Description

MINUTE AUTOGRAPH OF A VERY LONG AND BEAUTIFUL LETTER TO THE REVEREND FATHER MASSILLON about the Grand Dauphin who had just died on 14 April 1771 and whose funeral oration Massillon delivered.

"I can well say, my reverend father, with much more reason than Mr de Meaux [Bossuet] in the funeral oration of the late Madame, and [...] destined for such a sad commission as having to speak again of a prince whose loss I shall mourn all my life. However, I obey the King's orders...".

This is followed by some interesting remarks on the character of the Dauphin. D'Antin eulogises the late prince, insisting on the Dauphin's love for his father, his reliability in friendship and his horror of the slanderers and backbiters who surround princes.

This letter was published in t. XXI p. 434 of the Memoirs de Saint-Simon, Boilisle edition 1879-1930.