CELEBRATION OF THE SUPREME BEING. "SCENE DE FRATERNITE MELEE - Lot 202

Lot n° 202
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Result : 845EUR
CELEBRATION OF THE SUPREME BEING. "SCENE DE FRATERNITE MELEE - Lot 202
CELEBRATION OF THE SUPREME BEING. "SCENE DE FRATERNITE MELEE A UN GRAND SPECTACLE DE MAGNIFICENCE...." Autograph letter signed by initials to his "dear Roussel" in Caen. Paris, 22 prairial [an II-10 juin 1794]. One p. 1/2 in-4, address on back. "NOUS AVONS CELEBRE DECADI DERNIER... LA PLUS CHARMANTE FETE QUI AIT ETE EN LIEU DEPUIS LA REVOLUTION... Our representatives will make known to all Frenchmen this scene of fraternity mingled with a great spectacle of magnificence. The reason for the feast embellished it more than its pomp and accessories. THE HEARTS OF SENSITIVE REPUBLICANS WORSHIPED THE FATHER OF NATURE ON THIS DAY, as they sang of the sweet spring that enlivens our happy land, and the liberty that covers it with its blessings. I'd send you a rather mediocre hymn of my own, if you didn't know about the near-masterpiece of the poet Chénier and the beautiful, somewhat metaphysical verses of Cen Desorgues. Undoubtedly, the Calvadocians were eager to pay homage to the supreme author of all things; and they could not better purify their city, still impure from the breath left there by federalism, than by the incense raised to the heavenly avenger of crimes and the august rewarder of good deeds..." A DEIST FESTIVAL WANTED BY ROBESPIERRE. The cult of the Supreme Being was introduced by the Convention's decree of May 7, 1794, at the request of Robespierre, who sought to give a metaphysical foundation to virtue, recalling that "the French people recognize the existence of the Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul" - six months after the Fête de la Raison (Festival of Reason) wanted by the atheist Hebertists. A single ceremony in honor of the Supreme Being was held in Paris on June 8, 1794, in two stages, first in the Tuileries gardens, then on the Champ de Mars. Robespierre incinerated a statue of Atheism, from which a statue of Wisdom emerged. Provenance: former Claude Mauriac collection (autograph note on enclosed folder).
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