CHASTELLUX
".. the humanizing benefits of commerce..." — George Washington

AM | @HDI1780

François-Jean d'Aborche, Marquis de Chastellux (1734–1788) [bio], deserves some recognition. I have come to this conclusion after reading some of the passages of De la félicité publique (second edition) devoted to the notion of 'mixed government'. I tend to like these militaires-hommes de lettres who rejected utopian notions about government and favoured a strong, undivided executive power. To George Washington, the Marquis was "a Philosopher and a Soldier" (see his April 1788 letter, written, as Washington himself admits, in a "strange style", in which the General mentions the Frenchman's love-making.)

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So far I have been able to locate the following writings of Chastellux:

. Essai sur l'union de la musique et de la poésie. Paris: Merlin, 1765.

. De la félicité publique, Tomes 1 & 2. Amsterdam: Marc-Michel Rey, 1772.

. De la félicité publique, Tome I. Bouillon: Imprimerie de la Société Typographique, 1776.

. De la félicité publique, Tome II. Bouilon: Imprimerie de la Société Typographique, 1776.

. Voyage de Mr. le Chevalier de Chastellux en Amérique, 1785.

. Discours sur les avantages ou les désavantages qui résultent pour l'Europe de la découverte de l'Amérique. Objet du prix proposé par M. l'abbé Raynal. Paris: Prault, 1787.

. Voyages de M. le Marquis de Chastellux dans l'Amérique Septentrionale dans les années 1780, 1781 & 1782, seconde édition, Tome 1. Paris: Prault, 1788. 

. Voyages de M. le Marquis de Chastellux dans l'Amérique Septentrionale dans les années 1780, 1781 & 1782, seconde édition, Tome 2. Paris: Prault, 1786. 

. De la félicité publique, Tome I.  Paris: Antoine-Augustin Renouard, 1822. 

. De la félicité publique, Tome II. Paris: Antoine-Augustin Renouard, 1822. 

Chastellux may also be the author of the "Préface ou Essai sur la vie et les ouvrages de Mr. Helvétius" (Londres, 1773) [see]. The 1822 edition of De la félicité publique contains an important "Notice sur la vie de Chastellux" written by his son. Note the mention to the marquis' circle of friends in the world of letters: Helvétius, Saint-Lambert, Thomas, d'Holbach, Mme. Geoffrin, Mlle. de Lespinasse, Grimm, the Necker couple, Galiani, Suard and Raynal (p. xviii). I plan to post shortly on Chastellux's views on the mixed government, and on his polémique with abbé Mably on that point.

In the second half of the eighteenth century, the old (Greek) idea of mixed government is undergoing a slow and difficult mutation; eventually, it will blossom as a modern checks-and-balances theory that upholds the principle of representation. I find this evolution quite fascinating — and some of its elements are still highly relevant today. David Hume, correctly singled out by Anthony Pagden as one of the Top 2 thinkers of the Enlightenment, lurks in the background of all such discussions (*). But then, as the American Revolution unfolds, things begin to change at a sustained pace. The 1780 edition of Histoire des deux Indes manages to capture in extremis this momentous change: 1, 2, 3.

(*) See for example: "François Jean, Marquis de Chastellux", in James Fieser (ed.) Early Responses to Hume's Moral, Literary and Political Writings II, Second edition, 2005.
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