[In marble, by J. J. Foucon, signed and dated 1779. There is a copy of this bust at Versailles.]
227.Charles Rivière Dufresny.Dramatist.
[Born in Paris, 1648. Died 1724. Aged 76.]
A versatile genius! A musician, a poet, a draughtsman, a gardener, and an architect. And most improvident withal! Was in the service of Louis XIV. first as valet-de-chambre, then as Inspector of the Royal Gardens. In the latter capacity, he was the first to introduce the English style of gardening into France. He enjoyed a pension; but for an inconsiderable sum he sold both place and pension, and soon became penniless. Then took to writing for the theatre as a last resource for bread. Few of his plays met with, or deserved, success; but one or two have recognised merit. He received fresh favours from the King, and the Duke of Orleans conferred upon him a handsome gift of money. But nothing could save Dufresny from himself. He fell in his age into deep poverty, and so died.
[From the marble by Augustin Pajou, signed and dated 1781. A sculptor and professor in the Academy of Paris, and one of the best of his time. He died in 1809.]
228.Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon.Dramatic Author.
[Born at Dijon, in France, 1674. Died in Paris, 1762. Aged 88.]
Styled theÆschylusof France. Educated by the Jesuits, and intended for the law, he produced, in 1705, his first play, “Idomeneus.” A subsequent effort, the tragedy of “Rhadamistus,” placed him at once in advance of all the tragic poets who lingered on the stage after Corneille and Racine had quitted it. Disgusted, at a later period, with Court neglect, and the decline of popularity, he withdrew from the world, and passed a life of abstinence amidst a large number of cats and dogs, whose attachment, he said, consoled him for man’s ingratitude. In 1731, elected a member of the French Academy. Towards the close of his days the sun once more smiled upon his fortunes. He received a pension through Madame Pompadour of 2,400 French livres; and the King of France caused his works to be printed at the Louvre press. As a tragic author he takes high rank. Too fond of dealing in horrors, but all his works have warmth, energy, and varied action. He was proud, independent, and alive to his own defects.
[The marble bust from which this was taken was executed after a model from the life, by the celebrated sculptor, J. B. Lemoyne, in 1760. The marble was carved by J. B. Huez, in 1778, as the inscription tells us. The only notice of Huez, who has often been considered the author of the bust, is in “Les Salons” of Diderot, where he is mentioned amongst the contributors to the exhibitions of the day, and not in complimentary terms. Lemoyne was a Parisian, and died in 1778. He did many busts.]
229.Philippe Néricault Destouches.Dramatist.
[Born at Tours, in France, 1680. Died 1754. Aged 74.]
In his youth served as a volunteer in the French army. Then adjoined to the embassy in Switzerland, where his leisure enabled him to follow the bent of his fancy, and to write for the stage. His plays were as popular as his diplomatic skill proved useful. He found favour with the Duke of Orleans, who attached him to the mission of Dubois, when that minister, in 1717, went to London. His diplomacy still pleased the Regent, who, unfortunately, died too soon for Destouches. But the dramatist had been prudent; and upon the death of his patron, he retired with a sufficient fortune to his estate, and sought consolation in the pursuits of agriculture and philosophy. His plays won applause rather by the interesting situations of which they were full, than by subtle development of character.
[From the only bust of him, by P. F. Berruer, done in 1781 and signed. Berruer was a member of the Paris Academy, and died in 1797.]
230.Alain Réné Le Sage.Novelist.
[Born at Sarzeau, in France, 1683. Died at Boulogne-sur-Mer, 1741. Aged 58.]
The author of “Gil Blas” and the “Devil on Two Sticks.” A poor man, notwithstanding the success of his novels. Becoming deaf, he used a speaking-trumpet in the presence of intelligent visitors; when other visitors came to him he gravely put the instrument into his pocket. An inimitable painter of human nature, ranking with the few immortals whose creations appeal to all times. Proud and independent, though amiable of disposition. Devoted to the pursuits and joys of a literary life.
231.Alexis Piron.Poet.
[Born at Dijon, 1689. Died 1773. Aged 84.]
A wild and dissolute spirit. The author of one admirable comedy, “La Métromanie,” which may take rank with the dramatic productions of the best period in France, and of seven volumes of compositions which have long ceased to float on the broad river of fame. Piron was the son of an apothecary at Dijon, and after almost breaking his father’s heart by his follies, he was obliged to flee his native town in consequence of the publication of an indecorous effusion written amidst the fumes of an orgie. He went to Paris, and there for nine years lived in great indigence, supporting himself as a copyist. Then he took to writing for the minor theatres, with more or less success, until 1738, when he produced his masterpiece, already mentioned. It secured him a place at once amongst the best dramatists of his country. In 1753, he applied for a vacant seat in the Academy, and was refused. He revenged himself by composing a satire and the followingepitaph:—
“Ci-git Piron, qui ne fut rien,Pas même Académicien.”“Here lies Piron—a nullity—Not even an Academician.”
“Ci-git Piron, qui ne fut rien,Pas même Académicien.”
“Here lies Piron—a nullity—Not even an Academician.”
[This is an admirable bust, by Caffieri, dated 1775. Copied at Versailles by M. Pigalle.]
232.Pierre Claude Nivelle de la Chaussée.Dramatist.
[Born in Paris, 1692. Died there, 1754. Aged 62.]
