The following letter was written by Dondey / O'Neddy to his childhood friend Havet (an inveterate Classicist), a couple years after Dondey withdrew from the avant-garde community; as we can see, he did not renounce his Romanticist radicalism. (Translated & Annotated by Olchar Lindsann)
Paris, 6 june, 1836.
My dear Ernest,
This time, I have no other excuse to offer for the delay in responding to you than an appalling laziness. I know that in your eyes the excuse is more valid; I thus do not hesitate to show everything to you nude, without preliminaries, without circumlocution. Take it with the suave smile that you promised it in advance, and which I will return to you on a similar occasion.
Ah! My old schoolmate of the Lemasson Academy, are you lucky to have been able to convince yourself that human destiny is but a horse which the man must always be a good enough horseman to lead rather than allow oneself to be led by!… I could respond so many ways to this, me, romanticist, me, jeune-France, me, badly used!… So many beautiful, strong, indisputable, irrefutable things!… But, bah! To write them and coordinate them I am too lazy; and then I also took a little pity on you who, in friendship, would think yourself obliged to swallow all this… therefore, I spare you; and I hope with all my heart that, if horse there be, your own always ambles gently.
You rejoiced plenty at the tale that you gave me about the feebleness of actors in your area; ah! those unfortunates are worse declaimers than we were used to be for Mr. Lemasson!… That’s funny. My god! you must have laughed! I would have liked to have been with you. If I would have kept up some contact with the divine Lemasson, I would have gone to him with your letter in hand to insinuate that there is money to make in your town as professor of declamation and that he is strong enough, him, to fill the post. – It’s all good for to poke fun when it comes to the actors; but you ought to have kept yourself to that, and not to insulting the modern drama. Quousque tandem… inexorable Racinan![1]
I compliment you on your legitimist [Monarchist] society, so urbane, so tolerant, so distinguished; that must suit you yourself who has the luck to greatly prize these qualities and to possess them to a very commendable degree. In the countryside, such a meeting really is a find. And then, it seems that one feasts well there, culinarily[2] speaking; it never spoils, but it will make you return to us for the holidays an experienced gourmet and despiser of normal bourgeois.
Do me the pleasure of individually examining the neck of municipal councilors of your town to see if they are equipped with a goiter; for nothing else is lacking for them to be absolute morons in my eyes. What! They refused 15,000 miserable francs for the opera!–oh! surely, the reign of art[3] is far off; and one shall not see it as long as the men of lard sulk about impudently, and will force me, serious and dignified man that I am, to pillage Monsieur Odry;[4] to distinctly characterize them.
I recovered as many people think; but not entirely. I have always had an obstructed heart[5] (medically speaking) and short breath[6]. Ah! if my sacred mount wished to amble gently likewise!… I would carry myself better.
I never told you of my family’s part because I write you at the office. But I need not tell you that their feelings for you are always the same.
I thank Mr. Cartellier[7] very much for his friendly proverb and I beg you in turn to quote to him my part in wishing him in return good life and good health.
Goodbye, by dear friend. Many good wishes for your good governess.
Théophile D.

[1] “Quousque tandem” teanslates roughly to “When at last…” and begins Cicero’s speech against Cataline, a standard model for rhetoric throughout European history and particularly of the arch-Classicist Racine, from whom the Romanticists derived the insult “Racinien”. By Dondey’s day, the phrase was already the industry standard for dummy display type in templates, cf. https://sancrucensis.wordpress.com/2016/10/08/lorem-ipsum-or-quousque-tandem/
[2] Apparently a neologism on Dondey’s part.
[3] This seems to have been used by O’Neddy as a theoretical term or Romanticist argot, desgnating the replacement of religion by creative culture as the dominant framework of human ethics and self-conception; he repeated it thirty years later in his public letter to Charles Asselineauto describe the goals of the Romanticist avant-garde.
[4] A popular actor.
[5] This medical term, “coeur obstrué”, seems to have gone out of use in the 1870s; I have not yet traced its precise meaning but seems to be related to high cholesterol.
[6] “respiration courte,” Presumably asthma, though I’ve not yet traced the term.
[7] A life-long friend of Havet, who later taught at the Lycée impérial Napoléon.
Ah! Mon vieux collègue de l’Académie Lemasson, es-tu heureux d’avoir pu te persuader que la destinée humaine n’est qu’un cheval et que l’homme doit toujours être assez bon cavalier pour la mener au lieu de se laisser mener par elle!… Que de choses je pourrais riposter à cela, moi, romantique, moi, jeune-France, moi, mauvais employée! Que de choses belles, fortes, irrécusables, irréfutables!… Mais, bah!
Pour les écrire et les coordonner je suis trop parasseaux; et puis j’ai aussi un peu pitié de toi qui, par amitié, te croirais obligé d’avaler tout ça… donc, je t’en fais grâce; et je souhaite de grand coeur que, si cheval il y a, le tien aille toujours les pas d’amble.
