1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Chauvelin, Bernard François

CHAUVELIN, BERNARD FRANÇOIS, Marquis de (1766–1832), French diplomatist and administrator. Though master of the king’s wardrobe in 1789, he joined in the Revolution. He served in the army of Flanders, and then was sent to London in February 1792, to induce England to remain neutral in the war which was about to break out between France and “the king of Bohemia and Hungary.” He was well received at first, but after the 10th of August 1792 he was no longer officially recognized at court, and on the execution of Louis XVI. (21st of January 1793) he was given eight days to leave England. After an unsuccessful embassy in Tuscany, he was imprisoned as a suspect during the Terror, but freed after the 9th Thermidor. Under Napoleon he became a member of the council of state, and from 1812 to 1814 he governed Catalonia under the title of intendant-general, being charged to win over the Catalonians to King Joseph Bonaparte. He remained in private life during the Restoration and the Hundred Days. In 1816 he was elected deputy, and spoke in favour of liberty of the press and extension of the franchise. Though he was again deputy in 1827 he played no part in public affairs, and resigned in 1829.

See G. Pallain, La Mission de Talleyrand à Londres en 1792 (Paris, 1889).