Society of the Friends of Truth
Encyclopedia
The Society of the Friends of Truth (Amis de la Verité), also known as the Social Club, was a French revolutionary organization founded in 1790. It was "a mixture of revolutionary political club, the Masonic Lodge, and a literary salon". It also published an influential revolutionary newspaper, the Mouth of Iron.
and Claude Fauchet
, who announced its birth in the popular press on 21 February 1790. The original purpose of the club was to become a "clearing-house" for correspondence between and among scholars from all over Europe. In the spirit of its founders, the Club wished to cultivate a "public mandate" under which its activities would be governed. Thus, its newsletter, "Mouth of Iron" (La Bouche de fer), solicited letters from readers to comment on political affairs and to issue denunciations of counter-revolutionary plots.
The Club was actually launched in the month of October 1790, when the sessions "of the Universal Confederation of the Friends of Truth" at the Palais Royal
circus started. Before an audience that ranged from five thousand to eight thousand people every week, Claude Fauchet, self-appointed "attorney of Truth", lectured on Jean-Jacques Rousseau
's 1762 work, The Social Contract. The Club also formulated political theories on democratic government, ultimately dismissing direct democracy in favor of a system that resembled a popularly-elected dictatorship that could be dismissed by the citizens whenever its actions became insupportable. The Social Club also advocated steps toward a more equitable distribution of wealth, always with an eye to Rousseau's ideals, but the Club did not support land reform.
The meetings were described in detail in the "Mouth of Iron", which published the proceedings of the Fauchet lectures and discussions and the mail that arrived following them. This publication is important for understanding the genesis of democratic ideas during the French Revolution
. The Social Club was also the first revolutionary group to identify itself clearly as a cosmopolitan organization, meaning that its aims superseded national boundaries. It made appeals to scholars worldwide, and it produced a polyglot edition of the 1791 Constitution for distribution globally. Its goal was to create a universal republic led by scholars.
and Claude Fauchet
(of course), as well as Sylvain Marechal
, "Gracchus" Babeuf
, Goupil de Préfeln, Camille Desmoulins
, Bertrand Barère, and the Marquis de Condorcet
. About one-hundred-thirty persons were members and attended meetings regularly.
The meetings were public because the club wanted to show the widest possible audience what discourse in the atmosphere of a literary or philosophical salon
might accomplish. (This explains the choice of the Cirque du Palais-Royal as a meeting-place, rather than some smaller venue like a private home.) Spectators were invited to ask questions, and a resolution was passed at the end of each session.
In 1791, the membership of the Social Club openly declared themselves republicans. It then became a meeting place for the Girondist
s, along with the Jacobins one of the two major wings of republican thought. The Club's political orientation was liberal, and it promoted the ideal of a society composed of small and medium economic producers: craftsmen, farmers, merchants, and entrepreneurs.
From 1791 on, the Club's offices operated a publishing business. It became a center for the dissemination of revolutionary literature, including numerous newspapers, political pamphlets, theatrical works, poetry, posters, etc. A number of seminal authors, Louis-Sebastien Mercier, Nicolas-Edme Rétif de la Bretonne
, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
, Condorcet, Jacques Pierre Brissot
, and Jean-Marie Roland, were published under the Club's auspices.
After the fall of the Girondins, the Club dissolved. Fauchet was arrested and executed on 31 October 1793. Bonneville, the printer, resumed activity after 9 Thermidor (27 July 1794). His press tried to resurrect the Social Club, but it never regained its previous audience. In a fragmented state, it continued to exist until Brumaire
of year VIII (November 1800). By then, ideologues like Daunou
, Volney
, Daubenton
, and Berthollet
held center stage.
The Amis de la Verité was fondly remembered, and it became a touchstone for the romantics of the nineteenth century, like Charles Nodier
and Victor Hugo
, but it was also highly-esteemed among politicians and social theorists such as Charles Fourier
, Saint-Simon
, and Karl Marx
.
's observation about the consul, Domitius, "that it was no wonder that a man who had a beard of brass, also had a mouth of iron and a heart of lead.") Others hold that the name comes from a mailbox in the shape of a lion's mouth, located at the headquarters of the Club, at No. 4, rue du Theatre-Français, where letters, petitions, proposals, denunciations, screeds, and other treatises could be deposited. A third theory is that this name, Mouth of Iron, was the same name as a lodge of freemasons to which Bonneville and Fauchet had once belonged.
In any case, the Mouth of Iron was published in Paris between October 1790 and 28 July 1791, at first, three times per week, then daily, beginning on 22 June 1791. The newsletter contained comments on "The Social Contract" of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, essays by Claude Fauchet, transcripts of speeches by Condorcet, petitions from the Club of the Cordeliers
, etc. A subscription cost thirty-six pounds (livres) per year, and anyone who subscribed was automatically made a member of the Social Club; so, since casual readers and curiosity-seekers were counted as members, the size of the Club's membership was probably somewhat overstated.
