[In the following essay, Malakis examines Chateaubriand's interest in Greece and its language using a biographical approach. Malakis also considers the contributions of Chateaubriand's Itinerary to the Greek liberation movement.]

Between the years 1820 and 1830 an ardent enthusiasm was expressed in France for the emancipation of Greece.¹ The feeling was widespread and varied. Society had its Philhellenism with banquets and concerts, expositions of paintings and plays for the benefit of the Palikares; there was a religious Philhellenism which supported the Christian Greeks against the Musulman Turks; a liberal Philhellenism that supported subjects in revolt against a despotical suzerain; a romantic Philhellenism, interested in the mysterious and things unfamiliar, which identified the Palikares with Carbonari; and, lastly, a literary Philhellenism inspired chiefly by classical memories.² Chateaubriand, who participated in almost every movement during the Empire and Restoration, took an active part also in the Philhellenic movement, but the extent of his activity has not been studied in detail.

Chateaubriand's interest in Greek and Greece probably dates back to his school days at Dol when he translated the Æneadum genitrix, hominum divumque voluptas of Lucretius with so much ease and enthusiasm that his teacher, M. Égault, set him to study Greek.³ The language seems to have fascinated him, and he tells us that during his soldiering days he used to translate his favorite Greek texts: “J'avais heureusement alors la rage du grec: je traduisais l'Odyssée et la Cyropédie jusqu'à deux heures, en entremêlant mon travail d'études historiques.”⁴ He further tells us that when forced to sell his library in 1816, “Je ne gardai qu'un petit Homère grec, à la marge duquel se trouvaient des essais de traduction et des remarques écrites de ma main,”⁵ and elsewhere he refers to this volume as the constant companion of his travels.⁶

The Iliad and the Odyssey were the chief sources of inspiration for Chateaubriand's Hellenic studies. The influence of his study of Greek authors is evident in the Essai sur les Révolutions anciennes et modernes, printed in London in 1797, and we find a distinct avowal of this indebtedness in the Preface to Atala:

J'ai essayé de donner à cet ouvrage les formes les plus antiques; il est divisé en prologue, récit et épilogue. Les principales parties du récit prennent une dénomination, comme les chasseurs, les laboureurs, etc.; et c'étoit ainsi que dans les premiers siècles de la Grèce les rhapsodes chantoient sous divers titres les fragments de l'Iliade et de l'Odyssée.⁷

In the Génie du Christianisme this interest is no less predominant.

In 1803, Chateaubriand was appointed to the French Legation at Rome. Placed, however, in a subordinate rôle and constantly at odds with Cardinal Fesch, Chateaubriand's position became intolerable. It was in Rome, under these trying circumstances, that the thought of visiting Greece occurred to him.⁸ He was forced to change his plans on account of the death of Mme de Beaumont, on November 4. This loss was an extremely cruel blow, and he wrote to Mme de Staël: “Il faut donc suivre cet avertissement de la Providence, et renoncer à tant de vains projets et à un monde qui me quitte si souvent pour me dire que je dois le quitter. J'allais passer en Grèce au printemps, et, depuis trois mois, je ne m'occupais que des études relatives à ce dessein, mais j'arrête toutes mes courses.”⁹ His transfer on January 21 from Rome to the post of minister of the French Republic in the canton of Le Valais brought some relief to his troubled spirit. On the condemnation of the Duc d'Enghien, he resigned and was again free to enjoy the independence of private life, but this life of leisure could not still the regrets for frustrated ambitions.

It is unnecessary to dwell upon the two years and a half (1804‐July, 1806) of mental anguish culminating in the sad loss of Lucile, his favorite sister, except to stress the fact that this state of depression was a more important factor in making the trip to Greece a reality than the desire to give accurate local color to The Martyrs. This period of idleness has been analyzed by M. Cassagne,¹⁰ and Villemain summarized as follows the state of mind of the poet on the eve of his departure for Greece:

L'idée d'un voyage en Orient, lié à son étude des premiers siècles chrétiens et au travail commencé des Martyrs, le saisit avec force. Il s'y joignait, je crois, un dégoût du temps et des lieux, un besoin de changer d'air et d'aller respirer quelque part, hors des limites de l'Empire.¹¹

Chateaubriand set out for Greece, to the surprise of his friends, on July 13, 1806. Accompanied by his wife, he left Paris for Venice; thence he proceeded alone to Trieste where the French consul, M. Séguier, secured passage for him on a boat bound for Smyrna with the understanding that he should be put ashore on the coast of the Morea, cross the Peloponnesus, and rejoin the ship on the coast of Attica. A fanciful touch was added to the adventure by the fact that Chateaubriand traveled as a pilgrim to Jerusalem. As a result of this journey we have essentially Les Martyrs and L'Itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem, both written and reconstituted to a great extent from letters to his friends, at the charming Vallée aux Loups.

