Until the end, therefore, to use the very true expression of M. Charles de Lacombe, "his royalist flame, kept alive by honour, did not cease to burn, under an appearance of scepticism, in that disabused heart[501]." And, in the same way, the Christian remained faithful. A whole volume has been written recently on the _Sincérité religieuse de Chateaubriand._[502] This was, perhaps, a good subject for a thesis; it seems to me, however, that the demonstration did not require to be made: one does not demonstrate evidence. For the rest, I have nothing to speak of here except the last years of the author of the _Génie du Christianisme_, those which go from 1841 to 1848. In a letter to his friend Hyde de Neuville, on the 14th of June 1841, Chateaubriand wrote: "I admire you from the bottom of my heart; you interest yourself in everything; I no longer interest myself in anything; my courage is not used up; but it is overcome by disgust. I no longer think of anything but of dying a Christian, and I hope that the good Père Sequin, old though he be, will have strength enough to raise his hand to cleanse me and send me to God[503]." In the month of March 1842, speaking of the recent death of Théodore Jouffroy[504], one of the professors of the Royal College of Marseilles, M. Lafaye[505], said to his pupils: "Jouffroy, the sceptic, sent for a confessor, and no one can give the name of the confessor of the author of the _Génie du Christianisme._" These words created some stir, and M. Lafaye, fearing lest he should be dismissed, begged the Baron de Flotte[506], a friend and co-religionist of Chateaubriand, to write to the latter asking him to intercede on his behalf with M. Villemain, the Minister of Public Instruction. Chateaubriand replied: "Thank God, monsieur, I neither have nor can have any credit with the present Government. At the time when I possessed some political power, I do not remember ever employing it except for the benefit of persons who might be oppressed. M. Lafaye has not offended me in the least; but, if he were molested on my account, I would ask them to leave him in peace. I no longer occupy myself with what goes on in society. My part is played, monsieur. I live far from the world, and I shall be forgiven, I hope, because of my great age, for having a confessor. It is M. l'Abbé Sequin, a priest at Saint-Sulpice. When one has lived many days, one must needs accuse one's self of many faults." He rigorously observed the rules of the Church on fasting and abstinence, often even, in his practice, going beyond the limits prescribed by health. I make the following ex-tract from a letter which Victor de Laprade[507] wrote me, on the 12th of August 1870: