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Charles-Jean-François Hénault (8 February 1685 – 24 November 1770) was a French writer and historian.


Life and career


Early years

Hénault was born in Paris. His father, René Jean Rémy Hénault de Cantobre (1648–1737) a farmer-general of taxes, ''
Ferme générale The ''ferme générale'' (, "general farm") was, in ''ancien régime'' France, essentially an outsourced customs, excise and indirect tax operation. It collected duties on behalf of the King (plus hefty bonus fees for themselves), under renewable ...
'', was a man of literary tastes, and young Hénault obtained a good education at the Jesuit college,
Lycée Louis-le-Grand The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (), also referred to simply as Louis-le-Grand or by its acronym LLG, is a public Lycée (French secondary school, also known as sixth form college) located on rue Saint-Jacques in central Paris. It was founded in the ...
. His mother was Françoise de Ponthon (died 1738). Captivated by the eloquence of Massillon, in his fifteenth year he entered the Oratory with the view of becoming a preacher but after two-year's residence he changed his intention, and, inheriting a position which secured him access to the most select society of Paris, he achieved distinction at an early period by his witty and graceful manners.


Career

Hénault's literary talent, manifested in the composition of various light poetical pieces, an opera, a tragedy (''Cornélie, vestale'', 1713), etc., obtained his entrance to the
Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...
(1723). ''Petit-maître'' as he was, he had also serious capacity, for he became councillor of the ''parlement'' of Paris (1705), and in 1710 he was chosen president of the chamber of inquiries (French: Chambre des Enquêtes). He also hosted the
Club de l'Entresol The Club de l'Entresol (, "Mezzanine Club") was a discussion group and early think tank in Paris, active from 1723 to 1731, created and primarily led by Abbot Pierre-Joseph Alary. Name and background The club's name came from the fact that at ...
(1724–1731) in his house on the
Place Vendôme The Place Vendôme (), earlier known as Place Louis-le-Grand, and also as Place Internationale, is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It is ...
. After the death of the count de Rieux (son of the famous financier,
Samuel Bernard Samuel Bernard (1651 in Sancerre – January 18, 1739, in Paris), Count of Coubert (1725), was a French noble and financier. Life Of Netherlands, Dutch origin, Samuel Bernard was the son of the painter and engraver Samuel-Jacques Bernard (1615- ...
) he became (1753) superintendent of the household of Queen Marie Leszczynska, whose intimate friendship he had previously enjoyed. On Hénault's recovery in his eightieth year from a dangerous malady (1765) he professed to have undergone religious conversion and retired into private life, devoting the remainder of his days to study and devotion. His religion was, however, according to the marquis d'Argenson, exempt from fanaticism, persecution, bitterness and intrigue; and it did not prevent him from continuing his friendship with
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...
, to whom it is said he had formerly rendered the service of saving the manuscript of ''La Henriade'', when its author was about to commit it to the flames. The literary work on which Hénault bestowed his chief attention was the ''Abrégé chronologique de l'histoire de France'', first published in 1744 without the author's name. In the compass of two volumes he comprised the whole history of France from the earliest times to the death of
Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...
. The work has no originality. Hénault had kept his note-books of the history lectures at the Jesuit college, of which the substance was taken from Mézeray and P Daniel. He revised them first in 1723, and later put them in the form of question and answer on the model of P le Ragois, and by following Dubos and Boulainvilliers and with the aid of the abbé Boudot he compiled his ''Abrégé''. The research is all on the surface and is only borrowed. But the work had a prodigious success, and was translated into several languages, even into Chinese. This was due partly to Hénault's popularity and position, partly to the agreeable style which made the history readable. He inserted, according to the fashion of the period, moral and political reflections, which are always brief and generally as fresh and pleasing as they are just. A few masterly strokes reproduced the leading features of each age and the characters of its illustrious men; accurate chronological tables set forth the most interesting events in the history of each sovereign and the names of the great men who flourished during his reign; and interspersed throughout the work are occasional chapters on the social and civil state of the country at the close of each era in its history. Continuations of the work have been made at separate periods by Fantin des Odoards, by Anguis with notes by Walckenaer, and by
Michaud Michaud is a surname of French origin, most often found in France, Canada and the United States. Notable people with the name include: * Alexandre Michaud de Beauretour (1771–1841), Piedmontese general who served in the Imperial Russian Army * A ...
. He died at Paris on 24 November 1770. Hénault's ''Mémoires'' have come down to us in two different versions, both claiming to be authentic. One was published in 1855 by M. du Vigan; the other was owned by the Comte de Coutades, who permitted Lucien Perey to give long extracts in his work on ''Président Hénault'' (Paris, 1893). The memoirs are fragmentary and disconnected, but contain interesting anecdotes and details concerning persons of note. See the ' of Grimm, of Madame de Deffand and of Voltaire; the notice by Walckenaer in the edition of the Abrégé;
Sainte-Beuve Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (; 23 December 1804 – 13 October 1869) was a French literary critic. Early life He was born in Boulogne, educated there, and studied medicine at the Collège Charlemagne in Paris (1824–27). In 1828, he se ...
, ''Causeries du lundi'', vol. xi.; and the ''Origines de l'abrégé'' (''Ann. Bulletin de la
Société de l'histoire de France The Société de l'histoire de France (SHF) (English: ''Society of the History of France'') was established on 21 December 1833 at the instigation of the French minister of Public Instruction, François Guizot, in order to contribute to the renewa ...
'', 1901). Also H Lion, ''Le Président Hénault'' (Paris, 1903).


References


External links


Charles-Jean-François Hénault
on Data.bnf.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Henault, Charles-Jean-Francois Writers from Paris 1685 births 1770 deaths Members of the Académie Française 18th-century French historians Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 18th-century French dramatists and playwrights Household of Marie Leszczyńska