BEFFROY DE REIGNY

beffroy de reigny, louis abel (1757-1811), french dramatist and man of letters, was born at laon on the 6th of november 1757. under the name of "cousin jacques" he founded a periodical called _les lunes_ (1785-1787). the _courrier des planetes ou correspondance du cousin jacques avec le firmament_ (1788-1792) followed. _nicodeme dans la lune, ou la revolution pacifique_ (1790) a three-act farce, is said to have had more than four hundred representations. in spite of his protests against the evils of the revolution he escaped interference through the influence of his brother, louis etienne beffroy, who was a member of the convention. of _la petite nanette_ (1795) and several other operas he wrote both the words and the music. his _dictionnaire neologique_ (3 vols., 1795-1800) of the chief actors and events in the revolution was interdicted by the police and remained incomplete. beffroy spent his last years in retirement, dying in paris on the 17th of december 1811.