Montesquieu: A Critical Biography

223 Pages·1961·16.383 MB·English

by  Robert Shackleton

Oxford University Press, Ely House, London W. I MONTESQUIEU
GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE WELLINGTON
CAPE TOWN SALISBURY IBADAN NAIROBI DAR I!S SALAAM LUSAKA ADDIS ·ABABA
BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS KARACHI LAHORE DACCA .. '
KUALA LUMPUR SINGAPORE HONG KONG TOKYO d Critical 'Biography
By
ROBERT SHAC.KLETON
Fellow of Bras(Jfl()se College, Oxford
. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
TO MY MOTHER
TO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER
© Oxford University Press 1961
Set by the Camelot Press
Reprinted Lithographically in Great Britain by Alden & Mowbray Ltd
at the Alden Press, Oxford
From sheets of the first impression
r963, r970
PREFACE
IT is a rash enterprise, in the twentieth century, to write an
account of the life and ideas of a man of many interests who
lived before the age of specialization. It requires a multiplicity
of competences, scientific, philosophical, legal, historical, and
literary, rarely to be found today in one man, and to which I could
certainly not lay claim. Specialists will find here shortcomings
which they will feel disposed to censure. I would ask them, in
the words of Montesquieu's own Preface to L'E sprit des lois,
'd'approuver ou de condamner le livre entier et non pas quelques
phrases'. I have tried not to analyse and evaluate the thought of
Montesquieu, but to write his biography; and his life being a life
of ideas rather than events, I have tried to study the genesis of
those ideas and to show how his works grew out of his reading,
his travels, and his friendships.
The preparation of this book has taken me into more than
sixty libraries, public or private, in five countries, and in these,
almost without exception, I have been courteously and helpfully
received. My first duty is to acknowledge the gracious permission
given to me by Her Majesty the Queen to cite documents to be
found at Windsor Castle, to which my attention was very kindly
drawn by the Librarian, Sir Owen Morshead, and his successor,
Mr. R. C. Mackworth-Young. I am grateful for facilities offered
to me by the Duke of Buccleuch and Sir David Scott in relation
to documents at Boughton House, by the Duke of Richmond and
Gordon in relation to documents now deposited in the County
Record Office at Chichester, by the Earl and Countess Walde
grave at Chewton, and by the Earl of Harrowby. I am grateful
for leave to inspect and cite documents in the libraries of the
Royal Society of London and of the Royal College of Surgeons
of England, and in the private collection of the late Dr. and
Mrs. Manfred Altmann of London, and for the loan of a copy
of a remote manuscript to Sir Charles Petrie. I have a particular
debt, for guiding my steps to English archives, to Mr. L. C.
Hector of the Public Record Office.
In France, I gladly acknowledge my indebtedness to the
kindness of Monsieur R. Schuman, who has allowed me access
to his collection of manuscripts at times when his preoccupations
viii PREFACE
were pressing; to Monsieur P. Cornuau, for allowi!lg me to study
manuscripts passing through his hands; to the Father Superior
of the College libre de Juilly, for allowing me to inspect the CONTENTS
archives of his college; to Madame Latapie of Naujan-et-Postiac
(Gironde), for a most amiable reception and access to her family List of plates . -. . · xii
Note on bibliographical references xiii
papers; to Monsieur X. V edere, for the unfailing courtesy of
his welcome to the Archives municipales de Bordeaux; and to Abbreviations xv
Monsieur L. Desgraves, Conservateur-en-chef de la Bibliotheque 1 Early Years
municipale de Bordeaux, for the waving aside of formalities and 1689-1721
for the most frequent and tireless assistance. 1 Family and Birth I
Almost all Montesquieu scholars, and a very large number of II Education s
eighteenth-century specialists, have become known to me during III Introduction to Paris 8
the last few .years, and from none have I had anything but the IV Private and Public Life in the South-West 13
most helpful and friendly treatment. To enumerate them would v The Academy of Bordeaux 20
be well-nigh impertinent. They all have my grateful thanks. IIL ettres persanes
Four of them have pride of place for work and for friendship: 1721
Jean Brethe de La Gressaye, Sergio Cotta, Francois Gebelin, ,, I The Literary Tradition 27
and Andre Masson. ,.-II Society and Goverrurient 34
For courtesy, kindness, and assistance I am much indebted to , III Religion, Philosophy, and History 39
Baron Raoul de Montesquieu of Raymond and to Baron Philippe
III Paris Society
de Montesquieu of Agen and Villegongis. To the Comtesse de
1721--:-8
Chabannes, chatelaine of La Brede, I have the greatest debt of
i The Court
all, for an invariably amiable welcome at La Brede and for un
11 Madame de Lambert
restricted access to the library and manuscripts of her illustrious
III Private Academies
ancestor, of whom she is a worthy descendant.
