Chamfort, NICOLAS

Chamfort, NICOLAS, a famous writer of maxims and anecdotes, was born in Auvergne in 1741. He was of illegitimate birth, and was educated at one of the Paris colleges, where he obtained a scholarship. Having distinguished himself in the prize competitions of the Academy, he gained an entrance into the highest literary circles in Paris, and for some years lived literally 'by his wit, if not by his wits.' At one time Madame Helvétius gave him free lodgings at Sèvres, and he was afterwards made independent by a pension bestowed on him by a now forgotten man of letters named Chabannon. At the Revolution he espoused the popular side, and was hailed in the clubs as 'La Rochefoucauld-Chamfort.' After a time, however, certain incisive witticisms—such as, 'Be my brother or I will kill you,'—drew down on him the anger of the Jacobin leaders. Threatened with arrest, he tried to commit suicide, wounded himself horribly, and died after several days' suffering, 13th April 1794. His writings include tales, dramas, and éloges on Molière and La Fontaine—all of little or no worth—a brilliant collection of maxims, and an even more admirable collection of anecdotes. Many of his sayings are among the sharpest and bitterest ever penned—the utterances of a reluctant but sincere cynic, whose insight into human weakness was unusually keen. He has never been excelled as a writer of anecdotes; his work under this head contains a series of portraits in miniature, drawn with the hand of a master, of the Parisian society of his day. Augus edited his works (5 vols. 1824–25).