As an artist, Chateaubriand returned from his journey with his “images” that were the object of his quest, but his sympathetic heart was also touched by the desolation of a country and the degradation of an enslaved people. Upon his arrival in France, in a letter written from Pau on May 11, 1807, to the Marquise de Pastoret, he shows his abhorrence of Turkish despotism:

Eh! Madame, quel sujet encore de réflexions, que l'affreuse Tyrannie, que la misère épouvantable dont j'ai été le témoin! je conseille à ceux qui prêchent le gouvernement absolu, d'aller faire un tour en Turquie: des provinces désertes, des peuples consternés, la stupeur de l'esclavage, la brutalité du pouvoir, voilà les admirables effets du gouvernement absolu et de l'empire militaire: la Turquie offre tous les vices et toutes les faiblesses du Bas-Empire, non corrigés par une religion humaine et calme, mais augmentés par une religion sanguinaire et passionnée.¹²

In the July number of the Mercure de France of the same year, in the well-known review of Alexandre de Laborde's Voyage pittoresque et historique de l'Espagne, Chateaubriand wrote passionately of some of his impressions gathered on his trip:

… Les ruines vivantes détournent votre attention des ruines de marbre et de pierre. C'est un enfant tout nu, le corps exténué par la faim, le visage défiguré par la misère, qui nous a montré, dans un désert, les portes tombées de Mycènes et le tombeau d'Agamemnon. En vain, dans le Péloponèse, on veut se livrer aux illusions des Muses: la triste vérité vous poursuit. … Chasser un paysan grec de sa cabane, s'emparer de sa femme et de ses enfants, le tuer sur le plus léger prétexte, est un jeu pour le moindre aga du plus petit village. …

Loin d'aimer à contempler du rivage le naufrage des autres, nous souffrons quand nous voyons souffrir des hommes. …

Les monumens n'ont pas moins à souffir que les hommes de la barbarie ottomane. Un épais Tartare habite aujourd'hui la citadelle remplie des chefs-d'œuvre d'Ictinus et de Phidias, sans daigner demander quel peuple a laissé ces débris, sans daigner sortir de la masure qu'il s'est bâtie sous les ruines des monumens de Périclès. Quelquefois seulement le tyran-automate se traîne à la porte de sa tanière: assis les jambes croisées sur un sal tapis, tandis que la fumée de sa pipe monte à travers les colonnes du temple de Minerve, il promène stupidement ses regards sur les rives de Salamine et la mer d'Épidaure. …¹³

In the same journal, in August, 1807, under the title Quelques Détails sur les Mœurs des Grecs, des Arabes et des Turcs, Chateaubriand wrote:

Je ne vis dans le Péloponèse qu'un pays en proie à ces Tartares débauchés qui se plaisent à détruire à la fois les monumens de la civilisation et des arts, les moissons même, les arbres et les générations entières. Pourroit-on croire qu'il y ait au monde des tryans assez absurdes et assez sauvages pour s'opposer à toute amélioration dans les choses de première nécessité? Un pont s'écroule, on ne le relève pas; un homme répare sa maison, on lui fait une avanie. J'ai vu des capitaines grecs s'exposer au naufrage avec des voiles déchirées, plutôt que de raccommoder ces voiles: tant ils craignoient de faire soupçonner leur aisance et leur industrie.¹⁴

Such were the fresh recollections which Chateaubriand brought home from his trip to the Near East; these same ideas are found, treated more extensively and even more forcefully, in the Itinéraire. This work was intended as a book of reflections,¹⁵ in which he lost no opportunity to contrast the glorious race of antiquity with the Greeks he had seen suffering from Turkish tyranny.¹⁶ M. des Essarts understood thoroughly the spirit of the book when he commented:

Ajoutons que dans cette œuvre achevée l'on sent un souffle avant-coureur de la délivrance promise à la Grèce moderne: c'est déjà le rêve et le vœu de Chateaubriand, qu'au faîte de la politique il devait concourir à réaliser.¹⁷