I wish to thank for financial assistance the Cassel Educational IV Essays and amlJitions
1721-8
Trust, the Board of the Faculty of Modern Languages at Oxford,
and the French Government's department of Relations cultur I The Traite des devoirs 68
elles. I thank finally my colleagues at Brasenose College for the II Personal Matters 76
III The French Academy 85
grant of sabbatical leave, for the provision of secretarial assistance,
and by no means least, as individuals, for forgiving and answering v Travels in Italy
my importunate questions in fields other than my own. 1728-9
s.
R. I Art and Archaeology 90
OXFORD II The Church 96
I January i961 111 Personal Encounters 102
IV Naples 107
VI Travels in England
1729-31
I Royal and Ducal Figures
II Political Society
CONTENTS CONTENTS xi
111 Frenchmen in London 131 .,.., II Despotism . 269
IV The Royal Society 135 · III The Good Governments Compared 272
v Freemasonry 139 IV Monarchy 277
VI Literary Circles 1.p v Other Criteria 282
The System of Liberty
VII Les Romains XIII
1731-4 I The Analysis and its Terms . 284
II Constitutional Detail 288
I La Monarchie uniflerselle 146
m The Party System 291
II Preparation and Publication • 151 ,,,,. @S eparation of Powers 298
~~ III Montesquieu and the Historical Tradition 157
@
ffi~ IV Philosophical History 164 Climate and Causes
>z
-i
~E!: VIII Paris I Towards a Doctrine 302
II The Doctrine of Climate 310
~; ~·l~ 1734-48
111 Moral and Physical Causes 313
"~r; :, 1 The Return to Paris 171
,:p~ m II The Great Salons 178 xv The History of Laws
..u. III Guasco 190 I Roman Law of Succession 320
·~~~ IX Life in GuymM IIIII OOfriiggiinnss ooff tFhree nFcrhe nLcahw N obility 332284
1734-55
') IV The Skill of Erudition 333
ti 1 Home and Family . 194 (f)
I~ II Lands and Fortunes 200 Religion
=c:'tll=l III Bordeaux 2o8 I The Causes of Religion 337
~ IV Clairac 217 11 Morality and Faith 341
~~/ III Ja nsenism . 344
x Pr~aration of L'Esprit des Jois ., IV Montesquieu's Personal Faith 349
1734-48 / v Religious Toleration 354
~ Tl .
~' 0 1 Isolated Ventures 225 e ·The Quarrel of L'Esprit des lois
II The Decision 228
~ .I II The Mode of Working. 229 I The Earliest Attacks 356
~~ o~
IV The Sequence of Composition 238 11 The Defense 361
~~ v The Publication 240 III The Skirmish 363
li<Z ,,.-._
~~ I IV Official Attitudes 366
I xj Montesquieu's conc~tion of lafD v The Holy See 370
"'=
J
~~ ~ 1 Legal Paradoxes . • 244 >< xvm Renown
~ II Natural Law 247
1748-55
,:p.I° III Ulpian and Gravina 253
1
IV Spinoziam 261 I Appearance and Character 378
1
<IJIi Diverse Occupations . . 382
Montesquieu and the philosophes 386 -
265 Death . . . . 392
~~
!11 '-~
-.........::::0
Gl
c:'l
~s /
xii CONTENTS
BibHography of Montesquieu
NOTE ON BIBLIOGRAPHICAL
I Original Works by Montesquieu . .
