, a very ingenious and learned Frenchman, was born at Roan, Feb.
, a very ingenious and learned
Frenchman, was born at Roan, Feb. 8, 1649; and in Sept.
1667, entered as a novitiate into the society of the Jesuits,
He read lectures upon polite literature, upon philosophy,
and theology, at several places in the early part of his life
by the desire of his superiors, after which he appears to
have devoted his time to his historical and controversial
works. One of his earliest productions was his “Voyage
to the world of Descartes,
” a satirical confutation of the
Cartesian philosophy, under the appearance of a romance,
which was so well received, that it was soon translated into
several languages into English, into Italian, &c. It has
undergone several editions, which have been revised and
enlarged by the author; and to that printed in 1703 there
were added, by way of supplement, two or three pieces,
which have a connection with the subject. They are entitled, “New difficulties proposed to the author of the
Voyage,
” &c. concerning the consciousness or perception
of brutes: with a refutation of two defences of Descartes’s
general system of the world.