Adrien Duport

Adrien Duport was born in 1759.  He was a member of the nobility and was known for his opposition to the King Louis' ministers.  He was known to be a freemason and a follower of Anton Mesmer.

He was elected to Estates General in 1789 by the Paris nobility.  He was one of the very few nobles who joined with the Third Estate of his own volition before the King amalgamated the Estates.  By the time of the Constituent Assembly he formed what was known as the “Triumvirate” with Barnave and Alexandre de Lameth.  He was popular amongst the initial revolutionaries however after the King’s Flight to Varennes Duport did his best to protect the King.  He moved away from the Jacobins and joined the Feuillant party.

He was arrested by Danton during the chaos surrounding the attack on the Tuileries Palace on the 10th August 1792.  He was acquitted thanks to the unlikely testimony of Jean Paul Marat.  Realising that he was less popular in Paris than he was entirely good for his health he fled to Switzerland.  He would return to France but only briefly before fleeing again to Switzerland where he would die in 1798.

William Short the American chargé d'affaires notes the political situation in France in early July 1791.  Taken from Witnesses to the Revolution American: American and British Commentators in France 1788-1794, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London (1989)  p147

By one of those vicissitudes which take place in the course of the revolutions the three members who formerly were the demagogues of the Assembly (A. Lameth, Duport and Barnave) have now lost all their favour gained in some measure the confidence of the king and queen-there is no doubt that they have secret communications.  This triumvirate resolved to risk everything to attain the ministry, have removed all the obstacles, except the decree of the assembly which excludes its members.