Charles Palissot de Montenoy

Charles Palissot de Montenoy , born with Nancy the January 3rd 1730 and died in Paris the June 15th 1814, is a French dramatic author known like opponent with the philosophical left and, more particularly, like enemy of Diderot. He is in particular the author of a comedy, the Philosophers , who had an enormous success of scandal in 1760.

Biography

Charles Palissot de Montenoy was the son of Hubert Palissot, celebrates Nancy lawyer. He showed a precocity so extraordinary that Dom Calmet made of it mention in its Bibliothèque of Lorraine : he entered very young person to the college of the Jesuits of Nancy then finished his philosophy at the University of Pont-à-Mousson, whereas he was old only 12 years. He followed there then the courses of theology then came to Paris to study the right. He composed two tragedies then: Pharaon (1748), which was not represented, and Zarès (1751), which had three representations. Meanwhile, and not without to have made a short passage within the Congregation of the Oratory, he had married whereas he was old only 18 years.

Whereas it had published only some booklets, whose opuscule of criticism which rented Montesquieu and Voltaire, it was allowed as of 1753 within the royal Company of Sciences and Belles-Lettres of Nancy, founded by the king Stanislas I {{er}}. In 1754, its part the Tutors was accepted successfully with the Comédie-Française, then it gave a small comedy on Eastern subject, the Barber of Baghdad . Protected from the Choiseul clan, supported so much by Voltaire than by the critic Fréron, the young author seemed promised with a beautiful career. Poems full with flatteries addressed to high-ranking persons of the Court had their reward in the form of a nomination with the general receipt of the tobaccos of Avignon (1756), lucrative station which made it possible Palissot to buy a beautiful property with Argenteuil.

But in 1755, whereas it had been charged to compose a comedy at the time of the inauguration of the statue with Louis XV in Nancy, in the presence of the king of Lorraine, it chooses to present a procession of ridiculous, with the manner of the Fâcheux of Molière, into which it believed skilful to introduce a Philosophe in which one could easily recognize Jean-Jacques Rousseau, going to four legs and eating salad. , Of the kind, to like him king Stanislas believed who had composed a refutation of the Discours on sciences and arts . But the part, initially entitled the Originals , and which was called ultimately the Circle , caused the protests of D' Alembert and the count de Tressan, large marshal of the court of Lunéville and friend of the Philosophers. Stanislas, embarrassed, was on the point of sanctioning the young author who was saved only by the intervention of Rousseau itself in his favor.

Palissot, understanding that this episode had alienated the Philosophers to him, decided to make its career by attacking them. Thus, it is to some extent by opportunism, more than by conviction, than he became their principal enemy and ends up being identified with the anti-philosophical party. It published the Petites letters on large philosophers (1757), who made fun their pressing and grandiloquent tone, without tackling the bottom of their philosophy, except for the Fils naturalness of Diderot.

It was then further benefitting at the same time from the controversies around the Encyclopedia and from the tensions between its guard, the duke of Choiseul, and the philosophical party. Under the patronage of the minister as well as Dolphin, the Actors of the Com3edie fran1caise had to receive, on March 22nd 1760, the comedy of the Philosophes . The first took place on May 2nd, in front of a full house, attracted by the aroma of the scandal. The part had a very great success, partly thanks to the service of the Préville actor in the role of Crispin. She knew 14 representations, in spite of bad criticisms, even on behalf of journalists who did not pass for pledged to the philosophical party, such Fréron or Collé.

This part, extremely famous though little read and ever represented, sins above all by its lack of invention: the intrigue is only one dish transfers erudite Femmes . On the other hand, the style in is percussion, and the sarcastic remarks addressed to the Philosophers are effective. They aim at the same time their behaviors and their ideas. If Voltaire is saved and Rousseau rather spared, Diderot is attacked with an extreme brutality in the character of Dortidius. The part also contains references proven to Duclos and Grimm.

