February 1849. Victor Hugo is a member of the National Assembly and actively participates in the course of history. France is living through uncertain times, but he has faith in its future.
He confides this to the historian Charles de Lacretelle, his colleague at the Academy, a wise man 36 years his senior, who has retired to his residence in Bélair, near Mâcon.
“You see things, my venerable friend, with that sure and calm eye of minds accustomed to contemplation and meditation. Men like you begin…
Read moreFebruary 1849. Victor Hugo sits in the National Assembly and actively participates in the course of history. France is living through uncertain times, but he has faith in its future.
He entrusted it to the historian Charles de Lacretelle, his colleague from the Academy, a wise man 36 years his senior, who had retired to his residence in Bélair, near Mâcon.
“You see things, my venerable friend, with that sure and calm eye of minds accustomed to contemplation and meditation. Men like you begin by judging and end by loving. As the historian grows older, he matures and becomes wise. Even your severity is imbued with kindness. You absolve things because you understand men.”.
However, this serene placidity does not diminish your warmth of spirit, and when our follies and follies are worthy of anger, your disapproval weighs all the more heavily on wicked men and bad friends because it comes from a benevolent mind. The history we are making does not deserve a historian like you. Therefore, I congratulate you on spending your life peacefully in your fields, dreaming and writing poetry.
Send me, a wrestler, from time to time, one of those words that mean: Courage! The fight is not over. We, who are in the thick of it, will still need strength and resolve. As for me, my heart is filled with both fear and hope. I have a deep faith in the future of civilization and of France, but I am not blind to the storm's potential. We may sink or we may rise; I believe in two possibilities: a terrible shipwreck, a magnificent port. May God guide us! But let us help God.
I am happy to think that you are watching me. All my family loves all yours. Please place my tenderest respects at the feet of Madame de Lacretelle and believe me, my dearest, ex imi corde [with all my heart].
Victor H .
Letter partially published (without the last paragraph) in Posthumous Works - Correspondence (Calmann-Lévy, 1896-1902), vol. 2, p. 87-88, then in the Correspondence of Victor Hugo (Albin Michel, 1950), volume 2, p. 02-03.
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