To Mr. Prieur, Sr. [Eldest brother and pharmacist]

March 7, 1818

Dear Sir,

This is the fifth letter I have the honor of writing you, in the hope of receiving a reply from you, or even better, in the hope of having the pleasure of seeing you. Having been so far disappointed in these hopes, must attribute this to nothing other than your contempt for me, or perhaps you are in collusion with your brother, or perhaps with the doctor at the Salpétrière, who I mentioned in my last letter. Your brother, you say, is incapable of doing me any harm, since he’s at least 270 miles away from here. And you say that Dr. Poinel is too gallant a man to do me any such harm. If, as you say, these gentlemen are incapable of doing me any harm, I must seem like a fool to you. But I think you will see the opposite in the letter I will write you shortly, if you remain silent, as you have with my earlier letters.

Clearly, I know the names of ten people in their society, who are from my homeland, and surely you can recall them as well. 

This morning, I had tucked a piece of paper under my belt. When I wanted to use it, I found it had been taken from me. So I knew of the maneuvers of your brothers, who promised that he would try to thwart anything I was planning to undertake. It would be safe to say that he himself was boasting of it, telling me about the work of the other magicians, both in paris and his own country, in such a cheerful way that I was amused by it myself. So I must believe everything he told me about it. 

With respect,

M.B.