II Extracts and Analyses made by Montesquieu: REFERENCES
1 Collections . . . . .
2 Individual Works J. To the text of Montesquieu
Index
The best edition of Montesquieu is:
<Euvres completes de Montesquieu, publiees sous la direction de M.
Andre Masson, Paris (Nagel), 3 vols., 1950, 1953, and 1955.
It is referred to as Nagel I, II, and III. The first volume, which is a
photographic ·reprint of the 'vulgate' edition of the CEuvres completes,
Amsterdam and Leipzig (=Paris), 1758, has three sequences of
pagination. These are referred to as A, B, and C.
The most widely diffused edition is:
<Euvres completes de Montesqui'eu; texte presente et annote par
LIST OF PLATES
Roger Caillois, Paris (N.R.F.: Bibliotheque de la Pleiade), 2 vols.,
1949 and 1951.
Montesquieu . . . . Frontispiece
It is referred to as Pleiade I and II. It lacks some material which is
From a medal executed by Jacques-Antoine
found in the Nagel edition, notably the correspondence.
Dassier
Photo Lacarin, Bordeaux
References are given as follows :
CMteau de La Brede
Facing p. 194
Lettres persanes e.g. L.P. 24.
Photo Moracchini-Viollet
The number is that of the letter as in
Library at La Brede H. Barckhausen's critical edition
• Facing p. 230
Photo Lacarin, Bordeaux (Paris, 1897), which is followed by
most subsequent editions including
Pleiade I, and which differs little from
Nagel I.
Consi'derations sur !es causes e.g. Romains, ch. xi, followed by page
de la grandeur des Romains references to Nagel I and Pleiade II.
et de leur decadence
De l'E sprit des lois e.g. Lois, XIX, 4.
The references are to book and chapter,
the text used being that of Nagel I
which is in general use.
Pensees e.g. Pensee 2124 (Bkn. 1355). The first
number is that of the paragraph in the
xiv NOTE ON BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
order of the manuscript, as shown in
N age! II ; the second number is that
of the paragraph in Pensees et fragments
ABBREVIATIONS
inidits, ed. H. Barckhausen Bordeaux
1899-1901 (roughly foiiowed . 1~
Arch. dep. Gironde Archives departementales de la Gironde.
Pieiade I).
Arch. hist. Gironde The· journal entitled Archives histor-
iques du departement de la Gironde.
Spidlege e.g. Spidlege 331 (MS., pp. 293-4).
Arch. mun. Bx Archives municipales de Bordeaux.
The first number is that of the para
British Museum.
graph as in Nagel II; the second B.M.
Bibliotheque nationale.
number is that of the page in the B.N.
Bodleian Library.
manuscript as shown in PlCiade II. Bodi.
Bibliotheque municipale de Bordeaux.
Correspondence e.g. Montesquieu to Venuti, 22 July Bcoxn gres r955 Actes du Congres Montesquieu reuni a
Bordeaux du 23 au 26 mai r955,
1749.
Bordeaux, 1956.
In the absence of any further indication,
the letter appears in its chronological Corton a Biblioteca dell' Accademia etrusca di
Cortona.
place in Nagel III.
FS French Studies, Oxford, 1947 sq.
Historical Manuscripts Commission.
All other works e.g. Nagel III, p. 283; Pleiade I, p. 875. LHeMttrCes f amilieres Lettresf amilibes du president de Montes-
a
quieu baron de la Brede divers amis
II. To other pn"nted material
d'Italie, s.l., 1767.
Lettresfamilibes (1768) Lettres f amilieres de M. le presi.dent de
The sources and au~ho.rities differing considerably from chapter to
Montesquieu, nouvelle edition, Flor
chapter, no general b1bhography of works consulted is given.I Biblio
ence et se trouvent a Paris, 1768.
graphical details of a work are given only, in most cases, in the first
RHB x Revue historique de Bordeaux et du
reference to it, and that reference is indexed.
dipartement de la Gironde, Bordeaux,
. In references to articles in periodicals, the year only is normally
1908 sq.
given.
RHLF Revue d'h istoire littbaire de la France,
Paris, 1894 sq.