La Bouche de fer was the origin of the famous quote, often attributed to Denis Diderot
: "Quand le dernier des rois sera pendu avec les boyaux du dernier prêtre célibataire, le genre humain pourra espérer être heureux." ("Humankind will celebrate when the last king is hanged with the entrails of the last priest.")
The inception
The Society of the Friends of Truth was established by Nicholas BonnevilleNicholas Bonneville
Nicolas de Bonneville, born 13 March 1760 at Evreux in Upper Normandy, died on 9 November 1828 in Paris; he was a French bookseller, printer, journalist, and writer...
and Claude Fauchet
Claude Fauchet (revolutionist)
Claude Fauchet was a French revolutionary bishop.He was born at Dornes, Nièvre. He was a curate of the church of St Roch, Paris, when he was engaged as tutor to the children of the marquis of Choiseul, brother of Louis XVs minister, an appointment which proved to be the first step to fortune...
, who announced its birth in the popular press on 21 February 1790. The original purpose of the club was to become a "clearing-house" for correspondence between and among scholars from all over Europe. In the spirit of its founders, the Club wished to cultivate a "public mandate" under which its activities would be governed. Thus, its newsletter, "Mouth of Iron" (La Bouche de fer), solicited letters from readers to comment on political affairs and to issue denunciations of counter-revolutionary plots.
The Club was actually launched in the month of October 1790, when the sessions "of the Universal Confederation of the Friends of Truth" at the Palais Royal
Palais Royal
The Palais-Royal, originally called the Palais-Cardinal, is a palace and an associated garden located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris...
circus started. Before an audience that ranged from five thousand to eight thousand people every week, Claude Fauchet, self-appointed "attorney of Truth", lectured on Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
's 1762 work, The Social Contract. The Club also formulated political theories on democratic government, ultimately dismissing direct democracy in favor of a system that resembled a popularly-elected dictatorship that could be dismissed by the citizens whenever its actions became insupportable. The Social Club also advocated steps toward a more equitable distribution of wealth, always with an eye to Rousseau's ideals, but the Club did not support land reform.
The meetings were described in detail in the "Mouth of Iron", which published the proceedings of the Fauchet lectures and discussions and the mail that arrived following them. This publication is important for understanding the genesis of democratic ideas during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. The Social Club was also the first revolutionary group to identify itself clearly as a cosmopolitan organization, meaning that its aims superseded national boundaries. It made appeals to scholars worldwide, and it produced a polyglot edition of the 1791 Constitution for distribution globally. Its goal was to create a universal republic led by scholars.
Membership and adherents
Key figures attending the Social Club included Nicholas BonnevilleNicholas Bonneville
Nicolas de Bonneville, born 13 March 1760 at Evreux in Upper Normandy, died on 9 November 1828 in Paris; he was a French bookseller, printer, journalist, and writer...
and Claude Fauchet
Claude Fauchet (revolutionist)
Claude Fauchet was a French revolutionary bishop.He was born at Dornes, Nièvre. He was a curate of the church of St Roch, Paris, when he was engaged as tutor to the children of the marquis of Choiseul, brother of Louis XVs minister, an appointment which proved to be the first step to fortune...
(of course), as well as Sylvain Marechal
Sylvain Maréchal
Sylvain Maréchal was a French essayist, poet, philosopher, and, as a political theorist, precursor of utopian socialism and communism...
, "Gracchus" Babeuf
François-Noël Babeuf
François-Noël Babeuf , known as Gracchus Babeuf , was a French political agitator and journalist of the Revolutionary period...
, Goupil de Préfeln, Camille Desmoulins
Camille Desmoulins
Lucie Simplice Camille Benoît Desmoulins was a journalist and politician who played an important role in the French Revolution. He was a childhood friend of Maximilien Robespierre and a close friend and political ally of Georges Danton, who were influential figures in the French Revolution.-Early...
, Bertrand Barère, and the Marquis de Condorcet
Marquis de Condorcet
Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de Condorcet , known as Nicolas de Condorcet, was a French philosopher, mathematician, and early political scientist whose Condorcet method in voting tally selects the candidate who would beat each of the other candidates in a run-off election...
. About one-hundred-thirty persons were members and attended meetings regularly.
The meetings were public because the club wanted to show the widest possible audience what discourse in the atmosphere of a literary or philosophical salon
Salon (gathering)
A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...
might accomplish. (This explains the choice of the Cirque du Palais-Royal as a meeting-place, rather than some smaller venue like a private home.) Spectators were invited to ask questions, and a resolution was passed at the end of each session.
In 1791, the membership of the Social Club openly declared themselves republicans. It then became a meeting place for the Girondist
Girondist
The Girondists were a political faction in France within the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention during the French Revolution...
s, along with the Jacobins one of the two major wings of republican thought. The Club's political orientation was liberal, and it promoted the ideal of a society composed of small and medium economic producers: craftsmen, farmers, merchants, and entrepreneurs.
