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CHAMFORT, SEBASTIEN ROCH NICOLAS (174...

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 825 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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CHAMFORT, SEBASTIEN ROCH NICOLAS (1741-1794)

CHAMFORT, SEBASTIEN See also:
ROCH, ST (Lat. Rochus; Ital. Rocco; Span. Roque; Fr. Roch) (d. 1327)
ROCH See also:
NICOLAS
NICOLAS, SIR NICHOLAS HARRIS (1799–1848)
NICOLAS (1741-1794) , See also:

French See also:

man of letters, was See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born at a little See also:

VILLAGE

village near Clermont in See also:

AUVERGNE

Auvergne in 1741. He was, according to a baptismal certificate found among his papers, the son of a See also:

GROCER

grocer named Nicolas. A See also:

JOURNEY (through O. Fr. jornee or journee, mod. Fr. journee, from med. Lat. diurnata, Lat. diurnus, of or belonging to dies, day)

journey to See also:

Paris resulted in the boy's obtaining a bursary at the See also:

COLLEGE (Collegium)

College See also:

des Grassins. He worked hard, although he wrote later in one of his most contemptuous epigrams—" Ce que j'ai appris je ne le See also:

SAIS (Egyptian Sai)

sais plus; le peu que je sais je l'ai divine." His college career ended, Chamfort assumed the See also:

DRESS (from the Fr. dresser, to set out, arrange, formed from Lat. directus, arranged, dirigere, to direct, arrange)

dress of a See also:

PETIT, SIR DINSHAW MANECKJI, BART

petit See also:

ABBE (Serbo-Croatian Rai))

abbe. " C'est un See also:

costume, et non point un etat," he said; and to the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal of his college who promised him a See also:

BENEFICE (Lat. beneficium, benefit)

benefice, he replied that he would never be a See also:

PRIEST (Ger. Priester, Fr. pretre)

priest, inasmuch as he preferred See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour to honours—" j'aime l'honneur et non See also:

les honneurs." About this See also:

time he assumed the name of Chamfort. For some time he contrived to exist by teaching and as a booksellers' hack. His See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good looks and ready wit, however, soon brought him into See also:

NOTICE

notice; but though endowed with immense strength—" Hercule sous la figure d'See also:

ADONIS

Adonis," Madame de Craon called him—he lived so hard that he was glad of the See also:

CHANCE (through the O. Fr. cheance, from the Late Lat. cadentia, things happening, from cadere, to fall out, happen; cf. " case ")

chance of doing a " cure " at See also:

Spa when the Belgian See also:

MINISTER (Lat. minister, servant)

minister in Paris, M. See also:

van See also:

EYCK, VAN

Eyck, took him with him to See also:

Germany in 1761. On his return to Paris he produced a See also:

COMEDY

comedy, La Jeune Indienne (1764), which was performed with some success, and this was followed by a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of " epistles " in See also:

VERSE (from Lat. versus, literally a line or furrow drawn by turning the plough, from vertere, and afterwards signifying an arrangement of syllables into feet)

verse, essays and odes. It was not, however, until 1769, when he won the See also:

PRIZE, or PRIZE OF WAR (Fr. prise, from prendre, to take)

prize of the French See also:

Academy for his Eloge on See also:

MOLIERE (1622-1673)

Moliere, that his See also:

LITERARY

literary reputation was established. Meanwhile he had lived from See also:

hand to mouth, mainly on the hospitality of See also:

PEOPLE

people who were only too glad to give him See also:

BOARD (O. Eng. bord)

board and lodging in See also:

EXCHANGE

exchange for the See also:

PLEASURE (through Fr. plaisir from Lat. placere, to please; Gr. rlbovii)

pleasure of the conversation for which he was famous. Thus Madame Helvetius entertained him at Sevres for some years. In 1770 another comedy, Le Marchand de S'myrne, brought him still further into notice, and he seemed on the road to See also:

FORTUNE, ROBERT (1813-188o)

fortune, when he was suddenly smitten with a horrible disease.

