^#214 ^Lot 225 Guillaume Guizot

Historian and statesman (1787–1874). A member of the Doctrinaires under Louis XVIII, he was minister of the interior (1830), and of public instruction (1832). As the king's chief adviser (1840), he relapsed into reactionary methods of government, and escaped to London with Louis-Philippe in 1848. ALS in French, signed “Guizot,” one page, both sides, 4.75 x 7.25, July 4, 1861. Letter reads, in part, (translated): “I thank you, Sir, for taking action on behalf of the poor Spanish Protestants…If, as Mr. Calderon Collantes says, in this case religion was merely the mask of the demagogic spirit, I would have taken good care not to insist. Well informed persons assure me that that was definitely not the case, and that it was indeed a question of persecution because of Protestantism. That didn’t surprise me in Spain…I hope that Mr. Barrot’s benevolent intervention will not be in vain, and that the Spanish government will effectively display the indulgence to which it has shown itself inclined. I make no reproach to myself, Sir, for having called for your action in a cause such as this.” Central horizontal and vertical fold, a bit of mild toning, and light pencil remnants to blank top portion, otherwise fine condition.