ense, an officer in the service of the elector of Brandenburgh, by whom he was settled at Berlin, as a French minister. Here he resided many years, and his congregation,
, a learned Protestant divine, was born at Nay in Berne, in 1658, according to Niceron, or in 1654, as in the Gen. Dictionary. He studied at Puy Laurent, at Saumur, at Paris, and at Sedan; at which last place he received the degree of doctor in divinity. He intended to have dedicated himself very early to the ministry; but the circumstances of the Protestants of France rendering it impracticable there, he accepted the offer of the count d'Espense, an officer in the service of the elector of Brandenburgh, by whom he was settled at Berlin, as a French minister. Here he resided many years, and his congregation, at first very thin, was greatly increased by the revocation of the edict of Nantes. In 1688, the elector, Frederic William, died, and our author accepted of an invitation from marshal Schomberg, to go with him first into Holland, and then into England, with the prince of Orange. In 1689 he went to Ireland, and was there in the following year, when his patron was killed at the battle of the Boyne. On his return to England, he became minister of the French church at the Savoy, but the air disagreeing with him, he went again to Ireland, and would have been promoted to the deanery of St. Patrick’s had he been acquainted with the English language. He obtained, however, that of Killaloo, the value of which was far inferior, and never had any other promotion. He occasionally visited England and Holland, for the purpose of printing his works, which were all in French. In one of these visits to London, he died at Marybone, Sept. 25, 1727. He was strongly attached to the cause of king William, as appears by his elaborate defence of the Revolution, and his history of the Assassination-plot. He had great natural abilities, which he cultivated with true and useful learning. He was a most zealous defender of the primitive doctrine of the Protestants, as appears by his writings; and that strong nervous eloquence, for which he was so remarkable, enabled him to enforce the doctrines of his profession from the pulpit with great spirit and energy.
, a French minister, and the greatest preacher in his time among
, a French minister, and the greatest
preacher in his time among the protestants, was son of
William du Bosc, advocate to the parliament of Roan, and
born at Bayeux, February 21, 1623. He made such progress, after having studied divinity eighteen months at
Montauban, and three years at Saumur, that although he
was but in his three and twentieth year, he was qualified to
serve the church of Caen, to which he was presented Nov.
15, 1645, and received the imposition of hands Dec. 17,
the same year. The merit of his colleagues, and above all
that of Mr. Bochart, did not hinder Mr. du Bosc from acquiring speedily the reputation of one of the first men of
his function; and his eloquence became so famous
throughout the whole kingdom, that the church of Charenton would have him for their minister, and sent to desire him of his church, in the beginning of 1658. The
strongest solicitations were made use of; but neither the
eloquence of the deputies of Paris, nor the letters of persons of the greatest eminence in France amongst the protestants, could engage the church of Caen to part with
him, nor him to quit his flock. It was impossible that such
talents and fame should not give umbrage to the enemies
of the protestant religion, which they shewed in 1664, by
procuring a lettre de cachet, which banished him from Chalons till a new order, for having spoke disrespectfully of
auricular confession. Mr. du Bosc, as he passed through
Paris to go to the place of his banishment, explained to
Mr. le Tellier his opinion on confession, and in what manner he had spoken of it, with which Le Tellier was satisfied, and told him that he had never doubted of the falseness of the accusation. Mr. du Bosc recovered the liberty
of returning to his church October 15, 1664, and the joy
which was at Caen among the brethren, when he came
there, November 8, was excessive, A great many honourable persons of the other party congratulated him; and
there was a catholic gentleman who celebrated the event
in a very singular manner, as thus related by Du Bosc’s
biographer. “A gentleman of the Roman religion, of
distinction in the province, whose life was not very regular, but who made open profes&ion of loving the pastors
who had particular talents, and seemed particularly enamoured with the merit of Mr. du Bosc, having a mind to
solemnize the feast with a debauch, took two Cordeliers
whom he knew to be honest fellows, and made them drink
so much, that one of them died on the spot. He went to
see Mr. du Bosc the next day, and told him that he thought
himself obliged to sacrifice a monk to the public joy; that
the sacrifice would have been more reasonable, if it had
been a Jesuit; but that his offering ought not to displease
him, though it was but of a Cordeiier. This tragical accident, of which he was only the innocent occasion, did
not fail to disturb the joy which he had upon seeing himself again in his family and amongst his flock.
