Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Paul et Virginie: "Premier essai

Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Paul et
Virginie: "Premier essai autographe
de la conversation de Paul
Malcolm Cook
et du Vieillard"
A
manuscript recently purchased by the Bibliothhue Municipale
du Havrel bears the inscription "premier essai autographe de la
conversation de Paul et du Vieillard, plusieurs passages de cet essai
n'ont pas 6t6 employ6s." which is signed "L. aim6martin." Aim6 Martin
was Bemardin de Saint-Pierre's secretary. He later married Bemardin's
widow and was responsible for editing his complete works in the 1820s
and beyond.
Aim6 Martin has been much maligned, not least by Maurice Souriau,
who attacks him by saying, for example: "Sa methode critique, pour la
partie narrative, ou plutdt son absence de mBthode critique, son manque
de sincbrit6 scientifique, d6passent toute id6e."2 The editorial principles
that prevailed in the early nineteenth century' are quite different from
those practised today. Even so, I suspect that Souriau's constant criticism stems as much from the desire to stress the importance of his own
scholarly activity as it does from defects he perceived in the work of
Aim6 Martin. Indeed, from the evidence I have found while working
on Bemardin's correspondence, and in particular on the exchanges with
1 Vente Laurin - Guilloux - Buffetaud - Tailleur, Dmuot Richelieu, 10 el I1 dbcembre, 1991. no
244. The manuscript bears the temporary shelf mark Inventaire 943.
2 Maurice Souriau, Bemardin de Soinr-Pierre d'opris sss mnnuscrirs (Paris: Sociitb Franpise
d'lmprimwie et de Librairie, 1905). p. xv.
E I G H T E E N T H - C E N T U R Y FICTION, Volume 9, Number 2, January 1997
152 E I G H T E E N T H - C E N T U R Y FICTION
Hennin (published by Aim6 Martin in 1826), I consider that Aim6 Martin's reading of the letters is generally reliable-although he does on
occasion cut paragraphs, and he also omits letters which must have been
known to him.
The manuscript which I examine and edit here is certainly a curiosity.
There can be little doubt that Aim6 Martin's identification of it as an
early draft of Paul et Virginie is accurate. As we shall see, however, it
is hard to establish how the final version derived from it.
The excellent edition of Paul et Virginie by Marie-Tht&se Veyrenc)
makes it apparent that Bernardin did not find composition easy. One passage in the edition by 6douard Guiaon4 is reproduced four times in the
manuscript, with minimal variation, and is accompanied by a small drawing which would be reproduced, in later editions, as an engraving in the
text. Other oassages.
- too, were worked and reworked. as the Vevrenc
edition shows. For reasons which are not clear, however, Veyrenc concentrates almost exclusively on the manuscript in the library of the Sorbonne5
and fails to reproduce other manuscripti of the novel bf which she was
aware (she refers to them in note 4 on page 27).
Now that the Bibliothbque du Havre has purchased the important draft
of a short section of the novel authenticated by the signature of Aim6
Martin, it is essential that this new evidence be examined. What is surprising, as we shall see, is that the first draft differs greatly from the
final text, so much so, indeed, that it is hard to locate it precisely in the
eventual finished version (pp. 175-92 of the Guitton edition).
Throughout the transcription the following conventions are adopted: a
3 Bemardin de Saint Pierre. Paul el Wrginic, ed. Marie-TMbe Veyrenc (Paris: Nim, 1975).
4 Bemardin de Saint-Piem. Paul el Virginie, ed. !huard Guitton (Paris: Classiques GarnierIBordas, 1989). p. 90. References are to this edition.
