385 



SEGUIER, PIERRE. 



8EJANUS, LUCIUS YELIUS. 



380 



him to lay their remonstrances before the king, Henri II. ; and ho had 

 the distinguished honour of preventing, by the boldness and force of 

 his arguments, the introduction of that odious tribunal into France. 

 His speech on this occasion has been preserved. (Gamier, ' Continua- 

 tion of Velly,' vol. 27.) He resigned his office of president in favour 

 of his second son Pierre, two years before his death, which happened 

 in 1580; and it is remarkable that every one of his sons, six in 

 number, filled some high legal office. Autoine, as well as Pierre, was 

 president a mortier, and both of them enjoyed the special confidence 

 of Henri IV. 



SEGUIER, PIERRE, born at Paris, May 28, 1588, was the son of 

 Jean, sixth son of the above Pierre Seguier, lieutenant-civil of Paris, 

 a steady friend, like his brothers above noticed, of Henri IV., and a 

 valuable public officer. Pierre Seguier, like his grandfather, rose 

 through various offices to the rank of president h, mortier in 1633, and 

 that of chancellor in 1635. Having rendered important services to 

 Anne of Austria during the ascendancy of Richelieu, at the risk of 

 incurring that minister's vengeance, he obtained Anne's full confidence; 

 and, during her regency, rose to as high power and influence as a 

 subject could well attain. At the breaking out of the war of the 

 Fronde he escaped narrowly with his life, in a resolute attempt to pass 

 the barricades to the usual discharge of his official functions ; and in 

 the sequel of those disturbances, the seals of office were for a time 

 taken from him. He was replaced in 1656, and continued chancellor 

 till his death, January 28, 1672, maintaining through life the honour 

 of his family as an independent, able, and enlightened magistrate. He 

 was also a lover and encourager of art, and a man of elegant and 

 accomplished mind. He was one of the originators, and president, 

 with the title of protector, of the Acade"mie Fra^aise, which during 

 thirty years held its sittings at his hotel. 



SEGUIER, ANTOINE-LOUIS, of the same family, being descended 

 from a brother of the first-named Pierre Seguier, was born at Paris, 

 December 1, 1726 ; and owed (1748) to the regard of Louis XV. to his 

 name and family his first step in the law, namely, the office of king's 

 advocate in the court of the Chatelet. In 1755 he rose to be advocate- 

 general in the parliament of Paris, which office he held till the disso- 

 lution of that body in 1790, except that he resigned it in 1771 in 

 consequence of the exile, and returned to it in 1774, on the return of 

 the parliament. In forensic eloquence he is reputed a worthy successor 

 to D'Aguesseau and other distinguished men of his predecessors, and 

 he possessed considerable literary acquirements. In the revolution he 

 was offered and refused the post of mayor of Paris ; and he lived 

 retired until the appearance of an attack entitled ' Seguier treated as 

 he Deserves,' on which he took the alarm and emigrated. After 

 sojourning in several places he fixed his abode at Tournai, but died of 

 apoplexy, January 25, 1792, leaving an unsullied character for integrity, 

 and a high reputation as a judge, a lawyer, and a statesman. Several 

 of his professional speeches and some of his writings are extant, but in 

 no collected form. 



SEGUIER, JEAN-FRANCOIS, of another branch of the same family, 

 was born at Nismes, November 25, 1703, and devoted himself early to 

 the study of antiquities. Having formed a close friendship with the 

 learned Scipio Maffei, during his visit to Nismes in 1732, he acompanied 

 him in his travels, and resided with him till his death in 1755. Seguier 

 then returned to his native place, and applied himself to the illustration 

 of its splendid Roman remains. He displayed much ingenuity" in 

 deciphering, from the holes in the stones to which metal letters had 

 been attached, the inscription formerly existing on the temple called 

 La Maison Carre'e, which he conceived to have been erected in honour 

 of Caius and Lucius, the sons of Agrippa and grandsons of Augustus. 