He is regarded as the inventor of sentimental comedy in France (Comédielarmoyante.) Hugh Kelly’s “False Delicacy” made the invention known in England, and Foote’s “Piety in Pattens” ridiculed it. Pierre de la Chaussée was a French Academician. His writings gained for him considerable fame during his life, and La Harpe ranks him amongst the authors who have conferred honour upon the French theatre.
[In marble, by Caffieri. 1785.]
233.François Marie Arouet de Voltaire.Historian, Poet, and Wit.
[Born at Chatenay, in France, 1694. Died in Paris, 1778. Aged 84.]
This extraordinary Intellect was not, as is generally supposed, an atheist. Voltaire was not destitute of the sense of moral responsibility; and he hardly believed in the immortality of the soul; but it was from his pen that fell the startling confession that, “if God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent his being.” Voltaire was richly endowed. He wrote the best epic poem in the French language; his tragedies, full of strength and passion, take high rank; his satire is cutting and inimitable, and his historical writings are full of life and movement. Wrapt up, however, in the philosophical spirit of the eighteenth century, he was ever incapable of judging justly of the greatness of minds who had received the prejudices of less enlightened times. For forty years, he led a life of incessant literary action: part of that time he was forced, in consequence of his satirical writings, to live in England, where he became the intimate of Bolingbroke, Toland, and other deists. In 1749, he visited Berlin, on the invitation of Frederic the Great. Always a persevering and acrimonious enemy of Christianity, he laughed at Revelation; and, a sneerer at hereditary orders, he helped largely to the overthrow of the monarchy in France. He did not live to witness the Revolution; but it is said that he lived long enough to be horrified at his infidelity. It must be noted to his honour, that whilst he ridiculed all things in which he had no faith, he was sincere in his maintenance of the rights of humanity, and in his denunciations of injustice. He was the idol of all who read and talked in France in his time.
[From the marble, by Houdon, done in 1778, and signed by him in the Théâtre Français. There is a fine seated statue of Voltaire in the Théâtre Français by Houdon considered to be hischef-d’œuvreas a portrait statue, and remarkable for the noble style in which the subject is treated. Copies of the same bust and statue exist at Versailles.]
233A.François Marie Arouet de Voltaire.Historian, Poet, and Wit.
[By Pajou.]
234.Michel Jean Sedaine.Dramatist.
[Born in Paris, 1719. Died there, 1797. Aged 78.]
The son of an architect. At the age of 13 relinquished, through poverty, the study of architecture and became a journeyman mason. Later in life he set up as master mason, but he forsook his calling for literature and the drama. His plays are well written for stage effect, but are not remarkable for their poetic character, or correctness of style. The success of his play, “Richard Cœur de Lion,” procured him admission into the French Academy.
[From a marble, by Jaques Edouard Gatteaux, signed and dated 1843. M. Gatteaux is an engraver of medals as well as sculptor, and member of the Institute. Born 1788.]
234*.Charles Palissot de Montenoy.Dramatist.
[Born at Nancy, in France, 1730. Died, 1814. Aged 84.]
Celebrated chiefly for his comedy of the “Cercle,” in which, by his ridicule of Rousseau, he gave offence to the philosophicalliteratiof France, with whom he waged continual literary war. In 1760, he produced his comedy of “Les Philosophes;” in 1764, the “Dunciade.” His works are not distinguished by richness of invention or copiousness of ideas; but his style is natural, easy and correct.
[Bust to come.]
235.Marie Jeanne Vaubernier, Comtesse du Barry.
[Born at Vaucouleurs, in France, 1746. Guillotined, 1793. Aged 47.]
Of humble parentage. Quitting a convent in Paris into which she had entered at an early age, she worked as a milliner when fifteen years old. Shortly afterwards she became the mistress of the Count du Barry, a dissolute man of fashion, and by him was introduced to Louis XV., who captivated by her beauty and unrestrained manners, induced the brother of the Count to make Mademoiselle Vaubernier his lawful wife. La Comtesse du Barry, received at Versailles, soon acquired an ascendancy over the licentious monarch and his court. She exercised supreme sway, and held in her hands the power of life and death—promotion and disgrace. Her extravagance was boundless. At the death of Louis in 1774, she was shut up in a convent, where she became religious. Released from her imprisonment by Louis XVI., she conducted herself with decorum, but too late for any earthly happiness she might derive from repentance. In 1793, the revolutionists took her life because she had devoted it to the service of the Royal family, for whom, it would appear, she had sold her diamonds. She was much pitied at the scaffold, where she betrayed great want of courage.
[From the marble in the Louvre, by Pajou. A very beautiful work delicately chiselled, and full of life and softness. It is signed and dated 1772. The bust at Versailles is a repetition, dated 1773.]
236.Michel de Montaigne.Essayist.
[Born at the Castle of Montaigne, in Perigord, France, 1533. Died at Perigord, 1592. Aged 59.]
An original and most engaging writer. His essays consist chiefly either of personal narrative, or of disquisitions upon his individual nature. His reasoning acute and philosophical, his manner, if one may so call it, grotesque, and naïve. His descriptions of persons, events, and places full of life and exquisite drawing. A favourite author with all lovers of sterling thought, lucid style, and quaint reflection. He lived during a time of religious conflict, but walked quietly and unscathed through the fire, blessed with philosophic calm. He travelled in 1580, visited Switzerland and Venice “which he had a hunger to see,” and settled for a time in Rome. He said “he could not go out of his way, for he had no way to go.” On his return, elected Mayor of Bordeaux, though he told the electors he had “neither party-spirit, memory, diligence, nor experience.” Elected for a second time to the office, nevertheless. A man of great moral courage, and warm in his friendships.
