Protestant Exiles from France/Volume 2 - Book Third - Chapter 12 - Section IV
Chardin.
The great and learned traveller Jean Chardin, son of Jean Chardin and Jeanne Ghiselin, was born at Paris 26th November 1643. His father was a rich jeweller, who by Caron was named along with a Monsieur Raisin, and both were described as très-honnestes gens et marchands très-experimentés.[1] The son left Paris and began his career of foreign travel in 1664; he did not return home till the summer of 1670. He printed a 12mo volume, entitled “An Account of the Coronation of Solyman III., Schah of Persia.” Seeing how dark the temporal prospects of the Protestants were, he resolved to quit his native country; accordingly on the 17th August 1671 he set out on his return to Persia, where he remained till 1677, when he turned his steps to India, and did not see Europe again till 1680.
He says as to himself that his great desire to know the Empire of Persia, and to publish a faithful account of it, moved him to study for several years the language of the country and the customs and manners of its inhabitants. His celebrated volumes of travel do not detail his first or ’prentice wanderings, but begin with 1671; his route to Persia then was “by the way of the Black Sea, through the countries of Circassia, Mingrelia, the country of the Abcas, Georgia, Armenia, and Media,” Before this, however, he had lingered in Italy and Constantinople for several months — from the latter city his departure was hurried by a quarrel between the Grand Vizier and the French Ambassador, which gave rise to a report that as a Frenchman Chardin would be arrested, and that “his goods, which were very rich and very considerable in quantity, would be seized.” Judging from the abstracts of Chardin’s Travels, which I have read (in Harris’s “Collection of Voyages,” vol. ii., and De la Roche’s “Memoirs of Literature,” vol. iii.), I would say that he does not, except as to his voyage from Paris to Ispahan, give us materials for following his steps day after day, but he presents us with digested information, as to people, places, and phenomena, as the results of the enquiries and observations of many years.
In 1680 his pilgrimages ended. Haag says that he arrived in London on 14th August 1681, that ten days after he received the honour of knighthood from King Charles II., and that on the same day he married a lady from Rouen. From Colonel Chester’s MSS. I have learned that her Christian name was Esther, and in Dumont de Bostaquet’s Narrative we are informed that her father was Monsieur de Lardinière Peigné, counsellor in the Parliament of Rouen. But Haag’s date must refer to Chardin’s final settlement in England, for he came to this country a year before, as we learn from Evelyn’s Diary, which contains this entry:—
“1680. 30th August. I went to visit a French gentleman, one Monsieur Chardin, who having been thrice in Persia, the East Indies, and other remote countries, came hither in our return ships from those parts; and it being reported that he was a very curious and knowing man, I was desired by the Royal Society to salute him in their name, and to invite him to honour them with his company. Sir Joseph Hoskins and Sir Christopher Wren accompanied me. We found him at his lodgings in his Eastern habit, a very handsome person, extremely affable, a modest well-bred man, not inclined to talk wonders. He spake Latin, and understood Greek, Arabic, and Persian, from eleven years’ travels in those parts, whither he went in search of jewels, and was become very rich. He seemed about thirty-six years of age. After the usual civilities, we asked some account of the extraordinary things he must have seen in travelling over land to these places where few (if any) northern Europeans used to go, as the Black and Caspian Sea, Mingrelia, Bagdat, Nineveh, Persepolis, &c. He told us that the things most worthy of our sight would be the draughts he had caused to be made of some noble ruins, &c.; for that, besides his own little talent that way, he had carried two good painters with him, to draw landscapes, measure and design the remains of the palace which Alexander burnt in his frolic at Persepolis, with divers temples, columns, relievos and statues yet extant, which he affirmed to be sculpture far exceeding anything he had observed either at Rome, in Greece, or in any other part of the world where magnificence was in estimation. He said there was an inscription in letters not intelligible though entire. He was sorry he could not gratify the curiosity of the Society at present, his things not being yet out of the ship, but would wait on them with them on his return from Paris, whither he was going the next day, but with intention to return suddenly and stay longer here, the persecution in France not suffering Protestants (and he was one) to be quiet.”
On 28th March 1681 Henry Savile gave him a letter of introduction to his brother, the Earl of Halifax. Perhaps, rather, he sent the letter, for Mr. Chardin seems to have been in London sooner. Le Neve says, “Sir John Chardin, a Frenchman, merchant and jeweller, was knighted at Whitehall, 17th March 1681.” He presented his letters to Lord Halifax, who wrote to his brother from London, October 24th — November 3d, 1681, “I had this morning two of yours brought to me by Sir John Chardin; one of them of so long a date, viz., March 28th, that I think it will not be necessary to make any answer to it. . . . I think such men as Sir John Chardin should be encouraged, and I shall be ready to do my part.” He was naturalized at Westminster, 8th March 1682; the grant is to Johi Chardin, mil:, (i.e., John Chardin, knight); Esther Chardin was naturalized on the 16th June 1682. In this year he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Our king (says the English Cyclopedia) employed him diplomatically on an important mission to Holland; and in 1683 he was at the Hague and Amsterdam as agent for the English East India Company. But the statement, which I have seen somewhere, that he resided thirty years in Holland as Ambassador and East India Agent, is a mistake. His home was in England, and his chief occupation was preparing his volumes of Travels for 'the press. On the death of Charles II., and the accession of a new sovereign, he seems to have thought it advisable to have a new grant of naturalization; at any rate he, with many others, was naturalized by Act of Parliament, 2d July, 1 Ja. II.