It may be said that the dream of liberation pervades the entire work. In his enthusiasm, Chateaubriand envisions a free Attica under his sovereignty where he would build new homes, new roads, and a university. On his departure from Greece he is not concerned with romantic ideas inspired by scenic beauty; rather does he insist upon the history of the country, seeking to discover in the ancient prosperity of Sparta and Athens the cause of their present misfortune and in their present state the germ of their future destiny. He cannot refrain from condemning those who calumniate the unfortunate Greeks. He fears lest the Greeks may not be able, so soon, to break their fetters, and warns that should they be able to do so, it should not be expected that the marks of their bondage would disappear instantly; they had been crushed by the weight of despotism from which they would have to recover slowly.¹⁸

The Itinéraire is a direct contribution to the liberation of Greece. Émile Gebhart in an article entitled Anniversaire Athénien appropriately summarized its great influence:

Le voyageur de l'Itinéraire, longtemps avant lord Byron, appela l'attention émue de la France et de l'Europe sur cette pauvre Grèce, douloureuse expression géographique, qui gardait toujours, en son infinie misère, avec la beauté de ses souvenirs, la grâce incomparable de ses sites, de sa lumière et de ses ruines. Ce livre a certainement nourri l'enthousiasme des adolescents qui, vingt années plus tard, partirent pour se battre, au nom de la vénérable histoire, au pied de l'Acropole, dans les plaines de Sparte, d'Argos et de Tripolitza.¹⁹

With the publication of the Itinéraire Chateaubriand closed his literary career and began his political life.²⁰ Let us recall briefly the political career of Chateaubriand. At odds with Napoleon after the execution of the Duc d'Enghien, the breach was widened by his speech on his reception to the Academy which he refused to modify, and in 1814 he wrote against the Emperor his famous brochure De Buonaparte et des Bourbons. After the Hundred Days, he was successively named secretary to the Embassy at Rome, minister of state, and peer of France. He affiliated himself with the ultras and published a brochure entitled De la Monarchie selon la Charte which was suppressed by order of Decazes. Reconciled with Louis XVIII, thanks to the publication of a memoir on the life and death of the Duc de Berry, he received appointments as minister to Berlin, ambassador to London, minister of foreign affairs, and was responsible for the declaration of war upon Spain. After his fall from power, he took active part, from 1824 to 1827, in the liberal opposition of the Journal des Débats. He was appointed ambassador to Rome in 1828, but resigned the following year, and thereafter lived in comparative retirement until his death in 1848.

It was during this period of active political life that Chateaubriand proved himself a staunch defender of the Greek cause. Since the year 1769, when the Empress Catherine II of Russia made an attempt to give the enslaved Greeks their freedom, the status of Greece had been a subject of concern to European cabinets, but the advent of Metternich and other statesmen who projected the Holy Alliance seemed to postpone indefinitely hopes for the liberation of Greece.

Chateaubriand gave evidence of his opposition to that policy as soon as he entered the Chamber of Peers, which, however, did not share his views. On April 9, 1816, he delivered an impassioned attack upon Turkish despotism:

J'ai vu … les ruines de Carthage; j'ai rencontré parmi ces ruines les successeurs de ces malheureux chrétiens pour la délivrance desquels saint Louis fit le sacrifice de sa vie. La philosophie pourra prendre sa part de la gloire attachée au succès de ma proposition et se vanter d'avoir obtenu dans un siècle de lumières ce que la religion tenta inutilement dans un siècle de ténèbres.²¹

With his appointment as ambassador to Berlin and later to London, Chateaubriand came in direct contact with the different policies of the cabinets of Europe. Especially in London do we find him an impatient observer of European affairs, seeking an opportunity to re-establish France's prestige which had been impaired after the Napoleonic successes and failures. At that time the affairs of the Near East were in prominence; Greece was in open rebellion and Russia was sending an ultimatum to the Porte through the instigations of her prominent minister, Count Capo d'Istria. The situation was a difficult one, and in spite of personal feelings, in dispatches to Viscount Montmorency, then minister of foreign affairs, and in conversations held with Londonderry, Canning, etc., we find the judicious counsel of a cautious diplomat trying to please all the powers concerned: England, Austria, Turkey, and especially Russia.²² The element of personal glory was also evident in this policy of caution. The Ambassador to London was not without foresight; he could see that the spreading turmoil in different parts of Europe would necessitate a general meeting of the powers for settlement. The revolution in Spain interested France particularly, and when the decision was made to hold a Congress in Verona, in 1822, Chateaubriand could look forward to satisfying some of his ambitions.

