Autograph letter signed with a paraph : Paris, Sainte-Pélagie, to Jacques-Bernard-Marie Montané, 1793 Sept. 11.

The letter illustrates Roland's erudition and includes references to Socrates, the Roman general Scipio, and the Roman Empress Messalina (c. 20-48) wife of Claudius. Other references include the Roman senator and historian Tacitus and his historical account of the reign of Roman Emperor Tiberius. Roland alludes to Tiberius's confidant, Praetorian Prefect Sejanus and his persecution of his political enemies through public trials.
The letter was written but not sent to Jacques-Bernard-Marie Montané, who served as president of the Tribunal Criminel Extraordinaire after its creation in March 1793. He was subsequently judged by that very Tribunal and jailed in La Force prison on July 30, a few weeks prior to Madame Roland's composition of this letter.
At the head of the letter, which she subsequently decided not to send, Madame Roland comments on the circumstances surrounding its composition: "M[onsieur]. X. [Jacques-Bernard-Marie Montané], Prisoner at La Force, was worried and asked his wife, herself a prisoner at Sainte-Pélagie, if it was true that General Biron visited the women's quarters. This expression of jealousy caused laughter and occasioned the following pleasantry; it was not mailed due to circumstances." Madame Roland writes, in part: "Surely, as a good judge and a dreaming prisoner, you have engaged in this philosophical reflection. But reflection is never good for husbands; that is the thesis I would uphold if the fantasy of reasoning could take hold in the brain of a woman and within the walls of a prison. As necessary as it is, in both places, I cannot claim the ability to perform miracles; well then, Sir, do not expect syllogisms from me; I simply want to, in good faith, make a few observations for the peace of your mind . . . Here lies the folly of husbands: they want to know, know everything, they ask incessantly to be told the truth and once told, they regret it . . . Each to his own vocation, only few escape; the heavens made tyrants mean and cruel, ordinary people blind and stupid, truly wealthy people disdainful of life, husbands jealous, wives fickle, and me a preacher."