 Later researches have shaken this opinion. Great part of his life was 

 occupied, in concert with Maffei, in forming a collection of all known 

 ancient inscriptions: their work however was never published in a 

 complete form. Seguier continued to labour on this subject to the 

 end of his life, and left ready for the press a bulky manuscript, now 

 in the kings library at Paris, which has never been printed. (' Inscrip- 

 tionum Antiquarum Index absolutissimus,' &c.) He died of apoplexy, 

 September 1, 1784, leaving his library and valuable museum of medals, 

 natural history, &c., to the academy of Nismes, on the dissolution of 

 which the collection was made over to the public library of that place. 



SEGUR, HENRI-FRANgOIS, COMTE DE, son of the Marquis de 

 Segur, was born in 1689, and died in 1751. His life was passed in 

 active service, chiefly in Spain, Italy, Bohemia, Germany, and Flanders, 

 first as colonel and afterwards as lieutenant-general in the French army. 



SEGUR, PHILIPPE-HENRI, MARQUIS- DE, son of the Comte 

 Henri-Fransois, was born January 20, 1724. He distinguished himself 

 when very young in the wars of Italy and Bohemia, especially at the 

 siege of Prague : at the battle of Rocoux a musket-ball entered his 

 breast, passed through to the back, and had to be extracted by the 

 spine ; at the battle of Laufeld, in leading his regiment to a charge 

 after it had been three times repulsed, his arm was shattered in such 

 a manner that it was necessary to amputate it. By two successive and 

 rapid promotions hewas made marcchal-de-camp and lieutenant-general. 

 At Clostercamp he was pierced in the neck by a bayonet, received 

 three sabre- wounds on the head, and was made prisoner. At the ter- 

 mination of the war he was appointed inspector-general of the infantry. 

 In 1780 Louis XVI. called him to his councils as minister of war, and 

 in 1783 raised him to the dignity of Mare'chal de France. He was 



BIOG. D1V. VOL V. 



war-minister during seven years, in the course of which he introduced 

 many ameliorations into the army, in discipline, in expenditure, in the 

 personal comfort of the soldiers, and in the management of the military 

 hospitals. He afterwarde lived in retirement till he was arrested by 

 order of the Convention in 1790; his furniture was sold by public 

 auction ; and at the age of seventy, infirm, mutilated with many 

 wounds, deprived of an arm, and afflicted with the gout, he was thrown 

 into the prison of La Force. He was deprived of his military pensions, 

 as well as of his titles and his orders. Fortunately he had no property 

 to stimulate the tyrants of the revolution further, and his life waa 

 spared. Bonaparte when first consul set him at liberty, treated him 

 with marked respect, and granted him a pension of 4000 francs. He 

 died at Paris, October 8, 1801, in his seventy -eighth year. His character 

 is thus summed up by his son : " When in power, he was guilty of no 

 injustice ; when oppressed by his country, he did not cease to love it. 

 He was a good husband, a good father, a good general, a brave soldier, 

 a just and wise minister, and an excellent citizen." 



SEGUR, LOUIS-PHILIPPE, COMTE DE, eldest son of the 

 Mare'chal de Segur, was born in Paris, December 10, 1753. He chose 

 the army as a profession, and at an early age waa made colonel of a 

 regiment of dragoons. He was one of the three first Frenchmen of 

 high rank who offered their services to the American deputies in the 

 cause of American independence, the other two being the Marquis de 

 la Fayette and the Vicomte de Noailles, but they w ere formally pro- 

 hibited by the French ministry from leaving France. La Fayette 

 escaped, and reached America ; Noailles obtained leave to go there 

 about two years afterwards, but Segur was not permitted to leave 

 France till May, 17^2. He entered the Delaware in September 1782, 

 narrowly escaped being taken by the English, and with much difficulty 

 reached the camp of the French general Rochambeau, under whom he 

 fought till the termination of the American war. He then returned 

 to France, which he reached in June 1783. In the latter part of 1784 

 he was appointed ambassador to Russia, and arrived at St. Petersburg 

 March 19, 1785; he was treated by the Empress Catharine II. with 

 especial favour, accompanied her in the great progress which she made 

 from St. Petersburg to the Crimea in 1787, and retained her confidence 

 as long as he remained at her court. He left St. Petersburg October 

 11, 1789, on his return to Paris. 



