Durand, David

, D. D. a very eloquent French protcstant preacher at the Savoy in London, and a fellow of the royal society, was born about 1679 at St. Pargoire in Lower Languedoc, and was the son and brother of two distinguished protestant clergymen. Of his history, however, our memoirs are very scanty. It appears that he had a congregation first at Amsterdam, whence he was invited to that of the Savoy in London, where he died Jan. 16, 1763. His character was that of an universal scholar, a deep divine, a devotee to truth, and a most benevolent and disinterested man. Among: his works are, 1. “La Vie et les Sentimens de Lucilio Vanini,” Rotterdam, 1717, 12mo, and afterwards published in English. 2. “Histoire de la Peinture ancienne,” from Pliny’s Natural History, with the Latin text, and notes, Lond. 1725, fol. without his name. [3. “A volume of Sermons in French,” Lond. 1726.] 4. “Hist, naturelle del‘Oretde l’Argent,” edited in the same manner, 1729, fol. and both marked by French bibliographers among their rare books. 5. “C. Plinii historiae naturalis ad Titum imperatorem pra?fatio,” collated with ancient Mss. &c. Lond. 1728, 8vo. 6. An edition of Telemachus, with notes and illustrations, and a life of Fenelon, Hamburgh, 1731, 2 vols. 12mo, and revised by Dr. Durand for Watts of London, 1745. 7. “Histoire du XVI Siecle,” Lond. 1725 29, 6 vols. 8vo, on the plan of Perizonius. 8. “Onzieme et douzieme volumes de l‘Hist. d’Angleterre par Rapin,” Hague, 1734, and Paris, 1749, 2 vols. 4to. 9. “Academica, sive de judicio erga verum, in ipsis primis fontibus, opera P. Valentiae Zafrensis, editio jiova emendatior,” Lond. 1740, 8vo, printed by Bowyer, | in French and Latin. This work is so scarce in France, that when M. Capperonnier, one of the keepers of the national library, wanted to add it to the other editions published by Barbou, he was obliged to transcribe the whole from a copy lent to him by M. Chardin, who had one of the finest libraries in Paris. 10. “Exercices Francais et Anglais,” Lond. 1745, 8vo. 11. “Dissertation en forme cTentretien sur la Prosodie Francaise,” prefixed to Boyer’s Dictionary. 12. “Eclaircissemens sur le toi et sur le vous,” ibid. 1753, 12mo. His sentiments on the thce and thoit have been adopted by La Harpe in his late lectures. In 1777, a posthumous work by Dr. Durand, a life of Ostervald, was published, with a preface by the late rev. Samuel Beuzeville of Bethnal-green, a French clergyman, who died in 1782. ¹