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Letter 3 - To Miss Élise Schoeffler, Language Instructor in the Institute of Miss Klein at Wiesbaden

Nancy, 27 April 1843

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My dear beloved Aunt,

I had always been waiting to write to you until after I had received the reply from the gentlemen to whom you had written and whose letters you had entrusted me to send you. I have received only that of M. Masson, and I hasten to send it to you. Besides I wascomfortable in waiting a few days before writing to you, hoping to receive news from home, but as yet I have not received much. No doubt they believe that I already know everything while in fact I know nothing other than some hearsay. At long last, I will relate what I know, as you enjoined me in your painful letter. Before leaving for Germany, my well-beloved uncle drew up his will according to regulations and here is what it contains. He gives the enjoyment of all his goods — those of grandfather as well as those from others — to his two sisters, Marie and Caroline, but after their death, their inheritance will revert to their brothers and sisters (but, according to what my dear Aunt Marie has written, it would seem that my aunts are disposed to share the inheritance following the death of grandfather if, however, no one quarrels with them. Here is more of what is contained in the will: my dear uncle wishes that he be given his expected funeral; moreover he requests 300 Masses, and in addition he wishes that 1000F be given to the Bishop — for pious works but only after the death of his two sisters, Marie and Caroline1

By the same will, he has also given me his library . This is everything I 2 know; it is my dear aunt Marie who wrote me all that and I find that this testament is full of wisdom and (that my uncle) [addition in original - Trans.] acted well in giving the enjoyment of his goods to his two sisters, Marie and Caroline, because they are without resources and have sacrificed themselves for him in tending to him, thus sacrificing their own future — because, during that very time, they could have been able to place themselvesadvantageously, but they preferred instead to remain near him. One good deed deserves another. I am sure, my dear aunt, that you will appreciate as well as I the wisdom of this testament.You tell me in your letter that I am now your consolation: I am pleased with this, and rest assured that I will try to make myself worthy of this consideration; and if needs be I will even sacrifice my happiness for it, because I always had the intention of willingmyself to the Foreign Missions3, but since my fine aunts have need of me, I will give up this project. I hope that God will not bless my visions any less than if I had fulfilled them, because it is He who has allowed that my dear uncle be taken away from his sisters; now it is I who must take his place here. Besides, before leaving for Munich, he entrusted his dear aunts to me and told me

to support them. Yes, I will support them as long as it lies within my power. Someone has already attempted to separate me from them by means of a letter, but he will not succeed. Yes, there are some rather stupid people who have labeled me an ingrate.


Oh! My dear aunt, never, never will I abandon you. Even after the passage of four years, most willingly will I be totally yours. Until that time, my hands are tied, but at that point, I will very wellknow how to break my shackles4. See, my dear aunt, I open my heart to you and I am sure that you will recognize my good will.I haven’t yet received a reply from my dear uncle André. As soon as I have news from him, I will write to you. I am very pressed with work, our philosophy course unfolds and lots of work is required. Maisse kisses you. There is to be an ordination ceremony before the feast of the Most Holy Trinity. There is a young man from Saint-Louis5 who will be ordained a priest; he is a very goodyoung man and since you will be coming for Pentecost, he hopes that you would be pleased to attend his ordination. My aunt Marie will also attend with the sister and the brother of this priest; they will have transportation. You would do well to take advantageof the occasion because it has already been a long time since you last saw an ordination. This priest strongly wishes to meet you. Goodbye, my beloved aunt; I kiss you and since I love you with all my heart, write me soon.

Schoeffler.

1 Marie-Louise, born 10 September 1811 and Caroline 14 July 1815, younger sisters of Charles Augustine is only seven years younger than Caroline, eleven than Marie. The letters to these two aunts are lost, except for one: Letter 43.
2 There remain, however, some books of Charles Schoeffler at Good Shepherd in Munich. “By will, he left his library to the Community.” (Extract from the Annals of the old monastery of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Munich-Haidlausen, 1843). Charles probably had not brought everything to Munich.
3 First mention which indicates that “from a long time ago” as he will write later on (Letter 22), Augustine has been thinking about the Missions. The reading of the Annales de la Propagation de la Foi [Records ofthe Propagation of the Faith] was very widespread and gave rise to many vocations. (See, for example, Vie de Monseigneur Pierre-André Retord, Lyon, 1859, p. 19). The death of his priest-uncle put the brakes on this vocation; the death of the grandfather, Antoine Schoeffler (and the inheritance) would allow him to engage himself definitively. He would no longer be preoccupied about the material future of his aunts.
4 This phrase is quite mysterious. Augustine makes a promise — not to abandon his aunt Élise — which he will not keep after circumstances have changed. These “four years” might refer to either his reaching the age of majority (adulthood), 25 years, which would then allow Augustine to dispose of his life and of his eventual patrimony without the “shackles” which may be represented by his parents — or else, it is a question of the years of formation at the seminary, after which he will be free to welcome whomever he wishes in his rectory.

5 This is Father Jean-Georges Jung. He will be often referred to; born at Saint-Louis on 17 or 27 March 1815; studied at the seminary of Nancy where he had chosen Father Berman as his confessor; deacon on 11 March 1843; ordained a priest on 10 June 1843; assistant at Phalsbourg; pastor at Vilsberg on 16 August 1844; named pastor at Danne-et-Quatre-Vents on 10 November; pastor at Brouviller on 17 March 1850, incardinated in the diocese of Metz in 1874; died at Brouviller on 29 August 1891. He certainly received letters from Augustine. . . It is peculiar that Augustine does not mention another future priest at that ordination, a native of Mittelbronn: François -X.-Diviné, born 19 February 1819, died 20 June 1860.

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