LEBRUN, or LE BRUN, CHARLES FILAxgois, Due de Piacenza (Plaisance), 1739. 1824; b. France: joint consul with Napoleon, and, under the first empire, minister of. finance and confidential envoy. lie began public life as secretary of Maupoeu, presi dent of parliament, was made inspector of crown lands, and by his influence was peas-, tically, though not nominally, the head of the cabinet of Louis XV. On the dismissal of the Manpeou ministry Lethl') was in retirement till 1789. At the dawn of the, revolution he wrote a pamphlet of rare wisdom, entitled Voice of the Citizen, and was sent to the first council of the states-general. Not being all orator, he bore an inconspicuous part in that remarkable body. He was made governor of the department of the Seine and Oise in 1791, and distinguished himself by an orderly and vigorous administretion. Twice arrested and imprisoned under.the Robespierrean dynasty, lie was freed by the Tallien revolution in 1795, and elected deputy to time council of the ancients. In 1799 he was re-elected, acquired a commanding influence in that body, and controlled its financial legislation. After the coup d'etat, Nov. 12, 1799. by which Napoleon became
first consul, Lebrun accepted the position pf third consul. Under the empire he made arch-trensnrer and due de Plaisance. In 1805 lie negotiated the union of the Genoese republic with the French empire; on the abolition of the tribunat by the empe ror he retired to private life; but was called back in 1810, at the age of 71. to govern Rolland after the abdication of Louis Bonaparte. There lie was retained till the first abdication of the emperor in 1814. On the advent of the Bourbons, his name was struck from the list of peers, hut restored in 1810. Ills French biographers regard him as a remarkable example of a long life. of publiZ1 service unstained by servility, ambition, or intrigue. Manly in the expression of his opinions, he yielded loyal support to laws and institutions once established, while outspoken in declaring their errors.