Pierre Auguste Brahain Ducange
Encyclopedia
Pierre Auguste Brahain Ducange (Tours
, ? — Paris
, 1833) was a French journalist, minor diplomat, secret agent, swindler, and author. He was the father of the French author Victor Henri Joseph Brahain Ducange
. He played an important role in the coup d'état
of 22 January 1798 in the Batavian Republic
, by general Herman Willem Daendels
, which brought the radical unitarist faction of Wybo Fijnje
and Pieter Vreede
to power, and he helped write the Staatsregeling voor het Bataafse Volk of 1798 (the first Dutch Constitution).
He was secretary of the French ambassador to the Dutch Republic
, Charles Olivier de Saint-Georges, marquis de Vérac, until the ambassador discovered that he had leaked confidential information to a Dutch newspaper, and dismissed him. Before his employment at the embassy he apparently was a French tutor in a Dutch family in Amsterdam, and an occasional journalist. After his dismissal he took up journalism full time, first in an Orangist
newspaper, but after the Prussian intervention in the Patriot Revolt
of 1787 he travelled for a time to Spain, where he reputedly earned a living as a swindler. Around 1790 he was back in the Netherlands, where he took up his journalistic work in Leiden as an editor of the French-language Gazette de Leyde; in 1792 he went to Paris, where he was active in Jacobin
circles. He briefly published a newspaper there, entitled Le Batave (""The Batavian"), which agitated for war against the Dutch Republic. During the next few years he apparently worked as a police spy for the French government, especially during the Reign of Terror
. After the fall of the Robespierre
regime he had to go abroad for a while to Germany, again apparently entering into a life of crime, until he suddenly emerged again in The Hague at the end of 1797 in the retinue of the new French ambassador to the Batavian Republic, Charles-François Delacroix
. He was appointed secretary of the ambassador, but apparently was also charged with keeping a discreet eye on the ambassador for Barras
.
. However, in this task he was hindered by the fact that he didn't speak Dutch. Ducange, on the other hand was fluent in Dutch, and therefore able to act as Delacroix' trusted henchman in this projet d'une constitution pour la République batave. However, Ducange acted more as an intermediary with the radical faction of unitarists, and thanks to him Delacroix in the course of January, 1798 accepted their version of the draft-Constitution in preference to the French draft.
This official French endorsement encouraged the radicals to impose their will by force on their political opponents. On 22 January 1798 Dutch and French troops, commanded by generals Daendels
and Joubert, surrounded The Hague, and the political opponents of the radicals in the National Assembly were arrested. The rump-Assembly next declared itself to be a Constituante, ready to promulgate a new constitution. A committee was charged with drafting this new constitution. Ducange took part in the deliberations of this committee on a daily basis (reporting back to Delacroix each night), and even translated certain parts into French for the benefit of his French principals. The fact that he kept a watchful eye, and that Delacroix had to trust his reports implicitly, probably helped to smooth the acceptance of the draft by the French "sister republic," even though it was not a slavish copy of the French model, and contained some peculiarly Dutch elements.
The draft-constitution was approved in a referendum
on 25 April and came into force on 1 May. However, soon discontent with the high-handed policies of the radicals began to grow. This discontent was also directed against Ducange, whose sometimes abrasive behavior and evident influential position were resented. He was specifically blamed for the decision of the radicals on 4 May to continue the rump-Assembly in office and not to hold new elections. Soon intrigues back in Paris caused the Directoire to demand his recall to France. Delacroix own recall soon followed. None too soon, as he had become identified with the radical regime that was overthrown by a new coup d'état in June, 1798, again by general Daendels, who had now thrown in his lot with the moderate unitarists.
for a few years. Released in 1806 he again was arrested in 1808 and convicted as a swindler.
In later years he seems to have taken up the pen again. In 1821 he published a children's book offering models for letter-writing, Le sécretaire des enfants, ou correspondence entre plusieurs enfants propre à les former au style épistolaire. At the time he worked as a copyist.
He died in Paris in 1833, the same year in which his son also died.
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
, ? — Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, 1833) was a French journalist, minor diplomat, secret agent, swindler, and author. He was the father of the French author Victor Henri Joseph Brahain Ducange
Victor Henri Joseph Brahain Ducange
Victor Henri-Joseph Brahain du Cange was a French novelist and dramatist, born at the Hague, where his father was secretary to the French embassy....
. He played an important role in the coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
of 22 January 1798 in the Batavian Republic
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....
, by general Herman Willem Daendels
Herman Willem Daendels
Herman Willem Daendels was a Dutch politician who served as the 36th Governor General of the Dutch East Indies between 1808 and 1811....
, which brought the radical unitarist faction of Wybo Fijnje
Wybo Fijnje
Wybo Fijnje was a Dutch Mennonite minister, publisher in Delft, Patriot, exile, coup perpetrator, politician and - during the French era - manager of the state newspaper.-Early life:...
and Pieter Vreede
Pieter Vreede
Pieter Vreede , was a Dutch politician of the Batavian Republic in the 18th century. Vreede was born in Leiden and died in Heusden. He was a prominent critic of stadholderian misrule and of the urban patriciate....
to power, and he helped write the Staatsregeling voor het Bataafse Volk of 1798 (the first Dutch Constitution).
