Laboureur, John Le

, a French historian and antiquary, was born in 1623, at Montmorency, near Paris, of which city his father was bailiff. He had scarcely attained his 13th year, when he became known to the literary world by his “Recueil de Tombeaux,” or a | collection of monuments of illustrious persons buried in the church of the Celestines at Paris, together with their eloges, genealogies, arms, and mottoes. This work appeared in 1642, 4to; and although disclaimed by the authoron account of its imperfection, yet was so well received by the public, that a second edition came out the following year. In 1644 he was at court in quality of a gentleman in waiting, when he was chosen to attend the marshal de Guebriant, charged with conducting the princess Mary de Gonzaga into Poland, in order to her marriage with Ladislaus IV. Our author returned with the ambassadress the following year, and printed in 1647, at his own expence, a relation of the journey, which was very entertaining.

Having taken orders in the church, he was made almoner to the king, and collated to the priory of Juvigne. In 1664, his majesty, out of his special favour, made him commander of the order of St. Michael. He had many years before begun a translation of the History of Charles VI. written by a monk of St. Denys, and continued by John le Fevre, called of St. Remy; but though this translation was finished in 1656, it was not published till 1663, and then too came out with a very small part of those commentaries, which, according to his promise, were to have filled two volumes. He had also published in 1656, the history of the marshal of Guebriant, with the genealogy of Budos, and some other houses in Britanny; and gave the public the memoirs of Michael de Castelnau, with several genealogical histories, 1659, in 2 vols. folio, a scarce and highly-valued edition. He continued to employ himself in writing other pieces in the same way, some of which were published after his death, which happened in 1675. Le Long and others are of opinion that Laboureur had some hand in the two last volumes of Sally’s Memoirs. He had a brother named Louis Le Laboureur, who was bailiff of Montmorency, and author of several pieces of poetry. He died in 1679. These also had an uncle, Claude Le Laboureur, provost of the abbey of L’isle Barbe, upon the Seine, near Lyons, who, in 1643, published “Notes and Corrections upon the Breviary of Lyons;” and in 1665, 1681, and 1682, “Les Mesures de L’Isle Barbe,” i. e. an historical account of every thing relating to that abbey; but the little caution which he observed in speaking of the chapter of St. John at Lyons obliged him to | resign his provostship, and raised him an enemy in the person of Besian d’Arroy, a prebendary of the church, who, in 1644, refuted his “Notes and Corrections,” and his “Measures” in 1668, in two publications, the first entitled “L’Apologie de PEglise de Lyon” and the other, “Histoire de PAbbaie de l’lsle Barbe.” Dom. Claude published “A Treatise of the Origin of Arms, against Menetrier,” and “A genealogical History of the House of St. Colombe,” which was printed in 1673. ¹