第35章

havejustgiventhemtheliedirect，byperformingmyEaster

devotions()publicly；thusprovingtoallmylively

desiretoterminatemylongcareerinthereligioninwhichIwas

born；andIhavefulfilledthisimportantactafteradozen

consecutiveattacksoffever，whichmademefearIshoulddie

beforeIcouldassureyouofmyrespectandmydevotion。“

Thisapologygavemerealpleasure。

Ipretendedtobelievethe

sincerityofhimwhoaddressedme，altho’hehadnotconvinced

meofhisinnocence；andIwrotethefollowingreplytoM。de

Voltaire，whichasillypridedictatestometocommunicateto

you，inconjunctionwiththeletterofthephilosopher:

“MONSIEUR:——Evenwereyouculpablefromtoomuchfriendship

towardsthoseyoucherish，Iwouldpardonyouasarecompensefor

theletteryouaddresstome。

Thisoughtthemoretocharmme，as

itgivesmethecertaintythatyouhadbeenunworthilycalumniated。

Couldyouhavesaid，undertheveilofsecrecy，thingsdisagreeable

toagreatking，forwhom，incommonwithallFrance，youprofess

sincerelove？

Itisimpossible。

Couldyou，withgaietyofheart，

woundafemalewhoneverdidyouharm，andwhoadmiresyour

splendidgenius？

Infact，couldthoseyoucallyourfriendshave

stoopedsolowasnottohavefearedtocompromiseyou，bymaking

youplayapartunworthyofyourelevatedreputation？

Allthese

suppositionswereunreasonable:Icouldnotforamomentadmitthem，

andyourtwolettershaveentirelyjustifiedyou。

Icannowgive

myselfupwithoutregrettomyenthusiasmforyouandyourworks。

Itwouldhavebeentoocruelformetohavelearntwithcertainty

thathewhomIregardedasthefirstwriteroftheagehadbecome

mydetractorwithoutmotive，withoutprovocation。

Thatitisnotso

IgivethankstoProvidence。

“M。theducd’Aiguillondidnotdeceiveyouwhenhetoldyou

thatIfedonyoursublimepoetry。

Iaminliteratureaperfect

novice，andyetamsensibleofthetruebeautieswhichabound

inyourworks。

Iamtobeincludedamongstthestoneswhich

wereanimatedbyAmphion:thisisoneofyourtriumphs；butto

thisyoumustbeaccustomed。

“Believealsothatallyourfriendsarenotintheenemy’scamp。

Therearethoseaboutmewholoveyousincerely，M。deChauvelin，

forinstance，MM。deRichelieuandd’Aiguillon:thislattereulogizes

youincessantly；andifalltheworldthoughtashedoes，youwould

behereinyourplace。

Butthereareterribleprejudiceswhichmy

candorwillnotallowmetodissemble，whichyouhavetoovercome。

Thereiswhocomplainsofyou，andthisonemustbewonover

toyourinterests。

Hewishesyoutotestifymorevenerationfor

whathevenerateshimself；thatyourattacksshouldnotbeso

vehementnorsoconstant。

Isitthenimpossibleforyoutocomply

hiswishesinthisparticular？

Besurethatyouonly，insettingno

boundsinyourattacksonreligion，doyourselfavastmischiefwit