Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes (, 6 December 1721 – 22 April 1794), often referred to as Malesherbes or Lamoignon-Malesherbes, was a French statesman and minister in the
Ancien Régime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for " ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
** Ancien Régime in France
{{disambig ...
, and later counsel for the defense of
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
. He is known for his vigorous criticism of royal abuses as President of the and his role, as director of censorship, in helping with the publication of the ''
Encyclopédie
, better known as ''Encyclopédie'' (), was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It had many writers, known as the Encyclopédistes. It was edited by Denis ...
''. Despite his committed monarchism, his writings contributed to the development of liberalism during the French
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a Europe, European Intellect, intellectual and Philosophy, philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained th ...
.
Biography
Family and early career
Born in Paris to a famous legal family which belonged to the ''
noblesse de robe'', Malesherbes was educated for the legal profession.
The young lawyer's career received a boost when his father,
Guillaume de Lamoignon de Blancmesnil, was appointed Chancellor in 1750; he appointed his son Malesherbes as both President of the
Cour des Aides and Director of the Librairie. This latter office entailed supervision of all
French censorship, and in this capacity Malesherbes maintained communication with the literary leaders of Paris, including
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 along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during t ...
and
Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ('' philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects ...
. In his view toward censorship, Malesherbes ordered that genuinely "obscene" books be confiscated, but that merely "licentious" ones should be ignored. This was done in the belief that without such a distinction, police might find themselves taking possession of the better part of many shopkeepers' inventories. He was instrumental in the publication of the
Encyclopédie
, better known as ''Encyclopédie'' (), was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It had many writers, known as the Encyclopédistes. It was edited by Denis ...
, to the consternation of the Church and particularly the Jesuits.
Midlife
In 1771, following the dismissal of
Choiseul late the preceding year and at the instigation of
Madame du Barry
Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry (; 28 August 1744 – 8 December 1793) was the last ''maîtresse-en-titre'' of King Louis XV of France. She was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution on accusations of treason—particularly being ...
and the
duc d'Aiguillon, the
Cour des Aides was dissolved for its opposition to a new method of administering justice devised by
Maupeou, who planned to greatly diminish its powers and those of the ''parlements'' in general. Malesherbes, as President of the ''cour des aides'', criticized the proposal for over-centralizing the justice system and abolishing the hereditary "
nobility of the robe," which he believed had been a defender of the people and a check on royal power due to its independence. He published a strong remonstrance against the new system, and was banished to his country seat at
Malesherbes. For the next three years, Malesherbes dedicated himself primarily to travel and gardening. Indeed, he had always been an enthusiastic botanist; his avenue at Malesherbes was world-famous; he had written against
Buffon and in favor of
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
' system of botanical classification; and he had been a member of the
Académie des sciences
The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...
since 1750.
[
]
The 1775 ''Remontrances''
Malesherbes was recalled to Paris with the reconstituted ''cour des aides'' on the accession of Louis XVI
Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
; it was at this point that he spearheaded the famous 1775 ''Remontrances'' of the ''cour des aides'', which detailed the problems facing the regime and envisioned a total overhaul of fiscal policy. Louis XVI was so impressed with the plan—and fearful for the future of his government—that Malesherbes was appointed minister of the ''maison du roi'' in 1775. During the same year, Malesherbes was also elected to the Académie française
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
. He held office as a royal minister only nine months; the Court proved intransigent in its opposition to his proposals for fiscal restraint and other reforms, including curtailing the arbitrary issuance of '' lettres de cachet,'' and he soon found himself bereft of political support.
Late career
On retiring from the ministry with Turgot in 1776, he again spent some time at his country seat. But the state of pre-Revolutionary France made it impossible for Malesherbes to withdraw from political life. In 1787, he authored an essay on Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
rights that did much to procure civil recognition for them in France; later that year, his ''Mémoire'' to the King detailed what he saw as the catastrophic state of affairs created by the monarchy, which was rapidly making "future calamities" inevitable.
Retirement
In 1788, rioting rocked France in Provence, Languedoc, Rousillon, Béarn, Flanders, Franche-Comté and Burgundy, most of the rioters motivated either by scarcity of bread, sympathy for representative government, or a combination. Due to the pressure, Lamoignon retired on 14 September 1788, and rioting erupted again. Crowds tried to burn down Lamoignon's house, the troops were called out, and to quote the anarchist Peter Kropotkin
Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism.
Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later s ...
, "there was a horrible slaughter of poor folk who could not defend themselves."
Trial of the King; execution
In December 1792, with the King imprisoned and facing trial, Malesherbes volunteered to undertake his legal defense. He argued for the King's life, together with François Tronchet and Raymond Desèze, before the Convention, and it was his painful task to break the news of his condemnation to the king.
After this effort, Malesherbes returned once more to the country, but in December 1793 he was arrested with his daughter, his son-in-law M. de Rosanbo, and his grandchildren.[ He was brought back to Paris and imprisoned with his family for "conspiracy with the emigrants". The family was imprisoned in the Prison Portes-Libres, and in April 1794 they were ]guillotine
A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by Decapitation, beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secur ...
d in Paris. His son-in-law, Louis Le Peletier de Rosanbo, was guillotined on 21 April 1794. On 22 April 1794, his daughter Antoinette, granddaughter Aline and her husband Jean-Baptiste de Chateaubriand, the deputés Isaac René Guy le Chapelier
Isaac René Guy Le Chapelier (12 June 1754 – 22 April 1794) was a French jurist and politician of the Revolutionary period.
Biography
Le Chapelier was born in Rennes in Brittany, where his father was ''bâtonnier'' of the corporation of lawy ...
and Jacques Guillaume Thouret, four times elected president of the Constituent Assembly
A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
, were executed with him. As Malesherbes left prison to get into the sinister cart, his foot hit a stone and made him make a misstep. "That," he said, smiling sadly, "is a bad omen; in my place, a Roman would have returned."
On 10 May, his older sister Anne-Nicole, Countess of Sénozan, 76, was executed on the same day as Madame Elisabeth Madame may refer to:
* Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French
* Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel
* ''Madame'' ( ...
, the king's sister. Malesherbes was the grand-father of François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (4 September 1768 – 4 July 1848) was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian who influenced French literature of the nineteenth century. Descended from an old aristocratic family from Bri ...
's sister in law, Aline de Chateaubriand.
Thought
Although he remained a committed royalist until his death, Malesherbes was hardly untouched by the radical Enlightenment currents that transformed France. He was influenced by his reading of Fénelon and Montesquieu
Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher.
He is the principal so ...
and his friendships with Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ('' philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects ...
and Turgot. On multiple occasions throughout his career, he recognized the grievances later cited by revolutionaries when he criticized the monarchy for its unfair and arbitrary taxation policies and profligate spending. Although he believed hierarchy was natural and desirable, he was concerned about its distortionary effects on administration and justice; indeed, he argued that the privileges of the nobility should be earned through service to France, not granted by birth. Malesherbes also stressed the importance of communication in governing, believing the King should be more engaged with public opinion and grievances.
Malesherbes' moderate and reformist tendencies were on full display during his tenure at the Librairie. When he retired from his post, Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
wrote that "M. de Malesherbes tirelessly served the human spirit by giving to the press more liberty than it has ever had." Indeed, censorship at the time was not perceived as automatically inimical to the Enlightenment; several leading philosophes
The were the intellectuals of the 18th-century European Enlightenment.Kishlansky, Mark, ''et al.'' ''A Brief History of Western Civilization: The Unfinished Legacy, volume II: Since 1555.'' (5th ed. 2007). Few were primarily philosophers; rathe ...
were employed as censors, including 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 along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during t ...
and d'Alembert
Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert ( ; ; 16 November 1717 – 29 October 1783) was a French mathematician, mechanics, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. Until 1759 he was, together with Denis Diderot, a co-editor of the ''E ...
. Although he believed that books attacking governmental authority and religion should be suppressed, Malesherbes also frequently overruled censors to permit the publication of philosophical works that had been flagged as dangerous. In one notable case, Malesherbes granted royal privilege, meaning official sanction and exclusive publication rights, to a radical work by Helvétius that caused a public scandal upon its release. The Court eventually revoked the royal privilege and the Parliament ordered the book to be burned. On another occasion, when he was impressed with Rousseau's ''Emile, or On Education
''Emile, or On Education'' () is a treatise on the nature of education and on the nature of man written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who considered it to be the "best and most important" of all his writings. Due to a section of the book entitled "Pr ...
'', Malesherbes worked around his own agency to coordinate the clandestine publication of the book.
Malesherbes applied his broader criticisms of government inefficiency and privilege to the practice of censorship, as well. He defended his more permissive censorship regime by arguing that banning too many books would stifle the book trade and make enforcement unfeasible. Furthermore, he broke with Librairie tradition by refusing to grant favors to nobles
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...
who requested that a particular book be either published or blocked.
Decades after his retirement from the Librairie, in 1788, Malesherbes published his ''Mémoires sur la Liberté de la Presse'', where he critiqued the system of censorship he had been charged with enforcing. On the eve of the French Revolution, he defended freedom of the press on the grounds of encouraging public debate: under a censorship regime, only the most extreme authors would take the risk of publishing on sensitive topics, and the public would be deprived of the views of the "modest and reasonable Authors" who "would be the most useful to the public." Indeed, Malesherbes now adopted the Revolutionary language of the "nation," and argued that the nation can only come to know the truth through free discussion, which is more effective than censorship at preventing the spread of "error." He had not discarded the concept of censorship, however; instead, he envisaged a voluntary censorship scheme, which would guarantee authors immunity from subsequent judicial prosecution for their ideas if they obtained official approval before publishing.
Reception and legacy
Starting only a few years after his death, biographers portrayed Malesherbes as a romantic figure, one of the innocent victims of the Terror. For example, the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica
The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
'' writes of him:More recently, the French scholar François Moureau has critiqued this "hagiographic" tradition, emphasizing instead the contradictions in Malesherbes' career: he was shaped both by an openness to new Enlightenment ideas and by his commitment to fulfilling his role as a public servant within the Ancien Régime. Other modern commentaries on Malesherbes have advanced similar arguments; George Kelly, for example, describes him as "Janus-faced."
Malesherbes was also remembered with reverence by his great-grandson Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (29 July 180516 April 1859), was a French Aristocracy (class), aristocrat, diplomat, political philosopher, and historian. He is best known for his works ''Democracy in America'' (appearing in t ...
; the historian Roger Williams has pointed to this connection as a "legacy of liberalism."
Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Malesherbes, Guillaume-Chretien De Lamoignon De
1721 births
1794 deaths
Politicians from Paris
Members of the Académie Française
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
French people executed by guillotine during the French Revolution
Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
Denis Diderot
French Roman Catholics
French male writers
Guillaume-Chretien
18th-century French lawyers
Nobility from Paris