The Greek question was to come up for discussion at Verona. Chateaubriand went there with instructions²³ to align himself with the decision of the powers on the question of the insurrection in Greece. As a representative of a conservative government, he could not freely express his opinions. We know, however, his personal views:

Voilà toutes les grandeurs modernes venues se mesurer à Vérone aux arênes laissées par les Romains. Auprès de ces débris se plaçoient d'autres ruines, qu'on n'écoutoit pas, les députés de la malheureuse Grèce. … Quant à la Grèce, M. de Villèle n'étoit pas aussi avancé que nous … M. de Montmorency ayant quitté Vérone, Alexandre nous envoya chercher. … Nous n'oubliâmes pas notre chère Athènes; nous avons plaidé longtemps sa cause en public et à la chambre des pairs, et quand le czar mourut nous ne craignimes pas de nous adresser à Nicolas et à Constantin.²⁴

We know how through his manipulations Chateaubriand succeeded in replacing Montmorency in the ministry of foreign affairs and with what success he carried on “his” war against Spain.

During his ministry, while occupied with the many duties that his position and the Spanish war entailed, the Greek revolution assumed more prominence than ever. In England, Canning succeeded Castlereagh and showed more consideration for the insurgents. In France, the feeling was running high, especially among the poets and the young liberals. Alexandre Guiraud had written his Ode aux Grecs; Gaspar de Pons, his poem L'Insurrection des Grecs; Alfred de Vigny, Héléna; Casimir Delavigne, his Messéniennes, of which the “Jeune Diacre,” “Aux Ruines de la Grèce,” and “Tyrtée aux Grecs” touched the hearts of all. The same fervor was exhibited in the press. The salons were divided into two camps; the question of the day was, “Êtes-vous Grec, êtes-vous Turc?” The situation was difficult for a minister of foreign affairs who, although he might have been very sympathetic to the cause, by his very act of disciplining the Spanish rebels had cast himself into the camp of political reaction. He proceeded with caution as we can gather this from confidential dispatches to Prince de Polignac who replaced him in London. In these dispatches we find the sagacious and intelligent explanation of a prudent attitude with respect to rebels, an attitude not understood by the younger liberals and poets, but which was imperiously dictated by the weakness of France, and the secondary place to which French diplomacy had been relegated, as the result of the wars of the Empire and the political policy of Metternich.²⁵

Chateaubriand did not continue long as minister of foreign affairs. In June, 1824, he was discourteously dismissed. From this time on he became a member of the opposition and, with the greatest vehemence imaginable, attacked the policies of his former friend Villèle, now his mortal enemy.

In 1824 the Philhellenic movement was beginning to reach its climax. The friends of the rebels watched with deep solicitude the varying fortunes of the revolt of the Greeks. Classical memories were mingled with romantic aspirations for liberty in exalting the Greek cause. The Armatole, Palikar, and Klephte became popular heroes. In that year there were many French volunteers for the Greek army. Byron, whose verse had already stirred the imagination of Europe, met his untimely death at Missolonghi in April, and this incident produced a profound impression in France. In the eulogies to Byron's memory, enthusiasm for the Greek cause had its place. Lamartine, inspired by the poet's death, wrote his Dernier Chant du Pèlerinage d'Harold and Beauchène compared him with Napoleon:

Deux héros, de leur temps, la lumière et la flamme,
Sont venus, ont chanté, vaincu, régné, langui!
Loin du pays natal ils ont porté leur âme.
                    Saint-Hélène! … Missolonghi!(26)

Delavigne called upon Victory to avenge the hero's death:

Les Grecs le vengeront, ils l'ont juré; la gloire
                    Prépare les funèbres jeux
                    Qu'ils vont offrir à sa mémoire.
Qu'ils marchent, que son cœur au milieu d'eux,
                    Enseveli par la Victoire.(27)

Ulric Guttinger, Alexandre Guiraud, Saintine, and many others joined in the tribute. On June 5, 1824, Fauriel published his Chants populaires de la Grèce, and five months later Népomucène Lemercier gave a poetical interpretation of them under the title Chants héroïques des montagnards et matelots grecs. Delphine Gay recited her poems to collect funds, and the irresistible Mme Récamier was securing financial support for the Greeks. The movement was in full swing, and Chateaubriand, freed from the restrictions imposed by governmental policy, could now support it with enthusiasm.

