I am spending some warm summer days in a small village in the south-east of France. The village, Grignan, is built on a hill with an impressive castle right at the top. Our holiday home is situated in the village wall, with one of the sitting areas in a round tower overlooking the greenery with beautiful mountains covered in a blue hue in the background.
Framed by a figue tree, the view is like a painting that could well hang in the Grignan castle, just a few meters further up the village hill.
I had never heard of Grignan before we decided to swap homes with the lovely French family residing here. Discovering this region has so far been but a great pleasure, and the village itself is a small gem. The streets are narrow, the stone houses very old and ancient roses climb the walls everywhere. It seems mostly French tourists find their way here, but I have heard a few speaking English as well.
Visitors tend to sit at one of the cafés or bars in the small town square and of course visit the beautiful Grignan Castle, which dates back to the 11th Century. Back then, a different building, it has undergone several embellishments and expansions during over 800 years.
The castle was utterly destroyed during the French Revolution and only rumbles were left in 1893. A wealthy lady looking for an interesting project found it, and bought it in 1912 and it thus came to life again. Madame Fontaine reconstructed the majority of the castle, but one can still see some ruins that are left. Today, it is the property of the Département de la Drôme, and they have a plan to restore even more of the building. The castle is a prime example of a renaissance palace, but it is not the main reason people like to see it or Grignan.
Above: the Grignan Castle in all its rebuilt glory. Below, the view from the vast balcony.
Madame de Sévigné
During th 17th Century, the castle was home to the last Count of Grignan and his third wife, Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné. Françoise-Marguerite was the daughter of Madame de Sévigné, whose letters have become great literature and are quoted and read to this day.
Madame de Sévigné wrote to her many friends and acquaintances, but mostly to her daughter. She loved her daughter dearly, and stayed with her in the castle of Grignan several times. Madame de Sévigné passed away during her last long stay (22 months) in 1696, and is thus also buried in the beautiful collegiate church, just underneath the castle.
From the heart
What fascinates me with Mme de Sévigné, is the tone she uses in her letters. It is very down to earth, easy-going and humouros. She does not seem to be afraid of upsetting or telling things like they are. At the same time, she is very careful to convey her very warm feelings towards all her penfriends.
There are several books with collections of her letters, and some of them are very extensive. Mme de Sévigné herself did not know her letters would become celebrated literature, and I do wonder what she would have thought about it. I imagine, as time as passed, she would have been proud of her penmanship – she did study literature and her take on writing letters was that “it is a way of life, the art of reflecting upon one’s life.” She thought that reading and writing ran in the family, according to the foreword by Bernard Raffalli in “Madame de Sévigné, Lettres”, a book that I found in one of the small bookshops on the cobbled streets of Grignan.
Letters turned into literature
There are many collections of letters that have become literature through the ages. This makes me reflect upon what, if any, specific criteria that need to be filled in order for letters to become literature.
In my opinion, one needs to know something about the historical context, the societal issues and the people that are part of the conversation in order to properly appreciate letters written by others.
When I go through my relatives’ letters from China, I find them exceedingly interesting as I learn more about their contemporaries both in China and in Sweden as well as the missionary movement as a whole. When I first started reading their letters, I had trouble with both the handwriting and the references they made.
With an edited book, like the above, there is plenty of help through the foreword, but also by reference notes that help me understand the importance or the relation different persons had to Mme de Sévigné. What is missing is, of course, the answers to all the letters she sent.
Letters from China
This is also the case with the letters I have from my missionaries. When they refer to something, or answer a previously posed question, it is not evident what they are writing about.
I don’t know if my great grandparents kept the letters they got from their friends, or if they had to leave them behind in China or throw them away. They could probably not hold on to all of it, just as we can’t hold on to all text messages or emails, we receive today. It’s simply too much, and the significance for coming generations regarding these texts can sometimes be hard to detect.
What do you think about letters that have become literature? What kind of letters can become literature and how much context is needed?
As I am transcribing my relatives’ letters, I am increasingly interested in putting together a collection of them as a book – not least for my children and other relatives to read. That would save them the struggle of deciphering and organizing as well as understanding who they are referring to.
But perhaps, there are also others who could be interested in the words from missionaries living over a hundred years ago. As a way to understand the changes that were happening all over the world, the ideas that are important historical background even today and the common ground we, as humans, are standing on – with parenting, travelling, beliefs, cultural exchanges, births, and deaths.
At least, to me, it is an interesting story and something I would like to know more about, being a relative or not. Just like with the letters of Madame de Sévigné – they are both interesting and joyous to read, though I am very far away from her life and time myself.
