Couthon

Couthon, GEORGES, a fanatic of the French Revolution, was born in 1756 at Orcet, near Clermont, in Auvergne. An advocate at the outbreak of the Revolution, he was sent by Puy de Dôme to the National Convention, where, spite of his crippled limbs, he made himself conspicuous by his shrieking hatred of the priesthood and the monarchy. He voted for the death of the king without delay, became a devoted and bloodthirsty partisan of Robespierre, and was appointed in July 1793 a member of the Comité de Salut Public. At Lyons he crushed the insurrection with merciless severity, and outdid himself after his return to the Convention, with his frothy ravings against Pitt and the English nation. The fall of Robespierre brought down Couthon also. Accused by Fréron, he was thrown into prison, delivered by the mob with whom he was popular, recaptured by the soldiers of the Convention, and executed 28th July 1794, along with St Just and Robespierre.