5 Veyrenc writes: "Dans le dossier 103 du fond Bemardin de Saint-Piem i la bibiiothegue municipale du Havre, les feuillets 10 et 11 offrent m i 8 petits passages I'un Sur VirghieqprLs son &art,
les deux autres devant &ue p l d s d m le dialogue de Mr Mustcl avec Paul. qui son1 des exemples de ces essais de rMaction auxquels s'est livd I'auteur avanf d'entreprendre la ddaction
suivie du mman" (p. 271114). These manuscripts are reproduced, figures I and 2. There is no
hard evidence to suggest thal Bernardin actually worked in this way. even if it is likely to be
the case. It might be true thaI Bemardin composed different passages before actually bringing them together. This CeRainly seems to be the case for the unpublished "Robinson Crusw in
Siberia." See Malcolm Cook. "Robinson Crusw in Siberia: The Writing of a Novel in the Eighteenth Century," Sfudicr on Volfaire and the Eighfeenrh Century no. 317 (1994). 1 4 3 . It should,
of course, be pointed out that the manuscript now in the Sorbonne library is not the final version which would have been given to the printer. The manuscript is still in the drafi stage, as
the reproduction between pp, cxxxiii and cxxxiv of the Guitton edition makes abundantly clear.
B E R N A R D I N DE
SAINT-PIERRE 153
text added above the line is indicated by ++ at the start and finish; a
text crossed out, but legible, is shown in brackets thus { ); text which
is crossed out and illegible is shown {illegible); readings which are
uncertain are marked [?I. Where there are accents in the manuscript, I
include them and where there is doubt about the nature of the accent, I
give the modem form. The end of a line in the manuscript is shown 1.
harmon generale6
++Virginie++ on ma dit que ce fut en 52 que p6ritl
Mlle de belle val d'autres disent Landais [?I
Sur la m o d
mon fils comme dans I'enfance vous aviCs des pressentiments et des inquittudesl
qui vous annoncoient que vous etids nes pour une passion dont personnd
ne vous avoit parlC, dememe les inquietudes de I'homme, cette soifl
du bonheur prouve qu'il en est un qui ne vous est pas connu1
et comme il y a une relation et un raport de tous les membres deJ
lhomme a tous les corps qui sont ++des avant gout++ sur la terre et dont il peut
++doit++/
aprocher par le gout le toucher ensorte que de tout ce quil peutl
voir rien nechape a sa connoissance, la nature ne lui ayantl
voulu faire naitre aucun desir que ne le menat a une jouissancd
ainsi mon fils, cet espace immense ce ciel si loin de nous/
est liC a nous par la lumiere qui nous fait apercevoir nonl
seulement les objets terrestres ++dont nous jouissons [?I++ si petits, mais les
celestes qui sontl
infiniment plus grand et au nombre infini. ainsi vous voyed
par la forme de laeil qui souvre ou se dilatte a volontC et del
++la lumibre++ quune chaine d'intention la mCme existe entre le globe dul
soleil de la terre et I d : tout est du meme plan1
tout est dispost et raport6, ++ordonnC++ depuis les points imperceptibles des
yeuxl
des habitans de la terre, jusquau globe immense du soleil:l
et quoi que ces objets ne soient pour I'homme un sujet immense d d
meditation, ou ses connaissances se perdent et sabiment cependant noud
pouvons voir quil y a un ordre {seul [?I) car plusieurs corps sontl
comme le notre opaques, circulaires, d'un mouvement regulierJ
et entour6 de corps secondaires qui semblent destints leur fournir la/
lumi&reen proportion de la distance du soleil. ainsi la terre a unel
lune, jupiter et saturne le plus CloignC; un anneau entied
[New page, verso] ainsi ces lieux paraissent destinCs des habitations./
comme en voyant sur mer passer lhorison des voiles dirigCes ++cornme les++
on jugel
6 This phrase, in ink of a different colour, does not seem to form part of what follows.
154 E I G H T E E N T H - C E N T U R Y FICTION
que ce sont des vaisseaux ++quun artiste a fait'++ ainsi i la [?] regularit6 du
cours, lopacit6,l
prouvent que ces lieux sont faits pour &re habitis, et quils sont contruitsl
pour des {objets) fins semblables.1
mais si les planbtes nous paraissent des ++terres [?I++ globes comme le notre,
lesl
etoiles ++par {illegible} des soleils++ infinies par leur fixitk, leur lumibre scintillante ++{leu distance)++ {illegible) paraissent1
infinie telle que deux observateurs lextremite de deux diambtres. ne form4
++{des soleils)++ par un angle sensible./
que pouvons nous dire que la meme main regne encore au delal
et comme elle va varier les saisons sur la terre, la disposition1
dans les planetes en grosseur, distance, dans le soleil elle varie les couleurd
{reprks [?] } paroit rouge come rubis, dautres semes [?I, commel
dautre et par une finit6 [?] de propriet6s inconnues, et qui auroit!
