Born at Kœnigsburg in Prussia, 1732; died in Paris, 1808.
Descended from a Huguenot family, banished from France by the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He was a learned student, and a
voluminous writer.
His translation of the Iliad, published in Berlin in 1762, brought
him the patronage of Frederick the Great, who allowed him to settle
in France, in order that he might perfect his knowledge of the French
language. He published various translations from the Greek in Paris,
and was naturalised as a French citizen.
He was arrested during the Terror, and, together with his wife,
suffered a lengthy imprisonment; the 9th Thermidor brought his release.
He was one of the principal members of the new _Institut_, and
there represented literature and the fine arts. His writings are
somewhat marred by the fact that they were composed by a man who had
not thoroughly grasped the intricacies of the French language.
_LE BON, Josephe._
Born at Arras, September 25, 1765; executed at Amiens, 1795.
He made his first studies at an Oratorian College, and eventually
became a member of that congregation. At the age of eighteen, he was
already a teacher of rhetoric in the College of Béaune in Burgundy, and
enjoyed a great reputation for piety and learning. His sympathy with
the Revolution caused him to become a “Constitutional” parish priest
at Vernois, and a year later he was appointed to a cure of souls near
Arras.
Robespierre, St. Just, and Le Bas were his intimate friends: at their
persuasion he abandoned Christianity, married, and adopted a political
career. He was appointed Mayor of Arras and Syndic for the whole
Department of Pas de Calais, and, at first, showed much judgment and
great moderation.
In 1793 he was despatched on a mission to the Pas du Calais, and
was at first so indulgent, that Suffray, his neighbour and enemy,
denounced him to the Committee of Public Safety as a protector of the
aristocrats and a persecutor of patriots. He was recalled to Paris,
but under Robespierre’s guarantee and his own promise to redeem the
past, was sent back to the Pas de Calais with unlimited powers, and the
order to crush the anti-revolutionary movement in the towns of this
Department. He carried out these orders without mercy. Terrified by
these responsibilities and by the fact that the Austrian army occupied
the neighbouring frontier, he imagined enemies of the Republic on every
side, and wherever he went blood flowed freely. So great, however, were
his cruelties that he was again accused. But Barrère declared that Le
Bon had saved Cambrai by his energy, and for a time the accusation
lapsed; his severities, however, made his enemies thirst for revenge.
In May 1795, a committee was appointed to inquire into his conduct, and
the report they returned was: