Malesherbes, Lamoignon de, French statesman, born in Paris; a good and upright man; was twice over called to be one of Louis XVI.'s advisers, but his advice was not taken and he retired; defended Louis at his trial; pled for him “with eloquent want of eloquence, in broken sentences, in embarrassment and sobs,” and was guillotined for it; he had been censor of the press, and to his liberal-minded censorship the world owes the publication of the “Encyclopédie” (1721‒1794).
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Malebranche, Nicholas * Malherbe, François de