pu imaginer sur la terre la varittt infinie des odeurs saveurs,l
fraicheurs, formes, que lastre soleil develope sur notre/
petite tere, qui pourroit nombrer cette vue de soleil,l
ou peut etre les formes ne sont plus les memes et qui pourroit!
suivre dans {lespace) ++letendue++ infini des {sibcles) temps et de lespac4
cet 2tre tout puissant agissant sur ++une infinite++ {le meme} plan crkantJ
sans cesse, disposant, conservant et tisan [?] tout de son soin inepuisablel
[new writing, new hand] premier essai autographe de la conversation de Paul et
du Vieillard. plusieurs passages de cet essai n'ont pas employks.
L. aimtmartin
It might be regretted that this draft was not used in the novel, as there is
a wealth of poetic language and a philosophical depth in the draft which
the conversation between Paul and the Vieillard in the final version lacks.
The dialogue in the final version is full of criticism of contemporary
Europe, very much in the style of the period when the novel was first
published in 1788. The influence of Rousseau is everywhere apparent.
The dialogue appears to be more of a real exchange, with short questions
and answers, and is very much in keeping with the thoughts paramount
in Paul's mind following the departure of Virginie. What kind of society
was she going to find herself in? Would she be corrupted by her stay in
Europe? Is the Europe represented in contemporary texts authentic?
The Vieillard does not hide his scorn for Europe, or more precisely
France, which he has left. Paul's comment "Quel pays que l'Europe"
(p. 184) may strike us as rather strange (is Europe a "pays"?), but it
shows the effectiveness of the V~eillard's indictment. He later sums up
European corruption:
7 Although the preceding direct object agreement form was not generally agreed upon until the
nineteenth century (see Gdvisse. Le Eon Usage, loth ed. I19751. pp. 788.89). there is evidence
that Rernardin was using the form elsewhere.
B E R N A R D I N D E S A I N T - P I E R R E 155
Oh! il n'est pas possible B un homme Cleve dans la nature de comprendre les
dtpravations de la socittt. On se fait une idCe prCcise de I'ordre, mais non pas
du dtsordre. La beaut&,la vertu, le bonheur, ont des proportions; la laideur, le
vice et le malheur, n'en ont point. (p. 187)
Quite different from the eventual printed text of the novel, in tone,
in content, and in its philosophical sources, the manuscript is closer to
the Etudes de la Nature, of which the novel was part, and with which it
first appeared in 1788 as volume 4 of the third edition. Little work has
been done on the relationship between the Etudes and the novel, but I am
more and more of the opinion that the novel can be fully understood only
in relation to the earlier volumes. Certainly the influence of Rousseau
is apparent in the ktudes, but there are other debts which need to be
considered and which are apparent in this manuscript draft.
In the absence of clear proof, what follows is necessarily speculative,
and my suggestions draw parallels which are as much linguistic as purely
philosophical.8 In the Discours de la mdthode, Part 4 , Descartes suggests
that his idea of perfection cannot have come from himself, nor can it have
arisen from nothing, so it must derive from an outside source. He writes:
"Mais ce ne pouvait &re le meme de I'idde d'un &re plus parfait que le
mien, car de la tenir du ndant c'btait chose manifestement impossible.'' In
the manuscript, the Vieillard says to Paul: "cette soif du bonheur prouve
qu'il en est un qui ne vous est pas connu." Is Bernardin using the same
kind of Cartesian logic in his analysis of happiness? Paul knows that he
is not happy and yet he has a desire for happiness. Paul thinks that a
happiness greater than the one he knows must exist. Obviously a hunger
for happiness is not the same as an idea of perfection, but what interests
us here is the process by which Bernardin moves towards a conclusion.