237.Jacques Auguste de Thou.Minister of State and Historian.
[Born in Paris 1553. Died 1617. Aged 64.]
Under Henry III. of France, De Thou discharged the duties of several offices with eminent ability and credit; and in 1581, was appointed one of the commissioners, sent to quiet the disturbances in Guyenne. In 1588, he was nominated Councillor of State, and in the following years proceeded to Germany and Italy on a diplomatic mission. On the death of Henry III. he received the confidence of Henry IV., and was employed, with others, to digest the articles set forth in the celebrated Edict of Nantes in 1598. In 1591, he commenced his great history of his own times; and, in 1604, published the first eighteen books. After the death of Henry IV., he served for a time as one of the Directors of Finance in Sully’s place, but soon retired, disappointed and vexed; and closed his days in the completion of his magnificent historical labours, and in the practice of piety. De Thou was deeply read in men, and learned in human dealings; grave and severely simple. His mighty work was written in 138 books, in the purest Latin, and is one of the world’s monuments of industry, intelligence, and knowledge. He also wrote Latin verses.
[From the marble in the Louvre, by Barthélemi Prieur. The head is in white marble, and the body in porphyry to imitate his robe.]
238.Réné Descartes.Mathematician and Metaphysician.
[Born at Touraine, in France, 1596. Died at Stockholm, in Sweden, 1650. Aged 54.]
Shares with Bacon the title of Father of Modern Philosophy. All the metaphysical writers follow him, as the men of the physical sciences follow Bacon. He was only three and twenty when, whilst with his regiment on the Danube, he determined to reform philosophy. To do so, he resolved to efface from his mind all that he had learnt, and to admit nothing that could not be demonstrated by reason and experience. With him, consciousness was the solebasis, mathematics the solemethod, of certainty. He substituted the philosophy of reason for that of authority. His genius for the great sciences, and his superiority over the majority of his contemporaries in scientific acquirements, were remarkable. He first applied algebra to geometry; he likewise made observations on the decline of the magnetic needle, put forward the true theory of the rainbow, and brought the science of optics within the domain of mathematics. His influence over his age was great, though his writings involved him in controversies. But he was timid as a man. He wrote a book on astronomy, but destroyed it on learning the fate of Galileo. He was the first great master of French prose. It is said of him, that he began by doubting everything, and ended by believing that he had left nothing unexplained.
239.Antoine Arnauld.Theologian and Controversialist.
[Born in Paris, 1612. Died at Brussels, 1694. Aged 82.]
A learned and fierce polemic, whose consistency was as perfect as his spirit was bitter, and whose defiance of conflict and danger was as insolent as his private life was blameless. His happiness consisted in spiritual warfare. He established himself spokesman of the Jansenists. When he was ten years old he was heard to say to Cardinal Perron, “With this pen I, like you, will write against the Huguenots.” He commenced the labours of his life by an attack upon the Jesuits. Taking active part in all the angry discussionrespecting grace, he published two “Apologies” in favour of Jansenius, which drew upon him the censure of the Sorbonne, and compelled him to retire to Port Royal, where he remained for the space of twelve years. Returning to Paris in 1668, he plunged immediately into the seething waters of controversy, and was again forced into exile. Fifteen years afterwards, we find him, as furious as ever, attacking the doctrine of Malebranche respecting the grace and vision of God. At his own request, his much-agitated heart, after it had ceased to beat, was sent to be deposited in the Port Royal. Forty-eight volumes remain to attest the intensity of his religious prejudices, the depth and extent of his learning, his violent love of wrangling, and his restless and unwearied industry. We sigh over the waste of power and the misuse of fine material.
240.Sébastien le Prestre de Vauban.Engineer.
[Born at St.-Léger de Foucheret, in Burgundy, 1633. Died 1707. Aged 74.]
Of poor parents, but well descended. At the age of seventeen, entered the army of Condé, in Spain, then fighting against France. Taken prisoner in 1653, he went over to the French army, and received his commission as lieutenant of engineers. His rise was as rapid as his services were great. At the age of twenty-five, he conducted the sieges of Gravelines, Ypres, and Oudenarde. He gave the most valuable help in all the campaigns of Holland and Flanders, from 1667 to 1703; and in 1703 was created Marshal of France. His contributions to the science of fortification have celebrated his name. He was not only a great builder, but a shrewd observer, and knew better than any of his contemporaries how to avail himself, whether in defence, or in attack, of the circumstances by which he was surrounded, and of the opportunities and conditions of his time. To him we owe the system of parallel lines, which he introduced before the city of Maestricht. At the siege of Philisbourg, he invented the “tir à ricochet,” in which the ball, making a series of bounds, strikes several times along works against which it is directed. He also invented the musket, in which the match served in lieu of the cover to the pan. He afterwards armed the musket with the bayonet. He vastly improved the system of inundations, that most useful element of self-defence. His engineering appliances during his long and indefatigable service were inexhaustible. It is affirmed on authority, that he repaired three hundred old fortresses, constructed thirty-three new works, conducted fifty-three sieges, and was present at a hundred and forty severe engagements. He also left behind him twelve folio volumes on Strategetics, entitled “Idle Hours.” Vauban was beloved by the soldiery, for whose safety he was always careful. His humanity is otherwise known by his endeavour to procure from the king, his master, the restoration of the Edict of Nantes. To that king he was deeply attached; although to him, as well as to every other man, he was blunt in the expression of what he believed to be truth,—straightforward and manly. He has been called the prince of engineers, and the best of subjects.
