145 - LINGUET (Simon-Nicolas-Henri), 1736–1794.

LINGUET (Simon-Nicolas-Henri), 1736–1794. Autograph letter signed “Linguet,” Vienne, March 5, [1786], 3 pp., in-4, to the Count of Sanois, at Madame de Julienne’s residence on Rue du Gros-Chenet in Paris. A long and eloquent indictment of despotism and the French justice system, reflecting Linguet’s profound disillusionment on the eve of the Revolution. Linguet responds to the Count of Sanois, who had just been released after nine months of detention in Charenton under a lettre de cachet, issued following a violent family and financial dispute. Sanois was then setting out to publicly clear his name and denounce the arbitrary nature of his imprisonment, a case that would become a famous precedent against lettres de cachet. In this letter, however, Linguet harbors no illusions about the chances of obtaining justice. He predicts that all efforts will be in vain in the face of the oppressors. The letter is also marked by a deep bitterness toward France, which he describes as populated by “slaves destined to be crushed by the abominable despotism that withers this beautiful kingdom.” He announces his own break with his homeland and with literature, following the publication of the last three issues (of his *Annales politiques, civiles et littéraires*, which would, however, resume publication from 1787 through 1792), containing his “farewell,” desiring nothing more than rest and obscurity. Includes a handwritten transcription and his former cultural property certificate indicating its provenance from the former Charavay catalog, no. 44552