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Jacques Mallet du Pan, (1749-1800), was a
Genevan , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ...
, political
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
and
propagandist Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to Social influence, influence or persuade an audience to further an Political agenda, agenda, which may not be Objectivity (journalism), objective and may be selectively presenting facts to en ...
. A Calvinist thinker and Counter-Revolutionary reformer, he opposed extreme positions held by both Revolutionary and Counter-Revolutionary partisans during the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...
.Sous la direction de Jean-Clément Martin, ''Dictionnaire de la Contre-Révolution'', Jean-Clément Martin, « Mallet du Pan, Jacques », éd. Perrin, 2011, .


Life


Pre French-Revolution

Mallet du Pan was born 5 November 1749 in
Céligny Céligny is a municipality in the canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It consists of two small exclaves of the Canton of Geneva surrounded by the Canton of Vaud, near Crans-près-Céligny. History Céligny is first mentioned in 1163 as ''Siliniacum' ...
, to a
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to ...
minister from an old
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Bez ...
family. He was educated at
Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ...
, and through the influence of
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— ...
was appointed as a Professor of French Literature at
Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
, however he soon resigned from this position. In 1771, at a time of mounting opposition to the oligarchic rule of the upper class, he wrote what was considered by the ruling council in Geneva to be an inflammatory pamphlet entitled ''Compte rendu de la défense des citoyens bourgeois''. It was condemned by the council and burnt in the main square. Hoping to find more independence as writer he travelled to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
to find Simon Nicholas Henri Linguet and propose that he become co-editor in the production of the "Annales Politiques", to which Linuet agreed. This collaboration was broken in September 1779 with Linguet's imprisonment in the
Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stor ...
. Du Pan then brought the ''Annales'' to Geneva to continue the work himself (1781–1783) under the title ''Mémoires historiques, politiques et littéraires''. After Linguet's release from the Bastille in 1782 he felt he had to distance himself from the ''Annales'' for fear of being accused of profiting from Linguet's misfortune by seizing his property during his imprisonment, and he discontinued this work. Following the
Geneva Revolution of 1782 The Geneva Revolution of 1782 (french: La révolution genevoise de 1782) was a short-lived attempt to broaden the franchise and include men of modest means in the republican government of the oligarchic Genevan city-state. Background In 1782 the c ...
and several years in exile he adopted the ideological position of the ''
juste milieu ''Juste milieu'' (meaning "middle way" or "happy medium") is a term that has been used to describe centrist political philosophies that try to find a balance between extremes, and artistic forms that try to find a middle ground between the traditio ...
'' - the 'middle way'. This position stood in opposition to both revolutionary and counter-revolutionary forces and brought him to a second exile. He went to establish himself in Paris, where he had a reputation as a skilled publicist. While in Paris he worked and lived with the book-seller
Charles-Joseph Panckoucke Charles-Joseph Panckoucke (; 26 November 1736 – 19 December 1798) was a French writer and publisher. He was responsible for numerous influential publications of the era, including the literary journal ''Mercure de France'' and the ''Encyclopéd ...
, publishing a new journal titled ''Journal historique et politique de Genève'' from January
1781 Events January–March * January – William Pitt the Younger, later Prime Minister of Great Britain, enters Parliament, aged 21. * January 1 – Industrial Revolution: The Iron Bridge opens across the River Severn in Eng ...
From 1783 he incorporated this work with Panckoucke into an editorial position at 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 f ...
'', which Panckoucke had acquired the privilege of. In all the political writings published by Mallet du Pan before the revolution he used his position to propagandise in favour of Constitutional Monarchy. He would have seen France introduce a system similar to the British 'constitution', which he believed was possible to apply to France with some light modifications. Staunchly loyal to his ideological positions, he used his post in the ''Mercure'' to defend them ferociously and polemicise against those he saw as not sharing his positions. Increasingly in his writings he came to criticise the ideas of the British and American revolutions.