241.Joseph Pitton de Tournefort.Botanist.
[Born at Aix, in Provence, 1656. Died 1708. Aged 52.]
Educated by the Jesuits, and intended originally for the Church; but upon the death of his father he made several botanical excursions, and finally devoted his days to the prosecution of his darling pursuit. He visited England, Spain, and Holland. Tournefort did much towards thefoundation of a scientific botany. His special service was in distinguishing plants from one another, and in preparing them by classification for the handling of the more philosophic student. Like the other botanists of his time, he had his own system of classification. He was one of the first thinkers upon the geographical distribution of plants. In 1700, he pursued his inquiries in the Levant, whence he brought home, after protracted and perilous wandering, no fewer than 1356 new plants. He published his “Travels in the Levant” upon his return to France.
242.Charles Rollin.Historian.
[Born in Paris, 1661. Died 1741. Aged 80.]
The son of a cutler, and himself intended for that trade; but rescued to learning and literature by a Benedictine monk who placed him at the College of Plessis. His studies were eminently successful. After holding many high scholastic appointments in France, he was obliged to resign, in 1720, the Rectorship of the College of Plessis, where he had been brought up, in consequence of the religious troubles of the time, he being suspected of favouring the Jansenists. From 1720 until his death, occupied in literary labours. His “Ancient History” appeared at intervals, from 1730 to 1738. Its simple style and moral tendency are more to be admired than the exactness of its narrative and the discernment of its author. The other writings of Rollin improved the taste of his age, and certainly strengthened its moral tone. As Rector of the University he revived the study of Greek, and gave prominence to the cultivation of French. He corresponded with Frederic the Great, Rousseau, and Voltaire, without deriving injury from their acquaintance: for all his contemporaries describe him as singularly virtuous and pious.
243.Jean Baptiste Rousseau.Lyric Poet.
[Born in Paris, 1669. Died at Brussels, 1741. Aged 72.]
A lyric poet of great celebrity in France, but many of his compositions defaced by scurrility and indecency. He was the son of a shoemaker, but he received a good education, and at an early age, gave sign of his poetic genius. In his nineteenth year, appointed page to the French ambassador at the court of Denmark; and subsequently attached as Secretary to the Embassy in England. In 1712, he fell into disfavour, and was banished from France for writing libellous verses, which, to the last moment of his life, he declared were the production of some enemy, who had designed his ruin. Retiring to Vienna, he found favour with Prince Eugene. The odes of Jean Baptiste Rousseau are not surpassed, if they are equalled, in the French language; his lyrics are elegant and harmonious, and his epigrammatic skill is perfect. His later productions, however, exhibit a lamentable falling off from the early excellence by which he won his fame.
[In marble, by Caffieri. No date.]
244.Réné Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur.Chemist and Naturalist.
[Born at Rochelle, in France, 1683. Died at Maine, in France, 1757. Aged 74.]
The discoverer, in his own country, of the art of making steel, till then imported into France. The thermometer which he adjusted, and which is named after him, is chiefly used on the continent. His life spent in theservice of science, and in the close pursuit of truth. Entomology was, however, his favourite study; and he contributed a most interesting memoir towards the history of insects. He died from the effects of a fall from his horse.
245.Georges Louis Le Clerc, Comte de Buffon.Naturalist.
[Born at Montbard, in France, 1707. Died in Paris, 1788. Aged 81.]
This great naturalist commenced his scientific career at the age of 25, and his study at Montbard was called by Prince Henry of Prussia “the cradle of Natural History.” Shortly afterwards appointed Intendant to theJardin des Plantesat Paris, where he projected his theory of the classification of animals, and assisted by Daubenton and Lacépède, wrote the great work which has immortalized his name. He was more or less dissimilar to Linnæus in the spirit and in the detail of his undertaking. Buffon’s object is to write a natural history of each animal; that of Linnæus to express its peculiar and distinctive character in the fewest possible words. Linnæus gives classical names to the objects he describes. Buffon names his animals in French. Buffon’s style is luminous and elevated, and at times approaches the character of blank verse. He is one of the founders of ethnological science, and as a writer on ethnology gave great prominence to the history of man as an Animal. He was sensual, vain, and in religious matters hypocritical.
[The original bust, which is in the Louvre, is inscribed—“By Pajou, sculpteur du Roy, professeur de son Académie de peinture et de sculpture, 1773.” Pajou died in 1809.]
245A.Georges Louis Le Clerc, Comte de Buffon.Naturalist.
[By J. Debay.]
246.Charles Linné, known by his Latin nameLinnæus.Botanist.
[Born at Rœshult, in Sweden, 1707. Died at Upsal, in Sweden, 1778. Aged 71.]
