Freron I. Elie Catherine, a French journalist, born in Quimper in 1719, died in Paris, March 10, 1776. He studied under the Jesuits in the college of Louis-le-Grand at Paris, in which he was for a short time professor. At the age of 20 he joined Desfontaines in conducting his journal of criticism, and in 1746, after the death of the latter, commenced a similar periodical, entitled Letters a Madame la Comtesse de * * *. This was suppressed in 1740, but resumed under the title Lettres sur quelqves ecrits de ce temps, in which he was associated with the abbe de La Porte. This was succeeded in 1754 by L'Annee litteraire, which Freron conducted alone, and which was the chief foundation of his reputation. In this he showed himself an admirer of the age of Louis XIV., and a decided adversary of the new philosophical and literary doctrines. The severity of his criticisms produced against him the most violent hatred, and the rest of his life was a warfare with the encyclopaedists. Throughout the literary history of the time his name is inseparable from that of Voltaire, who was stung by the satires which appeared weekly in L'Annee litteraire. Freron never missed an opportunity to attack him, and Voltaire repaid him with equal malice.

He stops in the midst of a grave historical discussion to insult Freron; he assails him in his most dignified tragedies, as well as in La pucelle and Can-dide; he hurls against him the philippic of Le pauvre diable, and in the comedy of L'Ecos-saise calls his journal L 'Ane litteraire. Freron sustained the conflict alone with considerable success, but was defeated at last and died in grief for the suppression of his journal. He is now remembered as a calm observer of the society of his time, and the founder of newspaper criticism in France.

II. Louis Stanistas, a French revolutionist, son of the preceding, born in Paris in 1765, died in Hayti in 1802. A schoolfellow of Robespierre and Camille Des-moulins, he became one of the most fervent of the revolutionary party, and published a ferocious newspaper, L'Orateur du Peuple. He was at the same time a member of the club of Cordeliers. He participated in the insurrection of Aug. 10, and in the slaughters of September, 1792, and was elected to the convention, where he took his seat among the Montagnards; he voted for the king's death, and contributed to the fall of the Girondists. Being appointed one of the commissaries sent with the army against Marseilles and Toulon, he signalized himself by such brutalities that he was censured even by the committee of public safety. After the death of Danton he sided with the Thermido-rians against Robespierre, and in conjunction with Barras commanded the troops who arrested the dictator and his adherents at the hotel de ville. He pursued unrelentingly the members of the committee of public safety, procured the condemnation of Fouquier-Tinville, became the chief of a reactionary band of young men known as la jeunesse doree, was instrumental in suppressing the Jacobins, and energetically opposed all attempts at insurrection.

Under the directory he was sent to the south on a mission of peace; but his former cruelties were still remembered by the people. He accepted an appointment as subprefect in Hayti, and soon after his arrival there died of vellow fever.