Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/788

770 MONTALANT MONTALEMBERT MONTALAflT, Mile. See DAMOKEAU. MONTALEMBERT. I. Mare Rene de, marquis, a French military engineer, born in Angouleme, July 15, 1714, died March 29, 1800. He was descended from an ancient family of Poitou, early entered the army, and took an active part in the campaigns of Italy and Flanders, and in 1741 in the war of the Austrian succes- sion. He devoted himself to military science, in 1747 became a member of the academy of sciences, and established founderies for casting cannon. His innovations in the art of fortifi- cation were opposed by the French engineers, but all doubts were dispelled by his successful construction of the fort of Re. He was also employed in the fortifications of Anklam, Stral- sund, and the islands of Aix and O16ron. He became a partisan of the revolution, and relin- quished his pension in favor of the national convention. During the reign of terror he obtained a divorce from his first wife, an ac- tress and novelist, and married the daughter of an apothecary. He had given up to the government his founderies, without receiving any equivalent, and was involved in further difficulties by the publication of his works, his various experiments for the improvement of the military art, and the depreciation of paper money. He had also executed at his own ex- pense and presented to the government various models relating to fortifications and artillery. His services as a military reformer were pub- licly acknowledged by the convention and by the council of 500, and some inadequate pecu- niary relief was afforded him. He wrote on the campaign of 1757, on the siege of St. Jean d'Acre, and a historical essay on the founding of cannon, and contributed valuable memoirs to the academy. His great work, La fortifica- tion perpendiculaire, ou VArt defensif supe- rieur d Tofensif (II vols. 4to, Paris, l776-'96), with illustrations, absorbed a large portion of his fortune. His system of detached forts in- augurated a new era not only in fortification, but in the attack and defence of fortresses and in strategical science generally. His principles were adopted in the fortifications of Ehren- breitstein, Cologne, Sebastopol, Cronstadt, and Cherbourg, in the batteries at the entrance of Portsmouth harbor, and in most modern forts for harbor defence. (See FORTIFICATION.) n. Charles Forbes Rene de, count, a French states- man, grandson of the preceding, born in London, May 29, 1810, died in Paris, March 13, 1870. He received his university education in Paris, and in his 19th year published a small work on Sweden. In 1830 he became the associate of Lamennais and Lacordaire in founding and editing L'Avenir, went with them to Rome to plead their own cause in 1831, and on his re- turn opened, with Lacordaire and De Coux, a free Catholic school in Paris, which was closed by the police. The directors were arraigned before an inferior court for infringing the or- dinances on public instruction ; but Montalem- bert, having meanwhile become a member of the chamber of peers, transferred his case to that court, and delivered there in his own de- fence his first public speech. The papal cen- sure which fell upon Lamennais a few years later strengthened Montalembert's attachment to the church, without shaking his liberal con- victions. He devoted himself to the study of the middle ages, and published Histoire de Saint Elizabeth de Hongrie (Paris, 1836 ; Eng- lish translation by Mary Hackett and Mrs. J. Sadlier, New York, 1854), and an essay Du Vandalisms et du Catholicisme dans I 1 art (1839). He spoke frequently in the chamber of peers. In 1842 he opposed M. Villemain's bill for the organization of secondary schools, protesting against the " university monop- oly" which placed all the schools under the control of the faculty of laymen. In 1843 he published bis Manifests catholique. He was now the recognized leader of the Catholic party. He delivered three elaborate addresses on the freedom of the church, of education, and of religious orders, in the last of which he eulogized the Jesuits ; and in 1847 he found- ed a religious society to uphold the cause of the Swiss Sonderbund. He spoke in favor of Poland in 1831, 1844, and 1846. Early in 1848, . in a speech on radicalism, he predicted a revo- lution in the course of three months. When it broke out he joined the democratic party, published an address avowing republican sen- timents, and was elected by the department of Doubs as a deputy in the constituent assembly. Here, however, he acted rather with the con- servative party than with the thorough demo- crats. He opposed the admission of Louis Na- poleon, and voted against the new constitu- tion ; and toward the close of the session he supported Dufaure's bill for the restriction of the press, and approved the expedition sent to Rome to restore the papal authority. Returned to the legislative assembly by the departments of Doubs and C6tes-du-Nord, he became still more conservative, and was one of the com- mittee which drafted the law of May 31, abol- ishing universal suffrage. In June, 1851, he had a memorable debate with Victor Hugo on the proposed revision of the constitution. After the coup d'etat of Dec. 2 he protested against the imprisonment of the deputies, and became more determined in his hostility to Napoleon ; but he obtained a place on the second consul- tative committee, and a seat in the legislative body, where he was almost the only represen- tative of the opposition. Having failed to be reflected in 1857, he lived in retirement, em- ployed in literary labors. An article which he published Oct. 25, 1858, entitled Un debat sur VInde au parlement anglais, led to his prose- cution on account of invidious comparisons between the institutions of France and Great Britain. He was sentenced to a fine of 3,000 francs and six months' imprisonment ; but both penalties were remitted by the ernperor. In 1852 he was elected to the French academy. After his withdrawal from political life, Mon-