Achard, Antoine

Achard, Antoine a Swiss Protestant divine, was born at Geneva in 1696, took orders in 1722, and in 1724 was promoted to the church of Werder, in Berlin. He enjoyed the protection of the prince royal of Prussia, and, being in Geneva in 1730, was admitted into the society of pastors. Eight years after the king of Prussia appointed him counsellor of the supreme consistory, and in 1740 a member of the French directory, with the title of privy-councillor. He was received into the Academy of Berlin in 1743, and was also appointed inspector of the French college, and director of the Charity-house. He died in 1772. His powers of oratory were very great, although he was of a very feeble constitution, subsisting for twenty years entirely on milk diet. In the Memoirs of the Academy of Berlin for 1745, there is an outline of a very considerable work, in which he proves the liberty of the human mind against Spinoza, Bayle, and Collins. Two volumes of Sermons sur Divers Textes de l'Ecriture Sainte were published at Berlin after his death.