A botanist, even at school, where he neglected his books in order to collect plants in the fields. His father, in despair, apprenticed him to a shoemaker. With eight pounds in his pocket, he went to Upsal, to study for the medical profession. Here he was appointed botanical lecturer in the University. Thence he was despatched to Lapland on a botanical expedition, and it is said he travelled 3,500 miles with no more than ten pounds. Finally became Professor of Medicine at Upsal, and Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens. Published, besides his greatSystema Naturæ, many works on natural history, and a book onMateria Medicaand nosology. He invented a new system of classification, founded upon the sexes of plants, which reigned in the science till superseded by the natural system of Jussieu. In person below the middle height, strong, and muscular. His head large; his look ardent and piercing; his features agreeable and animated. Vanity his greatest foible; yet few men have shown greater boldness, zeal, and activity, in the pursuit of science. His love of nature seemed a religious devotion of the heart. His library andherbariumwere purchased for 1000l.by Sir James Edward Smith, and are now in the possession of the Linnæan Society of London.
247.Jean Jacques Rousseau.Philosopher and Writer.
[Born at Geneva, 1712. Died at Ermenonville, in France, 1778. Aged 66.]
This singular and morally-distempered man, was endowed by nature witha warm imagination, a teeming fancy, and ardent feeling; but his whole nature was unhinged, by the absence of conscientiousness and directing principle. He was not only self-loving and vain, but self-engrossed. His early life was passed in reading romances, and in the loose indulgence of his weaknesses and passions. Yet his pen was a potent one, and, even more than that of Voltaire, helped to bring about the Revolution in France, and all its social blasphemies. Whilst Voltaire, with his bright and sharpened wit, cut away the cable that held religion to its moorings, Rousseau penetrated to the households of men, invaded their firesides, and poisoned their hearts. His writings were new, fascinating, and eloquent; abounding in highly-wrought descriptions of nature, and in what seemed genuine bursts of passion. His philosophy attributed all vices to civilization, to the existence of property, and to the tyranny of governments. His career was as disgraceful to himself, as his works proved detrimental to the happiness of others. He committed frequent thefts in his youth, and behaved with infamous ingratitude towards his benefactress, Madame de Warens, who saved him from threatened starvation; yet was left by him to starve in later days, when the condition in life of both had changed. With all his profound sentiment, Rousseau was a cold-blooded and cruel man. He was a subtle, independent, and original inquirer.
[From the bronze in the Louvre which bears the name of Houdon, 1778. The treatment is in the antique manner. The drapery is a mantle, and the head is bound with a fillet. This bust has an especial interest, from its having been executed from a cast taken after death by Houdon, who was sent for to Ermenonville immediately after the decease of Rousseau, by M. de Girardin, with whom he lived. The original cast still exists, and shows its genuineness by the scar on the forehead, caused by Rousseau’s falling from his chair; an accident which gave rise to the report that he had shot himself.]
247*.Jean Darcet.Chemist and Physician.
[Born at Douazit, in France, 1725. Died in Paris, 1801. Aged 76.]
Disinherited by his father for preferring the study of natural philosophy to that of jurisprudence; but befriended by Montesquieu, who appointed him tutor to his sons. His great discovery was the composition of porcelain. He artificially formed from minerals, found in France, the earth of which porcelain is made, and which exists in a natural state in Saxony, where the law forbade its exportation. The first to extract gelatine from bones, and soda from the sea water. Director of the Gobelins and of the Sèvres manufactories.
[Bust to come.]
248.Jean Pierre Duhamel.Man of Science.
[Born at Nicorps, in France, 1730. Died 1816. Aged 86.]
In 1752, Duhamel visited the mines of the Pyrenees, and of various parts of Germany, in order to collect information, his object being to establish a School of Mines in his own country. But he had to wait twenty years for the realization of his idea. As soon as it was carried out, he received the appointment of Professor of Agriculture and Metallurgy. He was a true practical philosopher, and his inventions and discoveries were all of the highest use in the branch of science to the development of which his life-long exertions had been directed.
249.Joseph Louis Lagrange.Astronomer.
[Born at Turin, in Italy, 1736. Died in Paris, 1813. Aged 77.]
At the age of 19, was Professor of Mathematics at the College of Turin. Appointed successor to Euler when the latter was removed from Berlin. Subsequently settled in Paris, where he became one of the Directors of the Mint, and Professor in the Polytechnic school. In 1793, when all foreigners were ordered to leave France, he was permitted to remain. His important labours contributed largely to the advancement of mathematics and astronomy, agitating most of the problems which Laplace subsequently treated with such success. Delicate in health, he led a temperate life; and in society he was reserved and contemplative. Neither great fame nor high honour impaired his modesty. One of the Encyclopedists.
250.Jean François Galaup de la Pérouse.Navigator.
[Born at Albi, in France, 1741. Died about 1788.]
At an early age entered the naval service of his country, and in 1782 commanded the successful attempt to destroy the English settlement at Hudson’s Bay: an attack in which he displayed great humanity towards the foe. In 1785, he quitted France with two small frigates on a voyage of discovery. He visited the coasts of Tartary, Japan, and New Holland; in 1787, he sent home one of his officers with an account of his expedition; and in 1788, he quitted Botany Bay. No further intelligence was ever received of him or of any of his crew. He probably perished on one of the Vanikors islands.
250*.Marie-Jean-Antoine Nicolas Carétat, Marquis de Condorcet.Mathematician and Philosopher.
[Born in Picardy, France, 1743. Died at Clamart, in France, 1794. Aged 51.]