One of his first acts was to join the central committee of the Société philanthropique called the Comité philhellénique. Other notables were also members: the dukes de Choiseul, de Broglie, de Dollberg, de Fitz-James; the counts d'Harcourt, de Laborde; the general Sébastiani; Casimir Périer, Villemain, Didot, etc. In the Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe²⁸ Chateaubriand gives us a succinct account of their meetings. The purpose of the committee was at first limited in scope. It declared that it was not concerned with political questions, but that its purpose was to serve the cause of humanity and religion. It made itself known to the provisional government in Greece merely as an organization that stood ready to offer assistance and rear at its own expense Greek children whose fathers had won distinction in the war of independence. As its resources increased, the society sent help to Greece; at first, provisions such as bread, biscuits, and flour, but later other materials were sent. It also published periodically a pamphlet, Documents relatifs à l'état de la Grèce (Didot, 1826-31) which contains a history from day to day of the progress of the war.

As a member of the Comité philhellénique Chateaubriand supported its activities not only by lending the significance of his name to the cause but also that of his pen. At the end of July, 1825, his “Note sur la Grèce” was published.²⁹ It is a brochure of a few pages which aroused a great deal of interest and was read with avidity by the public as well as in the different cabinets; the fact that Chateaubriand had been a minister of foreign affairs gave weight to his opinion. In December the “Note” was in its second edition with an additional avant-propos.

The purpose of this pamphlet is explained in the avertissement:

Ce n'est point un livre, pas même une brochure, qu'on publie; c'est, sous une forme particulière, le prospectus d'une souscription, et voilà pourquoi il est signé: c'est un remercîment et une prière qu'un membre de la Société en faveur des Grecs adresse à la pitié nationale; il remercie des dons accordés; il prie d'en apporter de nouveaux; il élève la voix au moment de la crise de la Grèce; et comme pour sauver ce pays, les secours de la générosité des particuliers ne suffiroient peut-être pas, il cherche à procurer à une cause sacrée de plus puissans auxiliaires.³⁰

Chateaubriand does not pretend to retrace the origin and history of the troubles in Greece. His object is simply to call attention to a struggle that must come to an end, to fix a few principles, to solve a few problems, to present ideas that may take root, to show that nothing could be simpler and would cost less effort than the deliverance of Greece, to act finally through public opinion on the minds of the men in power. In the main, he wishes to counteract the views presented in the conservative press that argued on these four points:

1. L'empire ture a été reconnu partie intégrante de l'Europe au congrès de Vienne; 2. Le Grand-Seigneur est le souverain légitime des Grecs, d'où il résulte que les Grecs sont des sujets rebelles; 3. La médiation des puissances à intervenir pourroit élever des difficultés politiques; 4. Il ne convient pas qu'un gouvernement populaire s'établisse à l'orient de l'Europe.³¹

Sanely, without prejudice and without reserve, our imaginative poet disposes of these different questions and comes to this conclusion:

Les Grecs sont-ils des rebelles et des révolutionnaires? Non. Ont-ils des conditions sociales voulues par le droit politique pour être reconnus des autres nations? Oui. Est-il possible de les délivrer sans troubler le monde, sans se diviser, sans prendre les armes, sans mettre même en danger l'existence de la Turquie? Oui, et cela dans trois mois, par une seule dépêche collective souscrite des grandes puissances de l'Europe, ou par des dépêches simultanées exprimant le même vœu. Ce sont là des pièces diplomatiques qu'on aimeroit signer de son sang.³²

Besides all the political discussion, we find all the warmth of feeling of which Chateaubriand is capable, because after all it is a humanitarian plea:

La Grèce sort héroïquement de ses cendres; pour assurer son triomphe, elle n'a besoin que d'un regard de bienveillance des princes chrétiens. On n'accusera plus son courage, comme on se plaît encore à calomnier sa bonne foi. Qu'on lise dans le récit de quelques soldats français qui se connoissent en valeur, qu'on lise le récit de ces combats dans lesquels ils ont eux-mêmes versé leur sang, et l'on reconnoîtra que les hommes qui habitent la Grèce sont dignes de fouler cette terre illustre. Les Canaris, les Miaoulis, auroient été reconnus pour véritables Grecs à Mycale et à Salamine. La France, qui a laissé tant de grands souvenirs en Orient, qui vit ses soldats régner en Égypte, à Jérusalem, à Constantinople, à Athènes; la France, fille aînée de la Grèce par le courage, le génie et les arts, contempleroit avec joie la liberté de ce noble et malheureux pays, et se croiseroit pieusement pour elle. … Quel honneur pour la restauration d'attacher son époque à celle de l'affranchissement de la patrie de tant de grands hommes.³³

The avant-propos of the “Note sur la Grèce,” found in the second edition, is as interesting a Philhellenic discussion as the “Note” itself. As events developed, the author thought it wise to further add a Preface to the third edition which appeared in 1827.

