, a French miscellaneous author, was born at Hermanville, in the
, a French miscellaneous author, was born at Hermanville, in the neighbourhood of
Caen, about 1604. It is said, in the “Segraisiana,
” but
we know not on what foundation, that he was the natural
son of Mr. Fauconnier of Caen, a treasurer of France, by
a woman of low rank, whom he afterwards married. Sarasin began his studies at Caen, and afterwards went to
Paris, where he became eminent for wit and polite literature, though he was very defective in every thing that
could be called learning. He then made the tour of Germany; and, upon his return to France, was appointed a
kind of secretary to the prince of Conti. He was a man
of a lively imagination and ready wit; and much caressed
by those who thought themselves judges of that article.
He was, however, so frequently invited on this account
that he began to envy matter-of-fact men, from whom nothing of the kind is expected. He was also unfortunate in
his marriage, his wife being a woman of a violent ungovernable temper. It is said that he persuaded the prince
of Conti to marry the niece of cardinal Mazarin, and for
this good office received a great sum; but this being discovered, the prince dismissed him from his service, with
every mark of ignominy, as one who had sold himself to
the cardinal. This treatment is supposed to have occasioned his death, which happened in 1654. Pelisson, passing through the town where Sarasin died, went to the
grave of his old acquaintance, shed some tears, had a mass
said over him, and founded an anniversary, though he himself was at that time a protestant.