DIALOGUS - Marquis de Sade - Acceptance Letter

Acceptance Letter
from the Marquis de Sade
to the Publisher

Marquis de Sade
It is for me an honour and my greatest pleasure, Sir, to accept your kind invitation to correspond from the little village of Charenton to your interesting review.

I will take for granted, Sir, that very few of your readers know or have heard of myself, considering the halo of deep misunderstanding that shrouds the name that was once the pride and honour of my ancestors (need I to remind you, in fact, that the blood of Laure, the incredible lady who inspired much of Petrarch's poetry, indeed runs in my veins?). To be forgotten is indeed my highest ambition, for I prefer to become null and void in the face of the earth than be remembered for acts and crimes which malignity and a mistaken interpretation of human nature have wrongly attributed to me. However, Sir, I am and always will remain at your service, for what little I can contribute.

I hope you do realize, too, that I am but a "dilettante" in the vast world of letters, but my "amour propre" is vastly flattered at the mere thought that there are people out there, people of understanding and knowledge, who find my writings worthy of their time and attention and the least I could do for them, and for you, is to devote some of my worthless time to try to respond to their queries.

I am old, half-blind and not very keen on novelties. I do not like the way things are turning in this wonderful country of ours, but, mind you, I'll be hard caught spewing a single word of criticism to our wonderful Emperor, who has brought so much glory to our Nation. Yet, it is in these miserable times that I hope to make an albeit small contribution with my philosophy, that very same which, under considerable distress, has always supported me and given me enough consolation to enable me to survive my own miserable times.

As I'm sure you are well aware that I am a recluse, though not of my own free will but because of Mr. l'Imperateur's quibbles about sex. I will not bore you with the details of my prolonged imprisonments and the endless series of tortures this and previous regimes have pleased to inflict upon my miserable soul, but suffice it to say that I have now reached that phase of life when men of a certain standing and upbringing, like yours truly, stop worrying about other people's feelings and begin to look upon the vicissitudes of life with total detachment.

I am a sick man, sir. I am sick of my fellow beings, I am sick of my ailments, and I am sick of living. I am all this but I am not, and have never been, a "sick man" in the sense my executioners would like to mean. I have never done anything against nature, nor have I ever violated her sacred laws. Ah, that I may live to serve her to my last breath!

I remain, my dear good Sir, your everlasting and humble servant,

De Sade

				Acceptance Letter from the Marquis de Sade to the Publisher




Marquis de Sade				It is for me an honour and my greatest pleasure, Sir, to accept your kind invitation to correspond from the little village of Charenton to your interesting review. I will take for granted, Sir, that very few of your readers know or have heard of myself, considering the halo of deep misunderstanding that shrouds the name that was once the pride and honour of my ancestors (need I to remind you, in fact, that the blood of Laure, the incredible lady who inspired much of Petrarch's poetry, indeed runs in my veins?). To be forgotten is indeed my highest ambition, for I prefer to become null and void in the face of the earth than be remembered for acts and crimes which malignity and a mistaken interpretation of human nature have wrongly attributed to me. However, Sir, I am and always will remain at your service, for what little I can contribute. I hope you do realize, too, that I am but a "dilettante" in the vast world of letters, but my "amour propre" is vastly flattered at the mere thought that there are people out there, people of understanding and knowledge, who find my writings worthy of their time and attention and the least I could do for them, and for you, is to devote some of my worthless time to try to respond to their queries. I am old, half-blind and not very keen on novelties. I do not like the way things are turning in this wonderful country of ours, but, mind you, I'll be hard caught spewing a single word of criticism to our wonderful Emperor, who has brought so much glory to our Nation. Yet, it is in these miserable times that I hope to make an albeit small contribution with my philosophy, that very same which, under considerable distress, has always supported me and given me enough consolation to enable me to survive my own miserable times. As I'm sure you are well aware that I am a recluse, though not of my own free will but because of Mr. l'Imperateur's quibbles about sex. I will not bore you with the details of my prolonged imprisonments and the endless series of tortures this and previous regimes have pleased to inflict upon my miserable soul, but suffice it to say that I have now reached that phase of life when men of a certain standing and upbringing, like yours truly, stop worrying about other people's feelings and begin to look upon the vicissitudes of life with total detachment. I am a sick man, sir. I am sick of my fellow beings, I am sick of my ailments, and I am sick of living. I am all this but I am not, and have never been, a "sick man" in the sense my executioners would like to mean. I have never done anything against nature, nor have I ever violated her sacred laws. Ah, that I may live to serve her to my last breath! I remain, my dear good Sir, your everlasting and humble servant, De Sade