all that is king, or belongs to a king, frights my republican philosophy

Note rédigée les 18 et 19 août 2011 pour parution le 26 octobre 2010

NDLR . - L'anglais pratiqué par Volti diffère un peu de l'anglais contemporain, donc quelques différences orthographiques y figurent .

Amusez-vous à faire exécuter la traduction par Google , ça vaut son pesant de cacahuètes !

Je mets en ligne la traduction dans la journée , ... si Dieu veut !

 

 

« A Nicolas-Claude Thieriot

 

[26 octobre 1726]

 

… I intend to send you two or three poems of Mr. Pope, the best poet of England, and at present of all the world . I hope you are acquainted enough with the English tongue, to be sensible of all the charms of his works . For my part I look on his poem call'd the Essay upon criticism as superior to the Art of poetry of Horace ; and his Rape of the lock, la boucle de cheveux, (that is comical one) , is in my opinion above the Lutrin of Despréaux . I never saw so amiable an imagination, so gentle graces, so great varyety, so much wit, and so refined knowledge of the world as in this little performance .

 

Now, my dear Thieriot, after having fully answered to what you asked about English books, let me acquaint you with an account of my for ever cursed fortune . I came again into England in the latter end of july very much dissastisfied with my secret voiage into France ¹ both unsuccessful and expensive . I had about me onely some bills of exchange upon a Jew called Medina ² for the sum of about eight or nine thousand French livres, rekoning all . At my coming to London I found my damned Jew was broken ³. I was without a penny ⁴, sick to death of a violent agüe, a stranger, alone, helpless, in the midst of a city wherin I was known to no body ; my Lord and my Lady Bolingbrocke were in the country ; I could not make bold to see our ambassador ⁵ in so wretched a condition . I had never undergone such distress ; but I am born to run through all the misfortunes of life . In these circumstances my star, that among all its direful influences pours allways on me some kind refreshment, sent to me an English gentleman unknown to me ⁶, who forced me to receive some money that I wanted . And other London citizen ⁷ that I had seen but once at Paris, carried me to his own country house, wherein I lead an obscure and charming life since that time, without going to London, and quite given over to the pleasures of indolence and of friendship . The true and generous affection of this man who sooths the bitterness of my life brings me to love you more and more . All the instances of friendshipp indear my friend Thieriot to me . I have seen often mylord and mylady Bolingbrocke ; I have found their affection still the same, even increased in proportion to my unhappiness ; they offered me all , their money, their house ; but I refused all, because they are lords, and I have accepted all from Mr. Faulknear, because he is a single gentleman . I had a mind at first to print our poor Henry ⁸ at my own expenses in London, but the loss of my money is a sad stop to my design : I question if I shall try the way of subscriptions by the favour of the court . I am weary of courts, my Thieriot ; all that is king, or belongs to a king, frights my republican philosophy, I won't drink the least draught of slavery in the land of liberty .

 

I have written freely to the abbot Desfontaines, it is true, and I will allwais do so , having no reason to lay myself under any restraint ⁹. I fear , I hope nothing from your country . All that I wish for , is to see you one day in London . I am intertaining myself with this pleasant hope ; if it is but a dream, let me enjoy it, don't undeceive me, let me believe I shall have the pleasure to see you in London, (drawing up ) the strong spirit of this unaccountable nation . You will translate their thoughts better when you live among em . You will see a nation fond of their liberty, learned, witty, despising life and death, a nation of philosophers ; not but that there are some fools in England, every country has his madmen ; it may be, French folly is pleasanter than English madness, but by God English wisdom and english honesty is above yours . One day I will acquaint you with the character of this strange people ¹⁰, but tis time to put an end to my english talkativeness. I fear , you will take this long epistle for one of those tedious english books that I have advised you not to translate . Before I make up my letter, I must acquaint you with the reason of receiving yours so late ; t'is the fault of my correspondent at Calais , master Dunoquet . So you must write to me afterwards at my lord Bolingbroke's house , London . This way is shorter and surer . Tell all who will write to me that they ought to make use of this superscription .

 

I have written so much about the death of my sister ¹¹ to those who had write to me on this account, that I had almost forgotten to speak to you of her . I have nothing to tell you on that accident but that you know my heart and my way of thinking . I have wept for her death, and I would be with her . Life is but a dream full of starts of folly, and of fancied and true miseries . Death awakes us from this painful dream, and gives us either a better existence or no existence at all ¹². Farewell. Write often to me . Depend upon my exactness in answering you when I shall be fixed in London .

 

Write me some lines in English to show your inprovement in your learning .

 

I have received the letter of the marquess of Villars ¹³, and that wich came from Turky by Marseille ¹⁴.

 

I have forgot the romance wich you speak of ; I don't remember I have ever made verses upon this subject ; forget it, forget all these deliriums of my youth; for my part I have drunk of the river Lethé ; I remember nothing but my friends . »

1 V* est venu clandestinement en France vers le 20 juillet pour tenter encore de se venger du chevalier de Rohan, responsable de son embastillement et de son exil, et aussi pour chercher de l'argent .

2 Anthony Mendes da Costa ; ici commence la rétrospective des débuts de son séjour en Angleterre à partir de mai 1726 .

3 Il a fait banqueroute en décembre 1725.

4 Le père du banqueroutier, qu'il était allé trouver lui avait donné « quelques guinées » ;

5 Le comte de Broglie, pour lequel il avait une lettre de recommandation .

6 Peut-être John Brinsden, homme d'affaire de lord Bolingbroke, ou bien Furnese .

7 Le négociant Everard Fawkener , un des dirigeants d'une importante maison d'import-export . En rentrant à Londres en 1725, celui-ci s'était arrêté à Paris et y avait rencontré V* . En 1726 il accueille dans sa propriété de Wandsworth l'exilé qui y reste de juin à octobre .

8 La Henriade ; sur l'impression,

voir lettres à Mme de Bernières du 7 octobre 1722 :http://voltaireathome.hautetfort.com/archive/2009/10/07/j-y-passe-ma-vie-entre-le-travail-et-le-plaisir.html

et du 20 décembre 1723 : http://voltaireathome.hautetfort.com/archive/2010/12/19/je-vais-vendre-tous-mes-meubles-cette-semaine-pour-payer-des.html

 

9 Dans sa lettre du 16 août, Thieriot l'avait mis en garde : « Ce scélérat d'abbé Desfont... dit que vous ne lui avez jamais parlé de moi qu'en termes outrageants … Il gagne par an plus de mille écus par ses infidélités … Il avait fait contre vous un ouvrage satirique dans le temps de Bicêtre que je lui fis jeter dans le feu et c'est lui qui a fait une édition du poème de La Ligue dans lequel il a inséré des vers satiriques de sa façon ... »

10 Ébauche du projet des Lettres anglaises , futures Lettres philosophiques ?

11 Mme Marguerite-Catherine Mignot, -mère du futur abbé Mignot, de celle qui deviendra Mme Marie-Elisabeth de Fontaine, et de la future Mme Marie-Louise Denis,- était morte le 10 août, la nouvelle parvenant à V* le 25 ou 26 août .

12 Hamlet III, 1 .

13 Le futur duc de Villars qui eut avec le chevalier de Rohan des démêlés semblables à ceux de V* .

14 Lettre du comte de Bonneval sans doute .