Chapter 32 thirty

We returned to Saint-Several after Edmee's mourning period, and our wedding was already fixed at this time.When we left this province, which we both hated and suffered so much, we thought we would never feel the need to return; yet the memories of childhood and the ties of family life are so powerful that even in the midst of the most beautiful and impossible Where any sorrow is brought up, we are quick to think of our bleak, deserted Varennes, and sigh for the old oaks in the garden.We return with heartfelt, even respectful joy.Edmee's first concern was to go to the garden and gather beautiful flowers to offer on her knees on her father's grave.We kissed this hallowed ground and vowed to work tirelessly to honor the lintel as he did.He often developed this ambition into a weakness, but it was a noble weakness, a divine vanity.

Our wedding took place in the little church of the village, and the festivities were limited to the family; no one outside attended our modest feast except Arthur, the abbé, Marcus, and Patience.Why do we want unrelated people to witness our happiness?They may think that it is doing us great honor to conceal the stain of our family name by their presence.We are happy and merry enough among ourselves.The friendship in our hearts has reached saturation.Our pride is too great to beg from any one for friendship; we have enough of each other and want nothing more.Patience went back to his cottage, refusing to make any changes in his modest seclusion, continuing to perform his duties as "Chancellor" and "Treasurer" some days a week.Marcus remained with me until his death, which occurred near the end of the French Revolution; I hope to have repaid his affection to the best of my ability by unselfish friendship and intimate association.

Arthur sacrificed his year for us, unable to make up his mind to give up his love for his country, and his desire to serve his country with the fruits of his knowledge and labor and contribute to its progress.He returned to Philadelphia; I visited him there after my widowhood. I will not describe to you the happiness I have lived with a noble and good wife; such years are indescribable.Losing them can be painful if you don't try to avoid thinking about them.She bore me six children, four of whom are still alive, and all of them live and work in peace.I believe they will eventually erase the pathetic reputation their ancestors left behind.I live for them, in accordance with Edmee's dying order.Please allow me not to tell you any further about the funeral.This loss has only been in the past ten years for me, and it still hurts as much now as it did then.I'm not looking to masturbate, but to strive to be worthy of her, to go out into a better world to join the divine companion in my life after the testing period.She was the only woman I loved in my life; no other woman had ever caught my eye or felt my arms.This is my nature; what I love, I love forever, whether past, present, or future.

The storms of the French Revolution did not destroy our lives; neither did the passions it aroused disturb our harmonious family life.We have willingly donated a large part of our property to the republic as a just sacrifice.Frightened by bloodshed, the priest occasionally renounced his religion when the needs of the age outstripped the strength of his soul.He was the Girondist of the family. ① The Girondists were the parties representing the large, medium, industrial and commercial bourgeoisie during the French Revolution. After taking power in August 1792, the opposition to the revolution developed deeply and collapsed in June 1793 when the Parisian people's uprising.

Edmee was equally sensitive, but with greater courage.Compassionate as a woman, she is deeply distressed by disasters of all parties.She lamented the misfortunes of her time; but she never underestimated great and holy fanaticism.She remained true to her doctrine of absolute equality.She generously sacrificed her patriotic zeal during the time when the Montagne's actions made the abbe angry and discouraged, and thoughtfully never mentioned before him certain names that would make him tremble; Never seen it on any other woman. ①The Montagne was a revolutionary democrat in the National Convention during the French Revolution, named after sitting at the highest point of the conference hall. After the Girondins withdrew from the Jacobin Club in 1792, the Montagne de facto became the Jacobins, whose notable leaders were Robespierre, Danton, and Marat.

As for me, it may be said that it was Edmee who educated me.Throughout my life I have placed complete trust in her wisdom and justice.When I was impulsive and wanted to play the role of a popular leader, she stopped me, reminding that my name would hinder my influence with a certain class; they did not trust me, thinking that I wanted to rely on them to restore my noble status .When the enemy came upon the walls of France, she sent me to serve as a volunteer; when the Republic fell, and the military life became a means to the gratification of ambition, she called me back, saying: "Don't leave me again from now on."

Patience played an important role in the Revolution.He was unanimously elected judge in his district.His integrity, his impartiality between castle and hut, his firmness and wisdom, left an indelible memory in Varennes. During the war, I had the opportunity to save M. de La Marche's life and help him flee abroad. The above, I think, said old Mauprat, are all the events in which Edmee played a role in my life, and the rest are not worth mentioning.If there is a lesson in this story, take advantage of it, young man.You look forward to a frank counselor, a stern friend.Love not those who flatter you, but those who correct your faults.Don't put too much faith in phrenology; I have a highly protruded skull of a murderous nature, and as Edmee used to say, in a humorous, sentimental tone, our family was "born to kill."Do not believe in fatalism, or at least do not advise anyone to resign themselves to fate.That's the moral of my story.

So saying, old Bernard treated us to a good supper, and continued talking to us all evening without showing confusion or weariness.We begged him to develop a little more of what he called the moral of his story, and he went on to generalize, and we were strongly impressed by the clarity and common sense of his views. He said that I did not speak of phrenology to you as a criticism of a system of thought which has good aspects within the scope of supplementary systems of physiological observation;I use the term "phrenology" because the only destiny we believe in today is that we are all created by our nature.I do not think that phrenology is more inclined to the preordained view than any such system of thought.Rawat, who in his day was also accused of preaching fatalism, was in fact the most Christian man the Gospels ever produced. ① Lavat (1741-1801), a Swiss writer, thinker, and theologian, once wrote a book introducing physiognomy.

Believe not, my children, in any absolute, necessary destiny; yet you must admit that we are to a certain extent governed by our nature, our faculties, our cradle impressions, the earliest circumstances of childhood--in a word, by the development of our souls. influence of the entire external world.If you wish to be lenient to criminals, that is to say, as just as God is, for in his judgments there is much mercy, whose justice would otherwise be incomplete, then you must also admit that when we choose between good and evil, we Not always absolute freedom. What I have said above may not be very orthodox, but I assure you that it is true and Christian.At the beginning of man, nature is not evil; at the beginning of man, nature is not good. This is exactly the opposite of what my dear Edmé teacher John-Jacques Rousseau advocated.People are born with more or less seven emotions and six desires, more or less energy to satisfy these desires, and more or less ability to use these desires for good or ill in society.Education can and should find a remedy for everything.The big challenge that needs to be solved is finding the individual education that is right for each person.Does it follow from the seeming necessity of universal general education that education should be given to all equally?I am convinced that if I had been educated at ten, I might have been civilized; but would anyone be able to correct my strong desires, and teach me to restrain them, as Edmee has done?I doubt it.Everyone needs someone to love, so that there is some value in existence; but the way of love should be different from person to person: this person needs tireless tolerance, that person needs persistent severity.Before tackling the problem of universal education for everyone, let's work on correcting each other's shortcomings.

You ask me why?My answer is short: if you love each other sincerely--that's how custom works on the law--you can finally do away with the most horrible and ruthless penal laws, the law of tit for tat, the death penalty, which is not Anything else is just the sanction of the predestination principle, which assumes that the criminal is hopeless and that God is merciless.