Astolphe de CUSTINE. 1790-1857. Writer. - Lot 49

Astolphe de CUSTINE. 1790-1857. Writer. L.A.S. (to Mrs. Duchambge). Naples, September 24. 4 pp. bifeuillet in-8. Evoking Sainte-Beuve and Italy. "You were born helpful; it's one of the fatalities of your existence (...) It's the opposite of most people in the world (...). He thanked her for the feuilleton she had sent him, and in return sent her an article by Sainte-Beuve that had appeared in the Revue de Chenedolée: "He was a friend of my mother's, and the biographer found a way of portraying her in a few lines so closely that I thought I saw her appear. This deserved a thank you." Lacking Sainte-Beuve's address, he asks for a letter to be sent to him; "I beg you to make up for all my impossibilities, and I do so with confidence (...). Don't forget to seal my letter, he's as susceptible as a modern as he is." Custine continues on the subject of Italian affairs: "(...) Abbé Rosmini and Father Ventura are geniuses, Pius neuf is a saint: the world will not remain deaf to their voice, insensitive to their zeal, and I hope so because I am weary with despair. A rapprochement between the Pope and Rome is expected: may God bring him back soon (...). Every day, some conspirator is arrested, weapons are found in storage, plans for a provisional government, and at the heart of all these machinations, there are many priests. The Gospel says, "If the salt becomes bland, with what shall it be salted?" Father Ventura begins to make amends (...). He's the Italian Saint Chrisostom! But politics has led him astray (...)."