His See also:

DISTRESS

distress was relieved by the generosity of a friend, who made over to him a See also:

PENSION (Lat. pensio, a payment, from pendere, to weigh, to pay)

pension of 1200 livres charged on the Mercure de See also:

France. With this assistance he was able to go to the See also:

BATHS

baths of See also:

CONTREXEVILLE

Contrexeville and to spend some time in the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country, where he wrote an Eloge on La See also:

FONTAINE, PIERRE FRANCOIS LEONARD (1762-1853)

Fontaine which won the prize of the Academy of See also:

MARSEILLES

Marseilles (1774). In 1775, while taking the See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters at Bareges, he met the duchesse de See also:

GRAMMONT (the Flemish name Gheeraardsbergen more clearly reveals its • etymology . Gerardi-mons)

Grammont, See also:

SISTER

sister of See also:

Choiseul, through whose See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence he was introduced at See also:

court. In 1776 his poor tragedy, Mustapha et Zeangir, was played at See also:

FONTAINEBLEAU

Fontainebleau before See also:

Louis XVI. and See also:

MARIE

Marie Antoinette; the See also:

king gave him a further pension of 1 zoo livres, and the See also:

prince de See also:

Conde made hint his secretary. But he was a Bohemian naturally and by See also:

HABIT (through the French from Lat. habitus, from habere, to have, hold, or, in a reflective sense, to be in a certain condition; in many of the English senses the French use habitude, not habit)

habit, the restraints of the court irked him, and with increasing years he was growing misanthropical. After a See also:

YEAR

year he resigned his See also:

POST

post in the prince's See also:

HOUSEHOLD, ROYAL

household and retired into solitude at Auteuil. There, comparing the authors of old with the men of his own time, he uttered the famous mot that proclaims the superiority of the dead over the living as companions; and there too he presently See also:

fell in love. The See also:

LADY (0. Eng. hlaefdige, Mid. Eng. ldfdi, lavedi; the first part of the word is hldf, loaf, bread, as in the corresponding hldford, lord; the second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, to knead, seen also in " dough "; the sense development fr

lady, attached to the household of the duchesse du See also:

Maine, was See also:

FORTY

forty-eight years old, but See also:

CLEVER

clever, amusing, a woman of the See also:

WORLD

world; and Chamfort married her. They See also:

LEFT

left Auteuil, and went to Vaucouleurs, wherein six months Madame Chamfort died. Chamfort lived in See also:

Holland for a time with M. de See also:

NARBONNE

Narbonne, and returning to Paris received in 1781 the See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place at the Academy left vacant by the See also:

DEATH

death of La Curne de Sainte-Palaye, the author of the Diction-?See also:

WIRE (A.S. wir, a wire; cf. Swed. vire, to twist, M.H.G. wiere, a gold ornament, Lat. viriae, armlets, ultimately from the root wi, to twist, bind)

wire des antiquites frangaises. In 1784, through the influence of See also:

Calonne, he became secretary to the king's sister, Madame See also:

Elizabeth, and in 1786 he received a pension of 2000 livres from the royal See also:

TREASURY

treasury. He was thus once more attached to the court, and made himself See also:

friends in spite of the reach and tendency of his unalterable See also:

IRONY (Gr. dipaweLa, from eipwv, one who says less than he means, eiepees, to speak)

irony; but he quitted it for ever after an unfortunate and mysterious love affair, and was received into the See also:

house of M. de Vaudreuil.

Here in 1783 he had met See also:

Mirabeau, with whom he remained to the last on terms of intimate friendship, whom he assisted with See also:

MONEY

money and influence, and one at least of whose speeches—that on the Academies—he wrote. The outbreak of the,Revolution made a profound See also:

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change in the relations of Chamfort's See also:

LIFE

life. Theoretically he had See also:

long been a republican, and he now threw himself into the new See also:

MOVEMENT

movement with almost fanatical ardour, devoting all his small fortune to the revolutionary propaganda. His old friends of the court he forgot. " Those who pass the See also:

RIVER

river of revolutions," he said, " have passed the river of oblivion." Until the 31st of See also:

AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August 1791 he was secretary of the Jacobin See also:

CLUB (connected with " clump ")

club; he became a See also:

street orator and entered the See also:

BASTILLE (from Fr. bastir, now bdtir, to build)

Bastille among the first of the storming party. He worked for the Mercure de France, collaborated with Ginguene in the Feuille villageoise, and See also:

drew up for Talleyrand his Adresse au people See also:

FRANCAIS, ANTOINE, COUNT (1756-1836)

francais. With the reign of See also:

MARAT, JEAN PAUL (1743-1793)

Marat and See also:

ROBESPIERRE, MAXIMILIEN FRANCOIS MARIE ISIDORE DE (175$-1794)

