Jesuit College at Nancy. He then became Cure and
teacher at the Jesuit school at Pont-a-Mousson. In this position he
had the opportunity to apply himself to study and soon attained some
distinction as a scholar. In 1783 he was crowned by the Academy of
Nancy for his _Eloge de La poesie_ and in 1788 by that of Metz for an
_Essai sur la Regeneration physique et morale des Juifs_. Throughout
his career he exhibited evidences of a breadth of mind and interest in
the man far down. When the French Revolution broke out, therefore, he
easily became a factor in the upheaval, but endeavored always to
restrain the people from fury and vandalism. In 1789, he was elected
by the clergy of the bailliage of Nancy to the States-General, where
he cooeperated with the group of deputies of Jansenist or Gallican
sympathies.

He was among the first of the clergy to join the third estate and
contributed largely to the union of the three orders. He took an
active part in the abolition of the privileges of the nobles of the
church and under the new constitution he was one of the first to take
oath. In taking this stand, however, he lost the support of most of
his fellow churchmen, who, unlike Abbe Gregoire, did not think that
the Catholic religion is reconcilable with modern conceptions of
political liberty. Because of the changing fortunes of the
revolutionists, therefore, Abbe Gregoire finally found himself often
deserted and sometimes almost reduced to poverty.

To the end of his career, however, he maintained his attitude of
benevolence toward the oppressed. Differing widely from most white
men, who although willing to take radical measures to make democracy
safe for themselves, are reluctant to extend its benefits to those of
color, Abbe Gregoire earnestly labored in the Constituent Assembly to
bring about the emancipation of the Negroes in the French colonies.
His interest in persons of African blood, moreover, was not restricted
to the mere abolition of slavery because it was a stain on the
character of the whites but he endeavored also to elevate the slaves
to the full status of citizenship. It was largely through his efforts
that men of color in the French colonies were soon after their
emancipation admitted to the same civil and political rights as the
whites in those dependencies.

He made an effort, moreover, to influence public opinion in behalf of
the Negroes in other lands. Having read in Jefferson's _Notes on
Virginia_ his r