In Bemardin's philosophy the desire for happiness comes from nature,
which, in turn, offers the means of satisfying the desire. In Bemardin's
philosophy, it is God who guarantees the harmony of nature and who
links natural phenomena in a harmonious chain. Descartes is, of course,
attempting something quite different in the Discours. Yet the Vieillard
in this manuscript is seeking to formulate a method which Paul can
understand and which will encourage him to share the Vieillard's deist
beliefs. Descartes states, in the second part of the Discours: "Ainsi voiton que les bitiments qu'un seul architecte a entrepris et achevds ont
coutume &&re plus beaux et mieux ordonnds que ceux que plusieurs ont
8 There are metaphysical considerations here which the present anicle can only allude to. Ira
Wade gives an excellent, lucid account of the importance of Descanes and Pnscal for Enlightenment thinkers. The Inrellecrual Origins of rhe Frmch Enliphrenmenr (Princeton. N.J.: Princeton
University Press. 1971).
156 E I G H T E E N T H - C E N T U R Y FICTION
t8chB de raccomoder, en faisant sewir de vieilles murailles qui avaient
dtd bdties 1 d'autres fins." We might not all accept this view, but we must
remember that Descartes is talking about constructions built by humans.
We must also remember that Descartes never uses the harmony of nature
to prove the existence of God. But is there not, in the manuscript, a
constant theme that the earth is harmonious because there is one architect
who has ordered the planet in a particular manner?
quune chaine d'intention la m h e existe enue le globe du soleil de la tene et
I d : tout est du meme plan tout est est dispose et raportd, depuis les points
imperceptibles des yeux des habitans de la terre, jusquau globe immense du
soleil.
Are there also linguistic resonances of Pascal in the analysis of space
and infinity? One thinks of the penske, "Le silence Btemel de ces espaces
infinis m'effraie." The equivalent here may be "qui pourroit suivre dans
{lespace} ++letendue++ des {siecles) temps et de lespace cet &wetout
puissant." Without making too much of what might be nothing more than
linguistic coincidence, it seems that Bemardin was far more eclectic in
his method than has hitherto been considered.
Returning to the manuscript and its relationship to the novel, we can
see that the author may have decided that the discussion between Paul
and the Vieillard should relate closely to the critique of European reality,
while the religious or philosophical import of the manuscript draft would
be more suitable as a discourse by the weillad, a later version of which
can be found on pages 16670 of the Guitton edition just before the
dialogue proper.
There can be little doubt that Bernardin read widely and that he incorporated into his texts, not always with due acknowledgment, the ideas
of the authors he admired. What is also apparent is that he used his own
ideas in different ways in different texts. I have suggested elsewhere that
Paul et Virginie may have gone through a number of drafts before the
final version was achieved. I have also suggested that the novel's political and social criticism should not be ~nderestimated.~
There is little
doubt in my mind that the novel is, essentially, a fictional exemplification of the political and philosophical ideas expressed in the ~ t u d e sTo
.
9 See Malcolm Cwk, "Harmony and Discord in Paul el Vir~inic,"Eighleenth-Century Fiction 3
(1991). 205-16.
B E R N A R D I N DE S A I N T - P I E R R E 157
give an example which is relevant to the passage examined here, in the
seventh Ltude we read:
Tout gouvemement, quel qu'il soit, est heureux au dedans et puissant au dehors
lorsqu'il donne B tous ses sujets le droit nature1 de parvenir B la fortune et aux
honneurs; et le contraire arrive lorsqu'il reserve B une classe particulibre de
citoyens les biens qui doivent etre communs h tous."'