One of the original thinkers of the eighteenth century, and the biographer of Voltaire. Cold and reserved in his manner, but his feelings warm and enthusiastic. D’Alembert called him “a volcano covered with snow.” Another writer has said that goodness was so sweetly expressed in his eyes, that had he proved dishonest, he would have been more to blame than any other man. He earned and still retains the name of the “virtuous Condorcet.” His scientific attainments caused him to be elected Secretary to the Academy of Sciences at an early age. His works, which are in 21 vols., were collected by Cabanis and Garat. The work on which his fame will rest is theEsquisse d’un tableau Historique des progrès de l’esprit Humain, where, for the first time, the idea of Progress as a law of Humanity was scientifically expounded. Condorcet believed in the indefinite perfectibility of man as the result of this law of progress. In 1791, inflamed with the zeal which he had helped to kindle for liberty, and the overthrow of inveterate abuses, he became a member of the National Assembly, but not proving violent enough for his colleagues, was forced to secrete himself in the house of a friend. Death being pronounced against all who should harbour proscribed persons, Condorcet voluntarily quitted his sanctuary in disguise; but was detected in the village of Clermont, and thrown into prison. He swallowed poison, and was found dead on the following morning. In action, Condorcet wanted moral courage.
[Bust to come.]
251.Jacques Étienne Montgolfier.Aëronaut, and Inventor of Balloons.
[Born at Vidalon-lès-Annonai, in France, 1745. Died at Serrières, in France, 1799. Aged 54.]
The son of a paper-maker. Was led by reading the philosophical writings of Priestley to conceive the idea of employing gas, lighter than the atmosphere, as a means of ascending through the air. His first experiment was made at Annonai in 1783, and with such success that he repeated it the same year in Paris, and again at Versailles before the Court. Montgolfier was rewarded for his invention by admission to the Academy of Sciences, the cordon of St. Michel, and a pension of 2000 livres.
251*.Gaspar Monge.Geometrician.
[Born at Beaunée, in France, 1746. Died in Paris, 1818. Aged 72.]
Inventor of descriptive geometry, and one of the founders of the Polytechnic School at Paris. During the Revolution elected Minister of Marine but soon resigning, took a personally active part in the equipment of the army for war. Under Napoleon, visited Egypt, where his investigations of architectural remains were incessant. His whole life devoted to science; and his work on the history of Mathematics testifies to his deep spirit of research. An impartial writer, but a praiser of few.
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252.Dominique Denon.Egyptian Traveller.
[Born at Chalons-sur-Saone, in France, 1747. Died in Paris, 1825. Aged 78.]
Brought up to the law, he neglected his profession for the fine arts. Found favour with Louis XV. and his successor. Fulfilled several diplomatic appointments with great success. In 1787, became a member of the Academy of Painters. Employed by Robespierre to design the new republican official costumes. Accompanied the French expedition to Egypt; of which one result was his interesting and magnificent work, published at the public expense, “Travels in Upper and Lower Egypt, during the campaigns of General Buonaparte.” This work first brought the wonderful remains of ancient Egyptian art distinctly before our eyes. Subsequently appointed, by Napoleon, Director-General of Museums, and mainly organized in Paris the admirable collection which for a time constituted the richest treasury of art ever known in Europe. At the Restoration, Denon lost his office, and devoted his leisure to the arrangement of his own museum. He was an ardent lover of the fine arts, possessed an elegant taste and liberal mind.
[From the marble in the Louvre, by M. Marin. 1827.]
252*.Claude Louis Berthollet.Chemist.
[Born at Talloire, in Savoy, 1748. Died at Arcueil, in France, 1822. Aged 74.]
After studying at Turin, went to Paris. There elected a member of the Academy of Sciences, and Professor of Chemistry to the Normal and Polytechnic Schools. During the first wars of the Revolution employed in making gunpowder, and converting iron into steel. With Monge, the geometrician, accompanied the French army to Italy and Egypt in order to direct the removal of the plundered works of art. The friendship of these two philosophers, their calmness in pursuing science amidst danger, their courage and kindness to the soldiers, won for them the admirationof the whole army. Berthollet discovered the bleaching properties of chlorine, and the art of fixing the colour of dyes. Also assisted in the establishment of a new chemical nomenclature. Generous, disinterested, heroic; and his modesty equal to his merit.
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253.Antoine Laurent de Jussieu.Botanist.
[Born at Lyons, 1748. Died in Paris, 1836. Aged 88.]
One of a celebrated family of botanists; his uncle Bernard, who died in 1777, having been one of the foremost botanists of his age. His most famous work, founded upon his uncle’s great labours, was “The Varieties of Plants, arranged according to their Natural Order.” His whole scientific life was spent in an endeavour to ascertain the natural relations of plants, and, by the aid of fresh discoveries, to justify and complete the system he upheld.
253*.Pierre Simon Laplace.Astronomer.
[Born at Beaumont, in France, 1749. Died in Paris, 1827. Aged 78.]
A great geometrician and physical astronomer. To him we owe the Theory of Probabilities, and theNebular Hypothesis. He also prepared the way for the Theory of Tides. He discovered the existence of an invariable plane in the solar system. Invented a thermometer. His great work,Mécanique céleste, introduced to the English by Mrs. Somerville in her “Mechanism of the Heavens,” is so complete that no alterations of importance have been made by subsequent discovery.