In 1790 he was sent as ambassador to the court of Frederic of 

 Prussia. Having returned to France, he was twice arrested by the 

 revolutionists in 1793, but obtained his freedom by his prompt 

 eloquence. He then retired into the country, and was obliged to have 

 recourse to his pen for the means of subsistence. In 1798 he pub- 

 lished his 'Theatre de 1'Hermitage ; ' in 1800, his 'Histoire des Prin- 

 cipaux Eve"nemens du Regne de Fre'deric-Guillaurne II., Roi de Prusse,' 

 3 vols. 8vo, Paris; and in 1801, his 'Decade Historique, ou Tableau 

 Politique de 1'Europe depuis 1786 jusqu'a 1796,' 3 vols. 8vo, Paris. In 

 1803 he was chosen a member of the Acade'mie Franchise, and about 

 the same time he was appointed grand-maitre de ceremonies to 

 Bonaparte. After the Restoration he became a member of the 

 Chamber of Peers. In 1819 he published his ' Contes Moraux et 

 Politiques," 2 vols. 12mo, Paris; in 1821, his 'Histoire Universelle, 

 Ancienne et Moderne,' 10 vols. 8vo, Paris; in 1822, his 'Pense'es, 

 Maximes, et Reflexions,' ISmo, Paris ; in 1823, his 'Gale'rie Morale et 

 Politique,' 3 vols. 8vo, Paris. In 1S24 appeared his ' (Euvres Com- 

 pletes,' 30 vols. Svo, Paris, which in 1828 were reprinted and augmented 

 to 36 vols. His ' Me" moires, Souvenirs, et Anecdotes,' were published 

 in 1826, 3 vols, Svo, Paris, an extremely amusing and instructive work. 

 His death occurred in July 1830. 



PHILIPPE-PAUL, COMTE DE SEGUE, his son, born November 4, 1780, 

 was one of Bonaparte's favourite generals ; he accompanied him in the 

 disastrous Russian campaign, of which he has written the history, 

 'Histoire de Napoleon et de la Grande Arme'e en 1812,' 2 vols. Svo, 

 Paris, 1825, which has passed through numerous editions. He wrote 

 the ' Histoire de Charles VIII.,' from his father's papers, and also 

 other works. 



SEGUR, JOSEPH-ALEX ANDRE, VICOMTE DE, the second son 

 of the Mare'chal de Segur, and brother of the Comte Louis-Philippe, 

 was born at Paris in 1756. He entered the army, and rose to the 

 grade of mardchal-de-camp, but he was more fond of pleasure than 

 war, and attached himself chiefly to the drama. He wrote ' Contes, 

 Fables, Chansons, et Vers,' Svo, Paris, 1801; 'CEuvres Diverses,' Svo, 

 Paris, 1819 ; ' Les Femmes, leur Condition et Influence dans 1'Ordre 

 Social,' 2 vols. Svo ; 4 vols. 12mo, Paris, 1820; ' Romances et Chansons,' 

 18mo, Paris, 1820; besides a great number of comedies, vaudevilles, 

 and operas, several of which are yet popular. He died July 27, 1805, 

 at Bagneres. 



SEJA'NUS, LU'CIUS JE'LIUS, a native of Vulsinii, in Etruria, 

 was the son of Seius Strabo, a Roman knight. (Tacit., ' Ann.,' iv. 1.) 

 He first attached himself to the interests of Caius Caesar, the grandson 

 of Augustus, but afterwards gained the favour of Tiberius, who 

 shortly after his accession appointed him to the command of the 

 Praetorian troops, in conjunction with his father, who had held the 

 command under Augustus. He continued to increase in power and 

 influence till the whole administration of the state was eventually 

 committed to him. Tiberius sent him with his son Drusus, in order 

 to suppress the insurrection of the legions in Pannonia (Tacit., 'Ann.,' 

 i. 24, &c.) ; and when his father, Seiua Strabo, received the govern- 



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