119. NAPOLEON III (Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, future).... Lot 119

119. NAPOLEON III (Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, future). Autograph letter signed "Napoleon Louis", [addressed to the widow of Michel-Louis-Étienne Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély, Laure Guesnon de Bonneuil]. London, 26 April 1839. 2 pp. 1/3 in-8, cover address on verso "Mademoiselle Éveline". "The letter you have been kind enough to write to me has pleased me in that it proves all your solicitude for me, and I hope that you do not doubt all the value I attach to your friendship. I deeply regret that the first letter you wrote me was on a subject which can only be very unpleasant for me, and what I regret even more is not being able to follow the first advice you were willing to give me. THE ACCUSATIONS MADE AGAINST PERSIGNY ARE FALSE AND STUPID. I AM SURE THAT IF I HAD HAD THE SLIGHTEST DOUBT AS TO HIS FIDELITY, I WOULD HAVE TAKEN HIM TO MY SIDE! To take him away now because it has pleased some one to want to slander him would be to confirm all the rumours that have been spread, that would be cowardice on my part, and I would never commit it. As for him, he is not master of moving away because in the present circumstances, I would not allow him to do so! What I ask of my friends is that they keep quiet about rumours that can only harm me. I AM WELL AWARE THAT IT WILL BE SAID THAT I KEEP PERSIGNY BECAUSE HE IS A FAVOURITE, A FLATTERER, THAT HE HAS TAKEN INFLUENCE OVER ME, I DESPISE ALL THESE RUMOURS, AND I PAY LITTLE HEED TO THE JUDGEMENT OF THOSE WHO MIGHT HAVE SUCH A DIM IDEA OF MY CHARACTER. I hope, Madame, that you will continue a correspondence which had so much charm for me, when the good C[olone]l Vaudrey was here [Claude-Nicolas Vaudrey, former commander in the imperial armies, former participant in the attempted coup d'état in Strasbourg in 1836, future general and senator of the Second Empire]. I eagerly take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the attachment you have always shown to the cause of my family..." ONE OF THE KEY MEN IN THE CONQUEST OF POWER, THE FUTURE MINISTER JEAN-GILBERT VICTOR VIALIN DE PERSIGNY (1808-1872) was the son of an Empire soldier, and initially followed a military career, but was put on leave after his participation in the 1830 revolution. He then became a publicist in support of Bonapartist ideas, and attracted the attention of Joseph Bonaparte, who recommended him to Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, who took him as his secretary and confidant in his march to power. He then played a major role under the presidency and then the reign of Napoleon III, as aide-de-camp, deputy, senator, minister of the interior, and ambassador.