The names of Victor Cousin and Prosper Merimee are seldom associated. However the two men saw quite a lot each other for a long time. The study of this relationship and its evolution enables us to ponder over the influence Victor Cousin kept on having after the fall of the Monarchy of July, as well as on the political and philosophical positions of the two men. Thus we can note that Merimee read the philosophers and read them very well, contrary to what was asserted.