To MADAME HANSKA.
PARIS, August 1--August 4, 1834.
I have received your letter, written from Vienna, madame. You have
probably received two from me, addressed to J. Collioud, with the
"Chouans" and the "Médecin de campagne." Distances are so little
calculable. I believe that up to the present time I have had such
true sympathies that my inspirations have always been like those of my
friends. I have forgotten nothing,--neither Marie de Verneuil, nor your
"Chouans," nor M. Hanski, who will have his "Médecin de campagne."
I am a little chagrined. The imbeciles of Paris declare me crazy in
view of the second number of "Séraphita," whereas the elevated minds
are secretly jealous of it. I am worn out with work. Too much is too
much. For three days past I have been seized by unconquerable sleep,
which shows the last degree of cerebral weariness. I dare not tell you
what an effort I am making now to write to you. I have a plumophobia,
an inkophobia, which amount to suffering. However, I hope to finish my
third Part by August 15. It will have cost me much. And for that reason
I am afraid of some heaviness in the style and in the conception. You
must judge.
The "Cabinet des Antiques" will appear in the "Revue de Paris," between
the second number of "Séraphita" and the last, for the "Revue" makes
the sacrifice of holding the latter back till I can finish it. You know
the beginning of the "Cabinet des Antiques." It made one of our good
evenings in Geneva.
Let M. Hanski console himself; I shall be deputy in 1839, and then I
can better, being free of all care and all worries, act so as to render
my country some service, if I am worth anything. Between now and then I
expect to be able to rule in European questions by means of a political
publication. We will talk about that.
I have had many troubles. My brother made a bad marriage in the Indies,
and the poor boy has neither spirit, energy, nor talent. Men of will
are rare!
I shall go to see you in Vienna if I can get twenty days to myself; a
pretty watch given at the right moment to Madame Bêchet may win me a
month's freedom. I am going to overwhelm her with gifts to get peace.
I have many troubles, many worries. The kind M. Hanski would not
have his black butterflies if he were in my place. My second line of
operations is now to be drawn out. I shall have the first Part of the
"Études Philosophiques" printed within ten days. It will appear at the
same time as the third Part of the "Études de Mœurs." There is but God
and I, and the third person, who is never named, who are in the secret
of these works which affright literature. I have sixty thousand volumes
this year in the commerce of publishers, and I shall have earned
seventy thousand francs. Hence, hatreds. But, alas! of those seventy
thousand francs nothing will remain to me but the happiness of being
free of all debt after being ruined by it.
You are very fortunate, madame, to be able to take the Danube baths;
but write me soon if they are removing those frightful nervous
headaches which frightened me so much. Do not suffer. Preserve your
health. When you walk, do not wear those little shoes that let in
water, as they did the day we went to Ferney.
Do you know I feel a little vexed with you that you can think that a
man who has _my faith and my will_ can change, after all I have written
to you. In the matter of money alone I do not do all I would; but in
whatever belongs to the heart, to the feelings, in all that is _the
man_ you can have few reproaches to make to me.
Write me, very legibly, your addresses in Vienna and Baden, for I find
it impossible to make out the name of the hotel where you are now.
I am to see, some day soon, an illustrious Pole, Wronsky, great
mathematician, great mystic, great mechanician, but whose conduct
has irregularities which the law calls swindling; though, if closely
viewed, they are seen to be the effects of dreadful poverty and a
genius so superior that one can hardly blame him. He has, they say, one
of the most powerful intellects in Europe.
Monday, 4.
I have been forced to interrupt my letter for a day and a half; I have
not had two minutes to myself to collect my thoughts. There has been a
deluge of hurried proofs and corrections; ouf! I beg you to recall me
to the memory of all who compose your caravan.
Our Paris is very flat, very sad. MM. Thiers and Rigny have, they say,
lost five millions at the Bourse, in consequence of the invasion that
Don Carlos has made all alone. Every one talks war here, but no one
believes in it. The king has dismissed Soult in order to remain at
peace.
Adieu. I hope, madame, that you will amuse yourself at the Baths, and
gain health; but you must walk a little. My life is so monotonous that
I can tell you little of myself that is worth telling. One thought and
work, that is the life of your moujik. You--you are seeing countries,
you have the movement of travel which occupies and diverts. Ah! if I
could travel, I would go to Moravia.
Adieu. If you hear anything in the air, if a pebble rolls at your feet,
if a light sparkles, tell yourself that my spirit and my heart are
frolicking in Germany. Wholly yours,