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Antoine Christophe Merlin
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<h2 id="life">Life</h2> <p>He was born at Thionville, the son of a <i>procureur</i> in the <i><a href="/facts/Bailiwick/sNquLYLw">bailliage</a></i> of Thionville. After studying theology, he began a career in law, and in 1788 was an <i>avocat</i> at the <i><a href="/facts/Parlement/Qfv527YQ">parlement</a></i> of <a href="/facts/Metz/IgGFKcq6">Metz</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> In 1790 he was elected municipal officer of Thionville, and was sent by the department of <a href="/facts/Moselle_(department)/ez6QYNjK">Moselle</a> to the <a href="/facts/French_Legislative_Assembly/3pYCfocu">Legislative Assembly</a>. On 23 October 1791 he moved and carried the institution of a committee of surveillance, of which he became a member. It was he who proposed the law sequestrating the property of the <a href="/facts/%C3%89migr%C3%A9/SQhYkJwl">émigrés</a>, and he took an important part in the <a href="/facts/Demonstration_of_20_June_1792/fsp6xYjz">Demonstration of 20 June 1792</a> and in the <a href="/facts/10_August_(French_Revolution)/d2h4qo9E">revolution of 10 August</a> of the same year.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p><p>He was elected deputy to the <a href="/facts/National_Convention/uydJyJ4S">National Convention</a>, and pressed for the execution of <a href="/facts/Louis_XVI_of_France/NbCK1Mk3">Louis XVI</a>, but a mission to the army prevented his attending the trial. He displayed great bravery in the <a href="/facts/Siege_of_Mainz_(1793)/ljccql5c">defence of Mainz</a>. He took part in the <a href="/facts/Thermidorian_Reaction/LSCbU0CP">Thermidorian Reaction</a> which brought about the fall of <a href="/facts/Robespierre/fJ0DXr6U">Robespierre</a>, and was appointed to the <a href="/facts/Committee_of_General_Security/UjrH2rDb">Committee of General Security</a> on 31 July 1794.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> He sat in the <a href="/facts/Council_of_Five_Hundred/36rXy3M4">Council of Five Hundred</a> under the <a href="/facts/French_Directory/wHeSvJdt">Directory</a>, and at the <a href="/facts/Coup_of_18_Fructidor/phyuRl0L">Coup of 18 Fructidor</a> (4 September 1797) demanded the deportation of certain republican members. In 1798 he ceased to be a member of the Council of Five Hundred, and was appointed director-general of posts, being sent subsequently to organize the <a href="/facts/Army_of_Italy_(France)/cBjvwCR0">Army of Italy</a>. He retired into private life at the proclamation of the <a href="/facts/French_Consulate/epRIRM2a">Consulate</a>, and lived in retirement under the Consulate and the <a href="/facts/First_French_Empire/b16nSfY7">First French Empire</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="bibliografie">Bibliografie</h2> <ul><li>1828-1830 - <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=UpdTAAAAcAAJ"><i>Questions de droit qui se présentent le plus fréquemment dans les tribunaux</i>. Tome premier, a.-app.</a>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=XJdTAAAAcAAJ">Tome deuxième, app-ban.</a>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZdTAAAAcAAJ">Tome troisième, bel.-com.</a>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=55VTAAAAcAAJ">Tome quatrième, com.-cur.</a>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=_JVTAAAAcAAJ">Tome cinquième, dat.-dom.</a>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HZZTAAAAcAAJ">Tome sixième, don.-epo.</a>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=J5ZTAAAAcAAJ">Tome septième, err.-gru.</a>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=FpxTAAAAcAAJ">Tome huitième, hér.-ins.</a>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=JpxTAAAAcAAJ">Tome neuvième, ins.-mar.</a>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=QJxTAAAAcAAJ">Tome dixième, mar.-nul.</a>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=V5xTAAAAcAAJ">Tome onzième, obl.-pré.</a>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=d5xTAAAAcAAJ">Tome douzième, pre.-ren.</a>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=jpxTAAAAcAAJ">Tome treizième, ren.-rét.</a>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=qZxTAAAAcAAJ">Tome quatorzième, réu.-sub.</a>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=v5xTAAAAcAAJ">Tome cinquième, sub.--tes.</a>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=1ZxTAAAAcAAJ">Tome seizième, tie.--wis.</a>. Quatrième édition, revue, corrigée et considérablement augmentée</li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/The_Legislative_Assembly_and_the_fall_of_the_French_monarchy/tncsgc01">The Legislative Assembly and the fall of the French monarchy</a></li></ul> <p>Attribution </p> <ul><li> This article incorporates text from a publication now in the <a href="/facts/Public_domain/YWKMDKw4">public domain</a>: <a href="/facts/Hugh_Chisholm/2vWblUBe">Chisholm, Hugh</a>, ed. (1911). "Merlin, Antoine Christophe". <i><a href="/facts/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition/mPElbCRY">Encyclopædia Britannica</a></i>. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 169.</li> <li>The 1911 <i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i> gives as its reference J. Reynaud, <i><i>Vie et correspondance de Merlin de Thionville</i></i> (Paris, 1860).</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Chronicle of the French Revolution, Longman Group 1989 p.669 <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Chronicle of the French Revolution, Longman Group 1989 p.38 <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Chisholm 1911. - Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Merlin, Antoine Christophe". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 169. <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Chronicle of the French Revolution, Longman Group 1989 p.437 <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Chisholm 1911. - Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Merlin, Antoine Christophe". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 169. <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>