In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

175 Moral Letters1 [Letter 1] Come, my dear and worthy friend, listen to the voice of the one who loves you;2 it is not at all, you know, that of a vile seducer; if my heart ever went astray in wishes about which you have made me blush, at least my mouth did not attempt to justify my going astray,3 reason dressed up4 in sophisms did not lend its service to the error;5 humiliated vice fell silent at the sacred name of virtue;6 faith, honor, holy truth were not insulted in my speeches; by abstaining from giving decent names to my faults I kept decency from leaving my heart, I kept it open to the lessons of wisdom that you deigned to make me hear: now it is my turn, oh Sophie ,7 it is up to me to render back to you the value of your eVorts, since you have preserved my soul for the virtues that are dear to you. I want to insert into yours those that are perhaps still unknown to it.8 How happy I consider myself for not having ever prostituted my pen or my mouth to lying, because of this I feel myself less unworthy of being the organ of truth near you today. In recalling the circumstances in which you asked me for rules of morality for your use, I cannot doubt that at that time you were putting into practice one of the most sublime ones, and that, in the danger to which a blind passion was exposing me,9 you were giving thought to my instruction even more than to your own. Only a scoundrel could set forth someone else’s duties while trampling his own underfoot or bend morality to his passions and you, who honor me with your friendship, know very well that, with a weak heart, I do not have the soul of a wicked man. In striving today to fulfill the noble task that you imposed on me, I am oVering you an homage that is due to you. Virtue is dearer to me since I received it from you. By subjecting the feelings that you inspired in me to duty and reason, you have exercised the greatest, the worthiest10 empire that heaven has given to beauty and wisdom. No, Sophie, a love like mine could give way only to itself,11 like the Gods you alone could destroy your work and it rested only with your virtues to erase the eVect of your charms. In purifying itself, my heart was far from detaching itself from 176 Moral Letters yours,12 blind love gave way to a thousand enlightened feelings13 which made it a charming duty for me to love you all my life, and you are only dearer to me for it since I stopped adoring you. Far from cooling oV, upon changing their object my desires only became more ardent while becoming more decent. If in the confines of my heart they dared to make an attempt upon your charms, they have well atoned for that insult, they no longer yearn for anything but the perfection of your soul and to justify , if it is possible, everything that mine has felt for you. Yes, be perfect, as you can be, and I shall be happier than if I had possessed you. May my zeal be able to help to exalt you so far above me, that amour-propre will compensate me in you for my humiliations and console me in some manner for not having been able to attain you. Ah! If the eVorts of my friendship can encourage your progress, consider sometimes everything that I have a right to expect from a heart that mine has been unable to deserve. After so many days lost in pursuing a vain glory, by telling the public truths it was in no condition to understand, I finally see myself proposing a useful object, I shall carry out the eVorts that you are demanding from me, I shall look after you, your duties, the virtues that suit you, the means of perfecting your happy natural disposition. I shall always have my eyes on you: no, if I passed my life seeking out a pleasant labor, I would not know how to find a better one according to my heart than the one you are imposing on me. Never was a project formed under sweeter auspices, never did an undertaking promise a...

Share