With the publication by Maurice Parturier between 1941 and 1964 of the complete letters of Prosper Merimee--which number more than 5,000--a correspondence rivaling that of Voltaire in depth, beauty, wit, and especially style was revealed in its fullness. In these letters Merimee, who served both as Inspector of Historical Monuments and senator, and was an intimate of the court, observed the personages and events of the Second Empire and often expressed his feelings and judgments on them to a number of close friends. This thesis surveys his views on several important historical and political figures glimpsed or discussed in the letters, including Napoleon III; Count Alexandre Walewski; Emile Ollivier; Victor Hugo; Adolphe Thiers; Achille Fould; Charles Auguste, Duc de Morny; Edouard Drouyn de Lhuys; Eugene Rouher; Victor Fialin de Persigny and Jules Baroche. Such a survey is intended as a scholarly aid for students of his correspondence and literary works, as well as those doing research in nineteenth-century French history The study of the individual figures is preceded by a background chapter that sets forth and evaluates Merimee's political views, which are visible throughout the letters. Acquaintance with these views is essential for a proper assessment of his judgments on his contemporaries. It becomes clear, from examination of his correspondence, that he was both anticlerical and conservative; he thought the parliamentary system unsuited to France. Although he was not a creative political theorist, he did develop his own understanding of governance and in particular of the authoritarian regime that he believed suitable for his nation. He proposed notably a code of political conduct that he wanted to see followed, based on courtesy, orderliness, and fairness. He viewed such a code as pragmatic, a means of achieving stability and longevity in government. These political views did not, however, prevent him from giving perceptive and balanced appreciations of those who did not share his assumptions about government. Whether he was regaling his friends with caricatures or lamenting the fate of France in the hands of unwise statesmen, Merimee, the honnete homme, made a plea for statesmen loyal to the regime, behaving in accordance with common courtesy