A similar passage can be found in the dialogue between Paul and the
Vieillard in the printed version of the text. It might seem, therefore,
that at least with respect to social and political commentary, the novel
was closer to the h u d e s in the final version than it was in the earlier
manuscript drafts. To make this assertion with authority, we obviously
need more information and more evidence of the earlier drafts, as the
manuscript in the Sorbonne is too close to the final version to be of
much use in this context. But there is other evidence which might also
be considered-the three manuscript drafts in Le Havre, known to MarieTh6rhse Veyrenc, but not included in her study of the text and its variants.
Souriau, in Bernardin de Saint-Pierre d'aprPs ses manuscrits, refers to
these drafts and gives abbreviated transcriptions of them."
If we take the manuscript entitled "Sur Virginie apr6s son depart" we
find a short text which has a rough equivalent in the formal dialogue
between Paul and the Vieillard (p. 184). The manuscript reads:
quelque fois entendant paler des hotels de paris de a [?]I
quelque fois venant a se representer la contrainte ou vivoit celle qui'ill
appelloit sa sceur, il {disoit [?I} secrioit [?I, reviens avec nous chere amie vivrel
{se [?I} abri [?] libre, contente, heureuse, {ce nest nil quitte tes {hotels) palais
reviend
dans ces cabanes ++ou Ion n'a jamais enviC ni rnedit++ lair y est pur, ++cornme
les cceurs qui Ihabitent++ {la [illegible] } tes amis y sont, ton frerel
{tu et que [?]}I
puis regardant son jardin, ++ses vergers chargts de fruits, voue perte [?I ne
{na} jamais coutk de larmes et votre jouissance m'a toujours donne++ vous ne
maves jamais cout6 que {des lames} del
plaisir. (Le Havre, 103.10)
This is clearly no more than a working draft, and is difficult to decipher,
as Bemardin heavily corrected his text.
The two other manuscript pieces can be easily identified as belonging
to the dialogue between M. Mustel (the Vieillard was given a name in
the earlier drafts) and Paul. It will be evident that these two pieces are
10 Bemardin de Saint-Pierre, (Euvres complkm, 2 vols, ed. Aim4 Manin (Paris: Ledentu, 1840).
1 :222.
11 Sou"au. pp. 231-32.
158 E I G H T E E N T H - C E N T U R Y FICTION
more easily read than the first example and, no doubt, represent a more
finished state. But we are still a long way from the final manuscript given
to the printer, which has never been discovered. What is emerging is a
clearer picture of the way Bemardin composed his texts, which I have
already examined in detail.12 Once the plan for the novel became clear,
Bernardin would concentrate on small passages, going over them again
and again, making what appear, to us at least, to be insignificant changes
until the final version was written.
dans le dialogue de M Mustel avec Paul
vous cherches la gloire ++reputation++ o mon ami c'est un bien que donne
aujourd hui lintriguel
et quBte la calomnie. daileurs ou la trouverks vous; proposes unel
question simple a vos voisins vous verts s'il nen pense [?] pas differementt
en hollande ou j'ai demeurk letat militaire est presque regard6 comme ried
on ny fait cas que de magistrats a cent lieues de la en france cestl
tout le contraire la noblesse ++militaire++a fait une classe des familles de robes
[?I/
mais en france meme cest bien pis vous ne trouveris pas deux etatsl
qui ne pensent differement. que de monde vous choqueriis si vous vivits na.Wrellement.
Sur le meme sujet
dieu a rendu tous ses ouvrages parfait lids [?I comme a linfini, aussil
une infinit6 de plantes, danimaux, dastres probablement de la meme/
espece, il a de meme fait les resorts du coeur humain, bon et lesl
meme, lamour ++la bienfaisance++ la generositi, la constance tous doivent
tendrel
aux vertus parce que tout {alors [?I} ira bien, mais lamour de ++la distinction++
{illegible}/
est une depravation, car il seroit impossible que tous fussent considtrtsl
vous connoitrks par ce raisonement le bien du mal, vous demandant si tousl
etoient ainsi la societe pouroit elle subsister, et vous verks que le vice seul ne
peut etre general1
quel est donc la recompense de la vertul
celui detre bien avec soi meme et avec dieu.
