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Letter 4 - To Miss Elise Schoeffler Foreign language instructor at the Institute of Miss Klein at Wiesbaden

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My dear Aunt,

The day following receipt of your tender letter, I am hastening to answer you, because there is no time to lose if I want you to receive my letter on time again. As you request today, I will write to my aunts and I will take care of your errand. As to the charge which you have entrusted me to carry to Father Masson, I don’t believe that I will be able to accomplish it, because the reverend rarely comes to the seminary and when he does, it is during classes so that when he comes to see me, he must come specifically for me. And as you know that he has a lot of work, he cannot make this sacrifice often.As for Father Berman , I did not find him at home, he is almost always awa1 y; besides, you will see him shortly. Moreover, I know that he does not like to write very much because he has too much commerce with his Germans. Ah! My dear Aunt, howhappy I am to consider that in four weeks I will be seeing you and perhaps even earlier.

Oh! Yes, the moments of seeing each other again will be so sweet. There is nothing better than absence in order to learn if one loves a person. While one is near that person, one does not recognize the treasure that is possessed; but when it has gone, one sees what a pearl had been close to you.I think almost constantly of your arrival. When you come to Nancy, one piece of advice I give you, that is to arrive Friday night so that on Saturday morning around sixthirty, you will be able to be at the Seminary, so that I might be able to obtain convenientplaces for you. As to the literature course which you want, it is Lefranc2. There are five writings, eight volumes, dealing with theoretical literature as well as with the history of literature; but if one doesn’t want the complete work, one can take as manyvolumes as desired. There is also a Father Villemain who worked on that subject, and several other writers; in short, you will find enough choices at the first bookseller you encounter.You ask me if I want anything in particular from Germany. I don’t desire anything in particular, but if you can find some German preachers, they could be very useful for me for preaching, both at the Seminary as well as after I have left. But they would have to be in a German that is not too formal. But certainly this must not in anyway be a bother to you.As for anything else, I have hardly any need except for books, given the state which I wish to embrace, because study must be the life of a priest. Please tell Miss Klein that I am very touched by the friendship in which she holds me; assure her of my gratitude and my attachment to her given that she really wishes to take care of my dear Aunt, to become her friend. Greet her on my behalf. Forgive my scribbling, I must write to you hurriedly because time is pressing: we are burdened with work and we have hardly any time to write a letter. Goodbye, beloved Aunt; I kiss you in spirit while Iawait being able to do it in actuality; be assured of my genuine attachment. The priest from Saint-Louis greets you and rejoices at your arrival. He greatly 3 wishes to make your acquaintance. Charles Maisse also kisses you. Goodbye. Oh happy day! Comecloser, come closer; how I long for your arrival. Goodbye!

Schoeffler

1 Jean-Pierre Berman. One of the most notable priests of the diocese of Nancy in the XIXth C. Born at Virming (Dept. 57, Moselle), on 1 January 1793; ordained a priest on 1 October 1816; assistant at Fénétrange; pastor at Niederstinzel 20 December 1824; he is professor of ethics at the major seminary of Nancy from November 1828 to July 1830; pastor at Chaligny; then, once again professor of ethics from 1832 to 1853. He laid the foundation for the work of Sainte Marie des Allemandes and greatly devoted himself to the working population residing in the German-speaking area of Lorraine. Dean of the collegial of Bon-Secours in November 1840; titular canon in March 1850. He dies on 14 May 1855. See (AbbéPoitrine), Vie de M. Berman, Nancy, 1888. Father Berman had been an ardent propagandist of the ethics of Saint Alphonsus Liguori; he published Theologia ex S. Liguorio et aliis probatissimis antiquis auctoribus methodice digesta et seminariorum cursui accommodata, 7 volumes, Nancy, 1854-1855.2 E. Lefranc: Histoire élémentaire et critique de la littérature, Paris, 1838-1844.3 Jean-Georges Jung: see footnote 59 in the preceding letter.
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