Almost simultaneously, through the columns of the Journal des Débats, the author of the “Note” sought to perform his devoir filial. From the beginning the Journal des Débats favored the Greek insurgents. As soon as the curiosity of the French had been aroused, the Débats called attention to publications of current interest. It accepted essays and poems on the subject and remained to the end the true defender of the Greek cause.³⁴

Chateaubriand began to contribute to the columns of this liberal and Philhellenic newspaper after his arbitrary dismissal from the ministry of foreign affairs in June, 1824. There is an element of genuine candor in his articles for the defense of Greece, although the fact that they were used partly as a tool of political opposition cannot be entirely dismissed. It would be lengthy to study in detail these contributions. The important articles are the following: “De la Cause des Hellènes” (Oct. 23, 1825); “Sur les Lettres de deux Grecs” (Dec. 7, 1825); “De la Clôture de la session de la Chambre des Pairs” (July 19, 1826); “Des Négociations relatives à la Grèce” (Oct. 11, 1826). We find in these articles the same fervent appeal for the sake of religion, humanity, and liberty:

Le siège de Missolonghi, soit que ce siège ait été levé ou qu'il se soutienne encore, soit que la ville foudroyée doive succomber ou sortir triomphante du milieu des flammes; ce siège, disons-nous attestera à la postérité que les Hellènes n'ont point dégénéré de leurs ancêtres. Si des gouvernements étoient assez barbares pour souhaiter la destruction des Grecs, il ne falloit pas laisser aux derniers le temps de déployer un si illustre courage. Il y a trois ou quatre ans qu'une politique inhumaine auroit pu nous dire que le fer musulman n'avoit égorgé qu'un troupeau d'esclaves révoltés; mais aujourd'hui seroitelle reçue à parle ainsi d'un sang héroïque? L'univers entiers s'élèveroit contre elle. On se légitime par l'estime et l'admiration qu'on inspire: les peuples acquièrent des droits à la liberté par la gloire. …³⁵

La postérité pourra-t-elle jamais croire que le monde chrétien à l'époque de sa plus grande civilisation a laissé des vaisseaux sous pavillons chrétiens transporter des hordes mahométanes des ports de l'Afrique à ceux de l'Europe, pour égorger des chrétiens? … Nos pères, que nous appelons barbares, saint Louis, quand il alloit chercher des infidèles dans leurs foyers, prêteroient-ils leurs galères aux Maures pour envahir l'Espagne?³⁶

Chateaubriand had by this time become the central figure for the enthusiasts of Greek independence. At meetings, held in secret, because of the opposition of the government, for the benefit of the heroes of the Morea he would always be acclaimed with wild enthusiasm as “le généreux ami de la Grèce.”³⁷

The year 1826 was disastrous for the insurgents. The hordes of Ibrahim systematically devastated the Morea. Missolonghi capitulated after a siege of eleven months (May, 1825‐April, 1826). The news of its fall served to excite still further enthusiasm for the heroic defenders. The emotion which this catastrophe produced served as the turning-point for the conservative opinion of the government. Political indifference took a different trend and resulted, just after the fall of Athens (May, 1827), in the conclusion of a treaty of intervention which France, Russia, and England signed on July 6, 1827, followed by the capture of Navarino. This victory, which became known in France on November 9, 1827, offered the climax. Royalists congratulated themselves on the prestige it gave the crown; liberals regarded it as the result of their efforts and their activity in favor of the Greeks. In the humblest homes the news of victory was read with avidity. Plays were written for the occasion, numerous poems were composed—all ephemeral productions, to be crowned with the success of the Orientales by Victor Hugo who was expressing public sentiment:

                    La Grèce est libre: et dans sa tombe
                    Byron applaudit Navarin!
Salut donc, Albion! vieille mère des ondes!
Salut, aigle des czars, qui plane sur deux mondes!
Gloire à nos fleurs de lis dont l'éclat est si beau!
L'Angleterre aujourd'hui reconnaît sa rivale,
Navarin la lui rend. Notre gloire navale
A cet embrasement rallume son flambeau!(38)

Chateaubriand could also congratulate himself on his efforts. Four days after the news of the success at Navarino, he wrote to Mme de Cottens (Nov. 13, 1827): “… Permettez-moi aussi de vous faire mes compliments pour notre victoire de Navarin; convenez que nous avions bien raison d'être pour les Grecs, alors que personne même n'en voulait!”³⁹

We can now understand better the enthusiasm and pride with which Chateaubriand wrote the Preface to the 1827 edition of the Itinéraire:

L'Itinéraire a pris par les évènements du jour un intérêt d'une espèce nouvelle: il est devenu, pour ainsi dire, un ouvrage de circonstance, une carte topographique du théâtre de cette guerre sacrée sur la quelle tous les peuples ont aujourd'hui les yeux attachés. Il s'agit de savoir si Sparte et Athènes renaîtront, ou si elles resteront à jamais ensevelies dans leur poussière. Malheur au siècle témoin passif d'une lutte héroïque, qui croiroit qu'on peut, sans périls comme sans pénétration de l'avenir, laisser immoler une nation! Cette faute, ou plutôt ce crime, seroit tôt ou tard suivi du plus rude châtiment.⁴⁰

Chateaubriand was not, however, totally satisfied with the victory of Navarino; he constantly worried about other mishaps that might occur. Before leaving for his post in Italy in 1828, he pled before the Chamber of Peers for the conclusion of a prompt treaty that might save the remaining Greeks. In Rome, when fulfilling the duties of ambassador, he scanned the papers for news and wrote to Mme Récamier: “Nos journaux ont été misérablement tures dans ces derniers temps. Comment ont-ils pu jamais oublié la noble cause de la Grèce?”⁴¹ Later, “C'est moi qui vous ai envoyé le courrier, porteur des bonnes nouvelles de la Morée.”⁴² In Rome he prepared a Mémoire sur l'Orient, for the benefit of the Count de la Ferronays, minister of foreign affairs. It is a reasoned critical study of the diplomatic situation.⁴³ It was in Rome also, during the last days of his last political mission, that he wrote on April 9, 1829, to the young Canaris, who was reared in Paris at the expense of the Comité philhellénique:

Mon cher Canaris. … N'oubliez jamais que vous êtes né en Grèce; que ma patrie devenue libre a versé son sang pour la liberté de la vôtre; soyez surtout bon chrétien, c'est-à-dire honnête homme, et soumis à la volonté de Dieu. Avec cela, mon cher petit ami, vous maintiendrez votre nom sur la liste de ces anciens fameux Grecs, où l'a déjà placé votre illustre père.⁴⁴

A beautiful note which appropriately discloses the factors which were at the basis of Chateaubriand's enthusiasm for the freedom of Greece: the memory of its ancient glory, Christianity, liberty, and humanity.

It is in this manner that Chateaubriand identified himself with the Philhellenic movement in France. The extent of his influence, however, both on the French Philhellenes as well as European, can be conjectured but not ascertained. The multiplicity of factors (political opposition, sympathy as the result of disasters in Greece, interest in those who served as volunteers in the Greek army, international rivalry, religious interests, etc.), as well as the fact that those interested in the cause are legion, renders the problem of determining influences extremely difficult.

Notes

1. For studies on French Philhellenism cf. the analytical Bibliography in E. Malakis, French Travellers in Greece (1770-1820). … (Philadelphia, 1925), pp. 9-21. The following studies should be added: P. Gaffarel, “Marseille et les Philhellènes en 1821 et 1822,” Revue historique, CXXIX (1918), 244-76; C. Latreille, “La Guerre de l'Indépendance grecque dans la littérature française,” L'Acropole, I (Athens, Oct.-Dec., 1920), 358-89; R. Puaux, Le Philhellénisme français (Paris, 1925). Pp. 24.

2. René Canat, La Renaissance de la Grèce antique (1820-1850) (Paris, 1911), p. 11.

3. Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe (ed. Penaud), I, 134.

