, a French biographer, descended from an honourable family in Provence,
, a French biographer, descended
from an honourable family in Provence, was a priest of
the oratory, and born at Aix in 1680, where he was also
educated. The love of a retired life induced him to become a member of the congregation of the oratory, where
he taught the belles lettres with fame and success, and
filled the several posts of his profession with great credit.
Happening to be at Marseilles during the plague in 1719
and 1720, he risked his life in administering relief to the
diseased. He appears to have been in that city also in
1726, but some time after came to Paris, where he passed
his life in the house belonging to his order, in high esteem
with all who knew him. He died of a stroke of apoplexy,
March 19, 1753. Just before his death he had prepared
for the press his lives of the illustrious men of Provence,
which was to have formed four volume?, 4to, and was to
be published by subscription, but we do not find that the
scheme was carried into execution by his friends. During
his life he published in the literary journals, various memoirs of eminent men, and, in separate publications, the
Life of Gassendi, Paris, 1737, of John Peter Gibert, ibid.
1737, 12mo; and apart of his great work, under the title
of “Memoires pour servir a l'histoire des homines illustres
de Provence,
” ibid.
, a French biographer, was born December 24, 1652, at Paris, and
, a French
biographer, was born December 24, 1652, at Paris, and
was the son of James Bourgoin, king’s counsellor, and
hereditary judge and warden of the mint in that city. He
spent some years in the community of gentlemen established in the parish of St. Sulpice, with a view of concealing himself from the world, and having more leisure for
study; but his merit discovered him, and he was admitted
into the academy of inscriptions in 1706. In 1708, however, he voluntarily withdrew from this academy, alleging, as an excuse, that his health would not permit him
to perform the duties of it. He retired afterwards to a
small apartment in the cloisters of the Metropolitan church,
and there passed the rest of his life, contented with a little, free from ambition, employed in study and prayer,
and enjoying the society of a small number of select
friends. He continued a layman, but neither married, nor
held any office in the state. He died December 2, 1737,
aged eighty-five, leaving a great number of biographical
works, translations, and small pieces. His biographical
productions are, “The Life of St. Bernard,
” 4to; “The
Lives of the Holy Fathers of the Deserts in the East and
West,
” 5 vols. 12mo; “The Life of St. Theresa,
” with
“Select Letters
” of the same Saint, 4to, and 2 vols. 12mo;
“Anecdotes and secret Memoirs concerning the constitution Unigenitus,
” 3 vols. 12mo; but this work was suppressed by a decree of council, as well as the “Refutation
”
of it, written by M. Peter Francis Lafitau, bishop of Sisteron; “The Life of Anne Genevieve de Bourbon, duchess
de Longueville,
” the best edition of which is Amsterdam,