644 



BOUFFLKKS BOUILLON. 



BOUFFLERS, Stanislaus, chevalier de, member of the 

 French academy, son of the marchioness of B., mis- 

 tress of Stanislaus, king of Poland, born at Luneville, 

 1737, was considered one ot the most ingenious men 

 of his time, and was distinguished lor the elegance 

 of his manners and conversiition. He was destined 

 for the church, but declared tliat his love of pleasure 

 would interfere with the duties of this jirot't s- ..n. 

 He entered the military career, was soon appointed 

 governor of Senegal, and, while in this office, made 

 many useful regulations. After his return, he devot- 

 ed himself to that light kind of liteniture which 

 distinguished the age of Louis X V. He was much 

 admired by the latlies, and in the higher circles of 

 the capital, as well as in the foreign courts which he 

 visited. His reputation gave him a seat in the 

 states-general, where he was esteemed for his mo- 

 deration and his good intentions. After August 10, 

 he left France, arid met with a friendly recep- 

 tion from prince Henry of Prussia, at Reinsberg, and 

 Frederic William II. A large grant was made to 

 him in Poland for establishing a colony of French emi- 

 grants. In 1800, he returned to Paris, where he de- 

 voted himself to literary pursuits, which, in 1804, 

 procured him a seat in the French institute. He died 

 Jan. 18, 1815. He lies buried near the abbe De- 

 lille, and on his tomb is this inscription, written by 

 himself, and characteristic of his lively disposition : 

 Me* amis, croyez (pieje dort. His works were pub- 

 lished in eight vols. 12mo, 1815. His mother was 

 long the ornament of the court of Stanislaus, during 

 its residence at Luneville, by the graces of her mind 

 and beauty of her person. Voltaire addressed to her 

 a madrigal, which finishes thus : 



Si YOUS eussiez vecu du tempi de Gabrielle 

 Je ne sais pas ce qu'on eut dit de TOUS, 

 Mais on n'aurait point parle d'elle. 



She died in 1787. 



BOUGAINVILLE, Louis Antoine de, count of the em- 

 pire, senator, and member of the institute in 1796, 

 was born in 1729, at Paris ; died at the same place, 

 1811. At first a lawyer, afterwards a distinguished 

 soldier, diplomatist, and scholar : he was alway 

 remarkable for his energy of character. He fought 

 bravely in Canada, under the marquis of Montcalm, 

 and it was principally owing to his exertions, in 

 1758, that a body of 5,000 French withstood success- 

 fully a British army of 16,000 men. Towards the 

 conclusion of the battle, he received a shot in the 

 head. The governor of Canada, finding himseli 

 unable to defend the colony, sent B. to France for 

 re-enforcements. He set off in November, 1758, anc 

 returned January, 1759, after the king had made 

 him colonel and knight of St Louis. After the 

 battle of September 13, 1759, in which Montcalm 

 was killed, and the fate of the colony decided, B 

 returned to France, and served with distinction under 

 Choiseul Stainville, in the campaign of 1761, in 

 Germany. After the peace, he entered the navy 

 and became one of the greatest naval officers in 

 France. He persuaded the inhabitants of St Malo to 

 fit out an expedition for the purpose of establishing a 

 colony in the Falkland islands, and undertook the 

 command of the expedition himself. The king ap- 

 pointed him captain, and B. set sail with his little 

 fleet, in 1763 But, as the Spaniards had a prior 

 claim to the islands, France was obliged to surrender 

 them, and B., having returned to France, was com- 

 missioned to carry the surrender into execution, on 

 receiving from Spain a remuneration for his expenses 

 For this purpose, he set sail, with one frigate and a 

 merchant ship, from St Malo, Dec. 15, 1766. Aftei 

 the immediate object of his voyage was accomplished 

 he circumnavigated the world, and returned to S 



Malo, March 16, 1769. He enriched the science of 

 vogniphy by a number of new discoveries. In the 

 American war, he commanded se\end ships of the 

 ine. wiili great honour ; was, in 1779, chrf d' escadre, 

 mil, in the following year, field-marshal in the land 

 forces. After 1790, he devoted himself to science. 

 le was a man of the most engaging manners, ohlig- 

 ng, liberal, and, in every respect, worthy of die 

 greatest esteem. He retained the natural liveliness 

 )f his disposition to a very advanced age. 



BOUILLK, Francis Claude Amour, marcuiis tie, one. 

 of the most celebrated of the generals of Louis XVI.. 

 was born in 1739, at Auvergne. He distinguished 

 limself in the seven years' war, and was appoint! d 

 governor of Guadaloupe in 1768, and conquered Do- 

 minica, St Eustatia, Tobago, St Christopher, N . 

 ami Montserrat. After the peace of 1783, he 

 returned to Paris, and was appointed lieutenant-gene- 

 ral. He afterwards travelled in England, through 

 Holland, and a great part of Germany, until he was 

 made chief of the province Trois-Eveches. In the 

 assembly of notables (1787-88), he declared for the 

 proposed reforms of Calonne, which, however, were 

 defeated by cardinal Brienne. He was opposed to 

 the plan of Necker for the union of the provinces 

 At the breaking out of the revolution, he supported 

 the existing government, both in his former province 

 and in Lorraine, Alsace, and Franche-ComU-. It 

 was only at the urgent desire of the king, that he 

 swore allegiance to the constitution of 1791. He 

 repressed, in 1790, the rebellion of the garrisons of 

 Metz and Nancy; and, although the national assem- 

 bly decreed him a vote, of thanks for the bravery ami 

 ability he had displayed on this occasion, still 

 the revolutionists distrusted him. Shortly afterwards 

 he made preparations to assist Louis XVI. in his 

 escape. B. had made his arrangements well, and, 

 had not tae king- forbidden any bloodshed, he would 

 certainly have rescued him. Being thus compelled 

 to leave the king at Varennes to his fate, he fled 

 from the dangers to which he himself was exposed 

 by the attacks of the revolutionists. From Luxem- 

 bourg, he wrote a threatening letter to the national 

 assembly, and then exerted himself to excite the 

 foreign powers against the republic. He succeeded 

 well at Vienna, gained over Gustavus III., and 

 obtained the promise of 30,000 men from the empress 

 Catharine II., to be put under the command of the 

 king of Sweden and the French general. But Gus- 

 tavus was murdered, the empress Forgot her promises, 

 and B. went over to England in 1796. Here he 

 wrote his Memoirs of the Revolution, which appeared 

 in an English translation (London, 1797), and, after 

 his death, in the original. B. died at London, in 

 1800. 



BOUILLON ; a large district in Ardennes, nine miles 

 wide and eighteen long, on the borders of Luxem- 

 bourg and Liege. This woody and mountainous tract 

 consists of the town of B. with 1980 inhabitants, 

 and twenty-one villages with 16,000 inhabitants. 

 The town, which is the capital of a canton, within 

 the arrondissement of Sedan, department of Ardennes, 

 lies in the midst of hills, on the left bank of the Se- 

 mois, which abounds with fish, forty miles from Liege 

 and eighteen from Ivoix. It has a strong castle upon 

 a rock, which, however, is commanded by the neigh- 

 bouring mountains. Godfrey of B. once possessed 

 the dukedom of this name. He was duke of Lower 

 Lorraine, and B. was bestowed upon him as belong- 

 ing properly to the county of Ardenne. In order to 

 supply himself with funds for his expedition to the 

 Holy Land, Godfrey mortgaged his duchy of B., in 

 1095, to the bishop Albert of Liege. After the 

 estate had been held for many years by the bishopric, 

 the houses of La Marc and La Tour d'Auvergne laid 



