Quien de la Neufville (James Le), a good historian, was born May 1, 1647,
Quien de la Neufville (James Le), a good historian, was
born May 1, 1647, at Paris, and was the son of Peter Le
Quien, a captain of horse, descended from an ancient
Boulenois family. He made one campaign as a cadet in
the regiment of French guards, and then quitted the service,
meaning to attend the bar; but a considerable disappointment, which his father met with, deranged his plans, and
obliged him to seek a resource in literary pursuits. By
M. Pelisson’s advice, he applied chiefly to history, and
published in 1700, a “General History of Portugal,
” 2
vols. 4to, a valuable and well-written work, which obtained
him a place in the academy pf inscriptions, 1706. This
history is carried no farther than the death of Emmanuel I.
152 1.“M. de la Clede, secretary to the marechal de
Coigni, published a
” New History of Portugal,“1735,
2 vols. 4to, and 8 vols. 12mo, that comes down to the present time; in the preface to which he accuses M. Le Quien
of having omitted several important facts, and passed
slightly over many others. M. le Quien afterwards published a treatise on the origin of posts, entitled
” L' Usage
des Postes chez les Anciens et les Modernes," Paris,
1734, 12mo. This treatise procured him the direction of
part of the posts in Flanders, and in France. He settled
at Quesnoy, and remained there till 1713, when the abbe
de Mornay, being appointed ambassador to Portugal, requested that he might accompany him, which was granted,
and he received the most honourable marks of distinction
on his arrival; the king of Portugal settled a pension of
1500 livres upon him, to be paid wherever he resided,
created him a knight of the order of Christ, which is the
chief of the three Portuguese orders, and worn by himself.
His majesty also consulted him respecting the academy of
history which he wished to establish, and did establish
shortly after at Lisbon. Le Quien, flattered by the success of his Portuguese history, was anxious to finish it; but
his too close application brought on a disorder, of which
he died at Lisbon, May 20, 1728, aged 81, leaving two
sons, the elder of whom was knight of St. Louis, and
major of the dauphin foreign regiment, and the younger
postmaster general at Bourdeaux.