4. Ibid., p. 320.

5. Ibid., VII, 227.

6. Ibid., III, 100.

7. Atala, in Œuvres complètes de Chateaubriand (ed. Garnier), III, 3.

8. Louis Thomas, Correspondance générale de Chateaubriand … (Paris, 1912), I, 118 and 124.

9. Ibid., p. 142.

10. A. Cassagne, La Vie politique de François de Chateaubriand (Paris, 1911), pp. 215-25.

11. A. F. Villemain, La Tribune moderne (Paris, 1858), p. 147.

12. Correspondance générale, I, 229.

13. Mercure de France, XXIX (July, 1807), 7-21.

14. Ibid (Aug.), p. 198.

15. Itinéraire, in Œuvres complètes (ed. Garnier), V, 3: “Je n'ai pu voir Sparte, Athènes, Jérusalem, sans faire quelques réflexions.” Also, Correspondance, I, 362: “C'est l'histoire de mes pensées et des mouvements de mon cœur pendant un an, sur les ruines d'Athènes et de Jérusalem.”

16. Itinéraire (ed. cit.), V, 220.

17. E. des Essarts, Chateaubriand, in L. Petit de Julleville, Histoire de la Langue et de la Lit. française (Paris, 1899), VII, 35.

18. Itinéraire, pp. 216-21.

19. Journal des Débats (Nov. 2, 1895). Marcellus, Chateaubriand et son Temps (Paris, 1859), p. 472, referred to the Intiéraire as “une œuvre inspirée de la muse antique, œuvre utile au monde en préparant l'affranchisesment de la Grèce.” Sainte-Beuve, Chateaubriand et son Groupe littéraire (Paris, 1872), II, 71, hailed the author as “le premier des Childe-Harold du siècle dans son poètique pèlerinage.” J. Janin commented: “Chateaubriand, en revenant de l'Orient, rapportait l'Itinéraire, les Martyrs et la liberté de la Gréce,” and furthermore: “C'est M. de Chateaubriand qui a envoyé en Grèce pour y mourir, et d'une mort digne d'envie, le grand poète Lord Byron” (cited by Garabed Der-Sahaghian, Chateaubriand en Orient [Venice, 1914], p. 30).

20. Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe, V, 178.

21. Ibid., VII, 207.

22. See the following letters: Correspondance, III, 12, 19, 28, 40, 47, 143, 171, 183, 201.

23. For the instructions of Villèle cf. Mémoires et Correspondance du comte de Villèle (Paris, 1889), III, 35.

24. Congrès de Vérone, in Œuvres complètes (ed. Garnier), XII, 35, 48, 160.

25. L. Thomas, “Lettres au Prince de Polignac,” Revue de Paris (Jan.-Feb., 1912), 19me année, I, 457-62; also L. Thomas, “Supplément au Congrès de Vérone,” Revue bleue (1912), 50me année, 2me sem., No. 17, pp. 517 ff.

26. Cited by E. Asse, “L'Indépendance de la Grèce et les Poètes de la Restauration,” Les Petits Romantiques (Paris, 1900), p. 99.

27. Casimir Delavigne, Œuvres complètes (Paris: Didier, 1866), IV, 62.

28. VIII, 28.

29. “Note sur la Grèce” par M. le Vicomte de Chateaubriand, membre d'une société en faveur des Grecs (Paris: Le Normant Père, 1825).

30. Ibid., pp. v-vi.

31. Ibid., p. 10.

32. Ibid., p. 32.

33. Ibid., pp. 33-35.

34. G. Deschamps, “Le Philhellénisme du Journal des Débats,” Le Livre du centenaire du “Journal des Débats” (1789-1889) (Paris, 1889), pp. 556-61.

35. Oct. 23, 1825.

36. Dec. 7, 1825.

37. C. Latreille, “Chateaubriand et le Mouvement philhellène à Lyon en 1826,” Bulletin de la Société Historique et Archéologique de Lyon, I (1904), 147-57.

38. Navarin, in the Orientales, Œuvres complètes de V. H. (ed. Hetzel), II, 67.

39. Saint-Quirin, “Une Correspondance inédite de Chateaubriand,” Le Correspondant, CCIV, tome 168 (N.S.), 679.

40. Itinéraire, p. 14.

41. Sourenirs et Correspondance tirés des papiers de Mme Récamier (Paris, 1859), II, 255.

42. Ibid., p. 260.

43. The “Mémoire sur l'Orient” is included in the Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe, VIII, 385-435.

44. Sourenirs et Correspondance … de Mme Récamier, II, 335.