CHAMPE CHAMPFOKT. 



139 



with splendid buildings and rows of pillars. At a 

 short distance appeared the tomb of Augustus and 

 the Pantheon, now the Maria rotunda. When the 

 Franks had conquered the Gauls, hi 486, they held 

 their public assemblies, according to the German cus- 

 tom, hi the open air. In the fifth and succeeding 

 centuries, these assemblies were called, from the time 

 of meeting, March-fields, In the 8th century, they 

 were transferred by Pepin, the father of Charle- 

 magne, to the month of May, and called the May- 

 fields but the plain where the Prankish kings an- 

 nually reviewed the army, had the name of the field 

 of Mars, or the campus Martins. At the May-fields, 

 the king was present with the members of his court, 

 the bishops, the nobles, and the people. The latter, 

 however, long neglected the privilege of-attendance, 

 and were at length deprived of it. All questions re- 

 lating to public affairs, such as war, peace, the enact- 

 ment of laws, were decided by the majority. Pepin 

 called together only the nobility and the clergy ; but 

 Charlemagne ordered that every count should bring 

 with him thirteen assessors, or the same number of 

 the most respectable men within his jurisdiction, to 

 represent the people hi the general assembly. The 

 first descendants of Capet departed from this usage ; 

 but Philip IV., who reigned from 1285 to 1314, re- 

 stored the third estate, by calling together delegates 

 from the cities. 



The modern Champ-de-Mars in Paris is an exten- 

 sive plain, surrounded by trenches, and furnished 

 with a fourfold row of trees on each side ofit. The 

 French guards, and the young men hi the military 

 school, used it for their place of exercise. During 

 the revolution, public festivals were celebrated, and 

 races took place here. Even Louis XVI. and his 

 family took part in the preparations made here, in 

 1790, for a great fete de la federation, which was 

 succeeded by scenes of tumult and bloodshed. In 

 1815, Napoleon selected the Champ-de-Mars for the 

 scene of a general assembly of the French people 

 with deputies. He determined, after his return from 

 Elba, to lay before the representatives of the nation 

 the articles of a supplementary constitution, called 

 the Acte additionnel, which he had drawn up in the 

 form of the Prankish capitularies, and thus, by an 

 imposing show, to establish the legality of his second 

 accession to the throne. This meeting was held, 

 June 1, 1815. After a solemn mass, Dubois, one of 

 the five hundred deputies from the central committees 

 of the electoral colleges, read an address expressive 

 of the allegiance of the French people to the govern- 

 ment of Napoleon. The high chancellor then made 

 known the assent of the people to the proposed sup- 

 plement to the constitution. Although no deputies 

 appeared from forty of the departments, the herald 

 announced that the acte was accepted by the French 

 nation. Accordingly Napoleon signed it, and de- 

 clared, in a speech before the assembly, that he en- 

 joyed his distinction as an emperor, a consul, a sol- 

 dier, in fine, that he received every thing, from the 

 people. He then swore to observe the fundamental 

 laws of the empire, and to enforce their observance. 

 The whole assembly, consisting of about 20,000 per- 

 sons, repeated the oath. Then a Te Deum was 

 chanted, and Napoleon distributed the eagles to the 

 national guards, and the sea and land forces, who 

 were drawn up around him in the form of squadrons 

 and battalions. Inclusive of 27,000 national guards, 

 the whole number amounted to 50,000 men. After 

 this festival, which partook of a political, religious, 

 and military character, Napoleon assembled the 

 chamber of peers, and of the deputies of the people. 

 Three weeks after the commencement of the session, 

 the chamber received the abdication of the emperor. 



CHAMPE, JOHN, was born in Loudon county, 



Virginia, and, in the year 1776, at the age of twenty- 

 four, having entered into the American revolutionary 

 army, was appointed a sergeant-major in Lee's regi- 

 ment of cavalry. After the discovery of Arnold's 

 treason, Washington received frequent intelligence 

 that many American officers, and one brigadier, high 

 in his confidence, were concerned in the conspiracy, 

 and, wishing to ascertain whether such was the case, 

 or the report only an artifice of the British general 

 to weaken his confidence in his officers, he desired 

 major Lee to select from his legion some bold and 

 trusty individual, who should proceed to the enemy's 

 camp in the character of a deserter, make himself 

 known to one of Washington's confidential agents in 

 New York, obtain, through his means, evidence of 

 the innocence or guilt of the suspected officers, and 

 transmit the result to major Lee. He was also to 

 seize Arnold, and convey him alive to the Ame- 

 rican camp, but by no means to kill him, as Wash- 

 ington only wished him to undergo public punish- 

 ment, and hoped tliat, by his arrest, he would be 

 able to unravel the conspiracy, and save the life of 

 Andre. Lee fixed upon Champe to execute the pro- 

 ject, who expressed his readiness to encounter any 

 personal danger for the cause of his country, but 

 loathed the idea of desertion. Lee, however, finally 

 induced him to undertake the hazardous service. 

 Having taken down his instructions in a peculiar 

 character, and passed the American lines with great 

 difficulty, he reached the British galleys lying below 

 Paulus Hook, hotly pursued by his comrades as a 

 deserter. After an examination by Sir Henry Clin- 

 ton, he was consigned to the care of general Arnold, 

 who retained him hi his former rank. One object of 

 his enterprise the preservation of Andre was de- 

 feated by the precipitancy of that officer in confessing 

 the nature of his connexion with Arnold, before pre- 

 parations could be made for the abduction of the lat- 

 ter. Champe, however, obtained full evidence of the 

 innocence of the American officers, and resolved on 

 making a bold attempt to carry off Arnold. But, 

 unfortunately, on the very night when the design 

 was to have beeri executed, by seizing and gagging 

 Arnold in a private garden, where he was accustom- 

 ed to spend some tune previous to retiring to rest, 

 and then conveying him secretly to a boat, which 

 Lee had stationed in the Hudson, he shifted his quar- 

 ters hi order to superintend the embarkation of some 

 troops, and thus the plot was frustrated. On the 

 junction of Arnold with lord Cornwallis in Virginia, 

 Champe found an opportunity of escaping to the army 

 of general Greene, who provided him with means to 

 return to Washington's camp, where he safely arriv- 

 ed, to the surprise and joy of his old confederates. 

 When Washington assumed the command of the army 

 under president Adams, he caused inquiry to be made 

 concerning Champe, designing to reward him by 

 promotion for his exemplary conduct ; but he learn- 

 ed, with sorrow, that he had recently died in Ken- 

 tucky. 



CHAMPFORT, SEBASTIEN ROCH NICOLAS, was 

 born in 1741, hi a village near Clennont, hi Au- 

 vergne, and went, while he was young, to Paris. 

 He was then called Nicolas, and of his parents knew 

 only his mother, for whom he always retained the 

 tenderest affection. Doctor Morabin was his first 

 patron and instructor. AVith beautiful features, and 

 an active mind, ingenious, and impatient of restraint, 

 he entered the theatre of life under the name of 

 Champfort. He wrote several articles for the Jour- 

 nal Encyclopedique , and was one of the editors of the 

 focabulaire Francats. He presented a number 01' 

 papers to the French and other academies, and wrote 

 some comedies, which were received with great ap- 

 probation. His Le Marchand de Smyrne is still per- 