Reading the letter from Robert, here enclosed, I can thouroughly identify with the feeling of time slipping away, passing too quickly and the urge to make the most of it. The trick is to find what “the most of it” is for you, as an individual, and not be seduced by societal norms – something we can perhaps be inspired to by reading the thoughts of those gone before us. At least I am sure Robert, Dagny, Olga and Nils felt that they lived their lives to the fullest. It’s a comforting thought.
Robert’s letter:
Chang Tien Yen, January 24th, 1899
Dear Brother Holmgren,
Grace and peace!
“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits!”
It has been quite a long time since I last sent you a letter. Oh, how time flies! So much grace is needed to truly seize it, so it doesn’t slip through our fingers in vain.
How much more could be accomplished on the mission fields if missionaries knew, as Paulus said, how to redeem the time. And how much would not the mission cause in general gain, if all mission friends knew how to dedicate every minute to the Lord.
May the Lord always remind us that we only live this life once, and although the outcome depends entirely on the Lord, it is still up to us to receive and utilize the grace given to us in Jesus Christ. May we, therefore, not vainly measure it!
(The photo at the top of the post is from the Grignan Castle. A small writing desk.)
Thérèse Amnéus 
When my parents married in 1969, my father was an officer in the Navy. Very soon after they married, they moved to Lisbon for two years, where my father worked with NATO. My mother began a correspondence with her mother in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They wrote frequently, maybe every week. My mother wrote about all her impressions of Portugal, especially about how traditional it was at that time. She also wrote about the many interesting people they met, including diplomats from other NATO countries.
My mother kept all the letters she received from her mother in Louisiana. Unfortunately, after her parents passed away, she found no trace of the hundreds of letters she sent her mother. It’s possible her mother threw them away, but we’ll never know. Those letters would be fascinating to read now, if only we could.
It’s a great idea to compile the book, Thérèse, if you have time.
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What a wonderful story about the correspondence between your mother and grandmother! How fascinating it would be to read those letters! Even if you can probably understand a bit about what your mother wrote through your grandmother’s letters, you would still miss her personal style and her unique descriptions of her life in Portugal. Such a shame the letters were not saved.
I do think we have different views on what to keep, perhaps also from an integrity perspective. I have an old suitcase full of letters in the attic – with responses to letters I have written. Some penpals wrote a lot, others less, but the letters are there as a reminder of our connection. It is very nice. And today, I would love to get my own letters back. If only one had been so clever as to keep a copy for oneself 😉.
Now, I am thinking that I can give back letters that were sent to me, to the writers. Some of them I don’t know where they are, but others are still in my life, or not so far out of reach. That could be a great thing to do.
As for the possible book… yes, it will take a lot of time to do such a thing, but it’s also a project that has no other deadline than the one I would set – and that is kind of nice, I think.
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Your comment about keeping copies of letters we’ve written reminds me of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. He had a mechanical device called a “polygraph,” which copied letters as he wrote them. It was a remarkable device, which you can see pictures of here.
One of the things I love about writing letters by email is that we can keep copies of everything. Jefferson would have loved email. 😄 I wonder, though, if our emails might contain so much private information that we’ll be reluctant to archive them permanently.
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Thomas Jefferson’s polygraph – how great! I find that it’s something special about hand written letters. The way you write says something about who you are as a person and if you are in hurry or if you have time to contemplate and if you bother about correcting mistakes… When I wrote letters before, I would write one, make all my changes and then rewrite it nicely before I sent it – if the recipient was someone I didn’t know so well. Others could get letters with less care taken of language or with drawings covering up different mistakes. But I didn’t keep the drafts…
You are right about it being very handy that we have copies of all our emails today. But I think emails are a bit less interesting than real letters. Usually we write emails fast, without thinking so much about how we express ourselves and they are not those flowery, descriptive texts that letters can be, as they don’t invite to sit down and take time writing them. Also it seems to me that texting on the phone is more common than emailing today, especially when it concerns close relatives and friends To me, those texts would be more interesting, as you are usually more personal with relatives and friends than with aquaintances.
In any case it’s interesting to observe and live during these times of fast technical changes that affect all aspects of our lives. Just thinking that it was only 30 years ago that Internet broke through… and today we have almost stopped writing letters alltogether.
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My mother and her mother wrote each other letters once a week in part because long distance phone calls were a luxury. None of the letters were saved, although my grandmother saved quite a few others, which I have.
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How lovely to keep the connection through weekly letters! What a shame they were not saved, but very understandable as well – seeing they must have been many!
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Yes, there would have been hundreds!
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It’s too bad those letters weren’t kept, Liz, isn’t it? Maybe your mother and grandmother thought they wouldn’t be of interest to anyone?
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I expect you’re right, Brad. Plus that, she was a very private person.
