REGNAUD DE SAINT-JEAN-D'ANGÉLY (Michel-Louis-Étienne). Set o - Lot 87

REGNAUD DE SAINT-JEAN-D'ANGÉLY (Michel-Louis-Étienne). Set of 3 letters. United States, 1815-1816. "In this country, so rich, so fertile, so populous, we live to live & to earn...". Society is null & without resource - the arts, all the arts unknown..." - Autograph letter signed with his initials to Marie-Barbe de La Tour. NEW YORK, "le 1er Xbre" [1815]. "Oh, how guilty you would have been not to write to me, how you would have grieved me... What a balm of consolation your tenderness & even your grief, your tears, have poured on my poor heart. Oh, you are one of the elements of my existence, along with your poor daughter, whom I am happy in my misery to know close to you, & entrusted to your affection... My poor friend, I can't yet see any part of the veil that hides the future from me & the increase or decrease of our misfortunes. I HAVE ALWAYS, YOU KNOW, REGARDED AS THE GREATEST MISFORTUNATE THAT OF BEING AWAY FROM YOUR HOMELAND, condemned to live, to die, in a foreign land. If I could live with 6000 in a corner of France with you, her & some of those I love, I would immediately be resigned, & even joyful. Some letters... from Hottinguer, for example, suggest that a return is possible - I see countless obstacles to the contrary, but I don't yet see any impossibility - and seeing what kind of existence the country can offer, I desire more ardently that it should not become established - one is free here, one is sure of rest, that is an incontestable thing - but first, I BELIEVE THE COUNTRY THREATENED OF A NEW WAR BY ENGLAND, & in this case safety is nowhere, in the sense that whatever all parties say, an invasion is an easy thing in England's present state to an army of which she knows not what to do, & where the coasts are open on all sides, especially if, as is assured, the English go with Spain's consent to occupy the Floridas. Then, my dear friend, IN THIS COUNTRY, SO RICH, SO FECOND, SO POPULAR, WE LIVE TO LIVE & TO EARN - & by living I don't mean what we mean here, but living closer to that of savages than to civilization. Society is null & without resource - the arts, all the arts unknown - the comforts of life treated as luxuries though they may be without expense, and an inconvenient & unpleasant luxury commanded by usage in other parts. IL FAUDROIT, POUR ETRE BIEN, REUNIR 8 OU 10 FAMILLES, ET SE CREER UN VILLAGE VERS LA PATRIE MERIDIONALE, VERS LE TENNESSEE OU LE KENTUCKI, DANS LA PARTIE MOST VOISINE DES FLORIDES & DES CAROLINES, un Mr Le Rey de Chaumont [le financier franco-américain James Le Ray de Chaumont] dont j'ai vu le fils qui a été parfait pour moi, possède vers le lac Ontario 100 m[ille] arpens de terre ; further still, M. Parish has on the S[ain]t-Laurent opposite Kingston & not far from Montreal, 150 m[ille], fledgling towns, factories, & a popul[ati]on that will increase tenfold in 10 years - but it's a frozen country for 6 months. My poor Laure would die there. Newspapers announce that Switzerland and the Netherlands are off-limits to us, others say that Merlin [Philippe-Antoine Merlin de Douai] is in Brussels. Let's clear this up with Mr. Humbolt [naturalist Alexander von Humboldt]..." (3 pp. 1/3 in-4, a few marginal stains). On Barbe-Marie Hutot de La Tour, see no. 85 above. "In admiration of the beauty of the sites that we traveled in the steam boats...". - Autograph letter signed with his initial to his wife Laure. PHILADELPHIA, "April 26" [1816]. "I've been here since yesterday, my love, & I'm taking advantage of a ship ready to sail to send you a word of remembrance and tenderness. We hear a lot here about Talleyrand's return to the Ministry. As for me, I await events with patience & resignation; & your distance is my sorrow - yet I cannot say it again enough to silence the plans of your tender affection; you must not think of coming to join me before our fortune is made - my consolation is to know you in our peaceful Val [former abbey, near L'Isle-Adam, owned by Regnaud], & surrounded by all the sweets of life, which, without resembling luxury, are better than it & do more for happiness... AUGUSTE EST AVEC MOI ICI BIEN PORTANT & DANS L'ADMIRATION DE LA BEAUTE DES SITES QUE NOUS AVCOURU[S] DANS LES STEAM BOATS [his son Auguste, exiled with him, former ordinance officer under Napoléon I and future marshal under Napoléon III]. Adieu, chère, je t'aime & t'embrasse avec tendresse. Speak of me to all who love us and don't forget us!" (one p. in-4, address on spine, marginal paper loss due to opening without affecting text). "I will leave to go and see Dupont de Nemours..." - Autograph letter to his wife. P