers his interest above all, and he even understands very baldly
  31        what is in his interest by lowering a price that he should
  32        increase. I have spent my life experiencing these very irritations; I've
  33        known only irritations, and I expect to bear them until
  34        my last day. I also expect the hue and cry of
  35        Pierre Corneille’s fanatics; but I could only say
  36        what I think, and not what I do not think.
  
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  37        The testimony of my clear conscience is enough for me. May my two
  38        angels enjoy perfect health. May the waters do all
  39        the good that they can do. I wish you many
  40        good tragedies and comedies for this summer. But neither
  41        summers nor winters yield many of these kinds of
  42        fruit; they are very rare in any country. Love me, I
  43        beg you, independently of our passion for the theater,
  44        I love you solely for you, and I shall remain attached
  45        to both of you until the last moment of my life.
                                                                          V.
  
  25^th  April
  1764
   

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  [1] “60” is penciled in margin.