In Evelyn’s Diary we frequently meet him. In 1683, 18th October, he is conducted through the apartments of Montague House, along with Evelyn and Lady Scroope; and on 27th December (says Evelyn) “I went to visit Sir John Chardin, who had made many curious researches in his travels, of which he is now setting forth a relation.” 1684, 23rd Feb. — I went to visit Sir John Chardin, who desired my assistance for the engraving the plates, the translation, and printing his story of that wonderful Persian Monument near Persepolis, and other rare antiquities, which he had caused to be drawn from the originals in his second journey into Persia;” 15th March, “I dined at the Lord Keeper’s, and brought him to Sir John Chardin, who showed him his accurate draughts of his travels in Persia.”
In the year 1686 he published his first volume of Travels; his residence was now in Greenwich. Evelyn writes, 18th July 1686, “I went to see Sir John Chardin at Greenwich.” The volume was a folio, profusely illustrated, entitled, “Voyage de Monsieur le Chevalier Chardin de Paris à Ispahan, Capitale de l’Empire de Perse.” It was dedicated to King James. It was speedily translated into English, Dutch, and German.
In the year 1687 his son and heir was born. On 6th October, Evelyn writes, “I was godfather to Sir John Chardin’s son, christened at Greenwich Church, named John; the Earl of Bath and the Countess of Carlisle were the other sponsors.” Another son was born in 1691, as appears from the register of St. Martin’s-in-the Fields, which contains the baptism of George Chardin, son of John and Esther, 11th October 1691.[2]
As a Protestant exile, he was a known friend of the persecuted Protestants. In a State Paper, Her Majesty Queen Anne declares:[3]—
“By our warrant, bearing date the 30th Sept. 1704, we did direct (amongst other things) that the following yearly sums should be paid to our trusty and well-beloved Sir John Chardin for the uses following, that is to say,
| To be remitted by him for the use of the Vaudois Ministers, per annum, |
£425 0 0 |
| To be remitted as our bounty to a school at Offenbach, | 30 0 0 |
| And for the use of [Henri] Arnaud, per annum, | 100 0 0 |
| £555 0 0 |
“The said yearly sums have been satisfied and paid to the said Sir John Chardin to Michaelmas 1709.”
After that date, the payments fell into arrear, and the Vaudois pastors in 1711, when calling Mr. Hill’s attention to this, and also to new channels for remitting the money, observe, “The Chevalier Chardin has heretofore been the channel through which this maintenance has reached us, but his age and infirmities (as he has often assured us) prevent him from being so for the future.” (Hill, pp. 834, 978.)
He devoted his best energies to the task of composing and revising his works as a traveller, in which public and philanthropic labour he was most painstaking and conscientious. He had established himself in a residence suitable to his fortune. Evelyn writes on the 18th May 1705, “I went to see Sir John Chardin at Turnham-Green, the gardens being very fine and exceeding well planted with fruit.” In 1711 his Travels appeared in three volumes, the first being the fifth edition of his previous work, and the other two being new. He recommends himself to his readers, as one who knows Ispahan better than London, who speaks the Persian language as easily as English, and understands it almost as well as French. He gives many specimens of the moral sentences of the Persians, for instance —
If the ass on which Christ rode should go to Mecca, he would come back from thence as much an ass as before.
Never take a house in a part of the town where the common people are both ignorant and devout.
A man deserves to be accounted wise, whilst he seeks wisdom; but as soon as he thinks that he has acquired it, he is a fool.
A learned man knows an ignorant man, because he has been ignorant; but an ignorant man does not know a learned man, because he never was learned.
Such aphorisms the Persians often exhibit on the walls of buildings, both public and private. From the front of a mosque, built in a solitary place, Chardin copied this inscription:—
The Church does not consist in a multitude of people.
Whoever has truth with him is the Congregation of the faithful,
though he be alone.