French Revolution

On the outbreak of the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...
he sided MPs who wanted to implement a constitutional monarchy and in
1789 Events January–March * January – Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès publishes the pamphlet '' What Is the Third Estate?'' ('), influential on the French Revolution. * January 7 – The 1788-89 United States presidential election ...
he joined the Royalist camp. He viewed the period from 1789, including the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (french: Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789, links=no), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revolu ...
as a ''matrice de la démagogie'' - a populist circus. He continued political writings and was known for an improper but fiery and frank style that served to evoke the passions of his readers and was able to predict fairly accurately the trajectory of the Revolutionary movement. This combination of factors led to the quick development of a reputation amongst the revolutionary partisans, who denounced him as an enemy to liberty . Mallet, impassioned by the perceived excess of the Revolutionaries, threw himself into the work of the Royalist party, attacking the violence of the Revolution and the people who supported revolutionary principles. Seen as a safe ally and held in high-esteem by
Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was e ...
for his counter revolutionary work he was sent on a mission to
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...
from 1791–1792 to secure the sympathy and intervention of the German princes. From Germany, he traveled to
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and from Switzerland to
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
in the Royalist interest. In 1792, he was charged by King Louis XVI to draw up a manifesto in the name of emigrants and coalition powers. The manifesto, believed to have been written by Jérôme-Joseph Geoffroy de Limon and published by Panckoucke, Mallet's old collaborator, was known as the
Brunswick Manifesto The Brunswick Manifesto was a proclamation issued by Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, commander of the Allied Army (principally Austrian and Prussian), on 25 July 1792 to the population of Paris, France during the War of the First ...
Michel Winock, ''L’échec au Roi, 1791-1792'', Paris, Olivier Orban, 1991, , . and declared that if the French royal family was harmed, French civilians would be harmed by the coalition powers. He published a number of anti-revolutionary pamphlets, and a violent attack on Bonaparte and the
Directory Directory may refer to: * Directory (computing), or folder, a file system structure in which to store computer files * Directory (OpenVMS command) * Directory service, a software application for organizing information about a computer network's u ...
resulted in his being exiled in 1797 to Berne.


Exile

Mallet fled France on 10 August 1792, initially to Geneva until the advance of the French army forced him to move on. Briefly staying in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
before again fleeing the French army he came to
Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , websit ...
, where he would write ''Considérations sur la nature de la Révolution de France et sur les causes qui en prolongent la durée'' in 1793. A man of order and property, as hostile to the bourgeoise men of money as he was to Girondins, in this work he analysed the revolution as a revolt of the poor. He denounced the weakness of the
Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...
, the
Nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...
, and the men of property in the third estate before finally denouncing the non-propertied and the "barbarians". He believed the French had given into the force of things, but in doing so had debased the culture of the whole of Europe. It is in this widely circulated essay that he coined the adage "like Saturn, the Revolution devours its children," which originally appeared as " A l'exemple de
Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...
e, la révolution dévore ses enfants". Translated into English at the time, the essay was read by and influenced William Pitt's views. In 1798, he came to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
, where he founded the ''Mercure britannique''. He died of
consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...
at Richmond, Surrey, on 10 May 1800, leaving his widow, Françoise Valier, and three children, who received a pension from the British government.


Posterity

His son Jean Louis Mallet (John Lewis Mallet) (1775–1861) had a career in the British civil service, becoming secretary of the Board of Audit (the Audit Office). Mallet's grandson, Sir Louis Mallet (1823–1890), also entered the civil service in the Board of Trade and rose to be an economist and a member of the
Council of India The Council of India was the name given at different times to two separate bodies associated with British rule in India. The original Council of India was established by the Charter Act of 1833 as a council of four formal advisors to the Governor ...
. Mallet du Pan's ' was edited by A. Sayous (Paris, 1851). See also ''Mallet du Pan and the French Revolution'' (1902) by Bernard Mallet, son of Sir Louis Mallet, author also of a biography of his father (1900).


References

*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mallet du Pan 1749 births 1800 deaths 18th-century writers from the Republic of Geneva 18th-century politicians from the Republic of Geneva French journalists French editors French letter writers French memoirists 18th-century French writers 18th-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers Burials at Vineyard Passage Burial Ground 18th-century letter writers 18th-century memoirists