Voltaire to Comte and Countess d'Argental - 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 1st
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.
25th April
1764
[1] “60” is penciled in margin.
