The Sun.
London, England, 1840-09-02 00:00:00

LOUIS PHILIPPE.

The following letter was addressed, in the year 1804,
by the present King of the French, to the Right Rev.
Dr. Watson, then Bishop of Llandaff, in answer to a
letter of condolence written by his Lordship to the
then Due D'Orleans, on the murder by Bonaparte of
his cousin, the Due d'Enghien 0';

"Twickenham, July L'18; 1804.

•' My dear Lord,—l am extremely obliged to your
Lordship for your kind letter. I regretted that I had
not the pleasure of seeing you whitst you were is town.
The moment I heard you were there I went to Great
George-street very early, to be certain of finding you at
home, but I was informed you had removed, and I
could get no other direction but that it was somewhere
in Albemarle-street or Conduit-street, they knew not
which ; and as to a number, that was not to be thought
of. Still, had I been a resident in town, 1 had cer-
tainly found you out ; but I have been very little in
town last winter, and never had a house, or even
apartments. I remained here in great retirement, of
which I grow more fond every day of my life.
" I was certain your Lordship's elevated soul had.re-
sented with becoming indignation the foul murder of
my unfortunate cousin. His mother being my aunt,
he was, next to my brothers, the nearest relation I had,
and as he was only a year older than me, we had been
playfellows during our younger years ; you must feel it
was a sad blow to me. His fate is an awful warning
to every one of us that the Corsican usurper will
never rest till he has erased the whole of our family
from the list of the living. It makes me feel still more
forcibly than I did before (though it is scarcely possi-
ble) the blessings of the generous protection and sup-
port granted unto us by your magnanimous country.
" I have left my native country at so early a period
that I have not much of the habits of a Frenchman,
and I may say with perfect candour that I am attached
to England, not only by gratitude, but by inclination
and habit. It is in the sincerity of my heart that I say
may I never leave that hospitable land!
" But it is not only on account of my own feelings
that I am so strongly interested in the welfare, prospe-
rity, and success of England : it is also as a man. The
safety of Europe, that of the world, and the future
happiness and independence of mankind, rests upon the
preservation and independence of England, and this is
the noble cause of Bonaparte's rage against you, and of
that of his gang. May God defeat his wicked plans,
and maintain this country in its present glorious and
happy situation, is the true wish of my heart, and of
my most fervent prayer !
"Your Lordship must be equally well acquainted with
my opinion respecting religious differences amongst
Christians, and, in other words, amongst men who pro-
fess the same religion. I believe every man must re-
main true to the principles in which he was brought
up ; but I equally believe it is not in such times as
we live in that such differences can be a real cause
of difference among Christians. The question is,
not whether one is a Christian of this or that sect, but
whether he is a Christian or not? This, in my humble
opinion, is the only question, at a time when the vital
parts of religion and morality are attacked with such
force, when the melancholy experience of the latter
years shows with what rapidity irreligion and immora-
lity are spreading their baneful dominion over mankind.
From the knowledge I have acquired of your Lord-
ship's great mind, I thought your opinion should be
what I am very glad to find it is. I hope you will
allow me to say, that I congratulate you upon senti-
ments so worthy at once of an English Prelate and a
true Christian.
" Would you be so good as to remember me most
kindly to Mrs. and the Miss Watsons, and believe me
with the highest and most sincere esteem and regard,
my dear Lord, ever your affectionate,
(Signed) " L. P. P. ORLEANS."