_Baudelaire to Sainte-Beuve_
14_th August_, 1858.
Is it permitted to come and warm and fortify oneself a little by
contact with you? You know what I think of men who are depressants and
men who have a tonic influence. If, then, I unsettle you, you must
blame your qualification, still more my weakness. I have need of you as
of a douche.
_Baudelaire to Sainte-Beuve_
21_st February_, 1859.
My dear friend, I do not know if you take in the "Revue française."
But, for fear that you should read it, I protest against a certain line
(on the subject of "The Flowers of Evil"), page 171, in which the
author--who, however, is very intelligent--is guilty of some injustice
towards you.
Once, in a newspaper, I have been accused of ingratitude towards two
chiefs of ancient romanticism _to whom I owe all_; it spoke, besides,
with a judicial air, of this infamous trash.
This time, in reading this unfortunate line, I said to myself: "Mon
Dieu! Sainte-Beuve, who knows my fidelity, but who knows that I am
connected with the author, will perhaps believe that I have been
capable of prompting this passage." It is exactly the contrary; I have
quarrelled with Babou many a time in order to persuade him that you
would always do everything you ought and could do.
A short time ago I was talking to Malassis of this great friendship,
which does me honour and to which I owe so much good advice. The
monster left me no peace until I gave him the long letter that you sent
me at the time of my lawsuit, and which will serve, perhaps, as a plan
for the making of a Preface. New "Flowers" are done, and passably out
of the ordinary. Here, in repose, fluency has come back to me. There is
one of them ("Danse macabre") which ought to have appeared on the 15th,
in the "Revue contemporaine...."
I have not forgotten your Coleridge, but I have been a month without
receiving any books, and to run through the 2,400 pages of Poe is some
small labour.
Sincerely yours, and write to me _if you have time_.
Honfleur, Calvados (this address is sufficient).
What has become of the old rascal? (d'Aurevilly).
_Baudelaire to Sainte-Beuve_
28_th February_, 1859.
My dear friend, I learn that you have asked Malassis to communicate to
you what you wrote to me on the subject of the "Flowers." Malassis is
a little astounded; furthermore, he is ill. There were two letters;
one, a friendly, complimentary letter; the other, a scheme of the
address that you gave to me on the eve of my lawsuit. As, one day, I
was classifying papers with Malassis, he begged me to give him that,
and when I told him I intended to make use of it (not by copying but by
paraphrasing and developing it) he said to me: "All the more reason.
You will always find it again at my house. If your printer had it, it
could not get lost."
I even think I remember having said to Malassis: "If I had pleaded my
cause myself and if I had known how to develop this thesis, that a
lawyer could not understand, I should doubtless have been acquitted."
I understand absolutely nothing of this nonsense in the "Revue
française." The manager, however, seems to be a very well-bred young
man. Every one knows that you have rendered many services to men
younger than yourself. How has M. M---- printed this without making
representations to Babou and without finding out what prejudice he had
towards me?
Malassis, on whom I had not counted at all, has also seen the passage,
and his letter is still more severe than yours.
I am going to Paris on the 4th or 5th. It would be very kind of you to
write a word to Mme. Duval, 22, rue Beautreillis, to let me know if and
when you wish to see me. I shall stay at her house.
Yours sincerely.
_Baudelaire to Sainte-Beuve_
3_rd_ or 4_th March_, 1859.
A thousand thanks for your excellent letter. It has reassured me, but
I think you are too sensitive. If ever I attain as good a position as
yours, I shall be a man of stone. I have just read a very funny article
of the "rascal" on Chateaubriand and M. de Marcellus, his critic. He
has not missed the over easy witticism: "Tu Marcellus eris!"
In replying to Babou (what was important to me was to assure myself
that you did not believe me capable of a meanness) I think that you
attribute too much importance to him. He gives me the impression of
being one of those people who believe that the pen is made to play
tricks with. Boys' tricks, school hoaxes.
Yours sincerely.
_Baudelaire to Sainte-Beuve_
1860.