Tu m’as bien réjoui avec le récit que tu m’as fait de l’infirmité des acteurs de ton endroit; ah! les malheureux sont plus mauvais déclamateurs que nous ne l’étions jadis chez M. Lemasson!… C’est amusant. Ma foi! tu as dû rire! J’aurais voulu être avec toi. Si j’avais gardé quelques relations avec le divin Lemasson, je serais allé chez lui ta lettre en main pour lui insinuer qu’il y a de l’argent à gagner dans ta ville comme professeur de déclamation et qu’il est assez fort, lui, pour y remplir cet office. – C’était très bien de te gaudir au dépens des acteurs; mais il fallait t’en tenir là, et ne pas insulter le drame moderne. Quousque tandem… inexorable Racinien!
Je te fais compliment de ta société légitimiste, si urbaine, si tolérante, si distinguée; cela doit t’aller à toi qui a le bonheur de priser beaucoup ces qualités et de les posséder à une degré fort estimable. En province, c’est vraiment une trouvaille qu’une pareille réunion. Et puis, il paraît qu’on y officie bien, culinairement parlant; cela ne gâte rien, mais cela fera que tu nous reviendras aux vacances gastronome émérite et fin contempteur des ordinaires bourgeois.
Fais-moi le plaisir d’examiner individuellement le col des conseillers municipaux de ta ville pour voir s’ils sont pourvus d’un goître; car il ne leur manque plus que cela pour être à mes yeux de parfaits crétins. Comment! ils ont refusé 15,000 malheureux francs pour l’opéra!––oh! certes, le règne de l’art est encore loin; et on ne le verra pas tant que les hommes de lard feront leur tête impunément, et me forceront, moi homme grave et digne à piller Monsieur Odry; pour les caractériser nettement.
Je suis rétabli comme bien tu penses; mais pas totalement. J’ai toujours le coeur obstrué (physiquement parlant) et la respiration courte. Ah! si ma sacrée monture voulait aller aussi les pas d’amble!… je me porterais mieux.
Je ne te dit rien de la part de ma famille parce que je t’écris au bureau. Mais je n’ai pas besoin de te dire que ses sentiments pour toi sont toujours les mêmes.
Je remercie beaucoup M. Cartellier de son aimable proverbe et je te prie à mon tour de le lui citer de ma part en lui souhaitant aussi bonne vie et bonne santé.
Adieu, mon cher ami. Bien des amitiés à ta bonne gouvernante.
Théophile D.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paris, 6 june, 1836.
My dear Ernest,
This time, I have no other excuse to offer for the delay in responding to you than an appalling laziness. I know that in your eyes the excuse is more valid; I thus do not hesitate to show everything to you nude, without preliminaries, without circumlocution. Take it with the suave smile that you promised it in advance, and which I will return to you on a similar occasion.
Ah! My old schoolmate of the Lemasson Academy, are you lucky to have been able to convince yourself that human destiny is but a horse which the man must always be a good enough horseman to lead rather than allow oneself to be led by!… I could respond so many ways to this, me, romanticist, me, jeune-France, me, badly used!… So many beautiful, strong, indisputable, irrefutable things!… But, bah! To write them and coordinate them I am too lazy; and then I also took a little pity on you who, in friendship, would think yourself obliged to swallow all this… therefore, I spare you; and I hope with all my heart that, if horse there be, your own always ambles gently.
You rejoiced plenty at the tale that you gave me about the feebleness of actors in your area; ah! those unfortunates are worse declaimers than we were used to be for Mr. Lemasson!… That’s funny. My god! you must have laughed! I would have liked to have been with you. If I would have kept up some contact with the divine Lemasson, I would have gone to him with your letter in hand to insinuate that there is money to make in your town as professor of declamation and that he is strong enough, him, to fill the post. – It’s all good for to poke fun when it comes to the actors; but you ought to have kept yourself to that, and not to insulting the modern drama. Quousque tandem… inexorable Racinan![1]
I compliment you on your legitimist [Monarchist] society, so urbane, so tolerant, so distinguished; that must suit you yourself who has the luck to greatly prize these qualities and to possess them to a very commendable degree. In the countryside, such a meeting really is a find. And then, it seems that one feasts well there, culinarily[2] speaking; it never spoils, but it will make you return to us for the holidays an experienced gourmet and despiser of normal bourgeois.
Do me the pleasure of individually examining the neck of municipal councilors of your town to see if they are equipped with a goiter; for nothing else is lacking for them to be absolute morons in my eyes. What! They refused 15,000 miserable francs for the opera!–oh! surely, the reign of art[3] is far off; and one shall not see it as long as the men of lard sulk about impudently, and will force me, serious and dignified man that I am, to pillage Monsieur Odry;[4] to distinctly characterize them.
I recovered as many people think; but not entirely. I have always had an obstructed heart[5] (medically speaking) and short breath[6]. Ah! if my sacred mount wished to amble gently likewise!… I would carry myself better.
I never told you of my family’s part because I write you at the office. But I need not tell you that their feelings for you are always the same.
I thank Mr. Cartellier[7] very much for his friendly proverb and I beg you in turn to quote to him my part in wishing him in return good life and good health.
Goodbye, by dear friend. Many good wishes for your good governess.
Théophile D.

