Letter to the Countess of T. on a Second French Theater in Paris

25

that of another, and to support his own. If it were permitted for me to offer, I do not say my advice, but a reflection that my study, my work, and even more, my decided taste for the history of my century has brought to mind: I would tell you, Monsieur, that it seems to me the Government should no longer leave such secrets hidden, which cease today to be state secrets, so as not to give credence to the various conjectures that have been ventured regarding important facts, and which may be ventured again. Consequently, I had devised a tribunal to write history. I see you laughing; one moment; before blaming me, read my ideas on this subject; but remember that it is only with trembling that I bring them to light, being still very much a novice in this art.

Tribunal to Write History

You are not unaware, Monsieur, that in Peking, the capital of China, there is a tribunal for writing history. This tribunal is composed of learned men, called mandarins, who are appointed to preserve in the chronicles of the empire both the virtues and the vices of the reigning Emperor. The latter cannot abolish, however absolute his authority, this establishment which is to him anything but agreeable. It is divided into two