JACQUES RENE

HEBERT (1757-1794)  , French Revolutionist, called " Pere Duchesne," from the newspaper he edited, was born at Alencon, on the 15th of November 1757, where his father, who kept a goldsmith's shop, had held some municipal office . His family was ruined, however, by a lawsuit while he was still young, and Hebert came to Paris, where in his struggle against poverty he endured great hardships; the accusations of theft directed against him later by Camille Desmoulins were, however, without foundation . In 1790 he attracted attention by some pamphlets, and became a prominent member of the club of the Cordeliers in 1791 . On the moth of August 1792 he was a member of the revolutionary Commune of Paris, and became second substitute of the procureur of the Commune on the 2nd of December 1792 . His violent attacks on the Girondists led to his arrest on the 24th of May 1793, but he was released owing to the threatening attitude of the mob . Henceforth very popular, Hebert organized with P . G . Chaumette (q.v.) the "worship of Reason," in opposition to the theistic cult inaugurated by Robespierre, against whom he tried to excite a popular movement . The failure of this brought about the arrest of the Hebertists, or enrages, as his partisans were called . Hebert was guillotined on the 24th of March 1794 . His wife, who had been a nun, was executed twenty days later . Hebert's influence was mainly due to his articles in his journal Le Pere Duchesne,l which appeared from 1790 to 1794 .

These articles, while not lacking in a certain cleverness, were violent and abusive, and purposely couched in foul

language in order to appeal to the mob . See Louis Duval, " Hebert chez lei," in La Revolution Francaise, revue d'histoire moderne et content porcine, t. xii. and t. xiii.; D . Mater, J . R . Hebert, l'auteur du Pere Duchesne avant la journee du zo aoflt 1792 (Bourges, Comm . Hist. du Cher, 1888) ; F . A . Aulard, Le Culte de la raison et de l'etre supreme (Paris, 1892) .