III. To manuscript material ·
RLC Revue de li.ttbature comparee, Paris,
1921 sq.
A reference to a manuscript is given only when I have myself seen it
and I have not knowingly failed to mention its publication whe~ Secondat, Mbnoire Jean-Baptistea de Secondat, Mbnoire
pour servir Nloge historique de M. de
manuscript material used has been published.
Montesquieu, as in Vian.
Vian L. Vian, Histoire de Montesquieu d'apres
Eighteenth-century spelling arid punctuation have been modernized.
des documents nouveaux et inedits,
deuxieme edition, Paris, 1879.
All dates are given in New Style except those of events occurring in
England, which are in Old Style.
1 A most useful bibliography of works dealing with Montesquieu is given by
D. C. Cabeen, Montesquieu: a Bibliography, New York, 1947, and brought up
~o date by D. C. Cabeen, 'A supplementary Montesquieu bibliography' (Revue
mternationa/e de philosophic, 1955).
I
EARLY YEARS, 1689-1721
I. FAMILY AND BIRTH
THE name Montesquieu is of mixed Latin and Frankish
origin and means a wild or barren mountain, and it is of
fairly frequent occurrence in the south-west of France. There are
several places of this name in the vicinity of Toulouse; but the
hamlet which was to make the name famous lies a little further
north. Nearly ten miles west of Agen, and two miles south of the
Garonne, stands a small, unimpressive hill, which is still large
enough to dominate the surrounding flat country. The land is
not fertile. Poultry and sheep are its most prominent products,
but some poor vines creep up the side of the hill. The ruins of a
castle crown the eminence. Walls of stout stone, built on founda
tions of rock, are now overgrown with moss and thickly girt
with nettles. Two withered palm trees stand in isolation. Peasants'
cottages have grown up against the walls. Countless dogs bark at
the unknown visitor, and children doff their caps to him. This
dismal and desolate scene is the village of Montesquieu as it
stands today; but when the walls were whole and a lord lived
within them, the spot was scarcely less remote from civilization.
It is the south-west of France in its least smiling aspect.
From the isolation of this barren hill to the refinement of
political doctrine and to the glitter of style in L'E sprit des lois
the distance is not small.
The founder of the family of Secondat de Montesquieu was
Jacob de Secondat, who was born at Agen in l 576, and was
baptized as a Protestant. His family was one of minor noblesse
d'epee, four of his brothers being killed in battle as young men.
He was the sixth, but second surviving, son of Jean de Secondat,
whose ancestors had left their native Berry and settled at Agen
in the previous century. Jean de Secondat was chamberlain to
Jeanne D'Albret, Queen of Navarre, who expressed her gratitude
for his services by giving him, in 1561, the sum of lo,ooo livres
that he might buy from her the lordship of Montesquieu. In 1606
this lordship was by Henri IV promoted to a barony, in favour of
Jacob de Secondat, with the courtesy title of marquis, which,
EARLY YEARS, 1689-1721
2 EARLY YEARS, 1689-1721
3
however, was never used.1 Though the family was not one of
homme pour les affaires serieuses, nul gout pour les bagatelles'.
great eminence, it had connexions of unusual interest. A first
She had a great affection for her children, a keen sense of duty,
cousin of Jacob's grandfather had married the renowned philolo
and was devoted to the succour of the poor. She was a woman of
gist, Julius-Caesar Scaliger, who had settled at Agen, and his
reat piety; her favourite reading was the New Testament; and
son, Josephus-Justus, likewise a celebrated scholar, was thus a
!hen she died her husband discovered that she had made frequent
kinsman of the Secondat family. Jacob's mother, Eleonore
use of a scourge and an iron girdle.
de Brenieu, was of English extraction and lineally descended,
It was she who brought to the family of Secondat the castle of
through Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, from Edward III.
La Brede.
The blood of the Plantagenets thus flows in the house of
Secondat.
