To Mr. Etienne Prieur, Amiens Seminary

27 June, 1818.

Sir,

I received your letter of the 25th of this month. I will not attempt to hide my surprise at your conduct toward me, nor the conduct you displayed from October 24, 1817, until February 1, 1818. 

You appear singularly astonished at my position, which you blame on external causes. Apparently you do not remember the details you gave me, which related to the magical methods of Moreau and Pinel, of the woman Vandeval, as well as of the physicists of Avignon. At the time, you were convinced how little I deserved the torments that the doctor of the Salpétrière made me endure, night and day; You did not hesitate to use your society’s ceremonies to remove me from his hands. You struck my knife into the wood, crying, “Ah! you rascal Pinel, may the devil wash your face!” Then you turned to me and said,”He is suffering now, the rascal!” [1]

Did you not go on to tell people, while I was listening, that I was no longer in the power of this wicked man, that you had wrested me from his hands, no matter how stubbornly he wanted to hold me, and that I was now under your control, if only so that you could now give me my freedom? 

And then, did you not say, with all these witnesses, that it was essential that you follow me everywhere–to the church, along the promenade, secretly entering my house, day and night, to torment me? And when they said they saw no need for all that, did you not then say that it would take you some time to give me my peace and freedom? 

What other proof do you want? Did you not give your cousin, Papon Lomini, power over me, which he would then abuse, and when I complained, you threatened to take them away? Clearly you are a magician. You allowed all these atrocities, to the point where your friends, who had witnessed them, had to speak, had to force you to take those powers away from him. 

And now, joining the  Seminary of Amiens, you can no longer serve two masters at once. You have doubtless abandoned the devil to serve only God (and I congratulate you on it!) But II repeat to you, whether I am in the power of Mr. Lomini, or someone else, I still suffer. I will only deal with you: no one but you can give me remedy for my ills. Perhaps your cousin, instead of occupying himself with magic, could undertake the studies to someday become a lawyer? You’ve done him no favors by distracting him from that path, from an honorable and useful career.  By introducing him to the dreadful mysteries of your world, you’ve done him a terrible injury.

Your friend, Mr. Frontin, whom I see sometimes, who I have not left ignorant of the suffering you’ve made me endure–did he not tell you this was unworthy of a young man from a good family, raised to have good principles, and today, seems to have returned to his family, but denying those same principles? did he not tell you that this was unworthy of a young man of family, who is supposed to have received good principles, and who today seem to have returned to them only to deny their reality? But this religion that you seem to have embraced, will always be incompatible with your conduct; if you do not sincerely preach its rigid doctrine, it will reject you from its bosom.

As long as you persist in holding me under your infernal power, I must continue to speak to you in this way. You cannot pretend to speak for the church, while in your soul you do still belong to Satan.

You have commended yourself to my prayers,  as well you should. I do not forget you, I pray God constantly to bring you back to yourself, and to forgive you.

I await your reply, my friend, and I hope it will be more satisfactory than the previous ones.

Yours,

M.B.

[1] “que le diable te débarbouille!” Doesn’t appear to be a common idiom, but basically, “may the devil take you!” 

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_of_Saint-Acheul