To Mr. Etienne Prieur, Amiens Seminary

May 19, 1818

Dear sir, 

Allow me to tell you what a wonderful surprise it was when your brother Baptiste informed me that you had entered the seminary, with the intention of embracing the priesthood. This is very good, if God has truly called you to it.  But how did you suddenly decide one day to become minister of the Most High, when, in different conversations that we have had together, I have noticed in you a pattern of thought which seems quite contrary to the principles that guide you today, and in a direction quite different from the steps you have just taken? You seemed then not to want to recognize the visible head of the Church, nor the ministers who serve it, because you said there should be no intermediary between God and men; and you now recognize the necessity of one. Where did such a swift change come from?  I congratulate you, if this change was an inspiration of the omnipotent force which never ceases to watch over our salvation, and not driven by some human consideration. You have submitted yourself to a power quite opposed to that under which you had the misfortune to fall, since you were once under the power of a demon. The magic that you exercised, all your occult procedures, and finally all the work that you have done on me, prove what I am saying.

You will therefore not be able today to serve two masters so opposed to each other; you will not want to imitate Father Imbert and Father Cazin, who you told me had been dealing with magic, as many of your friends also hear you say. But  let me return to the extraordinary change that has just taken place in you. Was it of your own free will that you embraced this new vocation? Could it be to obey the wishes of your father? His intentions were undoubtedly not to force you into the priesthood, as there are unfortunately so many examples of that. God asks only purity of heart in his ministers, and it is a great misfortune for those who do not have it; it would have been better for them to be honest artisans in the world than to be bad priests.

Consider what your regrets would be, at the last judgment, if you were not truly called. And those of your father.

You will allow me, before finishing my letter, to make a few pointed comments to you. You left here without saying goodbye to me, without even telling me that you would leave, and you’d promised me your address, which I needed to conclude everything which concerns me. I do not know what to think on this, particularly since you come to torment me, both day and night. And today, you have embraced the ecclesiastical state. Would you serve two masters at once? Explain yourself, I beg you. I cannot conceive how you have entirely renounced the first, by throwing yourself into the arms of your creator, who you must obey alone, and from which comes the happiness you will await in this world and the next, if all the while you cling to the power of the devil and the misfortunes he brings. 

I greet you, and I await your reply, and my freedom,

M.B.

[This letter occurs in v1ch55]