, a learned French abbé, prior of St. George de Vigou, a member
, a learned French abbé, prior of
St. George de Vigou, a member of the royal society of
London (1742) and of the French academy of sciences, was
born in Languedoc, in 1712, and was the son of John de
Gua, baron of Halves, whose property was swallowed up
in the unfortunate Missisippi Scheme. He was educated
for the church, but appears to have had less ambition for
promotion in that, than to render himself distinguished for
scientific knowledge. When admitted into the academy
of sciences in 1741, he gave a specimen of his skill in
mathematics by publishing “Usages de l'analyse de Descartes,
” and was the author of other papers on mathematical subjects in the Memoirs of the Academy, in one of
which he endeavours to vindicate Descartes against our
Wallis, who, in the abbe’s opinion, wrote his history of
algebra for no other purpose than to bestow upon his coun tryman Hariot, the discoveries that belong to Viete and
Descartes. (See Hariot.) The abbe* was, however, chiefly
distinguished in France for having first given the plan of
the Encyclopedic, although he wrote very little in it. In
1764 he presented a plan for exploring the mines of Languedoc, and was the author of some other projects whick
bad little success. His necessities sometimes drove him to
the business of translating for the booksellers. Amonothese publications we find bishop Berkeley’s “Hylas and
Philonous,
” “Locke’s Essay,
” Anson’s Voyage, and Decker
on trade. He died at Paris, June 2, 1735, leaving the
character of a man of considerable learning and industry,
but not very happy in his temper, and often pursuing
trifling difficulties, which he made a great merit in surmounting, such as complicated anagrams; and on one occasion, in consequence of a sort of challenge, he perplexed
himself in writing a very long poem, in which words only
of one syllable were admitted.