Memoirs of a Nun by Denis Diderot

Author:Denis Diderot [Diderot, Denis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-375-71282-1
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2015-03-17T16:00:00+00:00

PREFACE

TO THE PRECEDING WORK,

TAKEN FROM THE

CORRESPONDANCE LITTÉRAIRE

OF M. GRIMM, 177018

THIS charming Marquis had left at the beginning of the year 1759 to go and live on his estate in Normandy, near Caen. He had promised us to remain there only long enough to put his affairs in order; but his stay insensibly lengthened; he was with his children once more; he was fond of the local curé; he had become a gardening addict; and since an imagination as vivid as his required some object, he had suddenly become an ardent religious zealot. Despite this, he still loved us tenderly; but very likely we should never have seen him in Paris again, if he had not lost his two sons, one after the other. This event restored him to us about four years ago, after an absence of more than eight. His devotion has evaporated, as all things evaporate in Paris, and he is today more lovable than ever.

As we very much disliked losing him, we took counsel together, after having borne his absence for fifteen months, as to the best means of getting him back to Paris. The author of the preceding “Memoirs” recalled that just before his departure there had been much talk in society about a young nun at Longchamps who had made a legal appeal against her vows, into which she had been forced by her relations. This poor recluse so excited the interest of M. de Croismare that, without having seen her, knowing her name, or even ascertaining if the facts were true, he solicited in her favour all the Counsellors of the Grand’ Chambre of the Paris Parliament. Despite this generous intervention, by some accident Susan Simonin lost her case, and her vows were pronounced valid. M. Diderot resolved to re-open the affair to our advantage. He pretended that the nun in question had had the luck to escape from the convent, and in consequence wrote in her name to M. de Croismare to ask for help and protection. We had every hope of seeing him arrive as rapidly as possible to help his nun, or, if he saw through our plot at once, we were sure at any rate of a good subject for a laugh. But the matter took on a very different complexion, as you will see by the correspondence I am about to publish between M. Diderot or the pretended nun and the loyal and charming Marquis de Croismare, who never suspected our perfidy for an instant. It is this perfidy that has so long weighed upon our consciences. We passed supper-time reading out, amid shouts of laughter, letters intended to reduce our worthy Marquis to tears, and with the same shouts of laughter the answers of our worthy and generous friend. However, when we saw that the tender-hearted benefactor was getting too much interested in the fate of this unhappy friend, M. Diderot decided to let her die, preferring to cause the Marquis some distress rather than to risk tormenting him more cruelly by letting her live longer.

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