---

PRO ARIS ET FOCIS.*
________

LETTER ADDRESSED

to

THE FRENCH WRITERS OF THE 19TH CENTURY.

________

                                                            Paris, 1 November, 1834.

                              Gentlemen,

      Some great questions concerning both general and individual interests have arisen in the
Republic of letters. Each one of you is aware of them, you talk about them amongst yourselves, yet no
one dares to complain in public or to suggest a remedy for our ills. However, the more we allow time
to pass, the greater this grievance becomes and the more our private interests have to suffer. Now,
when we suffer, it is our misfortune that it is not just we who suffer on our own, for the mind of a
country is the whole country. This is something that our country should take into account. A writer
nowadays, not wishing to be in debt to anyone other than to himself, is forced to take care of his own
interests, and his |

_______

*) Lat. ‘For Altar and Hearth’, an expression indicating that the subject to be
discussed is one which is very close to the author’s own interests.