François-René de CHATEAUBRIAND. L.S., Paris March 3, 1841, t - Lot 183

François-René de CHATEAUBRIAND. L.S., Paris March 3, 1841, to the editor of a newspaper; the letter is written by his secretary Hyacinthe PILORGE; 3 1/2 pages in-4. Eulogy for Marshal VICTOR, Duke of Bellune, who died on March 1, 1841. In the preamble, Chateaubriand mentions his book on the Congress of Verona, which will remain "as irrefutable proof that a poet can passably hear and conduct business". He recounts Marshal Victor's brilliant career on the battlefields of the Revolution and Empire, from the siege of Toulon to the battle of Craonne, and his attitude under the Restoration: "He continued the line of honor that was natural to him. I saw him come modestly to the side of Louis XVIII. [ ] He changed his fortune by the force of events, without changing his conscience". Chateaubriand can't help but evoke the figure of NAPOLEON: "When the sail went to inquire about Bonaparte in the immensity, no mausoleum was better suited than the rock of Ste Hélène; all the flags saluted him in passing. Separated from his history, Napoleon saw it through the storms: to him the St Denis of the winds and the sea, to the Bourbons the St Denis of religion and peace. Brought back to our shores by national piety, but to the detriment of his glory, Bonaparte returned for a final review and to rally to himself the few of his comrades-in-arms who had survived him". Victor will be laid to rest beside him, "under the dome that the great King raised for our weary warriors".