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254.Jean Antoine Chaptal.Chemist.
[Born at Nogaret, in France, 1756. Died in Paris, 1832. Aged 76.]
As a chemist eminent for making the science subservient to the uses of manufacture. In 1800, elected Minister of State. In 1802, presented to the State a scheme for education which embodied Napoleon’s educational measures. Curious to say, the scheme betrayed a distrust of general education altogether, and an anxiety to train up youth in the interest of the government. An able statesman, but in science a practical philosopher, rather than a brilliant discoverer.
255.Bernard Germain Étienne Lacépède, Comte de la Ville sur Illon.Naturalist.
[Born at Agen, in France, 1756. Died at Epinay, in France, 1825. Aged 69.]
When young, in the army; but quitted it for the study of Natural History. The favorite pupil of Buffon, who obtained for him the appointment of Curator to the king, and selected him to continue his Natural History. His works display profound research, and are elegantly written. A courteous and kind-hearted man.
255*.Antoine Isaac Silvestre, Baron de Sacy.Orientalist.
[Born in Paris, 1758. Died there, 1838. Aged 80.]
One of the greatest of modern linguists, he made himself master, not only of all the classical and modern languages of Europe, but of many of the languages of the East. His industry was remarkable. In 1806, he was appointed Professor of Persian. In 1810, he published an Arabic grammar.In 1832, he was raised to the peerage, and made keeper of the Oriental MSS. in the king’s library. De Sacy was the chief founder and first President of the Asiatic Society in Paris, and besides extending in his country the knowledge of every branch of Oriental literature, he caused professorships of Chinese, Sanskrit, and Hindostani to be established in Paris. He left behind him a magnificent library.
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256.Georges Léopold Chrêtien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier.Naturalist.
[Born at Montbeliard, in France, 1769. Died in Paris, 1832. Aged 63.]
At an early age displayed a taste for drawing and natural history, and an extraordinarily retentive memory. After the Reign of Terror, invited to Paris, where he prepared his “Tabular Arrangement of the Natural History of Animals,” which has served as the basis for all subsequent works on zoological classification. Shortly afterwards commenced the formation of his celebrated collection for the study of comparative anatomy. His greatest work, “The Animal Kingdom distributed according to its Organization,” has been the foundation of all zoological studies since his time. Possessed of great administrative capacity. Famous for his discoveries among fossil animals, and by these rendered invaluable services to geology. Was made Councillor of State, by Napoleon. In 1881, raised to the peerage. His writings very attractive. His mind active and enterprising, yet sound and methodical. Unlike Buffon, he consideredsystemindispensable in the investigations of physiology. Solicitous for the diffusion of knowledge. A good as well as great man. Unimpeachable in all the relations of social life.
256*.Jean Le Rond D’alembert.Mathematician and Philosopher.
[Born in Paris, 1717. Died there, 1783. Aged 66.]
When an infant exposed in the church of Le Rond, from which he is named. Nursed in obscurity by the wife of a glazier; educated at the College of Mazarin. Evinced astounding precocity and a decided inclination for mathematical studies. At the age of twenty-four gave proof of his great mathematical knowledge, and gained admission into the Academy of Sciences. Memorable for his connexion with the great French work “L’Encyclopédie,” to which he contributed many articles, and its excellent preliminary discourse. In 1772, appointed Secretary to the French Academy. The author of many celebrated works on his favourite science, in which he was an undoubted discoverer. He was the friend of the Empress Catharine of Russia, and of Frederic the Great of Prussia. In the war which in his time was carried on against the church, he took his place by the side of his friends Diderot, Voltaire, Grimm, and D’Holbach.
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256**.Alexandre Louis Joseph, Marquis de Laborde.Soldier, Traveller, and Educator.
[Born in Paris, 1774. Died there, 1842. Aged 68.]
At the breaking out of the French Revolution, entered the Austrian service, in which he remained nine years. After the treaty of Campo Formio, revisited his native city, prosecuted the study of literature and the arts, and attached himself to Napoleon and the Imperial family. Then travelledthrough. England, Holland, and Spain; accompanied Napoleon to the last-named country, and went with the Emperor also to Austria in 1810. He held many important offices during Buonaparte’s life, and formed one of the Embassy appointed to demand the hand of Maria Louisa. After the Restoration the influence of Laborde ceased; his usefulness, however, continued, for he took great pains to introduce into France the Lancasterian system of education for poor children. In 1822, he was elected Deputy for Paris; and in 1830, signed, with 220 other Deputies, the protest against the ordinances of Charles X. He was again deputy under Louis Philippe. Laborde was a traveller in the East as well as in the West: an accomplished man, and an eloquent speaker. He wrote many works having reference to his travels and to his educational objects.
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256***.Gay Lussac.French Chemist.
[Born 1778. Died 1850. Aged 72.]
A leading discoverer in Chemistry whilst the science was advancing with the most rapid steps and surprising disclosures. Of a spirit exact and large to reason out abstruse principles, subtly curious to hunt on the track of new marvels, and patient and inventive to repeat, vary, and heap experiments, his long life of labour might well leave a name memorable to his own science, and to the arts which it enlightens and aids. In 1816, he was appointed Professor of Chemistry in the Polytechnic School. He was one of those who do not shrink from personal peril in enlarging the domain of science. In. 1804, at the desire of the French government, he ascended in a balloon in order to ascertain by experiment, whether the magnetic force suffers perceptible diminution at great elevations, and found no appreciable diminution up to the elevation of 13,124 feet. Simple, modest, gentle, firm, open and upright, an unchangeable friend, and a sound patriot:—he carried into all the relations of life the ardour of truth which animated his scientific researches.
