Gabriel Brizard often known as Abbé Brizard, and sometimes by the pen-name Gallophile (lover of France), was a writer and historian whose work was popular and respected in the 18th century. He was a lawyer at the Parliament of Paris. (Parlement de Paris

Parlement

Parlements were regional legislative bodies in Ancien Régime France.The political institutions of the Parlement in Ancien Régime France developed out of the previous council of the king, the Conseil du roi or curia regis, and consequently had ancient and customary rights of consultation and...

)

He supported many of the reforms of the French revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 and admired Voltaire

Voltaire

François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...

 and his anti-clerical views. Brizard was also an admirer of Rousseau and Mably

Gabriel Bonnot de Mably

Gabriel Bonnot de Mably , sometimes known as Abbé de Mably, was a French philosopher and politician. He was born in Grenoble of a legal family, and, like his younger brother, the well-known philosopher, Étienne Bonnot de Condillac , took holy orders...

. His Éloge historique de l'abbé de Mably (eulogy/obituary) published after Mably's death won him a prize from the Académie des inscriptions et belles lettres in 1787.