Early career
Little is known about Ducange's life before 1783, the year in which his son was born. As a matter of fact, the name "Ducange" seems to have been assumed, as Ducange calls himself around this time "Brahain, dit Ducange." Still, in many sources he is designated "Ducange," or "Brahain Ducange," so that is the name that will be used here. In 1783 he also published Oeuvres commentées du sieur Hadoux: expliquées et rendues intelligibles under the elaborate pseudonym André d'Acunenga Rhiba, which is an anagram of his name.He was secretary of the French ambassador to the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
, Charles Olivier de Saint-Georges, marquis de Vérac, until the ambassador discovered that he had leaked confidential information to a Dutch newspaper, and dismissed him. Before his employment at the embassy he apparently was a French tutor in a Dutch family in Amsterdam, and an occasional journalist. After his dismissal he took up journalism full time, first in an Orangist
Orangism (Netherlands)
Orangism is a monarchist political support for the House of Orange-Nassau as monarchy of the Netherlands. It played a significant role in the political history of the Netherlands since the Dutch revolt...
newspaper, but after the Prussian intervention in the Patriot Revolt
Patriots (faction)
The Patriots were a political faction in the Dutch Republic in the second half of the 18th century. They were led by Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, gaining power from November 1782....
of 1787 he travelled for a time to Spain, where he reputedly earned a living as a swindler. Around 1790 he was back in the Netherlands, where he took up his journalistic work in Leiden as an editor of the French-language Gazette de Leyde; in 1792 he went to Paris, where he was active in Jacobin
Jacobin (politics)
A Jacobin , in the context of the French Revolution, was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary far-left political movement. The Jacobin Club was the most famous political club of the French Revolution. So called from the Dominican convent where they originally met, in the Rue St. Jacques ,...
circles. He briefly published a newspaper there, entitled Le Batave (""The Batavian"), which agitated for war against the Dutch Republic. During the next few years he apparently worked as a police spy for the French government, especially during the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
. After the fall of the Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre is one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. He largely dominated the Committee of Public Safety and was instrumental in the period of the Revolution commonly known as the Reign of Terror, which ended with his...
regime he had to go abroad for a while to Germany, again apparently entering into a life of crime, until he suddenly emerged again in The Hague at the end of 1797 in the retinue of the new French ambassador to the Batavian Republic, Charles-François Delacroix
Charles-François Delacroix
Charles-François Delacroix was a secretary to Turgot, a deputy to the National Convention and a French Minister of Foreign Affairs between 3 November, 1795 and 15 July 1797. In 1799, he became the first prefect in the Bouches-du-Rhône and in 1803 in the Gironde. Delacroix interrogated George...
. He was appointed secretary of the ambassador, but apparently was also charged with keeping a discreet eye on the ambassador for Barras
Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras
Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras was a French politician of the French Revolution, and the main executive leader of the Directory regime of 1795–1799.-Early life:...
.
The coup d'état of 22 January 1798 and its aftermath
At this time the politicians of the Batavian Republic were in the process of writing a Constitution amid much political strife. Roughly speaking there were three political factions vying to get the upper hand: a group of "federalists," who wanted to maintain the decentralized structure of the old Dutch Republic; and two factions of "unitarists," one moderate, and one radical, who wanted to transform the new Republic into a unitary state. It was Delacroix' mission to impose a Constitution following the model of the French Constitution of 1795French Constitution of 1795
The Constitution of 22 August 1795 was a national constitution of France ratified by the National Convention on 22 August 1795 during the French Revolution...
. However, in this task he was hindered by the fact that he didn't speak Dutch. Ducange, on the other hand was fluent in Dutch, and therefore able to act as Delacroix' trusted henchman in this projet d'une constitution pour la République batave. However, Ducange acted more as an intermediary with the radical faction of unitarists, and thanks to him Delacroix in the course of January, 1798 accepted their version of the draft-Constitution in preference to the French draft.
This official French endorsement encouraged the radicals to impose their will by force on their political opponents. On 22 January 1798 Dutch and French troops, commanded by generals Daendels
Herman Willem Daendels
Herman Willem Daendels was a Dutch politician who served as the 36th Governor General of the Dutch East Indies between 1808 and 1811....
and Joubert, surrounded The Hague, and the political opponents of the radicals in the National Assembly were arrested. The rump-Assembly next declared itself to be a Constituante, ready to promulgate a new constitution. A committee was charged with drafting this new constitution. Ducange took part in the deliberations of this committee on a daily basis (reporting back to Delacroix each night), and even translated certain parts into French for the benefit of his French principals. The fact that he kept a watchful eye, and that Delacroix had to trust his reports implicitly, probably helped to smooth the acceptance of the draft by the French "sister republic," even though it was not a slavish copy of the French model, and contained some peculiarly Dutch elements.
The draft-constitution was approved in a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on 25 April and came into force on 1 May. However, soon discontent with the high-handed policies of the radicals began to grow. This discontent was also directed against Ducange, whose sometimes abrasive behavior and evident influential position were resented. He was specifically blamed for the decision of the radicals on 4 May to continue the rump-Assembly in office and not to hold new elections. Soon intrigues back in Paris caused the Directoire to demand his recall to France. Delacroix own recall soon followed. None too soon, as he had become identified with the radical regime that was overthrown by a new coup d'état in June, 1798, again by general Daendels, who had now thrown in his lot with the moderate unitarists.
Later career
After this we again lose sight of Ducange for a few years, but in 1803 the French government sent him as a secret agent to Vienna to spy on French émigrés. When the Austrian police caught wind of this intrigue, Ducange had to flee, first to Saxony, and later back to France, where he was locked up in the Temple prisonTemple (Paris)
The Temple was a medieval fortress in Paris, located in what is now the IIIe arrondissement. It was built by the Knights Templar from the 12th century, as their European headquarters. In the 13th century it replaced earlier works of the Vieille Temple in Le Marais...
for a few years. Released in 1806 he again was arrested in 1808 and convicted as a swindler.
In later years he seems to have taken up the pen again. In 1821 he published a children's book offering models for letter-writing, Le sécretaire des enfants, ou correspondence entre plusieurs enfants propre à les former au style épistolaire. At the time he worked as a copyist.
He died in Paris in 1833, the same year in which his son also died.