CAMBON, Pierre Joseph, French states man: b. Montpellier, 17 June 1754; d. near Brussels, 15 Feb. 1820. Engaged in commercial pursuits, he became interested in the Revo lution, and on hearing of the flight of Louis XVI he caused the republican government to be proclaimed in his native town. He was sent to the legislative assembly, and while supporting the cause of democracy, gave particular atten tion to financial matters.. Most of the great measures which enabled the government to get through the revolutionary period were sug gested or controlled by him; and to him the honor is due of having laid the foundation of the modern financial system of France. He promoted the confiscation of the estates of the imigris in 1792, and made, after 10 August, a report in which he argued that Louis XVI, having held a secret correspondence with the enemies of France, was guilty of high treason. He presided over the last sittings of the legis lative assembly, and afterward took his seat as a member of the Convention. Here he opposed with equal energy the partisans of monarchy and of terrorism. When Louis XVI was ar raigned before the Convention, he voted for his immediate death, and against the appeal to the people. He opposed the creation of the revolu tionary tribunal, and insisted upon trial by jury.
At the opening of the Convention, he had been appointed member of the Committee on Fi nances; 7 April 1793 he entered the Committee of Public Safety. On 2 June, when the Giron dists were threatened by the infuriated mob calling for their proscription, he boldly took his place among them, hoping to be able to save them from violence and arrest. The next year he made another report on the administration of finances, which is considered a masterpiece of financial ability, and gives a full sketch of the plan which was afterward adopted for the regular registration of public debt. In the conflict which brought on the revolution of the 9th Thermidor, Cambon took part against Robespierre and his adherents; but though he had been instrumental in their defeat, he was charged with having been their accomplice, and a warrant was issued against him. He suc ceeded in eluding arrest, and, when amnesty was proclaimed by the Convention, he retired to an estate in the vicinity of Montpellier. In 1815 he was elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies. On the second return of the Bourbons, he was exiled as a regicide.