372 The Character and Anecdotes of Nicolas Chamfort. [Oct. 



M. Chamfort made every sacrifice -without a murmur. There is some- 

 thing grateful to our self-love in martyring our worldly prosperity for 

 the supposed benefit of our country. It was not long, however, before 

 he regretted the extent of his sacrifice. The angels of the apostacy 

 lost their brightness to the clear and imebriated eye of reason and 

 thought ; they sought to build an altar from the stately ruins of that 

 beautiful edifice which they had overthrown for the immolation of their 

 victims ; they placed the IMoloch of their religion in the sanctuary of the 

 temple of Liberty, and bound unto its golden horns every patriot hope 

 and every noble aspiration. Conviction came at last ; and M. Chamfort 

 became the spirited and high-minded denouncer of craft and wicked- 

 ness, as he had formerly been of favouritism and tyranny. From that 

 moment he became a marked man ; he was denounced to one of those 

 vampire-spies that every where infested France, and was immediately 

 thrown into prison. He recovered his liberty by the assistance of his 

 friends, and he took an oath that he would never again be taken alive 

 by the ravagers of his country. He kept his word ; and the account of 

 his last moments, given by his biographer, is melancholy indeed. A 

 second order for his arrest had been issued, and the persons entrusted 

 with its execution were at hand, when (continues the writer of the 

 notice of his life prefixed to his works) he passed into his cabinet, and 

 having loaded a pistol, placed it against his head ; but, from some motion 

 of his hand, the ball only injured his nose, and destroyed one of his eyes. 

 Wondering that he still lived, and resolved to die, he seized a razor, and 

 endeavoured to cut his throat ; his efforts were unavailing. But I will 

 continue the affecting description in the words of his biographer : — 

 *' L'impuissance de sa main ne change rien a la resolution de son ame ; 

 il se porte plusieurs coups vers le coeur, et commen9ant a defaillir, il 

 tache, par un dernier effort, de se couper les deux jarrets et de s'ouvrir 

 toutes les veins. Enfin, vaincu par la douleur, il pousse un cri et se 

 iette sur une siege, ou il reste presque sans vie." They carried him to 

 his bed, and it was after a partial recovery of his strength that he pro- 

 nounced this singular declaration, which was written down by one of 

 the spectators, and signed by himself: — " ]\Ioi, Sebastien-Roch-Nicolas 

 Chamfort, declare, d'avoir voulu mourir en homme libre,plut6tque d'etre 

 reconduit en esclave dans une maison d'arret; declare que, si par vio- 

 lence on s'obstinait a m'y trainer dans I'etat ou je suis, il me reste assez 

 de force pour achever ce que j'ai commence, — ^je suis un homme libre ; 

 jamais on ne me fera rentrer vivant dans ime prison.'' Such a declara- 

 tion might have proceeded in the old time from the lips of a Cato. The 

 death of Chamfort offers a practical illustration of one of his Peiisees, in 

 which he says that the object of kings and priests in proscribing suicide, 

 is to ensure the duration of our slavery : and he likens them to the 

 wretch in the Divina Commedia, who caused the door of the cell where 

 the unhappy Ugolino was confined, to be walled up. 



With tlie miscellaneous works of Chamfort I have no concern ; I 

 intend to devote a page or two to a selection of some of his most inte- 

 resting Maximcs and Pensees, and Caracteres and Anecdotes, which are 

 deserving of the highest commendation. It will be better, perhaps, to 

 offer them in a translation. 



How true and excellent is the philosophy of the following ! — 



" The reason why the dishonest man, and sometimes even the fool, are more 

 successful in their journey through life than the man of honour and talent, is 



