which the Assembly struck off. Bergier was a man of learning, industry,
and good faith, but unfortunately he did not possess sufficient literary
talent to execute the task entrusted to him. The Abbe Guenee, on the
contrary, was a fair match even for Voltaire, but he did not attempt,
perhaps it was too early to attempt, anything more than skirmishing.

[Sidenote: Freron.]

A bitter personal opponent of La Harpe, and a famous man in literary
history, was Freron. Elie Catherine Freron was born at Quimper in
Britanny in 1719, and was educated by the Jesuits. He began a critical
journal when he was only seven-and-twenty, under the title (not so
strange then as now) of _Lettres de Madame la Comtesse de_.... But he
had already contributed to the _Observations_ and _Jugements_ of
Desfontaines. The _Lettres_ were suppressed in 1749, but continued
under another title, and at last, in 1754, became the celebrated _Annee
Litteraire_, which for twenty years was full of gall and wormwood for
Voltaire and all his partisans. Voltaire was never slow to retaliate in
such matters, and his retorts culminated in the play of _L'Ecossaise_,
in which Freron was caricatured under the title Frelon (hornet). Every
effort was made by the Encyclopaedists (who were not in the least
tolerant in practice) to procure the suppression of the _Annee_. But
Freron had solid supports in high places and held on gallantly. It is
said that his death, in 1776, was caused by a report that the
suppression had been at last obtained. He certainly suffered both from
gout and from heart disease, complaints not unlikely to make a sudden
shock fatal. Freron, like his English prototype John Dennis, has had the
disadvantage that his adversaries were numerous, witty, not too
scrupulous, and on the winning side. His personal character seems to
have been none of the most amiable. But he was more frequently right
than wrong in his criticisms on detached points, and his literary
standards were decidedly higher and better than those of his enemies. He
had moreover abundant wit and an imperturbable temper, which enabled him
to turn the laugh against Voltaire in his criticism of the first
representation of _L'Ecossaise_ itself.

Two other adversaries of Voltaire who deserve notice as literary critics
were the Abbe Desfontaines (already mentioned) and Palissot.
Desfontaines was a man of doubtful character; but it is not certain that
he was in the wrong in the dispute which chang