Guillaume Thomas Raynal (12 April 1713 – 6 March 1796) was a French writer and

man of letters An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, ei ...

during the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

Early life

He was born at

Lapanouse Lapanouse (; oc, La Panosa) is a former commune in the Aveyron department in southern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Sévérac-d'Aveyron.Rouergue. He was educated at the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

school of Pézenas, and received priest's orders, but he was dismissed for unexplained reasons from the parish of Saint-Sulpice, Paris. He became a writer and journalist, leaving the religious life. The Abbé Raynal wrote for the ''

Mercure de France The was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group. The gazette was published ...

'', and compiled a series of popular but superficial works, which he published and sold himself. These—''L'Histoire du stathoudérat'' (The Hague, 1748), ''L'Histoire du parlement d'Angleterre'' (London, 1748), ''Anecdotes historiques'' (Amsterdam, 3 vols., 1753)—gained for him access to the salons of Mme. Geoffrin, Helvétius, and the

Baron d'Holbach Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach (; 8 December 1723 – 21 January 1789), was a French-German philosopher, encyclopedist, writer, and prominent figure in the French Enlightenment. He was born Paul Heinrich Dietrich in Edesheim, near L ...

. In May 1754 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...

. In 1775, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society.

The ''Histoire philosophique des deux Indes''

He had the assistance of various members of the ''philosophe côteries'' in his most important work, ''L'Histoire philosophique et politique des établissements et du commerce des Européens dans les deux Indes'' (''Philosophical and Political History of the Two Indies'' Amsterdam, 4 vols., 1770).

Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the '' Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promi ...

is credited with a third of this work, which was characterized by

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—e ...

as "''du réchauffé avec de la declamation''." The other chief collaborators were Pechméja,

, Paulze, the farmer-general of taxes, the Abbé Martin, and

Alexandre Deleyre Alexandre Deleyre (5 or 10 January 1726, Portets near Bordeaux – 10 March 1797, Paris aged 71) was an 18th-century French man of letters and translator from Latin. He was a friend of J.J. Rousseau, who used his translations of Lucretius for co ...

. To this piecemeal method of composition, in which narrative alternated with tirades on political and social questions, was added the further disadvantage of the lack of exact information, which, owing to the dearth of documents, could only have been gained by personal investigation. He released an expanded edition in 1774 and another in 1780. The "philosophic" declamations perhaps constituted its chief interest for the general public, and its significance as a contribution to democratic propaganda. The ''Histoire'' went through many editions, being revised and augmented from time to time by Raynal; it was translated into the principal European languages, and appeared in various abridgments. Its introduction into France was forbidden in 1779; the book was burned by the public executioner, and an order was given for the arrest of the author, whose name had not appeared in the first edition, but was printed on the title page of the

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

edition of 1780. Seven new maps for the 1798 English edition were engraved by Thomas Kitchin, Jr. The book examines the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around ...

, South America, the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

, and North America. The final chapter comprises theory around the future of Europe as a whole. Raynal also examines commerce, religion,

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, and other popular subjects, all with a perspective from the

French Enlightenment French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

. Additional versions of the book included maps of the discussed regions. On the subject of slavery, Raynal was excoriating, writing "I shall...prove that there is no reason of state which can authorize slavery. I shall not be afraid to denounce to the tribunal of reason and justice those governments which tolerate this cruelty...Whoever justifies such an odious system deserves mocking silence from the philosopher...and a stab with a dagger from the back".

Later life

Raynal went into exile, to Spa, and then to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

, where he was coolly received by

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...

, in spite of his connection with the philosophe party. At St. Petersburg he met with a more cordial reception from

Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

, and in 1787 he was permitted to return to France, though not to Paris. He showed generosity in assigning a considerable income to be divided annually among the peasant proprietors of upper Guienne. He was elected by Marseilles to the States-general, but refused to sit on the score of age. Raynal now realized the impossibility of a peaceful revolution, and, in terror of the proceedings for which the writings of himself and his friends had prepared the way, he sent to the Constituent Assembly an address, which was read on 31 May 1791, deprecating the violence of its reforms. This address is said by

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 s ...

(''Nouveaux lundis'', xi.) to have been composed chiefly by de Clermont-Tonnerre and Pierre V. Malouet, and it was regarded, even by moderate men, as ill-timed. The published ''Lettre de l'abbé Raynal a l'Assemblee nationale'' (10 December 1790) was really the work of the comte de Guibert. During the Terror Raynal lived in retirement at Passy and at Montlhery. On the establishment of the Directory in 1795 he became a member of the newly organized Institute of France. Raynal died 6 March 1796 at Chaillot. Histoiredesdeuxindes

Address to America

Published on November 3, 1800, after his death, Raynal addressed the people of the young United States of America with the following words, printed in the National Intelligencer and Washington Advertiser.

PEOPLE of North America! let the example of all nations which have preceded you, and especially that of the mother country, instruct you. Be afraid of the influence of gold, which brings with luxury the corruption of manners and contempt of laws; be afraid of too unequal a distribution of riches, which shews a small number of citizens in wealth, and a great number in miser; whence arises the insolence of one, and the disgrace of the other, Guard against the spirit of conquest; the tranquility of the empire decreases as it is extended; have arms to defend yourselves, and have none to attack. Seek ease and health in labour; prosperity, in agriculture and manufactures; strength, in good manners and virtue. Make the sciences and arts prosper, which distinguish the civilized man from the savage. Especially watch over the education of your children. It is from public schools, be assured, that skillful magistrates, disciplined and courageous soldiers, good fathers, good husbands, good brothers, good friends, and honest men come forth. Wherever we see the youth depraved, that nation is on the decline. Let liberty have an immovable foundation in the wisdom of your contributions and let it be the cement which unites your states, which cannot be destroyed. Establish no legal preference in your different modes of worship. Superstition is every where innocent when it is neither protected nor persecuted; and let your duration be, if possible, equal to that of the world.

Bibliography

A detailed bibliography of his works and of those falsely attributed to him will be found in Quérard's ''La France littéraire'', and the same author's ''Supercheries dévoilées''. The biography by A Jay, prefixed to Peuchet's edition (Paris, 10 vols, 1820–1821) of the ''Histoire ... des Indes'', is of small value. To this edition Peuchet added two supplementary volumes on colonial development from 1785 to 1824. See also the anonymous ''Raynal démasqué'' (1791); Cherhal Montreal, ''Éloge ... de G. T. Raynal'' (an. IV.); a notice in the ''Moniteur'' (5 vendémiaire, an. V.); B Lunet, ''Biographie de l'abbé Raynal'' (Rodez, 1866); and J Morley, ''Diderot'' (1891). * A. Jay, ''Précis historique sur la vie et les ouvrages de l'abbé Raynal'', Paris, 1820 ; * A. Feugère, ''Un Précurseur de la Révolution. L'Abbé Raynal (1713–1796),'' Angoulême, 1922 ; * ''Raynal, de la polémique à l'histoire'', G. Bancarel, G. Goggi ed. Oxford, SVEC, 2000 ; * G. Bancarel, ''Raynal ou le devoir de vérité'', Genève Champion, 2004. * Peter Jimack (ed.), ''A History of the Two Indies – A Translated Selection of Writings from Raynal's Histoire philosophique et politique des établissements des Européens dans les Deux Indes'', Ashgate, 2006. .

References

External links

l'abbé Raynal Exposition website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raynal, Guillaume 1713 births 1796 deaths People from Aveyron 18th-century French historians 18th-century French Jesuits French historians of philosophy Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences French abolitionists Age of Enlightenment Members of the American Philosophical Society