To Mr. Etienne Prieur, at the Grand Seminary of Noyon, department of the Somme.

Paris, 23 June, 1818.

Sir,

I am awaiting a reply to the letter I sent last May 23. Your reply was all the more urgent because I’d hoped to know which of you I belonged to, or possibly the notary, Mr. Arloin. Perhaps it would be Papon Lomini, your cousin? I’d complained about you to him; about your failure to keep your promises to me, to snatch me from the hands of Moreau and Pinel, away from their constant, annoying visits, while you still continued yours. Pinel said that, as a member of the clergy, [1] you were no longer allowed to practice magic, and that you had entrusted your powers to him and to a lawyer. To do evil, or to order someone to do evil…is it not the same thing? However, the religion you profess forbids you to do either. In any case, I only want to deal with you, because I cannot expect relief from anyone else. 

Regarding the letters I sent you when you were in Amiens, I shared a copy of them with your cousin. He found my message so just, so appropriate, that he asked me to give them to your father, who he was to visit when he was on vacation. 

I communicated to Monsieur your cousin the copy of the letters that I addressed to you in Amiens; he found the moral so just, that he asked me to give them to him to show to Monsieur your father, whom he was to see during the next vacation.

And I’m sure you will find it appropriate that, in entrusting your cousin with a copy of these letters, I also confided in him your treatment of me since October 24, 1817. Please let me know your thoughts on the matter, don’t leave me in this cruel suspense. You’ve never worried about bringing torment and unhappiness to my life. I’m sure you’ll respect my moderation, prudence, and caution in my dealings here. But I tell you now: Break your word again, and I will no longer bother you, and instead, will be speaking to your superior, and any change in my respectful tone will be one that your conduct has forced upon me. 

Let me add here, I recently met your cousin Lomini, when I was walking in Luxembourg. He was carrying with him a book of magic, and he was kind enough to share several passages with me. I was well aware of your powers over me, especially your power to torment me, but I saw there that you had the power to cure me, as you so often promised to do, promises you had never kept, and that you could put me under the power of another. 

But what does it matter if I belong to Peter or Paul, if it frees you from fulfilling your commitments to me? Will I be better off if you put me in someone else’s power, or you relinquish your control to someone else? If you are to keep your promises, you must not only resign ALL of your infernal positions, but also, do not pass them along to another master. Whatever arrangements you have made with the people to whom you have entrusted me, I can only recognize you as my possessor. 

I await your reply. In fact, I’ve already paid the postage for it. [2]

M.B.

[1] Some translation problems here, the language is “que votre qualité d’abbé ne vous permettait plus d’exercer la magie”, which seems to say “Pinel informs me that in your position as abbot,” the head of an abbey of monks, which seems out of line for a seminary dropout like Etienne. I think it should be “I see you’re attending the abbey/seminary.” Or M.B. is fabricating something about Etienne’s position. Here I said “as a member of the clergy” to avoid committing to Etienne having this role now, or specifically, the role of abbot. Any help with this passage appreciated. https://archive.org/details/lesfarfadetsouto00berb3/page/323/mode/1up 

[2] See Etienne’s earlier response May 18, in which he tells M.B. he can’t afford the postage for a reply.