While it is easy to see roughly where these texts might have been incorporated, it is also evident that they are quite different from the final
version. The conclusion spoken by the Vieillard is not quite that given
in the printed version: "La vertu est un effort fait sur nous-memes pour
le bien d'autmi dans I'intention de plaire B Dieu seul" (p. 188).
12 Cook. "Robinson Crusoe in Siberia."
B E R N A R D I N D E S A I N T - P I E R R E 159
What conclusions can be drawn from an analysis of these manuscript
texts? First, it will be apparent that Bemardin was a perfectionist and a
demanding critic of his own work. The novel was put together in pieces,
section by section, until a satisfactory version was produced-a process
that might account for the occasional inconsistency and oddity.
It is time to undertake a new analysis of the novel, in the context of the
major work of which it originally formed part; but to do so we need a
reliable critical major edition of the Etudes de la Nature. Over a period
of nearly ten years Bemardin added text to successive editions of the
~ t u d e sTo
. what extent, it may he asked, did Paul et Virginie fit the third
edition (1788) better than the first edition (1784)?
Souriau suggests, using evidence from a manuscript in Le Havre
(107.30). that Bernardin may have intended using the Histoire de Mlle
Virginie de la Tour as chapter 15 of a new edition of the Voyage a 1%
de France. The manuscript he refers to is entitled only "table" and it
is not evident that this text would, in fact, have been a new edition of
Bemardin's first published work. On the basis only of the chapter headings, if it were to be a new edition, it would have been very different
from the first. We know that Bemardin spent years composing the novel
and that the choice, eventually, to include it with the Etudes was carefully
made. As he said in the avant-propos:
J'ai donc compris ce faible essai sous le nom et B la suite de mes Etudes sur
la Nature, que le public a accueillies avec tant de bontt; afin que ce titre, lui
rappelant mon incapacitt, le fit toujours souvenir de son indulgence.''
Although there has been much critical work in recent years on
Bemardin de Saint-Pierre, a clear history of the composition of Paul
et Virginie remains to be written. The manuscripts in Le Havre may
eventually reveal secrets that will allow us to establish the true picture.
For the moment, however, it is wise to conclude that Bernardin recognized the moral utility of his novel and that he further understood that
it would be well protected under the umbrella of the Etudes. In fact the
novel needed no protection. It emerged as a text in its own right, leaving behind it a major work which has been sorely and unfairly neglected
for nearly two hundred years.
Is it possible, here, to offer other conclusions? Certainly it is apparent
that we need to undertake a major reassessment of Bemardin's writings,
160 I I G H T E E N T H - C E N T U R Y FICTION
based not on the Aim6 Martin texts but on the enormous archive in
Le Havre.l4 The first stage of the task is to prepare a critical catalogue
of the manuscripts, thus opening new avenues of research and enabling
us to understand Bemardin's working methods and his use of sources
other than Rousseau. A catalogue would also allow us to put together
significant texts which, even today, remain largely unknown. Finally, a
new critical biography of the author is needed, which would correct the
mistakes of previous writers and reveal the real status of a major figure
whose writing career was tom apart by the Revolution and Empire. The
archives in Le Havre-so far unsorted and little used-hold the key to
understanding Bemardin's life and works.ts
University of Exeter
..
. . -
14 The richness of this archive has became ever mare aooarent as I am oreoarine a critical inventow
of the Brmwdin currerpondence (aver two lhousand letten) The tnventaq tc
hrst clagc tn
Ihe preparatm ai a cntncat cdnion of lcnerr fmm and tu Rern;lrdm. uhiih will be rdwd by r
team of specchrtr and publtshed hy the Voltare Faundium
15 A first version of this paper was given at the early modem French seminar series at the University
of Oxford in November 1995. 1 would like to expnss my gratitude to the British Academy and
to the University of Exeter Research Fund for financial support, and to my colleague Mark
Waddieor, who read an early version of this paper. Un grand merci aussi au personnel de la
BibliothQie Muncipale du Havre pour son accueil et son aide.