Merry Christmas. I received word last month that Claude "gave his life valiantly for the republic" at Mainz in July of this past year.
Things have been strange without Claude here. Danielle and Michel continue to ask me where their father is and when he is coming home. I tried to explain it to them but they are too young to understand. I've been running the press on my own since April, returning to printing Catholic Doctrine and other texts from the university. I hired a couple of men who used to work for my father and the nephew of the man who trained Claude in Orleans. I have put a lot of thought into it though and I think it is time to flee Paris, perhaps France altogether. Two years ago, when the constitution of 1791 was proclaimed, I thought the revolution was close to over. Now we are in a full-scale war. I don't want to be in Paris and I don't want to raise my children here.
The Federalist Revolt has continued to spread to Bordeaux and Caen. the constitution of 1793 has been accepted, Marat has been assassinated, hoarding has become a capital crime, I must wear a tricolored ribbon (symbol of the republic), Marie-Antoinette has been guillotined and so on and so forth. I could list all of the disturbing facts of the past year but it simply isn't worth it. I must leave France.