REGNAUD DE SAINT-JEAN-D'ANGÉLY (Michel-Louis-Étienne). Autog - Lot 84

REGNAUD DE SAINT-JEAN-D'ANGÉLY (Michel-Louis-Étienne). Autograph letter signed with his initial to his wife Laure. New York, October 24 [1815]. 6 pp. 1/4 in-4, address on back. BEAUTIFUL LETTER FROM EXILE FROM A FORMER COUNSELOR AND MINISTER TO NAPOLEON I, WRITTEN ON HIS ARRIVAL IN THE UNITED STATES. " ... IT WAS ON SATURDAY 21ST AT 10 O'CLOCK IN THE EVENING THAT WE DROPPED ANCHOR OFF NEW YORK. The only inhabitants of the country, 4 in number, disembarked to go to their homes, & all the Frenchmen, not knowing where to find lodgings at such an hour, remained on board - and how could we have found lodgings at such an hour, when, the next day, we tried in vain to find a place in an inn. The best lodgings, where you live on a table d'hôte for a gourde and a half or two gourdes a day [the gourde had been the currency of transaction in the French colonies of the West Indies], provide you with only ONE STRONGLY BAD BED IN A ROOM WHERE YOU ARE NOT ALONE MOST OF THE TIME. There are also boarding houses that charge one gourd a day, where you can eat American-style for 20, 30 or even 40 people in a large room like those used for weddings and feasts. There are a few bourgeois boarding houses in the area, run by French people, where you can stay for a gourd, but very badly... M. Lescalier, cy-dev[an]t consul general, whose successor arrived 8 days ago, offered us his table & two beds - we preferred this proposal from an old friend, once my obligé... As for the establishment in the future, for a moment I hoped that Lescalier would stay until May, because he has rented his house until then, but there is no reason to hope for that now. I would have contributed to the expenses & lived with him, that was agreed - but having no fortune, he wants... to live here in a city less harsh than New York - indeed, everything here is beyond price [Regnaud here details at length the cost of living in New York: lodging, food, daily objects, laundry, etc.]. I'm not exaggerating when I say that here we don't get with 25,000 a year what we would have in Paris by spending 10,000 ff. IF FATE FORCES US TO SETTLE IN AMERICA, I THINK IT WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE TO ESTABLISH OURSELVES IN NEW YORK. PHILADELPHIA AND BALTIMORE ARE SAID TO BE MUCH CHEAPER... The newspapers announced my arrival on Sunday morning, & in the evening I RECEIVED VISITS FROM FRENCH REFUGEES RECENTLY OR FORMERLY, & FROM SEVERAL PATRIOT AMERICANS, i.e. those opposed to the English. The Swedish consul, and some people I once saw in France, have warned me of civilities. I have not yet delivered any of my letters of recommendation. M. Parisle, the one to whom Ouvrard addressed me, is in his lands near Ohio, & does not return until next month. But I was visited on Sunday by a man I didn't know, M. [James] Carret, attached to M. Rey de Chaumont, a Frenchman, a rich landowner here [Franco-American financier James Le Ray de Chaumont], and who is secretary to J[OSEPH] BONAPARTE, WHO ARRIVED HERE 6 WEEKS AGO.... I SAW HIM... NEITHER HE NOR HIS PEOPLE THINK OF CONTINUING ANY POLITICAL ROLE, AND ASPIRE ONLY TO LIVE IN PEACE IN ONE CORNER OF THE WORLD. For me, dear child, it is also after peace and after you & ours that my poor heart yearns... However, my love, the more I see of this country, the less I find it suitable for you in every way. The cold that reigns there for so long would be unbearable for you... MANY FRENCH PEOPLE, HOWEVER, ARE ANNOUNCING THEIR INTENTION TO STAY HERE OR TO COME HERE. I HAVE SEEN REFUGEES from Guadeloupe & Martinique, where the white & black cockade is worn & where the English are in command, who are thinking of settling without yet knowing where. L'IDEE D'UNE COLONIE FRANÇAISE EST DANS BEAUCOUP D'ESPRITS [allaient bientôt naître la Vine and Olive Colony et le Champ-d'asile], et c'est avec cette consolante chimère que beaucoup d'eux adoucissent le présent & colorent moins tristement l'avenir. Among these poor refugees, courageous, resigned, French at heart, I found two that I want to mention to you in particular [he evokes the situation of two emigrants from the West Indies and specifies:] The unfortunate ones fled dishonor & persecution, they refused to wear this half-English cockade, and to take part in the capitulation where it was stipulated that the French off[icie]rs & ad[ministrateu]rs would return to France at Lord Wellington's disposal - several decorated off[icie]rs & soldiers of the Legion evaded these shameful stipulations by voluntary death... " A TRUSTEE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, MICHEL-LOUIS-ÉTIENNE REGNAUD DE SAINT-JEAN D'ANGELY (1760-1819) was a lawyer by training. A journalist for a time, he was elected deputy to the Estates-General. Above all, appointed intend