Pierre-Jean de BÉRANGER (1780-1857). L.A.S., 1835,... Lot 33

Pierre-Jean de BÉRANGER (1780-1857). L.A.S., [1835, to Napoléon PEYRAT]; 3 pages in-8. After having dissuaded his young friend to retire from the world, he paints a beautiful portrait of LAMENNAIS: "He is a poetic, eloquent nature, more suitable for speeches than for argumentation. The bottom of his heart is excellent, in spite of certain habits which feel the natural egoism of the dress, but which in him could take root only on the surface. [...] it is necessary to leave him an absolute freedom. The least embarrassment would worry his love of independence". He urges Peyrat to go and see him: "When you are young, you must never neglect these encounters: there comes a time when you are astonished at the streaks of light they leave in your mind. [...] the little I am worth, I owe it much more to the men I have cultivated than to the books I have read". He invites Peyrat to come to his house at La Grenadière. Then he talks about a book by Victor HUGO (Les Chants du crépuscule): "I have read some fragments of it which did not satisfy me very much; but I do not know anything about it any more".