My dear Aunt,

Life is but a place of suffering, of pain, of distress; the man who seeks there his safety and his joy is a fool who does not know what he is seeking. There are at every instant of life events which cause us to shudder, and if we did not have religion as support, we would at every instant be tempted to put an end to this life of suffering. It is especially in our family that misfortune, unhappiness seems to have set up its tent. Every day we must expect new sorrows, and each day new ones come to us. It has not yet been ten years that our good mother left us and today there is another who will join her. It hurts me to tell you, but I think you already know it. Yes, I need to tell you whatever it costs me. God willed it, it must be said: you no longer have a brother, and I no uncle . Yes, your brother is dead in a strange land, removed 1 emoved from his family, alone, without friendly attention to await his last breath. He died after having left his family, after an absence of two months. Oh! Yes, let us weep; this event allows us to weep; damned be he who would forbid us. Ah! Must this, then, always happen to us! What have we done, my God, that you would strike us so harshly. I will relate to you his death— the death of a saint, according to all those who saw it.It’s been since 3 January, as you know, that he left for Munich, to become superior of the Good Shepherd Sisters. He promised himself to do much good there and to convert the whole countryside. Impossible dreams. On 23 February, he falls ill, andon 3 March, he was no longer; he died during the night of the 2nd to the 3rd having a very sound mind, seeing himself dying, having strong lungs and always having the hope of recovery from the illness, but God had decided otherwise. His intestines were damaged as well as his liver, everything within had been disturbed and everything seemed to be burned. This is all I know concerning this death. My poor aunts are greatly distressed. I have just written to my uncle André2. I have presented all to him and begged him tocome to our aid. The only hope left to us, my dear Aunt, is to rest assured that he is in heaven. He has accomplished his task and ours still remains to be completed. He is happy and we are alone to complain, but let us say with the holy man Job: “God had given him to us3.” Yes, may his holy will be done in everything. My aunts remain in St. Louis, they will write to you shortly. Later on, when I have more detailed news, I will write to you again. For the moment, I am very pressed from all sides, the semester exams are approaching and will be here in two weeks, and I have to review my subjects, and yet I ought to write to all sides. Mr. Masson4 greets you and he expressed sympathy in our grief, as does Mr.Maisse5, our cousin. Come now, my dear Aunt, don’t be overly grieved, better days will shine for us, we must hope for it. God will have mercy on us, Goodbye, your most devoted and affectionate nephew. With all this hurrying, I don’t know where my head is, grief and suffering are killing me. My aunts remain at Saint-Louis. Schoeffler. 

In l’Espérance, newspaper of Nancy of 14 March 1843: “FatherSchæfer [.sic], a native of Nancy, and chaplain of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Munich, died on the first of this month; there had been only a few weeks since he left France to assume, in a foreign land, the direction of a religious community, itself a transplant from France to Bavaria.” With an inexact date and misspelling of the name, the death was published at Nancy where Augustine is found. 

1 Father Charles-Louis Schoeffler (see note in Letter 1). The death of his uncle greatly affected Augustine who wrote in a philosophy notebook (No. 3, preserved at BDN): “Ill-fated day, the 9 of March 1843. My poor uncle, where are you? Tell me?” March 9 , and not the 3 , undoubtedly the th rd he day he received the news. His roommate testified that Augustine had cried during the night. Bereavements would mark the life of Augustine: he remembers the death of his grandmother who was also his sponsor, in 1834; Charles in 1843; Félix Chevreux and the Burger cousin in 1845; his paternal grandfather in 1846, at the very moment of his ordination as deacon; his father in 1847, at the moment of his ordination to thepriesthood; Mrs. Chevreux and Félix in 1848. .
2 The letter has been lost. André, younger brother of Charles-Louis, born at Phalsbourg on 6 February 1805, made the military his career; he served notably in North Africa, died at age 57 of “fevers contracted in Africa” on 24/11/1862 at Fort-de-France. “Brilliant Lieutenant-Colonel, Officer of the Legion of Honor, Director of fortifications, husband of Lady Claire Élisabeth Pelet de Lautrec,” married on 24November 1846 in Martinique. The couple had four children: Marie-Élisabeth in 1848, Laurence-Françoise in 1851 (died in 1852), Paul-Ange-Antoine in 1853, Anne-Laurence in 1856. (Notes of Father Noblet). At one point, Augustine hesitated between the sword and the aspergillum [holy water sprinkler]:marking the influence of his two uncles and the military tradition of Phalsbourg, “nursery of the brave” (Napoleon). The archives of the Foreign Missions hold only one letter addressed by Augustine to this uncle; see Letter 31.
3 Job 1:21 – “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!”
4 This “Mr.” is a priest. This appellation is commonly used in the letters to identify ecclesiastics. Jean-Pierre Masson was born at Vic-sur-Seille, on 15 March 1807, ordained priest on 2 July 1830, assistant at Toul, professor at the college of Vic (Sept. 1830), assistant and administrator at Pont-à-Mousson, professor of philosophy at the major seminary of Nancy in March 1832, executive secretary for the diocese of Nancy in September 1839, private secretary of Bishop Menjaud, titular canon in February 1841, and honorary vicar-general in 1847. He died on 9 February 1855. Should not be confused with Bishop Guillaume-Clément Masson (1801-1853), native of Saint-Clément, missionary in Tonkin in 1824. Augustine had read his letters published in the Annales or in L;Espérance de Nancy newspaper. Coadjutor to the vicar-apostolic of Southern Tonkin
5 Charles-Joseph Maisse, born at Lutzelbourg on 14 July 1820, his mother is Marie-Anne Baumgarten, is first cousin to Augustine, a non-tonsured student in theology at the opening [of school] on 4 November 1842; Father Berman is his confessor; ordained priest on 17 February 1847, assistant at Saint-Pierre inNancy on 1 March 1847, novice with the Dominicans in 1848, again assistant at Saint-Pierre in 1849; left on 26 July 1851to be incardinated in the diocese of Munich. He returned in ill-health and died at Nancy on 17 April 1854. He is the cousin Augustine often mentions in his letters to Élise. It is strange that wehave not one letter to Maisse. . . And yet, a letter from Father Jean Verinaud to Father Noblet in 1985, mentions “a letter to Father Maisse (1848).” It has not been found. There is still some work left for those who would continue the research! The archives of the diocese of Nancy (preserved in the Departmental Archives of Meurthe-et-Moselle) contain notes about ordinations from 1840 to 1869, No such document exists for Augustine since he left the seminary before having been scheduled for ordination. What concerns Maisse, however, is very interesting. This is a printed form, listing eight criteria, with space for comments: “character: energetic; talents: feeble; judgment: so-so; piety: sound; zeal: promising; conduct: improving; achievement: so-so; health: the same. Important note: there is toomuch theatricality in his preaching, and nothing natural; the subject matter is weak. For a few years, there was little favorable opinion about him, but he did change and the authorities were pleased. Last year, or rather two years ago, he went to the La Malgrange college, where he was said to have behaved well. His voice is so-so, but he knows the music well. He is poor and is unable to exercise his ministry in theGerman section, for family reasons — I will speak of them, if necessary, especially with those to whom it concerns. To be placed far from his native area. Appointed to St-Pierre at Nancy.”