[1] “Quousque tandem” teanslates roughly to “When at last…” and begins Cicero’s speech against Cataline, a standard model for rhetoric throughout European history and particularly of the arch-Classicist Racine, from whom the Romanticists derived the insult “Racinien”. By Dondey’s day, the phrase was already the industry standard for dummy display type in templates, cf. https://sancrucensis.wordpress.com/2016/10/08/lorem-ipsum-or-quousque-tandem/
[2] Apparently a neologism on Dondey’s part.
[3] This seems to have been used by O’Neddy as a theoretical term or Romanticist argot, desgnating the replacement of religion by creative culture as the dominant framework of human ethics and self-conception; he repeated it thirty years later in his public letter to Charles Asselineauto describe the goals of the Romanticist avant-garde.
[4] A popular actor.
[5] This medical term, “coeur obstrué”, seems to have gone out of use in the 1870s; I have not yet traced its precise meaning but seems to be related to high cholesterol.
[6] “respiration courte,” Presumably asthma, though I’ve not yet traced the term.
[7] A life-long friend of Havet, who later taught at the Lycée impérial Napoléon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Original French:
Paris, 6 juin 1836.
Mon cher Ernest,
Cette fois, je n’ai d’autre excuse à t’alléguer pour le retard mis à te répondre qu’une effroyable paresse. Je sais qu’auprès de toi l’excuse est des plus valables; je n’hésite donc pas à te l’exhiber tout nue, sans préliminaire, sans circonlocution. Reçois-la avec le sourire débonnaire que tu lui a promis d’avance, et que je te retournerai en pareille occasion.
Mon cher Ernest,
Cette fois, je n’ai d’autre excuse à t’alléguer pour le retard mis à te répondre qu’une effroyable paresse. Je sais qu’auprès de toi l’excuse est des plus valables; je n’hésite donc pas à te l’exhiber tout nue, sans préliminaire, sans circonlocution. Reçois-la avec le sourire débonnaire que tu lui a promis d’avance, et que je te retournerai en pareille occasion.
Ah! Mon vieux collègue de l’Académie Lemasson, es-tu heureux d’avoir pu te persuader que la destinée humaine n’est qu’un cheval et que l’homme doit toujours être assez bon cavalier pour la mener au lieu de se laisser mener par elle!… Que de choses je pourrais riposter à cela, moi, romantique, moi, jeune-France, moi, mauvais employée! Que de choses belles, fortes, irrécusables, irréfutables!… Mais, bah!
Pour les écrire et les coordonner je suis trop parasseaux; et puis j’ai aussi un peu pitié de toi qui, par amitié, te croirais obligé d’avaler tout ça… donc, je t’en fais grâce; et je souhaite de grand coeur que, si cheval il y a, le tien aille toujours les pas d’amble.
Tu m’as bien réjoui avec le récit que tu m’as fait de l’infirmité des acteurs de ton endroit; ah! les malheureux sont plus mauvais déclamateurs que nous ne l’étions jadis chez M. Lemasson!… C’est amusant. Ma foi! tu as dû rire! J’aurais voulu être avec toi. Si j’avais gardé quelques relations avec le divin Lemasson, je serais allé chez lui ta lettre en main pour lui insinuer qu’il y a de l’argent à gagner dans ta ville comme professeur de déclamation et qu’il est assez fort, lui, pour y remplir cet office. – C’était très bien de te gaudir au dépens des acteurs; mais il fallait t’en tenir là, et ne pas insulter le drame moderne. Quousque tandem… inexorable Racinien!
Je te fais compliment de ta société légitimiste, si urbaine, si tolérante, si distinguée; cela doit t’aller à toi qui a le bonheur de priser beaucoup ces qualités et de les posséder à une degré fort estimable. En province, c’est vraiment une trouvaille qu’une pareille réunion. Et puis, il paraît qu’on y officie bien, culinairement parlant; cela ne gâte rien, mais cela fera que tu nous reviendras aux vacances gastronome émérite et fin contempteur des ordinaires bourgeois.
Fais-moi le plaisir d’examiner individuellement le col des conseillers municipaux de ta ville pour voir s’ils sont pourvus d’un goître; car il ne leur manque plus que cela pour être à mes yeux de parfaits crétins. Comment! ils ont refusé 15,000 malheureux francs pour l’opéra!––oh! certes, le règne de l’art est encore loin; et on ne le verra pas tant que les hommes de lard feront leur tête impunément, et me forceront, moi homme grave et digne à piller Monsieur Odry; pour les caractériser nettement.
Je suis rétabli comme bien tu penses; mais pas totalement. J’ai toujours le coeur obstrué (physiquement parlant) et la respiration courte. Ah! si ma sacrée monture voulait aller aussi les pas d’amble!… je me porterais mieux.
Je ne te dit rien de la part de ma famille parce que je t’écris au bureau. Mais je n’ai pas besoin de te dire que ses sentiments pour toi sont toujours les mêmes.
Je remercie beaucoup M. Cartellier de son aimable proverbe et je te prie à mon tour de le lui citer de ma part en lui souhaitant aussi bonne vie et bonne santé.
Adieu, mon cher ami. Bien des amitiés à ta bonne gouvernante.
Théophile D.
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