I have not received the things which you told me you were sending--that
is to say, a sponge and some Kola-Chocolate. But do not give a thought
to my material life; that is generously provided for by the preserves
which are sent me from Cayenne.
* * * * *
_27 July, 1895._
My dear Lucie:
I have already written to you on the 15th of the month. I can to-day
give you tidings of myself, and cry to you as always, although I have no
knowledge of the present state of affairs, “Courage and Faith!”
My health is good. The spirit dominates the body, as it does everything
else. Never will I admit the idea that it would be possible for our
children to enter upon life with a dishonored name. It is from the
inspiration of this thought, common to us both, that you ought to draw
new life for your indomitable will.
I have never feared the future, but there are moral situations which are
of such a character that if a man has not deserved them, he must of
necessity escape from them as much for our own sake as for the sake of
our children, of our families.
When a man asks, when he desires, nothing but the search for the truth,
a search for the wretches who have committed the base and cowardly
crime, he has a right to present himself everywhere with head erect. And
this truth, it must be found, and you must find it. My innocence must be
recognized by every one.