To reach La Brede the traveller must proceed south-eastwards
Jacob's eldest son, Jean-Baptiste-Gaston, married Anne
from Bordeaux along the main road, built by the Romans, which
J eanne Du Bernet, daughter of a prominent member of the legal
leads to Agen and eventually to Toulouse, and advances along the
nobility of the south-west, and used her dowry to buy a legal
left bank of the Garonne through gently undulating acres of
office for himself. He had ten children, 2 including three sons who
vines with scattered houses. Ten miles from the city and shortly
became ecclesiastics and three daughters who became nuns. His
before reaching the tiny river port of Beautiran, the road passes
third son, Jacques, was Montesquieu's father. He was an active
through the hamlet of La Prade. Here a branch road goes off
soldier, handsome, bronzed, and sensual, if his portrait can be
westwards and after two miles reaches a few houses grouped
relied on; and according to his son he had a noble and charming_
around a romanesque church. This is the village of La Brede,
face, much wit and good sense, and very little wealth. 3 In 1686
and less than a mile further along the road is the castle which
he married Marie-Francoise de Pesnel, an heiress who owned
has given its name to the village.
vast acres of land and who, as well as being of English origin
The CMteau de La Brede is not a modest country hou~e pre
throuo-h the noble houses of D'A lbret and Bourbon, was descended
tentiously named. It is a real castle, built and fortified at
thf;
from Saint-Louis. Montesquieu declares that his mother, having
beginning of the fifteenth century, on the site of a previous con
much property, had many debts and many lawsuits. 4 He~ hus
struction. From its oldest recorded owners, the noble family of
band in a memoir5 which he wrote after her death, credits her
La Lande, it passed late in the sixteenth century to the family
with' an acute business sense: 'elle avait !'esprit d'un habile
of Pesnel, and from them to the family of Secondat. It is surrounded
1 O'Gilvy De Secondat de Montesquieu, Bordeaux, 1858 (extracted from by a moat and access is given by three drawbridges. I ts mass,
Nobiliaire d; Guienne et de Gascogne); E. de Perceval, 'La Baronne de Montes solid but graceful, rises into four turrets capped with conical
quieu', in Actes de l'Academie dae Bordeaux, 1932-3, p. 30; and Jea~-Bapti~te de roofs, the largest of them girt with machicolations. The same
Secondat Memoire pour servir l'eloge historique de M. de Montesqmeu. This last
documen~ which is the primary source of information about Montesquieu, is conical structure is repeated in outhouses which resemble the
printed ir: L. Vian, Histoire de Montesquieu, Paris, 1878 (second edition), pp. trulli of Apulia. The rooms of the castle, whether they look on
396-407. It wiJI be referred to as Secondat, Memoire, foJlowed by the .P~ge to tiny courtyards or, through walls of immense thickness, on to
reference from Vian; but where necessary I correct the text from the ongmal
manuscript which is at La Brede. the smooth sheet of water, are cool in summer, but far from
a To the nine listed by O'Gilvy must be added Nicole de Montesquieu, whose warm in winter. The entrance hall with its twisted columns of
existence is disclosed by papers at La Brede. She was the superior of the convent dark wood, the sombre dining-room with elaborately carved
of Notre Dame at Agen, a religious house very closely connected with the
panelling, the l}itchen from which a regiment of retainers can be
Montesquieu family.
fed, and the salon hung with ancestral portraits, striking as they
a Nagel, III, p. 1564. ' Ibid., p. 1565.
5 The text of the manuscript, which is at La Brede, has been published all are, yield in significance to the enormous guardroom with its
incompletely and inaccurately by Vian (p. 18, second edition only), after Tamise~ gigantic tunnel vault, its antique frescoes about the fireplace, its
de La Roque (Revue critique, 27 April 1878).
door leading to the chapel, and its window commanding the inner
4 EARLY YEARS, 1689-1721 EARLY YEARS, 1689-1721 s
drawbridge. This room, lined with books, is the workshop from and in the village, being taught to write by the schoolmaster of
which L' Esprit des lois will emerge. From the loftier rooms one's La Brede, by name Souvervie.1 In 1700, his father decided to
glance surveys the countryside. This is one of the last outposts send him aw~y to sch?ol, and selected the College de Juilly 37
0
of the fertile vine-growing region of Bordeaux. The dry white miles away, m the d10cese of Meaux where Bossuet was still
wine of La Brede, the red wine of Rochemorin, more highly bishop.