256****.Charles Nodier.Writer.
[Born at Besançon, in France, 1780. Died, 1844. Aged 64.]
One of the contributors to the “Biographie Universelle,” and an able writer on many subjects. He published a dictionary of words which naturally represent by their sound the action signified: and this work became at once, by order of the government, a class-book in all the public schools. He also wrote instructive works on flowers and insects. In 1800, there appeared from his pen a poem called “Napoleone,” for which he suffered imprisonment. A writer for theJournal des Débatsnewspaper; subsequently conducted theQuotidienne. In 1834, a member of the French Academy. He had great rapidity in composition, and published many writings; amongst them several novels. As a writer his style is pure; he was hostile to innovations in language. He has been accused of political tergiversation: and of being, little scrupulous in the way of pushing his interests, and forcing a reputation.
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257.Pierre de Terrail, Seigneur de Bayard.Warrior.
[Born near Grenoble, in France, 1476. Died, 1524. Aged 48.]
The “Chevalier sans peur et sans reproche.” A true knight and gentleman. His earliest renown won at the tourney. At the age of eighteen, entered active service, which he did not quit until his death in Italy, where he fell, as he desired, by the weapon of the foe on the field of battle. Spotless in character, intrepid, generous, self-denying, and the very soul of honour. He enjoyed the respect and admiration of his country’s enemies, and by his own countrymen he was idolized. After the battle of Marignan, his King, Francis I., one of the bravest men of his age, desired to receive the order of knighthood from the hands of Bayard. The ceremony over, Bayard addressed his sword, vowing to regard it thenceforward as a sacred relic, never to be drawn except against Turks, Saracens, and Moors. The body of Bayard was embalmed by the foe and restored to the French for honourable burial, at Grenoble.
258.Gaston de Foix.Warrior.
[Born 1489. Died at Ravenna, in Italy, 1512. Aged 23.]
The nephew of Louis XII. of France. Succeeded the Duke of Longueville in the command of the army in Italy, where his prodigies of valour and daring exploits gained him the name of the “Thunderbolt of Italy.” He raised the siege of Ravenna, and in his hot pursuit of the foe, was cut down;—slaughtered in the hour of victory.
[This is one of the finest French busts. There is also a portrait of him in the Gallery of Vienna, by Palma Vecchio.]
259.Michel de l’Hôpital.Chancellor of France.
[Born at Aigueperse, in France, 1505. Died at Vignay, in France, 1573. Aged 68.]
One of the greatest magistrates of France. Educated by his father, a surgeon, for the profession of law, at Toulouse and Padua. Entering Parliament, he became distinguished for his judgment, learning, modesty, and legal attainments. On the death of Francis I. nominated Ambassador to the Council of Trent. Upon his return to France, appointed by Marguerite de Valois, Duchesse de Berri, Private Chancellor of her Household; and after the accession of Henry II., raised to the dignity of Chancellor of France. Religious dissensions were now rife and bitter, and L’Hôpital took the side of moderation and justice. It was his hand that in 1562 drew up the edict called the “edict of January,” which gave freedom of worship to Protestants in France. Hopeless, however, of seeing an end to the fierce quarrels of Roman Catholics and Calvinists, he resigned the seals of office in 1567, and retired into privacy. He was still in obscurity when the butchery of St. Bartholomew took place. During the massacre, Catherine de Medicis sent a body-guard to protect the Ex-Chancellor. Being told that he was pardoned, L’Hôpital calmly replied “that he was not aware that he had done anything demanding either death or pardon.” The grief and horror which he experienced at this dreadful event broke the heart of the mild and conscientious man. His character looks all thebrighter from the darkness by which he is surrounded. His industry was equal to his great learning, and his high sense of honour and justice corresponded to his humanity. When, in 1554, he was made Superintendent of the Royal Finances, he restored an exhausted treasury by his stern and resolute honesty.
[From the marble in the Louvre, by Gois, Sen.]
260.Gaspard de Coligny.Marshal and Admiral.
[Born at Chatillon-sur-Loin, in France, 1517. Died in Paris, 1572. Aged 55.]
Greatly distinguished for his valour. The head of the Protestant party in France, and the first victim of the horrible massacre of St. Bartholomew.
261.Pierre Laurent Buirette de Belloy.Dramatist.[32]
[Born at St. Flour, in Auvergne, 1727. Died 1775. Aged 48.]
A writer who acquired immense popularity in his own day, but whose death, it is said, was hastened by grief at the total failure of his last dramatic work. His best production is “The Siege of Calais,” which, as the third great success achieved by his pen, secured for him the gold medal accorded by the king to authors who should have been thrice successful on the stage. The style of Belloy is somewhat laboured and sententious, and he indulges largely in hyperbole; but he had a happy knowledge of stage effect. He possessed an astonishing memory; and was the first introducer of national subjects, for representation upon the French stage. At an early period of his life he had himself been an actor in Russia.
[From the marble by Caffieri. On the pedestal of the bust is inscribed—“The work of his friend, Caffieri. 1771.”]