JAURÈS (Charles). - Lot 244

JAURÈS (Charles). Born in Castres, 1808-1870. Naval officer, future admiral, cousin of Jean Jaurès. In charge of transporting to France the Luxor Obelisk presented to Louis-Philippe by the Viceroy of Egypt. Important L.A.S. "C. Jaurès", addressed to "Mon cher ami". Moka [Moka, Yemen], March 15, 1853. 8 pp. in-4 on double sheets. Very remarkable political and maritime letter written a few months after the establishment of the Second Empire, in which Charles Jaurès delivers a particularly free and penetrating analysis of the French situation, colonial ambitions and European equilibrium, while evoking his naval mission to the Red Sea and the Far East. While on campaign aboard a ship of the Indian Ocean Naval Division, Jaurès confides his dismay at the political developments in France following Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte's coup d'état: "No one in France is more of an Orleanist than I am, so I shall serve our new Emperor very faithfully...". While acknowledging the political skill of the future Napoleon III, he was a harsh judge of the new regime: "Universal suffrage is a dangerous instrument which sooner or later will overthrow them..." and harshly criticized the imperial marriage to Eugénie de Montijo: "Once Emperor, he needed an empress of royal blood...". The letter also contains important geopolitical developments on French and British colonial expansion. Jaurès mentions Madagascar, Aden, the Red Sea, Burma, Japan and China, lamenting France's lack of maritime ambition: "Our government ought to concern itself a little with foreign policy; we have Madagascar to colonize..." and again: "The English perfectly well established, effectively protecting their nationals and their trade..." He describes with precision the strategic situation of the Red Sea, the difficulties of distant naval campaigns and his plans to sail to Rangoon, Manila or Japan, mixing diplomatic observations, military considerations and personal notes on the naval officers he came into contact with. A very fine collection of great historical, political and maritime interest, testifying to a senior French officer's view of the beginnings of the Second Empire and French colonial stakes in the Orient. Very legible manuscript, despite a few creases and slight traces of use.