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I thoroughly enjoyed your post, Therese. Your time in France sounds idyllic, like a whole other world apart from everyday life! With what you’ve researched, written, and compiled on your blog, I think you’re well on your way to writing a book with your relatives’ letters. I also think such a book would have an audience outside your own family. I know I would be interested to read it because my dad was a clergyman whose views on missionary work differed from to Robert and Dagny’s.
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Thank you, Liz! I am glad you enjoyed the post and happy you think the letters and the blog could amount to something interesting.
I am sure there are many different views on missionary work, and it would also be interesting to learn more about that. As your father was a clergyman, he must have given it some thought – if you feel like sharing some of his views, that would be lovely.
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You’re welcome, Therese! My dad didn’t think Westerners should interfere in the lives and cultures of indiginous peoples because it had led to some terrible abuses, in the US, Mexico, and Australia in particular. When I asked him how he could reconcile that with the main tenet of Chrisianity–accepting Christ as Lord and Savior–he fudged and said indigenous peoples could accept Christ on a subliminal level.
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I think he was absolutely right in that one should not interfere, but I believe so mostly out of respect for every person’s right to believe or not believe. It is certainly hard to reconcile the missionary side of many religions with that of accepting others as they are and not forcing your own beliefs upon them. The missionaries went out for several reasons. Of course, because their belief was that they had to save the souls of these peoples, but also because they needed to save themselves. I know that the early spokespersons for the missonary movement said to the congregations that “now that you know these people are suffering in not knowing God, you have to help them, or else you are not doing right by God and will not have a place in heaven”.
I do think the missionaries in China at first saw the Chinese as not informed and less knowledgeable about how to live a righteous life. But the longer they stayed in China, the more they understood about the Chinese culture and the more they also changed themselves.
It’s certainly interesting to find out more about this. I know some missionaries left the misson soon after arriving to China, but other reasons than illness or unability to cope with the climate, are not revealed. Surely, some must also have regretted the whole project, but perhaps that was not said (or written) out loud.
Thank you so much for sharing your father’s thoughts on the matter, Liz!
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You’re welcome, Therese. In the case of the US, Mexico, and Australia, converting indiginous peoples to Christianity was a way for the European colonists to subjugate them after taking their land. From everything I’ve read about Robert and Dagny, their motives were pure.
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True, I have not yet found the same colonial thinking amongst the missionaries in China, but of course they also intruded upon traditional beliefs, and as I have written before – the opium asylums were one way to convert people to Christianity (somehwat taking advantage of the vulnerable situation many Chinese were in). But, you are right, Robert and Dagny did not try to colonise or subjugate the villagers in China, they were there to do good and help out the best way they knew how. From their letters and writings they became good friends with many Chinese and truly cared about education for both boys and girls through the schools they organised, which I think is quite good, seeing how they were living when that was not a given.
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Thank you for your additional thoughts, Therese.
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🙂 Thank you!
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I have letters from a family from the first world war period, it’s a big pile written in French, but I do want to translate them. Nothing extraordinary is in them, just ordinary daily things, but still, they move me. I also have photos with messages written on them to his brother of a missionary in China, and I will publish this series on my blog eventually. I think it is a good idea to make a book in your case, if only as you say for your family to read them. 🙂 Greetings from Belgium, Linda
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Hello Linda!
It is such a treasure to have letters like that! Many of the letters I have are not spectacular either, but they show what went on in the minds of my long gone relatives. The language used and the the small, everyday events like who came by the missionary station or what kind of food they ate are just as interesting as the descriptions of revolutionary events or assaults on the dirt roads in the Chinese country side. I understahnd you are moved by the letters you have from the first world war. The context in which they were written, the people trying to live their lives – which of course entails “normal” chores and hazzles even though war is raging around the corner. It also sounds great with the photos/messages to/from China! How wonderful that you will publish them on your blog – I’ll be sure to read!
Thanks for commenting and believing in the book project – it will take a lot of time and effort, but I think it can be worth it. It is also a way to make sure our relatives’ stories are not totally forgotten as generations pass 🙂
About the letters in French – will you translate them into English, or what are your thoughts there?
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I agree, it definitely is interesting for other people too! The effort and time you’ll spend will be worth it. 🙂
Yes, I will translate them in English, in order to publish them on my blog. Who knows, maybe some relative of this family will still be around to read them, although chances are small of course, given the fact that I found them at a flea market.
Good luck with your task, I’ll be interested to read about the progress, if and when you’ll tackle it!
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Wouldn’t it be fantastic, if his relatives were to read the letters on your blog! If he has a more unsusal name, it could well happen 🙂 If you found them at a flea marker, perhaps the relative are somewhere around that area as well, and perhaps they can even be found through some research. Good luck with your interesting venture and thanks for the cheering on! 🙏
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