From 1791 on, the Club's offices operated a publishing business. It became a center for the dissemination of revolutionary literature, including numerous newspapers, political pamphlets, theatrical works, poetry, posters, etc. A number of seminal authors, Louis-Sebastien Mercier, Nicolas-Edme Rétif de la Bretonne
Nicolas-Edme Rétif
Nicolas-Edme Rétif or Nicolas-Edme Restif , also known as Rétif de la Bretonne, was a French novelist. The term retifisme for shoe fetishism was named after him.-Biography:...
, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de la Marck , often known simply as Lamarck, was a French naturalist...
, Condorcet, Jacques Pierre Brissot
Jacques Pierre Brissot
Jacques Pierre Brissot , who assumed the name of de Warville, was a leading member of the Girondist movement during the French Revolution. Some sources give his name as Jean Pierre Brissot.-Biography:...
, and Jean-Marie Roland, were published under the Club's auspices.
After the fall of the Girondins, the Club dissolved. Fauchet was arrested and executed on 31 October 1793. Bonneville, the printer, resumed activity after 9 Thermidor (27 July 1794). His press tried to resurrect the Social Club, but it never regained its previous audience. In a fragmented state, it continued to exist until Brumaire
Brumaire
Brumaire was the second month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the French word brume which occurs frequently in France at that time of the year....
of year VIII (November 1800). By then, ideologues like Daunou
Pierre Claude François Daunou
Pierre Claude François Daunou was a French statesman and historian of the French Revolution and Empire.- Early career :...
, Volney
Constantin-François Chassebœuf
Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de Volney was a French philosopher, historian, orientalist, and politician...
, Daubenton
Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton
Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton was a French naturalist.Daubenton was born at Montbard . His father, Jean Daubenton, a notary, intended him for the church, and sent him to Paris to study theology, but Louis-Jean-Marie was more interested in medicine...
, and Berthollet
Claude Louis Berthollet
Claude Louis Berthollet was a Savoyard-French chemist who became vice president of the French Senate in 1804.-Biography:...
held center stage.
The Amis de la Verité was fondly remembered, and it became a touchstone for the romantics of the nineteenth century, like Charles Nodier
Charles Nodier
Jean Charles Emmanuel Nodier , was a French author who introduced a younger generation of Romanticists to the conte fantastique, gothic literature, vampire tales, and the importance of dreams as part of literary creation, and whose career as a librarian is often underestimated by literary...
and Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
, but it was also highly-esteemed among politicians and social theorists such as Charles Fourier
Charles Fourier
François Marie Charles Fourier was a French philosopher. An influential thinker, some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have become main currents in modern society...
, Saint-Simon
Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon
Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon, often referred to as Henri de Saint-Simon was a French early socialist theorist whose thought influenced the foundations of various 19th century philosophies; perhaps most notably Marxism, positivism and the discipline of sociology...
, and Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
.
The Mouth of Iron
The "Mouth of Iron" may have derived its name, sardonically, from Lucius Licinius CrassusLucius Licinius Crassus
Lucius Licinius Crassus was a Roman consul. He was considered the greatest Roman orator of his day, by his pupil Cicero.He became consul in 95 BC. During his consulship a law was passed requiring all but citizens to leave Rome, an edict which provoked the Social War...
's observation about the consul, Domitius, "that it was no wonder that a man who had a beard of brass, also had a mouth of iron and a heart of lead.") Others hold that the name comes from a mailbox in the shape of a lion's mouth, located at the headquarters of the Club, at No. 4, rue du Theatre-Français, where letters, petitions, proposals, denunciations, screeds, and other treatises could be deposited. A third theory is that this name, Mouth of Iron, was the same name as a lodge of freemasons to which Bonneville and Fauchet had once belonged.
In any case, the Mouth of Iron was published in Paris between October 1790 and 28 July 1791, at first, three times per week, then daily, beginning on 22 June 1791. The newsletter contained comments on "The Social Contract" of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, essays by Claude Fauchet, transcripts of speeches by Condorcet, petitions from the Club of the Cordeliers
Cordeliers
The Cordeliers, also known as the Club of the Cordeliers, Cordeliers Club, or Club des Cordeliers and formally as the Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen , was a populist club during the French Revolution.-History:The club had its origins in the Cordeliers district, a...
, etc. A subscription cost thirty-six pounds (livres) per year, and anyone who subscribed was automatically made a member of the Social Club; so, since casual readers and curiosity-seekers were counted as members, the size of the Club's membership was probably somewhat overstated.
La Bouche de fer was the origin of the famous quote, often attributed to Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
: "Quand le dernier des rois sera pendu avec les boyaux du dernier prêtre célibataire, le genre humain pourra espérer être heureux." ("Humankind will celebrate when the last king is hanged with the entrails of the last priest.")