Guillaume Thomas François Raynal (12 April 1713 – 6 March 1796), also known asAbbé Raynal, was aFrench writer, formerCatholic priest, andman of letters during theAge of Enlightenment.[1][2][3]
He was born atLapanouse inRouergue. He was educated at theJesuit school ofPézenas, and received priest's orders, but he was dismissed for unexplained reasons from the parish ofSaint-Sulpice, Paris.[citation needed] He became a writer and journalist, leaving the religious life.[4] The Abbé Raynal wrote for theMercure de France, 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 ofMme. Geoffrin,Helvétius, and theBaron d'Holbach.[5]
In May 1754, he was elected aFellow of the Royal Society.[6] In 1775, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society.[7]
He had the assistance of various members of thecoterie philosophique 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[8] Amsterdam, 4 vols., 1770[4]).Diderot is credited with a third of this work, which was characterized byVoltaire as "du réchauffé avec de la déclamation." The other chief collaborators were Jean Pechméja,Baron d'Holbach, Jacques Paulze, the farmer-general of taxes, the Abbé Martin, andAlexandre Deleyre. 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.[5] He released an expanded edition in 1774 and another in 1780.[4]
The "philosophic" declamations perhaps constituted the work's chief interest for the general public, and its significance as a contribution to democratic propaganda. TheHistoire 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 theGeneva edition of 1780.[5] Seven new maps for the 1798 English edition were engraved by Thomas Kitchin, Jr.[4]
The book examines theEast Indies, South America, theWest Indies, and North America. The final chapter comprises theory around the future of Europe as a whole. Raynal also examines commerce, religion,slavery, and other popular subjects, all from the perspective of theFrench Enlightenment. Additional versions of the book included maps of the discussed regions.[4]
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."[9]
Raynal went into exile, toSpa, and then toBerlin, where he was coolly received byFrederick the Great, in spite of his connection with the philosophe party.[5]
AtSaint Petersburg he met with a more cordial reception fromCatherine II, 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 theEstates-General, but refused by reason of his age. Raynal now realized theFrench Revolution could not be peaceful and, in terror of the proceedings for which his own writings and those of his friends had prepared the way, he sent to theConstituent Assembly an address, which was read on 31 May 1791, deprecating the violence of its reforms.[5]
This address is said bySainte-Beuve (Nouveaux lundis, xi.) to have been composed chiefly byde Clermont-Tonnerre andPierre V. Malouet, and it was regarded, even by moderate men, as ill-timed. The publishedLettre de l'abbé Raynal a l'Assemblee nationale (10 December 1790) was really the work of thecomte de Guibert. During theTerror Raynal lived in retirement at Passy and atMontlhery. On the establishment ofthe Directory in 1795 he became a member of the newly organizedInstitut de France.[5]
Raynal died 6 March 1796 atChaillot.
Published on 3 November 1800, after his death, Raynal addressed the people of the young United States of America with the following words, printed in theNational 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.[10]
A detailed bibliography of his works and of those falsely attributed to him will be found inJoseph-Marie Quérard'sLa France littéraire, and the same author'sSupercheries dévoilées. The biography by A Jay, prefixed to Peuchet's edition (Paris, 10 vols, 1820–1821) of theHistoire ... des Indes, is of small value. To this edition Peuchet added two supplementary volumes on colonial development from 1785 to 1824. See also the anonymousRaynal démasqué (1791); Cherhal Montreal,Éloge ... de G. T. Raynal (an. IV.); a notice in theMoniteur (5 vendémiaire, an. V.); B Lunet,Biographie de l'abbé Raynal (Rodez, 1866); and J Morley,Diderot (1891).[5]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Raynal, Guillaume Thomas François".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 935–936.| International | |
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