The part caused a made indignant reaction of Rousseau, which wrote to the Duchesne bookseller who had sent it to him: “While traversing, Sir, the part that you sent to me, I quivered of me to see there rented. ” Diderot, on its side, opposed a scorning silence. Voltaire was that which organized the response of the philosophical party with his part the Coffee or Scottish the where it also puts in Fréron scene under the name of Wasp ( Frelon in English).

This last was constrained by the reactions to continue and accentuate its combat. In answer to a satire published by the Abbot Morellet, he added to his part virulent a Préface . But it never found the place of foreground that, for some time, this comedy had made him hold with the apron of the literary news. Its satirical poem inspired of Pope, Dunciade or the War of stupid the (1764), in which it continued its attacks against the Philosophers, did not have much success. It met then many difficulties to make play its parts, the dangerous Satirist or Man (1770) and the Courtesans . The second was considered to be not very decent, while the first was the occasion of complicated intrigues, in which Palissot itself played a not very clear part. It made run the noise that the part was one of its enemies and that it was him whom it attacked. Ultimately, the government made prohibit the work: for the ones at the request of the philosophical party, which had found new supports near the capacity; for the others following the schemes of the author, who thought of thus interesting in the success of his part but would have been furious success of the company.

In 1782, however, the Comédie-Française returned a kind of homage to him while assembling four of its parts, of which the Philosophers , though in an edulcorated version. It inspired a sharp admiration with the young person Marie-Joseph Chénier, was made its guard and, like, accommodated to him with transport the Revolution. It started to pursue the actors “aristocrats”, was made the editor of complete works of Voltaire, Boileau and Corneille and made with the Club of the Jacobins a speech against the religion whose virulence alarmed Robespierre.

The events nevertheless had tested its fortune. It had had to sell the beautiful property which it had with Argenteuil and lived with Pantin in a small house. But in 1795, Convention, on the report/ratio of Marie-Joseph Chénier, allocated an important pension to him. It entered the sect of the Théophilanthropes of which it became one of the pontiffs. Having made its court with Napoleon Bonaparte as of 1797, it entered the following year to the Conseil of Old the under the department of the Seine-et-Oise and was named administrator of the Bibliothèque Mazarine, but it did not manage to enter to the Institut of France differently than like member corresponding, because of the hostility of Naigeon, which thus defended the memory of his/her friend Diderot.

Works

Works of Palissot were gathered in three more or less complete editions: one published in Liege, at Plomteux, 7 vol. in-8 and in-12; the second printed with the printing works of Sir, in 1788, four large volumes in-8; the last published under the eyes of the author, Paris, 1809,6 vol. in-8.

The chronological list below comprises bonds with the Gallica base of the National library of France when the work is available in this database:

Pharaon , tragedy in 5 acts and worms, not represented, 1748
Zarès , tragedy in 5 acts and worms, represented for the first time at the Comédie-Française on June 3rd, 1751 (renamed later on Ninus )
History of the kings de Rome , 1753-1756
the Tutors , comedy in 2 acts and worms, represented for the first time at the Comédie-Française on August 5th, 1754
the Circle or the Originals , comedy, represented for the first time on the new theater of Nancy on November 26th, 1755
Small letters on large philosophers , 1757
the Barber of Baghdad , comedy represented on the theater of the author in Argenteuil, 1758
the Philosophers , comedy in 3 acts and worms, represented for the first time at the Comédie-Française the New on May 2nd, 1760
Ménechmes , comedy in 5 acts in worms, 1762 (other titles: the Rival by resemblance ; Clerval and Cléon ; the Mistakes )
Dunciade Frenchwoman or the War of stupid the , satirical poem in 3 songs (extended later on to 10 songs), 1764 the dangerous
the Satirist or Man , comedy in 3 acts and worms, represented on the theater of the author to Argenteuil, 1770
Courtesans or the School of manners , comedy in 3 acts and worms, 1775
Praise of Voltaire , 1778
Memories to be used for the history of the literature since François I {{er}} until our days, 1771,2 vol. (many reprintings: 1775,1803…)
Important matters on some religious opinions , 1791 (republications: 1793,1797)
Genius of Voltaire appreciated in all his works , 1806

References

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