Gousset, James

, an eminent protestant divine, was born Oct. 7, 1635, of a good family at Blois, and was cousin-german to the celebrated Isaac Papin. He was appointed minister at Poitiers in 1662, and remained there till the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685. He then went to England, and afterwards to Holland, where he was chosen minister of the Walloon church at Dort. Five years after he was appointed professor of Greek and divinity at Groningen, where he died Nov. 4, 1704, leaving a great number of works, both printed and in ms.: the principal are, a Hebrew dictionary, or “Commentarii Lingua? Hebraicce” a valuable work, the best edition of which is that of Leipsic, 1743, 4to a refutation, in Latin, of rabbi Isaac’s “Chizzouck Emounak,” or Shield of Faith, Dort, 1688, 8vo, and Amsterdam, 1712, fol. This refutation has been much praised by several among the learned; but others doubt whether it merits such high encomiums: the book against which it was written may be found in WagensaPs “Tela ignea Satanaj.” He also published “Considerations theologiques et critiques centre le Projet d'une nouvelle Version de la Bible,” 1698, 12mo. This last was written against Charles le Cene’s project of a translation of the Bible, which should favour the Arminian doctrines. ²