FABRE D'ÉGLANTINE (Philippe-François-Nazaire Fabre,... Lot 38

FABRE D'ÉGLANTINE (Philippe-François-Nazaire Fabre, dit) [Limoux, 1755 - Paris, 1794], actor, poet-writer, Conventionnel. Autograph letter signed to M. de Cotte. Sedan, November 6, 1777. 8 pages. In-4°. A REMARKABLE PLEA FOR HUMAN DIGNITY. "I am young, sensitive, a lover of order, justice, the public good, and above all of the unfortunate, who are my brothers in more ways than one, and it is for such reasons that I am risking this letter. No particular interest (for I ask for nothing), no spirit of malice (for I am a stranger here), engage me in the step I am taking; it is enough for me to be a man...". His purpose is to point out that some people around Sedan are removing mortar and gravel from the roads. Restoring damaged roads is a painful chore for the peasants, especially as they have to crush large stones to make artificial gravel. "Isn't it cruel for a poor peasant who earns his bread with his arm, and who is content with a thatched cottage, to sacrifice twenty extra days every year to replace the mortar that Monsieur Un Tel uses to earth up the garden where he grows his tulips? It's certain, Monsieur, that my observation is not wrong. Apart from the inconvenience of repair, the burden of which falls on the grower, and which is of great interest to political economy and above all to humanity... Instead of removing this cement, I think we should take advantage of it to relieve the conveyor. All that would be needed is to incorporate, while it is still fresh, the stones intended for gravel, crushed roughly enough; this would form a well-masticated floor, which would probably not have all the solidity of a Roman work, but which would at least spare the poor villagers a lot of sacrifice".