reputed in that day, and more widely sold, than Medoc or Saint
Emilion, constitute the riches of the property, and not far away IL EDUCATION
are the sweet white wines of Sauternes. Beyond the vineyards
extend the broad, monotonous, sparsely peopled acres of the The re~own of _Juilly was great. Situated in a most agreeable
landes, and the forest, on some sides, reaches almost to the moat park, with spac10us grounds and noble buildings, yet near to
of the castle. Paris, being _but twe~ty miles distant from Notre-Dame, Juilly
In this castle, on 18 January 1689, the chatelaine, Marie had and reta1?s to th~s day a real charm. Established by letters
Francoise de Pesnel, gave birth to a son, who on the same day was patent of Loms X!II m 1638, and _controlled by the Congregation
baptized in the parish church of La Brede, and received the name of ~~ Orat?ry, ~t had alre~dy m Montesquieu's day a solid
of Charles-Louis.1 His godfather was a beggar of the village, trad1t1on while bemg modern m outlook. Not many schools in the
Charles by name, selected in order that the child might ever be no~h-east ~f F~ance attracted pupils from remote provinces, 2 but
reminded of his obligations to the poor. Montaigne, likewise, JU1lly was m different case. Although it cost 60 livres to travel
was held at the font by paupers: the similarity between the from Bordeaux to Paris in the public coach, 3 many boys from
careers of the two great Gascon authors begins with the begin the south-west of France were sent to Juilly, as the registers
ning of their lives. And as Montaigne's first years were spent i'n a testify, 4 partly on account of the decline of the College de Guy
village house, so the young Charles-Louis was sent to nurse at enne, where Montaigne had been educated. From Bordeaux there
the flourmill of La Brede where he passed the first three years of are found to be at Juilly i? 1700 two brothers called La Boyrie,
his life, eating simple foods and learning to speak with the rustic two Loyac brothers, cousins of Montesquieu, Marans who was
accent which he never forsook. his kinsman and was eventually to attend him on his death-bed.
He had two sisters who became nuns, Marie who was his One pup!l bears the name ,saucats, which is the property immedi
elder by sixteen months, and Therese who was born on 3 1 August ately adjacent to La Brede. Jean-Jacques Bel, who until his
169i. A younger brother, Joseph, was born on 9 November 1694, premature death was to remain a close friend of Montesquieu
and Charles-Louis stood godfather for him. He became an went to Juilly in 1703, and other less known names from Bor~
ecclesiastic of some distinction, and will be mentioned again in deaux are numerous. Nor did the great disdain to send their sons
these pages. Another brother and sister died in infancy, and in to ~uilly. The name ~f Trudaine is frequently listed. Three years
giving birth to the younger of these in 1696 their mother died. senior _to Montesqu1e~ was a scion of the Brancas family; the
Charles-Louis was then seven, and when the example of the Marqms de Bassomp1erre was matriculated in 1702; and the
domestic virtues and the piety for which his mother was re Duke of Berwick himself, natural son to James II of England
nowned in the province was removed from him by her death, he was an alumnus. · '
inherited her wealth and the title of Baron de La Brede.
Until the age of eleven, Charles-Louis was educated at home • 1 Bx JYI~· 1913 contains a loose slip of paper, signed by Montesquieu, which
gives this mformation .
• 3 F. de Dainville, 'Effectifs des colleges et scolarite aux XVIIe et XVIIIe
1 The parish registers for 1689 are not eictant. The evidence for the date of s1ecles dans le nord-est de la France' (Population, 1955).
birth is the memoir of Secondat, and for the date of baptism, F. de P. Latapie, 3 G. d'Avenel, Histoireeconomique de la propriete Paris 1894-1912 VI
'Notice de la paroisse de La Brede' in Baurein, Varietes bordeloises (Bordeaux, p. 632. ' ' • '
1876, 4 vols.), III, p. 8, of dubious reliability. 'The manuscript dossier des pensions is still preserved at Juilly.