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The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Mirabeau (1749–1791)
Mirabeau, Gabriel Honoré de Riquetti, Count of (mē-rä-bō’). A famous French orator and revolutionist; born at Bignon, March 9, 1749; died in Paris, April 2, 1791. He rose to the rank of captain in the army; in 1789 was delegate of the Third Estate to the convention of the States-General, where his eloquence made him a power; president of the Jacobin Club in 1790, of the National Assembly in 1791. Among his writings were: ‘The Friend of Men’ (1755); ‘Rural Philosophy’ (1763); ‘The Prussian Monarchy’ (1788), his chief work; ‘Secret History of the Court of Berlin’ (1789); etc. He was the one large statesman of the French Revolution. (See Critical and Biographical Introduction).