[Aude/Belpech] Large batch of correspondence from the brothe - Lot 222

[Aude/Belpech] Large batch of correspondence from the brothers Marius and Charles Rivals, civil servants: several hundred letters with numerous postmarks. Enclosed are several notarial deeds, bills of exchange, invoices, subscriptions to the Carcassonne theater, excerpts from cadastral matrix sheets, etc. 1826-1869 Victor, son of Jacques Rivals, a business agent, and Marguerite Estribaud, began his career as an employee at the Carcassonne prefecture around 1826, living at 88 Rue Royale. He moved to Trémoulet, a small Ariège village 5 km from Belpech, and became mayor of the commune. In 1839, Victor was offered a position as sous-chef at the prefecture to replace Sériès, who was suffering from acute rheumatism from which he could not recover. Victor refused, arguing that he had to manage the 72-hectare estate he owned with his brother at Mas d'Engouzens in Belpech, and that "finding a capable farmer with guarantees is as difficult as finding the philosopher's stone". His real ambition was to become a notary. He sought the support of Benjamin Barthélémy Dejean, deputy of the Castelnaudary electoral college, but hid from Dejean the fact that he did not have the necessary qualifications. On May 4, 1840, the Conseil d'Etat informed Dejean that his foal had never completed the training period he was supposed to undergo at a notary's office, and that he had provided a certificate of convenience. Paul Boudet, then General Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Religious Affairs, commented: "This act seemed all the more reprehensible in that, as mayor, Mr. Rivals should have known better than anyone the danger of a false certificate, and the title he held should have protected him from using such means". On May 10, Tholosé, King's Prosecutor in Castelnaudary, informed the mayor of Trémoulet that the Garde des Sceaux had definitively rejected his application for having deceived the administration by means of this false certificate. His brother Charles also began his administrative career. In 1837, he became tax collector in Belpech. But like his brother, he was ambitious and wanted a "particular recipe". Seeking political support, he signed up with Dejean the year he was elected deputy. Poulaille, sub-prefect of Castelnaudary, thanked him in a letter for his contribution to this electoral success. Charles Rivals immediately pestered the MP for the promotion he had been hoping for. The MP replied with several letters (January 7, 1838, March 8, May 13, etc.) in which he repeated that promotions were rare, reserved for civil servants who had particularly distinguished themselves, that the Ministry was overwhelmed by requests and that his credit as an MP was nil. The following year, the administration sent an Inspector General of Finance to the Belpech tax collector, who found irregularities in the management of his tax collection and disciplined him. Outraged by the disciplinary measure taken against him, which he considered to be political, Charles Rivals wrote several letters to the deputy Dejean, in which he justified himself and requested a transfer to Sigean or Toulouse. Charles left the Belpech tax office in 1846 and settled in Engouzens. That same year, he entered the electoral battle alongside Count Dejean and against the lawyer Tolosé, who had opposed his brother when he was a candidate for the office of notary. Victor settled in Toulouse in 1846 at no. 8 rue du Poids de l'Huile. Having left the administration, he managed the Rivals frères company. The company lost a lot of money following a lawsuit against several debtors. Victor and Charles won the case, but it ended in 1850 with the bankruptcy of one of the debtors, a certain Cassagne, a lumber merchant in Toulouse. Victor Rivals seems to have left fond memories at the Carcassonne prefecture, for on June 8, 1850, one of his former colleagues warned him of his retirement and said he would be happy to take over from him. Prefect Dugué might even agree to entrust him with the post of Secretary General. The letters don't mention any refusal, but they do mention Victor's desire to become a notary, and it takes the combined efforts of his cousins Abrial and Bellemanière to dissuade him. For their old age, the two brothers Charles and Victor, who remained unmarried, left the Engouzens estate and moved into a building on rue de la Grille in Carcassonne. Charles died on November 14, 1864 at his home at 14 rue Saint-Vincent. He was 66 years old, single and witnessed by Jacques Bellemanière and carillonneur Jacques Joulia. Victor died on