History of Civilization in England, Vol. 2 of 3. Henry Buckley
rel="nofollow" href="#n757" type="note">757 The celebrated work of De Lolme on the English constitution was suppressed by edict directly it appeared.758 The fate of being suppressed, or prohibited, also awaited the Letters of Gervaise, in 1724;759 the Dissertations of Courayer, in 1727;760 the Letters of Montgon, in 1732;761 the History of Tamerlane, by Margat, also in 1732;762 the Essay on Taste, by Cartaud, in 1736;763 the Life of Domat, by Prévost de la Jannès, in 1742;764 the History of Louis XI., by Duclos, in 1745;765 the Letters of Bargeton, in 1750;766 the Memoirs on Troyes, by Grosley, in the same year;767 the History of Clement XI., by Reboulet, in 1752;768 the School of Man, by Génard, also in 1752;769 the Therapeutics of Garlon, in 1756;770 the celebrated thesis of Louis, on Generation, in 1754;771 the Treatise on Presidial Jurisdiction, by Jousse, in 1755;772 the Ericie of Fontanelle, in 1768;773 the Thoughts of Jamin, in 1769;774 the History of Siam, by Turpin, and the Eloge of Marcus Aurelius, by Thomas, both in 1770;775 the works on Finance by Darigrand in 1764; and by Le Trosne, in 1779;776 the Essay on Military Tactics, by Guibert, in 1772; the Letters of Boucquet, in the same year;777 and the Memoirs of Terrai, by Coquereau, in 1776.778 Such wanton destruction of property was, however, mercy itself, compared to the treatment experienced by other literary men in France. Desforges, for example, having written against the arrest of the Pretender to the English throne, was, solely on that account, buried in a dungeon eight feet square, and confined there for three years.779 This happened in 1749; and in 1770, Audra, professor at the college of Toulouse, and a man of some reputation, published the first volume of his Abridgment of General History. Beyond this, the work never proceeded; it was at once condemned by the archbishop of the diocese, and the author was deprived of his office. Audra, held up to public opprobrium, the whole of his labours rendered useless, and the prospects of his life suddenly blighted, was unable to survive the shock. He was struck with apoplexy, and within twenty-four hours was lying a corpse in his own house.780
It will probably be allowed that I have collected sufficient evidence to substantiate my assertion respecting the persecutions directed against every description of literature; but the carelessness with which the antecedents of the French Revolution have been studied, has given rise to such erroneous opinions on this subject, that I am anxious to add a few more instances, so as to put beyond the possibility of doubt the nature of the provocations habitually received by the most eminent Frenchmen of the eighteenth century.
Among the many celebrated authors who, though, inferior to Voltaire, Montesquieu, Buffon, and Rousseau, were second only to them, three of the most remarkable were Diderot, Marmontel, and Morellet. The first two are known to every reader; while Morellet, though comparatively forgotten, had in his own time considerable influence, and had, moreover, the distinguished merit of being the first who popularized in France those great truths which had been recently discovered in political economy by Adam Smith, and in jurisprudence by Beccaria.
A certain M. Cury wrote a satire upon the Duke d'Aumont, which he showed to his friend Marmontel, who, struck by its power, repeated it to a small circle of his acquaintance. The duke, hearing of this, was full of indignation, and insisted upon the name of the author being given up. This, of course, was impossible without a gross breach of confidence; but Marmontel, to do everything in his power, wrote to the duke, stating, what was really the fact, that the lines in question had not been printed, that there was no intention of making them public, and that they had only been communicated to a few of his own particular friends. It might have been supposed that this would have satisfied even a French noble; but Marmontel, still doubting the result, sought an audience of the minister, in the hope of procuring the protection of the crown. All, however, was in vain. It will hardly be believed, that Marmontel, who was then at the height of his reputation, was seized in the middle of Paris, and because he refused to betray his friend, was thrown into the Bastille. Nay, so implacable were his persecutors, that after his liberation from prison they, in the hope of reducing him to beggary, deprived him of the right of publishing the Mercure, upon which nearly the whole of his income depended.781
To the Abbé Morellet a somewhat similar circumstance occurred. A miserable scribbler, named Palissot, had written a comedy ridiculing some of the ablest Frenchmen then living. To this Morellet replied by a pleasant little satire, in which he made a very harmless allusion to the Princess de Robeck, one of Palissot's patrons. She, amazed at such presumption, complained to the minister, who immediately ordered the abbé to be confined in the Bastille, where he remained for some months, although he had not only been guilty of no scandal, but had not even mentioned the name of the princess.782
The treatment of Diderot was still more severe. This remarkable man owed his influence chiefly to his immense correspondence, and to the brilliancy of a conversation for which, even in Paris, he was unrivalled, and which he used to display with considerable effect at those celebrated dinners where, during a quarter of a century, Holbach assembled the most illustrious thinkers in France.783 Besides this, he is the author of several works of interest, most of which are well known to the students of French literature.784 His independent spirit, and the reputation he obtained, earned for him a share in the general persecution. The first work he wrote was ordered to be publicly burned by the common hangman.785 This, indeed, was the fate of nearly all the best literary productions of that time; and Diderot might esteem himself fortunate in merely losing his property, provided he saved himself from imprisonment. But, a few years later, he wrote another work, in which he said that people who are born blind have some ideas different from those who are possessed of their eyesight. This assertion is by no means improbable,786 and it contains nothing by which any one need be startled. The men, however, who then governed France discovered in it some hidden danger. Whether they suspected that the mention of blindness was an allusion to themselves, or whether they were merely instigated by the perversity of their temper, is uncertain; at all events, the unfortunate Diderot, for having hazarded this opinion, was arrested, and without even the form of a trial, was confined in the dungeon of Vincennes.787 The natural results followed. The works of Diderot rose in popularity;788 and he, burning with hatred against his persecutors, redoubled his efforts to overthrow those institutions, under shelter of which such monstrous tyranny could be safely practised.
It seems hardly necessary to say more respecting the incredible folly with which the rulers of France, by turning every able man into a personal enemy,789 at length arrayed against the government all the intellect of the country, and made the Revolution a matter not of choice but of necessity. I will, however, as a fitting sequel to the preceding facts, give one instance of the way in which, to gratify the caprice of the higher classes, even the most private affections of domestic life, could be publicly outraged. In the middle of the eighteenth century, there was an actress on the French stage of the name of Chantilly. She, though beloved by Maurice de
‘Supprimée par arrêt du conseil’ in 1771, which was the year of its publication. Compare
On the importance of this remarkable thesis, and on its prohibition, see
‘Il resta trois ans dans la cage; c'est un caveau creusé dans le roc, de huit pieds en carré, où le prisonnier ne reçoit le jour que par les crevasses des marches de l'église.’
Marmontel (
As to Holbach's dinners, on which Madame de Genlis wrote a well-known libel, see
It is also stated by the editor of his correspondence, that he wrote a great deal for authors, which they published under their name.
This was the
Dugald Stewart, who has collected some important evidence on this subject, has confirmed several of the views put forward by Diderot.
A happy arrangement, by which curiosity baffles despotism. In 1767, an acute observer wrote, ‘Il n'y a plus de livres qu'on imprime plusieurs fois, que les livres condamnés. Il faut aujourd'hui qu'un libraire prie les magistrate de brûler son livre pour le faire vendre.’
‘Quel est aujourd'hui parmi nous l'homme de lettres de quelque mérite qui n'ait éprouvé plus ou moins les fureurs de la calomnie et de la persécution?’ etc.