Robespierre, however, his uncompromising Jacobinism See also:

GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew See also:

CRITICAL (in alphabetical order of authors)

critical, and with the fall of the Girondins his See also:

POLITICAL

political life came to an end. But he could not restrain the See also:

TONGUE (O. Eng. lunge)

tongue that had made him famous; he no more spared the See also:

Convention than he had spared the court. His notorious republicanism failed to excuse the sarcasms he lavished on the new See also:

order of things, and denounced by an assistant in the Bibliotheque Nationale, to a See also:

SHARE (O. Eng. scearu, chiefly in compounds, e.g. land-scearu, a share of land, from sceran to cut; cf. " shear" )

share in the direction of which he had been appointed by See also:

Roland, he was taken to the Madelonnettes. Released for a moment, he was threatened again with See also:

ARREST (Fr. arrester, arreeter, to stop or stay)

arrest; but he had determined to prefer death to a repetition of the moral and See also:

PHYSICAL

physical See also:

RESTRAINT (from " to restrain," Lat. restringere, to hold back, prevent)

restraint to which he had been subjected. He attempted See also:

SUICIDE (from Lat. sui, of oneself, and cidium, from cued ere, to kill)

suicide with See also:

PISTOL

pistol and with See also:

PONIARD

poniard; and, horribly hacked and shattered, dictated to those who came to arrest him the well-known declaration—" Moi, Sebastien-Roch-Nicolas Chamfort, declare avoir voulu mourir en homme libre plutot que d'etre reconduit en esclave daps une maison d'arret "—which he signed in a See also:

FIRM

firm hand and in his own See also:

BLOOD

blood. He did not See also:

die at once, but lingered on until the 13th of See also:

APRIL

April 1794 in See also:

charge of a gendarme, for whose wardship he paid a See also:

CROWN

crown a See also:

day.

To the Abbe Sieyes Chamfort had given fortune in the See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of a pamphlet (" Qu'est-ce que le Tiers-See also:

FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. flet, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet)

Flat? Tout. Qu'a-t-il? Rien "), and to Sieyes did Chamfort See also:

RETAIL

retail his supreme See also:

SARCASM

sarcasm, the famous " Je m'en vais enfin de ce monde ()Ail faut que le c zur se brise ou se See also:

BRONZE

bronze." The maker of constitutions followed the dead wit to the See also:

GRAVE

grave. The writings of Chamfort, which include comedies, political articles, literary criticisms, portraits, letters, and verses, are colourless and uninteresting in the extreme. As a talker, how-ever, he was of extraordinary force. His Maximes et Pensees, highly praised by See also:

John See also:

Stuart See also:

Mill, are, after those of La Rochefoucauld, the most brilliant and suggestive sayings that have been given to the See also:

MODERN

modern world. The aphorisms of Chamfort, less systematic and psychologically less important than those of La Rochefoucauld, are as significant in their violence and iconoclastic spirit of the See also:

period of See also:

storm and preparation that gave them See also:

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth as the Reflexions in their exquisite restraint and elaborate subtlety are characteristic of the tranquil elegance of their See also:

EPOCH (Gr. E7roxij, holding in suspense, a pause, from E1rxav, to hold up, to stop)

epoch; and they have the See also:

ADVANTAGE

advantage in richness of See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour, in picturesqueness of phrase, in See also:

PASSION (post-classical Lat. passio, formed from pati, passus, to suffer, endure)

passion, in audacity. Sainte-Beuve compares them to " well-minted coins that retain their value," and to keen arrows that " arrivent brusquement et silent encore." An edition of his works—CEuvres completes de Nicolas Chamfortwas published at Paris in five volumes in 1824-1825. Selections—EEuvres de Chamfort—in one See also:

VOLUME

volume, appeared in 1852, with a See also:

BIOGRAPHICAL

biographical and critical See also:

PREFACE (Med. Lat. prefatia, for classical praefatio, praefari, to speak beforehand)

preface by Arsene See also:

HOUSSAYE, ARSINE (1815-1896)

Houssaye, reprinted from the Revue des deux mondes; and CEuvres choisies (2 vols.), with a preface and notes by M. de See also:

LESCURE, LOUIS MARIE JOSEPH, MARQUIS DE (1766—1793)

Lescure (1879). See also Sainte-Beuve, Causeries du Lundi.

End of Article: CHAMFORT, SEBASTIEN ROCH NICOLAS (1741-1794)

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