” During
the prosecutions of the protestant churches in 1665, he
defended that of Caen, and many others of the province,
against the measures of the bishop of Bayeux. The king
having published in 1666 a severe proclamation against
the protestants, all the chrrches sent deputies to Paris to
make humble remonstrances to his majesty. The churches
of Normandy deputed Mr. du Bosc, who departed from
Caen July 3, 1668. As soon as he was arrived at Paris,
the other deputies chose him “to draw up several memoirs.
It being reported that the king would suppress some chambers of the edict, all the deputies ran to Mr. de Ruvigni,
the deputy general, to speak with him about so important
an affair, in hopes of procuring leave to throw themselves
at his majesty’s feet; but Mr. du Bosc only was admitted
to the audience. He harangued the king, who was alone
in his closet, November 27, 1668; and after having ended
his discourse, he had the courage to represent several
things, and succeeded so well as to make all the court
speak of his eloquence and prudence. After several conferences with Mr. le Tellier, and many evasions and delays,
in April 1669, he obtained some relaxation of the declaration of 1666. After that time Mr. du Bosc went several
journies about the churches’ affairs, and supported them,
before the ministers of state and the intendants, with
great force and ability, until he was commanded himself,
by an act of the parliament of Normandy June 6, 1685,
not to exercise his ministry any more in the kingdom. It
was, however, universally acknowledged, t.iat if it had
been possible to preserve the reformed church of France
by the means of negotiation, he was more likely to succeed than any one that could be employed. He retired
into Holland after his interdiction, and was minister of
the church of Rotterdam, until his death, which happened
January 2, 1692. He published some volumes of sermons; and after his death, P. Le Gendre, his son-in-law,
published his
” Life, Letters, Poems, Orations, Dissertations," and other curious documents respecting the history of the reformed churches in his time, Rotterdam,
1694, 8vo, dedicated to lord viscount Galloway.
, a French minister of state, was born at Paris, May 10, 1727, of
, a French minister of
state, was born at Paris, May 10, 1727, of a very ancient
Norman family. His father was, for a long time, provost
of the corporation of merchants. He was intended for
the church, and went through the requisite preparatory
studies; but whether he disliked the catholic religion, or
objected to any peculiar doctrines, is not certain. It is
generally supposed that the latter was the case, and the
intimacy and correspondence he had with Voltaire, Diderot, D'Alembert, &c. afford very probable ground for believing him entirely of their opinion in matters of religion.
He looked, however, to the political department, as that
which was best adapted to his acquisitions, and the rer
sources which he found in his ingenuity and invention. For
this purpose he studied the sciences suited to his destination, and mixed experimental philosophy with mathematics, and history with political disquisition. He embraced the profession of the law, and at once displayed his
views by fixing on the office of master of the requests, who
is the executive officer of government, in operations of
commerce and finance. His panegyrist, M. Condorcet,
tells us, that a master of requests is rarely without a considerable share of influence respecting some one of the
provinces, or the whole state; so that it seldom happens
that his liberality or his prejudices, his virtues or his vices,
do not, in the course of his life, produce great good or
great mischief. About this period Turgot wrote some articles for the Encyclopedic, of which the principal were,
Etymology, Existence, Expansibility, Fair, and Foundation. He had prepared several o.thers; but these five only
were inserted. All these his biographer praises with more
zeal than judgment; the article on Expansibility being very
exceptionable, and that on Existence being little more than
an ingenious commentary on the first principles of Des Cartes, and by no means deserving to be called the “only
improvement in the science of the human mind since the
days of Locke.
”