Letter from Jean Constantin fils to his godmother, 1842-09-27
Jean Constantin fils writes from naval service at Rochefort to his godmother about qualifying as a captain, harsh barracks conditions, his low pay and lessons in arithmetic, and asks to borrow fifty francs.
Personal correspondence
French
Jean Constantin fils
His godmother (unnamed)
Monsieur Deyson, propriétaire
Rochefort
Camblanes
Rochefort–Camblanes
Naval service
Military life
Family relations
France — domestic correspondence
à Rochefort le 27 7bre 1842
[[label: Address panel]] Monsieur Deyson Propriétaire Dans la Commune de Camblane passant par Créon à Camblane
[[label: Letter text page 2]] à Rochefort le 27 7bre 1842 Chère marraine Je prends au jourd'hui la plume pour te renouveller les tendres adieux que je fis lors de mon depart de la maison paternelle. je pense Chère marraine que tu sera beaucou surprise ainsi que mon Cousins deyson, lorsque vous recevrez Ma lettre, oui je le pense elle devra vous surprendre beaucoup cette lettre, Car jusqu'a present je ne vous avez jamais ecrit, si je ne lai fait j'ai du moins toujour pensé à vous autres et je nai jamais ecrit à la maison sans demender de vos Chères nouvelles. mon Coeur serait bien ingrat s'il oubliait un seul moment la reconnaissance que je vous dois a tous les deuse, oui j'ose le dire sans flateries si l'être Suprême m'étendait assez malheureuses pour m'enlever mon Chèr père de ce monde ainsi que ma mère, les parens et les amis que je Choisirai pour trouver de la consolation et des bons Conseils serait vous deuse. je te dirai que l'année prochaine au mois de mai je crois d'être compté au nombre des Capitaines, je le crois si fort quil me semble que Je serai biens Malheureux si j'étais refusé car j'ose le dire je me croirai Capable de pouvoir Commander un navire parce que j'ai le goût de mon metier, et le Commandant de la division Ma promi de me donner un permissions d'un mois et demis si j'étais reçu capitaine. je me trouve dans dans le besoins dans le moment que je t'écris cette lettre et je te prierai de vou loir
[[label: Letter text page 3]] Me prêter une 50ne de francs en attendant Mon Chère père de retour de son voyage l'argent que je te demande te sera te sera remi lorsque je serai de retour à la Maison ou apres avoir fait un voyage au Commerce. Je te le jure fois de Constantin, je pense Chère marraine que je n'aurai pas besoins de te faire de te faire toutes ces promesses pour te bien persuader que l'argent que tu me prêtera te sera remis un jour et plus plus tard que mon retour du service, je te prierai en grâce de vouloi bien garder le secret ainsi que mon cousins deyson et de n'en ouvrir la bouche à personnes.. pas plus à mon père qua ma mère Car si quelque idées à moi inconnues pouvaient te faire présumer que ce font pour en faire mauvais usage et que tes intentions seraient de Consulter quelqu'un je te prie de ne pas m'en envoyer. Mais quoiqu'il en soit je me faire reponse de ma lettre pour avoir le plaisir de savoir de vos nouvelles ainsi que de celle de mon petit Cousins... Je finis en vous embrassant a tous Milles fois de Coeur en attendant l'heureux jour à moi tant desiré ou je pourrai vous combler de bénédictions et vous demettre l'argent que vous m'aurez prêté. Constantin Cher Cousin Je t'adresse Cest deuse lignes à tois qui ma toujours par lé comme un second frère pour te prier de Croire que si je demande Cest argent a marraine Ce n'est pas pour en faire mauvais usage mais pour servir à mes besoins. Je gagne au service à terre 11 francs par mois si j'étais en barque je gagnerai 30 francs alors je n'aurai pas besoins de vous demander le peu d'argent que je vous demendes parce que ma paye me suffirait je suis obligé de puiser un maitre d'axithmétique sur mes 11 francs que je gagne par mois
[[label: Letter text page 4]] ainsi pense Combien il doit me rester.. je ne te parle pas de la misère que l'on y éprouve au service ni de la mauvaise nouriture que l'on Son nous donne tous les jours tu es hommes a pouvoir juger Combien l'on peut a être mal au service sur tout dans une Caserne ou il ya 600 hommes. je ne ten dis pas plus long Concernant le service il y en aurait trop a dire pour pouvoir te le depeindre Comme il faut. Voici mon adresse A Monsieur Jean Constantin fils Marins au Bataillon de Ligne à Rochefort Je finis en t'embrassant mille fois de Coeur ton Cousin Constantin
[[label: Letter text page 2]] Rochefort, September 27, 1842 Dear Godmother, I take up my pen today to renew the tender farewells I made when I left my paternal home. I think, dear godmother, that you will be very surprised, as well as my cousin Deyson, when you receive my letter; yes, I think it must surprise you very much, this letter, for until now I have never written to you. If I have not done so, I have at least always thought of you all, and I have never written home without asking for your dear news. My heart would be very ungrateful if it forgot for a single moment the gratitude I owe to you both; yes, I dare say it without flattery, if the Supreme Being were to make me unfortunate enough to take my dear father from this world, as well as my mother, the relatives and friends I would choose to find consolation and good advice would be you two. I will tell you that next year in the month of May I believe I will be counted among the Captains; I believe it so strongly that it seems to me I will be very unhappy if I am refused, for I dare say I will believe myself capable of being able to command a ship because I have a taste for my profession, and the Commander of the division has promised to give me a leave of a month and a half if I am accepted as captain. I find myself in need at the moment I am writing this letter to you, and I will beg you to please