Sir John Chardin’s Travels, as they were the first really good accounts of foreign countries and nations, so they long retained their hold on public attention. In 1735 they were reprinted at Amsterdam, in 4 vols. 4to; and again they were brought out in 10 vols. 8vo, annotated by Langles, and published at Paris, 1811. He died in his own house on Christmas day 1712, having not long before entered his seventieth year. Turnham-Green was in the parish of Chiswick, and thus in the Chiswick register (according to Lysons) there is this entry, “Sir John Chardin, buried December 29, 1712.” On the same day his Will was proved by one of the executors, Charles Parry, Esq., power being reserved to the other two, viz., Henry, Earl of Galway, and Dr. John Wickart, Dean of Winchester. The Will, dated 20th September 1711, contains, among other charitable bequests, the following:— For the benefit of poor Protestant Refugees, £500. For the propagation of Gospel in foreign parts, £1000. A monument was erected in Westminster Abbey to the memory of Sir John Chardin; it is surmounted by a terrestrial globe, over which is marked the course of the deceased’s travels, and below his name is the inscription, “Nomen sibi fecit eundo.” Sir John Chardin left two sons and several daughters (one was named Elizabeth). His eldest son, John, passed as a barrister and was of the Inner Temple, London. He purchased from Grantham Andrews, Esq. of Sunbury, a country seat in Middlesex, near Hampton Court, called Kempton Park; he was made a Baronet on the 28th May 1720. Here he lived unmarried, but in 1746 presented the estate to his nephew Sir Philip Musgrave. Sir John Chardin, Baronet, died 26th April 1755, in his sixty-eighth year, when the title became extinct. On the 10th May he was buried in Westminster Abbey, in the eastern aisle, near his father’s monument.
Julia, a daughter of Sir John Chardin, Knight of Turnham-Green, married in 1711, during her father’s life-time, Sir Christopher Musgrave, fifth baronet of Hartley Castle in Westmoreland, M.P. for Carlisle, and had four sons and seven daughters — two of the sons had some fame in the learned world, Rev. Christopher Musgrave, Fellow of All-Souls’ College, Oxford, Rector of Barking, and Rev. Chardin Musgrave, Provost of Oriel College, Oxford. Her eldest son Sir Philip, M.P. for Westmoreland, succeeded to the baronetcy in 1735, and was succeeded in 1795 by his eldest son, John Chardin Musgrave, whose three elder sons in their turn succeeded to the baronetcy.[4] Sir John Chardin Musgrave, who died in 1806, sold the Chardin estate, Kempton Park. But at Edenhall, the seat of the Musgraves, there are memorials of the illustrious refugee, in the shape of two portraits and some pieces of plate. There are also some manuscript volumes which I shall now describe.
In his printed Works, Sir John announced that he intended to publish a distinct treatise containing explanations of passages in the Holy Scriptures, suggested by the existing customs and manners of eastern nations; but he died before he could prepare this anxiously expected book. The subject was taken up about the year 1760 by the Rev. Thomas Harmer, who compiled notes from the narratives of oriental travellers on the principle, “Make every kind of study pay its contribution to the oracles of God.” He brought out a volume of “Observations on divers passages of Scripture, placing many of them in a light altogether new by means of circumstances mentioned in books of voyages and travels in the East.” In 1775 Harmer brought out a second edition, enlarged into two volumes; an extract from its preface will best serve my present purpose:—
“The greatest advantage to this addition are those editions which have been furnished by some MS. Papers of the late Sir John Chardin, who resided long in the East, was a very curious observer, and paid a particular attention to such matters as might serve to illustrate passages of holy writ, which led him to make many observations very much resembling those that were heretofore published in this work. There are six small MS. volumes of Sir John which are still in being, and which I have perused on this occasion. . . . . His observations sometimes give a new turn to the passages of Scripture which he is endeavouring to elucidate; but oftener farther illustrate and confirm the explanations that are to be met with in other writers, and not unfrequently those formerly published in this work. I have selected those that seemed at all suited to the intention of this collection of mine, and I hope these additions will give a considerable degree of pleasure to my readers. If they should, the public ought to be informed that they are indebted for such instruction and pleasure to Sir Philip Musgrave, Baronet, a descendant of this eminent traveller, and the proprietor of these MSS., to whom I sometime ago returned them. And I beg leave in this public manner to return my thanks to that gentleman for granting me the liberty of perusing these Papers, and for the permission he gave me of publishing any part of them that I should select as proper to be introduced into this work.”
[In 1787, Harmer published the third and fourth volumes of his “Observations,” and said in the Preface, “Sir Philip Musgrave most obligingly sent me, after the two first volumes of my Observations appeared, the three tomes of Sir John Chardin’s Travels printed in French, at Amsterdam, 1711, which have furnished me with considerable additions.” Many years after Harmer’s death (which happened in 1788), Dr. Adam Clarke brought out the standard edition (the fourth).]
- ↑ Haag, tom, vi., p. 118.
- ↑ Colonel Chester’s MSS.
- ↑ Right Hon. Richard Hill’s Correspondence, p. 824.
- ↑
Julia Chardin = Sir Christopher Musgrave, 5th bart. (died 1735 ). Sir Philip Musgrave, 6th bart. (died 1795). Sir John Chardin Musgrave, 7th bart. (died 1806). Sir Philip Christopher Musgrave,
8th bart. (died 1827).Rev. Sir Christopher John Musgrave,
9th bart. (died 1834).Sir George Musgrave,
10th bart. (died 1872).