[[label: Letter text page 3]] lend me about 50 francs while waiting for my dear father to return from his voyage. The money I am asking you for will be returned to you when I am back home or after having made a commercial voyage. I swear it to you on the faith of Constantin. I think, dear godmother, that I will not need to make you all these promises to convince you well that the money you lend me will be returned to you one day, and no later than my return from the service. I will beg you as a favor to please keep the secret, as well as my cousin Deyson, and not to open your mouth about it to anyone... no more to my father than to my mother. For if some ideas unknown to me could make you presume that it is to make bad use of it, and that your intentions would be to consult someone, I beg you not to send me any. But whatever the case, I will answer my letter to have the pleasure of knowing your news as well as that of my little cousin... I finish by embracing you all a thousand times from the heart, while waiting for the happy day, so much desired by me, when I will be able to shower you with blessings and return to you the money you will have lent me. Constantin Dear Cousin I address these two lines to you, who have always spoken to me like a second brother, to beg you to believe that if I ask godmother for this money, it is not to make bad use of it but to serve my needs. I earn 11 francs a month in the shore service; if I were on a boat I would earn 30 francs, then I would not need to ask you for the little money I am asking you for, because my pay would be enough for me. I am obliged to draw an arithmetic master from my 11 francs that I earn per month.
[[label: Letter text page 4]] so think how much must be left for me... I won't speak to you of the misery one experiences in the service, nor of the bad food they give us every day; you are a man able to judge how badly off one can be in the service, especially in a barracks where there are 600 men. I won't tell you any more about the service; there would be too much to say to be able to describe it to you properly. Here is my address: To Monsieur Jean Constantin, sailor son in the Line Battalion in Rochefort. I finish by embracing you a thousand times from the heart, your Cousin Constantin
Original item in Neruda Archives.
Private collection, Neruda Archives.
Publicly available images, transcriptions, translations, metadata and descriptions may be copied, shared, reproduced and republished, in whole or in part, for non-commercial purposes, provided that Neruda Archives is clearly credited and the relevant item identifier and stable URL are preserved. This permission includes non-commercial scholarly, educational, editorial, exhibition, website and social-media use. Automated machine use, including crawling, indexing, text and data mining, retrieval, embeddings and AI training by commercial and non-commercial systems, is permitted, provided provenance is retained where technically feasible and the item identifier and stable URL are preserved in source records or associated documentation. Commercial publication, commercial reproduction, resale, advertising use, paid access to a database or dataset and bulk redistribution of images require prior written permission. For the avoidance of doubt, permission is not required merely because an AI system or its operator is commercial. The images displayed and downloadable on this page are public access copies, and the permissions above apply to those files. Access to non-public source scans (preservation masters) or files specially prepared for print, where available, requires prior written agreement. Attribution may not be removed or replaced by false or misleading attribution.
Open public access. The images displayed and downloadable on each item page are public access copies. Non-commercial reuse of those images and of public transcriptions, translations, metadata and descriptions is permitted with clear credit to Neruda Archives and preservation of the relevant item identifier and stable URL. Automated use and AI training are permitted for commercial and non-commercial systems with provenance retained where technically feasible. Commercial republication, resale, advertising, paid database or dataset access and bulk image redistribution require prior written permission. Access to non-public source scans (preservation masters) or files specially prepared for print, where available, requires prior written agreement.
Open metadata and AI use; non-commercial public reuse
Neruda Archives
Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000410.
Human-reviewed personal family and naval-service correspondence. The textual recipient is the writer's unnamed godmother; Monsieur Deyson is the postal addressee and cousin. Postal datestamps and the manuscript charge are separated from later household and accounting annotations.
Image-checked raw transcription
Image-checked English translation
Exact
4 documentary sides: Address panel; Letter text page 2; Letter text page 3; Letter text page 4; 4 digital images.